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Saturday, 24 April 2010
Instinctive Golf
I've been neglecting the blog of late as deadlines and work take centre stage. I've managed some practice, and finally got an in with a golf club (Thank you Laurence, and thank you so much Sheila for the introduction. I owe you one!), so it's not been entirely golf free but the blog has been a casualty. I'm absolutely beat tonight, so this won't be a lengthy post (there will be more early in the week on" how to break 90" and observations of my own game) but I couldn't go any longer without praising the people at Instinctive Golf. Empowering, inspirational and as knowledgeable in teaching as in golf. Absolutely fantastic and a day that started to teach me how to "walk the walk". Kendal McWade is a master of asking the right question, encouraging you to find the right answers in yourself, and Scott Dixon a worthy master practitioner. I will write much much more on this subject but just had to record that. They will be who I will go to further my education, and will encourage those seeking tuition for gifted children to check them out. Brilliant. They can be found here. Check them out, it's free to register and there's some very interesting stuff.
Wednesday, 7 April 2010
Practice swings...
...before or beside the ball? Different people do and recommend different things for this. I do both, although on different shots, never on the same shot. I'm quite pleased with my system and the reasoning behind it, so I thought I'd share.
Essentially it boils down to what is more important in the shot; if it's a shot where direction is more important than length (e.g. a tee shot, long approach shots), my rehearsal swings are fom behind the ball on an extension of the ball/target line, whereas if it's a shot where distance control is premium (putts, chips and pitches spring to mind) I make my rehearsal swings beside the ball.
Essentially it boils down to what is more important in the shot; if it's a shot where direction is more important than length (e.g. a tee shot, long approach shots), my rehearsal swings are fom behind the ball on an extension of the ball/target line, whereas if it's a shot where distance control is premium (putts, chips and pitches spring to mind) I make my rehearsal swings beside the ball.
Sunday, 4 April 2010
36 holes...
...this weekend, and much to think about. Will go into the rounds in a bit more detail at a later date (although perhaps not quite so much detail as last night's post) but had a few observations I wanted to note down.
On today's round I had a disappointing start, and in fact lost a ball on the first hole. I went back and started again, something I regret. It's just not golf, and if I had broken 90 it wouldn't, couldn't have counted. It's not something I'd do again. Fortunately I shot 96 so that wasn't an issue, but it could have been and I'd have been absolutely gutted if I had - not something I want to feel on breaking 90. 35 putts, 40 the day before.
Even with that mulligan, I started poorly, and had also done so the day before. I need to start focusing when starting the car, and thinking about the first tee.
My short game is rusty; my pitching is a lot more consistent, but just need to get the distances down. Chipping needs a lot more work on the stroke, as well as distances. Too often I'm hitting a short game shot, then needing 2 putts (or more). At the moment, even with the ball reasonably far away I'm getting the putt very close; if I can get even a bit closer most of the time that should mean a few more putts holed. I really want to get to the point where I feel there's a chance of getting up and down whenever I miss a green in regulation, I feel that the most important thing for my scoring is becoming a master of the short game; this isn't just about the old "drive for show, putt for dough" adage; when I did Carey Mumford's behaviour style test I came out as a "persuader", the dominant style of the extrovert. That suggests that I won't get the ball to fly straight all of the time, that I can play "Army" golf (Left,Right,Left) but be saved by an aptitude for the short game. And my experience backs that up; often I was in a position to make a decent score despite not deserving to, and just a bit more short game sharpness would have seen me save par (Given my handicap, that's effectively a birdie). I also like the idea of being the type of player that constantly who looks like they're out of a hole but grinds out a score due to their short game mastery- that would be pretty cool.
After writing last night's post I was in contemplative mood, and wrote down a few thoughts, and worked with half swings of my irons. I had a few relaxed and effortless swings that flew well, and I stopped to think what I'd done differently in these swings. I realised that my grip had been very light, lighter than I thought it needed to be, but it produced these lovely swings. It seemed that it made it an awful lot easier to avoid flipping the club.
I putted for a bit and hit a few chips before going back to check it out, as often what I think has made the difference turns out to be something that happened coincidentally but fortunately not in this case. I finally seem to be getting the hang of setting up square with my irons too. My drives now tend to be a pull, pull-draw/hook; I'm going to experiment at the range with using that swing but hitting the ball from the inside, which will hopefully straighten out the flight, although it's easy enough to aim for thankfully.
I managed to string a few good holes together today, and got the fear that comes with not wanting to mess up that run. I started second guessing my club-face aim, hit a power shank (the slicing equivalent of a duck hook) then did the same into a bunker. I'm glad it happened as I need to know how to deal with it if I want to score well. My plan is to use the ClearKey "Never Eat Shredded Wheat" if I'm at all tense prior to a shot or if anything is interrupting the flow of my routine. I'm also going to use it without fail after every poor shot (eg shank). Limiting damage to less than one shot on average if at all possible.
Family is away this week, so it's short game bootcamp for this geek up at the local pitch and putt. None of the proper practice greens are open yet, so that'll be where focus my practice. I feel if I can improve my pitching and also my 1/2 and 3/4 irons that should have a good knock-on effect with my irons and ball striking in general and also work on my aiming, something I often do poorly. It's not uncommon for me to think I've pulled a shot and then check my aim with a club across my legs and realise I've hit it exactly where I was pointing.
Putting wasn't the best again; on Saturday had 40, Sunday 35. I paid attention to what was happening though, and realised I was decelerating. I then tried to stop doing that and of course the ball sailed past the hole, so by the end of the round on Sunday I was taking the club much less far back which started to improve things. I think it's likely that this was the cause of deceleration in the first place. Going to do some work in the breaks in the Masters- although it's on the BBC so no ads, the host broadcaster does of course have them so there are large gaps. I've got putt pucks to use as a rebound tool, trying to get putts to bounce straight back after hitting the pucks, which I'll use as well as a putting cup.
Oh, and I sank a thirty footer for par on the 18th, most gratifying!
A lot to ponder, and some things to do. Hoping the practice greens are open soon.
On today's round I had a disappointing start, and in fact lost a ball on the first hole. I went back and started again, something I regret. It's just not golf, and if I had broken 90 it wouldn't, couldn't have counted. It's not something I'd do again. Fortunately I shot 96 so that wasn't an issue, but it could have been and I'd have been absolutely gutted if I had - not something I want to feel on breaking 90. 35 putts, 40 the day before.
Even with that mulligan, I started poorly, and had also done so the day before. I need to start focusing when starting the car, and thinking about the first tee.
My short game is rusty; my pitching is a lot more consistent, but just need to get the distances down. Chipping needs a lot more work on the stroke, as well as distances. Too often I'm hitting a short game shot, then needing 2 putts (or more). At the moment, even with the ball reasonably far away I'm getting the putt very close; if I can get even a bit closer most of the time that should mean a few more putts holed. I really want to get to the point where I feel there's a chance of getting up and down whenever I miss a green in regulation, I feel that the most important thing for my scoring is becoming a master of the short game; this isn't just about the old "drive for show, putt for dough" adage; when I did Carey Mumford's behaviour style test I came out as a "persuader", the dominant style of the extrovert. That suggests that I won't get the ball to fly straight all of the time, that I can play "Army" golf (Left,Right,Left) but be saved by an aptitude for the short game. And my experience backs that up; often I was in a position to make a decent score despite not deserving to, and just a bit more short game sharpness would have seen me save par (Given my handicap, that's effectively a birdie). I also like the idea of being the type of player that constantly who looks like they're out of a hole but grinds out a score due to their short game mastery- that would be pretty cool.
After writing last night's post I was in contemplative mood, and wrote down a few thoughts, and worked with half swings of my irons. I had a few relaxed and effortless swings that flew well, and I stopped to think what I'd done differently in these swings. I realised that my grip had been very light, lighter than I thought it needed to be, but it produced these lovely swings. It seemed that it made it an awful lot easier to avoid flipping the club.
I putted for a bit and hit a few chips before going back to check it out, as often what I think has made the difference turns out to be something that happened coincidentally but fortunately not in this case. I finally seem to be getting the hang of setting up square with my irons too. My drives now tend to be a pull, pull-draw/hook; I'm going to experiment at the range with using that swing but hitting the ball from the inside, which will hopefully straighten out the flight, although it's easy enough to aim for thankfully.
I managed to string a few good holes together today, and got the fear that comes with not wanting to mess up that run. I started second guessing my club-face aim, hit a power shank (the slicing equivalent of a duck hook) then did the same into a bunker. I'm glad it happened as I need to know how to deal with it if I want to score well. My plan is to use the ClearKey "Never Eat Shredded Wheat" if I'm at all tense prior to a shot or if anything is interrupting the flow of my routine. I'm also going to use it without fail after every poor shot (eg shank). Limiting damage to less than one shot on average if at all possible.
Family is away this week, so it's short game bootcamp for this geek up at the local pitch and putt. None of the proper practice greens are open yet, so that'll be where focus my practice. I feel if I can improve my pitching and also my 1/2 and 3/4 irons that should have a good knock-on effect with my irons and ball striking in general and also work on my aiming, something I often do poorly. It's not uncommon for me to think I've pulled a shot and then check my aim with a club across my legs and realise I've hit it exactly where I was pointing.
Putting wasn't the best again; on Saturday had 40, Sunday 35. I paid attention to what was happening though, and realised I was decelerating. I then tried to stop doing that and of course the ball sailed past the hole, so by the end of the round on Sunday I was taking the club much less far back which started to improve things. I think it's likely that this was the cause of deceleration in the first place. Going to do some work in the breaks in the Masters- although it's on the BBC so no ads, the host broadcaster does of course have them so there are large gaps. I've got putt pucks to use as a rebound tool, trying to get putts to bounce straight back after hitting the pucks, which I'll use as well as a putting cup.
Oh, and I sank a thirty footer for par on the 18th, most gratifying!
A lot to ponder, and some things to do. Hoping the practice greens are open soon.
Saturday, 3 April 2010
First full 18 of the year...
...last Saturday. It was a difficult day from the outset, as it had taken me longer than I'd hoped to get through what needed to be done; I was really determined to get out though as I'd had to abandon plans to get out the previous Sunday. It was Miss Geek's birthday weekend and although she'd had a party and a friend staying over she was so flat after they'd left I took her out for lunch instead.
Getting to the course around three, it was clear I'd made a tactical error as it's right beside Pittodrie, the home of Aberdeen Football Club and they were at home. With no place to park, I headed for another of the council's courses, a parkland one with drainage issues.
I teed off on the first hole of Hazlehead number 2 course (the number 1 course, designed by no less than Dr Alastair MacKenzie of Augusta fame was waterlogged). It's a 170 yard par 3, up hill, so I hit my 6 wood (22 degree, put in that day to replace my 21 degree hybrid) with a 3/4 swing and got onto the green. As I approached the green, it became clear that all was not well with the green. There were large yellow circles of burned out turf and the grass was at points longer than the fairway. I hit the putt firmly, but it tailed off quickly on the sodden green and ended with a four putt.
This set the tone for a difficult day, not only on the greens. My ball striking was poor, and I zig zagged up and down fairways and hit a lot of ugly shots with reasonable outcomes. You know the sort- pull slices hit slightly thin that manage to run a decent distance. Lots of heavy pitches and skulled chips. And I had more four putts than I've ever had since I started counting my putts. Pushes , pulls and tops abounded with my irons
The result? 103. With 46 putts. Far from ideal really.
And yet, and yet I'm smiling. A lot.
Why? Well firstly, I don't often take anywhere near as many putts. I had only 1 one-putt, and usually have many more. I usually take 32-36 putts. That's 10-14 shots off already, putting me right into the range I want to be in if I'm going to break 90 this year. And I am. The greens were honestly, truly awful. I don't think I've ever played on such poor greens- to give you an idea, they were in poor shape for a fairway, let alone a green. In many cases the hole hadn't been filled on the erstwhile winter greens and these were all in better condition than the actual greens. If I hadn't swapped my hybrid for the 6 wood I'd have putted with that.
I also lost an awful lot of shots with my short game; I was guilty of Lob Wedge overuse syndrome, where the ball just stops w-a-y too short. I'm home alone from the 3rd to the 9th of April so will be heading with wedges and irons to the local pitch and putt after work, as well as putting bootcamp a few mornings before work and some work at home later on.
I also didn't sort out my nutrition and fluids properly, didn't take enough to eat and lost a bottle of water. This is something I need to pay attention to as it definitely helps my concentration. I can't eat anything fatty now (a long story) which rules out a lot of the usual golf snacks/energy bars but last year I made a mix of cereals, toasted oats and dried fruit with good effect although it looks very very weird.
And given I only hit a handful of shots I liked, I ground out a 103, with 46 of those putts. That might not look great, but to play like that and nearly break 100 on an unfamiliar course is very much better than it would have been even a year ago (in fact 16 months ago I had a day like that and scored nearly 140!). With it being only the first full 18 of the year there was bound to be some rustiness too. I'm also going to an Instinctive Golf putting/short game day which I'm thinking will help scoring too.
I'm also starting to feel at ease with the uncomplicated pre-shot routine from Roseanna Leaton's excellent Golfer Within series. It is expensive but has been worth it for my game. I feel that I'm starting to learn how to get out of my own way.
Aiming is also an issue, and I may well need some instructor time to do that (and to start building up my laundry list of FOPs* and how to fix 'em).
But, most of all, I'm smiling because it's golf. My happiness isn't contingent on my performance in golf. I love the game, and enjoy it regardless of how I'm playing. I think it;s easy to fall into the trap of "I'll be happy when I shoot..." (insert next milestone along the way here). I feel it's very importance to realise that as golfers we are all on the Path; the score milestones are just that, markers to show how far we are along the Path. I'll never be at the stage where my golf is finished, where I feel that I don't need to improve any further, so it would be pretty silly to make my happiness contingent on getting to that point. That's a recipe for lifelong unhappiness, and I'm just not ready to be that miserable.
*FOPs: Frequently Occuring Problems
Getting to the course around three, it was clear I'd made a tactical error as it's right beside Pittodrie, the home of Aberdeen Football Club and they were at home. With no place to park, I headed for another of the council's courses, a parkland one with drainage issues.
I teed off on the first hole of Hazlehead number 2 course (the number 1 course, designed by no less than Dr Alastair MacKenzie of Augusta fame was waterlogged). It's a 170 yard par 3, up hill, so I hit my 6 wood (22 degree, put in that day to replace my 21 degree hybrid) with a 3/4 swing and got onto the green. As I approached the green, it became clear that all was not well with the green. There were large yellow circles of burned out turf and the grass was at points longer than the fairway. I hit the putt firmly, but it tailed off quickly on the sodden green and ended with a four putt.
This set the tone for a difficult day, not only on the greens. My ball striking was poor, and I zig zagged up and down fairways and hit a lot of ugly shots with reasonable outcomes. You know the sort- pull slices hit slightly thin that manage to run a decent distance. Lots of heavy pitches and skulled chips. And I had more four putts than I've ever had since I started counting my putts. Pushes , pulls and tops abounded with my irons
The result? 103. With 46 putts. Far from ideal really.
And yet, and yet I'm smiling. A lot.
Why? Well firstly, I don't often take anywhere near as many putts. I had only 1 one-putt, and usually have many more. I usually take 32-36 putts. That's 10-14 shots off already, putting me right into the range I want to be in if I'm going to break 90 this year. And I am. The greens were honestly, truly awful. I don't think I've ever played on such poor greens- to give you an idea, they were in poor shape for a fairway, let alone a green. In many cases the hole hadn't been filled on the erstwhile winter greens and these were all in better condition than the actual greens. If I hadn't swapped my hybrid for the 6 wood I'd have putted with that.
I also lost an awful lot of shots with my short game; I was guilty of Lob Wedge overuse syndrome, where the ball just stops w-a-y too short. I'm home alone from the 3rd to the 9th of April so will be heading with wedges and irons to the local pitch and putt after work, as well as putting bootcamp a few mornings before work and some work at home later on.
I also didn't sort out my nutrition and fluids properly, didn't take enough to eat and lost a bottle of water. This is something I need to pay attention to as it definitely helps my concentration. I can't eat anything fatty now (a long story) which rules out a lot of the usual golf snacks/energy bars but last year I made a mix of cereals, toasted oats and dried fruit with good effect although it looks very very weird.
And given I only hit a handful of shots I liked, I ground out a 103, with 46 of those putts. That might not look great, but to play like that and nearly break 100 on an unfamiliar course is very much better than it would have been even a year ago (in fact 16 months ago I had a day like that and scored nearly 140!). With it being only the first full 18 of the year there was bound to be some rustiness too. I'm also going to an Instinctive Golf putting/short game day which I'm thinking will help scoring too.
I'm also starting to feel at ease with the uncomplicated pre-shot routine from Roseanna Leaton's excellent Golfer Within series. It is expensive but has been worth it for my game. I feel that I'm starting to learn how to get out of my own way.
Aiming is also an issue, and I may well need some instructor time to do that (and to start building up my laundry list of FOPs* and how to fix 'em).
But, most of all, I'm smiling because it's golf. My happiness isn't contingent on my performance in golf. I love the game, and enjoy it regardless of how I'm playing. I think it;s easy to fall into the trap of "I'll be happy when I shoot..." (insert next milestone along the way here). I feel it's very importance to realise that as golfers we are all on the Path; the score milestones are just that, markers to show how far we are along the Path. I'll never be at the stage where my golf is finished, where I feel that I don't need to improve any further, so it would be pretty silly to make my happiness contingent on getting to that point. That's a recipe for lifelong unhappiness, and I'm just not ready to be that miserable.
*FOPs: Frequently Occuring Problems
Wednesday, 24 March 2010
Interest and Commitment
There's a difference between interest and commitment. If you're interested in something you do it only when it's convenient. When you're committed to something you accept no excuses; only results.
-Kenneth Blanchard
-Kenneth Blanchard
I'm a happy geek...
...it's not only Hannibal Smith who loves it when a plan comes together. Even the fact that Master Geek appears to be teething and is sitting on my knee at 10.30pm restricting my typing to one handed cannot deflate me.
The amazing thing is that my breakthrough had the most inauspicious of beginnings. I had a pretty lousy day at work, and came home in a mood that refused to lift, despite the best efforts of Mrs Geek. Around 9pm I realised I wasn't going to achieve much, and after some none too subtle hints from Mrs Geek caught up with some angry comedy. I felt a bit bad that I'd not managed any practice but knew that the chances of me managing anything productive were slim.
And yet...the mind is a strange thing. Without realising it, I must've been mulling over this and marrying it to this. As my mood lifted, I had an urge to try this out; My downstairs hall will tolerate anything up to a half swing with anything up to a five iron (this was discovered the hard way. The money to pay the handyman to fix my dents came from my golf fund. The fact I'm still alive to tell the tale tells you how much of a saint my wife is ;-)
Because I've started to practice deliberately, trying to feel my swings, it was easy to feel the right arm extension through the ball and the downward hit; I realised this is what I did when I hit the pitch shots I was happiest with. I then added Terry Koehler's instruction to look at the front edge of the ball if you want to get that crisp, "trapping" strike (more of Terry's instruction can be found here)
I then tried with my eight and five irons, and this was also very promising. I initially used a more pitch-like swing, with the upper and lower body more synchronised. From my time at the range, I know I hit it further if I swing with more of a whip-like action (I feel my lower body turn start first, my upper body lagging a bit more). I did this, and results were again good. To be honest, I'll wait and see which swing is more consistent at the range; I'm pretty sure I can get past the macho nonsense and go for accuracy over distance with my irons. I tried again tonight, and the feeling's still there. And it feels good.
I discovered John Graham (@JohnGrahamGolf) and Jason, the Golf Guru (@onplanegolf) on Twitter, and both are remarkably good teachers.The key for me was the concept that flipping came as a result of "stalling the pivot" and the video evidence both of John's and Jason's showed us exactly what they meant- any ex-golf magazine tip junky knows that "scooping the ball in the air" is bad, but not many can tell you exactly what that means, let alone the way to cure it demonstrated in Jason's blog (John also has drills to stop flipping; he is incredibly involved in the technical aspects of golf, but also very passionate about the need for awareness, something often missed by the more technical teacher).
My suspicion is that, although it may often seem that there are many different theories and ways to swing, a great deal of the variation is due to the same things being expressed in many ways. A truly great teacher won't rest until they have found the correct way to express this so a student gets it (the archetype of this might be the late Mr Penick). Twitter seems to have a number of these teachers, who will not only share their knowledge but also engage with those wishing clarification. I'm a subscriber to the Golf Smarter Podcast too, and there are a great many interesting coaches on there too and the 45 minute average is a good length of time to form an opinion on the methods and theories proposed.
As if that wasn't enough, I had a great run on the putting "leapfrog" to develop putting "touch"- not only did I have my highest score, and my first run with no balls short, I then followed it with a score of 7, with the eighth just sliding past the back marker.
A good couple of evenings all in all, from an inauspicious beginning.
The amazing thing is that my breakthrough had the most inauspicious of beginnings. I had a pretty lousy day at work, and came home in a mood that refused to lift, despite the best efforts of Mrs Geek. Around 9pm I realised I wasn't going to achieve much, and after some none too subtle hints from Mrs Geek caught up with some angry comedy. I felt a bit bad that I'd not managed any practice but knew that the chances of me managing anything productive were slim.
And yet...the mind is a strange thing. Without realising it, I must've been mulling over this and marrying it to this. As my mood lifted, I had an urge to try this out; My downstairs hall will tolerate anything up to a half swing with anything up to a five iron (this was discovered the hard way. The money to pay the handyman to fix my dents came from my golf fund. The fact I'm still alive to tell the tale tells you how much of a saint my wife is ;-)
Because I've started to practice deliberately, trying to feel my swings, it was easy to feel the right arm extension through the ball and the downward hit; I realised this is what I did when I hit the pitch shots I was happiest with. I then added Terry Koehler's instruction to look at the front edge of the ball if you want to get that crisp, "trapping" strike (more of Terry's instruction can be found here)
I then tried with my eight and five irons, and this was also very promising. I initially used a more pitch-like swing, with the upper and lower body more synchronised. From my time at the range, I know I hit it further if I swing with more of a whip-like action (I feel my lower body turn start first, my upper body lagging a bit more). I did this, and results were again good. To be honest, I'll wait and see which swing is more consistent at the range; I'm pretty sure I can get past the macho nonsense and go for accuracy over distance with my irons. I tried again tonight, and the feeling's still there. And it feels good.
I discovered John Graham (@JohnGrahamGolf) and Jason, the Golf Guru (@onplanegolf) on Twitter, and both are remarkably good teachers.The key for me was the concept that flipping came as a result of "stalling the pivot" and the video evidence both of John's and Jason's showed us exactly what they meant- any ex-golf magazine tip junky knows that "scooping the ball in the air" is bad, but not many can tell you exactly what that means, let alone the way to cure it demonstrated in Jason's blog (John also has drills to stop flipping; he is incredibly involved in the technical aspects of golf, but also very passionate about the need for awareness, something often missed by the more technical teacher).
My suspicion is that, although it may often seem that there are many different theories and ways to swing, a great deal of the variation is due to the same things being expressed in many ways. A truly great teacher won't rest until they have found the correct way to express this so a student gets it (the archetype of this might be the late Mr Penick). Twitter seems to have a number of these teachers, who will not only share their knowledge but also engage with those wishing clarification. I'm a subscriber to the Golf Smarter Podcast too, and there are a great many interesting coaches on there too and the 45 minute average is a good length of time to form an opinion on the methods and theories proposed.
As if that wasn't enough, I had a great run on the putting "leapfrog" to develop putting "touch"- not only did I have my highest score, and my first run with no balls short, I then followed it with a score of 7, with the eighth just sliding past the back marker.
A good couple of evenings all in all, from an inauspicious beginning.
Monday, 22 March 2010
It's been a while...
...life gets in the way of golf far too often. However, I've had some progress. I've had some sessions at the range, using the practice "challenges" suggested by Neil Plimmer and VISION54; these give deep practice, and I do my best to use my full routine on every shot, also picking a target.
I've also been doing putting drills at home- Dr Parent's putting games for touch and feel (his game for touch is suggested in slightly different forms in a few of the blogs I'm following), as well as the "ladder out/cluster back drill" (hit putts, with ball going twice as far each time, and then back to starting point. Do it with eyes closed for an even bigger challenge)
That's the good points. The bad is that I haven't done enough of it yet. Not nearly enough. There is mitigation- I took golf up during a long period of illness, with lots of time off work, nearly three years. I've been returning to work, and am trying to get to full time. I'm getting there, but tired. However, I need golf now, and will try to accommodate it around family life as much as I'm able. With it getting lighter at night this should be easier. Mrs Geek is being fantastic, but I can't ask too much of her; will try to make my medal rounds early Saturday mornings for example.
Have managed at least one practice a week but will try to up that to 2-3 times. Encouraged by results on the course though.
In the past I've had real issues getting my club down square, pushing and pulling the ball to the point where I was almost screaming in frustration. I stared and stared at it until it looked ridiculous whatever I did, like when you spend too long looking at a word and it's alternative spellings until they look like hieroglyphics. And every time I thought I'd got it down, it'd start happening again, and again and again.
And then I decided to forget about it- went for what I term an "outward" focus. I would go through my new routine (from the wonderful Golfer Within series of Roseanna Leaton's) which is select target, abdominal breath whilst blinking once then slow programming swing behind ball, then stepping into my setup, putting club down whilst looking at the target. And then not changing position, not even a little bit. Then one last look at the target, place tongue just behind teeth and focus on keeping it in place, relaxing feet and turning back to the ball, then immediately starting my swing, rather than my old habit of trying to stare thee ball into submission. I have in the past used a clearkey with excellent effect, but I'd started to rush my last one (easy-peasey-lemon-squeezy) and thus my swing, so the tongue trick is taking the place of it just now; I may substitute the phrase "Never Eat Shredded Wheat" if the tongue trick loses it's magic.
Results with this are absolutely fantastic. I feel very positive about this season. Goals include: 4 off handicap and breaking 90. I'd also like to experience the pressure of being in contention in a competition, so I think Stableford competitions are the best chance of that.
I'm also invovled in some very interesting discussions on Twitter (@mightyalmac). Should you happen to chance upon this blog, feel free to look me up.
Statistics tell us that the average handicap has not decreased in 20 years, which probably constitutes a rise in real terms given improvements in clubs,courses and balls.
I am determined to buck this trend- I will improve!
(of course, there are likely to be frustrations along the way- I hope to chronicle these with a degree of humour and humility, but will settle for one out the two ;-)
I've also been doing putting drills at home- Dr Parent's putting games for touch and feel (his game for touch is suggested in slightly different forms in a few of the blogs I'm following), as well as the "ladder out/cluster back drill" (hit putts, with ball going twice as far each time, and then back to starting point. Do it with eyes closed for an even bigger challenge)
That's the good points. The bad is that I haven't done enough of it yet. Not nearly enough. There is mitigation- I took golf up during a long period of illness, with lots of time off work, nearly three years. I've been returning to work, and am trying to get to full time. I'm getting there, but tired. However, I need golf now, and will try to accommodate it around family life as much as I'm able. With it getting lighter at night this should be easier. Mrs Geek is being fantastic, but I can't ask too much of her; will try to make my medal rounds early Saturday mornings for example.
Have managed at least one practice a week but will try to up that to 2-3 times. Encouraged by results on the course though.
In the past I've had real issues getting my club down square, pushing and pulling the ball to the point where I was almost screaming in frustration. I stared and stared at it until it looked ridiculous whatever I did, like when you spend too long looking at a word and it's alternative spellings until they look like hieroglyphics. And every time I thought I'd got it down, it'd start happening again, and again and again.
And then I decided to forget about it- went for what I term an "outward" focus. I would go through my new routine (from the wonderful Golfer Within series of Roseanna Leaton's) which is select target, abdominal breath whilst blinking once then slow programming swing behind ball, then stepping into my setup, putting club down whilst looking at the target. And then not changing position, not even a little bit. Then one last look at the target, place tongue just behind teeth and focus on keeping it in place, relaxing feet and turning back to the ball, then immediately starting my swing, rather than my old habit of trying to stare thee ball into submission. I have in the past used a clearkey with excellent effect, but I'd started to rush my last one (easy-peasey-lemon-squeezy) and thus my swing, so the tongue trick is taking the place of it just now; I may substitute the phrase "Never Eat Shredded Wheat" if the tongue trick loses it's magic.
Results with this are absolutely fantastic. I feel very positive about this season. Goals include: 4 off handicap and breaking 90. I'd also like to experience the pressure of being in contention in a competition, so I think Stableford competitions are the best chance of that.
I'm also invovled in some very interesting discussions on Twitter (@mightyalmac). Should you happen to chance upon this blog, feel free to look me up.
Statistics tell us that the average handicap has not decreased in 20 years, which probably constitutes a rise in real terms given improvements in clubs,courses and balls.
I am determined to buck this trend- I will improve!
(of course, there are likely to be frustrations along the way- I hope to chronicle these with a degree of humour and humility, but will settle for one out the two ;-)
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