Welcome to the new look Three Off The Tee blog. I hope you like the new design (if you do, or even if you don't please comment at the bottom of this post). I've uploaded the final part of The Jolly Boys "Play Golf" to my youtube channel (Three Off The Tee Youtube Channel) that runs in conjunction with the blog. I've also included the link here (The Jolly Boys Conclusion Upload). Please subscribe to the channel (PLEASE!!) and don't forget to thumbs up the video and post any comments you may have.
Please feel free to visit the channel and look at the other content. I've got a lot more coming soon including an honest review of the Ping Sigma Wolverine Putter and one with an Odyssey O works putter including the micro hinges on the face. As a mid-handicapper I'll give you a totally unbiased opinion of the goo points, any negatives and there will be some footage of me with it to show how it performs in a (very) average golfers hands. Similarly once the Odyssey arrives I'll give you feedback on whether I think it works or their advertising blurb about this "being a new way to roll" doesn't apply to my level of golf.
There will also be an in depth report similar to my other reviews (check out the Suaoki Range finder review here to see what I mean - Suaoki Range Finder) and there are more on course vlogs coming soon. I also want to give a big thumbs up to a guy called Liam Harrison and his youtube channel. A very funny guy from the North of England and a decent player, his channel is here (Golf VlogsUK) and we are hoping to get it on later in the year for a match for £5 a man and it'll be captured on our channels for you to enjoy. There will also be footage from Sunningdale (Old and New courses) and a few others.
Anyway, that's all to come. Back to the final part of The Jolly Boys "Play Golf" at Kingswood Golf Club in Surrey. We have some stunning views over the Surrey countryside and several "incidents" for which you'll need to watch the video to see. As in parts one and two (Part One and Part Two) there are some fantastic shots, some mediocrity and the odd horror shot in there as well. It's my first eighteen holes after illness which is my excuse for my inconsistencies and I need to ensure going forward that my "Quest For Single Figures" golf is much better to start getting those handicap cuts. Again, the "Quest" is for for a further blog and video. Check the channel, check the videos and I hope you enjoy them,
Saturday, 25 March 2017
Tuesday, 21 March 2017
Birdies And Near Misses - The Jolly Boys "Play Golf" (Part Two)
Welcome along to the second part of the Jolly Boys "Play Golf" (Jolly Boys Part Two) which is basically myself, my best mate Rob Dickman and a golfing mate Yan meandering our way around Kingswood Golf Club near Banstead in Surrey.
This was my first full eighteen holes back after being hospitalised in early February and then struggling to shake off the after effects of the viral infection. I wasn't expecting to play well, and if you've seen part one already, and if not here it is (The Jolly Boys - Part One) you'll know I wasn't to be disappointed on that score.
Here is part two of The Jolly Boys "Play Golf" (The Jolly Boys - Part Two) and finally there are one or two glimpses of golfers out on the course. I was actually getting it around and making the odd par and plenty of net pars to keep the scoreboard taking over. As the title hints, there is also an outbreak of fine golf and someone comes very close to sticking an approach straight in. You'll have to watch to find out more.
I hope you enjoy this second helping of the Jolly Boys. Please visit my Three Off The Tee youtube channel that ones parallel to this blog here Three Off The Tee Youtube Channel and watch my other content. There is a putter review coming up on the Ping Sigma Wolverine, as well as the conclusion of the Jolly Boys outing to come in the next few days. There is also the latest "Quest For Single Figures" update coming on here and the channel.
If you enjoy the channel I implore, nay beg, you to subscribe and if you like any of the videos please make sure you give it a thumbs up. If you want to make any comments please do so and I'll reply to your thoughts.
Finally, I hope you like the slight revamp of the blog itself and you like the new layout. Again, please comment on the bottom of this blog and let me know what you think. Winner or stinker?
This was my first full eighteen holes back after being hospitalised in early February and then struggling to shake off the after effects of the viral infection. I wasn't expecting to play well, and if you've seen part one already, and if not here it is (The Jolly Boys - Part One) you'll know I wasn't to be disappointed on that score.
 |
| The Jolly Boys Enjoy Some Post Golf Drinks - They' Had Golfed Hard For Them |
I hope you enjoy this second helping of the Jolly Boys. Please visit my Three Off The Tee youtube channel that ones parallel to this blog here Three Off The Tee Youtube Channel and watch my other content. There is a putter review coming up on the Ping Sigma Wolverine, as well as the conclusion of the Jolly Boys outing to come in the next few days. There is also the latest "Quest For Single Figures" update coming on here and the channel.
If you enjoy the channel I implore, nay beg, you to subscribe and if you like any of the videos please make sure you give it a thumbs up. If you want to make any comments please do so and I'll reply to your thoughts.
Finally, I hope you like the slight revamp of the blog itself and you like the new layout. Again, please comment on the bottom of this blog and let me know what you think. Winner or stinker?
Tuesday, 14 March 2017
The Quest For Single Figures - Update (Jolly Boys Outing - Part One)
Welcome along to the latest update on the Quest For Single Figures. In truth the whole project has been in hiatus for the last month or so and aside from nine holes I managed to play on my own at Royal Ascot (and captured on film here Royal Ascot vlog) I've not managed to set foot on a golf course.
That isn't to say the project has ground to a complete halt. Granted, recuperating from my illness has taken longer than I thought and the virus took far more out of me than anticipated, but I have had another lesson recently again captured in full glory which has proven a valuable reference tool (Live Lesson). My swing is a million miles from where I want it and where it needs to be and despite the changes from the lesson, I am still struggling. Granted, range time has been at a premium and sessions have been few and far between, and coupled with a lack of playing means my swing has lacked tempo and consistency. I've been working hard on the changes from the last lesson and in particular the changes to the back swing and the tighter coil but there still seems to be issues when I start my transition and in particular the shaft seems very upright coming into impact. I can see this producing a number of issues and it's something I've acutely aware of not only in the full swing but in my pitching as well and I need to find a way to shallow everything out and get the club coming in on a flatter angle and more on plane
Again, having said that, at recent range sessions, I've found a "feel" of rotating my hips faster and swinging far more as I did when I was having lessons under a teaching teaching professional, Rhys Ap Iolo and we were working on the Plane Truth swing (Plane Truth) which had a much flatter takeaway and swing and required the club to exit lower and left. Now it's been a long while since I've been down that road but to be honest this "one plane" swing alleviated a lot of the persistent takeaway issues I've been having as it requires a lower and more inside start. Align this to a quicker rotation and it has "felt" much better and ball striking, direction and dispersion seems to have been better.
Again this isn't something I've had a chance to work on fully or take out onto a course and really try other than a game last Saturday with my best friend, Rob Dickman and his mate Yan, who I've had the pleasure of playing with several times before and is a great golfing companion. We played at Kingswood Golf Club, near Banstead in Surrey and it was purely a social round.
It was really an opportunity to get out on the course and playing, with no expectations and no stress, although I did throw an extra ingredient in the mix by deciding to film all of it. Part one of "The Jolly Boys Golfing" is already on my Youtube channel, also called Three Off The Tee (The Three Off The Tee Youtube Channel). Please get yourself over there, and while you are there, click the subscribe button and hit the notification icon to see all of my video content as it becomes live. Don't forget to give the video a thumbs up and please post any comments you have. Be warned both Rob and Yan have a bit of a potty mouth so it may be advisable to keep away from impressionable children. I've posted a link to part one here (The Jolly Boys "Play Golf - Part One") so go ahead and enjoy. If you are a connoisseur of fine golf swings and expect to see dazzling golf I'm afraid you're in for a huge disappointment. If you want to three guys having a laugh, playing some golf and not taking it or life too seriously, it's a fun way to spend a few minutes of your time.
What I learnt from my Kingswood experience is that my game is so out of sorts. I managed to get it round and indeed managed to cobble something like 34 or 35 points including a lost ball on the seventeenth but in overall terms there were a lot of iffy shots in there and it was more to do with the fact that my handicap currently sits at 14 and so I've plenty of shots to play with. I did manage to course manage my way round well and where I hit poor shots, especially off the tee, I managed to get the ball back in play and by and large get it round functionally. I certainly didn't think it was a good ball striking round and as I've alluded to already, there is much, much work still to be done on my swing to get it somewhere that I can trust on the course and more importantly is repeatable enough to transport my handicap downwards.
All things short game also remain areas requiring huge remedial work and again its something I've simply not been well enough to address in recent weeks. On the positive, the clocks change in a few weeks and light evenings are here and I can be at the club each night after work grinding this away, especially the chipping and pitching. I can also get a few holes in regularly and playing is where it's at for 2017 as I move away from trying to work too much on technical things but simply work on what I've been shown in lessons, work that in on the range and then get out and trust it when I play. If I can spend more time on the course and less time on the range or practice ground I think that I'll be more confident of my game when it comes to qualifying competitions and there shouldn't be any hidden surprises lurking that I've not encountered in the sanctuary of a range mat or practice ground.
I had a road map of what I was going to be working on, what I needed to do and how I was going to make serious changes to my game in preparation for the season and beyond to hit the ground running and get that handicap down from 14 to 12 and achieve my first goal for the year. That has take something of a battering and I didn't plan on spending time in hospital sampling the state of the NHS in the UK in 2017 or for it to take so long to recover. I really feel my game is at least a month behind the others at my club who've been able to play on a fully open course for the last six weeks or so (even if the ground conditions have been wet) and that my short game and everything I needed to be ready has stagnated.
That said, dear reader. it is not all doom and gloom. As mentioned, I feel I've a light bulb moment to work with on the range that I can then take into my next lesson and get that firmed up or tweaked (or written off it it's way off the mark, although it doesn't seem to be). I can get back to my short game work with a clear head. I was beginning to get a head full of chocolate frogs, especially with my pitching and practice was dragged down by technical thoughts and a fear of failure fed and developed by a series of fat, heavy strikes, a steep angle of attack and a sense of frustration. That can be wiped away and the slate is clean once more. I have neglected bunker play and chipping (and that showed at Kingswood) and can start afresh on these areas. My putting seems to be holding firm, although I'm not as consistent on the 2-3 feet putts as I was. This can all be rectified. I do have my eye on a new putter, a Ping Sigma Wolverine although this is on hold for now but is something I feel is really right for me. More on that to follow soon
And there you have the latest update. It's a case of a baby steps forward in terms of practical work in practice and on the course, but with shoots of recovery now in full view. There is an air of optimism in my game once more, galvanised by a game on Saturday that turned out far better than it could have done. I am in a happy and more importantly health place. I have a qualifier this coming Saturday (18th) and while I have no expectations, especially as it's a medal round, it's good to have the season upon me.
I'm not ready. Not by a long way. I am even prepared for the handicap to go out further to 15 in the coming weeks as I get my game in order but I have a steadfast, nay dogmatic, belief in what I can do, what I can produce and what I can achieve. If that means I have to go from 15-12 first then so be it. I can do that. I WILL do that. Once I get back to my 2016 level of 12, I can reassess, see what is that isn't working, take action to improve my weak areas and bolster my strengths and go again. I've always said The Quest For Single Figures is a long term project and may and may not be achieved this year. If not 2017 then maybe next year or the year after. Fear not reader, it is going to happen.
I hope you've enjoyed the latest update and you'll follow me as the season progresses. I hope you managed to view the Youtube offerings and that you enjoyed these as well. Please subscribe to both this blog and the Youtube channel and don't forget to thumbs up the videos and comment on both the blog and the videos. In the meantime, as Spring is upon us and the Masters is on the horizon, let me wish you all well for your own golfing exploits in 2017 and I hope you achieve whatever golfing goals you've set and that you play well, have fun and that the golfing gods treat you well.
That isn't to say the project has ground to a complete halt. Granted, recuperating from my illness has taken longer than I thought and the virus took far more out of me than anticipated, but I have had another lesson recently again captured in full glory which has proven a valuable reference tool (Live Lesson). My swing is a million miles from where I want it and where it needs to be and despite the changes from the lesson, I am still struggling. Granted, range time has been at a premium and sessions have been few and far between, and coupled with a lack of playing means my swing has lacked tempo and consistency. I've been working hard on the changes from the last lesson and in particular the changes to the back swing and the tighter coil but there still seems to be issues when I start my transition and in particular the shaft seems very upright coming into impact. I can see this producing a number of issues and it's something I've acutely aware of not only in the full swing but in my pitching as well and I need to find a way to shallow everything out and get the club coming in on a flatter angle and more on plane
Again, having said that, at recent range sessions, I've found a "feel" of rotating my hips faster and swinging far more as I did when I was having lessons under a teaching teaching professional, Rhys Ap Iolo and we were working on the Plane Truth swing (Plane Truth) which had a much flatter takeaway and swing and required the club to exit lower and left. Now it's been a long while since I've been down that road but to be honest this "one plane" swing alleviated a lot of the persistent takeaway issues I've been having as it requires a lower and more inside start. Align this to a quicker rotation and it has "felt" much better and ball striking, direction and dispersion seems to have been better.
Again this isn't something I've had a chance to work on fully or take out onto a course and really try other than a game last Saturday with my best friend, Rob Dickman and his mate Yan, who I've had the pleasure of playing with several times before and is a great golfing companion. We played at Kingswood Golf Club, near Banstead in Surrey and it was purely a social round.
It was really an opportunity to get out on the course and playing, with no expectations and no stress, although I did throw an extra ingredient in the mix by deciding to film all of it. Part one of "The Jolly Boys Golfing" is already on my Youtube channel, also called Three Off The Tee (The Three Off The Tee Youtube Channel). Please get yourself over there, and while you are there, click the subscribe button and hit the notification icon to see all of my video content as it becomes live. Don't forget to give the video a thumbs up and please post any comments you have. Be warned both Rob and Yan have a bit of a potty mouth so it may be advisable to keep away from impressionable children. I've posted a link to part one here (The Jolly Boys "Play Golf - Part One") so go ahead and enjoy. If you are a connoisseur of fine golf swings and expect to see dazzling golf I'm afraid you're in for a huge disappointment. If you want to three guys having a laugh, playing some golf and not taking it or life too seriously, it's a fun way to spend a few minutes of your time.
What I learnt from my Kingswood experience is that my game is so out of sorts. I managed to get it round and indeed managed to cobble something like 34 or 35 points including a lost ball on the seventeenth but in overall terms there were a lot of iffy shots in there and it was more to do with the fact that my handicap currently sits at 14 and so I've plenty of shots to play with. I did manage to course manage my way round well and where I hit poor shots, especially off the tee, I managed to get the ball back in play and by and large get it round functionally. I certainly didn't think it was a good ball striking round and as I've alluded to already, there is much, much work still to be done on my swing to get it somewhere that I can trust on the course and more importantly is repeatable enough to transport my handicap downwards.
All things short game also remain areas requiring huge remedial work and again its something I've simply not been well enough to address in recent weeks. On the positive, the clocks change in a few weeks and light evenings are here and I can be at the club each night after work grinding this away, especially the chipping and pitching. I can also get a few holes in regularly and playing is where it's at for 2017 as I move away from trying to work too much on technical things but simply work on what I've been shown in lessons, work that in on the range and then get out and trust it when I play. If I can spend more time on the course and less time on the range or practice ground I think that I'll be more confident of my game when it comes to qualifying competitions and there shouldn't be any hidden surprises lurking that I've not encountered in the sanctuary of a range mat or practice ground.
I had a road map of what I was going to be working on, what I needed to do and how I was going to make serious changes to my game in preparation for the season and beyond to hit the ground running and get that handicap down from 14 to 12 and achieve my first goal for the year. That has take something of a battering and I didn't plan on spending time in hospital sampling the state of the NHS in the UK in 2017 or for it to take so long to recover. I really feel my game is at least a month behind the others at my club who've been able to play on a fully open course for the last six weeks or so (even if the ground conditions have been wet) and that my short game and everything I needed to be ready has stagnated.
That said, dear reader. it is not all doom and gloom. As mentioned, I feel I've a light bulb moment to work with on the range that I can then take into my next lesson and get that firmed up or tweaked (or written off it it's way off the mark, although it doesn't seem to be). I can get back to my short game work with a clear head. I was beginning to get a head full of chocolate frogs, especially with my pitching and practice was dragged down by technical thoughts and a fear of failure fed and developed by a series of fat, heavy strikes, a steep angle of attack and a sense of frustration. That can be wiped away and the slate is clean once more. I have neglected bunker play and chipping (and that showed at Kingswood) and can start afresh on these areas. My putting seems to be holding firm, although I'm not as consistent on the 2-3 feet putts as I was. This can all be rectified. I do have my eye on a new putter, a Ping Sigma Wolverine although this is on hold for now but is something I feel is really right for me. More on that to follow soon
And there you have the latest update. It's a case of a baby steps forward in terms of practical work in practice and on the course, but with shoots of recovery now in full view. There is an air of optimism in my game once more, galvanised by a game on Saturday that turned out far better than it could have done. I am in a happy and more importantly health place. I have a qualifier this coming Saturday (18th) and while I have no expectations, especially as it's a medal round, it's good to have the season upon me.
I'm not ready. Not by a long way. I am even prepared for the handicap to go out further to 15 in the coming weeks as I get my game in order but I have a steadfast, nay dogmatic, belief in what I can do, what I can produce and what I can achieve. If that means I have to go from 15-12 first then so be it. I can do that. I WILL do that. Once I get back to my 2016 level of 12, I can reassess, see what is that isn't working, take action to improve my weak areas and bolster my strengths and go again. I've always said The Quest For Single Figures is a long term project and may and may not be achieved this year. If not 2017 then maybe next year or the year after. Fear not reader, it is going to happen.
I hope you've enjoyed the latest update and you'll follow me as the season progresses. I hope you managed to view the Youtube offerings and that you enjoyed these as well. Please subscribe to both this blog and the Youtube channel and don't forget to thumbs up the videos and comment on both the blog and the videos. In the meantime, as Spring is upon us and the Masters is on the horizon, let me wish you all well for your own golfing exploits in 2017 and I hope you achieve whatever golfing goals you've set and that you play well, have fun and that the golfing gods treat you well.
Wednesday, 1 March 2017
Quest For Single Figures - Live Lesson
Quest For Single Figures
Please ignore the above link - video corrupted. Correct version in the link below
2017 - Live Leson
Please ignore the above link - video corrupted. Correct version in the link below
2017 - Live Leson
Sunday, 26 February 2017
First Ever On Course Video Log - It Was A Bit Breezy
Today I decided to venture out and play a few holes at Royal Ascot and see a) how I felt physically and b) how I played and decided to film my first ever on course vlog. Conditions were really hard and as you can tell when you watch it, the wind was howling and it was very hard going.
I won't spoil it for you but all things considered it went better than I hoped on all counts although it has yet again highlighted my short game woes and it remains a whole facet of the game that's holding me back and is in my head now as well as technically inept. I need to find someone in the Berkshire area who can help as I want a separate pair of eyes on this facet so if anyone knows a short game specialist please post in the comments section of the video. Also, if you like the video don't forget to give it a thumbs up and don't forget to subscribe as well to see more video content.
For now though here's the link to the video and I hope you enjoy my humble offering of a first ever on course vlog in difficult conditions (Royal Ascot Golf Club Vlog). I've learnt a few things doing it, apart from it's hard on your own and you really need a partner to help hold the camera and so I hope the future ones begin to improve in quality. Enjoy
I won't spoil it for you but all things considered it went better than I hoped on all counts although it has yet again highlighted my short game woes and it remains a whole facet of the game that's holding me back and is in my head now as well as technically inept. I need to find someone in the Berkshire area who can help as I want a separate pair of eyes on this facet so if anyone knows a short game specialist please post in the comments section of the video. Also, if you like the video don't forget to give it a thumbs up and don't forget to subscribe as well to see more video content.
For now though here's the link to the video and I hope you enjoy my humble offering of a first ever on course vlog in difficult conditions (Royal Ascot Golf Club Vlog). I've learnt a few things doing it, apart from it's hard on your own and you really need a partner to help hold the camera and so I hope the future ones begin to improve in quality. Enjoy
Saturday, 25 February 2017
New Youtube Video
If you are a regular follower, you'll know that there is now a youtube channel that runs in conjunction with this blog which you can find here (Three Off The Tee Website). Please feel free to visit it and if you like what you see don't forget to hit the subscribe button.
There's a new video today. As you'll know from my last blog post, I've had a few health issues recently that necessitated a stay in hospital and I'm struggling now with post viral fatigue. My immune system and body is shot and I'm struggling with tiredness and exhaustion which has laid me low and meant no golf and no practice. I did try to hit balls at the range but I was tired after only a few balls and was forced to give up as there was no way I could have a constructive practice session. The good news is I'm getting better and stronger and so will hopefully be hitting the range again soon. Indeed I've got a lesson booked with Andy Piper at Lavender Golf Centre in Ascot on Wednesday and so hopefully I can get my swing on track and can then crack on and work on my game and get back on the course.
Anyway, I digress (as is the norm) and back the video. I've done a "what's in the bag" but not the standard version, looking at what clubs I use. This features my practice bag. As a regular reader (as you should be by now!) you'll know I love my lessons and then getting out and working on my game. Some may say I do too much work on my game. They may have a point but it's what I like and I feel it still benefits me when I get on the course so for now I'm sticking with it. Over the years I've accumulated many training aids and gadgets hoping they'd help improve my game. Sadly, many have been a waste of time and not given what the blurb promised and so have been quickly discarded. However there are some that have stood the test of time and have been in the practice bag for a while and there are one or two recent additions.
This video explains what they are, how they work and what they've done for my game and includes a few links to other websites or youtube videos to give you further information. I hope you find it useful and informative and that there may be one or two things in the bag that may hope your own practice. The video can be found here (What's In The Bag). Enjoy it and don't forget to click the subscribe button to view my future video content and if you have any comments about the video (or any of the other ones already there) please feel free to put them in the box below the video.
Hopefully with the better weather (in the UK at least) on the way and the start of the season imminent, along with the Masters being around the corner, I can get out and play and practice again soon and make up for lost time. I'll be recording my progress here and on youtube for your entertainment (the road to single figures has already had many, many ups and downs to date and there's sure to be more). In the meantime, watch the video.
There's a new video today. As you'll know from my last blog post, I've had a few health issues recently that necessitated a stay in hospital and I'm struggling now with post viral fatigue. My immune system and body is shot and I'm struggling with tiredness and exhaustion which has laid me low and meant no golf and no practice. I did try to hit balls at the range but I was tired after only a few balls and was forced to give up as there was no way I could have a constructive practice session. The good news is I'm getting better and stronger and so will hopefully be hitting the range again soon. Indeed I've got a lesson booked with Andy Piper at Lavender Golf Centre in Ascot on Wednesday and so hopefully I can get my swing on track and can then crack on and work on my game and get back on the course.
Anyway, I digress (as is the norm) and back the video. I've done a "what's in the bag" but not the standard version, looking at what clubs I use. This features my practice bag. As a regular reader (as you should be by now!) you'll know I love my lessons and then getting out and working on my game. Some may say I do too much work on my game. They may have a point but it's what I like and I feel it still benefits me when I get on the course so for now I'm sticking with it. Over the years I've accumulated many training aids and gadgets hoping they'd help improve my game. Sadly, many have been a waste of time and not given what the blurb promised and so have been quickly discarded. However there are some that have stood the test of time and have been in the practice bag for a while and there are one or two recent additions.
 |
| What's In The Practice Bag? |
Hopefully with the better weather (in the UK at least) on the way and the start of the season imminent, along with the Masters being around the corner, I can get out and play and practice again soon and make up for lost time. I'll be recording my progress here and on youtube for your entertainment (the road to single figures has already had many, many ups and downs to date and there's sure to be more). In the meantime, watch the video.
Thursday, 9 February 2017
Quest For Single Figures 2017 - Update
This is the third (or is it fourth) time I've sat down to compose my latest blog to update you on "The Quest For Single Figures" but life has had more twists lately than the latest John Grisham thriller. It's been a real roller coaster and sadly news is not good. If you read my trials and tribulations on a regular basis you'll know that last February I was hospitalised (https://threeoffthetee.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/stuttering-false-start.html) which totally put back a fine Winter of work on my game, and with which, if I suffered the lingering effects all season, I wrote last year off as a result, but which was acting as an inspiration going forward in 2017, doubly determined to get back to a starting point of 12 and then crashing through to single figures.
I even played last weekend (Saturday 4th February) in my first competition of the year, on a fully open course. More of which in the reams to follow. It was actually looking rather positive. The bad news is I was then hospitalised on Sunday, and kept in for two days with what was initially thought to be pneumonia but was thankfully diagnosed as severe influenza. Not your man flu variety. This was the real thing and not something I'd wish on anyone, anywhere. It's knocked me sideways and then some. On the upside, I'm now recuperating at home. On the negative, there will be no golf or practice in the foreseeable future. Yet again, as last year, all forward momentum has stopped dead in its tracks. That isn't to say the "Quest For Single Figures" is dead in the water. No chance. Not for a single moment. It may take a tad longer in 2017 to kick back to 12 and then down again, but once fully recuperated and fighting fit, I'm going to be chomping at the bit, to get out and work on my game and play again, and SO fired up to get going. It could be a potent mix
Aside from all of the above, it's been a funny old time lately. We've experienced some wet conditions and some sub-zero temperatures recently which has done little to entice me onto a golf course. As you may be aware, I am now live on Youtube on a channel also called Three Off The Tee (The Three Off The Tee Youtube Channel link) which has received some rather pleasing comments and already opened one or two doors for some future content and opportunities. It's also taken more time to get sorted than I thought being something of technical luddite but now it's up and running with some decent content to peruse, please avail yourself and don't forget to click the subscribe button while you are there.
As you will know from my post on here (and the live lesson video - Live Lesson) I had a swing MOT recently with Andy Piper at Lavender Golf Centre. It was a productive session with one or two points to go away and work on, particularly with the driver which hasn't been behaving as well as I'd have liked. Also, there had been issues with my irons and in particular a lack of hip rotation and more of a slide. I had such cunning plans in my head to diligently hit the local range and work on these issues, but having braved the elements on the way home from work, there was no way I was standing on a freezing cold range, "Quest For Single Figures" or not. That said, I managed to finally summon the enthusiasm, as I knew I had to get out and playing more, having only played once in 2017 and not particularly successfully. As practice sessions go, this one was rather pleasing and there was a lot of good stuff, both with my irons and also the driver and I was looking forward to playing in the Saturday roll up.
Royal Ascot Golf Club has been on temporary greens for a while as the daily frosts have done their work and the greens had been frozen, not just on the surface but deep into the root. It was thus on Saturday too and as a rule I hate, no loathe, playing on temporary greens and would rather practice elsewhere than traipse around a course to tiny greens cut on the edges of fairways. Even more so when there is rain forecast. However I rocked up as planned and despite a rogue shower, predictably as I stood on the first tee to play my opening shot, we got away with it. The rain didn't last long and all in all the conditions were rather agreeable for the time of year.
I actually played okay for my 34 points. Nothing too spectacular but the driver was very good for me, hitting 8/12 fairways. I had two really bad drives on the tenth and eighteenth but other than that it was working well and my distances for the time of year were quite pleasing. On the down side, and as you'll know if you're a regular reader, there is normally a down side, my irons weren't as good. In fact they were rather disappointing and I couldn't replicate what I'd done the night before in practice in any shape or form. I got it round with them, but maybe only a couple of my iron shots left a satisfying feeling after I hit them. Akin to that I was trying to battle on with a more conventional pitching technique which is something I've dallied with over the winter period. It wasn't functional. It didn't work.
All that being said, I had one horror hole, the seventeenth where I hooked a tee shot out of bounds but other than that, and bearing in mind firing to temporary greens is always far more fiddly than a normal approach, I moved the ball round. I didn't have too many swing thoughts in my head, a step forward in itself and really enjoyed the company of my playing partners. That bodes well for the season and I just need to have clarity of thought in the next competition.
So far so good then. Progress being made, even if the chance to get handicap cuts have yet to materialise. I didn't have a chance to play on the Sunday (Jan 29th) but took myself to the practice ground early with the intention of working on my irons and in particular the takeaway which is still to far outside the line and disconnected as you'll see in the early shots on the live lesson footage.
This is when I find golf such a frustrating, nay gut clenching annoying game. I know what I am trying to do. I can do it in rehearsal and take the practice swing back nicely. Stick club behind the ball, stick a camera on to capture it and lo, old habits manifest and I'm constantly fighting the club to get it back and through in a way to propel the ball somewhere near target. It was not a good session as you'll see from the latest upload on the Youtube channel. Get over and see what you think. Better still comment below the video and let me know what you think.
I had two goals for the practice session, to work on the stuff from the lesson and also do some work on my pitching. This had been excruciatingly bad the day before and has been a constant theme on here. I've tried, heavens know I've tried, to pitch conventionally. My efforts though are so poor and I look like a volt of electricity is passing through me with each one. So out of sync, so poor technically, especially in terms of arms and body rotating together and if I am being brutally honest, I have zero confidence with it on the course.
I prefer the linear method (search on the blog and you'll see plenty on this) and as you can see from the practice footage, I reverted to this part way through. Now bearing in mind I haven't tried this for several months and taking out the first effort which was fat and horrid, you'll see the difference in the quality of strike and distance control between this and my "normal" efforts which is the proverbial chalk and cheese.
All in all it wasn't my greatest session. With heavy rain forecast, I always felt I was on a deadline and feel that everything I did felt rushed. My tempo in the long swing was much quicker than my lesson and even quicker than it had been on the course the day before. That's always an issue for me and along with the club initially travelling away from my body and the target line is a bad start to any swing.
As I mentioned what will have seemed hours ago, I managed to play in the monthly stableford which was last weekend (February 4th). I was already feeling unwell, having struggled in work on the Friday with what I assumed was a simple cold. How wrong I was. Anyway, that aside, I managed a solid 34 points which gave me a 6th place finish in division two. I haven't played much as I've said and practice hadn't been going as well as I'd hoped since my swing MOT lesson. Some range sessions had given tantalising moments of hope and others, especially on camera, clearly highlighted there is much to work on.
The driver worked a treat. Surprising but what a difference the game is playing from short grass regularly. I wasn't swinging well and the warm up hadn't gone well. I started with an ugly double, an outrageous putt to salvage par after a dodgy pitch, using the linear method at the second and repeated the feat at the fourth having gone over the green with an approach from 105 yards. There were hiccups including a nasty three putt at the eighth having hit the green on the 139 yard par three. I found the fairway on the ninth, blocked my approach right and left a downhill lie, off a bare muddy lie over a bunker to a short sided flag. It was fraught with danger and I panicked and thinned it over the green for a book-end double bogey to match the one at the opening hole.
February 2017 statistics
For the second weekend running I missed the 10th hole well to the right. I was fortunate to find a lie, get it forward and make a net par. I was missing a lot of greens but found one at the 186 yard 13th for a solid par and my back nine was ticking over nicely. I was finding a way to score which is something I've been harping on about for ages. Not swinging well (driver aside) and still scoring. Progress!!!!!
Alas dear reader there always seems to be a sting in the tail and today would be no different. Many of you will know that I've struggled in the last few seasons with killer holes, real horror shows from nowhere to blight otherwise acceptable rounds. I stood on the last, knowing that a par five would give me solid 36 points. I hit another fairway. Step one completed. The second was uphill but I was hitting directly into the sun. I thought I actually made a good swing, but never saw it leave the club face. Sadly my playing partners did and all said it had gone straight right into territory where nasty creatures may lie. I never found it and ended the back nine with a double bogey. At least there was a degree of symmetry. Had I made 36 points I would perhaps squeezed into a top three spot, not bad for an opening salvo, especially given how I felt. On the day, I was always going to be short of the division winner on 40 points and second place on 38. I'll take my top six though and no handicap damage, but no cut either.
I'm feeling an air of urgency. Time is passing me by and I've played such little golf, only twice on a full course. I've only had one lesson all winter. The work I do on the range IS showing some forward movement but I've simply not had a chance to play and translate this to the course often enough. I have started to do some NLP work to get the sub-conscious mind working better for me but again I've not had a chance to test this with card and pencil in hand often enough..
And so dear reader there you have it. As always, nothing is straightforward and it's another roller coaster ride. Sadly, at the moment I am under strict doctors orders to remain in the warm, rest and recuperate and have been warned it could be another 3-4 weeks before I am fully recovered. That means for now, absolutely no playing and no range time. To be honest as I sit here typing, I have zero energy anyway. As I get better, I have some plans to utilise some of my putting aids and at least work on my stroke. I will also be doing an unusual "what's in the bag" once I can talk into a camera without constant coughing, which will be up on my Youtube channel in the next week or so. Please take pity on this poor invalid and check it out when it arrives.
It wasn't quite the blog I wanted to be writing, and having to have redo several parts, several times, but it is what it is and it's something I have to deal with and come back from fitter and stronger. I'll learn the lessons from my issues last year and ensure I am playing and working on my game from a stronger staring point in terms of my health. On the plus side, at least the warmer weather and longer nights will be close to hand. I'll be back and this "Quest For Single Figures" ain't over my a long chalk
I even played last weekend (Saturday 4th February) in my first competition of the year, on a fully open course. More of which in the reams to follow. It was actually looking rather positive. The bad news is I was then hospitalised on Sunday, and kept in for two days with what was initially thought to be pneumonia but was thankfully diagnosed as severe influenza. Not your man flu variety. This was the real thing and not something I'd wish on anyone, anywhere. It's knocked me sideways and then some. On the upside, I'm now recuperating at home. On the negative, there will be no golf or practice in the foreseeable future. Yet again, as last year, all forward momentum has stopped dead in its tracks. That isn't to say the "Quest For Single Figures" is dead in the water. No chance. Not for a single moment. It may take a tad longer in 2017 to kick back to 12 and then down again, but once fully recuperated and fighting fit, I'm going to be chomping at the bit, to get out and work on my game and play again, and SO fired up to get going. It could be a potent mix
Aside from all of the above, it's been a funny old time lately. We've experienced some wet conditions and some sub-zero temperatures recently which has done little to entice me onto a golf course. As you may be aware, I am now live on Youtube on a channel also called Three Off The Tee (The Three Off The Tee Youtube Channel link) which has received some rather pleasing comments and already opened one or two doors for some future content and opportunities. It's also taken more time to get sorted than I thought being something of technical luddite but now it's up and running with some decent content to peruse, please avail yourself and don't forget to click the subscribe button while you are there.
As you will know from my post on here (and the live lesson video - Live Lesson) I had a swing MOT recently with Andy Piper at Lavender Golf Centre. It was a productive session with one or two points to go away and work on, particularly with the driver which hasn't been behaving as well as I'd have liked. Also, there had been issues with my irons and in particular a lack of hip rotation and more of a slide. I had such cunning plans in my head to diligently hit the local range and work on these issues, but having braved the elements on the way home from work, there was no way I was standing on a freezing cold range, "Quest For Single Figures" or not. That said, I managed to finally summon the enthusiasm, as I knew I had to get out and playing more, having only played once in 2017 and not particularly successfully. As practice sessions go, this one was rather pleasing and there was a lot of good stuff, both with my irons and also the driver and I was looking forward to playing in the Saturday roll up.
Royal Ascot Golf Club has been on temporary greens for a while as the daily frosts have done their work and the greens had been frozen, not just on the surface but deep into the root. It was thus on Saturday too and as a rule I hate, no loathe, playing on temporary greens and would rather practice elsewhere than traipse around a course to tiny greens cut on the edges of fairways. Even more so when there is rain forecast. However I rocked up as planned and despite a rogue shower, predictably as I stood on the first tee to play my opening shot, we got away with it. The rain didn't last long and all in all the conditions were rather agreeable for the time of year.
I actually played okay for my 34 points. Nothing too spectacular but the driver was very good for me, hitting 8/12 fairways. I had two really bad drives on the tenth and eighteenth but other than that it was working well and my distances for the time of year were quite pleasing. On the down side, and as you'll know if you're a regular reader, there is normally a down side, my irons weren't as good. In fact they were rather disappointing and I couldn't replicate what I'd done the night before in practice in any shape or form. I got it round with them, but maybe only a couple of my iron shots left a satisfying feeling after I hit them. Akin to that I was trying to battle on with a more conventional pitching technique which is something I've dallied with over the winter period. It wasn't functional. It didn't work.
All that being said, I had one horror hole, the seventeenth where I hooked a tee shot out of bounds but other than that, and bearing in mind firing to temporary greens is always far more fiddly than a normal approach, I moved the ball round. I didn't have too many swing thoughts in my head, a step forward in itself and really enjoyed the company of my playing partners. That bodes well for the season and I just need to have clarity of thought in the next competition.
So far so good then. Progress being made, even if the chance to get handicap cuts have yet to materialise. I didn't have a chance to play on the Sunday (Jan 29th) but took myself to the practice ground early with the intention of working on my irons and in particular the takeaway which is still to far outside the line and disconnected as you'll see in the early shots on the live lesson footage.
This is when I find golf such a frustrating, nay gut clenching annoying game. I know what I am trying to do. I can do it in rehearsal and take the practice swing back nicely. Stick club behind the ball, stick a camera on to capture it and lo, old habits manifest and I'm constantly fighting the club to get it back and through in a way to propel the ball somewhere near target. It was not a good session as you'll see from the latest upload on the Youtube channel. Get over and see what you think. Better still comment below the video and let me know what you think.
I had two goals for the practice session, to work on the stuff from the lesson and also do some work on my pitching. This had been excruciatingly bad the day before and has been a constant theme on here. I've tried, heavens know I've tried, to pitch conventionally. My efforts though are so poor and I look like a volt of electricity is passing through me with each one. So out of sync, so poor technically, especially in terms of arms and body rotating together and if I am being brutally honest, I have zero confidence with it on the course.
I prefer the linear method (search on the blog and you'll see plenty on this) and as you can see from the practice footage, I reverted to this part way through. Now bearing in mind I haven't tried this for several months and taking out the first effort which was fat and horrid, you'll see the difference in the quality of strike and distance control between this and my "normal" efforts which is the proverbial chalk and cheese.
All in all it wasn't my greatest session. With heavy rain forecast, I always felt I was on a deadline and feel that everything I did felt rushed. My tempo in the long swing was much quicker than my lesson and even quicker than it had been on the course the day before. That's always an issue for me and along with the club initially travelling away from my body and the target line is a bad start to any swing.
As I mentioned what will have seemed hours ago, I managed to play in the monthly stableford which was last weekend (February 4th). I was already feeling unwell, having struggled in work on the Friday with what I assumed was a simple cold. How wrong I was. Anyway, that aside, I managed a solid 34 points which gave me a 6th place finish in division two. I haven't played much as I've said and practice hadn't been going as well as I'd hoped since my swing MOT lesson. Some range sessions had given tantalising moments of hope and others, especially on camera, clearly highlighted there is much to work on.
The driver worked a treat. Surprising but what a difference the game is playing from short grass regularly. I wasn't swinging well and the warm up hadn't gone well. I started with an ugly double, an outrageous putt to salvage par after a dodgy pitch, using the linear method at the second and repeated the feat at the fourth having gone over the green with an approach from 105 yards. There were hiccups including a nasty three putt at the eighth having hit the green on the 139 yard par three. I found the fairway on the ninth, blocked my approach right and left a downhill lie, off a bare muddy lie over a bunker to a short sided flag. It was fraught with danger and I panicked and thinned it over the green for a book-end double bogey to match the one at the opening hole.
February 2017 statistics
For the second weekend running I missed the 10th hole well to the right. I was fortunate to find a lie, get it forward and make a net par. I was missing a lot of greens but found one at the 186 yard 13th for a solid par and my back nine was ticking over nicely. I was finding a way to score which is something I've been harping on about for ages. Not swinging well (driver aside) and still scoring. Progress!!!!!
Alas dear reader there always seems to be a sting in the tail and today would be no different. Many of you will know that I've struggled in the last few seasons with killer holes, real horror shows from nowhere to blight otherwise acceptable rounds. I stood on the last, knowing that a par five would give me solid 36 points. I hit another fairway. Step one completed. The second was uphill but I was hitting directly into the sun. I thought I actually made a good swing, but never saw it leave the club face. Sadly my playing partners did and all said it had gone straight right into territory where nasty creatures may lie. I never found it and ended the back nine with a double bogey. At least there was a degree of symmetry. Had I made 36 points I would perhaps squeezed into a top three spot, not bad for an opening salvo, especially given how I felt. On the day, I was always going to be short of the division winner on 40 points and second place on 38. I'll take my top six though and no handicap damage, but no cut either.
I'm feeling an air of urgency. Time is passing me by and I've played such little golf, only twice on a full course. I've only had one lesson all winter. The work I do on the range IS showing some forward movement but I've simply not had a chance to play and translate this to the course often enough. I have started to do some NLP work to get the sub-conscious mind working better for me but again I've not had a chance to test this with card and pencil in hand often enough..
And so dear reader there you have it. As always, nothing is straightforward and it's another roller coaster ride. Sadly, at the moment I am under strict doctors orders to remain in the warm, rest and recuperate and have been warned it could be another 3-4 weeks before I am fully recovered. That means for now, absolutely no playing and no range time. To be honest as I sit here typing, I have zero energy anyway. As I get better, I have some plans to utilise some of my putting aids and at least work on my stroke. I will also be doing an unusual "what's in the bag" once I can talk into a camera without constant coughing, which will be up on my Youtube channel in the next week or so. Please take pity on this poor invalid and check it out when it arrives.
It wasn't quite the blog I wanted to be writing, and having to have redo several parts, several times, but it is what it is and it's something I have to deal with and come back from fitter and stronger. I'll learn the lessons from my issues last year and ensure I am playing and working on my game from a stronger staring point in terms of my health. On the plus side, at least the warmer weather and longer nights will be close to hand. I'll be back and this "Quest For Single Figures" ain't over my a long chalk
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