A golf game returning to good form...

Had a good amount of time to reflect over yesterdays round and the result. To finish tied 3rd and to be 4th on a countback (34 points) was fun. This is the important difference between now and the 'competition golf' season. I missed two easy putts on the 17th and 18th (which if dropped would have claimed 2nd spot) and did not care at the time. The guy who beat me for third had a bigger reaction to the missed putts, we played in the same group. I still am not bothered by the loss and simply happy to have played a decent round of golf. Today there is a few twinges in the shoulder, that is the concern. This is still my recovery period and the result is far down the list in what matters in golf to me at the minute. I hit the ball well off the tee to the green and the errors on the day were in essence no more than six strokes from drives, shots to the green, chips and putts. Combined with a bit if tiring towards the end, quite simply it was an easy round of golf and the exact representation of my current standard. Today there was a brief though to go out and hit some balls, perhaps play a couple of holes or six, even some chipping practise. All declined after the conversation in my head, in favour of the 'less is more' mind set and let the sore spots recover. The chipping errors were not bad, it was the fact that I can now get back spin and stop the ball on the green. Which means I have to start pitching the ball closer to the pin now and the transition from pitching short and running the ball to the hole is still entrenched mentally. Two drives off the fairway added a couple of extra strokes to those holes. One tee shot with a five iron was short into the wind and dropped into a water hazard. Again a mental fault, usually hit a 7 iron and pulled up the stroke with a mental block unable to accept the wind needed a full 5 iron. So here I sit in losers paradise and not at all bothered. My golf is returning to a better standard than what is was before. and once again it is on to the goal of single digit handicap in 2015. Thankyou for your time and attention Geoff

Sun Fun and Golf...

Sensational day weather wise. No reasons for not golfing can possibly come up so it is an afternoon of wak fuk for me. Had a fun hit in the Friday Chicken run playing off 5 hcp after winning the chicken last week. Not at all disappointed to have reached that level over nine hols in 2014, half what my GA Handicap is. It changes back to the GA Handicap next week and sadly I did not manage to play to it on Friday. Yes dear readers I went hell for leather to try and do it though. The driver was off target too often on three holes with lost balls and that was no major problem. Simply a little stiff after the week of treatments. Did not hold back and apart from three wipes, still scored a credible 11 points. Got out yesterday and did some range hitting working on the irons, which are going well. The driver still a little crap with a tendency to hit across the ball too often and slice. Not that bad of a slice in essence except my game is badly affected by inaccurate drives, would be fine if playing off 16-18 handicap. A warm up session this morning should sort it out though and then it is all down to if I can last 18 holes yet. Have also been working on my chipping a lot lately. Practicing hitting the ball so it has back spin and stops on the green near the pin instead of running past too far. Which is why today will be Wak Fuk golf, my game is being redone and the transition period is now. Great fun to play as long as I do not expect to win. Thankyou for your time and attention , Geoff

There is a lot of satisfaction today with the showing of my season 2014 bling. The past few months golf wise have been crap, unable to play, practise or revel in all aspects of the game. Which is not that bad, at all it is simply recovery time and that is why the season successes are so valuable. Club Handicap Champion, Winner of the 3 round Gallerie Trophy and winner of the Club Eclectic trophy. Not counting the several monthly medals along the way, definitely counting the $225 worth of vouchers though.

Every bit of pain was wort it given the result of season 2014, it still sucked and I am not pushing myself to return to golfing at the minute either. The "less is more" approach is what must be done to get as much physical repair and recovery time in as possible. This time off is also balanced by me working on the mental side of my game. Improving the awareness of my capability and awareness. Especially starting to revamp the game strategy to accommodate the improved golfing capability. Even in Sunday's Robe Open I charged the course after the sixth hole I realised that I was holding back and this was going to be ineffective. So the decision was made to drop my established game strategy and take a very aggressive one for the rest of the holes. Knowing full well that my game was not at it's best was not a problem. It is time for me to develop a more aggressive game capability and the best way is in a competition event. Apart from some technical fails in the execution of shots. Not very many of them either, this was an invaluable experience. Dear reader, I absolutely reveled in throwing everything into every shot. Apart from the technical fails, which came from lack of practise and lack of physical condition, wow is the best way to describe what I discovered about myself and what is now in the golfing bank. That is where the club wins for the season come into their own, representing what has been achieved. Match play victory, Staggered rounds over months, and Eclectic score victory the big one. I can now play birdie golf! Take it easy, hit the ball, enjoy the golf. Thankyou for your time and attention. Geoff

Hit the ball, work the ball, hit another ball

Enough of the sitting around and not having any golfing. The tolerance limit was reached, with some sensible rules nailed in place the practice net is getting used to soothe my golf addiction. Nothing special, day one yesterday 20 balls with the 6 iron, today 30 balls. No chipping into the target buckets, this irritates the injury more than hitting full tilt irons or drivers. As does putting. My thoughts did go to hitting more balls today, it felt great with balls flying off the club face with so little effort. Importantly was the focus on the set up and follow through to fine tune the swing technique. So hit another ten to satisfy my curiosity. Whilst it was great fun to work on tuning the ball striking and technique for the future, there was the beginning of an ache in the shoulder with the last couple of swings. All good though the rest is working and the Xrays are next Monday until then it is up to me to not waver from the No Competition Golfing decision. Certainly not easy to do for me either, relying upon the practise net to counter the desire to play this weekend. Considering how yesterday I said no to the enquiry about playing in the two person Ambrose at Penola this Sunday. Yet this morning I was musing over playing 18 holes at Kingston Saturday. Writing these posts is cathartic in a major way. Making me look at what I am thinking about and reminding myself at the same time as to why I must not play. At the minute I can recall several golfers I play with, all who have came back too soon from injury. Their regrets were all the same, having to accept the frustration as well as in a couple of cases re-injuring themselves. My approach is to begin tuning my game now within strict guide lines. I have already noticed how much better my swing and ball striking is in the short abeyance so far. Once the injury is identified and treated, I know that my game is going to realise major improvements. DON'T Hit the ball, No need to find the ball, DON'T hit the ball Thankyou for your time and attention. Thankyou for your time and attention, Geoff

Gasfield/Fracking free Declaration Day at Robe SA 11th October 2014

The Community Gasfield Free Declaration Day was celebrated at Robe Sth Australia 11/10/ with community speakers, families and friends standing up to Shut the Gates on industrial interests. Organised by the Limestone Coast Alliance http://www.protectlimestonecoast.org.au/ Also in attendance were State Senator Mark Parnell, speaking on the two bills he has before State Parliament one on the 16th October and the next in November 2014. Also Federal Senator Penny Wright spoke on the issue in a national perspective. Protecting the Limestone Coast from Fracking, Mining and Exploration. A celebration of what makes the Limestone Coast so precious and to declaring ourselves ‘Gasfield Free’. 11am Saturday 11th October Town Beach Foreshore Victoria Street Robe Link to video of the day and the speakers. http://youtu.be/fLcBZAOADxI?list=UUaF4mhnTO4so6OsXvIDC8eg Thankyou for your time and attention, Geoff

Victory! 2014 Club Handicap Champion

Men's Handicap Championship final Saturday and winning 1 up after 18 holes. Was a good game but flaming hard work all day. 4 down after four holes, three down after 9. Kept coming at my opponent, giving him a stroke on ten holes. Managed to get to one up after 15 then all square again after 16. Halved the 17th and then dropped the winning putt on 18 after my opponent had a horse shoe putt ring around and lipped out. The winning facet of my game for me was greens in regulation. By Tuesday and finally I could type with out sooking in the discomfort of the effort. No matter how much I attempt to tell myself that this pain and the effort put into playing in the Champs and going on to win was stupid, immature, self serving wank et al there is not the slightest wavering in the satisfaction of winning the bloody thing. Today I will give the doctors a call and book in to have the shoulder looked at and do whatever has to be done to repair the damage etc. If it means no golf for a month or three could not give a toss in fact that would only add to the satisfaction of winning the Championship. Without doubt, I am lessening the depths of shallowness, when it comes to the importance of the win and anything else as far as I am concerned in 2014. A mate asked for a detailed description of the win and with a straight face I could run through the four rounds shot by shot over the month of play offs. Yet I could not tell you what I had for breakfast or dinner over the past week as easily. This is a reflection of how I added the 'mental' side of golf to my game in this period. This season has been the best for my physical golfing improvement. Established the consistent swing, from this base came the progression to better body mechanics and all of the associated golf benefits. The esoteric game facets, those intangible golf tools of concentration and comfort of being in the zone as some call it were worked on as well. Literally meditating on the game was what I did. Sure I read the various bits of golf info in magazines and books as usual. This was the detail that was reviewed while recumbent and in a state of harmony meditating on playing golf. It will be nice to actually let golf go off the table for as long as it takes to physically come good from the current injury. Only so I can start on my next golf obsessed goal. Golf stroke mechanics is the means by which golfers make decisions (selecting clubs, selecting shots) and execute them (making shots) in the sport of golf. For all golfers, it consists of a pre-stroke — in which golfer choose which club they want and their stance — and the actual stroke. The stroke is a complex motion, and there is still disagreement on what constitutes a good golf swing. In “Work and Power Analysis of the Golf Swing,” "Nesbit and Serrano suggest the golf swing has been studied by scientists and mathematicians who have developed various equations to help explain the complexity of the swing. It is generally agreed that a successful and consistent golf swing requires precise timing and mechanics, from the grip and position of one's fingers, to the position and movement of the feet. At any moment of the swing, whether back swing, down swing, or upswing anything can go wrong that will throw off the whole body and result in a miss hit. Complex motion The goal of the golf swing is to direct as much kinetic energy as possible into the club head so when it comes into contact with the ball, all of the energy will transfer to the ball, sending it into flight. The complex motion of the body first starts with the stance. This is critical to make sure the golfer has a low center of gravity to remain balanced throughout the swing path. The swing starts with the arms moving back in a straight line. When the club head reaches the level of the hip, two things happen: there is a stern wrist cock that acts as a hinge along with the left knee (for a right handed swing), building up its torque by moving into the same line as the belly button before the start of the upswing. As the swing continues to the top of the backswing (again for right handed golf swing), the golfer's left arm should be perfectly straight and his right arm should be hinged at the elbow.[1] The downswing begins with the hips and the lower body rather than the arms and upper body, with emphasis on the wrist cock. As the golfer's hips turn into the shot, the right elbow will drop straight down, hugging the right side of the golfer's torso. As the right elbow drops, the wrists begin to snap through from the wrist cock in the backswing. A solid extension of the arms and good transfer of body should put the golfer leaning up on his right toe, balanced, with the golf club resting on the back of the golfers neck.[1] Importantly, all of the movements occur with precise timing, while the head remains completely still with eyes focused on the ball throughout the entire swing. Musculature A golf stroke uses muscles on core (especially erector spinae muscles and latissimus dorsi muscle when turning), hamstring, shoulder and wrist. Stronger muscles on wrist can prevent wrists from being twisted at swings, while stronger shoulders increase the turning force. Weak wrists can also deliver the impacts to elbows and even neck and lead to injury of them. (When a muscle contracts, it pulls equally from both ends and, in order to have movement at only one end of the muscle, other muscles must come into play to stabilize the bone to which the other end of the muscle is attached.) Golf is a unilateral exercise that can break body balances, requiring exercises to keep the balance in muscles. A recommended exercise is free weight, an exercise not reliant on machines to stimulate and balance the fine muscles." The final paragraph identifies why I embarked on a specific exercise routine using Strand/Cable Pulling equipment and hand springs. The success of this season was assisted by my improved physical capability from doing this for the past year. Thankyou for your time and attention, Geoff

A winning round...At Last!

Surprised a little that it has been a month since posting yet that has been my level a capability of late. Once again my body has faltered under the the strain of the competitive golf this season. No where near as bad as 2013 or 2012 for that matter. Whilst the pain etc sucks it is much better, helps that I am being a lot smarter and the application of my "less is more" approach is working. Friday chicken run and I was stuffed at the beginning, and knew it. So I ambled around enjoying the social side of the game, whilst gently testing the limits of the capability. During the week I had maintained the light range sessions as well as putting and chipping practise. Once again the most affected part of my golf is the short game and putting. This freaking shoulder injury is still crippling the parts of the game which need some finesse. It is fine in practise sessions, the problems are only when playing competition. I can hit drives great with accuracy (also significant distance added at the minute) same with approach shots from 150-100 metres in. Chips from 30 metres in the touch is not there and I can feel the restriction after playing the long shots from the start. Putting is flaming unpredictable at first i thought it was a technique error. Friday's chicken run changed that assertion and yesterday's matchplay round confirmed it, I get an occasional muscle stiffness when putting and that causes a pull to the left. Fortunately having identified it Friday this only stuffed one putt for me all day. Luckily the one hole when I butchered the chipping my opponent was worse. The first hurdle over come, identified the problem exactly now. Winning the Elimination final match play round for Club Handicap Championships, convincingly. Was 6 up and opponent conceded with seven to play. It took a huge effort on my part and I know now what is needed. The oddest thing was I had a Bowen Therapy treatment mid week and it failed. This has thrown me a little as it has been a very successful treatment for over a decade now. Fortunately the Acupuncture/chiropractic treatment is booked for this week and that has been excellent since starting it this year. hit the ball, find the ball, hit the ball Thankyou for your time and attention. Thankyou for your time and attention, Geoff

Blind golf is better than no golf...

Change in the practise routine this last fortnight instead of me hitting the balls, I was watching them for a mate of mine who is blinded by Stargart disease. His eyesight deteriorated over past years and up until last season was still playing golf off a 14 handicap. Previously he had been down to 3 handicap and a past club champion. A very competent golfer, this year he decided to not renew his membership for several reasons, one being he was not enjoying playing competition golf. His right eye is blind and the left has partial vision and as long as there is somebody to watch the ball in the air he can hit the white blur at his feet that is the ball reasonably well. A month or so ago he contacted Blind Golf SA after hearing about the World Cup of Blind Golf success by Australia. He has decided to have a crack at the game again as a blind golfer and see how far he can go, nationally at the least. His personal goal is to get back to a 3 handicap. Since then he has set up his practise net and been hitting a hundred plus balls a day with the 8 iron only. The first time on the range and after hitting 80 balls the results were good. 75% were in a 25 metre wide grouping at 130 metres. The ball striking is okay the hardest thing is the mental golf thoughts. He still hits the ball with the expectation of a 3 handicapper with sight and has to rationalise that with not being able to see where the ball goes. That is the nub of the frustration,in a way it is about dumbing down the thoughts and have some one else tell you where the ball has gone, then adjust your next shot. Perhaps not the most precise explanation, yet I think most readers could visualise what this means. You are blind folded and over one eye was a small pin prick you could see the ball through. Then you start hitting the balls to the target area and somebody tells you the result how would you go? Out again Thursday with him for the latest session we have made some major changes. It is all to do with the mindset of golf, not his technique. All small things which are a hindrance to a golfer without sight are just as much part of the game for the blind. First was his over use of the hands, As a quality golfer in the past the 'feel' of the swing and contact with the ball has been causing him to over compensate/react. His game was based around a slight draw as the base shot. What was happening with the sight loss was the draw went from 1-2 metres to 15-20 metres. This was all from relying upon the'feel' during the swing and his hands are much more sensitive now and doing too much. This was corrected by playing all the shots from the same spot, putting the ball at the beginning of the divot for each shot. The resulting 'snake' from the divots is straight and more importantly we have established the two shots that are the standard at the minute. within a 15 metre arc there is the slight draw of 1-3 metres and a straight push to the right of 1-12 metres. At this stage the time schedule is another six months of practise before playing competition golf again. Not that my blind mate could not return to golfing right now. It is the need to adjust his game from playing with a sighted attitude to the blind game style that is now required. What is interesting is the amount of golfing drills that involve golfers to practise with their eyes closed or not looking at the ball. This is very helpful in analysing what is required to play golf with out full sight and the various game facets which need to be focused on in preparation. http://www.blindgolf.com.au/ Thankyou for your time and attention, Geoff

A fun gig... Australian Pistory II

The Robe Home Brew Festival was a success all round for both the event and myself performing at The Book Shop. Thoroughly enjoyed the gig and the venue itself was sensational. The next shows will be during the "Feast of the Senses" weekend 23-24th of August at The Book Shop. With a special gust appearance of the Bogan Gnu. Thankyou for your time and attention, Geoff

Golf injury rehab over...

Rehab is over, I will be still watching out for overdoing the golf effort as the training schedule returns to the optimum effect level. Since cutting back as part of the recovery process my golf has deteriorated, score wise. A good part of that was the result of the injury not from doing less practise. Yesterday I went out and into full flight training testing the limits of my body. Apart from some slight tenderness at the end of the day all was good, the horse liniment was applied liberally afterwards and once again excellent results. Still not craving oats and hay for meals either so there has been no side effects apart from great healing properties. There has been an associated improvement golf wise in the rehab period. Hitting less balls and maintaining the exerciser equipment routines my wrists have finally regained the strength to be able to rip through the swing. This has never been possible in the last 5 years of golfing due to the motor vehicle injuries from the 1980s. Yesterday I was a little thrown with this unexpected ability happening in my swing. With the Dreamswing it was easy to adjust to the change. It took a good workout with the PW and #5 iron, without the Dreamswing attached to realise the swing change was established. It is going to take some adjusting through practise for this to settle in my mind. Went out and played four holes with just a #5 iron to finish the day and the added power in hitting the ball was obvious and really great to experience. This weekend I have a stand up gig so will not play golf on Saturday. It was too good an opportunity to pass by appearing at a Beer Festival. I had no idea there was actually real organised beer Festivals in existence, this could become a religious calling. Actually considering not playing Sunday and dedicating the weekend just to golf practise. I feel this is the best way to regain the playing standard that was in my game prior to the rehab period starting. Hit the ball, Find the ball, Hit the Ball. Thankyou for your time and attention.

Geoff

Steady progress and much better game play...

Yesterday the practise was in a different set of routines. Chipping into a bucket from 10 m and 5 m get twice as many balls in from 5 m compared to 10 m. Good fun though and enjoyed the session. Then setting up the Dreamswing and hitting 50 foam balls into the driving net at home as well. Will be practising putting in the house passage tonight as well. A physically lighter load than the rest of the week to give the shoulder a bit of a rest. Then played nine holes with two balls to get some walking into my legs and see what the game is like after the weeks practise so far. Very happy again with the accuraccy off the tee and hitting greens. Chipping also showed the benefit of practise and the putting was acceptable either two or one putt per hole. All will be improved more with continuing the practise regime. There was one unexpected result that has given me a major confidence lift. As regular readers are aware distance is not a facet of my game nor is it a particular goal with my practise either. I have been happy with the consistency in my game and that is much more valued than adding 10-20m to tee shots or other clubs. It has been apparent that there has been some slight distance gains already with various clubs thanks to the better technique. Today though I decided on the last three holes to really let the tee shot have everything in the tank, continuing to play two balls off the tee as well. First hole good distance and 1st ball 210m 2nd ball 220 m and two pars GIR. Second hole a par five 464 m 220 and a 230m drive off the tee. Hitting one second shot ten metres short of the green was excellent. Was not trying to smack the ball just lined up and hit it straight and true with the #3 wood. That this was into the wind and done without labouring to hit a 100/1 chance shot was the bonus. I now have more proof hat the game that was my standard as little as a month ago is still improving. Two pars were the result on the hole. The third and final hole I let the driver fly again and both drives were within 20 metres of each other on the same line with the best only 100 m from the green a massive, for me, 235 metre drive. A par and a bogie followed. All in all a very relaxing and satisfying trial of the weeks practise done. With more to come before the first match play round next week. With the playoff schedule now settled I have this weekend free to play club golf and the first match play the following week. This is very satisfactory for my 5 iron to PW workouts to improve the Greens in Regulation statistic. It also has made it possible to maintain the physical demands at an acceptable level. Not 100% in the shoulder just yet, the groin injury is a big winner though. Up until Sunday I was still concerned it may relapse. After the weekend rounds though all was good. Some tenderness as to be expected but the strengthening and stretching exercises have done the job. Will continue being sensible with the effort,, it's not just about hitting golf balls it is about being able to hit them well. This afternoons casual 7 hole hit out showed the improvement coming from the practise. The driver was given a searching review and making one standard action when teeing off had the balls all on target. It is a concentration lapse where instead of taking the club head back low and slow and then unleashing and hitting low and through the ball, I had been swinging high and loose. The mid irons where a step closer to the accuracy wanted again. Still a way to go but not as far as there was on Monday. Every day is a little closer to getting the standard I want. The related benefit for all my golf strokes from the practise routine is the establishing of a confident rhythm when I set up to play all shots. Thankyou for your time and attention. "hit the ball, find the ball, hit the ball" Geoff

Fitness before golf practise...

Play Your Best Golf A quiet week on the practise front for me taking the time to get some recovery time in. Much more effective to lighten the load and let the injured area which is still recovering to recuperate. As opposed to ploughing on and putting the ideal of hitting golf balls better above having the fitness to do so. The past 4-5 years have had the order reversed and know my technique is improved a lot the fitness is vital to take that next movement to a lower handicap. What is particularly in this golfing approach for me at least. Is to play consistent golf without injury hampering ability to play towards a single digit goal. In the past month of this being the playing base I have got that result. All very simple and minor facets of the game are running smoothly at the minute by using this approach. It has taken 5 years of persistence to get this capability and now it has to be consolidated. Thankyou for your time and attention Hit the ball, find the ball, Hit the ball again. Thankyou for your time and attention, Geoff

Masters Games 2014 gold and silver...

Satisfaction was high after the two days at the Masters Games.To actually score so well amid the rest of the field as well added to the buzz. It was not easy and I busted my brain on day two yet still hung in there to end up with a win in the Nett and a runner up Gross in my section. This week back into the real world and on to the next golf round, playing in the annual Robe V Beachport challenge which is a lot of fun and just like last weekend the added bonus is playing with other golfers not the same faces each week. Would like to play the Penola Open as well but it is on the same day and i will not be too popular if I miss the intra club event. Have been putting in some range and course time with the new irons adjusting to the added distance and sweet feel they have on impact. Then of course chipping and putting practise the key to my success last week was a good reliable short game. My tee shots were mostly very good and on day two I did falter a little. Tried to keep on target though and not make any rash changes mid round even though I had a suspicion what was the problem. Since confirmed the cause and I was correct. In competition I have a tendency to get overly aggressive off the tee and this brings in accuracy faults.Very bad in fact and this adds no distance whatsoever only making balls fly off target. No problem now after checking this myself and made a mental note NOT TO GO HULK on the tee block. Thankyou for your time and attention. Hit the ball Find the Ball, Hit the Ball Again , Geoff

New Clubs Callaway Optiforce and Powerbilt

Friday 4/4/14 The practise routine was given a bit of a ramp up yesterday. The new irons arrived in the post and I have adjusted my bag to a Driver, 3 w, 2,3,4, Hybrids and 5-PW, 56* Wedge and Putter. The new irons are Powerbilt Airforce one's with regular flex shafts. Tried them out at Drummond Golf a few weeks back as I have the AF1 Driver and was interested. Liked the feel and they are light and give me a little more touch than the stiff flex Cobra S3 irons. Since my 8 week lay off in January and February due to injury. I purchased a new Driver last weekend Callaway Optiforce 10.5* reg flex (5.5)

Also a new set of Powerbilt Airforce One irons #3 and #4 are the Nitrogen filled version and I have retained my Burner TM clones in their place for theminute.

Previously I have been using #5 AND #6 Hybrid as well in the bag but I do find the irons wit ha regular flex are a little more versatile. Hence I will play this weekend with then instead of the hybrids. It will be a slight distance loss using irons but that is not a major problem. The New driver was a revelation, was simply warming up at Bordertown and our club prow as there doing a demo and he came over an offered me this club to try. Given he has been a great coach for my golfing and knows my golfing style well enough he has dialed this stick in perfectly. Ten hits and ten straight easy shots later I have a new driver. Lost some distance from the previous Powerbilt Airforce one driver but that is well worth the sacrifice for accuracy. This driver feels sensational and is a delight to hold and swing. This week I have been working with it and there is some extra distance in the club for me as well. That is secondary at the minute and can be developed la er in the month. Thankyou for your time and attention. Hit the ball Find the Ball, Hit the Ball Again , Geoff

Bordertown Open 2014...

Been a few days since returning from playing the Bordertown Open and happy with the recovery and the experience. Much better start than the first two attempts there. The first day was satisfying with an 83 Gross and 70 nett. Day two was good from the start, was in a new group and one of my playing partners from the first day was in it also. At the end of the day he noted that my short game was the biggest difference from day one. Apart from that I played well and up to the point when I had 6 holes left to play was battling along well enough. Took 3 shots to get out of a bunker and a six on a par three resulted even then was not too bothered, still only two over my handicap for the nine at that stage. An 11 on the next killed me off, Brain fade on the tee, ball in the bush then four to get back on the fairway of a 500 metre par 5 with 300 metres still to go I was finished. Not disappointing to hit the wall overly much it was trying in the heat for me at least. Yet that was not the reason for falling out of contention. The fault was all mine poor chipping to the pin and once again mental lapses in concentration. This is not a game breaker, more so another exciting part of why I relish playing golf so much. This facet of golf is something I have been aware of yet was secondary in these past five years. Learning to hit the ball to start then become consistent as well as get the right equipment, followed with improving physical fitness had the priority. Mental focus and concentration is now able to come to the forefront of my golfing practise. The coming weekend I am sure to be better prepared for the Masters Game two day event after the experience at Bordertown. Thankyou for your time and attention. Hit the ball Find the Ball, Hit the Ball Again. Geoff

2014 Single digit handicap goal...

My efforts up to date, this year have been under harder review than previous seasons. The failure in 2013 due to injury was very frustrating, it did take me some time to realise the problem was less my golf game and more my physical condition. So far this season I have backed off on intense practise and changed my physical rehab program as well as adding a serious dieting program for weight loss. Definitely feeling better and the injury problems are on the improve as well. The proving ground is on course and the practise range and this week has been markedly improved. Perhaps this year I have finally got the complexity of golfing understood as it applies to an individual's capability. I have always been optimistic on improving and barreled along without getting lost in trying to understand the varied influences on a golfers game. That happy ignorance has helped in a small way as I used that time to become aware of golf from playing reading and learning all this time. I always enjoyed sitting down and reviewing all that information which has been documented in 3-4 years of doing my "Playing the Game" posts. The many "Eureka" moments of finally understanding a game facet or mastering a clubs use as a whole has been the journey so far. Thank you for your time and attention, Hit the ball, find the ball, Hit it again, Geoff

Acupuncture another golfing tool...

Satisfied with the chiropractor treatment yesterday, also had my first acupuncture session. Interesting practise and I understood the simple logic explaining how it works. Have an 8 day wait for the doctors appointment to have the cause of the recurring thigh/groin strain injury. One of the realities of country living is the shortage of doctors for non urgent appointments. At least the process has began and I am sure the answer will be revealed in time. Spent an hour working on the short game 25-30 meter shots to the green and putting. Particularly happy with the improved chipping from in close and getting out towards the 50 meter distance. Again the GIR improvement was circumvented with the physical failing on Saturday. Which has a bearing on my high level of frustration, front nine Saturday 4 GIR back nine, 1 GIR. I just could not play the shots once the groin went. Was concentrating on not adding to the pain, instead of the focus being on hitting the ball freely to the target. Yesterday it felt good hitting balls on the practise area, that is something which is part of he pleasure in golfing. I look back over my videos since 2009 and remember how hard it was to hit the ball let alone hit it well and consistent. That pure sweet easy swing is part of the enjoyment of hitting a ball and seeing it land on target. These days that is one of the things that has me looking forward to getting out on the range. There is only trepidation when I know that there is going to be another bout of pain and restriction during a round that saps away some of my golf fun Thank you for your time and attention, Hit the ball, find the ball, Hit it again. , Geoff

Good Form, Average Form, Winning Form...

Finally some golftime, thought it would never happen the way this week has panned out. Sunday's competition was a stroke round and I finished with a Nett 74 not a great round and not a disaster at all. three x triple putts and a couple of other misses from 1 to 1.5 metres added 5 strokes to the round. I would like to say I was disapointed yet that is a lie, it was an enjoyable hit out. Except for an out of bounds on the 15th hole no penalty errors affected the score card. I was more focussed on how the shoulder and hamstring stood up to the 18 holes of golf. Which accounts for some of the poor putting. The driver and fairway shots werre acceptable and the tee shots with the driver were given a bit of a distance boost compared to my usual standard, 220m plus was the accepted reach all day. This was worked on today at the Drummond Golf Mile End range. Head down and mind focussed on taking the mishits and short drives out of my game play. It was a gradual progression through the practise with 60 balls finishing with the final 10 all straight and true soaring over or just to the left or right the 200 m marker landing 15-20 m past it. As regular readers of my annual game threads since 2009 will know long off the tee and in general has not been a feature of my game. Since returning from the shoulder injury it is begining to be a consistent driver aspect on the course for my golfing. Finally have some metres in the tank to use in competition. GIR once again, third competition round in succession = 16.7%. Mind you there were 4-5 shots that were sitting on the fringe of the green. This is not a failing in total still a work in progress. The putting on the other hand was a fail. Ended up buying a new putter today a Dynacast Force II with the larger Kraytal grip after a long work out on the putting area. It is a lighter and better balanced putter than the older 1 and a 1/2 ball Dynacast used on Sunday. Have put the Odessy away for a few week whle I regain some form on the greens using the 2 ball mallet style. Do this a few times each season so nothing unusual about the change in stick. Did have a few hits on the range with the PowerBilt Airforce 1 irons. That was a fun trial as I carry the Airforce 1 Driver and it is working well. The irons had very good (longer) distance and good accuracy and feel also. Regular flex I noted as well compared to the stiff flex Cobra S3 in the bag at the minute. So it was a full golfing fix for me and making sure that I get a good range work out on returning to Robe tomorrow is a must for the coming weekend rounds. All of this is preparation for the Masters Games at Naracoorte commencing 4th April and tuning for the coming Club Championships. Thanbkyou for yourtime and attention, Hit the ball, find the ball, Hit it again. Geoff

Shaky Putter fun...

Monday 3/3/14 Feeling remarkably spritely this morning, perhaps all of this exercise on the golf tracks has helped. After a lay day on Saturday the twitching started as the day drew on and ended up having to go and do some chipping practise to scratch the itch. Felt much better afterwards and was in no doubt that golf would be Sunday afternoons occupation. Joined the crew and it was great to be back in the club fold again with the banter and familiarity. If anything was obvious it was the calmer everyday mood before tee off for me. This is one of the great things about having a home club for me at least. Travelling to play Club Opens and other events like Southern Ports and the "Race to" series are 100% competition challenges. My home club competition rounds are the comfort zone where I hone my golf competition skills and social skills. Make no doubt about, it the competition is just as fierce. Perhaps even more so as mates are people who you can add more banter, sledging and golfing aggression towards than with strangers. As the various threads here in the forums show golfing mates can push the boundaries and take it as a personal camaraderie. As two Americans once asked me about a group of people I was with, 'Why do you curse at each other?" My reply, after some thought about it was, "We are mates it does not offend us" We dont do it to strangers though, not in the first five minute at least until we get to know them. Sundays round was n\my 5th x 18 hole competition round in 8 days. Managed a 3rd place and it was tough work in the last 5 holes the wind did not abate and was 20 kph into the face at times. Once again the most obvious fail was putting, at the beginning was smacking the ball 2m past the hole and 3 putting twice. Same thing happened at Kingston and Beachport in the first couple of holes as well. Yet after that I get on target but have to recoup a couple of extra shots. Still played well enough to finish third after a countback and pick up a bottle of Cabernet Shiraz. Interesting I am having an alcohol free March, so far have won two bottles of wine golfing. Being a golfaholic is full of temptations, I feel sorry for Tiger Woods. Naracoorte Summer Open this weekend but cannot make it with guests booked in. Will concentrate on getting the GIR improved and putting of course, in readiness for the Masters Games Golf in April. Hit the ball, find the ball , hit the ball. Thankyou for your time and attention Geoff

Southern Ports Golf week 2014

Slow steady recovery day today after the week long tournament. Not good enough to get over the competition and finish a winner after the final round. The final 7 holes were my downfall and like all 54 hole competitions just like an 18 hole competition consistency is the key. On the 14th hole a double bogey and 17th a triple bogey and that was the end of my challenge. Too late in the round to be able to come back from that and the course conditions stymied any final charge attempt. The four of last five holes were played into the face of a 30-35 kph wind. I made too many mistakes at the wrong stage of the round that was all. Finished tied in ninth place on the day Nett 76. Total Nett for the competition 219. Winning A Grade nett score was 216, second place in the nett went to 218 score. Yes dear readers, one shot off a podium finish. BUGGA! Went to the presentation night to congratulate a home club mate who won the A Grade off the stick tournament. Got a surprise myself in winning the progressive nearest the pin, Sponsored by Youngs Menswear in Mount Gambier. In fact the home club had several tournament champions. Winning the C grade Men Championship and Veteran, Ladies C Grade Veteran, B Grade Gross R/U and the A Grade Gross Champion. Hit the ball, find the ball , hit the ball. Thankyou for your time and attention Winners are Grinners (Also picked up worst dressed golfers at presentation.) Thankyou for your time and attention, Geoff

Golf Practise is what works not procrastination..

Friday afternoon joined in the 9 hole Chicken Run competition for the first time in a few weeks. Needed to have a social round as well as put the recent training and practise to the test in a competition. Had been a gradual loosening up since returning home on Wednesday using the DreamSwing to full effect and getting the swing consistency established. Soon had the irons on song in the first day, the driver was a two day process. The tightness from travelling and a little involuntary self protection was the fault. Had a slice/fade that was caused by swinging with the arms and not rotating the body at the hips during the swing. This is not a new thing for me it is caused by reaction to a long time injury. Sure enough once I had worked through the tune up and got to the Driver fix it took nothing more than making a conscious effort to stop the slice. Short game fault was also caused by the same problem and was fixed as well. End result was an easy 18 stableford point score in the Chicken Run. Today will put in a 30 min session in the morning and afternoon just to keep the golf tuned up. Playing 18 holes on Sunday at Robe before the first round of the Southern Port Golf tournament at Beachport on Monday. Did make one other game change using the Cobra S3 irons again. It was not planned more a whim to compare them with my reshafted Ap2 irons. Once again the Cobras feel much better balanced and with more 'touch'so it is likely they will be in the bag for Southern Ports Golf Week. Hit the ball, find the ball , hit the ball. Thankyou for your time and attention Geoff

2014 Masters Games at Naracoorte

2014 Masters Games at Naracoorte from the 3rd to the 7th of April. Will be registering for the event next week and looking forward to enjoying the golfing competition again. Hopefully will do a little batter than in 2011.

Sport Levy: $50pp Coordinator: Aaron Osman aaron.p.osman@gmail.com and Marlene Bull Email: bullfish1@bigpond.com 0428 622 181 Age Groups: Men's and Ladies: 35-44, 45-54, 55-64, 65-74 and 75+ Dates: Friday, April 4 - Shotgun Start - 2 person Nominated Ambrose (no fixed gender category) Combined Age: 70-99, 100-129, 130+ Saturday, April 5 - 18 of 36 Hole Championship Stroke Round - Men's and Ladies: 35-44, 45-54, 55-64, 65-74 and 75+ Sunday, April 6 - Second 18 of 36 Hole Championship Stroke Round - Men's and Ladies: 35-44, 45-54, 55-64, 65-74 and 75+ Social Activities: Dinner and Drinks Saturday Night at Naracoorte Golf Club Venue: Naracoorte Golf Club, Riddoch Hwy, Naracoorte Food & Refreshments available at venue http://www.naracoortemastersgames2014.com.au/sports.html Thankyou for your time and attention, Geoff

A win in more ways than one...

Tuesday 11th Feb. In the past three seasons by this time of he year I have been in dedicated training for the Southern Ports Golf Week which begins on the last Saturday of February (for the past 39 years.) If it was not for the shoulder injury that would have been exactly what would have n\been my golfing experience since December. Instead I have barely picked up a club and this weekend was my second competitive round for 2014. It is a new development that my attitude has been revamped and invigorated with the simple pleasure of being able to get out and just play golf again. The Ace last week has added an even stronger belief that I can do anything on a golf course and we all know how important confidence is for the game. This past weekend I went out and enjoyed the round and won the competition as well. Golf is not a game that requires superb fitness to play well. Thankfully, as athletic prowess is not something I have much of. Over the last three holes I was definitely flagging in strength and condition, much better stamina than last week though. While it is not a game requiring excellent fitness, I believe that 'match conditioning' is needed to play good golf and that is not about athleticism. As I once again am going through a period of physical rehabilitation and recovery, about the 60th time since 1982 it feels as good as can be expected. Definitely believe and feel this recovery is enhanced by the much improved fitness and condition from playing golf and associated exercise since 2009. The anger at having to do physical rehabilitation again is not diminished, let's not go there and risk collateral damage. I do channel the energy of anger into my motivation. It is very powerful and has to be tempered so it does not create one of those painful golfing dickhead personas on the course. I am a very happy person always. It is a lot more fun using anger for golfing motivation today than it was 20 years ago when using it as energy to be able to get out of bed or just walk along a street. Warning using the 'No Pain No Gain' adage at me will deliver a kick to your groin and a beaming smile from me, while saying "Pleased to be able to help you." Always good to get that darkness out of my system and get on to the next step forward. Today is the follow up chiropractic treatment and the improvement since last week have been excellent. so much so that I am know starting to plan the Golf Week strategy with a belief that winning is possible again. My major game concern is the start of a gay fade off the tee block has began to feature. That is caused by the physical shoulder damage and should not be a major problem to overcome in the next two weeks. That long running problem with poor green in regulation statistics has been improved since returning to play in the past two weeks. The limited practise I have done was with the 7-8 irons hitting 20 odd balls without any pressure. which has carried over to my competition play. Chipping is poor at the minute. Simply as I have not been able to endure the required amount of repetitive practise to get consistent of late. Yet with these failings my golfing is good enough to win as I am playing confidently and not trying to "play out of my skin". All I can rationalise it down to is the hiatus in playing has let my game settle down and be refreshed mentally. The improvements from using the Dreamswing in 2013 are now seen as my usual game and not the 'new' game that was always being mentally noted while playing last season. Hit the ball, find the ball , hit the ball. Thankyou for your time and attention Geoff

Hole in one today!!!

Sunday 2nd February. Hole in One Day! Yes dear readers today I achieved one of golfs holy grail's for players. Surprised of course, watched the ball fly towards the hole hit the edge of the green pop up into the air and bounce on the full into the hole. A #4 Hybrid on the fourth hole a 165 metre par three.

I think this was my first 18 hole competition outing in 6 to 8 weeks at least. Resting up recovering from injuries and busy with work as well has curtailed even practice sessions of late. Today a mild 34 degrees and free from work commitments so I bit the bullet and decided to get out and enjoy a social competition round. You know that you are respected when the captain comes up introduces himself and proceeds to tell you that golf requires holding the rubber handle bit and hit the ball with the club shaped bit. The greens keeper asks if you have paid your green fees as that is required by visitors when playing on the course. Put the pressure on for the rest of the round, after scoring the trick shot. I had a sudden ramping up of pride in not wanting to get the ace and then score 30 points. It was flaming hard work the injuries were tender and had a decent limp with the right groin and hamstring at the limit by the 18th. The dodgy shoulder was totalled after the 16th. Yet the never give up attitude had me throw everything into the last hole, best drive of the day 250m +, green in regulation almost a birdie and finished with a 3 point par and 37 points.

Once again failure to get greens in regulation was the weakness in my game. Struggled with chipping and still not disappointed considering the lack of recent practise. Sitting here well fueled with cider, ice packs on shoulder and proud that I rose to the occasion, hurting or not to play as well as i did. Pride may be something others frown upon I do not. Today I aced a hole and tried my best to score well to do this justice. Thankyou for your time and attention. Hit the ball, find the ball, get it out of the hole and do a happy dance. Thankyou for your time and attention , Geoff