Practise Or Prayer

After a nightmare time working on my chipping on Wednesday it was back to the putting green to crack this nut once and for all. It is clearly more of a mental rather than technical thing although the two are inextricably linked. There is a clear correlation between thinking I can't chip and then proving that once I'm over the ball. In truth for the most part last night it wasn't a whole lot better than the day before. I'm guilty of getting caught between a rock and a hard place, between two stools and any other metaphors you can think of.

I had a chipping lesson a fair while back and the set up was changed. Hands forward weight forward and most importantly for me, head forward. It was beginning to work and then got put on the back burner while bigger changes to my swing and the pursuit of a competent one plane action took priority. If I was being critical, I was never truly comfy like this and had been toying with the linear method of chipping where the hands are much more above the ball with the shaft more upright. The takeaway is straight back and the shot is controlled by a rotation of the body. I found this way better as the club head seemed to make decent contact and the ball reacted better even if I caught it a little fat or thin. The only problem would come if I didn't make a turn with the torso and the swing was all in the arms and became disconnected. With a more traditional set up I found the duff and the knife were still prevalent and I just felt there was more going on in my head trying to keep the weight forward, keep everything together, and make a smooth swing.

Not quite that bad yet but it feels like it at times

I tried to persevere with the older version and whilst the hybrid version I have of the linear method isn't necessarily textbook I feel much more compact over the ball, confident and feel that I can make a firm approach on the ball and execute the turn required to control the shot. Probably harder to write and read than it is to execute, although having seen my efforts yesterday maybe only marginally so. I've found a method (of sorts) that I am happy with and I was deliberately playing them off muddy and bare lies to ensure I wasn't making life too easy. A lot of those that came up short were down to not swinging far enough back or making a positive stroke but they came off these iffy lies towards the end well enough to be encouraging.

Right then. I've got the method sorted in my head and not chopping and changing between several approaches. What I can't do is clear the head full of chocolate frogs and find an inner strength to believe that I can chip and have the ability to make a good fist of each shot I play. I stand there and get so wrapped up in swing thoughts I almost get frozen and all natural flow is lost. The swing gets quick and stabby or slow and deliberate and neither produces consistent results. When I just stand there, even chatting to someone as I hit balls, the mind is clear and I just execute much more successfully and more often.

So what is the conclusion? Well the chipping is still a game of Russian roulette and I'm never quite sure what the outcome will be. Tension kills. I know that and have to find a way to get over the huge mental barrier I've clearly constructed. The only thing that I can think of that will help is to make sure that one way or another I find time to dedicate a few hours per week, at least one practise session, to working on it in a more positive and constructive manner. Success and confidence breed. The more I can see results, trust my technique and not question how I'm doing it the more I'll believe in it. At the end of the day if I hit some iffy ones and they still work out and get within reasonable putting difference is that really a bad result at my level? I'm not going to nestle each and every one next to the hole like an old dog in front of an open fire and maybe the old ultra critical Homer is back on the block.
Maybe I want too much, and want it in the perfect way. How is it I can hit long shots on the course and maybe catch it a fraction heavy or thin but as long as the result isn't catastrophic I'm happy. Sometimes we all mis-hit the ball and yet the outcome is perfect. Hands up, who has caught one wrong and thought it'll never find or stay on the green but somehow it manages to get there and give you a putt. Do we get stressed because we didn't make perfect contact? Of course not. We take our good fortune and move on. I can't translate this into my chipping and certainly not into my practise. Perhaps I'm too rigid in my approach. Maybe using the putting green and defined targets isn't what I need and I'm adding too much pressure. Would a session on a wide open practise ground with no targets be better. Become at one with the technique and with no brain baggage and then slowly begin to introduce targets and start looking for specific landing areas.
If I'm going to hit my target of a ten handicap this season then I am going to need a short game. The long game is coming and I'm more than happy with the quality of the ball striking. The driver doesn't always get the ball in play as often as I'd like but again this is coming. Bunker play and pitching are moving along and I've given the putter a stern talking too so hopefully it'll behave now. It is just the issue of chipping now. It won't beat me and if I have to go backwards and get more tuition then so be it although I'd rather stick to the current linear type method. Maybe I just need to get out on the course and go for it. All I do know is that whilst the head is reaching overload and the body isn't responding things aren't going to improve. Time for the glass half full Homer to step forward and clear the baggage. The slate is clean, the scars have healed and we're erase this week from the memory. Time to start again afresh next week with renewed vigour, clear focus and total trust in myself. The new road to ten and then single figures starts now.