...no idea?

The snow has finally gone and so, feeling full of excitement I headed out with a couple of friends yesterday. Now I wanted to just hit the range but due to the snow they were itching for a walk round the par 3. I hit 30 balls to warm up and there were the obligatory handful of thinned but I'd say 80% of the shots went long, straight and true. Warmed up with the three clubs I use the most the PW, SW and 6 iron and then stroked a few putts.

Things were looking good. I had implemented the few swing and grip suggestions I'd received since posting my video and they seemed to be having the desired effect.

Then I stepped onto the course. Cue terrible thinned pitches and woeful duffed chips. Thank god the putting held up or I'd probably still be out there. Yesterday I was moribund, the wind had been totally taken out of my sails and I was starting to think this whole project was a complete and utter waste of time. This morning I am a little more circumspect.

The last two times out I have carded my worst ever scores, but in all honesty I shouldn't have been playing even on a par 3. You need a clear mind and trust in your swing to play and I had neither. When you are on the range you have no worries because if you mishit one you just get another ball out of the bucket. On the course it matters so much more.

This is not to say I'm going to be a slave to the range, but I am now significantly reducing expectations when I do venture onto a course. The signs of improvement on the range are promising and that's how I will treat them.

I have a few more golf days between now and the 1st January and rather than trying to get my scores down, I'll be using them to analyse my game and decide with my pro the plan of action for 2010...

Comments:

Homer
Guys,

If you are going to get serious about analysing your performances and your practice time I seriously recommend putting the data into one of the golf databases on the market.

My recommendation would be scoresaver 2 and the guy who runs it (SS2 on the GM Forum) will be able to do you a deal. You can also trial it for a month. It will tell you everything you need about your performance that round and over periods of time. You can add practice info and lessons (including details of any drills you were shown). I did a review as part of the GM Advent Calender so check it out