My Golf...

19/12/11 We have started a series of FREE 1 hour Junior Golf Clinics on the Sundays of School Holidays in January. This is an evolution of 3 years of unrelated Junior Golf events at the club in that there was no set plan. The beginning was a “come and try golf day” each year on a long weekend also the running of a Junior Golf Tournament in a season. Each of these had varying success in getting kids playing. Come and Try Golf first was a winner every time with 12-20 kids having a hit.

The Tournaments were harder as they clash with other regional and state events and being country based that makes it difficult by location alone. That said in 2011 two juniors came from the SA Riverland to the Limestone coast to play. A long trip to play golf but country golfers are used to that.



This was done purely as a must do activity initiated by the club captain, what it did was give the club a base to develop more from. Next came the regional Golf SE school coaching clinics which another golfer has volunteered to do after getting involved at his home club and seeing the number of juniors who do want to play golf coming out on the course. Hence we have the Primary School students doing golf activities at the school and then have a class trip to the course to do the same activities on a golf course plus play a few modified holes.



Hence at our club which has 2-4 junior golfers who occaisionally have a hit with parents, and play a few rounds of club golf and no junior golf competition at the club we were aware that there was an interest in golf among the juniors in the town and region. The next step was for another club member to see this interest and see the “market” which was there and develop an action plan. Then put the information to another member (Club Captain) who then contacted the regional golf assoc. who supplied a junior golfing kit. Then two members who are parents volunteered to help out and a letter was sent to the local school to be sent to parents before the end of year and on Sunday we have 10 kids turn up for an hour on a Sunday morning to hit golf balls for fun. Following the easy golf exercises supplied with the kit, starting inside with putting and the rubber balls. Then outside with the 7 irons, the kids had fun several were very good at basic golf skills in fact.



The result is that by the end of January when school returns from 1 hour on Sundays I expect the club to have a core of 10 (at least) junior golfers who we can organise a comp for when before there was nothing. It was from a combination of Golf Assoc. support, club committee support and members doing things that they are good at, besides playing golf that is. IE Organisation, Networking, Coaching, Marketing, Promotion.



It did not happen overnight, it was three years in the making from a disparate group of individuals who all “Did Stuff” off their own back in club activity. The key word is “activity” it is a task that for volunteers relies upon good spirit and generosity as well as Association support. Volunteers are not employees, they do not have to do anything unless they want too. There is a “market” for want of a better word, out there for junior golf. All of the statistics, analysis, data correlation is good reading and valuable knowledge. Like all information it does nothing except feed minds and sit there being available. For clubs it has nothing to do with a money focus, that is for businesses. By encouraging the Junior Golf activity the flow on of new golfers, new members all can benefit the club professional and the general club environment. Importantly it has given the club a future. We want to develop and encourage golf, that is in our club constitution.



Any club can start to do it as well. All you have to do is stand up and say “I will do this…”

Thankyou for your time and attention, Geoff

Kingston SE Open preparation...

14/12/11 Wednesday, Left 4 hours early at 10 am, to get to Adelaide today so I could drop into Kingston SE and play 18 holes on the way. Had the Wilson blades in the boot, to give me my weekly workout with these irons as it is going to be less golf than of late, be in Adelaide until Friday and not enough time for golf. Yeah I know that is hypocrisy from my position, sometimes the game does get put second for doing things. Does not stop me thinking about the game though.




The hit at Kingston was the first there for a few months and a must do in preparation for their Summer Open this Saturday. Used the Infinity 420 cc off the par 4 and 5 tees, only getting 200-220m with this club at the minute compared to the 220-250 with the Cobra. Yet once again smaller driver and back on the fairways with improved accuracy. Was just browsing GPJ’s thread and he had a comment about stiff shafts replacing regular flex in drivers and that has helped get that thought ticking away in my mind. The regular flex in the Infinity works well, I like the responsive feel of the club also. It is that ‘need to experiment’ facet of my mind which really wants to know if a change in shaft would be a good thing? Not an urgent consideration as I am still enjoying the return to playing and getting some form back.



The blades were a bit of a hinderance in the hands, the AP2’s are quite a bit longer and sweeter to hit. That said, I still popped a neat 86/nett 74 with 34 putts around the course. The whole point of using the blades is it sharpens my ball striking and concentration in setting up for shots to get the best result possible.



Putting was a sloppy display, greens at Kingston were hard and dry but I will be in good touch on Saturday on them. Had a couple of chats with the greens keeper on the way around. Always good to know how a course is travelling, all the new greens are up and running at Kingston and it is very pleasant to play. I have always found it a course which makes me play shots and rewards the player who does that. That said they have a few bird scarer’s banging away, same problem with Galah damage to the course we have at Robe. Fortunately we have the okay to shoot a few to scare them off.



As usual on the drive up did a bit of “golf planning”, going to need a decision made on taking a series of regular coaching sessions in January. Expensive proposition to have at least two per week for the month, yet I see that as the best preparation for 2012 season and the Southern Ports Tournament in March. It is not a problem to keep going along as I have for the last 3 seasons, that has been successful. Being a ‘hungry’ golfer though, logic says that needs to get an upgrade for the best results in 2012. Now in the A grade competition arena, professional coaching on a regular basis is the best way for progress, having established regular practise routines it has to be consolidated and improved.

15/12/11 Thursday. Had some free time this morning so took a trip into Adelaide to browse the Golf Porn Shops. Golf Clearance Warehouse has had a name change on South Road since my last visit. The beauty of golf club stores is that unlike a lap dance you can fondle the items of pleasure. As usual there was plenty of stuff to buy and the self control was in good form, purchasing was not an orgy of stocking up on clubs for another day. Walked out with 2 dozen Optima balls for $30, good value from a clearance sale of AFL Port Power monogrammed balls.


Then a drive to the Drummond Golf Range opposite the Airport to give the driver a workout and have a few hits with the 60 Degree wedge. I rarely use this iron with only two sand bunkers on my home track and prefering to use the pitching wedge in close. It is not a matter of preference more a case of being able to go along quite well without getting it out very often. At the range though I got to have a good 40 hits at pin/green targets. A lot of variation in the distances when aiming at 30 m away targets. Going anywhere from 5m long to 10m short of the aiming point. Then I had a good crack on the range with 20 balls, it seems that 55-70m is the max distance for me with this wedge. Still the same variation in distance so a lot of work on the practise track is penciled in for this wedge.


After that out came the Infinity 420cc 10.5 degree Driver and Cobra 3 metal for some practise. The Cobra was just along for the ride, some variation to mix up with hitting the driver. Did get maximum benefit though, improved accuracy with stance and opening the club face to keep repairing the ‘hooding’ fault.


The Driver was a great fun, getting 200-220 m on the full easily and with the summer run on fairways that is a good start. Far less tendency to slice with the smaller driver compared to the Cobra S9.1 and once again better accuracy and control of the club while swinging. Getting that front leg pinned to the earth and not bending the knee and the power was transfered to good straight long hits. Have to keep it a little in check as the accuracy quotient decreases with the longer balls. Nothing that some dedicated practise will not improve.


Did not bother to hit any other irons, the Wilson 1200 blades gave me a workout yesterday at Kingston. Looking forward to getting the AP2’s back in the bag on Friday. One of the staff had a look at the Infinity Driver and commented that the ‘deep’ face was better suited to a lower handicapper as it does not deliver much ball height once hit. I do not find this much of a hinderance in my game but it has been duly noted.

 Geoff

Correcting pull shots...

Had some free time today and made an effort to get the camera out and film my Driver and Iron strokes. It has been quite some time since this has been done and a lot has changed for the beter since 2009 when I did it the first time.








The driver practise was well due having not done much at all in the last month or so and concentrating the past two weeks on 9 hole exercise to get some fittness and match playing under the belt. The 420cc Driver used today was purchased just before the enforced lay off with the Golfers Elbow. Of late the realisation that I have to move back to a larger club head on the driver was covered with using the 460cc Cobra S9.1, stiff flex 9.5 degree.



Today I grabbed the regular flex Infinity 10.5 degree and after 7 holes of whacking the ball organised to go and do some serious set up and practise. This soon had the desired results and the ball was going straight and long. As with the other smaller drivers 380 and 400cc used of late, the 420cc one has a more sensitive feel and I can shape the ball and know what is going to happen.



Taking advantage of being set up with the camera I grabbed the 6 Iron and had a few hits. This was to get some footage of practising the corrections needed to remove the pulling of iron shots inparticular of late. The erratic shot play was making GIR a very difficult task.







I had combined two set up faults to cause the problem, hooding the clubface at address, also whilst lining my feet up to the target, the shoulders were being aimed to the left. These are minor corrections overall and the day after this was identified I played 18 at Robe and won with an 82 (nett 70) correcting the faults with ease. I also do not clear my left sde when hitting the ball but this can wait for a later date.



KIngston Open this Saturday and in a bit of form as well looking forward to the round. Will call in tomorrow on the way to Adelaide and have a 9 hole hit on the track at least. Thursday. if time is available, will get in a bucket of balls with the driver at Drummonds range in Adelaide as well. Thankyou for your time and attention. "Hit 'em straight all" Geoff

Back in good golf form - Naracoorte Golf Course

12/12/11 Monday. A weekend of golf has passed and 36 holes played at two courses, Naracoorte on Saturday and fronting up on Sunday at my home club, Robe for another round. Finally back into playing without the hindrance of an injury having a major effect, which with a -5 score in the Par Round at Naracoorte on Saturday could be seen as a misnomer. All square after the front nine the wheels fell away on the back nine. Too many bogies and double bogies caused by wandering off the fairways and into the tall timber to lose 5 holes and square 4. The Naracoorte track has always been a challenge for my game, with the natural layout of tall gums and dogleg fairways. It has been the best thing for my game making me have to work on getting accurate, and play technically better golf. Hence on the following day I get on the home track and win the competition with an 82 off the stick (nett 70) It was not arrogance or beer that had me say to my playing partners at Naracoorte that I would be in good form the next day at Robe.




The other benefit was the analysis of my swing by the single handicapper players in the group. After the game passed on the pointers to a problem that was earmarked for attention in the next coaching session. Of late it has been irritating with regular straight pulls of shots with irons and woods. It was nothing major as a fault and had been identified previously, when up in the low 20’s and teens of handicaps. I ‘hood’ the clubs’ at address. Also need to move the ball forward in my stance.






In my case it is the second of the two definitions, “Hooding the club” definitions; 1. In the more common usage, "hooding the club" means pressing the hands forward, which makes the clubface more upright, as a way to de-loft the club. A 5-iron that has been "hooded" will produce a lower trajectory than a normal 5-iron shot. This meaning is used when talking about lowering the ball flight, increasing roll or, on the green, producing top spin in a putt.



2. But some people think of hooding as something completely different. Many golfers and golf instructors refer to shutting the clubface as "hooding." By shutting the clubface, we mean closing it to, among other things, counteract a slice or produce a hook. In this usage, the hooded club's toe is pointing inward relative to the target line, rather than being square at address (a righthander would rotate the club counterclockwise to hood it, in this definition). A club hooded according to this definition can also be used to dig out buried lies in sand bunkers.



In my case it has not been done to counter a slice, simply something my eye has not identified as how the clubface is facing. This is further affected by the other fault identified which was my feet are lined up correctly but I have been letting my shoulders line up to the left of the target. If you set up with your shoulders aimed left of the target, you'll tend to straighten up at impact and hit pulls or weak shots to the right. Another factor identified is that I am not clearing my left hip in strokes either.



On Sunday, made the changes to correct the ‘hooded’ club face and once set up turning my shoulders 2-3 cm to the right. The hip matter can be put aside for the minute. What was noted by the observers was that I strike the ball well and even on mishits the ball travels in a straight line, not sliced or hooked. This has always been my goal, ‘Hit the Ball straight’. My game is attuned to that tenet, to get the ball to the target in generally the shortest distance from the tee. That I could make changes to long term established faults yet were in truth minor tweaks in 24 hours successfully was not good luck. I have never allowed for a slice or a hook in my game. All my efforts in practise from coaching advice was always around the tenet of hitting the ball straight. When my slice was terrible with Drivers I used a 3 iron off the tee in the first season. Winning the club handicap championship and a few monthly medals and other competitions along the way.There are many golfers who when I started are now 10 strokes behind me in handicap. Some definitely because I see them still playing to allow for sliced shots instead of fixing the problem and hitting the ball straight. I can not coach and do not give advice, even when asked except for my stock standard reply. You have a problem or want to improve your golf game, get professional coaching.



There has been another change to my game which was very effective on Sunday and Saturday for that matter. The putting practise in the last two weeks and the correction to a traditional putting grip returned 28 putts and winning the competition on the day. The handle runs under the butt of my left hand and the back of my right is parallel to my left. Position both thumbs directly down the top of the handle and left forefinger lies across the fingers of my right hand to provide unity. It felt good the first time in practise and obviously works for me. A lot of practise coming up to get better with the 460cc driver, accuracy is a must to get the benefit of the 20-40 m longer drives.



All up the coming challenge at the Kingston SE Summer Open, Saturday 17th December, will be a good test to follow up from the past weekend of golf. I carried the camera with me at Naracoorte and put together the round of my playing partners and a good vista of the course to share. There is also a section on an extremely rare orchid on the course. Found by chance recently, when a golfer looking for another’s ball recalled seeing a description of the flower of which approx 200 now known to exist in the world. 50 of those were found at the Naracoorte Golf Course. Importantly the players ball was not found, a one stroke penalty was applied and another ball had to be played. Thankyou for your time and attention, “Hit ‘em straight all”

, Geoff