When I arrived in Texas, I took upon the monumental task of rebuilding my swing with the help of a local pro. Things were slowly, but steadily turning around. I was spending a lot of time at the driving range. Probably too much, really, as I’ve hardly even set foot on a course this year (I started the process of moving here at the tail end of winter in New Jersey).

Around five weeks ago, I tweaked something in my hand or wrist at the gym during a workout. Whatever I did, I wasn’t even aware of it at the time. It started to ache ever so slightly after I was finished and on my way home. It hurts kind of at the back of my hand where my thumb starts to meet up with my wrist.

I’m sort of a “play through the pain” guy, so naturally, I found that I could still practice without too much discomfort. After a week of that, it started to get worse, so I took it easy for several days. On a trip back to New Jersey at the beginning of July, I played golf twice, and realized that I really needed to seriously rest it.

Since I came back to Texas on July 9th, I haven’t picked up a club, save for the occasional practice swing in my apartment, which I use to try and gauge whether it’s improving. Gripping a club isn’t painful, but swinging it is another story. You’d be amazed how much stability that stop thumb provides in the swing. Either that, or it just doesn’t take much resistance to make it hut.

It seems that it’s not getting any better, so my choice is to keep resting it, or to find a sports medicine doctor and get to the bottom of the problem. I’m probably going to end up doing both because who knows how long it could take me to get an appointment.

I guess the timing wasn’t too bad for this to happen, because it’s been over 100 degrees for nearly a month, so it’s a real grind playing and practicing in that weather. On the flip side, I feel like my momentum has been sapped. And my pro probably assumes I’m dead because I haven’t seen him for at least 6 weeks.

Fortunately, I have a few things to occupy the down-time, which is why I haven’t been active around here as much lately. One of them I hope to share with you at a future date. How’s that for cryptic?

That’s all for now. I’ll report back when I figure out what’s wrong or when it goes away on its own, whichever happens first. Now, I know how Tiger Woods feels. Well, as far as being sidelined with an injury anyway. I’m not really up on all the rest.

© 2007-2011 Life in the Rough. All Rights Reserved.

Progress Update – July 30, 2011

I’ve seen momentary flashes of where I’m going and I like it, but it’s a lot to digest and a lot to change so it’s slow going. Because of that, I started taking notes at the conclusion of each lesson so that I can help myself to remember what we talked about and to review before each range session so that I have an idea of what I want to work on.

I thought it might be useful if I shared my lesson notes with you, both so you can see what I’m working on, but also because you might find that taking notes after your own lessons has benefit as time goes on. A few times now, I’ve reviewed my notes and have realized I actually forgot key pieces of teaching. This helps me to make sure I stay on plan and don’t drift away from the important stuff.

The lists for each day are my raw notes as I took them at the conclusion of each lesson (I put them on my iPhone right at the range before I left). Following, in italics, are any explanations that I added for this post to give context to my thoughts. Some of them will seem nonsensical without a frame of reference.

May 7, 2011

• Straight back, hinge, miss Mike. [To keep me from yanking the club to the inside, Mike (my pro) stood off to my right side and told me that the club should not hit him as I take it back and hinge my wrists]
• Stand farther from the ball. [My previous pro liked me to stand closer to the ball. My current pro wants me to be further away, which gives me more room to swing my arms]
• Width at the top, elbow not so close.
• Finish with left knee straight, club handle pointed left. [We're trying to fix a bit of a lazy finish position]

May 14, 2011

• Straight back, make it go up. [This key is a continuation of the "miss Mike" thought from the first lesson and is possibly the most significant change I'm making. I'm taking my hands straight back, hinging the club earlier, and taking it straight up, not pulling it around behind me]
• Don’t get hands away from body. [I tend to take them back away from me on the back swing and then get them too far in front of me on the down swing.]
• Keep hands closer going back and get them inside (behind) coming down, not starting outward.
• Finish with hands higher, chest turned left, right foot more on toe.
• Grip with left thumb on top, not on the side. [My grip had become faulty, probably in a subconscious effort to make it stronger to help me flip the face square at the bottom]
• Do drills for takeaway, and coming down.
• Stop watching club on takeaway. [This is an awful habit I've developed, initially in a simple effort to check back swing positioning. Now, I'm having trouble stopping and when I let my head move to watch the ball, it throws me off. I'm getting better, but not there yet.]

May 27, 2011

• Fat shots come from flipping through impact. [In my case, I tend to open the club face at the top of the back swing, forcing me to need to flip it closed to have a chance at hitting a decent shot. Sometimes, this leads to fat shots when my timing is off.]
• Stop opening up the club face. Keep it square. [Cupping my wrist at the top was opening up the club face and causing me to have to manipulate it and rely on timing to get it square. This is one of the biggest causes of my inconsistency.]
• Hands straight back, closer to right thigh.
• Don’t take club head back inside. Practice against a wall. Club head should only gradually come away from the wall on takeaway.
• Don’t get arms so far away from body on the down swing.
• Don’t let left wrist cup on the way down or at the top.
• When coming back down to parallel, right wrist should be pretty bent (with lag). Club face should be square (what looks like closed from my view). Definitely not with the toe pointing straight up. [More on this in a subsequent post, but when I was learning the game, it was popular to teach that when the club shaft is parallel to the ground on the takeaway, that the toe should point straight up. Now, many people say that the club face should be square to the swing plane, or facing the ground somewhere out toward the target line.]

June 4, 2011

• Keep left wrist flat at impact. [My flipping action at the bottom leads my right hand to dominate and let my left wrist break down. This is one of the things that makes me hit the ball so high. I'm actually adding loft to every club.]
• Let club face keep closing past impact. [This is a key to help me keep from wanting to open the club face at the top and keep it open past impact.]
• Keep working on straight back and club moving up.
• Stop cupping left wrist and opening the face on the way down.
• Hit little half shots to work on left wrist. [It's tough to get this move at full speed. Hitting half shots is a good way to feel it.]
• At the top, work on dropping right elbow instead of starting with shoulders and hands moving out. [This leads to me coming over the top and pulling the ball left, something I've been fighting for a long time.]
• Lead with left wrist coming into impact but don’t stop turning.

June 11, 2011

• Coming down, feel as if someone is standing in front of me, pushing my hands back behind me (to the inside).
• Don’t let the face open coming down.
• Keep working on straight back, let it come up. [This is the same takeaway key from day one. I've made great strides there, but sometimes I lapse back into old habits.]
• Don’t slide hips right. Practice with bag off my right side and don’t bump into my head cover. [Sliding to the right keeps me from getting a good hip turn and subsequently prevents a full shoulder turn.]
• Stop watching the club go back. [After 5 weeks, this change is proving to be the most difficult]
• Stop cheating on the finish. Get all the way through. Turn the hips past the target. Let head come up.
• Rehearse the move from the top at home and before every shot. Don’t flip the club at the bottom. Try to keep the back of the left hand facing the target past impact.

There you have it. Five lessons worth of notes. This is everything I’m working on, and I have the blisters to prove it.

I’m curious to know if you take notes from your own lessons or even just from your own practice sessions. Drop a comment and let me know.

© 2007-2011 Life in the Rough. All Rights Reserved.

Lesson Notes

I’m finally pretty much settled in after my move to Fort Worth, Texas. I last updated you all back in March, and I told you that moving was going to be hectic, and it was. I actually haven’t stepped onto a golf course since I left New Jersey. Mostly that’s because, as I mentioned, I was trying to change some things in my swing and it all went south.

After I got here, I was spending a lot of time on the range trying to iron it all out and struggled, so I took some time and hooked up with a new golf pro here. I’ve had two lessons so far, and I really like where we’re going. Up front, I let him know that I’m not looking for Band-aids for my swing, so we set about making some fundamental changes.

In actuality, there’s nothing earth-shattering. In fact, some of the things were changes I’ve been trying to make but struggled with previously. Part of that comes when I start hitting the ball well because I learn to time things. But it never lasts because I haven’t build the solid foundation.

While I personally and professionally like my previous pro, I think I’ve benefited from working with someone new, because I’ve found that similar goals sometimes become easier to achieve when presented differently.

Let me kind of take you through the specific changes I’m making. I thought it might help to illustrate things if I took some photos that show the positions I’m working on getting to, versus the positions as they were.

Please note that the photos are not live swings, but rather me posing in the positions I want to illustrate. So, they may differ slightly from reality because, during the golf swing, what I do and what I think I do are often not the same.

Let’s have a look at the major changes I’m trying to accomplish.

Takeaway

I’ve been talking about fixing my takeaway for a long while. My previous pro tried to encourage me to take it straight back and up. What I tended to do, though, is take it back by moving my hands out away from my body. I also had too little set in my wrists and what little I had was happening too late. So my new pro kind of gave me the proper feel of what taking it back straight and getting the club up was supposed to feel like.

You can see on the left, where I’m taking the club back with my hands much closer to my body. On the right, I’m getting my hands out away from me. In the photo on the right, I’m probably actually more set with my wrists than I would be in reality, where I tended to sweep the club back longer.

In addition, I would re-route the club back inside on the way to the top, like  you see to the right. What would happen is, I would take the club out, like you see above (right), and then route it back to the inside. From there, I had little choice but to lift my arms in the latter part of the back swing. That put the club out of position at the top, with it pointing well right of the target, across the line.

Getting the club going straight-back, and up, lets me have the freedom to just set the club and then turn my shoulders to get the club in a good position at the top of the swing.

At the Top

You might remember from the videos that I’ve posted, that the top of my back swing was a mess. Let’s have a look at a comparison.

The photo at the right is indicative of how my club would get seriously out of position at the top. I didn’t have enough wrist-set and kind of just cupped my left wrist and lifted my arms up to get to the top. With the club in this position at the top, it puts me in a bad position to start the down swing and everything becomes about timing and correction.

The image on the left shows me in a much better position at the top. I’m probably not setting my wrists as much as I should be, but that’s one of the things I’m working on, so it will get better.

The Down Swing

Being in a poor position at the top kills my chances of consistency and that’s something I’ve seen over the last couple of years. I’ve suffered from a two-way miss which makes it very difficult to score.

One of the things that I’m working on now is bringing the club down more from the inside. In fact, that’s something I’ve been working on since last fall. I had some initial success, but working with my new pro has given me a much better idea of what it should actually look and feel like.

On the left, you can see what I was doing previously. I was suffering from a lot of toe hits. Part of the problem was returning the club to the ball with my hands too far away from my body. I had my hands and the club outside the plane, so I had no choice but to yank the club back in toward the ball right near impact.

As you can see on the right, I’m trying to bring the club down more from the inside, so that when the shaft is at the point where it’s parallel to the ground prior to impact, that the club points toward the target, instead of to the left.

Follow Through

Many people feel like worrying about the finish is a waste because the ball is already gone at that point. That’s true, but what happens there is indicative of what happened before impact. Have a look and my old and new follow-throughs.

Ok, it’s probably an exaggeration from my actual finish, but you can see the laziness in the photo on the right. I’m not getting my chest turned far enough and my right foot isn’t all the way up. Sometimes, I end up just kind if giving up on the shot and I stop turning my hips.

On the photo on the left, you can see where I’m turning my chest left of the target and my right foot finishes on its toes with my right knee close to my left. You can also see that my hands are fairly high. I’m not totally sure that’s the position my pro wants me in, but it’s as close as the feeling I could re-create at the time. I’ve haven’t seen myself in the prescribed finish position, but he has placed me where he wants me on the range. Over time, when I nail it and make it regular, I’ll be able to see on video what it actually looks like, but this is a close enough approximation.

Grip, Stance and Posture

I’ve always had a very strong grip, but one problem I’ve grown into is having my left thumb on the side of the shaft. We’re trying to get my thumb on the top of the shaft, but with the V’s (the lines formed by the thumb and forefinger) pointing at my right shoulder. It’s still a strong grip, but it’s technically correct now.

In addition to that, I’m trying to move further from the ball. My previous pro liked me to be a little closer, to encourage me to swing straight back and through, but my current pro (and Brant Kasbohm, in my recent online video lesson) wants me to stand a little further away, to have more room on the way down.

Digging it Out of the Dirt

So where does that leave me? Well, digging it out of the dirt, like Hogan said. I’ve been working really hard on these changes.

They might not sound like anything big, but they are. I’m really uncomfortable hitting the ball right now, and I’m not able to repeatably do the things I’m trying to do. I do OK during lessons and then gradually fade when my pro isn’t there.

That’s alright, though. I fully expected that, and am prepared for it. My only goal is to go back the following week a little closer to the goal than I was before.

I hit about 1000 balls between my first and second lessons. On one hand, it really helped me make progress. On the other hand, I torqued something near my ribs on my back (maybe a lat muscle?). So, after my last lesson, I’m forcing myself to take a week off. From full shots anyway. I’m still working on putting and short game.

Until I regain a level of comfort and can hit the ball reasonably well (i.e. with minimal tops, duffs, shanks, etc.), I’m going to stay off the course and keep working. Depending on when this muscle thing gets better, that could be a few weeks.

In the meantime, I’m going to keep working on short game, low speed drills in my apartment, and as much stretching and strengthening that I can handle without making the situation worse.

It feels weird not playing for so long, but I feel like I’m on the right path. Before I moved, I had just come out of winter and was really practicing and playing a good amount. So, it’s kind of a setback, especially with the beautiful weather we’ve had here this spring. In the end, though, I really believe these changes are worth it, so that’s what I’m doing.

© 2007-2011 Life in the Rough. All Rights Reserved.

Progress Update: May 17, 2011

First off, as you may know, I had bariatric surgery for weight loss last year. In the 6 months since then, I’ve lost 82 lbs. and I’m still going. I’m feeling better, and most importantly, I’m swinging better. That was a big decision moving forward for me and so far it’s really paying off.

There’s been another big decision that came up lately. Namely, I took a job within my company in Fort Worth, Texas. I start work down there around five weeks from now, in mid-April.

There are several reasons why I’m doing this, but one of the big factors is to put myself in a situation where I can play more golf during the year. I’m trading hotter summers for much more mild winters. That should eliminate the long winter layoffs that I deal with living in New Jersey.

Not to mention, there are lots of golf opportunities there, including a great practice facility near where I will be working.

It’s a big change and I’m very excited. Of course, it’s not easy moving 1,500 miles away and leaving all my friends and family behind, but this is something I want to do. As I said, there are several reasons, but being in a better environment to grow my golf game is definitely one of them.

The next 6-8 weeks are going to be hectic, so I hope you will forgive me if I’m not posting much during that time. I promise, I’m not giving up, it’s just that there’s so much to do and it will take me time to feel settled in my new surroundings and to get up to speed in my day job.

Now, on to my golf swing. It’s only been in the last couple of weeks where the snow has given way and allowed me to get some weekend practice in. I’ve been taking full advantage and trying to work out the issues I told you about last fall.

I took a video of my swing yesterday using my iPhone. It’s a little shaky because of the wind, but here it is:

There are some definite improvements over the video that I took last fall.

Some things I like:

• I’m definitely more on-plane than I was last fall, where, if you watched that video, you saw that I tended to get the club very vertical at the top of the back swing.
• I’m not doing as much of the move where I kind of dip my head at the top of the back swing. That was helping to make the club more vertical at the top.
• My takeaway is following a much better inside arc.
• I’m doing a better job of turning my right shoulder more down and not coming over the top as much.
• My alignment at address is much better.

I still have a lot of work to do with these changes. This video was one swing where it all sort of started to come together. Most shots, however, were not as good with respect to the things that I’m trying to do, even though the resulting shots were mostly OK.

Even though there’s some chaos upcoming, I’m doing my best to keep working on these changes. I’m hoping to do another in-depth video analysis when I feel like these changes are starting to become more natural. Stay tuned for that.

© 2007-2011 Life in the Rough. All Rights Reserved.

Progress Update: March 6, 2011

I’m not sure why I haven’t done this sooner, but this morning, I decided to lug my video camera to the driving range and get some video. I wanted to break down the current state of my swing a little so you all can kind of see the things that I’m doing that I try to communicate in text, but that are much easier to digest visually.

I took the video, broke it down, and created this 9-minute or so analysis.

I already can’t stand looking at it because I want to fix those things I pointed out, and I know it’s going to be Saturday before I can get back to the driving range (maybe Friday, if I’m lucky), assuming the weather cooperates.

Feel free to provide any comments or criticisms and let me know if you find video analysis like this interesting and/or helpful. I’d like to continue with it and if you have any suggestions about how to make things more interesting or helpful to you, then please let me know.

In the meantime, I’m going to go to sleep and hopefully in my dreams I will have fixed that mess at the top of my back swing.

© 2007-2011 Life in the Rough. All Rights Reserved.

Video Analysis – November 28, 2010

Actually, this year has been pretty good as far as my golf game goes. I’ve learned so much and have made huge improvements in my swing.

Obviously, the big issue of late was my surgery. As you may know, I went in on September 7th for bariatric surgery to help me with weight loss. I’m happy to say that so far, I’ve lost about 46 lbs. I’m feeling better all the time and continuing to lose. I feel both mentally and physically better than I have in a long while.

I feel completely healed with respect to the surgery itself, though I’m not cleared to do any heavy lifting yet for another week. I’m really looking forward to get back to some kind of regular workouts. Some of that lost weight has been muscle mass, an unfortunate reality of losing so much so quickly, so I’m looking forward to putting it back on and saying goodbye to fat alone.

Golf-wise, I was cleared to start playing again a couple of weeks ago. Since the days are getting short now, I’ve spent the last two weekends trying to shake the rust off, yet again. These long layoffs are frustrating, but in this case, it’s for the long-term best.

I really started to feel my swing again this past weekend. I’m feeling a little more free flowing with some of the weight gone and at the driving range, I was striking the ball quite well.

Unfortunately, I’m not taking it to the course yet because my tempo is still off. That will be resolved as I get some more practice sessions under my belt.

Even more unfortunately, winter is creeping up again. I think my remedy is going to take a trip down to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina in the second half of November for one last push to get in some serious golf by the end of the year.

Even with these long layoffs, I can tell that each time I come back, it’s taking me less and less time to get back to where I was. This summer, I was down to shooting in the high-30′s and low-80′s for 9/18 holes. My short game was really solid and I was playing with a lot of confidence.

Between my long vacation and surgery layoff, I’ve kind of set myself back some, but I know I was really moving in the right direction and will continue to do so now.

I expect to have lost a lot more weight by spring and I know that next year is going to hold great things for me. I realize I say that a lot, but these are big changes in my life and I can really see the effects turning into good things for the future.

In the meantime, I’m going to cram in as much golf as I can before the weather turns sour. Maybe I’ll luck out and the winter will be relatively mild. Wouldn’t that be something? Either way, even if I can’t play often throughout the winter, I’m just going to concentrate on continuing to lose weight and renewing my commitment to fitness.

I’m really looking forward to the next few weeks so I can give myself a positive preview of spring.

© 2007-2011 Life in the Rough. All Rights Reserved.

Progress Update: October 27, 2010

OK, there wasn’t really much doubt in a logical sense, but for a week beforehand, the idea that a certain small percentage of people die from surgery or from post-surgery infections was weighing heavily on my mind, even though it probably shouldn’t have.

Anyway, the deed is done. I haven’t done much of anything for a couple of weeks, choosing instead to just relax and recover. I had more soreness the first week. Now it’s mostly just an annoyance and doesn’t bother me too much.

Well, except for tying my right shoe or picking something up off the floor. That gets really painful. I believe it’s from the internal stitches that were used to close the largest incision. Once they dissolve, I think that pain will diminish significantly. For now, bending over feels like someone is sticking a red-hot knife into my abdomen.

Surprisingly, since the first day of my pre-surgical diet, I’ve lost around 30 pounds. Since the surgery, I’ve found that I don’t really feel like eating much. It’s not painful or uncomfortable, it’s that I just don’t feel like it. Sometimes I get hungry, but not nearly as much as before. I do think about the things that I’d like to be eating, but since I can’t have that stuff it’s more like a daydream.

The lack of desire to eat probably has something to do with the fact that my diet is pretty limited right now during the extended healing process. Also, I’m told that removing part of the stomach reduces the output of Ghrelin. Known as the “hunger hormone”, its purpose is to stimulate hunger, so clearly it isn’t doing much stimulating anymore.

It kind of makes things a little difficult because I need to keep my protein intake at a certain level, so eating has become somewhat of a chore. I don’t think I’ve eaten 1000 calories in any day in the last three weeks. It’s kind of amazing.

With respect to golf, my doctor said I need to give it about four weeks (from the day of surgery). If I push it too soon, I risk getting a hernia in my abdomen where the incisions were made. They just need to heal up and I’m good to go. I need about six weeks total to completely resume normal activity (i.e. heavy lifting, etc.).

Don’t tell my doctor, but I took a few chipping swings in my bedroom this morning and felt fine, so I might do some chipping and putting next weekend, given that there’s really no exertion involved in that. I’ll wait the full four weeks to start taking full swings because I don’t want to risk a hernia.

I haven’t been doing a lot in terms of exercise besides walking around here and there. I think tomorrow I’ll hit the gym and ride the recumbent bike for a while and start to build up my stamina some.

I can’t wait to hit the golf course again. I’ve been playing so well lately. I’ve begun to break 40 on both nines at my course, which is something I haven’t been able to do until now. I’ve been hitting the ball well all around. My putting was even starting to come around.

Here’s to hoping for a mild winter.

© 2007-2011 Life in the Rough. All Rights Reserved.

Post-Surgery Update

It’s also something I’ve struggled mightily with since a very young age.

After a lot of research and preparation, about a week from today, I will be undergoing a surgical procedure to help me with weight loss, and hopefully to get the weight off, and keep it off for good. The procedure is known as a Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy.

I’ll leave the gory details for you to Google, but I want to talk about the situation some more detail.

I can’t remember a time in my life where I wasn’t overweight to a fairly large degree. At birth, I was 11 lbs., which I’m told is bordering on ridiculous, but it didn’t bother me any (sorry, Mom!). I think I was relatively normal in early childhood, but it wasn’t long before I was putting on weight.

Who knows what the factors are for something like that. Genetics? Psychology? Societal factors? Upbringing? I don’t know, but the situation is what it is.

I have believed since I started Life in the Rough that losing weight would be critical to my success. And I’ve tried 100 different ways to make that happen. I tried many times before Life in the Rough, and many times during. I tried named diets, I tried just changing habits, I tried tools like food journaling. Nothing has been successful.

I know a lot of you are thinking that it’s a simple mathematical formula of calories in and calories out and that all that needs to happen is for me (or any overweight person) to eat better and exercise more.

I implore you to believe me, it’s not that simple. No one wants to be in a situation like this. Maybe I’m weak or undisciplined. Or maybe there are genetic or biological factors that cause me difficultly. I don’t know, but I do know that I need a tool to help me succeed.

And that’s exactly what this is: a tool to help me succeed. It’s not a magic pill. It’s also not something decided on the spur of the moment. I’ve been researching and preparing for this since October. Nearly 11 months ago, I started this journey within a journey.

Last April, I read something about how one of my favorite players, John Daly, had tackled his own weight problems. Of course, I was highly interested, and learned that he had a surgical procedure called a Lap Band. I read up on it and was interested, but I kind of dismissed the idea because it felt like I would be “taking the easy way out” or “giving up”.

Around that time, I had a visit with a respiratory physician to address my newly diagnosed sleep apnea. He told me that weight is a factor and if I lost a bunch, it would probably go away. He’s the first person that recommended surgery to me. Again, I felt I could do it on my own and I felt the negative connotations of surgery.

Yet another failure. By summer, I had basically given up. Again. In late summer, though, I had given it some more thought and by chance, heard that there is a bariatric weight loss surgery program at my local hospital. Figuring I had nothing to lose, I went in for a personal consultation and then for a group information session.

I was quite surprised to learn that with lap band and sleeve gastrectomy procedures, the risk of complication is very low, and the long term success rate is very high. I had heard of gastric-bypass procedures before and about the serious complications and about how the success isn’t great for some people, so it wasn’t really ever an option for me. These other procedures, though, warranted more exploration.

From there, participation in the program (and health insurance coverage) demanded a lot of medical testing, psychological testing, nutritional education, supervised dieting, and support groups. This long process gave me a lot of time to take in all the facts, as well as to seek out information externally, to make a certain and informed decision.

With the vertical sleeve gastrectomy, part of the stomach is removed. I know, it sounds awful and dangerous and like something too drastic to even consider. It might seem that way, but complications are very low, and unlike the gastric-bypass, it doesn’t change the way the digestive system works. I just restricts the amount that can be consumed. Also, the part of the stomach removed is part that has to do with the amount of chemical that the body uses to trigger hunger, which as those of us who have dieted know, is one of the biggest sources of difficulty.

What seems awful and dangerous and too drastic to consider, to me, is diabetes, borderline high blood pressure, sleep apnea, lack of energy, arthritis, as well as risk of heart attack, cancer, and who knows what else.  It’s something that greatly diminishes quality of life. Not only that, but let’s forget life and death for a moment and consider why I’m here in the first place. I absolutely believe without any doubt that my weight has a detrimental affect on my golf game, in a number of ways.

So, that’s the situation in a nutshell. I definitely realize that there are many of you who don’t understand the need for something like this and maybe you never will. But there are also many of you reading this that should probably be giving it some thought.

At this point, I have already begun a pre-surgery high-protein diet. The purpose of which is to shrink up my liver a little, reducing the chance of it getting in the way during the procedure. On Monday, I will be consuming clear liquids only, in preparation for surgery. The procedure is first thing Tuesday morning.

I will have to stay overnight in the hospital. Assuming there are no leaks in the staples and assuming my digestive system functions as expected, and assuming everything else is fine, I should go home the following afternoon. I’ll be home from work for two weeks, and away from golf for about four weeks.

I’ll be on a soft diet for four to six weeks, at which point, I will begin to be able to introduce normal foods again. I’ll have to take a multi-vitamin every day forever and make extra certain that I always stay hydrated, and be sure to eat sufficient protein at each meal, which are all things I’m willing to live with.

While I’m anxious to move on with it, I’m also fearful of the unknown. Just being on this pre-surgery diet has been more mentally difficult than I ever expected. Knowing I’ve not succeeded with weight loss in the past makes me have that kernel of doubt that I can succeed now. Especially since, as I said at the top, this isn’t a magic cure, it’s a tool. It’s still going to be incumbent upon me to change life-long bad habits.

I certainly don’t relish the idea of getting surgery of any kind. I know that things can go wrong and that my life is literally in the hands of others. There’s a minefield of complications that are possible (though statistically very unlikely).

I’m definitely feeling the anxiety of the situation. But I’m also sure that I’m making the right decision. There’s too much to gain to not do this. I know all the risks and the down sides, and they don’t even come close to the risks and down sides of not doing it.

Part of me wanted to not even tell you all about this and just do it. But that would be kind of ignoring a big part of what it’s going to take to get me where I want to be. And another part of me typed all this out to make sure I’m really as convinced as I think I am. And yet another part of me realizes that there are some of you in the same situation that can benefit from knowledge of my experience.

Stay tuned in the coming weeks for updates mixed in with regular posts. I’ll let you know how everything turns out. If you want to know more about my experience feel free to leave comments and ask questions and of course, you’re welcomed to contact me privately, if you prefer.

© 2007-2011 Life in the Rough. All Rights Reserved.

Taking a Giant Leap

I’ve made mention before about some kind of rib pain that hit me on the driving range about five weeks ago. I was hitting shots when suddenly, in my follow-through, it felt like someone stuck a knife between my ribs in my side, kind of more toward my back.

I hung the clubs up for a week while I was in pretty bad pain, which only really affected me when coughing, sneezing, or swinging a golf club. At that point, I left town for vacation for three weeks. It slowly improved during that time. When I got home, I gave it one more week, which took me up to yesterday.

I went out to the driving range yesterday to test out the situation. I started with some nice easy wedges which caused no trouble so after a while, I throttled up to some full shots. I’m happy to say that aside from some slight tenderness, there was no trouble, and even a day later, I still feel fine.

On the bad side, after not having picked up a club for five weeks, I wasn’t feeling very comfortable or confident. I wasn’t hitting the ball terribly, but the rust was obvious.

On the better side, I didn’t lose as much ground in the short game as I expected. After finishing at the range, I went to the practice green where I felt much more in tune. More with chips and pitches than with putting, but that will come back quickly.

Surprisingly, the stuff from my last lesson that I had right before the rib injury came back pretty quickly on the driving range. Without question, my practice journal is a big help there. I also use it to keep notes from my lessons so I can easily put together problems with causes and fixes down the road.

At that lesson, I had worked on not fanning the club face open on the takeaway, as well as my ever-present issue of making sure my tempo is solid because when it’s not, my transition from the top is poor, causing me all sorts of problems.

I concentrated on those things and overall, it wasn’t a bad day at the range. A few more sessions, and I should be right back to where I was.

In a few weeks, I have a big change coming which will directly affect my quest (and life, in general) in a positive way. Stay tuned for full details on that.

© 2007-2011 Life in the Rough. All Rights Reserved.

Progress Update: August 15, 2010

Over the years, I’ve read a lot of books on the mental game of golf.  Dr. Bob Rotella has written a few books that I have thoroughly enjoyed.  Not only that, but I feel like they’ve given me great insight into something which I believe is important to play great golf.

This year, aside from playing my normal casual rounds, I decided to join a league.  I’ve played a few times this season so far, and I must say, I’ve really been stinking up the joint.  Don’t get me wrong, it’s been great and the guys I’ve met are a lot of fun.

But when it comes to playing my best, I’m just not doing it.  I’m getting killed out there.  My typical 9-hole score for casual rounds since the beginning of the season has been in the 40-42 range, which isn’t great, but represents a huge early-season improvement over previous years.

When I get out there in league matches, though, I’m lucky to break 50.  I had a similar experience in the club championship last year, shooting probably 5 or 6 strokes over where I was at during casual rounds at that time.

Now, I know, the first thing that comes to mind is that I’m wilting under the pressure.  Believe me, the thought has been swirling around my mind for a while now.  And, in fairness, I’ve been suffering from intermittent back spasms for several weeks.  It’s caused me some trouble, especially being able to practice as much as I want, but I just don’t think that’s the explanation for my problems in competition.

In fact, it occurred to me today that maybe my mental game is right where it needs to be.

Let’s roll back for a minute and think about some of the common aspects of the mental game teachings of those like Dr. Bob Rotella and others.

First and foremost, there is a component of trust.  It’s trust in the swing that you have worked hard to build.  As you stand there, ready to hit a particular shot, you need to have trust in your preparation and trust in the shot you have chosen to hit in that moment, and trust that your body will execute that shot at that moment.  There’s no room for consciously thinking about mechanics.

Beyond that, there is the ability to accept the result of each shot.  When it’s time to hit a shot, we need to be able to put the previous shot out of mind, no matter how bad it was.  We need to be able to live in that moment and to plan and visualize that shot, and to have the proper trust in place without being fixated on the ball that was just jacked into the woods.

On the swing mechanics, I’ve been working on a few items.  First, I’ve been working on making a fuller shoulder turn.  I’ve been kind of letting my core quit on the back swing and trying to get all the way back with more of my arms, which causes me to get in bad position at the top.  That keeps my weight a little to centered and on the down swing, trying to then shift onto my left side causes all sorts of problems.  Aside from these things, my pro has me playing the ball just a little further forward because my ball position had sort of crept back in my stance a little.  And, of course, I’m always fighting to keep my tempo even because I tend to get a little quick, especially with longer clubs.

Why do I bring that up?  Well, for one, these changes are relatively new, and not ingrained yet.  I can stand on the range and find each of these things (and a few others) and start to reliably hit shots.

What I can’t do, though is stand over a shot on the course and revert to trusting that my swing will perform.  It’s not so much that I don’t believe it will perform, it’s that it can’t.  I haven’t made these various changes permanent.  When I stop consciously thinking about what I want to do with my swing, it reverts to old habits all by itself.

It’s not a conscious lack of trust, so much.  I will admit that at the beginning of a match or a competitive round, I’m a little nervous, but after a few holes I settle in and mentally, I don’t feel much anxiety or any other negative feelings that might make me think I’m just wilting under pressure.

I’ve noticed lately that during casual rounds, I’m still sort of playing in driving range mode.  I’m thinking about swing thoughts.  I’m reminding myself to do a full shoulder turn and to not break down at the top and to get my weight left on the down swing and to keep my tempo in check.

When it comes to competitive rounds though, I find myself playing a lot more on auto pilot, just visualizing the shots and letting my body try to perform the correct swing, and above all, not dwelling on previous shots.  Those are some of the hallmarks of a strong mental game.  I just haven’t developed the swing to back it up yet.

It kind of leaves me with the dilemma of not knowing which player I am.  Am I the guy that can go out and shoot a 40 in a casual round and hit a lot of nice shots on the range, or am I the guy that gets in the competitive situation and struggles?

I tend to think it’s the latter.  I think the driving range and casual rounds show my current potential, but the league rounds show where I’m at as a competitor.

But the real question was: what’s the state of my mental game? I honestly think I’m on the right track and my results are showing that I’m not physically prepared yet to be a solid competitor.

What do you think?  Am I on to something or am I just wilting under pressure?  Or are they really different faces of the same beast?

© 2007-2011 Life in the Rough. All Rights Reserved.

Either My Mental Game Is Great Or It’s Awful