Mental block

Played in the swindle this morning and still no joy on the course. That was tempered with the news that my team had finished third in the cross country competition. To be fair that accomplishment was more down to Alex and Terry but I will still savour the shortcake biscuits and beer I won.

The new grip is still taking time to bed in but when I catch it well it's miles better than my old one. Having limped round in a rather forlorn, error strewn 21 points I spent some time in the bar with the lads before heading home.

However, once I filled the car up at the petrol station I decided to head back to the course. I had to banish my demons and low and behold on the practice hole things clicked. This confirmed the problem. It's not my swing, or the grip, or dry fairways and bad bounces. It's not the wind, or the clubs or a lack of ability. The problem lies within the six inches between my ears.

Too tense, too many thoughts, insufficient clarity or focus. These are the challenges I must tackle. Hitting ball after ball on the practice ground it became clear that when I thought only of my target, relaxed over the ball and tried to maintain my focus on it as I swung easy I made a good connection. The new grip then ensured that the ball travelled in pretty much the right direction. I hope I get the chance to practice/play on Monday as it's medal week next week and it would be great to peak at just the right time!

Cross country...

Back at school cross country was a swear word to all but the ridiculously fit kids. Most of the teachers didn't enjoy it as it meant standing marshalling in the forest in either sub zero or monsoon conditions. The unsporty kids didn't fancy it either, though to be fair the well seasoned ones often had sick notes excusing them from participating in any form of exercise. I was a sporty type but I hated it for two reasons:

1. I wasn't very good but I was very competitive
2. It usually meant that the pitches were frozen/waterlogged which meant no football for a while

Today I participated in a four and a half hour cross country and loved every minute of it. Well maybe that's a slight exaggeration as my golf has taken a turn for the worse. I loved the majority of it excluding the moments shortly after I'd hit a poor shot.

For those if you that haven't played a Cross Country essentially consists of made up holes where for example you'd teed it up on 14th and play to the 2nd green. Originally, they had planned a more sprawling course but the significant interest and 96 entrants led to a rethink and 16 smaller holes. The format was Texas Scramble and I think we finished 11.9 under par with our handicap allowance. I'm mnot sure what the winning tally was as I had to dash off before the presentations but from those people I spoke to it seemed as though a good day was had by all.

I would highly recommend it as an interesting variation to normal play with some crazy shots over trees, to blind greens from angles you've possibly never imagined, and for the higher handicapper probably some you've played before. I must confess to a few moments of déjà vu today. It probably wasn't the best format for someone looking to build their confidence in their swing but I'm out tomorrow morning in a swindle and hopefully that will resolve those qualms.

Really good fun today and the highlight was pplaying with Terry from the Waldringfield office. He only plays twice a year, off 28, yet by the 7th hole we had used FIVE of his tee shots. That's not much to write home about if he was only playing we me, but we were also playing with our club pro! The early run of short par 3's he just kept pitching them close. I was really chuffed for him with his nearest the pin effort on one of the latter holes to about 18 inches.

As for me I need to relax and believe...

Professional advice

By the time I arrived at the club yesterday I had convinced myself that I should practice. I had hit balls on the Heath earlier but the swing was still a work in progress. As I arrived I said hello to our assistant pro Warren who suggested I take a leaf out of the Tour pro book: play nine holes, identify my weaknesses, then go practice. So despite all my plans and intentions I warmed up in the net and headed to the first.

My normal shot of late has been a pull left of the target. Imagine my joy as my tee shot only went fractionally left of target, a feeling momentarily soured as it landed on the green and rolled off the back. Our first has two tiers sloping back to front with the rear of the green raised about six foot. Three months ago this chip would have filled me with dread. Now I'm looking confidently at the contours trying to assess the right landing spot. I then debate how much roll I want. I err on the side of caution in case I over hit it. Drop the chip exactly where I wanted but the reduced release because of that cautious tee shot leaves me on the top tier. I gauge the pace of my putt but misjudge the break and finish gimme distance to the right. I've scored four on here before numerous times, but this time I was controlled and missed out on a par because of caution. A club too much from the tee and too little on my chip. To me that's progress.

I'll not detail the rest of the round but in summary. I continued to chip and putt well this is becoming a strength, I am still prone to struggling with my new grip and not scoring as well as a result. It has had most impact on my 3 wood and perhaps a visit to the driving range wouldn't go amiss to work on the longer clubs.

However, my biggest Achilles heel is bunker play. I found four bunkers in 9 holes and reviewing the scores below I'm sure you can figure out which ones. However, sometimes you have to backwards in order to get better.

So as I finished on the 9th I headed to the practice area to hit a few balls and work hard on bunkers trying Gary Smith's linear method. Verdict? Too early to tell but I think like my chipping, in three weeks time I'll be much more confident and adept. I hope my game will be in better shape for the May medal and another opportunity for a cut. Saturday's swindle will be a good barometer...

55 (36)
4(3), 8(5), 4(3), 7(4), 6(5), 5(3), 7(5), 8(4), 6(4)

Mental arithmetic?

I was quite good at maths at school. At least I was until they decided to remove all the numbers and use letters, or even worse strange Greek symbols, instead. I got a bit lost at that point and my enthusiasm for crazy equations vanished. This change of heart was compounded by a series of Physics lessons with the aptly named Mr Dick. If you got it great, if you didn't he had very little time for you. So to me these new types of calculations were a little 'mental' (in the colloquial ridiculously tough sense of the word).

That confused and tangential history aside I have a greater understanding of the golf improvement equation. It is not sufficient to simply expect lots of practice/playing time to lead to massive improvement. Technique is an important factor. My chipping has got significantly better after a little over a week because I have been practicing a more reliable method. The next conundrum for me is that age old choice between playing or practicing. When I'm not working on any changes I'll play as much as possible. But when I'm bedding in a change the lure of the course is always strong. That's the scenario I find myself in now. Do I play 18 holes or even 9 tomorrow or do I use that time to work on my new grip, chips, bunkers and putting. I'm playing in a cross country on Friday and the swindle on Saturday so it should be a no brainer...but this is me we're talking about. Either way at least I can be grateful of the chance to play some form of golf.

Fairway to go

My new grip is proving a bit of a distraction

Saturday's golf lesson was brilliant, I resolutely stand by that, but today was the grim reality of how much work I need to do to bed in the change.Taking a new grip onto the course isn't really advisable but I was under the expert stewardship of our assistant pro. First off though wow. Playing with someone who knows how to play the game is a real eye opener. Most impressive were his shots from bunkers and a couple of up and downs he made to save par. A solid nine holes from him (level par) and some great advice, support and encouragement for me for which I was really grateful.

As for me there are two stories today. The first is that I struggled massively hitting anything over 100 yards. I've moved from pulls to thinned/topped slices. A lot of it is due to the new grip feeling alien and not hitting down on the ball as a result. After we completed nine holes we headed to the practice area where Warren gave me some more advice and worked with me for a bit before heading off to hone his putting ahead of tomorrow's Europro competition. I wish him luck.

The second story of my round was my short game. What. A. Difference. We played the back nine and short game was strong. On 10 I duffed my third shot into a bunker, played a good shot out and sunk the putt. On 11 I missed the green right and got up and down for par. On 12 I missed the green left and got up and down for bogey. I had a couple of others where my putts didn't drop and am really happy with how that part of my game has developed. Despite hitting the ball like a cross eyed chameleon (I'm not sure about lizard's general proficiency at golf but I'm assuming it's not great) I blobbed the 15th and scored 16 points. To do that when I couldn't hit a ball for love nor money is a positive sign. When the new grip setlles I mean business but until then, I've got a fair way to go...

Carlsberg don't do golf lessons...

Spent a supreme half an hour with my teaching pro today and made a massive leap forwards. As per usual the first ten minutes tidied up a recurring bad habit: on this occasion the flex in my right knee. Once that was sorted my pro adjusted my right hand on my grip. Well blow me down with a feather, tickle me with a duster and call me Susan. It was like the missing piece of the jigsaw had finally been slotted into place. Now don't get me wrong I still need to work on it but suddenly everything made sense, my swing was more repeatable and the results when I caught a good'un were breathtaking (well fo me anyway).

After my last lesson I have worked hard on flattening my swing plane which my pro was happy with. The change in the grip simply moved my right hand round more so my palm faced the target. It still feels a little weird but not only are my good shots better, but more importantly my bad shots are massively improved.

Playing a lot of golf this week: 18 holes tomorrow and Thursday, a Cross Country game Friday and another 18 on Saturday. Hoping that it will click on teh course and they'll be some good scores in there. Playing Ufford Park for the first time Thursday so it will be interesting to see how my game travels. If the latest tweak works I'll be buying my pro a couple of cold ones come Friday!

Gary Smith to the rescue?

As I mentioned yesterday I'm not getting on with bunkers. So I downloaded the Gary Smith Golf Monthly App in the hope that it would make a big difference. Not had a chance to try out his suggestions in a sand trap but seeing his linear approach to bunker play makes a lot of sense.

You see Gary has ridden to my rescue before with my chipping. It was his advice that saw me move the ball into the middle of my stance and set myself up square rather than open. Admittedly the X Factor tip was the icing on the cake but he got me moving in the right direction. From what I have seen so far I think his bunker tips will be even more effective. He certainly is enthusiastic about his work!

Obviously I cannot review this app util I've tried it's suggestions in practice and on the course but importantly I do feel more confident about my ability to tackle those pesky sandtraps. Time will tell and a few review will follow. Watch this space...