With summer finally threatening to make an appearance at long last I scooted up to the club last night to get out on the course. Why did I bother? I wanted to banish the ghosts of the limp and weak finale to the round in the club match on Saturday. A few swishes of the driver on the 10th tee and off I went. The opening drive was majestic and left a 7 iron in from slap bang in the middle of the fairway. I missed the green right with an awful shot. The die had been cast. I hit the driver really well but as soon as the ball was on the deck my swing melted like ice cream in the sun. The fact that I carved four balls into the cabbage never to be seen again sums it up in a nutshell. I'd lost control of where the club was in the back swing, had no idea where it was going on the downswing and had no control at impact.
In fact, I was level twos after the first four holes, including an up and down from the right of 13. The tee shot was well struck but pushed a tad. The lie was good but the green was running away from me. I took my 58 degree wedge, my most lofted club, and went for it using the linear chipping method I've decided to adopt through thick or thin. It popped up a treat, landed softly on the edge of the putting surface and rolled down to within a foot and a half of the hole. Homer's got a short game. Par saved.
I then managed to lose a ball on the 14th and 15th and a dark cloud hovered menacingly over the hallowed turf. It briefly lifted as I crushed a drive down the 16th but then was back even bigger and darker after I hit an ugly slice well wide of my intended line and into a place I couldn't even get into let alone start looking for it. I made my customary bogey four on the 17th. I hit another decent drive at the last and then the 5 wood wanted to show it wasn't just my irons that could lose balls. The second shot was low and right and ran deep into the thick stuff on the right side.
By this time I was not a happy golfer. I'd been enjoying a rare purple patch and even the bad rounds weren't as bad as they had been. This was just savage and a bolt from the blue. There was only one thing for it. Hit the practise ground. Initially, the shots were as bad there as they had been on the course. However bit by bit and with a degree of detective work the fault was traced into a lack of hip turn and getting stuck with the club coming too far inside and shallow. The old fault of having to lift out of the shot had come back as it was the only way the arms could find a way to get back to the ball but the results weren't pretty.
This all sounds a familiar take of woe and yes the nine holes and lost balls were an embarrassment. However by ensuring the club was going behind me on the back swing and really, and I mean really, trying to make a shorter swing and turn onto it better, the 7 iron I was hitting flew miles and on a lovely trajectory. If only I could have done that an hour ago. The issue I continue to have and it has been a bugbear since I started the one plane swing is trying to keep the swing short and compact. In fact even with my old teaching pro Paul Harrison at N1 golf at Maidenhead Golf Centre the issue of over swing, resulting in a lift of the head and body and the club pointing across the line was one we never really managed to erase. The problem is that what I feel and what is happening in reality are often poles apart. My long suffering wife has often filmed me practising and I'll think I've made a solid and short swing and yet the video evidence tells a different story.
Last night though seemed different. It was only a 7 iron but the swing was shorter and the results were better. I was able to make a better turn into impact and finish in a better (lower) position. I feel that I'm beginning to make real progress and really understand what my swing is about. The sun is set to shine all week and so the plan is to hit some balls again and work through the bag from wedges up to the woods. The focus is on short and compact. I can then wander onto the course Thursday or Friday evening and put the swing to the test and then go out and enjoy the roll up on Saturday morning in a confident and ebullient mood.
I wouldn't say I enjoyed the experience last night or the feelings I had for the last five holes on Saturday where I couldn't string two shots together. I didn't think I needed the wake up call but from adversity comes fortitude and strength. I still feel I'm heading forward and feel so energised about all of my game now the chipping seems to have turned a corner. Or maybe it's just the feeling of the sun on my back at last. Either way the feeling is good and I like it
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