A few years back I took some bowling lessons. Why? One may ask. It was an activity that I was never very good at and I wanted some basic competency. Billiards is on the list too -- but a different post for sure.
The lessons were cheap, 3 hours for $100. When you consider that lane time is about $25 per hours, you are getting lessons for $5 per hour.
One of the things that Mike said was, "You have to do it all." Bowling consists of a number of steps in a smooth sequence. Strangely like golf, one might inject here for those not paying attention to the blog subject.
So you have 4 items that you have to do. "Can I skip #2?" "No, you have to do them all."
We did a lesson and I went away and then came back and did lesson 2. Off I went. When I came back Mike had sold the business and disappeared! The new owners were cool and covered the lesson.
But what I took away from Mike was the "doing it all" bit. So when you see some pro on TV who takes a long backswing by turning his shoulders and then launching from the lower body and staying behind the ball, you've got to do all of that too. You can't skip the shoulder turn or the lower body uncoil. Do it all!
And about that bowling... I found it too easy. I went from 135 average with a huge standard deviation to an average over 210 with a smaller deviation. Never rolled the perfect game, but I commonly was above 250 and a high of 279. Bowling is more expensive than golf on an hourly basis! You have been warned.
Thursday, August 25, 2016
Wednesday, August 24, 2016
A Miracle
Continuing my discussion on the fickleness of golf, I am pleased to announce that my "key" to ball striking survived its second day. I managed two additional holes, both GIRs and reasonable birdie putts. Shots straight and high and full yardage.
This is quite rare in my experience for a solution to work for two days.
I played a hole and a half with one of the young pros from the staff. He was playing from the tips, I from the lowly white tees. I hit an 8 iron to about 12 feet from 150 yards or so, he hits a 9 iron to about 15 feet from 165 yards.
When he hit the ball, it sounded differently. A meaty smack and off it went. He and I both left the course as the pace was a killer. He went to the range and I watched him hit balls for while. Even with range balls, there was that "unmistakable click of a ball well hit," as Ben Hogan has been quoted. It was effortless. He was using a wedge of some kind and hitting them to various pins around the range. Some were close, others out to about 100 years. Smack, smack, smack. Long or short or a full swing, it all didn't matter.
Envy was there for me.
This is quite rare in my experience for a solution to work for two days.
I played a hole and a half with one of the young pros from the staff. He was playing from the tips, I from the lowly white tees. I hit an 8 iron to about 12 feet from 150 yards or so, he hits a 9 iron to about 15 feet from 165 yards.
When he hit the ball, it sounded differently. A meaty smack and off it went. He and I both left the course as the pace was a killer. He went to the range and I watched him hit balls for while. Even with range balls, there was that "unmistakable click of a ball well hit," as Ben Hogan has been quoted. It was effortless. He was using a wedge of some kind and hitting them to various pins around the range. Some were close, others out to about 100 years. Smack, smack, smack. Long or short or a full swing, it all didn't matter.
Envy was there for me.
Tuesday, August 23, 2016
Another Day, Another Eye Opener
In the previous post I mentioned how fickle golf was. I need only point to today's round for further confirmation of that theory.
I shoot 36, 37 for one over 73, the second best round of my life. I'm not playing off the tees I did in my youth, but still a personal accomplishment.
I chipped in on one, which is a hole that has a lot of double bogeys to its name. Then made a 20 foot down hill slider from the fringe to start birdie, birdie.
I managed to add a couple of bogeys on the next 7 holes along with 5 pars to come out with the 36.
I found myself being quite cautious as I played, which was probably not the best attitude to have. I find it leads to tentative putts and other errors. I didn't get up and down from a bunker on 3 and three putted on 7. Otherwise it was pretty much tap in for pars.
The back nine was more boring as it was 8 pars and a bogey. I missed a 3 footer on the bogey on an up and down attempt after a crappy drive.
But what I wanted to talk about with this post is not my small bit of personal glory, but as I came up 16 I found how to aggressively go after a shot and not get off plane.
I read somewhere that no one can teach you as well as you can teach yourself. I agree with this, but it's not quite that simple. Firstly you need to understand what you are trying to do; where your hands and body should be. Then you can try to find a means that you can use to accomplish that.
Some wag mentioned that being a golf teacher was saying the same thing 14 different ways until you get through to the student. While I am tempted to do some teaching, the repetition would drive me insane in short order.
I'd also make the statement that everything all coaches and articles have mentioned are true, it's just that you have to assimilate that into your perceptive mass and then to your aperceptive mass. Finally finding a "key" to allow yourself to perform and it's all over.
I would share my "key" with you, but I think everyone needs to find their own. I believe that I can trust and rely on mine (Ha! we shall see what tomorrow brings!). I rattled off 6 very good consecutive shots on the last three holes using it. That was three GIRs and 3 good 12 foot birdie opportunities.
I concluded a couple of years ago that if I were to go back to school, I would like to research how a person makes changes to a physical activity. I think if you can do that easily, you are by definition an athlete. A life long struggle seems to be the definition of an average golfer.
I shoot 36, 37 for one over 73, the second best round of my life. I'm not playing off the tees I did in my youth, but still a personal accomplishment.
I chipped in on one, which is a hole that has a lot of double bogeys to its name. Then made a 20 foot down hill slider from the fringe to start birdie, birdie.
I managed to add a couple of bogeys on the next 7 holes along with 5 pars to come out with the 36.
I found myself being quite cautious as I played, which was probably not the best attitude to have. I find it leads to tentative putts and other errors. I didn't get up and down from a bunker on 3 and three putted on 7. Otherwise it was pretty much tap in for pars.
The back nine was more boring as it was 8 pars and a bogey. I missed a 3 footer on the bogey on an up and down attempt after a crappy drive.
But what I wanted to talk about with this post is not my small bit of personal glory, but as I came up 16 I found how to aggressively go after a shot and not get off plane.
I read somewhere that no one can teach you as well as you can teach yourself. I agree with this, but it's not quite that simple. Firstly you need to understand what you are trying to do; where your hands and body should be. Then you can try to find a means that you can use to accomplish that.
Some wag mentioned that being a golf teacher was saying the same thing 14 different ways until you get through to the student. While I am tempted to do some teaching, the repetition would drive me insane in short order.
I'd also make the statement that everything all coaches and articles have mentioned are true, it's just that you have to assimilate that into your perceptive mass and then to your aperceptive mass. Finally finding a "key" to allow yourself to perform and it's all over.
I would share my "key" with you, but I think everyone needs to find their own. I believe that I can trust and rely on mine (Ha! we shall see what tomorrow brings!). I rattled off 6 very good consecutive shots on the last three holes using it. That was three GIRs and 3 good 12 foot birdie opportunities.
I concluded a couple of years ago that if I were to go back to school, I would like to research how a person makes changes to a physical activity. I think if you can do that easily, you are by definition an athlete. A life long struggle seems to be the definition of an average golfer.
You Should have seen me Saturday
The problem with golf is that it is fickle.
On Saturday I was ready to write the last post to this blog and then find a new hobby.
I had realized that the downswing is a mixture of just two things: 1) the creation of a stable platform to hit from, created by hip rotation and posting onto the left leg, without disturbing the alignment of the shoulders (spine angle). 2) Then just hit the ball from this stable position. You can hit it as hard as you like as you are aligned with the swing plane. You don't need to use your hands and as long as you keep the torso where you started, it's all good.
And it worked.
But the fickleness rose up. I have this tendency to do two bad things. I don't start the lower body to setup the hitting position and I tend to slide past the ball and that requires my hands to do some heroic things to hit the ball at all.
I've been playing enough recently to avoid a lot of this. Staring at the spot on the ball you want to hit helps with this.
I seem to be able to stay calm and behind the ball when hitting a short iron, but as the clubs get longer, I try to help the swing more. That causes me to hit with my shoulders before the lower body and not stay behind the ball. I then come over the top and usually hit a nasty hook usually under a bush or into a trap.
The last few times out I've been able to control a lot of this, which has led to the better scores.
However Monday was a disappointment. I was great at the range on Saturday, not as good on Sunday and then Monday was a problem.
At my usual course, it's not unusual for me to shoot 41, 36 or so when I'm playng well. There are water hazards on the front that some into play and not much of that on the back. Then there is the first hole, which is a long iron, followed by another with water front, right, and left. A double is not unusual as no one warms up before play and it's usually cold at 7 am.
So I shoot 42 or so and then move to the back and I can't get anything going there either. It all added up to 83 or so and not much fun after the 77 on Friday.
Barb tells the story about Jay as a high school golfer, who when confronted with a bad round, would immediately go to Amazon.com for a solution! It is tempting.
I have ordered a couple of wedges as I tend to wear them out and TaylorMade has some that they stress have faces that will last. So a new sand wedge, 56 degree and 15 degrees of bounce and 60 degrees with a 8 degree of bounce will be here later in the week.
On the club front, I have a 9 iron that has nothing in the way of grooves left. I sent an email to Ping and they said I should talk to my local dealer. Kind of a cop out it seems. The last set was replaced when I needed a 6 and a 9 and Ping wanted $200 per club to replace them. If this is a lot, the next set will be something else. I tried the TaylorMade M2 irons and they have a nice soft feel to them. I might go that route.
On Saturday I was ready to write the last post to this blog and then find a new hobby.
I had realized that the downswing is a mixture of just two things: 1) the creation of a stable platform to hit from, created by hip rotation and posting onto the left leg, without disturbing the alignment of the shoulders (spine angle). 2) Then just hit the ball from this stable position. You can hit it as hard as you like as you are aligned with the swing plane. You don't need to use your hands and as long as you keep the torso where you started, it's all good.
And it worked.
But the fickleness rose up. I have this tendency to do two bad things. I don't start the lower body to setup the hitting position and I tend to slide past the ball and that requires my hands to do some heroic things to hit the ball at all.
I've been playing enough recently to avoid a lot of this. Staring at the spot on the ball you want to hit helps with this.
I seem to be able to stay calm and behind the ball when hitting a short iron, but as the clubs get longer, I try to help the swing more. That causes me to hit with my shoulders before the lower body and not stay behind the ball. I then come over the top and usually hit a nasty hook usually under a bush or into a trap.
The last few times out I've been able to control a lot of this, which has led to the better scores.
However Monday was a disappointment. I was great at the range on Saturday, not as good on Sunday and then Monday was a problem.
At my usual course, it's not unusual for me to shoot 41, 36 or so when I'm playng well. There are water hazards on the front that some into play and not much of that on the back. Then there is the first hole, which is a long iron, followed by another with water front, right, and left. A double is not unusual as no one warms up before play and it's usually cold at 7 am.
So I shoot 42 or so and then move to the back and I can't get anything going there either. It all added up to 83 or so and not much fun after the 77 on Friday.
Barb tells the story about Jay as a high school golfer, who when confronted with a bad round, would immediately go to Amazon.com for a solution! It is tempting.
I have ordered a couple of wedges as I tend to wear them out and TaylorMade has some that they stress have faces that will last. So a new sand wedge, 56 degree and 15 degrees of bounce and 60 degrees with a 8 degree of bounce will be here later in the week.
On the club front, I have a 9 iron that has nothing in the way of grooves left. I sent an email to Ping and they said I should talk to my local dealer. Kind of a cop out it seems. The last set was replaced when I needed a 6 and a 9 and Ping wanted $200 per club to replace them. If this is a lot, the next set will be something else. I tried the TaylorMade M2 irons and they have a nice soft feel to them. I might go that route.
Sunday, August 21, 2016
A Brief Return to the Bridge Table
We interrupt our normal golf discussion to venture into the bridge world.
The games have a lot in common actually. They are both games of errors where gambling and taking a chance can quickly cause severe problems.
I've not played a lot of competitive bridge since the divorce. She got the bridge game. I got my Friday nights back.
I joined David in a local small club in Hayward. It is in a small community park on top of a hill.
There were 4 and one half tables, which causes you to sit out for 24 minutes when you play the phantom pair.
The bridge was nothing spectacular and I doubt that we broke average. We didn't play too badly, but the great god Golonzo, who normally protects overbidders, was not on the top of that hill.
There is one cute hand that I will relate then do my best to ignore the rest.
So, left hand opponent (LHO) opens 1NT, pass by partner, RHO bids 2c. This is Stayman that asks partner if they have a 4 card major (hearts and or spades for those who don't play). LHO now bids 2d, showing no major. They end up in 3nt.
Partner leads and dummy hits with 4 spades and some other cards. LHO wins the first trick and precedes to run off 5 spade tricks. If you play enough, there are lots of clues as to suit distributions and eye brows were being raised as the play and spades continued to hit the table.
So they end up making 4 nt. We ask about the auction and my LHO says that she bid 2d to deny a 4 card major. She had 5 and 5 is not 4! So it made sense to me as a programmer, and probably the Clintons as lawyers, but in the real world Stayman might also allow, or insist, that partner show a 4 or 5 bagger!
It was the highlight of the day. Oh, how did the board turn out for us? Dead last as the room was in 4 spades that makes the same 10 tricks. It was an example of how things went.
The director and some of the player were trying to coax me back to play again. Thanks, but no thanks, I said with a polite smile. They were nice folks, but I've gone down the dark path already and there is no interest in doing it again.
The games have a lot in common actually. They are both games of errors where gambling and taking a chance can quickly cause severe problems.
I've not played a lot of competitive bridge since the divorce. She got the bridge game. I got my Friday nights back.
I joined David in a local small club in Hayward. It is in a small community park on top of a hill.
There were 4 and one half tables, which causes you to sit out for 24 minutes when you play the phantom pair.
The bridge was nothing spectacular and I doubt that we broke average. We didn't play too badly, but the great god Golonzo, who normally protects overbidders, was not on the top of that hill.
There is one cute hand that I will relate then do my best to ignore the rest.
So, left hand opponent (LHO) opens 1NT, pass by partner, RHO bids 2c. This is Stayman that asks partner if they have a 4 card major (hearts and or spades for those who don't play). LHO now bids 2d, showing no major. They end up in 3nt.
Partner leads and dummy hits with 4 spades and some other cards. LHO wins the first trick and precedes to run off 5 spade tricks. If you play enough, there are lots of clues as to suit distributions and eye brows were being raised as the play and spades continued to hit the table.
So they end up making 4 nt. We ask about the auction and my LHO says that she bid 2d to deny a 4 card major. She had 5 and 5 is not 4! So it made sense to me as a programmer, and probably the Clintons as lawyers, but in the real world Stayman might also allow, or insist, that partner show a 4 or 5 bagger!
It was the highlight of the day. Oh, how did the board turn out for us? Dead last as the room was in 4 spades that makes the same 10 tricks. It was an example of how things went.
The director and some of the player were trying to coax me back to play again. Thanks, but no thanks, I said with a polite smile. They were nice folks, but I've gone down the dark path already and there is no interest in doing it again.
Wednesday, August 17, 2016
Day 2 and 3
We are still speaking of golf at this point, but I have promised David C. to play some bridge on Friday. That will give me a couple of days off of golf and probably give me some bridge dreams -- or are they nightmares? Sometimes it's tough to tell.
I remember one bridge dream from 40 years ago: I was playing 3nt and was leading a suit to drive out the ace but no one would play it.
But golf... I mused to Steve, a fine golfer, that I would love to get to the point where the swing was solid and I could concentrate on really playing the game. For example playing shots where I wanted them based on strategy rather than hitting and hoping. Well, today it was really close to that. I had two crappy drives and shanked an 8 iron, but otherwise, I had all the control and confidence that I mused about some months ago. Bridge is a bit like that too, one would like to play without gross errors - harder than it seem to be.
So the last three rounds were 81, 79 and 77 today. Two birdies and a smooth 40, 37 for the nines. The front 9 has always been a problem, the back more of a pushover for me. Shooting 41, 36 is a not uncommon score for me.
The front has some water hazards and a tough par 3 that can lead to big scores. I had 2 doubles on the front, otherwise par for the remaining holes. The first is tough too as it requires a good tee shot - it's a iron without warming up usually - then a long iron over a pond, with water left. I've managed to par that sucker the last two or three times out. Life is good!
I'm still unhappy with my driver. But I am hitting irons like a minor deity - dead straight and getting most of my distance.
I believe the driver problem is a function of a poor back swing and lack of lower body to get the mess started. That gets my plane over the top and I've wildly sliced or hooked a few off of that. Every once in a while, it comes together and makes it all pretty easy. I just want to be in position when the hands come through rather than lurching around.
I've had runs of tap in pars. 4 holes or so that takes a lot of pressure off of the score. My putting has gotten quite good. I've worked on hitting the putts past the hole and concentrating on the tiny spot where I want to hit the ball. These tips seem to be keys. My direction is very good and I'm making a lot.
My chipping has improved as I am picking a landing spot and usually hitting it. Which spot to hit can be a challenge, but more success than not.
I'll play tomorrow. The driver sequence to be paramount.
So a funny story. When Jay and I played in LA at the Rancho something golf course, we got to 18 and Jay called me to the back tees. When I got there, there was a plaque with a story of Arnold Palmer and the 1935 LA Open. It seems Arnie hit a nice drive, then sliced two into the driving range and then hooked two onto the road bordering the course. After a two putt, Arnie recorded a smooth 12. I'm telling the story some of the old guys I played with on Monday.
It seem John O'Riley was there that day and saw Arnie score the 12. Small world.
So how did Jay and I do on this hole? Ah, we both parred it. Take that Arnie!
I remember one bridge dream from 40 years ago: I was playing 3nt and was leading a suit to drive out the ace but no one would play it.
But golf... I mused to Steve, a fine golfer, that I would love to get to the point where the swing was solid and I could concentrate on really playing the game. For example playing shots where I wanted them based on strategy rather than hitting and hoping. Well, today it was really close to that. I had two crappy drives and shanked an 8 iron, but otherwise, I had all the control and confidence that I mused about some months ago. Bridge is a bit like that too, one would like to play without gross errors - harder than it seem to be.
So the last three rounds were 81, 79 and 77 today. Two birdies and a smooth 40, 37 for the nines. The front 9 has always been a problem, the back more of a pushover for me. Shooting 41, 36 is a not uncommon score for me.
The front has some water hazards and a tough par 3 that can lead to big scores. I had 2 doubles on the front, otherwise par for the remaining holes. The first is tough too as it requires a good tee shot - it's a iron without warming up usually - then a long iron over a pond, with water left. I've managed to par that sucker the last two or three times out. Life is good!
I'm still unhappy with my driver. But I am hitting irons like a minor deity - dead straight and getting most of my distance.
I believe the driver problem is a function of a poor back swing and lack of lower body to get the mess started. That gets my plane over the top and I've wildly sliced or hooked a few off of that. Every once in a while, it comes together and makes it all pretty easy. I just want to be in position when the hands come through rather than lurching around.
I've had runs of tap in pars. 4 holes or so that takes a lot of pressure off of the score. My putting has gotten quite good. I've worked on hitting the putts past the hole and concentrating on the tiny spot where I want to hit the ball. These tips seem to be keys. My direction is very good and I'm making a lot.
My chipping has improved as I am picking a landing spot and usually hitting it. Which spot to hit can be a challenge, but more success than not.
I'll play tomorrow. The driver sequence to be paramount.
So a funny story. When Jay and I played in LA at the Rancho something golf course, we got to 18 and Jay called me to the back tees. When I got there, there was a plaque with a story of Arnold Palmer and the 1935 LA Open. It seems Arnie hit a nice drive, then sliced two into the driving range and then hooked two onto the road bordering the course. After a two putt, Arnie recorded a smooth 12. I'm telling the story some of the old guys I played with on Monday.
It seem John O'Riley was there that day and saw Arnie score the 12. Small world.
So how did Jay and I do on this hole? Ah, we both parred it. Take that Arnie!
Sunday, August 14, 2016
Intro
I've returned from my road trip and the next step is to get on with retirement without the travel. And for the moment that means golf.
This blog is an attempt to track what I am trying to do and work on. It's tough for me to remember things, so I want to write them down. (I also find it is tough to remember shot to shot; an ability that I think would help with some of this.)
What are the problems I'm trying to deal with?
- My distance is worsening
- I've been fighting a big sloppy hook for a while usually only on the tee shots
- I'm not sure I am turning my back
- Then there is the start with the lower body thing.
- Long clubs length don't match what I can do with the short clubs, technique must be wrong...
I typically only do these things on the course; on the range I'm pretty perfect.
What retirement has allowed me is some time to play almost every day. My theory is that I'm too excited due to lack of playing and that if I play more, I'll be more relaxed and can do what I should do.
Some of this is working. I played every day this last week and went to the range on Saturday and Sunday. I've close to averaging 80 and have been pretty consistent.
The goals for the next round are to:
- keep the hands out of the swing
- keep the arms from getting ahead of the torso - i.e., let the torso bring stuff around and then let the hit happen at the end. This has produced some very solid shots on the range, so I have high hopes.
- I think I've been struggling with long clubs by standing up too straight and not getting over the ball. I have great confidence and success with the short irons, but the longer stuff seems to get worse as the club gets longer. I suspect this is my attempt to push for more distance by hitting them harder.
- I also find that I don't look at the ball when I swing at it. I'm amazed that I hit it at all. I've worked on this with my putting and my accuracy has gotten much better.
OK, stay tuned for the results.
This blog is an attempt to track what I am trying to do and work on. It's tough for me to remember things, so I want to write them down. (I also find it is tough to remember shot to shot; an ability that I think would help with some of this.)
What are the problems I'm trying to deal with?
- My distance is worsening
- I've been fighting a big sloppy hook for a while usually only on the tee shots
- I'm not sure I am turning my back
- Then there is the start with the lower body thing.
- Long clubs length don't match what I can do with the short clubs, technique must be wrong...
I typically only do these things on the course; on the range I'm pretty perfect.
What retirement has allowed me is some time to play almost every day. My theory is that I'm too excited due to lack of playing and that if I play more, I'll be more relaxed and can do what I should do.
Some of this is working. I played every day this last week and went to the range on Saturday and Sunday. I've close to averaging 80 and have been pretty consistent.
The goals for the next round are to:
- keep the hands out of the swing
- keep the arms from getting ahead of the torso - i.e., let the torso bring stuff around and then let the hit happen at the end. This has produced some very solid shots on the range, so I have high hopes.
- I think I've been struggling with long clubs by standing up too straight and not getting over the ball. I have great confidence and success with the short irons, but the longer stuff seems to get worse as the club gets longer. I suspect this is my attempt to push for more distance by hitting them harder.
- I also find that I don't look at the ball when I swing at it. I'm amazed that I hit it at all. I've worked on this with my putting and my accuracy has gotten much better.
OK, stay tuned for the results.
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