One thing I intend to do this year is get a professional club fitting. I guess I should add that to my to-do list. Aaaaaaand done. Anyway, years ago when I first started playing, the pro at the club I worked at took some general measurements for me that I still go with today (and I mean really general). I play my irons +1/2″ in length and with grips that are slightly fatter than standard. Over the years, I discovered new things. Mainly that I also get benefit from having my irons bent a degree or so upright. I’ve also found that I like to play an off the shelf driver with a stiff shaft.

These little nuggets of information have been cobbled together over time, mostly from observation and not from scientific analysis. Over the years, I keep reading about all the new-fangled technology that gets employed like launch analysis and high-speed cameras and the like and I’ve been intrigued but have never taken the plunge. Meanwhile virtually everything I read tells me that a professional club fitting can really add benefit to my game. Especially if all my non-scientific specs are a little off.

As I was going in the pro-shop at my new club, I saw a poster saying that a club fitter from Titleist is coming in May (at least I thought that’s what it said…I was more interested in signing up for a membership). That sounds like the perfect opportunity. Maybe I’ll discover that my specs are just fine, but maybe I’ll find out that I’m spending hour upon hour swimming against the current. Well, I’m going and maybe you should think about it too. I’ll post the findings next month.

Since part of the reason for this website is to track my progress, I guess I should post some progress updates. It’s hard for me to toot my own horn, especially when it sounds more like a Bronx cheer right about now. But nonetheless, I’m going to try to post weekly status every Sunday. At the very least, it’ll make me look honestly at the situation and help me stay committed. Anyway…

As I’ve mentioned previously, I’m coming off a major back injury. I have a herniated disk in my lower back that has kept me from being able to play, aside from few token attempts, for the better part of two years. Last winter, I paid a visit to my friendly, neighborhood spine specialists at Coastal Spine and they fixed me up with a great physical therapy regimen. It has worked wonders for me. I’m not at 100% and may never be, but that combined with weight loss and regular gym workouts should leave me at “good enough” status.

Because of that, I’m finally getting back to playing and practicing for real. A couple of weeks back, I nervously hit the driving range for the first time. I’m happy with how fast things are coming back to me. I’ve played a few 9-hole rounds and one 18-hole round (yesterday), and had a few driving range sessions. So far, even when I have a little back soreness I recover fairly quickly. I feel like my range time is productive, but my scores on the course have been much worse than I want. But given the situation, I can’t really complain.

Here’s a closer look at the good and the bad.

The Good

• On the range, I’m really coming back with my ball striking. The back issue was causing some nasty swing compensations that seem to be gone now.
• I’m starting to be able to reliably turn the ball on command again at the range and a little on the course.
• My driver is coming back quickly, and my distance has mostly returned
• One thing that’s coming back that I missed dearly is my 2-iron. I’m starting to hit it crisply again.
• Strangely, chipping, which has been a weakness of mine is very good right now. Maybe because there’s so much else that’s going bad. Hmmmm….

The Bad

• My conditioning is flat-out awful right now. I went to the driving range in the morning yesterday and then played 18 in the afternoon (for the first time in a looooooong while) and it absolutely wiped me out. My swing was starting to suffer by the back nine and today I’m actually still sore and tired. I started my round yesterday pretty well. I shot par on three out of the first four holes then had a couple of blow-up holes then the fatigue set in and the round really got bad.
• My putting is slow to come around, though it was a little better yesterday. I need to find more time to get some putting sessions in to get me back to where I was.
• I’m having several blow-up holes per round. This is coming from a lack of mental focus and putting skills that have dulled over time.
• Overall, my game is still very sloppy. I’m not hitting many greens at all, and am missing a lot of fairways.

So, that’s where I stand. It’s going to take some work just to get back to where I was, let alone getting to my ultimate goal. It’s pouring outside now, and I’m sore, but I’m headed to the gym. If I’m not back in an hour, come looking for me…

Knock one item off the to-do list. I finally joined my local golf course. This is my first membership ever and it certainly feels weird, probably because I worked at a course for several years in college and it’s hard getting used to being on the member side of things. It’s a great course in Woodstown, NJ and it’s called Town & Country Golf Links.

I’ve played it several times over the years since it opened in 1999 (or thereabouts). I love the layout and the design style. It’s wide open, and I’m really drawn to that. The greens are fairly large, well-maintained, and have tons of undulation and character. That’s going to make me have to play more precise shots into the greens or risk tougher, longer putts than I’m used to.

Onward!

One thing that struck me as I watched the 2007 Masters was how professionals of that caliber can spray the ball all over the place off the tee and still manage to score. It seems obvious, but how many of us work on recovery in our practice sessions? More often than not, we’re hitting full shots or some kind of short game shot.

One of the ways I spruce up my practice time and give myself a little recovery practice is to work on a 100 yard 5-iron. I normally hit my 5-iron close to 200 yards. To cut the distance in half it takes some finesse and a little setup adjustment. Typically, I’ll play most full shots off my front foot (more on that in a future post), so for this shot I’ll put the ball back near the center of my stance or even a little behind center. I’ll take a short back swing, and keep my hands low during the follow through. Keeping a nice even tempo is important, and making sure not to decelerate is key. The result is a nice low shot that flies and runs out to around 100 yards. As always make sure you’re hitting to a specific target (at least a directional target, if not to a specific distance). At some point, we all end up in the trees and we need a shot like this to stay under branches and get back into play or even to get up around (or on) the green.

Sometimes a tree stands between you and the green. Another nice practice twist is to imagine tree trunks in your way and try and play a draw or fade on that low shot. Using the same setup, close or open the club face slightly at address depending on whether you want to draw or fade the ball. Pick something in the distance and imagine that’s the tree in your way (use a little imagination and pretend it’s right in front of you). Start the ball to the left or right of that “tree” and try and fade or draw the ball around it. See how close you can come to your target.

During your practice sessions, experiment with ball position and swing length to see how the shot is affected. Keep your lie in mind too. This shot is much more difficult from deep rough. Remember, we’re not looking for a miracle recovery from the jungle here. In that case, just getting out to the fairway may be the best play. Being able to keep the ball low and turn it left or right when the lie is decent will really open up the possibilities for recovery.

Practice this, and before long you’ll have a good recovery shot in your arsenal and will be in a much better position to score after an occasional bad drive.

As you can imagine, I spend a lot of time at the driving range during golf season. I spend a lot of time watching other players so I can try to learn things about the golf swing. I observe different tendencies and the results they produce. One thing that surprises me is how many people practice without purpose. It’s sad because the people I’m talking about obviously are dedicated enough to put the time in. But the return on their investment is not being maximized.

Without a doubt, there are lots of people who hit the driving range every once in a while to get into a groove or even just to have a little fun. These aren’t the people I’m talking about. But I do see a lot of the same people there repeatedly over the course of a season. In many cases, these people are engaging in the “Rake ‘n Beat”. They hit one ball and rake another one over with their club and hit it and do it over and over until they’re out of balls. It’s as if their practice session is just a trip from A to B.

Maybe you’re one of the people I’m talking about. When you practice, do you use the same pre-shot routine that you’d use on the course? Do you hit each shot with a purpose? Do you watch each shot to completion and learn from it? If not, then you’re probably not maximizing your practice time. It’s much better to hit fewer balls, but hit each one with a purpose, than it is to rake ‘n beat as many balls as you can.

You might be wondering what “hitting with a purpose” means. I suggest the following guidelines as a start:

• Go through the same pre-shot routine on the range that you’d do on the course. That means for every ball. It’s hard to build that discipline and in fact, that’s one area of my own practice that needs work.
• Before hitting a shot, always have at least a specific target in mind. Aim at a tree or house or light pole in the distance. But always hit at a target. When you’re playing a round, every single shot will be directed at a specific target, not just thrown down range (it should, anyway!)
• Before making a shot, imagine what you want the ball flight to do. Are you trying to hit a draw? Fade? Straight? If you don’t have a plan (before you execute the shot) for what you want that shot to do, then you can’t judge the effectiveness of your swing.
• Observe the wind that day. How is it affecting your distance and direction? Are you making subconscious wind adjustments that will translate to poor directional control later on the course? Windy conditions can be used to your advantage at the range. You’re bound to play a round in the wind eventually, so spend some time practicing in it to learn how to make proper adjustments.
• Try and get a feel for your club distances. Depending on your range, it might be difficult to get hard numbers to take to the course because the balls they use on the range may be made to fly shorter distances or may be beat up some. But your distances should at least be consistent. For example, if you’re seeing swings of 10+ yards on pitching wedge shots, then you have a problem with consistent ball striking and should be working on that.

Sometimes practice gets monotonous and it’s hard to stay focused. One technique I like to use is playing my regular course in my imagination. I’ll start with a ball and imagine I’m on the first tee. At my course, the ideal shot is a 250 yard fade off the tee, so I’ll get my 3-wood out and play that exact shot. From there, whatever happened, I’ll play the next shot as if I had gotten that same result on the course. If I slice right, then I know I’m punching back out of the trees and going from there so I’ll execute that shot. If I hit it perfect, then it’s a 2 iron down to the bottom of the hill and I’ll execute that shot instead. I continue this until I get through 18 “holes”.

If you don’t normally practice with purpose, then give it a try over your next few practice sessions. I think you’ll start noticing a difference.