Longer, straighter, better golf....

29/5/12 Tuesday. It is a great feeling when your golf game begins to deliver the rewards of practise and coaching. This is not about the ‘Eureka” moment as is often raved about when hitting that first perfect shot or realisation as is usually the lead to some miracle golf tip that is on offer to you now online. Having experienced that enjoyment and appreciation of the first time perfect shot it is good. Doing it consistently and also getting the benefit of seeing your handicap drop that is great. At the minute my game is steadily establishing a new paradigm as the gateway to single figures. The changes are small but significant and that is something that has to be acknowledged. Patience is a definite virtue when playing golf and working on improvement.

Consistent golf games do not come from chopping and changing practise routines and a new coaching

example every time you see an answer to a golf thought on offer. For myself the gradual physical improvement over the past three seasons has delivered a handicap that is twenty three less and a game bordering on breaking eighty. Equipment wise there is still a lot of experimentation on my part using different irons, putters and drivers in practise. The logic is that if my technique is correct then I should be able to get good scores, even with equipment that is not best suited to me.

At the minute I am using two different drivers and they both deliver similar results with one being much longer and the other more accurate. With the latest coaching session improvements becoming more established the distance is not changing as much as the accuracy is between the two drivers. Used in tandem during practise the longer driver in my hands is becoming more accurate and that is very encouraging. Iron wise the consistency is again repeated with controlled shots that are accurate and long with the AP2’s, a set of clubs that I had put away due to a lack of the aforementioned aspects. Now that this is possible again with the AP2’s I am getting the benefits of the extra distance that has always been the big advantage from them.

Lastly it has been a period of experimenting between putter design. The practise sessions utilising the two different designs revealed a major improvement with the mallet ‘two ball’ style that previously was so erratic it has been in the locker for two seasons. The coaching in January improved my putting style significantly. The mallet putter was so often two or three club lengths short of the hole or past it previously. Now the distance is in the hole or past it, the practise sessions using it really make me work harder on accuracy with it though. For some reason, it is so precise that a mishits of millimetres on the face of the club and I know the ball will miss the hole.

After the struggle of the past fortnight with physical infirmity, now the treatment is taking effect and I am not suffering all is good. Together with the improvement in swing and the mental exercise of using a variety of tools in practise I can start to build my game up. This preparation is for a few events in June, Handicap Foursomes Championship, third placing last season, then the final round of my defence of the Caledonian Inn Trophy. The last weekend of June is the 23-24th and the Keith Open Tournament. A full dancecard on the golf course coming up it will be fun, Thankyou for your time and attention. “Hit ‘em Straight all”

, Geoff

A week of recovery...

26/5/12 Saturday. The good news is my conqueror in the matchplay won through to the final pairing. Better than that is my body is back in decent condition again and I went out and let rip with the drivers today. Both the 380 and 400cc clubs alongside each other and once again the longest went to the smallest. The Toskii 400cc stays in the bag though as it was the most accurate by a long way.

The point of the excersise today was to release more of the full swing that is gradually establishing itself. This is no effort or strain on my body and is a result of the recent coaching in particular. The improvement became apparent in my irons first and after a good practice session and a couple of casual rounds put aside an hour to give the driver a trial. By no means is this the end of the quest to improve off the tee. There is a lot more to be done yet in coming months.

24/5/12 Thursday. Back on my feet again, after the matchplay round on Sunday. No excuses played as well as possible and lost on the 19th hole. Coming from 3 down with four to play it was a reasonable effort to get square by the 18th and make my opponent earn his victory. Had my chances and just could not capitalise on them missed a couple of one metre putts that really hurt and could not string two winning holes in succession together all day. There was two bladed chips as well that cost me dearly in the end. Given where I had come from physically during the week the effort was all I could muster.
Wednesday I saw the winner and his opponent playing their matchplay event, dont know the result at the minute. Fact is that the best player on the day won and if it had been me I would have really struggled to play 18 holes today. Managed 9 holes and had to do that in 2 sections with 2 hours between walks. It was a dog of a day too with gale warnings out for the region and the seas are smashing over the breakwater with a night time storm brewing. Honestly looking forward to relaxing a bit golf wise in coming weeks and start preparing for June competitions. With 3rd round of the Caledonian Inn trophy and in with a chance to defend my win last season on the 17th of June a Nett 71 or better will keep me in the hunt.the 23rd and 24th of June is the Keith Tournament and I will get there for at least one of the days golfing. In the meantime a bit of rest will be the best golfing option for me.


21/5/12 Monday Busy day no golf sticks picked up at all for a swing and rarely out in the fresh air since rising. The result in the matchplay was not what I wanted. Losing on the 19th hole after the regulation 18 had been played. Not a bad effort considering the obstacles over come during the previous week fitness wise. No excuses I had several chances to win the match missing two putts and a couple of bladed chips did not help. Was 3 down with four holes to play so getting all square on the 18th with a cracking birdie putt was a good effort.
The better golfer on the day was the deserved winner. There is a definite relief now that I am out of the running looking forward to having a little less golf during the week and refreshing my enjoyment of the game. Have to come to terms with the improved distance off the fairways in particular. That was a little disconcerting on Sunday with my club selection with the longer irons made particularly difficult. Having and extra 10-15m is great but not what was needed when trying to adjust to having a much improved swing from a week of injury restriction.
No matter the improvement is going to deliver in coming moths of that I am sure. It will be enjoyable developing this further to my advantage and freed up a goodly part of my mental game to the driver development.
Next committee meeting I will be presenting an addition to the club membership categories. A remote Member who lives a significant distance away from the club who want to be able to have an official handicap through golf link. With the category will come discounted green fees and free rounds during selected periods at the club. This will be much appreciated by the many golfers who are tourists to the town and without another club membership cannot take out a Country Membership. Thankyou for your time and attention, “hit ‘em straight all”




Geoff

Golf errors can be so subtle...

20/5/12 Sunday. Jumped the gun on the usual early 5.30 am start to a Sunday. Just a few extra jobs to get done first so my  mind is clear for today's handicap championship matchplay Quarter Final. After the week of discomfort and gradual recovery since the treatment on Friday physically all is good.

"Keeping the practise on the go over the past week has been hard work with the injury restrictions. With a little adjustment the form has been maintained. Did experiment with a comparison between the old driver and the new for a refresher. It is a slight quandary of distance over accuracy.

The new 400cc Toskii driver is more consistent for fairway hits. The MDD Tour 380cc driver is much more sensitive to working the ball and this unfortunately is beyond my capability to control. The trade off is that the smaller driver gets an extra 10 to 20m off the tee that is sacrificed with my using the larger club head at the minute. This week the cooler wetter weather has been constant and the loss of distance has became an obvious affect on my game. Forewarned is forearmed and I can make a decision on this over coming weeks.

Following yesterdays treatment I have got flexibility and freedom of movement back. Played the last 12 holes on the course this morning for a tune up in preparation for tomorrows matchplay. All was good from the tee to the hole and will get in some chipping and putting practise later in the afternoon. Followed with some long iron work on the practise fairway.

Have to give my opponent one stroke so the game is going to be virtually head to head matchplay."

Mentally yesterday I just could not get satisfied with the driver performance and the loss of distance off the tee. Added to that was the need to tune up with my irons to remove the occasional pull to the left that was affecting accuracy. Even after this the driver matter was still a distraction, not withstanding that I had no problem with playing Sundays round accommodating the distance loss. Finally at the end  of the afternoon managed to get back on the course with both drivers  to have a few swings and hits.

Hit balls with each and the smaller driver still had the longer reach but much worse accuracy. Something was niggling away in the back of my mind that there was something not quite right with the fella swinging the club. This is where the coaching video taken of the last session proved its worth again. 1) Rotate hips and follow through. Yes doing that. 2) Bend knees, squat down in stance. Yes doing that 3) Roll wrists. Yes doing that. 4) Oh crap there was one more, the subtle one that is so easy to omit. Lifting the front foot in the back swing.

Off went the flashing lights and ringing bells. Plant the front foot with a little extra weight on it, the swing then has a stable base. Importantly is the fact that it is not a solid pivot point again, no longer being moved to accommodate the injury constraints of the week. The swing is back with the body behind the forward motion and 220m off the tee and dead straight. Walked four holes hitting five balls off each tee as the sun sank and the distance was there and importantly the balls were all in a 20m circle on  the respective fairways.

Something that is a reality with my golf and life also is that I make subconscious adjustments for the various injury flareups. Life is easy deal with. Golf that takes a bigger effort and is more important, that is why the video of the coaching session was so important to do. The four points that the coach identified are all subtle errors the alone have a minor effect on my golf swing. As a group they are the four corners of erratic, unpredictable golf.
Thankyou for your time and attention, "Hit 'em straight all"

Geoff

Footyhead's rd 7 AFL Review

Thankyou for your time and attention, Geoff

Maintaining injury recovery with practice...

16/5/12 Wednesday. Following on from Sunday morning the last two days have still not been in best physical condition at the minute, improvement on yesterday though and that is important. While not able to pick up and swing a golf stick Monday. Tuesday morning went out and got myself around fourteen holes playing well within my limits. This practise is in case I cannot get a Bowen Treatment during the week to repair the injury flareup. Have to play the next Handicap Championship matchplay round on Sunday morning and some physical therapy is a must.

The round on Tuesday was the epitomy of why coaching is so effective with my game. The efficiency of the stance and swing changes accommodated the physical injury restrictions so well that selecting two clubs up inside 140m delivered GIR. Outside of that distance taking it easy in the swing and still clubbing up would get well within premium chipping distances. Was joined on the walk for a few holes by another club golfer who commented on how easy I was doing it, that was further confirmation of my golf improvement in 2012. The putter was not very effective on the day although that was not a particular focus in the round, being able to play par/bogie golf with the restrictions was.

It is not often these days that I get knocked flat by the old injuries, been building towards this over the last fortnight of practise and it has peaked now. The tens machine makes a lot of difference but the nights are restless from being unable to get comfortable, waking up each ninety to one hundred and twenty minutes. The flareups are a fact of life for me and will not be reduced over the coming months. At the minute it is not crippling and while the limit of my capability is being tested again, there is a definite purpose in the effort. For some time now I have been feeling a little more power is available in my swing and recent experiments in practise have not refuted that. In the coaching last week I was instructed to release the subconscious restrictions on my swing towards the end of the session. This was done and the distance and accuracy off the tee was delivered without any effort.

What is required now it to develop the practise routine to incorporate the same build up to being able to hit the ball like that more often. It was a combination of all the coaching and repetition of strokes on the range that day which allowed me to produce the shots I have been working towards. It is not going to be easy and I will have to gradually build up to the level desired. Will not be doing anything along these lines for a few weeks at the minute until I have the physical condition to be able to push the limits again. Thankyou for your time and attention. “Hit ‘em straight all”

 Geoff

One down...three to go

13/5/12 Sunday. This morning is not a comfortable one at the minute, after playing my handicap matchplay yesterday. The various broken bits in my body are letting me know that they are not amused with the continuing excercise. The physical discomfort is fighting a losing battle in keeping me off the golf course though, as I have had worse. Don’t mistake this as a motivation mind set on my part, been there done that many years ago and well past it as an incentive method.

Whilst treating the problems this morning with my tens machine in preparing to play 18 holes today there was only one reason for persevering. Not the obsession with playing the game at all, it is the fact that the swing set up and execution I use now will not cause any hurt. This is a major benefit from the coaching in January and it was again highlighted with the coaching session last Wednesday. The new established stance takes away all of the pyhsical misdirection of energy from the previously inefficient technique, cobbled together in accommodating various body action limitations. It did take eighteen months or so of getting fitter and used to playing golf shots for my body to be able to do what the coaching professional was showing me.

The winning result in the matchplay yesterday (3 up with one to play) was a testament to the previous month of preparation. Truth is that I am approaching this golfing season with a definite pre-Tournament plan that starts months in advance of the actual rounds. This is an expansion of the Southern Ports tournament training and coaching that has been so successful for me in the past three seasons. Looking at my golfing as a football club, except that one person is the team, coach and president. Whilst a better analogy is possibly as a race horse. I choose football as a reference to how many people are involved in supercoach competitions for league teams, yet would not put as much forethought into their own golf competition rounds.

The opponent I played yesterday is going to be a single digit player, just got his handicap and started on twenty. It took me a a year to get to that handicap figure. Victory came from the planning in the past month the result came from putting the ball in the hole and a few game playing errors on my opponents behalf. Giving him a stroke on eight holes and finishing with 84 off the stick, 32 putts and winning was a good result. Apart from one hole with a triple bogey seven (lost ball), the rest were pars and bogies and two birdies on my card. It was the the effortless ease of taking my swing, accuracy off the tee and fairway which gave my game a good base. Without the inconsistent shots of past weeks, no more longer scrambling to save par. It was vital to play the practise swing before shots to reinforce the corrections from the weeks coaching lesson.

Playing again today will be a good opportunity to maintain the two days consecutive competition experience that has been a major benefit this season. I really want to test myself out physically and technically in a competition round today chasing a par or better round score. It is a bit of an added pressure to the game that needs to be explored. The matchplay group that I am in includes two former club champions, tuning my game is a must to have a real crack at beating these guys. Thankyou for your time and attention. “Hit ‘em straight all”

 Geoff

Coaching done and successful...

Returned home this afternoon and managed to squeeze in a quick nine hole amble around the course. The aim being to get used to the changes after the coaching session yesterday, nothing major more a matter of returning to the good things that I had been getting lax with. The three major ones were identified with the iron session being A) Lifting my left heel (front foot) on the back swing. This removes the stability of the platform that making each shot is based on. B) My knees were rigid and locked into place and I had to return to flexing/bending them in my stance. C) In my follow through I was not rotating so that my hips were turning and I would be facing the target after playing shots. The give away is the right foot (back) remaining flat on the ground or partially lifting and rotating.

Another fault that was creeping into my game was failing to rotate the wrists in the swing. This was again creating erratic shot play. For me these faults are not catastrophe’s, given that I have been playing to and breaking my handicap of late they are faults which are inconsistencies with my game. The cure is once identified to get on the range and play the shots until they are complete by rote.
Up until now my practice has never been focused upon this aspect of training. In part due to not knowing what was the correct game play to learn. That has now been supplied and the next step is to get it down pat.

Thankyou for your time and attention, “Hit ‘em Straight all”

, Geoff

One shot Too many and second place...

7/5/12 Monday Thinking about golf is a part of the game which in my opinion does help. I take the view that this is practise for the mental side of the game when on the course. Besides which, thinking about golf is something that is enjoyable, so finding a ‘reason’ for doing it did not take much. The mental side of golf has been of growing import for my game lately. The effort to get to the target of a ten handicap and within reach of a single digit handicap, in my case has needed a mental golfing revamp. Fortunately this is nothing major, but as with the mechanics of the game the mental side has to be exercised and improved to be operating alongside the physical game play.

This weekend after the changes to the practise routine to accommodate the winter weather conditions I still managed to get an improved result and take a stroke off my handicap down to twelve. This came about from following one of my established practise routines of using different clubs. This time though it was targeting putting which of late has been unreliable. A couple of years ago I bought a Proline clone of the Odyssey Two-Ball mallet style putter, always struggled with this for reaching the hole and with accuracy within a metre of the hole. The putter required a precise hit on the ball or it would go off line and my stroke then was not good enough.

With the improved putting scores the Proline club will now become a regular practice tool on the green. Much like other golfing equipment that is used for practice only ie; weighted drivers This putter which makes me work hard on accuracy and has had a marked effect on the scores is a valuable tool. Interesting that my mind realising initially that changing putters while an option was not the best. Concluding that the regular practice in the week was the correct use of the Proline putter.

On the practise green the past week was inspiring. The balls where reaching the hole from three to ten metres an excellent result, if not in the hole the ball finished inside a metre of the target. Inside that metre though my accuracy was still not good, did play a practise round with the mallet putter and that was the only failing. Sunday morning went out for a practise putt with my regular putter and the Proline, in part because using the mallet putter in the round was a consideration. Instead I realised after half an hour that my putting was much improved with the Wilson 100 specifically because of concentration required to use the Proline.

The round which followed was a handicap breaker, 41 on each nine, 13 putts on the front and 14 on the back nine. A gross 82 for a Nett 69. Last week my score of 84 included 32 putts this weekend the total putts was 27 with nine two putts and nine one putts. I was one very satisfied golfer even though finishing in second place for the Monthly Medal after a countback. On a side note this was the biggest club competition field, outside of Opens, since I began in 2009 and our club captain believes in the last five seasons.This is a result of three years of action by the club to increase playing golfer membership. Personally to have done so well amongst a field of this number and quality added to the enjoyment of the days golf.

This weekend I will be playing my matchplay on the Saturday. Giving eight strokes to the opponent will be a challenge that is going to add some spice to the game, peaked a week early only had to give him seven strokes before. Will be a good matchup against a golfer who is less experienced with a game that is far removed from mine. My game of, “Playing the fairway from the tee with controlled drives and accuracy before distance Versus Going for the distance and attacking the green at all times.” The challenge being my opponent will blow out one or two holes a round and the rest are par and bogie scores.

Have booked in for a coaching session at Drummond Golf at West Beach this week while in Adelaide. Nothing major, just want to have my swing looked over. While hitting 50% of fairways is consistently part of current rounds, there is an irregular ‘pull’ to the left off the tee and occasionally from the fairway that is affecting scores. The balls flight is not a draw or hook but that twenty to thirty metres possible variation needs to be stopped. Whilst I have managed to almost remove it from fairway iron shots, off the tee it happens too often. Thankyou for your time and attention, ”hit ‘em straight all”

 Geoff

Matchplay preparations for Handicap Championship...

3/5/12 Thursday With the continued rain during the week it has been difficult to get out on the course and practise. Continued with using the old blades for another range session on Wednesday. It is not that difficult in essence to hit the ball with them. There is no forgiveness for miss hits and the jarring of the hands and arms soon get me concentrating on doing it right. Today it was back to the game set and the Bridgestone J36’s are a treat to hit the ball with in comparison.

Practise is all focussed on maintaining the improvement of recent weeks with accuracy and consistency. Hitting in twenty five or thirty ball sessions, not hurrying just going slow and steady consolidating the successful tempo and rythym. Using a selection of two irons, a short and long one in each session is comfortable with enough variation to encourage the effort to work on getting the best results.

Finished the fairway range practise with the driver and very pleased with the accuracy of the 400cc Tolmii ten degree club. The feel of the club in my hands weight and balance wise is terrific. Following on from the Monday ‘smash and walk’ practise round I opened the shoulders up again with the driver to explore the potential for more distance. Nothing spectacular, there is a little more reach with the club and the accuracy is acceptable. Importantly the club delivers great feel when playing shots and I can quickly ascertain what changes to make to improve the strokes.

The majority of practise this week has been around and on the green with chipping and putting. Started out maintaining the use of other clubs and dusted the cobwebs off a Proline Mallet style putter to test my skill on the green. This putter is along the lines of an Oddessy two ball model, which in my hands had always struggled particularly with distance. Many putts would end woefully short of the hole previously, this time it was as good as with my regular putter and that is a significant improvement. While it was an interesting and fun practise session it is back in the cupboard having served the purpose of refreshing my attitude on the green.

This Sundays round is the Monthly Medal and will be fun to play in the wind that is starting to get established as the predominant weather feature again. The sixteen golfers for the Handicap Championships match play finals have been decided. My first opponent is a new player who has started on a Twenty Handicap, hits a big ball off the tee and is just establishing the consistency to play his best. 

The group of eight I am in has several mid twenties handicappers and two former club champions. This is not a problem for me but I did have a little laugh to myself considering my confidence. After all even at my best these guys get the same score as I, when they are having a bad day on the course. What made me laugh was that in considering my status in the group of eight I realised that I was runner up in A grade championship last season winning monthly medals and other club competitions also. So I can say the false modesty attitude is out the window as is any perceived underdog status. Will be going out and playing as well as possible and see what the results are at the end of each game. Thankyou for your time and attention. “Hit ‘em straight all”

 Geoff

Mighty Blues back on the winners list...

Thankyou for your time and attention, Geoff