Great Expectations

I've always needed diligence and dedication towards practising my golf. I've not been blessed with any natural aptitude and so all the fleeting success I've had in sport and more particularly in golf has come as a result of hard work and a bloody determination to do well. My golf in recent weeks has begun to show signs of improvement under the tutelage of Rhys ap Iolo at the Downshire Golf Centre in Bracknell and as a result of the implementation of a new one plane swing. However there is still the odd destructive hole and in several rounds an alarming collapse and loss of form over the closing five or six holes.

This collapse was prevalent in my club match last Saturday and although my partner Gary McEwan was there to pick up the pieces and guide us to the finishing line it is a cause for concern especially as I'd covered the first thirteen holes in five over par gross. I played nine holes after work on Monday and had what can only be described as a shocker. So it was that I hit the practise ground last night with two clear thoughts in my head to work on. A controlled takeaway and ensure a good turn with the hips to make sure the club travels low and left through the impact zone. I'm a 12 handicap golfer. That apparently means I'm better than the national average. However I'm not 10 or lower and that is my aim. The problem I have though, particularly since starting on the one plane road is the ball striking has improved beyond recognition. This has brought a heightened level of expectation and has perhaps led me being far too hard on the level of golf I'm producing.

There may be a case in point last night. It felt to me very much like an in and out session with some balls struck beautifully and with the swing under full control. Others didn't feel right through impact, and in particular the hips weren't turning enough and the club didn't feel it was travelling properly. But and it's a big but, the ball still got airborne and the vast majority still went straight. Many while not perhaps getting all the way to the flag would certainly have got close to the green, especially in the drier and warmer conditions of late. That is the crux. I would have got away with the bad ones and I'm standing there now expecting to hit them all well.

Before I hooked up with Rhys at the Downshire. I had a number of destructive shots. There was the low snap hook when the arms got trapped too far behind the body and I had to use the hands too much to try and square the blade. Then there was the big high cut where the hips spin out of the way too much and I come out of the shot. Now, with a much simpler approach, I've eradicated the shot to the right. Not completely but when it does happen I can usually trace it back now to a hip slide and not a turn or the club travelling too far down the line after impact. I've learnt a lot about my swing recently and more importantly I'm getting an understanding of how to control the club. Rhys has taken the right hand side of the course out of play and that makes it much easier, knowing that there is only one place you are going to miss it.

I think in essence I'm putting too much pressure on myself, certainly in practise sessions and not appreciating that at my level I'm not going to hit every shot perfectly. If I can get away with the bad ones and keep them in play, then in truth, with the number of shots I get with my handicap I'm not actually in a bad position. I've a nine hole playing lesson to take with Rhys and I'm hoping he can show me some stuff to keep the nerves at bay when it's going well, what to do when the tempo and swing disappear mid-round and how to prepare for each shot.

The one plane swing is working. Of that there is no doubt and I've gotten to a better place since December than I had been in the proceeding twelve months. I just need to be more realistic with my aims, my focus and my actual ability. Diligence and dedication have their place in the pursuit of a ten handicap and beyond but above all I need to enjoy the fact I'm playing better, stringing better runs of scores together and actually improving.

"What we think or what we know or what we believe is, in the end, of little consequence. The only consequence is what we do"

Definitely a thought I'll be keeping at the front of my mind. Enjoy the journey, enjoy the work required, and above all enjoy the results.