Not Great - But Chilled

Buoyed by my decent round on Monday, I hit the practise ground last night with renewed vigour. The plan was just to keep the swing ticking over before seeing Rhys ap Iolo at the Downshire Golf Centre, Bracknell today. It is working, but there are still issues with hip slide and the direction the club is travelling. I'm still hitting the ball so much better than I was and so the issues aren't that dramatic but the clock is ticking and if I'm to make my target of a 10 handicap this season the work needs to be done.

It was one of those agonising sessions. A lot of poor shots, mainly in terms of direction as opposed to ball striking. A lot of these I knew why it was happening and more a case of getting hung up on technique and not letting it flow. The good ones were very good. The average ones were still more than adequate. I think the flatter swing I'd been working on, trying to get the feeling of the club being behind me, isn't quite as it should be. Isn't that the annoying thing with your golf swing? You try hard to work on it to improve and it is one of those things you can't actually see as you do it.

Maybe I'm just all practised out now and that if you leave aside the bad round last Saturday I'm not actually in a bad place with my golf. The course is the real testing ground and so maybe I just need to play, play play. I've definitely got the opportunity with the long weekend and the fact I'm off work all of next week. No excuses really for working on what I'm shown in my lesson and then getting out there and putting the results into action. We've got the Stone Cup, an honours board event at Royal Ascot on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday (a two round affair but you can choose which two days of the three you play on) and I'm looking for a good showing and another handicap cut towards the target of 10.
I've a good idea what Rhys will say tonight and more of the same in terms of getting the club coming down steeper and on plane and not shallow and underneath. The hips need to turn and not slide. This is the last of a block booking my wife bought me as a Christmas present and this will only be the fourth swing lesson having had a bunker lesson, which is now producing great results on the course and a short game lesson to exorcise those particular demons. Having come from a bad swing with a number of moving parts, the one plane road Rhys put me on has worked beyond expectation in a short space of time. I've still got a nine hole playing lesson to take. I'm really looking forward to that. Rhys is very strong on visualisation and preparation before each shot and I'm hoping that will help get my mind off thinking about the "how" in the shot and more on the end result. It will be good to play some holes with him and hopefully let him see how I do on the course and how far I've progressed.

I'll definitely be booking another block of lessons to take me through the rest of the year and then see what work, if any, he thinks I need to do over the winter. I'm hoping by then it'll be a case of just keeping what I have working rather than some kind of major overhaul. I don't think he'll change anything for the sake of changing and we both know it doesn't have to look good to work well.

I'm a firm believer in getting regular lessons. If you are struggling with your game and in the vicinity of the Downshire Golf Centre in Bracknell I can thoroughly recommend Rhys. He's not overly technical and works with what you already. The Plane Truth system, either a one or a two plane swing, is simple, easy to follow and Rhys will set you up with a link to the Plane Truth website and all the teaching resources available. Even if you just book a refresher to quick start the game now we're coming into summer (no honestly) then give him a go. Tell him Homer sent you.