There have been a few interesting rounds lately when looked at by the improving player.
The first was a round of 76 with 5 birdies. That is a lot of birdies, but still ended up 4 over par.
The next round was a 78 with one birdie. It seems to me that the 78 round was much more consistent golf than the round of 76.
And today I parred the first 8 holes. I hit all the greens in regulation and two putted every green. It was probably the best tee to green golf I've played. But no putts were falling today.
The back nine wasn't as good. I missed a couple of greens and still the putter was not favored by the golf Gods. I was hitting the putts well and where I wanted them, but nothing went down all day. Needless to say, no birdies. The score I'd have to figure out, but it wasn't notable.
I have no real stories to tell. I was just banging it along and then trying to do something on the greens.
I am happy about the ball striking. I've been swinging a weighted club in the backyard for a few days. It seems like the drives are getting longer and my duck hook has not shown its ugly head in a month.
The irons are good. I'm close to removing my weight slide. I'm pretty good on the back swing and I'm getting better at not shifting on the down swing. It feels different. It's working. Everything is getting better.
Wednesday, August 29, 2018
Monday, August 27, 2018
Dave Morgan, RIP
David Morgan was one of the Monday group golfers.
I met him a couple of years ago. He was originally from Nova Scotia. He had intended to make a career in the Canadian Navy. I'd never given it any thought, but I guess with all that water around the country, a navy would useful.
But he found himself on a WWII vintage ship and it had a captain to match. Bad ship, bad captain and Dave was out of the navy business.
He got a job with Dunn and Bradstreet in Halifax. (That's the capital of Nova Scotia, which doesn't sound right to my memory, but all the other big cities in the province are less familiar. We'll leave it at that.)
In the early 1960s Dave was transferred to Los Angeles. I tell this story occasionally as I can't imagine a greater cultural change than to go from Nova Scotia to LA in the early 60s.
He stayed in the business of business. Lived in northern California a bit. I'm not sure on all the details. He played golf on all the city and local courses.
I asked him one time if there were any foods from NS that he missed. He said that they had salted cod sent out at Christmas. I think he has a sister still up there.
But he mentioned that the salted fish had become a delicacy and it was now too expensive for him! It was a staple growing up and the hint was that poor folks would eat it.
About 10 years ago he became arthritic and it made it tough for him to get around. But he played golf at least 3 times a week.
This morning we gathered for the usual Monday round and Dave was not there. His son had called the pro shop and Dave had had a heart attack on Saturday and died. It was unexpected. Dave was the tall, lean body type that you don't expect them to die that way.
I will miss him. He had a good sense of humor, was a good golfing friend, and had interesting stories to tell.
Farewell Dave. I hope you are in a place where the greens fees are low, the tees empty, and all of the greens are reachable.
I met him a couple of years ago. He was originally from Nova Scotia. He had intended to make a career in the Canadian Navy. I'd never given it any thought, but I guess with all that water around the country, a navy would useful.
But he found himself on a WWII vintage ship and it had a captain to match. Bad ship, bad captain and Dave was out of the navy business.
He got a job with Dunn and Bradstreet in Halifax. (That's the capital of Nova Scotia, which doesn't sound right to my memory, but all the other big cities in the province are less familiar. We'll leave it at that.)
In the early 1960s Dave was transferred to Los Angeles. I tell this story occasionally as I can't imagine a greater cultural change than to go from Nova Scotia to LA in the early 60s.
He stayed in the business of business. Lived in northern California a bit. I'm not sure on all the details. He played golf on all the city and local courses.
I asked him one time if there were any foods from NS that he missed. He said that they had salted cod sent out at Christmas. I think he has a sister still up there.
But he mentioned that the salted fish had become a delicacy and it was now too expensive for him! It was a staple growing up and the hint was that poor folks would eat it.
About 10 years ago he became arthritic and it made it tough for him to get around. But he played golf at least 3 times a week.
This morning we gathered for the usual Monday round and Dave was not there. His son had called the pro shop and Dave had had a heart attack on Saturday and died. It was unexpected. Dave was the tall, lean body type that you don't expect them to die that way.
I will miss him. He had a good sense of humor, was a good golfing friend, and had interesting stories to tell.
Farewell Dave. I hope you are in a place where the greens fees are low, the tees empty, and all of the greens are reachable.
Thursday, August 23, 2018
"De Plane, Boss, de plane!"
No truer words were ever spoken. Yes, Fantasy Island was really about golf.
In the setup to the ball we have several planes defined.
The first is defined by the shoulders and the ball. Shall we call this the ball plane? Yes. Note that the shoulders are on this plane and the ball and the head of the club.
The second plane is defined by the arms. We'll name this the arm plane. The arms hand down almost vertically. They will extend a bit with the longer clubs. But short irons are vertical.
Note that the club (shaft) is laying between the two planes at address. The butt of the club in on arm plane.
On the backswing the arms stay on their plane and as the forearms rotate 90 degrees, the club shaft aligns with the arm plane. Note that the club flops over to join the arm plane. The arms don't drop under the arm plane to move the club onto the arm plane. If you do that, the club will end up below the arm plane. That's were ugly hooks come from.
Both planes have vertical components. The arm plane, while it starts below the ball plane, intersects and passes through the ball plane. We can then describe the ball plane as being flatter or less vertical than the arm plane.
On the down swing, the arms stay on the arm plane and, as we get to impact, the forearms rotate back 90 degrees to their original position and the club shaft crosses the area between the two plane and smacks into the ball. The arms will do this automatically as long as they are on their plane. If they are above or below, then you will have to make adjustments to the downswing to make it work. Accuracy and speed will suffer.
In a good golfing world, the impact for the longer clubs can be described as a pivot from the left shoulder. A number of golfers take their right hand off of the club during the swing. And as it is a swing and not a hit, this is valid. It's a back hand motion with the left arm, connected at its shoulder that is doing all the work.
Now, how does this help us perfect (ha!) the golf swing?
The fundamental theme that needs to be accepted and used, is that the arms are coming into the ball on the arm plane which is below the ball plane. It is an underhanded throw.
Bobby Lopez, a teaching pro, easily found on YouTube, is an advocate of this. He says that he could take a fast pitch softball pitcher and teacher her the game quickly. They are used to this under handed motion.
Staying on the arm plane returns the hands to their starting position.
It also will not allow the golfer to come over the top. Which is where those wonderful slices come from.
There is no need or reason to help the club shaft cross from the arm plane to the ball plane. That happens as a function of the acceleration of the club. It will return to its start position, i.e., where/when the club head broaches the ball plane and impacts the ball.
One more added benefit of being on the planes is that you can swing as hard/fast as you can and all will be well. The forces are balanced there and speed does not make any difference. However, get off the plane and then speed is a problem in that to hit the ball at all, you will need to slow down the club to get it back close to its proper position. The direction of the club as it comes into the ball is of interest. If it comes from the inside to the outside of the arm plane, you will get a hook. From the outside back to the inside produces a slice.
The last part of this golf model is to embrace the left shoulder as the pivot point. When this is used, the body can't get in front of the ball. The swing then comes from the back of the batter's box. The impact position is in front of the body.
With this a slide is eliminated, once again keeping the body in a good place relative to the two planes, allowing the club to be delivered without any manipulation into the ball plane.
That's all I know and I can do it a couple of times a round. And for some reason on the 18th hole, it's easy. A medium length, double dogleg par 5 produces some of the best drives of a round. Perhaps the golfing gods making sure I'll be back to play another round.
Ok, enough of that stuff. Yesterday Steve, a new retiree, and I played behind the seniors. It was slow. What is worse neither of us brought any snacks. By the end of the round we were tired. I hadn't felt that wiped out in a long time. The hotdog as Costco tasted as good as it ever had. "Hunger is the best pickle!" Old Ben Franklin was correct.
In the setup to the ball we have several planes defined.
The first is defined by the shoulders and the ball. Shall we call this the ball plane? Yes. Note that the shoulders are on this plane and the ball and the head of the club.
The second plane is defined by the arms. We'll name this the arm plane. The arms hand down almost vertically. They will extend a bit with the longer clubs. But short irons are vertical.
Note that the club (shaft) is laying between the two planes at address. The butt of the club in on arm plane.
On the backswing the arms stay on their plane and as the forearms rotate 90 degrees, the club shaft aligns with the arm plane. Note that the club flops over to join the arm plane. The arms don't drop under the arm plane to move the club onto the arm plane. If you do that, the club will end up below the arm plane. That's were ugly hooks come from.
Both planes have vertical components. The arm plane, while it starts below the ball plane, intersects and passes through the ball plane. We can then describe the ball plane as being flatter or less vertical than the arm plane.
On the down swing, the arms stay on the arm plane and, as we get to impact, the forearms rotate back 90 degrees to their original position and the club shaft crosses the area between the two plane and smacks into the ball. The arms will do this automatically as long as they are on their plane. If they are above or below, then you will have to make adjustments to the downswing to make it work. Accuracy and speed will suffer.
In a good golfing world, the impact for the longer clubs can be described as a pivot from the left shoulder. A number of golfers take their right hand off of the club during the swing. And as it is a swing and not a hit, this is valid. It's a back hand motion with the left arm, connected at its shoulder that is doing all the work.
Now, how does this help us perfect (ha!) the golf swing?
The fundamental theme that needs to be accepted and used, is that the arms are coming into the ball on the arm plane which is below the ball plane. It is an underhanded throw.
Bobby Lopez, a teaching pro, easily found on YouTube, is an advocate of this. He says that he could take a fast pitch softball pitcher and teacher her the game quickly. They are used to this under handed motion.
Staying on the arm plane returns the hands to their starting position.
It also will not allow the golfer to come over the top. Which is where those wonderful slices come from.
There is no need or reason to help the club shaft cross from the arm plane to the ball plane. That happens as a function of the acceleration of the club. It will return to its start position, i.e., where/when the club head broaches the ball plane and impacts the ball.
One more added benefit of being on the planes is that you can swing as hard/fast as you can and all will be well. The forces are balanced there and speed does not make any difference. However, get off the plane and then speed is a problem in that to hit the ball at all, you will need to slow down the club to get it back close to its proper position. The direction of the club as it comes into the ball is of interest. If it comes from the inside to the outside of the arm plane, you will get a hook. From the outside back to the inside produces a slice.
The last part of this golf model is to embrace the left shoulder as the pivot point. When this is used, the body can't get in front of the ball. The swing then comes from the back of the batter's box. The impact position is in front of the body.
With this a slide is eliminated, once again keeping the body in a good place relative to the two planes, allowing the club to be delivered without any manipulation into the ball plane.
That's all I know and I can do it a couple of times a round. And for some reason on the 18th hole, it's easy. A medium length, double dogleg par 5 produces some of the best drives of a round. Perhaps the golfing gods making sure I'll be back to play another round.
Ok, enough of that stuff. Yesterday Steve, a new retiree, and I played behind the seniors. It was slow. What is worse neither of us brought any snacks. By the end of the round we were tired. I hadn't felt that wiped out in a long time. The hotdog as Costco tasted as good as it ever had. "Hunger is the best pickle!" Old Ben Franklin was correct.
Sunday, August 19, 2018
How to Get Free Golf Gear
My golf shorts supply needed an update so I wandered over to the local Golf Galaxy. Sadly they are going to close the store and move in with Dick's, which is down the freeway.
I've been buying Under Armour shorts for a while. They are pricey, but comfortable. They are a bit strange in that their sizes are not consistent. You've got to try on every pair.
They only have two dressing rooms and one has been occupied by a mom and her son. Maybe they were getting an entire wardrobe or something, and they were in there a long time. That left the other one for the rest of us.
There were three of us waiting to use the room. One of the store workers came by and while he couldn't empty a room for us, he did stop and chat.
We eventually got around to theft. The store policy, and it's not unique in this part of the country, is to not interfere with people stealing stuff. They can walk in and walk out with their arms full and no one will chase them into the parking lot. No one will take a bull whip or cattle prod to them. No one will follow and get a license plate number. No one wanders the outer sidewalk with a baseball bat.
The idea behind all of this is that one injury or lawsuit wipes out any profit in tackling the brazen perps. Sadly, but expectedly, the crooks all know this. So more and more stores are becoming victims of this entrepreneurial activity.
As long as it doesn't get too frequent, I suspect that nothing will change. But I can see a day when you will need to show ID to get into a lot of stores. As long as ID is not needed to vote, then I guess we can live with it.
As for golf news, not much worth reporting at this point. I'm playing well and pretty happy with my game. Still looking for more consistency, but so are all the pros. Most of the work around the house has calmed down. I've replaced the carburetor on the mower and it worked! I'm pretty relaxed at this point and am looking forward to some play this week.
I've been buying Under Armour shorts for a while. They are pricey, but comfortable. They are a bit strange in that their sizes are not consistent. You've got to try on every pair.
They only have two dressing rooms and one has been occupied by a mom and her son. Maybe they were getting an entire wardrobe or something, and they were in there a long time. That left the other one for the rest of us.
There were three of us waiting to use the room. One of the store workers came by and while he couldn't empty a room for us, he did stop and chat.
We eventually got around to theft. The store policy, and it's not unique in this part of the country, is to not interfere with people stealing stuff. They can walk in and walk out with their arms full and no one will chase them into the parking lot. No one will take a bull whip or cattle prod to them. No one will follow and get a license plate number. No one wanders the outer sidewalk with a baseball bat.
The idea behind all of this is that one injury or lawsuit wipes out any profit in tackling the brazen perps. Sadly, but expectedly, the crooks all know this. So more and more stores are becoming victims of this entrepreneurial activity.
As long as it doesn't get too frequent, I suspect that nothing will change. But I can see a day when you will need to show ID to get into a lot of stores. As long as ID is not needed to vote, then I guess we can live with it.
As for golf news, not much worth reporting at this point. I'm playing well and pretty happy with my game. Still looking for more consistency, but so are all the pros. Most of the work around the house has calmed down. I've replaced the carburetor on the mower and it worked! I'm pretty relaxed at this point and am looking forward to some play this week.
Monday, August 13, 2018
Monday's Round
After a long two day layoff, it was back to the grind with the usual Monday group.
The heat has broken and the termometer is down 10 degrees. We teed off at 9 behind the senior league, who have all of the early tee times on Mondays.
We might be old, but these guys abuse the priviledge. They play slowly and walk slowly. However, they are out there playing and I can't find fault with that.
I find that a little slower pace is better for me. I tend to just get up and hit the ball and with a slower tempo as part of the play, I'll use the time to be more thoughtful about the upcoming shot. With a more consistent swing, there are more aspects to think about. The game is becoming more complex!
No great scores to report. I managed a 40 foot putt on the first for a par. I lipped out about 4 others. A chip in on 12 for birdie -- it wasn't that tough a shot.
My driver continues to improve. Now my misses are pushes and I found myself in a couple of bunkers on the right. This is much better than the old bush on the left, so I'm content with that. But it is something new to think about. When I do pay attention, the center of the fairway is available.
Irons were their usual happy selves. I continue to tinker a bit. I'm paying attention to my backswing and making sure I don't slide backwards. The driver misses were due to my sliding forward during the start of the downswing. Since that's not happening, I have to be more careful on the take away.
I topped a shot on the short 17th, then hit a hybrid 200 yards with a gentle draw to 12 feet of the pin. Sadly the putt lipped, but the hybrid turned a poor tee shot into a good birdie opportunity.
Scoring was a bit uneven with new swing thoughts going on. I think I shot 77 or so, which is pretty good since I was 5 over after 10.
The game is, as said, more complex. I've got more tools that I can depend on. It changes what I can do and try. I'm finding my focus shifting from making pars to making birdies. The new swing is easier on my body as I'm where I should be when generating speed. There is less conflict and more athletic "dance."
Executive summary: It's all good and we'll talk again!
The heat has broken and the termometer is down 10 degrees. We teed off at 9 behind the senior league, who have all of the early tee times on Mondays.
We might be old, but these guys abuse the priviledge. They play slowly and walk slowly. However, they are out there playing and I can't find fault with that.
I find that a little slower pace is better for me. I tend to just get up and hit the ball and with a slower tempo as part of the play, I'll use the time to be more thoughtful about the upcoming shot. With a more consistent swing, there are more aspects to think about. The game is becoming more complex!
No great scores to report. I managed a 40 foot putt on the first for a par. I lipped out about 4 others. A chip in on 12 for birdie -- it wasn't that tough a shot.
My driver continues to improve. Now my misses are pushes and I found myself in a couple of bunkers on the right. This is much better than the old bush on the left, so I'm content with that. But it is something new to think about. When I do pay attention, the center of the fairway is available.
Irons were their usual happy selves. I continue to tinker a bit. I'm paying attention to my backswing and making sure I don't slide backwards. The driver misses were due to my sliding forward during the start of the downswing. Since that's not happening, I have to be more careful on the take away.
I topped a shot on the short 17th, then hit a hybrid 200 yards with a gentle draw to 12 feet of the pin. Sadly the putt lipped, but the hybrid turned a poor tee shot into a good birdie opportunity.
Scoring was a bit uneven with new swing thoughts going on. I think I shot 77 or so, which is pretty good since I was 5 over after 10.
The game is, as said, more complex. I've got more tools that I can depend on. It changes what I can do and try. I'm finding my focus shifting from making pars to making birdies. The new swing is easier on my body as I'm where I should be when generating speed. There is less conflict and more athletic "dance."
Executive summary: It's all good and we'll talk again!
Friday, August 10, 2018
Snacks and Ball Position
I've been frustrated with the lack of distance with my long irons. So who do you turn to? YouTube of course.
There are some bloggers in the UK I enjoy and think they know what they are talking about. Basically the idea is that the longer irons, say 5 and up, should be played up a bit in position and whacked with almost an upward swing. Well, it's supposed to feel that way.
I tried this today and was most happy with the results. Yes, I over hit a green or two, but by the gracious lord shots were up in the air and happy with their destinations.
I was also working on driver ball position and staying behind the shot. Another way to think of that is that the left shoulder should be at the ball at impact. I did hit one poor drive today, but managed to chip out and get it up and down from 145 yards for a simple par. Otherwise I was down the fairway about 225 on average. On the course I play, that is long enough.
I shot a smooth one over 73 and am quite pleased with it.
One of the other points the psychologist mentioned was that most golfers don't eat enough as they play. He thinks they go into starvation mode a couple of times a round. When that happens the mind shuts down before the body does and it's easy to do stupid things.
I went through more granola bars that normal today and spaced them out. I did feel very good all day with no real flat periods.
It does take away some of the excitement of the post round hot dog, but I can live with that.
It's been hot the last couple of days, but I was impervious to most of the heat. It's an easy game when it's all going well. :-)
There are some bloggers in the UK I enjoy and think they know what they are talking about. Basically the idea is that the longer irons, say 5 and up, should be played up a bit in position and whacked with almost an upward swing. Well, it's supposed to feel that way.
I tried this today and was most happy with the results. Yes, I over hit a green or two, but by the gracious lord shots were up in the air and happy with their destinations.
I was also working on driver ball position and staying behind the shot. Another way to think of that is that the left shoulder should be at the ball at impact. I did hit one poor drive today, but managed to chip out and get it up and down from 145 yards for a simple par. Otherwise I was down the fairway about 225 on average. On the course I play, that is long enough.
I shot a smooth one over 73 and am quite pleased with it.
One of the other points the psychologist mentioned was that most golfers don't eat enough as they play. He thinks they go into starvation mode a couple of times a round. When that happens the mind shuts down before the body does and it's easy to do stupid things.
I went through more granola bars that normal today and spaced them out. I did feel very good all day with no real flat periods.
It does take away some of the excitement of the post round hot dog, but I can live with that.
It's been hot the last couple of days, but I was impervious to most of the heat. It's an easy game when it's all going well. :-)
Thursday, August 9, 2018
The Psychology of the Game
I just listened to a webcast at the Bobby Lopez section of YouTube. They were talking to Bhrett McCabe, a sports psychologist.
There were some interesting points that he made and I'm going to discuss a few here.
He says that there are about 5 types of people -- and we are talking about folks who are competing. I'd guess there are a few more if we open up a discussion about other things. But, hey, maybe not. Maybe the human race is that simple.
He lists these as the worrier, who thinks about every possible disaster that might happen. There is the guy who is ice cube cold -- at least on the outside. There is the guy who gets hot, one who throws the clubs, the guy who attacks, etc.
Bhrett says that if he had a young athlete with some of these things, he would not change them. Some disappear as the people get older. (But that might be 15 years!). He makes the remark that this is what makes us human and to try to change that or hide will not be in our best interest.
Maybe "be yourself, and try not to hurt anyone," would be a reasonable way to look at this.
He is selling methods and processes to help athletes get better. One of these is a golf journal. He says that golfers are very bad at journaling. I've run across this in the shooting world. There it was common for shooters to keep track of problems and solutions -- at least on the elite levels. Shooting is a lot like golf in that the problems return and if you don't remember the solutions, you waste a lot of time. So write it down and read the notes!
I'm at the driving range a few years back. A guy I had talked with was all excited. "I found it!" "Did you write it down," I asked. "No, I've got it. No need." Two days later, "How's the new swing?" "I've lost it," he said. I've never seen him since. He may have given up the game for all I know. We've all been there. I've written down a lot, but I can't get into the habit of reading through it.
When I run across notes from years ago it's full of things that seem strange and not applicable. Have I moved on and changed? Hard to say.
One other point Bhrett made was that it was not his job (or perhaps not possible) to change a 78 golfer to a 68 golfer. But he would seek to make the 78 guy shoot 76. It looked like it was small increments if your issues were mental in nature. Maybe swing changes would make the bigger difference, but implementation is a mental thing, so maybe it's all back to that.
His talk in re golf seemed to make a player more efficient. The best goal for the shot. Every shot should have a goal. The goals ought to reflect what the golfer can do. Not what the golfer expects to do or dreams of doing, but what is reasonable. He talks of a pin on the right of the green. Easy picking if you fade the ball. But the goal for a player who plays right to left may correctly be the center of the green. You'll take a short sided disaster out of the probability pool. Then regardless of the results of the putting, you should feel good about goal management and shot selection.
I should talk about my own game as mom likes to read what I am up to and it might be insightful for me to try to summarize.
As I see it, my game has gotten a lot better lately. The driver is about 90% from about 25%, and some of the longer clubs have been behaving better as well. Those changes are allowing me to get to more greens in regulation than before. The putter is doing some amazing things as well. 5 putts through the first 5 holes the other day. That takes the pressure off of getting to the greens as chipping and putting is fairly reliable.
I would have to say that there are technical changes that are helping. I'd also suggest that my play is fairly low key and low expectations. My philosophy has been to hit it, find it and hit it again. Not too much planning as I would suggest that not every shot is critical.
It occurred to me that the shot one before par was the critical one. That might be the putt for birdie or the short pitch to get to the green. Obviously if the first shot or second was outstanding, then this "critical" shot maybe irrelevant. Think of hitting it stiff in regulation and the putt is a gimme.
So a lot of shots for me have no value or pressure attached to them. I'm going to hit an iron to a short par 4 and I drop into automatic mode. My short irons can be godlike and I just hit them at the pin. I don't know how I do it. I wish I had that consistency with the other clubs.
Now, let's go back and think about the driver which has been a problem for longer than I will admit to. There is the tendency to try to get more out of it than I have any hope of doing so. Sadly, it is very difficult to step back and try to hit an ordinary shot. But I think I've gotten better at doing that and of understanding what I am trying to do and better at banishing what I do when I duck hook it into the bushes 150 yards off the tee. Oh, I've made more than my share of pars from the bushes, but it's not fun and it lacks elegance.
Mostly I'm wandering the course, hitting the ball, commiserating or complementing my fellow players and having a nice time. I don't think about score much. I pay attention to where the pins are and from where I want to come into the greens. It seems to me that my fellow players don't seem to notice these things.
There may be reasons for that observation. If you don't have the control to hit to a particular side of a fairway, then aim for the middle and hit away. Some of the guys I play with are much longer than I am and they may have different problems than I do. Others are shorter and their first shot can't get them into trouble -- fair enough.
When I don't pay attention to score, it does a couple of things. It makes it hard for me to remember the round and what I had on each hole. I normally just keep strokes to par in my head, which on a good day, doesn't move a lot. This mode also seems to make each shot more of an individual challenge. Prior bad shots don't affect what I'm trying to do with the current one. Each shot is a separate challenge and I'm happy to have a lot of challenges on a hole or just a few.
I also get a great deal of satisfaction from a nice up and down; more than I would get from a GIR and two putt. It's the extra challenge of a shot that may require an amount of touch and delicacy.
That is a my post work life. I've got these interesting challenges in a beautiful place with like-minded golfers. It's quite a wonderful thing and I'm enjoying it immensely. Will I get bored and discard it and move on to something else? It's happened before. I've not played golf for decades as the years rolled along. But for now, it's working wonders for my mind and the 25 miles of walking a week can't be bad either.
Today was day off and a visit to the range. And tomorrow is another round. Stay tuned!
There were some interesting points that he made and I'm going to discuss a few here.
He says that there are about 5 types of people -- and we are talking about folks who are competing. I'd guess there are a few more if we open up a discussion about other things. But, hey, maybe not. Maybe the human race is that simple.
He lists these as the worrier, who thinks about every possible disaster that might happen. There is the guy who is ice cube cold -- at least on the outside. There is the guy who gets hot, one who throws the clubs, the guy who attacks, etc.
Bhrett says that if he had a young athlete with some of these things, he would not change them. Some disappear as the people get older. (But that might be 15 years!). He makes the remark that this is what makes us human and to try to change that or hide will not be in our best interest.
Maybe "be yourself, and try not to hurt anyone," would be a reasonable way to look at this.
He is selling methods and processes to help athletes get better. One of these is a golf journal. He says that golfers are very bad at journaling. I've run across this in the shooting world. There it was common for shooters to keep track of problems and solutions -- at least on the elite levels. Shooting is a lot like golf in that the problems return and if you don't remember the solutions, you waste a lot of time. So write it down and read the notes!
I'm at the driving range a few years back. A guy I had talked with was all excited. "I found it!" "Did you write it down," I asked. "No, I've got it. No need." Two days later, "How's the new swing?" "I've lost it," he said. I've never seen him since. He may have given up the game for all I know. We've all been there. I've written down a lot, but I can't get into the habit of reading through it.
When I run across notes from years ago it's full of things that seem strange and not applicable. Have I moved on and changed? Hard to say.
One other point Bhrett made was that it was not his job (or perhaps not possible) to change a 78 golfer to a 68 golfer. But he would seek to make the 78 guy shoot 76. It looked like it was small increments if your issues were mental in nature. Maybe swing changes would make the bigger difference, but implementation is a mental thing, so maybe it's all back to that.
His talk in re golf seemed to make a player more efficient. The best goal for the shot. Every shot should have a goal. The goals ought to reflect what the golfer can do. Not what the golfer expects to do or dreams of doing, but what is reasonable. He talks of a pin on the right of the green. Easy picking if you fade the ball. But the goal for a player who plays right to left may correctly be the center of the green. You'll take a short sided disaster out of the probability pool. Then regardless of the results of the putting, you should feel good about goal management and shot selection.
I should talk about my own game as mom likes to read what I am up to and it might be insightful for me to try to summarize.
As I see it, my game has gotten a lot better lately. The driver is about 90% from about 25%, and some of the longer clubs have been behaving better as well. Those changes are allowing me to get to more greens in regulation than before. The putter is doing some amazing things as well. 5 putts through the first 5 holes the other day. That takes the pressure off of getting to the greens as chipping and putting is fairly reliable.
I would have to say that there are technical changes that are helping. I'd also suggest that my play is fairly low key and low expectations. My philosophy has been to hit it, find it and hit it again. Not too much planning as I would suggest that not every shot is critical.
It occurred to me that the shot one before par was the critical one. That might be the putt for birdie or the short pitch to get to the green. Obviously if the first shot or second was outstanding, then this "critical" shot maybe irrelevant. Think of hitting it stiff in regulation and the putt is a gimme.
So a lot of shots for me have no value or pressure attached to them. I'm going to hit an iron to a short par 4 and I drop into automatic mode. My short irons can be godlike and I just hit them at the pin. I don't know how I do it. I wish I had that consistency with the other clubs.
Now, let's go back and think about the driver which has been a problem for longer than I will admit to. There is the tendency to try to get more out of it than I have any hope of doing so. Sadly, it is very difficult to step back and try to hit an ordinary shot. But I think I've gotten better at doing that and of understanding what I am trying to do and better at banishing what I do when I duck hook it into the bushes 150 yards off the tee. Oh, I've made more than my share of pars from the bushes, but it's not fun and it lacks elegance.
Mostly I'm wandering the course, hitting the ball, commiserating or complementing my fellow players and having a nice time. I don't think about score much. I pay attention to where the pins are and from where I want to come into the greens. It seems to me that my fellow players don't seem to notice these things.
There may be reasons for that observation. If you don't have the control to hit to a particular side of a fairway, then aim for the middle and hit away. Some of the guys I play with are much longer than I am and they may have different problems than I do. Others are shorter and their first shot can't get them into trouble -- fair enough.
When I don't pay attention to score, it does a couple of things. It makes it hard for me to remember the round and what I had on each hole. I normally just keep strokes to par in my head, which on a good day, doesn't move a lot. This mode also seems to make each shot more of an individual challenge. Prior bad shots don't affect what I'm trying to do with the current one. Each shot is a separate challenge and I'm happy to have a lot of challenges on a hole or just a few.
I also get a great deal of satisfaction from a nice up and down; more than I would get from a GIR and two putt. It's the extra challenge of a shot that may require an amount of touch and delicacy.
That is a my post work life. I've got these interesting challenges in a beautiful place with like-minded golfers. It's quite a wonderful thing and I'm enjoying it immensely. Will I get bored and discard it and move on to something else? It's happened before. I've not played golf for decades as the years rolled along. But for now, it's working wonders for my mind and the 25 miles of walking a week can't be bad either.
Today was day off and a visit to the range. And tomorrow is another round. Stay tuned!
Monday, August 6, 2018
Shaft Loading
I ran across a couple of YouTube videos that talked about shaft loading.
This happens when you begin a downswing while the club is still going backwards. You can feel this in your hands as you come down. It feels like you are pulling or swinging a heavy object in a circle.
The question is, is that a good thing to do? We are adding energy into the shaft by bending it. We will get some of that out when it straightens. This is a storage and release object.
However, is it better to put that energy into just accelerating the club back to the ball?
I played around with this some during today's round. I am able to do this. I didn't see any difference in distance. It felt like I was swinging the club harder since the amount of resistance was higher, but no real benefit.
I wandered over to Tutelman.com, my golf physicist. He did not address this point specifically, but he talks a great deal about trying to use your hands to impart a late swing hit to the ball. The use of your hands can actually speed the club, but your timing has to be perfect. It's not worth doing unless it's easy for you to do.
So we are back to the natural release, which is to maintain the wrist cock as long as you can then let go of all control and let the dynamics of the swing act on the club.
I was also thinking that my right hand was too strong a position to my left. I had a strange callous on the left thumb and my hands never felt like they worked together.
I tried to move the right hand more on top into a weaker position. This didn't seem to make much of a difference either, but I hit the ball very solidly today and maybe this is part of it. It seems the thing to do and I'll continue to monitor this.
That's the technical wrap up for today. played pretty well, bunch of birdies, but lost most of my strokes to errant drives. The driver is getting better along with the longer clubs. The game is getting easier and the scores remain lower.
This happens when you begin a downswing while the club is still going backwards. You can feel this in your hands as you come down. It feels like you are pulling or swinging a heavy object in a circle.
The question is, is that a good thing to do? We are adding energy into the shaft by bending it. We will get some of that out when it straightens. This is a storage and release object.
However, is it better to put that energy into just accelerating the club back to the ball?
I played around with this some during today's round. I am able to do this. I didn't see any difference in distance. It felt like I was swinging the club harder since the amount of resistance was higher, but no real benefit.
I wandered over to Tutelman.com, my golf physicist. He did not address this point specifically, but he talks a great deal about trying to use your hands to impart a late swing hit to the ball. The use of your hands can actually speed the club, but your timing has to be perfect. It's not worth doing unless it's easy for you to do.
So we are back to the natural release, which is to maintain the wrist cock as long as you can then let go of all control and let the dynamics of the swing act on the club.
I was also thinking that my right hand was too strong a position to my left. I had a strange callous on the left thumb and my hands never felt like they worked together.
I tried to move the right hand more on top into a weaker position. This didn't seem to make much of a difference either, but I hit the ball very solidly today and maybe this is part of it. It seems the thing to do and I'll continue to monitor this.
That's the technical wrap up for today. played pretty well, bunch of birdies, but lost most of my strokes to errant drives. The driver is getting better along with the longer clubs. The game is getting easier and the scores remain lower.
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