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.

What A Difference A Day Makes

As the song says,"what a difference a day makes". I went out last night straight from work to play a few holes. No warm up other than a couple of meaningful swishes of the three wood on the first tee. No expectation to play well and more a case of seeing how it went rather than anything more positive. The practise session on Sunday afternoon had reaffirmed that I can hit it properly and so it was a case of getting back on the horse after Saturday, trusting myself and having some fun in the sun.

A good drive off the first just missed the green right. A decent chip left a makeable putt from six feet but the Odyssey White Ice #9 I had taken out to try and kick start something on the greens was slow to warm up. Still a net par, no dramas and onwards. I hit a great drive at the second which lay the foundation for a green in regulation and a solid par. I found the front edge of the third in two and had a thirty footer left. I left it six feet short but the second putt found the left edge of the hole for a par. A great tee shot off the fourth and a pitch to within fifteen foot made a par a formality at the next and by the time I'd made yet another par at the fifth I'm suddenly one over par gross. Where had that form been on Saturday morning.

The sixth hole is not my favourite at the best of times. A long par three measuring 178 yards it's played through a chute of trees with out of bounds ten yards to the right and out of bounds left waiting for anything pulled or hooked. The tee box was hard against the right side of the tee ground which meant the trees on the that side were right in play especially as I tend to move the ball right to left and struggle to hit a fade and move the ball the other way. Time for a deep breath, to look deep in my soul, aim for the middle of the green and believe. The four iron was hit well. It was a little right to left but had started at the flag and eventually kicked off the green onto the banking that protects the left side of the putting surface. It had been a good shot if a little conservative. The chip shot was downhill and really just needed lifting over the longer grass and landing on the fringe where gravity would take over. These short ones have been a bit of an issue but this time I executed well and the ball ran to within four feet. This time the putter slipped into gear and I made the par putt. Get in.

I dropped a shot at the seventh having pulled the tee shot left and leaving myself blocked out. I'd taken a six iron to get the ball back in play and hit it so well it managed to find the green side bunker. Had I aimed on a more aggressive line it might even have found the green. The bunker shot came out well if a fraction long and I couldn't make the putt. Still another net par.

And then came the eighth.

This is the shortest and easiest hole on the course and yet seems to regularly cause me issues. This would be no exception. Playing 128 yards, I seriously over clubbed with a 7 iron and added to a poor swing hit it too long, thin and right. It missed the bunkers right of the green which would have been a good result and disappeared into thick rough. I played another and this was no better. It also went right but not as far and stopped right of the sand. The original ball refused to be found. I had a bare lie over a bunker to a tight pin to negotiate. It cleared the sand - JUST - but caught the bank and stopped perilously close to the front lip. I hit a good chip down and made the putt but that all added up to an ugly triple bogey six.

A triple bogey six - a real show stopper and not the first time I've mucked the easiest hole up in grand style

I recovered my composure and hit a good drive down the ninth. I was in two minds over my second. It was 158 yards and should have been a smooth five iron. However I thought I could get there with a well struck six iron. I hit it well but it missed to the right although it was pin high. I had a good lie to play the recovery over the bunker. I hit a lovely high shot that landed softly. To be honest I never really gave the par putt a chance to drop a shot but again a net par. Out in 41 (+6 gross) with all the damage done at one hole.

Normally I'd call it a day at the ninth as it brings you back to the clubhouse and a chance for a drink before heading home. However, my convalescence from Saturday was going well so I decided to plough on, play the tenth round to the fourteenth and head down the last. I absolutely nailed the drive down the tenth to leave just a wedge in. Easy par. I missed the green right with a four iron at the par three eleventh and found sand. To make matters worse it had nestled into an old footprint. I got it out but with no control and it ran to the back of the green leaving a downhill left to right putt of some twenty yards. I hit it well but a tad short of pace leaving an awkward four foot putt. Again the Odyssey kicked into gear and I rammed it into the heart of the cup.

The driver did the job on the twelfth and found the middle of the fairway. I caught the seven iron heavy and it looked like it was heading for a sandy grave but missed the bunker, bounced off the bank and found the front of the green. Heck, my golf deserved a break. Again I left a tricky four footer for a par and again managed to convert. A rare par on the hardest ranked hole (SI 1). The thirteenth is a par three and was playing 172 yards from the tee. I hit a great four iron high and with a touch of draw. It just ran off the green but the putt from the fringe was perfect and an easy par tucked away.

The fourteenth has been something of a graveyard for my game in recent weeks. It was here my swing disappeared in the match versus Oxford City. It was here I lost a ball off the tee in that disastrous practise round the previous Monday. It was here I racked up a treble bogey in the last medal and ended up losing on count back. We have history. I caught it well but the swing wasn't great and it sailed right ending up in the light rough adjacent to the thirteenth tee. In fact it was so bad it was good as there was a clear line of sight towards the green. It had nestled down a bit and so I opted to try and nudge a six iron down there and make a chip and putt. I hit it a fraction right, well actually about ten yards right of where I'd intended it to go and it found sand in the right hand green side bunker. It managed to lodge itself well up the face. I got it out which was all I wanted to do but it was a long way from the hole. I two putted for a five. A dropped shot but yet another net par and so a case of using my stroke well. I hadn't played the hole well but hadn't done any damage. I wouldn't say I'd got vindication for the problems I've had and would call it a dishonourable draw on the night.
I cut down the eighteenth as time was ticking, I'd arranged to meet the wife on the patio for drink and it never does to keep a lady waiting. I hit another good drive and followed it with a decent five wood. Climbing up the hill I could see her waiting patiently. I could also see a table full of some familiar faces. My pitching from short distances hadn't gone well in practise on Sunday and with a pond ready to gather anything shanked and an array of expectant faces there was just a hint of pressure. In the end it wasn't a great shot some fifteen feet short but at least it had found the green. I left the birdie chance agonisingly short but par was a given. That meant I was just two over for the five holes I'd played on the back nine and eight over in total.

Apart from one bad hole and the odd iffy shot - loads to be happy about and to ENJOY

There were a few shots I wasn't happy with but as I posted on here recently if the result doesn't get me into any trouble then we'll take substance over style every time and worry about nailing down the swing issues afterwards. All in all though I am back in a very much glass half full, nay topped up kind of mood and suddenly everything seems a little less frustrating and difficult with this game. I'll keep working hard and hopefully the lesson on Thursday I've got will take me another step forward. Could it be I'm playing myself into form ahead of the Stone Cup over the bank holiday weekend? I'm loathe to get too excited and optimistic but we'll see how the rest of the week pans out when I play and practise. For now, with the exception of the bloody eighth hole everything is slotting into place. "What a difference a day makes."

Another In And Out Weekend (Same Old, Same Old)

What a glorious weekend. Wall to wall sunshine, hot and the course looked a treat. The greens are still a bit iffy following their recent treatment but slowly but surely they are coming. A few more weeks and they should be great to putt on. With everything set fair, I was looking forward to my game with the normal gang in our Saturday roll up. What transpired was definitely not in the plan. Quite simply I was rubbish.

The swing hadn't felt quite right all week and even warming up I knew I was struggling but hoped once I was on the course swing thoughts would dissipate and I could trust what had been working so well in the last few weeks. The opening tee shot was a wild slice, fortunate not to find the out of bounds but far enough wide to find a totally unplayable lie. I took a penalty drop recovered well and then promptly three putted from twelve feet to make sure I didn't score. The scorer wasn't troubled at the second either as I lost a ball with my second shot after having found the fairway off the tee. I finally managed to get on the board on the third and then proceeded to play steady if unremarkable golf. Too many unforced errors and a distinct feeling of unease with my swing meant I couldn't get anything going. Another no score on the tiny par three eighth didn't help and I reached the turn in a miserly eleven points.

The back nine started in better vein but again any forward momentum was promptly stopped with another mistake. In the end the total of twenty eight points was probably a point or two better than my golf suggested. Not a happy Homer. There were a few plus points including some solid chipping, which had been lacking on the first nine, and a few decent drives but nothing that really set the pulse running.

Sunday saw the course closed in the afternoon for a shotgun competition so it gave me the ideal opportunity to adjourn to the practise ground and really work on the swing. It hadn't fallen apart completely and Saturday was more a case of "one of those days" than a fundamental implosion. The plus side of the new one plane swing is that there are only a few aspects that need checking and so it was really a question of hitting some balls and working through the list of possible causes. In the end a hip slide and a shallowness into the ball seemed to be the chief culprits. Regular offenders. I worked hard on turning better through the ball, trying to recapture the feeling I had a few weeks back of being on top of the ball at impact and ensuring the club exited low and left. With the sun beating down, I was hitting ball after ball very well. There were some bad ones in there but that was inevitable. The majority were really good. A lot were really good.

With the field to myself I took the opportunity to work on my pitching. Not very well as it transpired and I encountered a dose of the J Shermans. Again the problem was easily traced and rectified but it has left me with an underlying nervousness. Distance control is the biggest issue I've got and I was really keen to spend some quality time getting a feel for those fiddly little half shots. I put two targets out at 40 and 60 yards with the plan to use different clubs and develop an understanding of the length of swing required for each one. The attack of the rights made the task much harder and in the end, the hour I spent wasn't as productive as I'd hoped. I retired to the practise bunker as I'd had sandy issues on Saturday but had been recovering well from sand in recent rounds. This was far more encouraging and the ball was popping out nicely. I am still having issues from side hill and uphill lies and I just need to give myself some more time to work out a plan of attack to deal with these. The biggest cause for concern is actually the putting which seems to be very erratic and I've lost confidence in my stroke and set up. I'm loathe to change putters but I've not been able to find anything that I'm happy with on the practise green and on the course I'm more focused on technicalities rather than length and line. That said, I've lost all feeling for distance as well. If it isn't one thing it's another. One day everything will click into place simultaneously.

All in all, it was time well spent. I am more comfortable with where the swing is now and I've a lesson with Rhys ap Iolo on Thursday anyway so hopefully we can give it a once over and ensure it is tightened up. There is a big competition at Royal Ascot over the bank holiday and so I'd like to be able to repeat the success I had in the last one at Easter. It is in there, but I think I've gotten a bit tied up in the why and how and not enough about the doing. I think the nightmare nine holes I had last Monday where I couldn't string any good shots together and lost four balls has dented my confidence and that Saturday did little to repair the damage. I've said before I'm a confidence player and a streaky one and that when I get on a roll I can be very, very good. It's getting on the wave in the first place and being able to ride it for as long as possible that hasn't always been easy. At least I feel I have more about me with the one plane swing and so we'll see what the new week brings.
I'm going to play a few holes tonight to just reaffirm that the swing is in a better place and then hit the practise ground later in the week before seeing Rhys on Thursday. It isn't a million miles away and so perhaps a few tweaks here and there and we'll be off and running. It would be nice to be competitive again but as long as I play well, ideally with another handicap cut, then that'll do for me.

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.

A Timely Reminder

WANTED - 1 missing golf swing. Last seen on the 14th tee at Royal Ascot on Saturday May 19th. If found please keep well drilled and active and return to the author c/o Bedborough Field (a.k.a the Royal Ascot practise ground) as soon as possible. Owner last seen trying to impersonate a competent golfer.

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

Just Did Enough

Friday saw a return to some work on my long game and the session was one of those irritating ones where the ball striking wasn't great but you know it is only a fraction out and can't quite find the missing piece. Nonetheless it was going straight most of the time and so plenty to be confident about to take into my match for the club against Oxford City on Saturday. These are friendly affairs, and while everyone is doing their best to secure a win, the emphasis is still on having a good time. We do actually play Oxford City for an annual shield and 2012 saw the tie being played at home.

It's a better ball format of three quarter handicaps and I was paired with Gary McEwan a Scot off 6 handicap. I've played with him a few times and he's usually very steady which is ideal as my game is still a bit hit and miss. We were up against another 6 handicapper and the Oxford City 2010 club captain off 11.

Oxford City is always a fixture to look forward to - really friendly game and great banter whatever the scores and result

I'd topped my tee shot off the first last Sunday in the medal and for some reason felt compelled to repeat the trick. I made the green with the recovery but both Gary and I could only make a bogey four to be one down immediately. I settled into my game and made a par at the next as did my partner which was enough to get a half. Gary won the third with a solid par after I hit the green in regulation and then three putted from thirty feet. We were gifted the fourth when both the Oxford players made bogey. A par was enough for a half at the par five fifth.

I hit the green on the sixth as did Gary. However my putter wasn't required as he drained an outrageous twenty five footer for birdie from the front of the green. Despite being much closer neither of the opposition could find a reply. Two up.

I had a shot at the seventh, stroke index 2. My tee shot was well hit with a touch of draw. Too much in reality and I was blocked out by the large tree on the left side of the hole. Regular readers will know the tree and I have history. I clattered into it last weekend in the medal and no-one saw where the ball finished. The lost ball cost me a double bogey. I was very clear in my mind what I wanted to do. I wanted to take the five iron from 194 yards, aim at the tee box on the eighth and try and hit a big draw/hook. My feeling was that a straight shot would leave a pitch from the tee box, a slight draw would find the bunker and so wouldn't be in bad shape and if I executed then the pressure was really on the opposition. If I hit another ten shots from the same spot I wouldn't execute any that were as good as this. It missed the tree, had a lovely low flight and started on the tee as planned. It turned, and the turned some more pitching about forty yards short and ran into the heart of the green. Two putts and a par. Fair play though, Alan, the previous captain played the hole in far more conventional fashion, hitting the right part of the fairway and then the green and matched me with his shot.

The short par three eighth was halved in par although thanks to my partner as I found sand off the tee. However, I wasn't done yet. I found the fairway on the 400 yard par four ninth. My hybrid approach wasn't a great shot and it was fortunate to miss the left hand trap but landed on the banking beyond. As you MUST know by now chipping is a real issue at the moment. I'd gone back to the linear method at the 11th hour (about an hour before we teed off) and so confidence over the first crucial recovery was sketchy especially with the ball sitting up slightly in a patch of clover. The execution was good but just short of pace. With the opposition both missing the green and only managing a bogey I was left with a left to right putt from twelve feet. It never looked anywhere but in the middle. Par and three up at the turn. I was only three over gross. Rarified air!

Three became four when Gary knocked a birdie putt in at the next. The next two were halved and so standing on the thirteenth we were in a healthy position. I'd parred ten and eleven and made a bogey five gross (net par four) at the twelfth and so was still +4 gross. I missed the green left. The swing was shocking and a hint of what was to come. Again I faced with a tough ask of my new chipping method. Heavy rough and no green to play with. I elected to take the 58 degree wedge. Not a club I use often for chipping but with both Oxford players close in one there was nothing to lose. It flew out perfectly to about six feet but the putter was the culprit and I missed the putt for a half.

And then, the swing went missing. I found the fairway at the fourteenth and was getting a shot. Blocked out by the trees to the right of the fairway I only had to hit a low one down there and chip on. Somehow I found timber and hit it straight into the tree in front. My five iron third missed right and I made a horrid six (net five) although once again my man was there to get a half.

My swing suddenly got really quick. Tempo had gone and the elements of the one plane swing were lost and the club was flailing down the line after impact and the hips were sliding. I've no idea where this came from as I'd been hitting it solidly for the first thirteen holes. I was out of contention on the fifteenth thanks to a misplaced recovery into deep rough never to be seen again but Gary did his bit and made a battling par.

From nowhere the swing vanished. Tempo went, hips slid and it was all a bit of a mess

I was needed to stand up and be counted at the long par four sixteenth though when his drive looked to have gone left out of bounds. My bad shot when I get quick and start sliding instead of turning is a horrid snap hook. With out of bounds some ten yards left of the tee and extending down the length of the drive this wasn't a potent mix. I aimed well right thinking a block or a slice would still be playable. In the end it was a bit of a hook but it found the fairway although a long way out. I went with a five wood to try and get the green. The Oxford boys both went right and were forced to lay up. As we were three up, lying dormie, if I could make a net par then the game was up. I hit the five wood heavy as the swing got even quicker and the hips slid even more.

No damage and it nestled in the light rough about eighty yards short. My pitch found the front edge and I trundled a putt to within four feet. Not a given. I needed to make it for a half and the win and converted although not with any real confidence. It dribbled in rather than dropping with any speed or purpose. Still a 3&2 win is always good. My partner carried me for the large part of the back nine, certainly in the closing stages and so a big debt of thanks to Gary for being so reliable.

Even with the pressure off my last two holes weren't great. I played to or just above my handicap with the lost ball on fifteen which was disappointing but the scores didn't matter in the matchplay format. I was more upset that the swing vanished in the puff of smoke. I've no idea how or why and it isn't the first time recently that tempo has been an issue and that when it goes, the hip slide issues return. I've not got a fix for it on the course and the more I try to slow it down and focus on turning the worse it seems to be.

With the weather set fair for the next few days I'm planning to play a few holes every night and see if doing it for real rather than in practise is the way forward. It'll give me a chance to test the short game and putting too. I still plan to spend at least one night on the short game and another working on the swing. It is in there and getting better but definitely is still to shallow. It is the shallowness that causes the slide. I know that from my lessons but try as I might I can't steepen the path from a nice turn into impact. That'll be one for the next lesson no doubt.

On a positive note that's three club matches I've played this season and so far so good as I'm unbeaten with two wins and a draw. It is coming. The medal last week and the first three quarters of the round yesterday prove that and it isn't always about how the swing looks or feels but how the club travels and controls the ball. The short game is in a better place - FOR NOW - and the putter is warming up again after a frosty fortnight. Plenty to be upbeat about but also plenty to work on. Let's see what happens next.

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.