Despite feeling like junk today, I dragged myself to the range to hit some balls and get in some work in anticipation of my first round of the year tomorrow. Unfortunately, I’ll have to cut it short as I have a softball practice to run 4 hours after I tee-off which sort of stinks. Either way though, I literally am jumping out of my skin looking forward to kicking off what is sure to be the greatest golf season of my life!

Yes, I’m pretty jacked up…

At the range, I hit the ball pretty well and am really loving my new Nike driver. I’ve been working really hard on my posture in particular and can really feel the difference when I get it right. That said, I think I may be standing up as I make contact with the ball. Plenty to work on for sure!

I also had a chance to get some chipping and putting work in which was nice. I have a lot to learn in that part of my game, I feel like I have stone hands and hit everything either way to soft, or I completely crush it. That said, I hit some great shots today using my sand wedge out of fairly deep rough onto the green.

More to come tomorrow for sure!

We finally got a decent break in the weather here in CT this weekend and I took a few hours to hit the range for the first time in more than 3 months. Armed with my new Nike Driver and grip lessons from Coach Dave, I bought myself a supersize bucket of balls $13!!!) and started to work on some things.

I took Dave’s advice and really loosened up my grip, trying to keep it at a 2 out of 10 on the pressure scale. I like to warm up with half swings using a 7 iron first and after 5 or 6 balls, I was connecting solidly and started taking some full swings.

It was ugly. Slices and hooks all over the place! I went back to taking half swings and once I started hitting the ball solidly again, I worked my way back to taking full swings. I was better this time and moved up from the to the 5, then 5 hybrid, 3 wood and finally my driver.

It felt great. I tried to stay loose and keep my grip nice and light. I hit the wood and driver really well which felt terrific.

With 16 balls left, I challenged my friend to a chipping contest - 8 balls each to a green about 40 yards away. Using my lob wedge, I was close on almost every shot, but only stuck one. I won in a tie-breaker, my 5th shot landed on a fake sand bunker connected to the green and my buddy gave it to me as a tie-breaker. Only sticking 1 of 8 wasn’t great, but it was good enough today!

Now it’s your turn! Do you have any video of your swing? Upload the video to Youtube (or any online service) and e-mail us the link. We’ll take a look, give you a review and help you improve your game just like that! Golf is Hard, but that doesn’t mean we can’t help you get better!

The photo is me in mid-waggle… I put my phone on the ground and let it take some short video!

This post is a blatent (but unforunately, unpaid) advertisement for the website http://www.mytpi.com/ and the Golf Channel show “Golf Fitness Academy.” I was watching this weeks episode while working out this morning that featured the very cool Ben Crane. First up, the fitness show is terrific. Tons of great exercises and tips that you can use immediately.

But thank god I watched through the credits because I learned about http://www.mytpi.com/ - the companion site chock full of content and amazing interactive tools. I visited thesite this morning after working out and was so excited to see the terrific catalog of exercises. I was inspired and developed my very own workout based on their tips and tools.

The best part about the site though is the “View My Swing” tool. The site allows you to record your own swing and use their analysis tools and content to start to figure out all sorts of stuff. Personally, I saw how curved my posture is, and confirmed that I do in fact, sway like crazy in my swing. I’m telling you, this is one terrific golf web site.



(This isn’t me, just an example photo)

Totally forgot to blog about my most recent lesson… the pro told me that I was using my right thumb to press down on the club and it was causing me tons of inconsistency. I hit a bucket of balls with him looking on and started to really feel that the proper (and new) grip was allowing my arms to release. When I managed to hit the ball square, I could feel the extra power and saw the results immediately. Problem was, my hands feel so weird!

Besides the grip, he has me bent over way more than I was in a much, much more athletic position. I hope that it will stop me from swaying, which apparently is the cause of most of the chunking that I do during a round.

We’ll see how this plays out - I’m in Myrtle Beach next week playing courses way, way harder than my home course. Uh oh :)

I call my handicap a “cap” because I want to be cool like the kids. I found an absolutely incredible article on Golf.com from Dave Pelz that you have to check out. I hope it really will help me drop my ‘cap.

I especially love the graphics showing where pros hit their balls vs amateurs.

My favorite tidbits from the article:

Driving: Hit for accuracy
Do whatever it takes to hit the fairway, even if that means hitting 3-wood or a hybrid off the tee. If you give up 10 percent of distance for 10 percent more accuracy, you’ll shoot lower scores.

Yep… I started this trick at the end of last year by simply forgetting to pack my driver!

Par 3-Irons
Go long
Select the club that will get you to the back edge of the green. The ball will end up past the flagstick if you catch it pure, but no harm done since your shots are rarely straight enough for you to make the next putt anyway. Choosing a stronger club will carry your average shots closer to the hole, leave shorter putts and keep you out of hazards

Sand Shots
Play the ball forward
Try this: Hit a normal wedge shot from grass. Notice how your divot is forward (toward the target) of the center of your stance. This exact same swing which contacts the ball before it hits the ground on fairway shots can also serve as your sand swing. It will correctly hit two inches behind the ball in sand if you simply position the ball forward.

Putting
Pelz asks for favors this season: (1) Focus on rolling putts beyond the hole on average; (2) Allow for a little more break on every breaking putt you see; (3) Recognize that for every putt you leave short you’ve thrown away a chance of holing it; and (4) Realize that until you miss as many putts above the hole as below, you’re STILL not reading enough break on average. Do these things for me and you just may start putting like a professional.

Interesting… for me - I either leave putts way short - or they go a mile. Drats.

Read it, it’s good stuff!

Been working really hard on hitting better chip shots with my wedges. I’m so inconsistent!

I found a good note on Golf.com and thought I’d share. I’m going to try the one-handed drill Pelz recommends immediately (well, maybe this weekend).

Practice hitting wedge shots with your lead-arm only. When you first try one-armed swings, your shots may turn out badly. Don’t worry and don’t stop trying. Stay with it for a few sessions, making sure you move your body as normal. As your strength and timing improve, you’ll start hitting some reasonable shots.

and in the basement.

I managed to sneak away for 30 minutes and hit a quick bucket of balls tonight. I grabbed my PW, 5 and 7 irons and wanted very specifically to work on a 2-piece takeaway that I read about in a golf magazine. According to the article (I’m too lazy to go find the link right now), you take the club head back with your wrists first, then turn the shoulder.

I had great results with this move - I think it acts a bit like a timing mechanism for my body. The thing is, I really think I have figured out one of my major issues. When I take the club back, I sway quite a bit like I’m going to hit a baseball. I did in fact play baseball. After all these years I do believe I still have a tiny bit of muscle memory!

When I’m very conscious of the turn I feel like I’m on a pivot I hit the ball very, very well. I hit a 5 iron the furthest I’ve ever hit one today - it must have gone close to 170 yards. I was shocked because I didn’t even feel the ball on the club - just like in baseball when I hit a homerun. It felt great.

Then, tonight, I not only cleaned all my clubs with some soap and hot water, but I practiced putting a bit on the carpet in the basement. Totally loving my new hand on thigh, left hand low routine I’m developing.

I’m addicted, I know.

I’d blog a bit about this weekend’s golf action, but what’s to say other than I’d be very scared to play Doral. To me, it looks like a nightmare!

The weather was perfect today in CT and I knew I’d find myself at the range. I ended up with 3 buckets of balls and really started to work on my swing. I’m focused on the turn and trying to avoid the sway. I tend to chunk the ball when I’ve swayed so at worst, I’ve got myself a warning system in place and ready to go.

I spent about an hour hitting balls. picking out targets and rotating through my clubs. I think I must have gotten tired towards the middle and started really hitting the ball poorly after a great start. After 5 solid drives, my driver went back into hibernation. After 3 or 4 pop ups and mishits, I put it away for safe keeping back in the bag where it will remain for most of this season.

I also think I’ve found that I’m rotating my hands too much at impact, unlike last year at this time, I’m hooking the ball consistently which is the opposite of my normal slice. I know my faithful slice will return at some point though - it’s lurking around. In the meantime, I’ve got to find a way to get the club head square at impact again.

Distances are a bit hard to gauge at this point but I did manage to hit bunch of balls cleanly with my PW, GW and LW.

PW is 100-110 yards at 90-100%. I just can’t seem to hit it much further than that.
GW is 80 yards at 90%.
LW is 50 yards at 90%

After the range, I hit the putting green and took about 100 strokes, setting balls up at various distances and lies. My left hand low grip feels great on the course, but I do think I need a new putter. Because of how thick and solid it is, it seems as if there is very little room for error in speed. A tiny bit extra sends te ball flying, and a tiny bit less lands me a ridiculous distance from the hole. That said, my new grip, along with a slightly new routine seems to have me on target and closer to the pin than I can remember from last season.

Finally, 30 minutes chipping - my least favorite practice drill. Happily, I did well using my PW as my primary chipping club. I’m confused if that’s the right club to use, but I did fairly well with it.

After a 2 hour practice, I feel like I should be getting ready to try out for my high school golf team - too bad I’m 38 and not in high school. Or good enough to make any sort of team.

Now it’s time to watch some golf on TV and relax before dinner!

Hit the range today for a bit and really focused on trying to keep my wrist flat at the top of my swing. It took a half a bucket but I finally was feeling it. It was subtle but when my wrist stayed flat at the top, I felt like my swing was much more on plane and was actually swinging around the arc better.

The other thing I noticed was how smooth my swing felt when I was able to keep my wrist flat. Super interesting to see how such a subtle movement can affect my swing.

Can’t wait to hit another bucket this weekend and work on it some more.

What I did well:

• flat wrist action
• hit solid pw, gw
• felt I hit the driver well
• solid contact on hybrids

• Slow down!
• Stay focused
• turn and don’t sway - when I make a full turn with my shoulder and don’t sway, I make clean contact with the ball. I sway way too much and too often