Swing Keys (V2)

My go-to swing keys at the moment. The goal is to familiarize myself with these so they eventually become second-nature.

PRE-SHOT ROUTINE

• G.A.S.P. (Grip, Aim, Stance, Posture)

• Take 1 or 2 meaningful practice swings. Last chance to think swing thoughts.
• Visualize the line of your shot and where you want the ball to land.
• Address the ball, align yourself to the target line, and let it fly!

SWING THOUGHTS

• STAY LOOSE; NO TENSION
  
• GET COMFORTABLE WITH THE BALL POSITION
  
• MINIMIZE TIME OVER BALL
  
• SMOOTH TEMPO ( 1-2 )
  
• ROTATE ON SPINE ANGLE
  
• SHORTER BACKSWING
  
• PULL CLUB DOWN; DON'T CAST
  
• HIPS START DOWNSWING
  
• POST UP ON LEFT LEG
  
• ACCELERATE TO IMPACT
  
• CLEAR HIPS, STAY BACK
  
  

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Anger Management

It's been over a year now since I picked up the clubs and decided to take this game seriously. Since then there have been a fair share of extremely high and low times. Based on the title of this post, I think it's clear that we won't be talking about the high times.

Last year, I played a round with my bud Geoff and I remember hitting a routine bad shot. It wasn't a shank or anything disastrous in that nature, but I remember losing my cool and proceeded to slam my club into the ground. Geoff yelled at me and I remember regretting it the second I lifted the club over my head. I honestly can't remember that last time I got that angry. I told myself I would never behave like that again. I knew it wasn't going to be easy to remain calm when another situation like that occured, so I turned to the mental game reading material. I learned a lot and for the next 6 months I seemed to have my emotions in check...........until today.

Earlier in the day, I went to hit a bucket of balls at Ponkapoag's driving range. My swing felt pretty uncomfortable and my balls were doing things I've never seen before. I left there, came home, ate some dinner, and decided to head over to Faxon Park to hit some wedges. The grass is usually pretty high on this particular baseball field, so it's pretty much simulating any golf course's thick rough. Within the first 5 minutes I began shanking balls one after another. Since I started playing golf, I really haven't had the "shanks", but when you start hitting them consecutively, it's incredibly infuriating. After my fifth shank in a row, without stopping, I spun around and whipped my 7-iron blindly into air. In the .125 seconds it was flipping through the air, the lone telephone pole, impeded the club's progress. The club seemed to wrap around the pole for a split second and then bounced right back. The damage was done and my 7-iron paid the price for my child-like behavior. In retrospect, I regret every second of it but it was also very relieving. Luckily no one was around to see things unfold the way they did. I think I need to take a break from going to that park. Every time I go there my expectations are to high and I end up leaving pissed off because I expect to hit beauties out of thick rough. Rediculous. This game can really push you to your emotional limits and I need to be able to handle these scenarios better—because they can arise any day and won't be gone for good anytime soon.

Telephone pole (1-0)

7-Iron (0-1)

Flat vs. Cupped Wrist

Within the first year of playing, I began to take notice of player's wrist angles at the top of the backswing. Mostly concerning myself with the pros, I noticed they all approached the top differently. Dustin Johnson has a bowed left wrist, Ricky Fowler has a flat wrist, and Nick Watney keeps a cupped wrist. Naturally, I maintained a cupped left wrist at the top. I wondered what a flat wrist would do for me, so I tried to groove it into my swing and within a month or so I began to use it without thinking about it every time I swung. My consistent slice and fade of the ball seemed to straighten out. Fast forward to about 6 months later, slowly the cupped wrist began to creep back into its natural habitat and the fades returned. So, last week I happened to catch another great episode of Golf Channel's "School of Golf" and a fan of the show sent in a question about the difference between a flat and cupped left wrist. The show instructor simply explained that a flat wrist would be beneficial to a slicer and a cupped wrist would be beneficial to a hooker of the ball. This bit of knowledge seems to confirm my experience with the flat vs. cupped wrist. Now, I'm trying to develop more of a draw to my ball flight by getting the clubhead to rotate more through impact and it seems a flat promotes this sort of mechanic in the golf swing. I'll be testing this hypothesis and will surely record my progress at a later date.

Flat wrist

Cupped wrist

School of Golf: Pitching

As seen on the Golf Channel's "School of Golf"

Pitching (5–100 yd. range)

• Land your shots inside of 8 ft. to get into the scoring zone. Putting percentage becomes 50%.
• Use neutral grip, not strong or putting grip.
• Change your club grips at least once a year.
• Ball position should lie in the middle of your stance. It's all about stability.
• Hinging your left wrist is key.
• Practice a dragging motion follow-through with your left arm.

Seve's Secrets

1. Work on pitching it with a 5-iron.
2. Keep left shoulder down on the down swing.
3. Compete with friends when practicing.

Drills

1. Place towels out in front at different distances and try to land pitches onto them.
2. Shuffle the club back-and-forth repeatedly, then walk up to the ball and hit it. This maintains a loose arm swing.

The Struggle (Part 1)

Sadly, because of my recent solid play, I wasn't prepared to write this entry; But, this is golf and I'm learning that poor form can come at anytime and bite you in the ass...and it has. My putting has remained solid and consistent in the last 5 rounds, but it's my swing and ball-striking that's been a problem. It all started a few weeks ago when Lynch invited me out to play with a bunch of guys he knew for a relaxed round at Norwood Country Club. I was pumped and really looking forward to getting out there and showing off my solid form.......and...yea......that didn't happen. When we got to the course I was surprised to find out that there was gonna be 16 people total in our group and that we were playing for money. This scenario sort of put me out of my comfort zone and I realized long ago that if I wanted to be a good golfer, I'll need to perform well in these situations. Starting the round, I was over-thinking everything, starting with a hook off the first tee, followed by a lost ball second shot, ending with a triple-bogey—not a great result in order to build your early round confidence. The rest of the round didn't turn out any better, as I continued to miss fairway after fairway, green after green. I had the uncomfortable feeling of not knowing where my ball was going when I stood over it. This is an AWFUL feeling and things just never turned around, so you basically have to move from hole to hole accepting the fact that you will continually hit bad shots. I realize that this isn't a great frame of mind, because if I'm not confident in hitting a decent shot, there's a great chance that I won't. What scared me is that my ball was hooking, snap-hooking, fading, slicing, popping-up, every trajectory possible. I usually make my mistake to the right, almost always, and I'm becoming knowledgeable enough to understand what the problem is and make a quick fix mid-round and be okay. In this situation, I just had no "feel" in my swing. Anyways, it was frustrating to swallow but my foursome had their fair share of shitty shots so that made me happy. Fast forward to two rounds later and days after I started this post and I tried to address the problem by altering my swing (bad mistake!!!!) and I'm beginning to realize that my recent problems lie well before I even start my swing motion. I happened to coincidentally catch an episode of "School of Golf" on the Golf Channel and the topic of discussion was setup and alignment. The host briefly addressed how critical the setup and alignment is to the success of every golf shot. It got me thinking about my pre-shot routine and thinking back to my rounds in the 80s, I was very strict and consistent with my pre-shot routine. I noticed that I've been a bit lazy following through  with the repetition in the last few rounds. As a result of watching the show and hearing that Jack Nicklaus once fell into a slump where he was mis-addressing the ball and the balls were hitting 30+ yards to the right of his target. I've been having the same problem!!! All my shots have been 30 yards to the right and I'm finding it difficult to turn through to my left-side during impact/finish. So, I'm focusing on executing my pre-shot routine for every shot. Sure enough during my last round, I returned to my normal routine and I immediately became comfortable standing over the ball with my driver. In no time, WHACK, straight down the middle. I'm going to monitor my progress closely with this one, I'm hoping things will turn around, but with golf, I'm sure "The Struggle (Part 2)" will inevitably arise as a new topic. Until then, I must remember to enjoy the good times.

Round: D.W. Fields

4 Players (Me, Erik, Uncle Russ, Russ Jr. )

Pre-round practice: Nada

18 Holes

Coming off two head-scratching rounds, this is a round I'd like to perform well. For starters, it is the first time playing with both my uncle and cousin, so I wanted to live up to the Mr.80s/birdie machine that they've been hearing about. I can admit I had some trouble sleeping last night in fear that I would shoot 110+, especially because the last two rounds have been an example of those scores. I have not been comfortable and I think I figured out that my setup/alignment got messy and was resulting in shots 30+ yards to right on everything. The round began with a fadey mcfader drive to the right rough, which I then blasted to the opposite-side of the green, into the bunker. That wedge I hit felt so uncomfortable, a feeling I hoped would be temporary. I finished the hole a double,  1-Up, bad-guys. Erik and I were playing a friendly skins game between the Swan crew. I opened the next hole, Par 5, with a booming drive with slight draw spin, longest of the group, ALAS! All fairway hope is not lost. I settled down and won the hole with a par. The remainder of the round included great drives, poor irons (uncomfortable for some reason), and my third career birdie!! It was the 10th hole and I smashed a drive dead center with only 60 yds. remaining. I played a soft gap wedge that checked next to the hole with 10 ft to spare. Stepped right up and sunk the putt! Woot! I was satisfied! Even if I missed every green from there on out, I was still satisfied with that score. Russ Jr. then of course trumps my birdie with one of his own on the very next hole. Great playing. Erik and I were up by as much as 4 for the round but lost by two in the end. Overall good day compared to my last two round. My expectations have been a bit too high since shooting the two 87s and I have to realize that it won't always be that way. I'm learning that practice is so key for consistency and I let my weekly wedge/chipping practice slip the last weeks and my feel for ball-striking is back to square one. It's all about confidence and the more I practice/review swing motions, the better I'll feel over the ball. Let the hard work continue...

Score: 94

Notable

Driving

Practice

Irons

School of Golf: Setup & Alignment

As seen on the Golf Channel's "School of Golf"

Everything in your golf swing is a result of your setup. Work on your setup every time you play, during your round.

G.A.S.P. (Grip, Aim, Setup, Posture)

GripGet it right.

Aim
Aim the clubface before you set your stance.

Setup
Setup parallel to your target line. Balance is key-not too much on your toes or heels. Stand shoulder width with a 6-iron. "A good setup makes a good golf swing and thus a golf shot, highly probable" –John Jacobs

Posture
Keep your lower back flat. Jump up and down while addressed to the ball. This should provide a feel of a natural posture.

Round: Woods of Westminster

1 Players (Me)

Pre-round practice: Quick putting

18 Holes

Excited to play another new course, located just outside of Fitchburg, MA. I got range balls, 18 holes and a cart for $38 - Can't beat it. I started off by myself and noticed another single up ahead, but as I continued through the first few holes, it was clear he had no intentions of anyone else joining him. I started the round very uncomfortable with all areas of my game. I carded a massive '10' on the first par 5. Eventually on the 5th hole, my swing started to click and I began roping drives down the middle. I played one of my most impressive holes on the Par 4 7th. It was a sharp dogleg right that turned at about 170 yd mark. I tee'd off with a solid 5 iron to ideal spot with a perfect look into an intimidating uphill green about 166 yds away. I absolutely pured my 6-iron to about 12 ft from the cup. Left my putt inches off of the right-side of the cup and tapped in for par. The coolest hole was the short 250 yd. par 4 9th. It was a massive elevation drop-off overlooking the clubhouse and Mt. Wachusett in the distance. I chose the 3-metal and crushed it just off the right-side of the green and it seemed like the ball was in the air for a solid minute. Unfortunately I flubbed the chip, which was the theme of the afternoon, and ended with a bogey. The course overall was deceivingly easy with very short par 4s (ie. 240-260) with no fairways. The challenge is driving the ball online into the greens, but the rough was thick and I had trouble getting up and down for par. I had about 5 birdie putts all unconverted which could of made a huge difference in my final score.

Score: 97

Notable

Long irons, Par 3s

Practice

Club selection for chips (long, medium, short range)

Hole #9 - Par 4 (250 yd. bomb-drop!)