Progress - One Painful Step At A Time

The good news is the disaster that was the range session last Tuesday night has been erased from the memory bank. It simply never happened. I wandered down to Blue Mountain Golf Centre in Bracknell on Wednesday in the hope that fresh surroundings and space to work things out without my teacher working with others in adjacent bays would help. I've found a compromise set up position which I don't think is a million miles from where I should be and it managed to get the ball going forward and not straight right off the hosel. That in itself was progress.

Feeling invigorated I had another range session back at Maidenhead Golf Centre on Friday. Again the principle was to adopt the more upright position and just focus on turning and timing. Paul was there and he was actually pleased with the ones he saw me hit. I haven't turned a corner by any stretch of the imagination. It's more a case of poking my head cautiously around it to make sure there isn't a dirty great juggernaut hurtling towards me to halt my progress.

I decided to venture out yesterday in the normal roll up and give it a whirl. Nothing ventured and what was the worse that could happen apart from make an idiot of myself and lose a couple of pounds into the kitty? I have to say it was the Heinz 57 round I thought it would be. Some good shots, a couple of real show stoppers and a lot of shots that were close to being good. In truth I dabbled with the palette without painting the whole picture. My 30 point total (15 points on both nines) wasn't a disaster. There were two lost balls in that although the one at the last that I dumped into the greenside pond was just such a poor execution, the new swing changes can't be held accountable. As for the other, I made good contact on the 6th tee but started it a little further right than I should of and it caught a branch and ricocheted off. No-one saw which direction it flew in and was never seen again. Not the poorest shot I've hit there so no scars left in the memory.

Putting wasn't great yesterday and it's an area that is causing a modicum of concern. It was perhaps my greatest forte and certainly rescued scores but at the moment I've lost touch, and ore importantly confidence in holing out from that vital 3-6 foot distance. It's fine working at home with my Pathfinder aid

I'm taking the putter back and through and managing to miss the pegs with efficient ease. On the course though I'm pulling and pushing the putts and have no feel. I'm tempted to dig out my old friend the V-Easy which is another device specifically designed to take any wrist breakdown out of the putt. I just need to get that feeling of rocking it back and through. I've used it before, and a few sessions with that has transformed the putting. Now where did I leave it?

The V-Easy - a simple aid to take the wrists out of the putting stroke

Although not flushed with success, my round yesterday gave me renewed vigour and I was keen to play again this morning. However a blanket of fog meant that golf was delayed and as I had a prior engagement this afternoon I couldn't hang around for it to clear. A trip to the range it was then to try and crack this enigma code that is a straighter posture and better turn into impact.

It was a funny old session. The range was shrouded in a primeval cloud of haze and I could only see about 100 yards before the ball disappeared from view. I'm not sure if it not being able to track it all the way, a light bulb moment in my progress or just a rare fluke, but for the first thirty balls or so every shot was good, and some were absolutely flushed. As the mist cleared so the magic disappeared and mistakes began to creep in. Not the unmitigated disaster of last week but annoying things like over swinging (thought the new set up was going to cure that), not finding the new impact position, sliding (thought the new set up was going to cure that as well) and swinging too fast.

To be fair I can't put it all at the door of the changes. Tempo and swing length are old adversaries. On the plus side we know that when we get it right it really works. The strike is superb, the flight penetrating and the distance arguably a few yards longer. I certainly feel as though my finish position is more orthodox too as a result of turning better although I've yet to see the new swing on video. I have managed to capture a picture of my posture which shows how I'm trying to give myself the best possible opportunity to make more consistent swings by starting in a good position. The logic is that from a good starting point, there is less need to make adjustments and compensations throughout to get the club meeting the ball squarely and in a good impact position.

The new and improved (?) position - Good to go ahead and make a great swing

The road to success is often long and full of pitfalls. I've still not made up my mind on the choices I posed at the end of my last blog (you'll just have to read it yourself to see what they were!) and I can't put my hand on my heart and say the change in set up has brought any tangible differences yet. Still, trying to remain positive, I've pencilled in some range sessions for the week ahead and hope a small amount of balls, regular practice swings in between and positive thinking and concentration will mean the swing I found in the swirls and eddy's of the fog is the one that we're aiming for.

The tears have dried. The mojo is still there and the determination to get better and lower burns even more fiercely in the face of this huge hurdle. We know we've got the game, its about wrapping it up into something I can click and go every time I play rather than have to search for it on the range or before I step onto the tee. Get it right from address and the rest should follow. It sounds such a simple plan!