So I finally got back from my trip to Seattle, 3 straight days of not touching a golf club. That was torture, I don't know how you people can live around that much rain and dreary skies. I was very happy to get back to sunny Arizona. On the positive side, I got to spend a bunch of time reading some old books and drafting my goals for the upcoming year. I'll post those here soon.
So anyway, I get up this morning, excited about grabbing some clubs to take with me so I can stop after work for some practice. I had a lunch appointment today, so I had to wait until after work. Well wouldn't you know, I literally pulled the muscle that runs from your neck down across your shoulder blade while putting on my freaking shirt this morning. Yep, that's the end of the story. There's no follow up line like "and then a bear came in and I wrestled him and pulled a muscle", I was just putting on my shirt.
So on the drive to work, it's getting tighter and tighter, literally to the point that I couldn't even turn my head to look into the other lanes of traffic on the freeway. I spent the entire day stretching my back, arms, shoulders, neck, etc. Literally in every meeting, while I was on conference calls, every spare moment, and by the end of the day, I was actually loose enough (just barely) to stop by Rio Salado and hit some balls. I started out pretty easy as you can imagine as I didn't want to make it worse. So after a couple of tentative, and fat, wedges, I started putting some ooomph behind it.
Very happy to report that the changes I made Saturday seem to have stuck, I still feel "IT" at the top of my swing, and although I didn't have the camera rolling, I "feel" like I'm still in the correct position. And I hit one wedge, three 7 irons and three 3 woods that were just absolutely perfect, wow did those feel great. I'll be bringing the camera tomorrow to make sure I'm on track, and then I have 2 rounds back to back Friday and Saturday. They are friendly rounds, but we've got some juice riding on it, so let's hope to stay interested.
I'm off to bed, just took 800mg of Ibuprofen and a muscle relaxer. I have a bag of ice and a hot pack that I'm about to start rotating. I'm hoping an hour or two of that with a good nights rest will get me back to normal for tomorrow. For now, I'm just absolutely miserable.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Pulled muscles and commitment
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Did we just find "IT"?
Wow, great lesson on Saturday. I'm not sure what to think here. So as you all know, I've been working on flattening my swing and getting it to stop going across the line at the top. I've fully enabled the swing shape and plane, and have completely abolished the past parallel move (finally!). However I've been struggling with the across the line motion after so many years of it. I've gotten it down to literally an inch or two across the line, not much, but still something Jeff and I have been working on.
So after some thoughts and drills given to me, I had nearly gotten it done, but at the beginning of the lesson, I was still just a bit over. So after speaking to me a bit about some swing keys, BAM, it happened. And not just once, I laid down a bunch of swings that put me directly on the target line at the top, if not even an inch laid off. Now of course it is Jeff's responsibility to keep me positive, but he uttered the words "perfect" and "now THAT's a golf swing" too many times for me to ignore. I absolutely feel the specific movement that gets me to the correct position, and was able to key in on that to repeat it time and again. Ball flight and line were both just dead on. I literally have never felt my swing so good.
So after the lesson, I proceeded to plug away for a bit to ensure that I keep the feeling going, and while this may sound cheesy, I literally almost came to tears feeling the change and seeing the results time after time. I've fought that move for so long, to be on the cusp of true abolishment of the specific bad habit that has plagued me for years is definite cause for reflective thinking. Jeff commenting that I've have truly exceeded any expectations that he had for me in this short of a time obviously help bolster those good feelings.
So here's where we stand, over the years I've been good, played better than most, could make it happen when I needed it to most of the time. But there was always this nagging voice that said "your swing sucks", which obviously doesn't help from a confidence standpoint. I now feel like all the hard work has paid off to a point where I would be proud to show video of my swing to anyone, which is a journey of momentous proportions. Yes, position isn't the sole determining factor of outcome. Yes, there are many other facets of the game that count as well. Yes, I will make swings that are not perfect in the future. But from a personal confidence standpoint, I'm on top of the world and feel that with this, the only thing preventing us from achievement, is committment, willpower and the occasional good bounce. I can control 2 out of 3 of those things. I get goosebumps just thinking about how confident I am right now. It's almost time to start playing again, I feel like I could take on the world.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Before and now...
So here's a couple of snapshots of the top of my swing before I started taking lessons and from a couple of days ago at the range. Before it was all feel, didn't care about position, just wanted to hit it where I felt I was aiming it. I've been working hard, scratch that, I've been working my ass off to flatten this out and get it on plane, parallel and not across the line. I'm still a bit across the line, but a far sight better than when I started.
You are welcome to add comments about the pictures and progress. I'd be interested to hear your opinions!
Before:
Current:
Friday, October 5, 2007
About time for an update
So as you may recall, I contemplated giving tournament golf a bit of a break so I could bear down with my instructor and get some things going with the swing changes. So I've been doing that for a couple of weeks now and I think I'm seeing some pretty positive results. I made one absolutely picture perfect swing during my lesson last week, which I can't tell you how proud I am about it. Everything from the takeaway to most importantly my position at the top was exactly where we've been wanting it. The key obviously is to groove it in there, which I've been working hard on with some pretty diligent practice sessions.
Now my theory on practice is on the side of quality, not quantity. I have spent many afternoons just beating balls, with little to show for it. My practice regimine now consists of heading to Rio Salado during my lunch break to hit a medium "bucket" (God I hate that term), which consists of about 50 balls. I take 2, sometimes 3 clubs, alternating days. One short iron, one mid to long iron, then sometimes a 3 wood or driver. I've been working really hard on alignment by setting a stick down at my feet to ensure that I'm on the correct line. Once that's established, I'm free to work on position throughout the swing. Again, I've been working hard on flattening and shortening the swing. The changes Jeff has put into my swing have completely changed how I compress the ball and the sound that it makes. Trajectory is a bit lower, and a hell of a lot straighter from shot to shot.
So funny story from yesterday, I'm on the range and there's one other guy out there, he's got a whole mess of Ping G-10 clubs, literally 5 or 6 of them in his bag, that's a lot of woods. So I comment to him about them, he notes that I also have a G-10, and we continue. I pick up the driver and hit a few shots, and actually start breaking tees. About the 3rd or 4th shot in he looks over at me and I say "man, I keep breaking tees". He then proceeds to inform me that I'm probably teeing the ball too high, maybe I should lower it, and sweep the ball off the tee a bit more, etc. I tell him thanks but I've got it teed just where I'm wanting it. I can see out of the corner of my eye that this guy is now watching me as I'm teeing this one up and he says "okay" as in "fine, don't listen to me, we'll see what happens". So I just absolutely murdered this shot, big high soft draw, the G-10 just screaming in pain as the ball comes off the face. As the ball is about halfway down range I hear him say "well, okay then..." and he turns back to his balls to continue hitting. Classic, man did that bring a smile to my face.
So I have another lesson tomorrow with Jeff, hopefully I've not strayed too far with my swing plane, although my gut tells me I've slowly gotten more upright again over the past week. This is a long process, so that's to be expected for sure.
One other note, they just got done re-seeding the range at Rio Salado and let me tell you, the grass is just perfect now. I'm in absolute heaven. The last month or so every golf course has gotten to the burnt out grass that we all experience down here, so this time of year is especially nice. I would also like to thank Mike at Rio Salado for letting me know that the bowling league is open for tryouts. Nothing like a little shot in the arm of humility. Thanks Mike, I love you too. :-)
Friday, September 21, 2007
Arizona Open Qualifier results
Ugh, what a day. I didn't play all that well all day, which is a bit of a letdown because I hit it great on the range. Off the first tee I hit a weak little cut, which kind of set the tone for the day. End result - 82 with a 10 on 17. I was out of it after 16 and just went brain dead. Chipped in on 18 though! Here we go!
As I said, hit a weak little cut off the first tee, still in the fairway. Hit a weak blocked wedge right of the green, mediocre flop over the bunker to 8 feet and missed the putt, bogey. Hit a solid 3 iron off the tee of the par 5 second (it's a weird hole, 90 degree dogleg left with a forced water carry starting at 230 yards. 7 iron layup and a lame wedge pin high, 15 feet right, 2 putt par. Hit a big 8 iron on #3 to about 30 feet, hit a chickenshit putt down the hill 6 feet short and missed it, bogey. Good 3 wood off of #4 and a great GW to about 6 feet on the fourth, then left the putt short. Good tee shot on 5, was in between 8 and 9 iron, decided on a hard 9 as the pin was right in front, left it just short in the fringe, 2 putts from there.
Hit a horrible tee shot on 6 into a fairway pot bunker, had to hit a wedge out, left me about 80 yards. Hit SW a bit past the pin to about 8 feet and made it for par. Hit a great 6 iron on 7 to about 8 feet, and left the putt short. Could be even right now, kicking myself for that one. Decent drive over the fairway bunker on 8. It's the kind of hole where you need to hit 3 iron to put it in a safe spot away from all the fairway bunkers, leaving 160 in, or just bomb a driver down to 50 yards and hit a flip wedge. I went with the latter, and flipped it into the bunker short of the green. Great plan. Here's where it gets fun, so we're playing with another guy who is pretty let down with his play. At this point he may be even or one over, not sure, but he's uttered every curseword known to man so far. He puts it in the same bunker, and let everyone within 4 miles know that he wasn't happy about it. So I go first, hit a fairly poor shot to about 15 feet, then move to outside the back of the bunker with the rake to wait for him. He hits it out to about 5 feet, proceeds to scream an F bomb, and slams his club into the bunker, which splashes sand all over me, in my face, in my hair, on my clothes, etc. Now, I've never gotten into a fist fight on a golf course, but my man was one apology away from getting a rake shoved up his ass. We exchanged pleasantries, I politely suggested that he get his emotions in check. He literally didn't utter another curseword for the rest of the round. Oh yeah, two putted for bogey. Still shaking sand out of my butt crack. Asshole.
Hit a great tee shot on 9, 470 yard par 4, forced carry over the lake on the 2nd shot, it's a really good hole. I hit what I thought was a perfect 6 iron, but when I looked up, it just had this weird, weak flight to it, landed short in the bunker in between the green and the lake. Blasted out to about 8 feet and missed the putt. Out in 39 just like that. How the F did that just happen? Good tee shot on 10, then decided on a 7 iron to the back pin, hit it perfect. Too perfect, flew the green onto a really steep bank behind the green. Hit a ridiculously good chip that nearly went in for 3 off of that bank, good 4 though. Weak blocked tee shot into the fairway bunker on the par 5 11th, 7 iron out into the fairway, wedge to 12 feet, 2 putt par. Good driver off of 12, wedge to 15 feet, 2 putt par. Good 3 wood on 13, lame 9 iron to 20 feet, two putt par. Hit what I thought was a decent 5 iron on the par 3 14th, came up about 5 yards short of the green. Chip to 4 feet and solid putt for par. So we get to 15, I start taking inventory here, I'm 4 over, 4 holes to play and 2 really straightfoward holes coming right up. I'm thinking if I can get it to 2 over, I "might" have a chance.
Great tee shot on the par 5 15th, 3 wood just short, pitch to 8 feet. How this putt didn't go in, I don't know, hit it just like I wanted. Great tee shot on 16, then slid under a GW, landed it dead in the front 1/4 of the green, pin is all the way back up on a shelf, probably 45+ feet away. I hit the putt about as hard as I could and still came up 6 feet short. Missed it for par and make bogey. So now instead of getting it to 2 over, I'm 5 over with 2 to play. We're dead. Let's get it in and go home. Par 3 17th, 170 yards over water, hit a fat pushed 7 iron into the water. Re-tee as there is no drop area, all over water. Another fat pushed 7 iron into the water. Back to the bag for another ball. I said to the guys I'm playing with "maybe I should hit driver so I can make sure it's dry this time". Put some effort into this 7 iron, but hooked it left of the green. Hit a nearly one handed chip to about 10 feet, ran the putt about 6 feet by, missed that one. Go to tap that in for a 9 and back hand the putter, stubbed it into the ground. Awesome. Let's go ahead and make a real stroke this tip, one inch for a 10. Solid play on that little par 3 no?
Hit a baby cut driver to the landing area on 18, then blocked a 7 iron right of the green. I say to myself "well, might as well make this one, haven't made a birdie all day" and wouldn't you know it, 2 hops and it rolls dead into the heart for a 3. Can we play a new qualifying round starting now? So all in all, played bad on the front and had a chance to keep it in check, I just let it get away from me. Had a good talk with myself on the way to #10 and played really well through the fairway on 16. Once I 3 putted to shoot myself out of it, I just went brain dead obviously. As it turns out, I would have needed to shoot 70 or better to get one of the 25 spots available, wasn't even close. Bitter, party of one, your table is ready...
Thursday, September 6, 2007
We're in the Arizona Open Qualifier
Entry fee is paid and we're all signed up for the qualifier at Ocotillo on Thursday, September 13th. I registered as an amateur as I want to keep my options open for more tournaments in the coming months. Declaring now only limits those options and quite frankly, I have more work to do. It's a long road, we need to do this right.
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
AT&T Arizona Open Qualifier
Went to hit some balls at lunch today at Rio Salado again and chatted with Mike for a bit. We got to talking about upcoming tournaments and he gently reminded me that friendly rounds won't get us anywhere. The Arizona Open is coming up September 20-22nd, the open qualifier is on September 13th at the old stomping grounds, Ocotillo GC. I used to live across the street from there and have played literally 100 rounds out there. Nice golf course, 27 holes with water on 23 of them (water is actually in play on only about 12-14 of them). So with Mike's gentle reminder in my head (meaning he basically got me to tell myself to get my head out of my ass and go play competitively without needing to tell me directly, man he's good) I looked up the info on the qualifier.
