Another weekend of progress and regression

Will I ever learn. As the title says, there are some positives from my golf this weekend, particularly playing yesterday at Royal Ascot with Hywel Lloyd, my long suffering partner. Go down the range today to build on the progress I've been making and WHAM, an old fault of sliding the hips and not turning pops up. It's one of those that for me is a real killer as a lack of proper turn costs yards and as a short hitter I need all the distance I can get. It's also one that I find hard to rectify and so will need to spend a few evenings at the range this week with a ball on a low tee and making slow motion swings and focussing on turning, weight inside the right foot and then releasing through. I should have realised sooner as I could tell the left knee had become way to active and collapsing right which is a sign in my swing that I'm not making a good turn.

At least I hit the ball ok yesterday. Scoring still not great but managed to avenge Hywel's win last week and did him 2&1. We were practicing for the club four ball better ball event next weekend and we've found one huge flaw in our partnership and it's something we did at Captain's Day last year (Hywel was at Leatherhead GC then and played as my guest) where if we are going to play a hole badly, we both do it. Not what you want in a team event.

On the plus side I drove the ball better apart from one horror on the 14th where I carved it over the far side of the 13th (although it does still give a line towards the green). My putting wasn't as hot as normal despite a sand save from ten feet on the first and the short game is still in meltdown despite my midweek lesson. It's my mid irons though that are the real problem and I'm just not getting any power or accuracy with them. Still I got a text from my teaching pro who has been given the green light after knee surgery to start lessons from March 1st. I'll be first in the queue as he rescued my chipping and putting last year and so can work his magic again.

I feel that I'm constantly making a step forward and then two back at the moment. Hywel didn't play too great either (we were 8 over as a better ball) although he was hitting well on Friday. Maybe I'm dragging him down to my level. I'm trying to stay positive and think:

1) It's still winter golf - cold and playing with several layers on. The ground is wet and there's cold air so the ball won't travel as far.
2) I'm in the process of making some fundamental swing changes in terms of posture and turn and these will take time to become second nature.
3) My short game woes may be more mental than technical now but salvation is on the horizon
4) Better to go backwards now rather than when the big events are being played.

Oh well at least there is the golf on the TV to look at. Some of these "celebrities" at the AT&T swing much worse than I do so there is still hope.

Total number of lost balls in 2010 = 6