Sunshine After Rain

I did something today I am not very proud of. I walked in after fourteen holes in the Saturday morning roll up. My game had reached horrific new depths and I didn't have a clue where the ball was going on any full shot and whether it would be straight, hooked, sliced, fatted or topped. All were thrown into the mix with seemingly gay abandon. I haven't walked of a golf course in memory but it had got to the point by the fourteenth green where I simply wasn't enjoying being out there. As I'll never make a living out of it isn't enjoyment the reason we play this frustrating game. On the plus side, my short game, for so long a facet driving me closer and close to therapy, was on sparkling form and I chipped really well. Poxy game

The stuff of golfing nightmares

I came home in shall we say a somewhat foul mood. I had hoped to be testing the new Taylormade R11's this afternoon and comparing them to their recent TP Muscle Cut  (MC) and Cavity Back (CB) models. Not much point when you are swinging like an absolute chopper. It was worse than I can ever remember it. In the end my long suffering wife suggested (in a way only a woman can) that maybe it would be better for domestic peace and tranquility if I took myself to the range and look for solutions.

In truth I sort of knew the issue. I was swinging way too far inside the line on the way back and too flat to give myself a chance to get back to the ball without either smothering it (low and left) or coming out of the shot (high and right). It's a very old problem but keeps coming back.

On the plus side the range session proved cathartic and useful. I focused on trying to adopt a much better address position and taking the club away lower and wider. A few early shanks did nothing for the simmering anger inside or my confidence in the  validity of the exercise but in the end it was working much better. I've attached a video to demonstrate.

Now technically there is so much wrong especially from the top down into impact. However, take away the slight overswing which causes the head to bob up and freeze it at the top and it is pretty good. The takeaway is so much better and halfway back the club is nicely on plane. It's the downsing into impact that is a Rocky Horror Show.

A real Frank-N-Furter of a swing caught in a time warp

I lose all my spine angle and the head moves up and out although the position into impact isn't too bad and I hit it great. The excessive movement causes an unnaturally high finish and there isn't enough turn through impact. These are very old issues and go back to my swing as a player in the 80's where it was common for players to have a lot of lateral movement. Think Johnny Miller or for the Brits, Howard Clark although both of them maintained their postures far better than I did or do.

Fortunately I've a lesson booked for the start of October and so I'll work with my teaching pro on hitting against a firmer left side and more turn on top of the ball. We did a lot of work pre-season on this with fantastic results in terms of compressing the ball, straighter shots and more distance. Old habits die hard though. However on a positive note, the wider takeaway has definitely helped and I came home a positive rainbow of sunshine and happiness. I'll hit the range again tomorrow and hopefully, weather permitting try it on the course one evening for a few holes.

It's a funny old game as a TV pundit once said. You can go from the depths of despair in the morning to wanting to still be out there now honing the new move and enjoying that feeling all golfers know when you have absolutely nailed one from the epicentre of the sweetspot. Do you know what? I don't regret my decision this morning. If it had been a match or a competition I'd have been there for every single tortuous shot but why flog the proverbial dead horse and wish you were somewhere else. I hope it is very long time before I sink to those depths again but the dark clouds have parted a tad and there is a shaft of sunlight shining down on my game.