One of the most interesting parts of being retired and having my schedule is that you look forward to Monday as it is the start of the golf week.
Oh, sure, there are the weekend runs to the diving range and the odd hour at youtube golf videos, but Monday is a return to the course and another attempt to make dreams reality.
I saw a video on youtube that I had initially dismissed as not particularly interesting. It's called the popcorn drill. You put down a piece of popcorn then a ball and repeat until there are 4 of each. Get a club and hit the piece of popcorn. You are supposed to notice how loose and relaxed your hands are because you know the popcorn weighs nothing and then try to hit the ball with the same relaxed hand state.
But I thought about this. It's long been clear to me and others that it is rediculously easy to hit broken tees prior to a real shot. Why might this be? No expectations, smooth hands, relaxed, etc.
At that point I gave the popcorn drill a bit more respect.
I was trying to just stay behind the ball on today's round. I find I can swing quite aggressively when I do that. Everything is in line and synced and it all comes together.
I also applied this popcorn drill stuff and didn't tighten the hands up at impact.
I tied my life time best score with a 37/35 for an even par round of 72. 17 and 18 were tough scrambling pars. I was hoping to birdie to 18 as it is a par 5. But a few pushed shots and I was struggling to get on the green in 4. I rolled in a 6 footer for the par.
The back nine was a bit different. I made a long putt on 10 for a birdie, then parred the rest of the holes.
Lots of GIRs and only one ugly tee shot. I was quite happy with the hitting. The relaxed hands at impact proved to be easy to do. Then it occurred to me that that might be a nice way to putt too. And it was.
There is still room for driver improvement; while I didn't miss any, I found myself "saving" a few. I hit one where everything was correct and it was an effortless swat -- most delightful.
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