Early this week I talked about conceding defeat (in the sense of trying to diagnose and fix my own swing) and also about how swing changes take a long time to ingrain. You might remember that I’ve been fading the ball on good shots and slicing or blocking it on bad shots. My initial plan was to go back to the fundamentals: grip, alignment, stance, posture. I felt like it was working for me. And while it did improve me, after several range sessions the problem didn’t go away. I was still unable to turn the ball from right to left and I was mixing in some big misses to the right. Previously, I mentioned an improper release as a cause for slicing and blocking and I suspected I was suffering from that problem. I started to work on a better release, yet I started to get worse. Then, out of nowhere, a great swing tip dropped in my lap after a phone conversation with a friend. After I described my symptoms and my suspicions
Do You Have Adequate Wedge Coverage?
I’m not talking about insurance coverage here. What I’m referring to is the number of wedges you carry as well as the gaps in loft between all of them. As I’ve said many times, I’m a fan of Dave Pelz’s 4×3 system, where the idea is to carry four wedges and to groove three distinct swing lengths that give you a total of twelve easily repeatable distances within 100 yards. It’s clear that scoring happens within 100 yards. Your goal on approach shots should be to get the ball close enough to the hole to make the next putt. To do that, you need to take out the guess work. Grooving wedge distances that are easily repeatable makes it much easier to achieve that goal. To do all this effectively, it’s imperative to have the right tools for the job. First, this means carrying four wedges. That will give you maximum coverage within 100 yards. I carried three wedges for a long time and considered getting a fourth, but couldn’t decide which club to ditch.
Swing Changes Take a Long Time
Yesterday, I said I was going to try one last-ditch effort before throwing in the towel and scheduling a lesson. You may recall that I’ve been sending everything to the right and I said I suspected that I might be standing too close to the ball. An insightful comment from Greg Bartz reminded me of G.A.S.P., or Grip, Alignment, Stance, Posture. When everything is falling apart, the best thing to do is forget it all and go back to the fundamentals. At my range session, I paid careful attention to those four things. My grip and alignment were fine. I had suspicions about my stance and posture, however. As I mentioned, I was concerned that I might be standing too close to the ball. I went through my posture check list: Bent at the hips Back not slouching Arms hanging freely, about a fist-width from my zipper for short irons, a little more for the driver Chin up a little to allow a free shoulder turn Knees flexed Rear sticking out just a bit, indicating
Conceding Defeat
Sometimes we just need to step back and acknowledge that something is broken. I’ve been working on getting my game back this year and trying to take it to a much higher level. But the last few weeks have been simply brutal. I’ve been having so much trouble with ball striking, that I eventually modified my golf practice plan to make all the rounds optional, with the option being a range session instead. I’ve been at the range regularly (minus a couple of minor injury rest periods) but haven’t been on the course in almost two weeks. It started when I was working on getting my lower body to stop lagging. I’m a big guy, but I have the strength and speed to make a good swing. As I started to improve in that regard, I noticed something that I haven’t seen in years: my misses were going right. In addition, I perceived that my grip was a little too strong (as in hand position, not in how tightly I grip the club), so I
Hybrids: Hope or Hype?
I think I’m late for every significant movement in golf. I started playing golf in the early to mid 1990′s and used persimmon woods, when metal woods were already big. I was using a steel shafted driver long after graphite became the norm. And I’m not even considering one of these “in style” putting grips like the claw or the dozens of other variations. Once again, I’m late for the hybrid revolution. When I’m hitting the ball well (unlike now), I wouldn’t trade my long irons for anything. Senior players have been using woods in favor of mid and long irons for a long time. I’ve actually seen an 11-wood. It really helps them to get the ball airborne and land it with a little softness. Now, hybrids are the next evolution of that trend. They combine the better characteristics of irons and woods together in a single club. They have the distance and control of irons, with the low center of gravity found in woods that helps get the ball airborne. Their wider soles
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