Sorry I’ve been so scarce around here lately. I’ve been extremely unhappy with the way the golf season wound down for me and I needed some time to mentally move on. To be honest, I haven’t hit a shot since my disaster in mid-October. Sometimes it’s best just to leave it alone for a while when things don’t go well. Otherwise strong commitment can degrade into unbearable burden. When golf stops being fun, then something’s wrong. Well, I took a month-long breath and I think that did the trick. I can tell you that when I hit balls again, I’m going to be fearful of the shanks, but I know how to work through it, so I’ll get that resolved eventually. So, now what? The first step is to evaluate the year. It wasn’t all bad, even though it didn’t end well. I got my handicap down to around 13 officially, but I was playing better than that by the end of summer. As you probably know, once there are a lot of scores in
DVD Review: The Back Nine
When I was contacted by Jon Fitzgerald a while back, I was immediately interested in reviewing his documentary The Back Nine. Fitzgerald, a veteran film maker, had embarked on a journey to become a professional golfer. Naturally, he documented the entire experience. The Back Nine is a documentary of his entire journey. It covers his experience from all angles. There is not only the work on his game but we also witness the interaction and support of those around him and the effect of it all on his life in some very profound ways. When Jon Fitzgerald started the journey, he was over the age of 40, but he was armed with serious determination. His dedication took him through a lot of hard work with a swing coach, a mental game coach, and a fitness coach. In the process of putting in all that work, he lowered his handicap by 11 strokes. Part of the desire to become a pro comes from his strong competitive spirit. He found an outlet for that on the Golf
Progress Update: October 27, 2009
Oh boy, I went and did it. It’s the end of the season here and I put myself in a very bad position. The days are getting pretty short now, so most of my work is accomplished on the weekend, though I have tried to make arrangements here and there to play a round or hit the driving range during the week. As you may recall from my previous update, I was a little torn about trying to make one last surge to improve my handicap, versus doing things that might cause short-term pain for long-term gain. I chose the latter, but, well, this isn’t what I had in mind. Let’s rewind a couple of weeks. I was preparing for a weekend driving range session and it occurred to me that I hadn’t taken video of my swing for a while, so I took my camera with me. I had been hitting the ball fairly well, but I wanted to look for improvement as well as things still needing to be improved. I recorded a
Things You Don’t Want to Hear (or Say) on a Golf Course
Let’s face it – golf is a game of highs and lows. One minute, you feel like you’re about to be awarded a green jacket and the next, you feel like Vinko Bogataj tumbling down the mountain during the intro of Wide World of Sports. There are few places where you’ll hear more more expletives, exasperation, and angst than on the golf course. Here are ten things that you don’t ever want to hear (or possibly say). “Wow, your club went further than the ball.“ Might be time for new grips. Or anger management classes. “Uh oh, that’s in the fairway on the next hole.“ The fact that the ball is in the short grass is little consolation when it comes time to perform the Walk of Shame. “Fore!“ Obviously, we hate having to shout this one, but hearing it means that someone might be saying #10 next, where you’re “that guy”. “I think I saw a splash.” I bet you never thought you could slice it that far. “You’re still away.“ Following a four
Progress Update: October 5, 2009
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
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