Progress Update: October 5, 2009

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As the season winds down, I’m faced with a painful decision: either devote myself to reaching my goal of single-digit handicap by the end of the season, or continue to make big changes that will pay long-term dividends in exchange for short-term difficulty.

The golf season in this area comes to a close at the end of October.  I will continue playing throughout the fall and winter whenever possible, but scores can only be entered for handicap purposes until the end of the month.  I’m finding this goal becoming increasingly elusive at this point in time for the simple fact that daylight is becoming scarce and after-work practice and play is becoming less frequent.

To make matters worse, at my most recent lesson, my pro and I decided on a couple of changes that have to happen for me to take my game where I want it to be.  The biggest change is a weakening of my right hand grip.  This means rotating it more on top of the shaft, rather than the super-strong position it had been occupying more on the side of the shaft.

Since starting to make the change, my ball striking has seen some definite improvement.  I’m catching the ball more solidly than I have all year.  However, if any of you have ever worked to consciously change your grip, you know that it isn’t easy because there is a long period of discomfort and it’s easy to mindlessly revert to the old way on any specific shot.

On top of that, I’ve been working on keeping the club face a little more open at address, and with a little more loft (i.e. hands back a tiny bit).  These two changes have had the benefit of helping me hit the ball a little higher, and have also transformed my typical ball flight to somewhere between straight and nice fade.

The discomfort I’m feeling as I try to groove the changes has triggered a little erratic ball striking here and there, making it difficult to score.  It has also led to another problem that wasn’t entirely unexpected.

The recent change to my grip hasn’t really turned it into a weak grip so much.  More like, my grip is now somewhere between neutral and strong, maybe a little closer to neutral.

Obviously, with my right hand in such a strong position and the club face maybe ever so slightly shut at address, I needed to delay the release of my hands and arms or risk hitting a massive hook.  Now when I try that with a grip that’s not as strong, it promotes a strong fade.

With the driver, this has led to a massive push-fade and even a slice at times, sending the ball 50-75 yards to the right.  Yes, I’ve had to take the Walk of Shame to adjoining holes a number of times in the last couple of weeks.  The problem diminishes down through the shorter clubs, with some really nice shots coming from the short irons.

Clearly, though, I need to work a little on a proper release of my hands and arms at impact.  This probably calls for a little video analysis, as well.  That will help me understand what’s actually going on, and to make sure I don’t start fixing things that aren’t really broken or even over-fixing things that are.

At the top, I misled you a little.  I said I had a difficult decision.  As much as I’d like to reach my goal of a single-digit handicap by the end of the season, it’s really no decision.  I’m always going to pursue the avenue that will provide me with the best long-term benefit.

With the season winding down, I need to commit to making these changes stick before winter gets here, or I’m going to find myself doing it again when spring arrives.  I’ve told you all before, but here it is again: I’m in this for the long haul.