Chipping - Why Are You Breaking My Heart

Wednesday proved to be an interesting day. A sneaky day off work and a chance to hit the club for a few holes, a bite to eat and a whole host of short game work. When I arrived the front nine was deserted and with a society booked in later it seemed rude not to go straight out. There was a stiff breeze blowing with plenty of sunny intervals. There always seems to be a breeze blowing these days and it can make a real difference to the way some of the holes play and are clubbed.

Without any warm up except for a few swishes of my 3 wood standing on the tee, the opening shot was thankfully well struck. A little right of target but at least I got it away and a lot further than the topped effort in the last medal. I had a simple pitch into the green which I executed adequately rather than brilliantly but mustered a four (net par). However it had set a tone and I'd continue to fritter too many shots.

This was the case at the 2nd where the second found the bunker some hundred yards short and left from a good position on the fairway. The ball was on an upslope and I caught it too heavy to make the full journey to the green. A pushed approach at the third found the right hand bunker after the drive had again hit the fairway. It cost another shot. Granted I was level with my handicap but I'd wasted two opportunities at the 2nd and 3rd to get off to a very strong start. A poor drive was the culprit on the 4th and my second went long with little control being exerted from heavy rough. No shot here to rescue me and a bogey five put me over the card.

The long par five 5th has often given me the chance to get back a dropped shot. I found the fairway and advanced it nicely down the hole to within 120 yards of the green in the light rough. Nothing too tricky to negotiate, just a smooth nine iron into the green and two putts. Where the topped approach came from is a mystery and it came as a shock and a surprise as the ball striking had been fine. A missed green at the par three 6th is almost a given these days and the tee shot wasn't well struck. Another bogey, no shot and now two over my handicap. I found the fairway at the 7th but too far left. The large oak guarding the edge of the ditch traversing the fairway was in the way. I planned to try and hit a draw and use the lay of the land to feed the ball back in. However the five iron was sweetly struck but pushed straight right onto the adjacent tee box on the 8th. Another shot frittered. It looked like another would go following a heavily struck tee shot at the tiny par three 8th. I played a good chip to within four feet and finally managed to hole a putt and save par.

I thought I'd hit the drive well off the tee at the 9th but the strong wind was into from the right and it just didn't seem to travel. I was left with 198 into the green and pulled the trusty five wood. I hit it well but it was heading for sand short and right. Fortunately by taking the wood and not the hybrid I was considering, it cleared the bunker and found the heart of the green. Two putts to finish with a solid par.

I wanted to put some serious time and effort into working on all facets of the short game so nine holes was more than enough. In the end 17 points and one over my handicap was frustrating as there were a lot of lax shots and I gave too many away. The putter was still ice cold and the pitching still not good enough but having retired to the 19th for a bit of sustenance these were right up there on the agenda to be sorted post lunch.

Suitably replenished it was off to the putting green. The putting mirror instantly showed what I had assumed all along and my head was not over the ball and the shoulders were out of line. A change in the address position and some work with the V-Easy to keep the wrists inactive and the stroke began to feel better and there was a definite thawing in the putter. Whether that will be the case on Saturday when I next play remains to be seen.

Whilst the putting was easily fixed and thirty minutes well spent the chipping remains an enigma and a world of hurt. I had thought I'd been making some degree of progress over the last few weeks given the limited time I'd invested on practise. This was a case of chickens coming home to roost. Old issues of too much thought, lack of technical ability and sheer panic over the ball allied to increasing frustration led to a cacophony of knifed and fatted shots. The more these happened the more the process seized up. There were some good ones in there where the swing was smooth and the body was allowed to rotate rather than the wrists getting active and wild chicken wing, unconnected swishes with little cohesion.

In the end I decided enough was enough and retired for a contemplative and well earned drink. Fully hydrated and with the mind clear I ventured into the bunker. The sand was very wet and actually bore little resemblance to the bunkers I'd found during my nine hole sortie earlier. However it was the only practise facility I had and so it would have to do. I already suspected the ball position had crept too far forward and so I was pleased to see that just by adjusting this the quality of the shots improved instantly. I played around with the shaft angle and presenting the bounce of the club and got some rather interesting and pleasing results. It still needs work in terms of distance control and whether tempo or swing length is the best way to dictate this but the balls were coming out on a nice trajectory and so I was happy enough.

That just left pitching to look at. There has been nothing wrong with the connection but the distance control had been lacking. I set up station about 30 yards from a flag on the practise ground and played around with different clubs, different positions and different swing lengths to get a feel for what was needed to transport the ball the full distance to the pin. In the end rather than trying to be too specific and work on the "a 9 o'clock swing with a sand wedge gets it there" approach I decided to rely a lot more on feel. With the shorter clubs there just has to be a feeling of being more positive and swinging further back and attacking it more. With longer clubs I can use tempo and open the face or move it around in the stance to dictate the shot a lot more. All in all though I feel I can stand on the course and feel much more confident about getting it close.

In hindsight I perhaps shouldn't have ventured back to the putting green to look at the chipping again. I've ended up with a head full of scramble thoughts and the body doesn't know whether to stick or twist. If I play the shots with an empty mind then for the most part I can make a passable effort but as soon as I start to think whether the arms are connected, the wrists are firm or breaking too much and if I'm neglecting to turn the body then frankly it's a complete and utter shambles. I need to pick one technique (linear or more traditional) and stick with it through thin and thinner. I'm going to keep working on it. Whether I get another lesson on it is open to question at the moment. The potential and the nucleus is in there I just need to play with more freedom and trust and keep the club head moving.

All in all though, not a bad way to spend a day off and I feel that for the most part I've made a lot of progress in a lot of areas which is encouraging. I need to keep working on the long game and encompass the new swing changes from the lesson I had last week and will continue to do so. If I can get the short game and putter to marry up with the way I'm hitting it at the moment then there are some very good scores to be had. I can feel the arc of the curve continuing in a positive path for a while longer.