Dedication & Inspiration

Today's blog post is designed to serve two purposes. Firstly, it will explain to you my commitment to development over the coming season, secondly it will make a personal dedication to a man I've never met but can relate to, respect, deeply admire and is the main inspiring factor in my quest to reach scratch.

So to the plan, well I know I need to be dedicated if I'm going to make a respectable attempt at the challenge, let alone pull it off. I've broken my game down a la Pelz into the following components:

Mental
Management
Swing
Short Game
Putting

Each team has a mentor/coach (though one position still to be finalised) and I'll be setting myself a realistic practice programme and targets for season 2010/11. Detail on each plan will follow in early April.

My inspiration
In August 2008, my world came crashing down around me. I lost sensation in both legs and a few days later in September I lost sensation in my body from the neck down. I could still move my limbs but with out clear sensory reception I was unable to perform simple tasks like walking very far, dressing myself or making myself food. A month later I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. At the same time a friend put a Daily Mail article in the post about a golfer called Tony Johnstone.
Many of you will have heard of Tony Johnstone what you may not know was that his professional career was threatened when he was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. Not only did he come back, he has since won a tournament! I'll be honest - I had no idea who he was but I could empathise with his condition. We were both passionate about sport (albeit he had significantly more talent than me) and we both had the thing we loved, and in Tony's case earnt a living from, being taken away. I've kept that article and often re read it when I feel low or need an injection of inspiration.

I was fortunate to make it on to the same clinical trial as Tony (in fact we share the same excellent clinical team at Addenbrookes Hospital, Cambridge). The treatment has made a massive difference to my life. So each step I take on my road to recovery and towards the zenith of scratch Tony is never far from my thoughts. I owe him a huge debt of gratitude for giving me belief when I could have feared and direction when I could have lost my way.

As a result this project will always be more than a numbers game and I pray it gives hope to other MS sufferers who may be reading. While I may fantasise of rounds at Augusta with Niklaus, Ballesteros, Hogan and co in reality I'd most like to play 18 holes in the company Mr Johnstone at the end of a successful quest, that for me would be the perfect conclusion.

Comments:

Simon Hutton
great post Tiger. Good to have the inspiration!

Homer
Interesting post as many on here are. I’m glad the treatment is going well. You should think about trying to get in touch and relaying your story to him. It might help him to know that fellow golfers are using him as an inspiration and who knows you may even get to meet the great man.

I hope your season kicks on now you’re in a club and can play regularly in competitions with better golfers and have access to practice facilities etc. Make friends with the pro. If he’s anything like mine he’ll always give you a 30 second tip if you’re struggling. Keep going

Time to reflect

My footballing exploits were drawn to a premature end in August 2008. As the season begun I had high hopes of beating my previous year's tally of 22 goals and successfully defending my position of top goalscorer. Sadly illness intervened but one year later I began a new, exciting challenge where I could compete on par with anyone. My addiction to golf had begun.

As I write I sit in hospital undergoing what will hopefully be my final three day course of treatment. I'll never be seen beating defenders for pace, or battering them into submission but I hope to be seen regularly knocking it stiff from 120 yards.

It's given me a chance to digest more golfing reading fodder, become excited about The Masters for the first time ever and take stock of where my game has got to over the past 8 months.

I'll save the game analysis for another day, for now I'm just grateful that golf has provided me with an opportunity to sustain my enthusiasm and passion for competitive and recreational sport.

On a nelson...

Today was supposed to be my first assault on breaking 100 but unfortunately it was not to be. For the non cricketers out there I posted a disappointing score of 111 and while there are a number of mitigating circumstances, the main problem today was my failure to stay in the present. On the whole I was much more consistent than my last venture, the problem was being consistently mediocre (if you take average to be a bogey a hole).

So what went wrong.

Love hate relationship

My Vokey Gap Wedge and I have had an interesting relationship till now. At first we did not get on at all and I often wondered why I had paid good money for the blinking thing. Duffs, thins, slices you name it anything but nice straight ball flight. I had a few more lessons, worked hard on my game and things are improving. During my lunch time practice session on the heath today I saw Reg (Waldringfield Club Captain) once again, who I've now adopted as my mentor and surrogate father.

He made three subtle suggestions:

1. Don't sit down quite so much in my set up (causing fats)


2. Maintain more width on my back swing (causing fats)


3. Use my left shoulder as a trigger of when to start my down swing (improved tempo)

All of them worked and got me hitting lovely clean wedge shots, with a sweet selection of divots. I really do feel that things are starting to come together and my love affair with the gap wedge is much less tumultuous.

Now if it would only behave itself on my chip shots we could well settle down in the near future and start a family...

Managing my game

My regular playing partner is a lovely chap. We both started to learn to play at the sane time, joined our first club together and are equally enamoured with the joys of golf. However, when it comes to course management we are chalk and cheese. He loves the big stick, even though he can't wield it properly yet, and unless it's a par 3 he pulls that or the 3 wood out. I have tried to reason with him but thus far to no avail.

I'm slightly more conservative in my approach. What's the danger on the hole? What's the risk/reward? If it's a par four could I get on the green with two decent mid iron strikes? The next thing I've learnt is assess the wind, lie, slope, ground conditions, distance. Think which club I want to hit, go one stronger and swing easy. Every par I hit on Saturday was because of that approach. I took a 6I over a 7 on the 3rd and 6th, an 8I over a 9I on the 9th and a PW on the tiny 11th which on paper should have been way too much club.

This is my simple starting point but there are still a number of challenges. The course only has markers at 150 yards, meaning guess work is required when you are close in. There are also a lot of blind greens so I'm hoping to get up there midweek sometime soon when it's quiet so I can take time on each hole to think about what the best lay up positions are as well as places I want to avoid.

I've only just scratched the surface of course management and am starting to realise the complexity and magnitude of the mission I've taken on. I'm hoping in time with more rounds under my belt, how I think around the course will get better.

Comments:

Simon Hutton
Sounds good. I’m learning that clubbing up and swinging easy is an extremely useful option – primarily because swinging easy means I have more chance of hitting the ball nicely and avoiding a slice.

Homer
If your course has a course planner, buy one and then add your own yardages on each hole bit by bit (obviously better if you can borrow a DMD but even a guesstimate at this stage will suffice) and give yourself as much info as you can.

Years ago I did my own one for Wimbledon Common as they didn’t have one. I pace the green out down the middle of each one and across the widest part. I made a not of the relevant features I wanted and then paced from the furthest back to the middle of the green. Next time I just paced from my starting point to the next feature and deducted.

The thing is you can then build up a detailed map for each hole (arguably more detailed than any DMD) and find safe go to areas so that even if you hit a bad tee shot you have options.

Tiger
Unfortunately they are making some course modifications at the moment so they are waiting till they are completed before they produce a new course planner. Went on MyCaddie and have mapped the course on there so will use my iPhone in the interim as a GPS. The main issue is they only have yardage markers at 150 yards so once you are closer than that you’re screwed.

Ball of Choice 2010

So there I am yesterday, stood on the second tee, getting ready to play my fifth shot. I'd already placed a Srixon Z-Star, a Titleist ProV1 lake ball and a Titleist ProV1 refurb on the sacrificial altar of the golfing gods (notice the steady decline on ball quality). My Sasquatch bag has a nifty ball holder and as I drained it of its last offering (another refurb) I was determined to keep this one in play.

Cue a hook to the trees on the left of the fairway and after two duffed attempts to get the ball in play on the shorter stuff, I caught it clean and bladed it out of bounds to the right. I had progressed about 150 yards on a 500 yard par 5 and used nine shots.

Seconds out...round two

Welcome back to the titanic tussle here between the challenger and the undefeated champion of the world, the glorious game of golf. Well golf is taking the fight to his opponent today and he can kiss that brand spanking new Srizon Z-Star goodbye as it slices into the rough and gorse on the first. It's 6 on that par three but the champ is showing no signs of abating, one, two, three lost balls (thankfully all refurbs) and the challenger is on the ropes, a whopping 15, thats 21 shots thus far and twelve over par on two holes.

Next steps...

So after much debate on the GM forum, a bit of consternation on here and a lot of thought the time has come for a wood. After having a go with a 3 wood and a driver on the simulator, I've recognised that I need to start working on my wood swing. It doesn't mean the extra distance is going straight in the bag but it does add an extra layer to my practice schedule.

So based on my current set up I'm looking to learn with a 4/5 wood eventually leading to the purchase of a 4 wood. Thanks to everyone who contributed to the debate, but especially JustOneUK and JammyDodger for their counsel.

Virtual insanity

Cue diminutive, big hat wearing funky dancing 90's vocalist and his invisible jazz funk fusion band OR a golf simulator in central London. My poor city bound brother gets his winter golfing fix indoors, under bizarre lighting, whacking balls at giant sheet with a projected image of world famous courses. Today we met up for a drink and a two hour game on the simulator.

The course of choice was the Belfry and for the most part my game utterly abandoned me. It just felt wrong, and though it was fun, playing golf in jeans and Fly shoes is not the same. I have no doubt that the machine is accurate and the nearest the pin contest we finished with confirmed this. However, I just couldn't sort out my ball striking and as for the chipping and putting, feel just went out the window.

I just think that not being anchored with my DryJoys and reacting to a two dimensional image (with my blinking shadow on it) wasn't conducive to producing my best golf. That said it was an enjoyable couple of hours and reminded me how lucky I am to live where I do, with lunch breaks on the Heath and the club down the road.

I got smashed by my bro on the main course, but then again I don't think the Belfry was designed to be played with a 6I, GW and putter. I got my revenge on closest to the pin winning from both 183 and 76 yards. Fun? Yes, and I won't be having sleepless nights about my poor performance.

Signed on the dotted line...

Well I have finally bitten the bullet and am now officially a golf club member. I’ve joined Waldringfield Golf Club in Suffolk and am really looking forward to spending many weekends on the par 71 course, meeting new golfers, making friends and of course that all important mission of getting the handicap down.
In terms of facilities I am very, very happy with the short game practice area. Two separate areas for chipping and pitching practice as well as the mandatory putting green. The pitching area has a number of flagged targets as well as two greenside bunkers. I’m not sure how popular the practice facilities are but I’m hoping that won’t be used too frequently by other members so I can make the most of them! Only one driving net though so I'll still need to visit my local driving range to work on the full swing properly.

As I’ve never been a member before I’m not sure what to expect but I am particularly looking forward to playing in my first medal event. I miss competitive sport and it will be a strange feeling participating as an individual rather than a member of a team. I am playing my first round on Sunday, so of course there will be a score update coming soon. I’m really hoping that the swing practice I have conducted since the last round will have paid dividends but not to the expense of the short game!

I’m hoping for no more than 36 putts and a couple of pars but other than that I’m just going to soak it all up and savour every moment.

To view the club website click here.

Comments:

Homer
Well done for getting in. From my own experiences I’d suggest getting yourself well know with the pro, secretary and the steward as all are usually good sources for getting a game (the latter also helps when getting served when its busy!)

Get into as many events as you can and get your face known. I’m sure with the longer nights there will be others that use the short game area and putting green and rather than being an inconvenience it may be a help especially if thwy are low handicappers for getting some sound short game advice.

You’ll need to learn the course so try and get out for as many holes or rounds as you can (even on your own) so you get to know the bad places to hit and where you can lay up to or how certain holes set up. You can only pick this up over time and the same goes for the contours on the greens.

When you play competitions, especially the first you’re bound to get nervous. You’ve read Rotella and he talks about using those nerves positively. Just remember that if you are having a bad day to be courteous to your partners (no whinging or club throwing) and to observe the etiqutte. If you’re unsure how to proceed with a ruling don’t do anything without asking, especially touching or moving the ball.

Above all ENJOY IT. There will be some guys you don’t get on with and thats fine but for the most part members will be glad to have you on board. Project scrath is definitely up and running now and the clock is ticking!

Tiger
Like the glass is half full approach to busy practice areas, I’ll bear that in mind. Good shout on the steward hadn’t though about that, but definitely aiming to get to know as many people as possible so I’m never short of a playing partner. Although I tend to play better on my own I find it a very lonely experience and like the companionship of other golfers. I’ve already got a tee time booked for Sunday and will see if I can get down to practice on Saturday (HID permitting). I don’t think I’ve ever been this excited about sports club membership, ever (and that includes the athletics team at Loughborough with the most amazing training facilities I have ever seen!) Thanks for the support.

Paul
All the best with project scratch. No doubt you’ve read “Dream on: The challenge to break par in one year” by John Richardson. It’s a great inspiration to all golfers.

Tiger
Hey Paul, yes I have read it and put a review on here a while back. It was a throughly enjoyable read. If you Reviews in the menu bar you can search through all my past book reviews. Thanks for your support.

Inches...

I went over to the Heath today for my usual lunchtime practice session. The Club Captain of Waldringfield (the club I'm joining officially today) was up there hitting balls. He is a really helpful and friendly guy and tries to carefully balance being helpful with useful observations and taking over the role of coach.

Today he made three telling observations, gave one piece of advice and made a significant difference to my ball striking. It was a windy day and my first few shots spun away to the right followed by one that had a nice draw on it. Truth be told the last one was by accident rather than design. I listen carefully to all advice I am given and choose what to accept, what to try and what wouldn't work for me or sounds a bit pointless. Reg was spot on today.

Balls...

Andy, a very observant chap on the GM forum asked me 'what in the name of chuck dicken's I was doing playing premium balls'. A fair comment given that my profile suggested I was playing brand spanking new Z-Stars and ProV1s. I've actually been playing ProV lake balls waiting for the time my game was solid enough to benefit from premium balls.

I have been toying with what should be my ball of choice when I start playing regularly. I was all set to buy Srixon AD333 when Spinn77 suggested I get Titleist NXT Tour. Now I'm not sure. I don't want to faff about trying a sleeve of each but should I? Or do you recommend one or t'other or knowing what you are like something completely different? ;)

Comments:

Homer
Ball choice is very much a preferred taste and so at your early stage of your golfing career I'd be trying as many as I could. I think if you want a "best of both" ball in terms of distance and spin it is a pretty straight fight between the NXT tour and the AD333. I don't like lake balls as they've been immersed in water and so it will inevitably have some impact on performance depending on how long they were lost before being reclaimed. In my experience you can have two lake balls of the same make and both will perform differently.

FourPutt
Tiger, like you I am new to the game and have gone through this very dilemma. Due to the amount of trees round my place I’m still losing a few balls most rounds and Z Stars started to get expensive. At the moment I’m using Srixon Distance balls, which I can usually get online for about 8 quid a dozen. They might not be fantastic balls spin wise, but I have found that I am not that good that I really notice the difference!

A fat is a fat and a thin is a thin…. the balls don’t make much difference to me at this stage. Maybe you should just be hitting cheapos at the moment too. One guy at my club always says he’ll play with anything, as long as it doesn’t cost him more than £1 per ball.

Tiger
The thing is I don’t really care about distance. What I do care about is performance around the green. Problem is I might have to sell a kidney if I’m losing loads of premium balls in the bushes. I’m going to play a Z-Star on Sunday and if I still have it at the end of the round, I’ll carry on using them. To be honest I’d be disappointed if I did lose it as I’m not wielding any woods and they seem to be the biggest ball losing culprit!

Simon Hutton
I’m using slazenger balls at the moment – pretty cheap really. Do you think around the green it really makes a difference for complete beginners like me?

Like the blog, enjoying the updates!

Tiger
I have noticed a big improvement on my control when I’ve practiced with the three piece and chipped/pitched well. However I’m not consistent or good enough a ball striker to get the most out if a premium ball. I won’t compress it enough either to get extra distance. However, I think you would definitely benefit from playing something like an AD333. The balance is finding a ball that gives you the best performance for your game at an affordable price. I would dearly love to play premiums as when I’m striking the ball well around the green I get a lot of benefit but if I snap hooking into gorse or slicing out of bounds it could get really, really expensive. I’d take homers advice if I were you and try a few sleeves in practice or your local p&p and see what performance you get round the greens. However, the best thing I did for my short game was investing in three lessons to cover putting, chipping and pitching

Simon Hutton
Good advice Tiger, perhaps I’ll stick with my slazengers until they’ve all been lost in bushes and lakes, and then invest in some decent ones after a short game lesson or two with the pro. Cheers!

Long irons are back

Had an extremely productive lesson and range session today. Overhinge has been plaguing my ball striking meaning that more often than not I take a shovel sized divot and send the ball forward just a few feet.

So let's get the technical stuff out of the way. I need to keep the club in hand more preventing the wrist cocking, which is currently making the club go way past horizontal. I've got some exercises to work on which worked well on the range.

What this means in practice is that my swing is slower, shorter and ball striking much improved. It also means that the long irons are back in the bag. It also reinforced the need for me to have someone there to help your swing technique. It was so interesting having him film bits of my swing and show them to me where I thought I was under doing it and was still overdoing it.

I've still got a long way to go but have a full understanding of what a good swing feels like.

Comments:

Simon Hutton
>my swing is slower, shorter and ball striking much improved

I keep getting told that by not only the tutor, but almost every golfer I play with! Knowing it is easy… doing it is not so!

Tiger
Couldn’t agree more – simple in theory seemingly impossible in practice! Good luck with your quest.

Conundrum

Good news: the club I'm joining has a reasonably priced standing order option - hurray.

More good news: I'm now aiming to play more golf this month as a result (Harry I hope this makes both you and me happy!)

Conundrum: I now am in a quandary as to what order I prioritise my next purchases.

Flopping 'eck...

I'm trying to keep things simple and my chipping is slowly improving. Having looked at a recent thread on the GM forum regarding flop shots, I decided to give trying them a miss. Then a new thread emerged where one forumer had given the advice a whirl and it had proved a revelation. He'd just broken 100 so I thought I might as well give it a go on my lunchtime practice session. And stone the crows I struck every single one well. Off they flew miles into the air and landed softly, I was stunned.

Now I still have my issues with distance control, as I have with all my chipping and pitches, but direction was good and no thins. It's a shot that definitely needs work but I can think of at least two holes on my new club track where it will be a handy shot to know. At the moment it's a work in progress to be used on the par 3 course and practice sessions, but it may well make an appearance in competition later this summer.

Huge thanks to nowtfancy and jammydodger (for spurring me on), BrianDamage (for the original thread) and all the other forumers that offered their advice.

Comments:

Swinger
Glad to hear your over coming a ‘fear’ of flop shots mate. If you practise this it can be key in posting a half decent score when the swing is off. It can turn a bogey in to a par and a double in to a single. If your swinging well on the day you probably won’t hit any. You just need to be positive when things are off that you can still give your self a chance from behind that bunker or behind that hedge!!

It takes alot of practise to get good at but time practising this shot is time well spent as it will help bring you touch and feel on for all shots around the green. I do tend to practise this shot more than other chips and pitches and enjoy hitting these shots well on the course. On sunday I hit 3 fairways and about 8 greens in reg and walked off shooting my H/C of 4 after a very bad ball striking round. I wasn’t impressed overall but had some great up and downs and got away with a few really bad apprach shots with some great flop shots, that I enjoyed.

Stick with it mate and it’ll be a useful tool for all your golfing life. Don’t worry if you do catch a few thin mate, it’s all part of the learning process. Out of interest what club are you using for your flop shots?? I use a 60 deg Vokey with 4 deg of bounce on it. The low bounce makes it really easy to open up off tighter lies. If you are going to play flop shots off tighter lies then I would suggest you have a lob wegde with very low bounce like mine otherwise the margin for error is even tighter.

Tiger
Hey Swinger, I love the flop shot especially as there’s minimal roll. Seeing it just stop dead where you were aiming is a great feeling. Unfortunately, I don’t have a lob in the bag so at the moment I’m using my 52 with 8 degrees of bounce. I have to say I have no idea what I’m going to do when I review my bag at the end of May.

I’m currently thinking that I will end up purchasing 16 clubs and then chop and change depending on course and conditions. However, the critical question is what order…in fact I’m going to write a blog post about that now.

Thanks for the support and advice.

Swing fixes required

Glorious sunny day today, blue skies, not a cloud in sight...fecking freezing! However, despite the winter chill I enjoyed two rounds on the nine hole par three course today. The aim this month is to play on any form of course (as much as possible) in preparation for joining my first golf club in April.

I'm hoping to have a much needed lesson next weekend, but in the interim I'm using my playing time to identify where my problems lie.

The unscratchable itch...

I've got a problem now. Up till last week I really enjoyed my lunchtime practice sessions. I've been out in freezing cold and wet conditions honing my short game with numb hands. Problem is I've now tasted the fruit of the forbidden tree and I want more.

The range is no longer as satisfying, the putting practice not as rewarding and the time spent on the heath not as fulfilling. All I want to do is play. Work on my game on the course, with nasty sloping lies and consequences for each and every shot. I want to pitch over water, chip over sand and putt over undulating seas of neat trimmed grass.

I want to stroll through lush parkland, enjoying the company of friends and pitting myself against whatever challenges are thrown my way.

Unfortunately, for the next 28 days and six hours it's an itch I am goIng to struggle to scratch. Thing is that I have finally succumbed the collective wisdom of the masses that a GPS is the way forward. That coupled to my impending subs means that finances are tight and opportunities to play full courses even tighter.

The sun is shining, the birds are singing and this promises to be a long and frustrating month.

Comments:

Hearty Harry
Tiger Tiger, Listen to yourself! Do you really want to stop yourself playing golf for a month? You could really make a lot of progress in the next month by getting out on a full 18 hole course in preparation for being a member. Instead you will have a shiny new GPS that tells you that you are 4,000 or so yards away from the golf course that you should be playing on!

Could you not save up for the GPS instead? There is no collective wisdom as the golfing world is split right down the middle on DMDs!

Tiger
Hey Harry, It’s actually the money for golf club membership that is holding me back from playing this month (I know how ironic)! The DMD is coming next. I’m hoping to get one game on a short course (par 62) and the course I’m joining. Thing is if I had it my way I’d be playing a minimum of 4/5 times!!! Love the image of sitting at home with a DMD measuring the distance to the first green . Unfortunately, I think it’s a necessary evil but once I’m a member you’ll have to drag me off!