Conditioning my Strength and Conditioning

As I lay at home some nights and ponder my next step in the process of achieving scratch golf, I feel a weakness, or perhaps better put, a lack of energy on a daily basis. As I search and try to find solutions to all my issues I seem to continue to overlook the most simple and controllable of all the skill sets to master......FITNESS! I write before you today a man who has finally come to terms with LAZY! Nutrition and fitness should be as second nature as breathing but alas they are neglected each and every day! My focus beginning 1/1/11 is to incorporate a complete fitness and diet regimen into my daily routine, above and beyond the range time. It's time to eliminate all options for error other than pure swing flaws and focus. Fitness MUST become a part of my life that cannot be overlooked or passed over for any reason, it must be a priority! I'm 36lbs lighter than I was a year ago and for a person of my body type that is a big no-no! I WILL regain my strength, I WILL regain my energy levels, and I WILL not accept anything less than complete success!!!

Fairways and Greens!!

Off to the races!

Hello all and welcome to the first edition of the 2011 season(yes, two weeks early but the golf tournament season has begun!). Beginning with the good news this past weekends tournament was one to remember for sure! It began rather sketchy as I started the day double bogey-triple bogey and then the heavy rains came. As the round went on and I was able to get rid of the nerves I began to strike the ball with incredible accuracy. The confidence growing with each hole, each shot was better and better, shaping just as I envisioned them. As the rains continued and increased, putting became more of an act of will to simply 2 putt which became my goal no matter the distance, as standing water on the green was the theme of the day. As the round progressed the rain grew more steady, now sideways, blown by a wind so brutal, the rocks were screaming! Coming up to 17 I needed to par out for an 80 which I assumed would more than carry a victory on this day. playing into a 25-35mile per hour wind driven rain, it becomes a bit difficult to select a club. it was a short par 4 so normally a 4iron-5iron was the club, but I chose 3 wood to make sure I did not have a blind shot. The wind as it has impeccable timing, calmed down right as I made contact with the ball and the tee shot wound up behind a tree on the right side of the fairway. As I came to the ball I saw that I did have a shot at the green but needed to keep the ball low. As I lined up the shot I noticed a river developing on the green right at the hole. I thought, miss on the high side, two putt and move on. I hit a great shot, just on the fringe on the high side. By the time we arrived at the green, the whole was full of water and the river was right in my line. three putts later i am standing on 18th tee just looking forward to getting out of the weather. As I post an 81 in the clubhouse and look up at the scoreboard I see I'm tied with 3 other folks for first place. We head back out for the playoff and find standing water again on the green, 3 inch pond in front of my ball impeding my line. After some debate and discussion, I decide its too cold and too wet to worry so I three putt again through the river take my bogey, wish the rest of the guys good luck, take my second place and head to the warmth of the clubhouse. Checking the rules, I was indeed entitled to relief but there really was no where to take it. I was very happy with the overall performance. One really important step I need to take going forward is to find a way to channel the nerves on the first 4 holes, give me simply bogey on those firs two and I shot 78. Lessons to be learned from every situation. Heading to Palm Springs for Christmas to play some golf and hang out with some great friends! Hope everyone has a great holiday break.

Fairways and Greens!

Attitude is everything

Hello again blog-ville! Apologies for the lack of updates here, I was down and out for a while with the flu which caused the first cancellation of a tournament in my short career but I'm back!! I've had a great couple weeks for golf. My practice time has been limited but the quality of practice has been much better, more focused on short game now. I have found a better feel for my chipping and pitching. The release of the ball after it contacts the ground still gets me from time to time but I'm slowly developing a better feel for what the ball will do when I apply different shots to it, and also what it will do according to the conditions, type of grass, slope and speed of greens. My putting is getting better by the day. I have more trust in my new grip and have found a way to keep the tempo of the putting stroke more consistent. In addition to my short game work, I have added a new move to my ever evolving swing. While demoing clubs I was able to get a swing assessment from a PGA pro and after going over with him what I have been working on he gave me one free tip, I needed to "set" the club better at the top of my back swing to be more consistent with the swing plane, also adds a bit of lag and thus, a few more yards! Now I simply lift the club as I start my back swing, picture using my left index finger on the grip like I would be pulling the trigger of a gun(or hinging the wrist as they say) as I begin the swing, that allows the club to set much easier at the top of the swing and will also assist with limiting my forward tilt. I have played a few rounds since making this adjustment and it seems very comfortable right now and the results have been quite positive. Next tournament is this weekend, Sunday, December 19th at MT. Woodson. I've heard from some guys that the course is very narrow and requires high accuracy over distance(course only plays 6,000yds from the tips). So many 3wds and Hybrids will be swung this weekend. Lets get the season started off on a good note!!

Fairways and Greens!

Patience is the toughest challenge

Greetings from the fairway(who am I kidding, greetings from the rough) :). I bring good news regarding the prognosis of the state of my golf game. Over the past two weeks, my new putting grip has really begun to take shape and provided me with a more consistent stroke and the results have been very positive. My misses are relatively close, leaving me with many more two putts and giving myself better chances at birdie. One glaring weakness in my current game remains distance control from 30yds in. i seem to have an issue with judging the proper release after the ball lands at my estimated target. It appears the issue is more my judgment of proximity rather than mechanics. This provides me with great feedback and shows that i simply need more chipping time to better get my sights aligned properly. Driver is really coming around, and my ball flight is very true and allows for me to play more shots than I'm used to. I still have some issues with reverse pivot and taking the club too much to the inside but the positives on that are I know when I do them and can quickly resolve swing issues on the course. First tournament of the year is Saturday December 4th. I am very much looking forward to this one as I feel it can be a good springboard for my season. I'm not sure that my game is in the proper place to get in the victory train but I should be able to start the season with a solid showing!

Fairways and greens!

Freshness at its best

Today I have completed day two of the ever changing journey into the new season. As I type this I'm enjoying my reward for the day, A martini, two blue cheese stuffed olives and a tightly rolled Arturo Fuente Special while sitting next to the fire, poolside. I've decided to not deny myself all of my guilty pleasures but to enjoy them in moderation and allow myself to indulge as reward for hard work. Day one yesterday was simply a kick off. Not much in the way of stress or intensity but rather introduction to my routine going forward. The first couple of weeks are going to be dedicated to building a solid practice routine and keeping consistent with gym time and diet. I was able to set down some mental ground rules for my range time to maximize results. I started out yesterday at 6:30am with a warm up on the chipping green. Something that is tops on the short game list is pace(distance) control with the wedges. I want to learn the feel of a 10-20-30yd, etc...pitch and chip shot. My game off the tee has become fairly consistent, enough for me to now be able to equally spit time between developing a solid short game and being confident about my tee shots and fairway approach attempts. Last year I was fighting poor swing mechanics all season which did not allow much focus on the short game or putting..........things have changed for the better. One the range yesterday after my chipping session I began the task of proper club release. As i've been playing a few rounds I've found the biggest issue I have at the moment is too much swing focus on the takeaway and not nearly enough on the follow through. My release most of the time is underneath and inside which causes a hard draw or hook. Many days this is a very playable shot but with some wind it becomes rather unpredictable. I was able to more properly release the club out and up during my range session and saw a huge change in ball flight with a standard draw or baby draw, allowing me to more accurately chose my flight line. Today I was able to stop on the way home from a work trip to do a little chipping and putting(not enough time for a range session due to darkness)and Have begun practicing what I believe will assist me in lagging more putts close and making a higher percentage of birdie opportunities. Previously I was gripping the putter in the same fashion as I would an iron or driver. I found some notes on correct putter grip with the grip placed in the palm of the hand rather than in the fingers. Immediately I found a more true stroke and consistent putter face alignment. As i sit and impatiently wait for the next range session I continue to remind myself to never accept what I am succeeding at and to always try to find improvement, in golf, at work and in life in general. As i've said before in this blog, if your not moving forward then your moving backward, life never stands still.:)

Fairways and Greens!

Reflection and Correction(PARENTAL ADVISORY, EXPLICIT LYRICS!)

Hello again. I come to you with this edition and bring a slightly different tone to this blog. It begins with some self reflection with regard to my total sense of purpose. As I've begun to try to piece together what it is exactly that my purpose is here as I'm sure we all have at one point, I've found that I've lost touch with who I am. Those of you who have known me for quite some time know that I'm a very excitable, ambitious individual with dreams and aspirations to be something. Somewhere over the course of the last two years I've lost that feeling, that motivation, I've become stagnant in my quest. Everything subsequently has been affected, my friends and family feel it most, and i want to take this opportunity to apologize. Being unmotivated pushes one to a state of some kind of middle ground, not moving forward at all and like I've said in the past, if your not moving forward your moving backward! We all have the ability to over come our mental flaws if we simply put our energy into being productive. That could be anything from getting back into reading a series of books, studying something of interest or getting back into a fitness program and nutrition plan. All of these are very easy to do, all I need to do is re-prioritize my life! I need to say FUCK! this is not where I want to be, grab life by the proverbial balls and push through the bullshit and naysayers and retake what is mine, my drive!!! I need to add more positive energy surrounding me and make sure I don't let any one's negativity bring me down to there level! I'm stronger than that so i say FUCK them!! It's time I stop talking and start doing! Depression tried to sneak into my psyche but I say to Depression, EAT SHIT!!

Strong body, Strong mind!! the only way to roll!!

golf returns in two weeks, thanks for attending AK pity party 2010...back to your regularly scheduled blogging!!


Fairways and Greens!!

Renewing a sense of purpose

During my mini-break of 2010 here at the end, I'm filled with a sense of drive and impatience as I eagerly await the November 15th restart date for my practice and fitness training. On the one hand I want to kick start this thing tomorrow, hit the range for hours, start my fitness routine right away but I've come to learn over time that by having a proper plan with contingencies(as we all know, life throws obstacles out every day) you can better accommodate those changes. With this new season comes a new approach. Since my return from nationals I've made one tiny adjustment in my takeaway and have found a comfort zone for consistency or better explained, a "go to" swing that I previously have never had before. This off season is going to be focusing on ingraining that swing to muscle memory first and foremost. Just as important is to gain consistency from 100yds in. I believe that I can shave about 5-7 strokes off my hdcp this season with a combination of hard work and extreme focus! That would put me at a 2-4 hdcp by end of 2011 and keep my on pace with my original goals and time line. It is going to be a busy off season, filled with highs and lows but the best part is going to be the journey. I want to enjoy the great and learn from the bad and come out in 2012 with a new purpose! I will post another blog the day my journey into 2011 continues in two weeks, so stay tuned, this is going to get interesting!!

Fairways and Greens to all!

perception is not the exception but the reality

Hello everyone,

First and foremost i would like thank everyone who has supported me so far in this journey!
To my family and friends, thank you so much for your love and support. It is just the beginning and I would not be able to keep this going if not for you.!!

to my buddy Kev,
Huge congrats on your solid second place finish!

To Chris,
great season had, solid top 25 finish!!




If you follow me on Facebook or Twitter(Akrueger1479) then you are aware of my poor showing at the Golf Channel Am tour nationals. I felt coming into the tournament that my game and my ever developing swing were making significant progress. At first glance when the tournament was complete and I was on the 5hr flight home, I thought long and hard about everything. contemplated many things, quitting the game, taking a year off, trying to golf right handed(LOL)etc...After all that thought and misery I wound up coming to a simple conclusion based on an old memory that resurfaced, coming from my youthful days as a PBA caliber bowler. When I was about 11-12 years old(too much damage to the brain to remember the exact date), I had a moment when I knew I could play that game on a very high level. I had about a 155 average at the time to start the season, wound up getting to know the pro shop guy pretty well and became a knowledge sponge, soaking up any and all information bowling related that I could, I would bike to the bowling alley after school every day, work until 5:30 then practice what they were preaching until they kicked me off for leagues. By the end of the season I was averaging 198, shot my first 600 series followed by my first 700 series a year later. About the age of 16 I was averaging about 215, and have been told i was considered one of the top junior bowlers in the state at that time. This point was made clear by my consistant showings in the midwest scratch am scolarship tournament, 16th and 12th out of some 250+ bowlers two years in a row. then comes junior nationals, feeling very confident about my game, I was exposed as "not ready for prime time". I didn't finish poorly but I was no where near where I thought I should be. this corralation can be directly made to my golf game as well. Entering nationals I was filled with a tremendous sense of over confidence due to my swing changes. Fact is my swing was so bad, any change was going to be good. I had not developed the muscle memory or consistency to perform at a high enough level to compete for 4 days on some of the toughest courses in the country. It was not for a total lack of effort but I believe much more could have been done to properly prepare, both mentally and physically. Now, I am very happy and lucky to have had such a fantastic lesson taught to me by this experience. Each time we are faced with adversity in life and on the course, the easy thing to do is quit, walk away, take the easy path, well, in my humble opinion, true success in life as it is in golf, comes from determining what you want, and setting out to achieve that goal. Pushing through all the obsticles, working through the failures, enjoying the successes, or as one of my favorite quotes talks about difficulty and greatness:

"It's supposed to be hard. If it was easy everyone would do it. It's the hard, that makes it great!"

I know that I can get to where I want to be, i just have to make sure I don't detour from my course. This off season is going to be a very busy one for me. Many more hours honing the fundamentals of my golf swing, learning more about mental game, fitness will be a HUGE factor this off season as well as planning and preparation. I have a very good feeling about the upcoming off-season, I feel you play like you practice so I will begin to practice to play!

I feel the following quote sums up my current state of mind so I will end this entry with it:

“Life's real failure is when you do not realize how close you were to success when you gave up.”

Fairways and greens!

Familiar feelings

As we have less than one week until Sawgrass, the preparation and focus grows with each passing day. In our lifetimes we have reoccurring mental projections of situations past that remind us of emotions and mindsets both good and bad. Well, lately with all the practice and the addition of new lessons, I'm reminded of my emotions and mindset at the very beginning of the season. Late last fall I started my instructor search and at about October I thought I found the right coach. We were working on swing connection to the body and from October to March I was focused and worked very hard to implement this. I mentioned to a few of my friends that the tournament at Twin Oaks was going to be my true test. I would have had 4+months of work on that swing enhancement and should be more than ready to win. I predicted I would perform very well and indeed I did, shooting 77(with a triple bogey) and winning the tournament by 8 strokes. Well ladies and gentleman, that feeling has returned here at the most important time of the golf season........NATIONALS!! Although my scores lately have not been that great, the ball striking and short game being improved each day tells me I'm very, very, close. The same exact feeling of confidence and fearlessness has crept back into my psyche. As my swing plane and ball flight have become much more consistent I need to just fine tune some things, most notably my pre-shot routine. Making sure I do the same routine over each shot and make sure to stay consistent with my putting routine as well. Zen Golf, you will be my pocket book on this trip:)

Stay tuned folks, this is getting interesting!!

As always,

Fairways and greens!!

All work and play.

As I apply the gas here in the final few weeks before the nationals, I'm finding that the daily grind of chipping, putting and swing drills can become boring. I've begun to find ways to make the practice session a bit more fun by taking 5-8 shots every 20 min and trying "trick shots". Full swing 10yd flop shot, pitching with my 5 iron, chipping to a severe hill, and on the range, playing virtual rounds of golf with range balls. It seems to be working and keeping my drive for learning fresh. I can't remember a time when I looked forward to practice more than I do now. I'm proud to say I was the first person on the range this morning bright and early at 6:25AM!! I'm getting much closer to my short game goal of 85% of my pitches/chips are within 5 feet(my comfort zone for putting). My full swing is progressing nicely, final lesson was Tuesday and we worked on fixing a bit of a sway issue I had developed while working on taking the club back more to the outside. I'm starting to really feel the swing coming under control and being able to better understand what my ball flight will be doing and when mistakes are made, being able to correct them on the fly.

As always,

Fairways and Greens!

practice quality, make it great!

I must start off by giving huge thanks to Mardell Wilkins at Tijeras Creek for getting my swing back in line and on plane! Everything has been much better since I've been working with her these past couple months!

Ok, onto this blogs topic, great practice. I've been at the range a little less than usual due to many variables(moving, travel for work, etc) but what I've done is make my practice sessions much more productive! I've been working on one single move each time I've been out. the first, a month ago when I started with Mardell was to get my swing to not come inside. SUCCESS!! Each session I start out now I hit the first 15 shots with one focus, outside takeaway. It is pretty close to being a standard part of my swing. The next move she worked on with me was my follow through. Due to my old swing coming so far inside, I developed a tremendous amount of inside pull to compensate for being so inside! I'm now solely focused on coming more straight through the shot and finishing high and around my ear instead of having my hands finish low by my arm pit. I'm finding the ball flight to be more true and my distance is consistent! My chipping has become much more controlled as well as I apply this same swing thought to that part of the game. I'm finding it easier to control the spin and speed of my chip shots!! Practice, practice, practice, only have a few more weeks until the moment of truth.

Stay tuned!!

Fairways and greens!!

The little things, ignore them at your own perile!

Along this journey that has just begun, I've learned a few things. Most notably the importance of attention to detail. The past 4 practice sessions, I've been solely focused on two swing thoughts, club head outside on the takeaway, and holding a stronger grip(seeing more of the glove label). the results each time have been improving dramatically. Of course it could not have gotten much worse than it was. I was coming so far inside on my takeaway that it looked move like a vertical baseball swing than a golf swing. I've noticed that now I have to think less and less about keeping the club head outside and the grip correct, it just seems to happen on it's own more than i thought it would(ingraining a swing thought to muscle memory). In focusing on those two details with each swing on the range I have been able to block out most other swing thoughts and create a more successful repeatable swing. All of this has brought me to a better mental game as well. Keeping focused on the shot at hand and not what I did or what is coming up. Just seeing the shot and hitting it. In my opinion, this is a game of repetition and focus, keeping it as simple as possible which leads back to fundamentals and making sure each piece of the swing puzzle is placed in the same spot each time. When one strays from this mentality you tend to become consumed by "new and improved" instead of "tried and true", and with each foray into the new breakthrough technique you fall further from your fundamentals which are the little things we take for granted most often!

Fairways and Greens!!

winds of change forever blow

Just a short update here. Working on some swing plane drills and adjusted my grip(Thanks Mardell!!) I have a revisit with my instructor on the 17th to see my progress. The new grip is making a huge difference. Instead of high, ballooning fades, I'm hitting low, hard draws. the distance has returned. The new grip is causing some minor soreness in my wrist due to different position on the grip. I can feel the difference however in getting through the ball, not as much flip. It is up to me how much work and effort goes into this change. I'm more focused than ever to gain more consistent ball striking!!

Piece by Piece it gets better

As the journey continues, I'm finding that improvement is coming more now in very small changes and adjustments. 2 years ago a simple swing change or adjustment would yield a score several strokes lower than was previously shot. Now each change or adjustment I make yields only a 1-3 stroke differential at best bringing to light the importance of attention to detail at this point and going forward. For example, this past Sunday was my first tournament since mid June, shot 87. Now I know that doesn't seem like a low score but consider that I had one birdie, was +5 on one hole and +3 on another and the score does not accurately reflect how I played. For the most part I was Playing very well, a few mental mistakes and a little too much on course tinkering cost me 80 or lower. Seeing that and knowing the difficulty level of the course lets me know that all the "changes and adjustments" I've been doing these past couple months and the embarrassingly low scores at times are all part of a larger goal, to finish top 5 at nationals this year. I found a second swing flaw during the tournament that really made the round. I was still having issues with slicing and no matter what i was doing I could not resolve it. During a few practice swings on the tee box before the disastrous +5 par 5, I happened to glance back as my shoulders were turning and there it was.......My left shoulder was lifting up instead of turning back, no rotation means an outside to in swing. I proceeded to smash the drive but unfortunately because I was playing for a slice I aimed at a sand trap on the right side of the fairway and crushed the ball dead straight about 270 and plugged into the sidewall of the trap. With that single shot I was able to then proceed to hit most of my iron shots with a draw and be able to better control the distance. More range time between now and september should result in a more consistant swing by the time Nationals rolls around!!!

stay tuned!

(side note):
Congratulations to Kevin who dominated the Hogan flight on Sunday, winning by 5 strokes with an 80!!

the quit line

Sometimes in any process, the idea of quitting when failure seems to become the norm as apposed to being the exception, starts to creep into your psyche. That has been the case for me the past couple weeks. With a lack of quality practice time and a swing that seems to resemble a runaway truck more than a steady sedan, those thoughts seem to creep up more and more. Each time I feel like I've found the "missing peice" I wind up taking two steps back. Each time I push through with positive thought, but as time goes by and progress is minimal it tends to lean on you heavily. I found myself contemplating retreating on my pursuit of these goals and simply going back to playing each weekend and having fun. I was at the range yesterday during a brief stop on my way to the airport heading home. Bought a large bucket and decided to focus on two fundamental swing thoughts, start from the ground up and swing inside out. Each swing felt like I was doing both, however, ball flight stated otherwise. with about 30+ balls to go, I had a swing that was more of a nice fade than a slice and as a posed and then looked at the finish, CHICKEN WING!!! Why you son of a bitch!!!!! where and when did you creep in there!!!??? once that "diagnosis" was complete I was striping shots down the range, 265, 275, 285 carries with my driver, switched to my trusty 8iron, 150, 155, 160, nice, high draws, each time! finished with my 3wood which has been my nemesis lately and........BLAM!! 250, 260 carries with the last 10 balls, most with a nice baby draw!!! I was not so much happy with the results as much as with the fact that I was able to diagnose the issue on my own, simply with feel and observation. that alone gave me new found hope and confidence!!!

new found progress

I was able to get out for the first time after the session with my new instructor. Overall it went quite well. I had about a 4 hole stretch where I was back to some bad habits but after those few disasters I was able to get the swing back to what we are working on. I was quite pleased, not with the score of the round, but with the recognition of what I was doing wrong and the ability to resolve the problem in a shorter period of time than previous. After all this time working on takeaway, swing plane, wrist position, blah, blah, blah, the simplest concept escaped me and apparently is not on the front burner of most instructors which is squaring the club face at impact. I had another range session this afternoon and it went very well. My ball flight is getting much better and not ballooning as much, although I believe I will need to get some irons with different shafts as my kick point is sending the ball into the air a bit too quick but that is all a mute point until I can get consistent with my ball striking which is improving with every session. I really feel a sense of confidence knowing now what a "true" strike of the golf ball feels like. I have broken my instruction and learning into phases to best suit my improvement process:

1. Become a consistent ball striker with all clubs
2. become 80% putting success from within 10 feet
3. become 80% putting to within 3ft from over 20ft out
4. become 80% with all chip shots to within 5 ft
5. Learn the feel of Half and three quarter shots consistently
6. Learn to control ball flight(high, low, draw, fade)

The time lines on each of these has not set date. This removes pressure to accomplish these by time and allows me to focus on accomplishing these by success instead which will produce better results for me. I'm gaining a much better understanding of the process it is going to take for me to accomplish what I've set out to do. Now I just need to stay the course(pun intended!:)) and see this through to complete success!

begginning anew

So I may have found a good fit for my new coach. Went and saw him yesterday evening and we had a good interview. His teaching philosophy is pretty straight forward(get the club face square to the ball for maximum contact) I started asking about mechanics and he said ask Jim Furyk. LOL! I thought that was classic so away we went for an hour session. he didn't try to change much, just focused on impact to start. He found immediately that my body turn was really good but there was no release on the follow through. As mentioned in a few previous blogs, all the attention recently has been on my takeaway and zero was spent focusing on the impact and follow through. It was immediately clear to me that this instructor was going to be something different. It was very refreshing when I asked him if he sold lessons in packages and he said no, he only wants to take money for a lesson served. Hit some good shots but most important, I was able to lay out my goals as they pertain to the overall achievement of attempting to qualify for the US Open in 2017.

1. to place top 5 at nationals this year
2. to get my HDCP index to below 4 by end of 2011
3. to start playing tournament events in scratch flights by mid 2012
4. to start placing well consistently in scratch events by 2013
5. to win 2 tournaments in scratch events by 2014(play us amateur qualifier)
6. to play us amateur qualifying in 2015
7. to qualify for the US Amateur in 2016
8. QUALIFY FOR THE US OPEN IN 2017 AT ERIN HILLS!

pretending or contending

Your either pretending to succeed or contending to succeed. It's very similar to the quote "your either moving forward or moving backward, there is no static motion". As the news has been released that the 2017 US Open is going to be held at Erin Hills in Erin, Wisconsin, it has now set the gauntlet down for me and my goal to qualify for it.(Laugh now!!). I feel it is a reachable goal to achieve in 7 years, the only thing I need to do is maintain discipline and focus on that goal. The National Championship for the Golf Channel AM tour is September 26-29, and that will be a huge turning point in my quest. After that tournament I will have interviewed and selected a new instructor to completely dismantle my swing and rebuild it from scratch and teach me the proper way to swing a golf club from the stance and grip all the way to hand position at the top to the release. I have begun to budget for a yearly range and short game pass at a top practice facility here in Orange county. This way I can have a place to go and work on everything my instructor needs me to work on with no second guessing where I will be practicing or how much it would cost, because it will be paid for. Fitness will continue to be an intricate part of my daily routine going forward to maximize my swing and the lessons I will be learning. It is going to be an incredibly difficult road and there will be milestones set down which I will update on in future blogs. This blog will be much more active going forward as I find it very helpful to write out my experiences(good, and bad) in order to better reflect on them from an outside perspective and improve, because as the opening line states, your either moving forward or moving backward!!!

Fairways and greens to all!!

inspiration and motivation

I about finished reading "Paper Tiger". It is a must read for anyone who has ever had the fantasy of quitting there job and pursuing a career as a golf professional. Over the last couple weeks(thanks to my Uncle Jim and Michael Breed of the golf channel) I've found two extremely glaring swing faults that for some reason my current(and now former) instructor could not see. First off as mentioned in a previous blog, i had zero lower body involvement in my swing. As I was working on getting my legs into the swing I happened to be watching "the golf fix"( I have 20ft ceilings so there is a lot of club swing going on all the time in the apt) and he was going over proper turn. As he was going over shoulder turn I initially thought to my self "well that's not an issue, i have plenty of shoulder turn". Well as I watched and he went over it in detail I was trying to mirror his motions and found that I had almost zero shoulder ROTATION. He said that a lot of AM's have shoulder "turn" but no "rotation". after about 20 min of mimicking the motion in the apt i immediately went to the range to test this out. Wouldn't you know it, my distance was back to full form and I was again hitting a nice, high baby draw(when I didn't sneak 5 chunk shots in) ;) something so basic should have been picked up on by a 85$ an hour golf instructor you would think. After much thought and reading into the current state of golf instruction today, one phrase comes to mind.......Fuck, I'm so screwed! Many articles I've read lately have stated you need to "interview" your perspective coaches in order to weed out the assembly line coaches that are being spit out each semester. I am now in search of my zen master to turn me from, "yea he can play sometimes" to "yea, he's that fucking good!"

as the journey continues, the search for more fairways and greens goes on!

hidden in the obvious

I will start off by giving a huge thanks to my uncle Jim who was able to point out a glaring flaw in my swing this weekend. My major issue the past few months has been distance loss and lack of balance in the swing. each time I would go to my swing coach and tell him he would continue to spew the same info over and over, "stay connected, I want your arms and shoulders to stay together from start to finish, which is correct, however he failed to mention or even notice that I had almost ZERO leg involvement in my swing. My uncle was able to point that out in 7 holes. after my first round this weekend of 88 I was able to get my scoring back into the low to mid 80's, and that was with average to below average putting. My confidence level soared knowing that with 150-160yds to the green on approach I'm once again able to hit 8 iron instead of 6iron(LOL!!) The remainder of this weeks practice time will be dedicated to regaining the feel of leg drive through the shot and extra time will be assigned to putting distance control! I'm feeling very confident about the TPC Scottsdale tournament in 9 days!!

another day, another lesson

Had a lesson this evening to figure out where I was leaking distance. I have been some 20-30yds short on almost all my iron shots, even when I feel like i put a good move on the ball. It was pointed out to me that the shots I felt were "pure" were actually traps. i was swinging across the ball with my shoulders but still closing the club face which would start the ball to the right and either draw or slightly fade. the shots were mostly straight but I had no idea how far they were going. after 100+ balls I was able to regain about 85%-90% of my distance. My ball flight was back to a baby draw so after today all is well in the ball striking department. Tournament this weekend so we shall see how this works out. My short game has been my savior as of late. without being able to hit many greens in reg I have been leaning on my chipping and putting to get by. Most rounds have felt like a grind, working my tail off to shoot 85,86,87. If I was striking the ball even average I would be shooting 80,81,82 so hopefully this does the trick! Long term goal is still to finish top 5 at nationals at TPC sawgrass so with some hard work I feel like I'm on my way!

Fairways and Greens to all!!

staying the course!

It goes without saying that 7 strokes per round worse over the last 5 than the previous 5 would be quite disheartening. That is the state my game is currently in. Each time I think I've found a big missing piece of my swing puzzle something else sneaks up. I know I can get to where I want to be this year if I can simply nail down the fundamentals of the golf swing. My short game has been quite good and anything inside 80yds I feel I can get up and down from. The issue is my iron play from 100+. The last tournament did provide a few signs of improvement. The practice round Friday I shot 82 at PGA West Stadium which is a pretty good round. The swing came and went and came and went all weekend however leaving me with a lack of confidence on each shot. I think I just need to be patient while I focus on the fundamentals of the swing and believe there is a means to the end of this training and practice. My ultimate goal to to place in the top 5 at nationals this year as it has been since the beginning of the season so as long as I stay the course I should get there!!

Fairways and greens to all!

education through failure and perseverance

quite a bit of time has passed since my last posting and quite a lot has transpired. Mentally I went from a confident golfer, progressing through only much success. The first major of the year changed that for a time. I was about as "unhinged" as I could be with regard to my swing and overall mental state. I could not make a consistently solid shot with any of my clubs. The only reason I was even remotely under 90 the second day of the tournament(shot 96 first day) was because I was able to have a very good short game. I then went to a follow up tournament the weekend after and started out very much in sync and shot 39 on the front 9. Well, as it has been happening, the wheels fell off and wound up shooting 50 on the back 9. That was about as frustrating a round of golf as I've had in a really long time. To feel so good about my swing only to have that completely disappear was very discouraging to say the least. Without any more options left to try to fix it I went for a lesson. After 45min we found that a very old bad habit had crept its way back into my game. I was getting completely offline at the top of my swing and that was directly caused by.......same issue keeps returning......not staying connected. you would think that after months and months that would be something I just do correctly without thinking but alas it is not at that stage yet. I feel much better about my state of mind and game now that I've got a general idea of what my main swing fault is and will be going forward I can better assess mid round problems and address them in 1-3 holes instead of it taking half a round. I've made a choice not to play a tournament until the next major April 24-25. I need some time to mentally decompress and get focused on my fundamentals again instead of being "score focused". Only time will tell but I have a very good feeling about this season overall. My GF has moved in and things are going great! I'm very happy she's here!

Fairways and Greens!!

confidence through victory

A very gratifying victory two weeks ago at Temecula Creek! I shot 84 and really didn't feel like I played well at all and that is what was so gratifying about the tournament. I was able to feel for the first time that my game has reached another level. Three months ago if I were to shoot 84 in tournament play I would have been OK with that. Now I expect to be shooting below that all the time. I have been consistently able to avoid the "big" numbers and subsequently my scores are becoming lower and more consistent. the next phase of learning is to make more birdies and to be able to feel as though I can get strokes back that I give up. The first major of the year is this coming weekend at Sandpiper in Santa Barbara along the Pacific ocean(little Pebble beach). A two day total of 164 should win so averaging 82 is my goal. Progress is coming, just a bit slower than expected!

Patience and focus

Another poor showing in consecutive tournaments had me really evaluating my current effort level with regard to practice and improvement. I spent a few hours last night reviewing in my head how I approach my entire golf game. One of the glaring things that stood out was my complete lack of focus during the round, which I believe is a direct reflection of how I practice. Instead of going to the range and just hitting ball after ball with the simple focus of ball flight, I need to work on swing plane drills and alignment drills. My short game is a very strong part of my game at the moment which is why I'm not posting scores in the 90's. Starting today, fitness, flexiblity and sound fundamentals are going to take point over any type of power lesson or "new" swing thought. hopefully my focus on these things will prepare me for the seasons first major at Sandpiper golf course in Santa Barbara in three weeks!

One step back

Exhausting would be the best way to describe Sundays tournament. Final total for my round, 90! In my expedited quest to reach scratch status I inevitably have hit a point where my mind is so overloaded with information that my body simply said, FU#K it! I cant do this. LOL! I was completely between swings all day, coming underneath, then not rotating, The snowball affect took hold and it infected my putting and chipping as well as the frustration increased. I was so angry, I purchased a large bucket of balls after the round and in a steady rain proceeded to hit and hit until i found the problem. I did! Not rotating was the main culprit!!! I went yesterday at lunch and pounded a bucket and was able to correct the swing fault and hit mostly solid shots after that. I see the light at the end of this tunnel and that is what is keeping me going forward. I could have stayed with my improper swing and still shot high 70's low 80's but that's not what this is about. This is about challenging myself and seeing just how good I can be. I realize there are going to be MANY setbacks in this journey but just like Tom Hanks once said, "If it was easy everyone would do it, it's the hard, that makes it great".

Next tournament is March 7th at my home course. I think it will take 81 or less to win and i know I have some low scores on that course waiting for me! just a matter of putting on the right frame of mind these next two weeks and building a solid game plan!

never stop learning

I'm not sure what it is with my mental state that says, "hey, nice round of 77, now lets go get a lesson and fix things". I just feel that I can take my game to a much better level if I can just dedicate my time more efficiently than I have been. My practice sessions are becoming more strategic with the time allotted. I need to become more disciplined with my time and get back in the gym and eat right. If I'm not around a 3hdcp by the end of 2010 something is wrong. Next tournament is this Sunday, my goal for the tournament is to shoot 78-82. I feel that is a good score on a course I've never played and should be enough to win! stay tuned......

Sync and tempo

Hello all! It has been a few weeks of travel since my last posting. Not a whole lot has been going on since my victory at Twin Oaks on the 17th. As best I could I kept my focus on my game while on the road. practicing fundamentals in the swing, grip and stance while in hotel rooms, at facilities, and in airports. I must say the looks you get when your swinging a pretend golf club in an airport is priceless but not matter, I'm on a mission!! After returning to Southern California earlier this week and putting in a couple range sessions so far I have been able to find a few additional swing faults not previously noted. My grip was a bit on the strong side so I have weakened that just a bit. I was closing the club face at address so I have been working on keeping that more open to avoid pull hooks. Hip and shoulder turn in Sync has been the primary focus for me and I must say, after today's lunch session it has come along nicely. The putting stroke is still a work in progress but I am able to pace my putts much more consistently than before. Tonight I will be working on chipping and sand shots for a few hours and then finishing up with a medium bucket and working on alignment. I hope to keep these updates coming daily as the travel has finally subsided a bit.

thanks for following along and as always:
Fairways and Greens!!

The physical part.

The Auld Invitational at Salt Creek Golf club in Chula Vista, CA is 2 days away!! Need to keep the focus and with this weeks weather and lack of range time we shall see just how far my game has come!!

As I look at my current game the lessons, drills and practice I'm applying are paying off without question. As I continue to grow in this game I am always looking for the next step. The next phase of learning and training. Last evening while watching the replay of the Bob Hope Classic they had a little bit piece on Zach Johnson about fitness. As I was watching that, I realized I was leaving a HUGE piece of the golf puzzle out of my daily routine......FITNESS! As I progress and move back tee boxes, length and long iron play are going to become more important each round. Short game improvement goes without saying so lets just assume that I have that as a everyday focus already. Any golfer knows that the game becomes different when your hitting driver short iron compared with driver 3,4,5 iron. In this quest I have sought out the assistance of a teaching pro who specializes in golf fitness. He has a second level certification from the Titlest Performance Institute. I begin this Training the week of Feb 1st. The evaluation will be humbling as I am sure I'm not in "playing shape" whatsoever:).

Fairways and Greens to all!!

The Next Chapter

Well, Goal #2 for this season has been accomplished. I have FINALLY won my first tournament. It was quite surreal to be perfectly honest. the round started out like most others, a few pars, a couple bogeys, but before I knew it I was +2 after 9, and that got me to thinking, "I've got a great chance to break 80 and run away with this". Well thinking is usually what does people wrong in competition and I was no exception. Started out the back nine with a par and bogey, very tolerable. But then it happened. we were coming up to the tee box on the 200yd par 3 third. there was quite a backup on the tee box so we wound up waiting about 10 min to hit. I snap hook the tee shot into a lateral hazard, and to make a long story short, a bad chip, and three putts and I was 4 over after 3 holes on the second nine!! Part of my growth process as a golfer has been the mental game. I paused on the was to the next tee box to try to get out of my own way mentally, wound up lacing a 3wood off the tee and hitting my approach to 10 ft. made par on that one. the next hole I was able to sneak in a 12 ft putt for birdie, made bogey two holes later. Had a few pars and then wound up on the last hole. 370yds, blistered a three wood and had 107 to the pin, 116 to the middle with wind in the face and an all water carry to the green. just wanted to get on the dance floor and get home in 3 for a 79. hit a great shot, caught the ridge in the middle and spun the ball back to the flat area by the cup for a 6 footer for birdie. Knocked that one in and here I stand, 2010 Kick Off Classic champion! The next event is next Saturday the 23rd so stay tuned!!

tweaks and leaks

As I've attacked each range session this past month, everything seems to be more under control. I'm still hitting bad shots but the "bad" shots are not as bad and the corrections are happening a lot quicker. For example, yesterday I hit a small bucket at lunch and I would say seventy five percent of the shots were quality. Now that may seem like a low number when I stated that things are more under control, and rightfully so, however, my statement reflects the amount of swings it took to correct the poor shots. about 4 or less each time. That is my metric with which I'm measuring my progress at this point. We are all going to hit the bad shot from time to time during our round and the difference I think between shooting 85 and 75 sometimes is making on course corrections quickly. When I used to be a bowler back in the day, I would be cruising along in a three game series and then in the middle of the third game a shot would get away from me. If I took to many frames to correct it, a 750 series could easily become 690.

Tournament prep is in full swing(insert pun) this week. Twin Oaks on Sunday. I will be putting and chipping the rest of this week with mirror swing work in my apartment each night. My main focus this tournament will be putting a good swing on the ball and avoiding the +3,+4,+5 holes. if I can do that(insert family guy child voice) VICTORY IS MINE!

Focus and drive

As the tournament season starts my mindset is on staying focused and maintaining consistency within my mind. I'm a habitual mind drifter and staying on task is a major weakness, one that has drastically affected my life path. I've been pretty good within those constraints so far . Lets hope the implementation of a new diet and fitness program next week does not allow me to get off task. schedule is going to be busy each day, early mornings, healthy foods, minimal booze. I must focus on staying the course and seeing it through the tough mornings when I don't want to get up, through the weekends when there are big parties, and finally to vision the end result when I think I'm ready to quit!

2010 goals

quick listing of my 3 golf goals for 2010:

1. Shot par for a round
2. Win two tournaments on the GCAT
3. Qualify for nationals in the Palmer flight
(index of 4.0-7.9)

These goals are in no particular order but I will achieve each one by the end of this calendar year. Hard work, focus and belief is all I need!!

If your not moving forward your moving backward!

progress?

Yesterdays range session was quite the adventure. Balance appears to be the next major hurdle I must leap in order to continue to improve my swing. the ball flight and swing plane issues I have been battling are for the most part under control. I'm going to stay with those swing practices until after my self imposed Jan 17th deadline for implementing this new swing completely. My length has returned to normal so now I must focus more attention to my short game, learn some new pitch and chip shots as well learn better sand play. Putting is, as we all know, an ever ongoing process so no need to state the obvious.

So fresh and so clean!

Happy New year to everyone!! It has been quite a journey in 2009 and looks like 2010 will be every bit as adventurous as 2009 was and beyond. New goals are in place along with focusing on attention to detail. The newly tuned golf swing is at about 90 percent, right on target for the opening tournament of 2010 at Twin Oaks on January 17th. Shot 82 yesterday at Tijeras Creek from the tips which were playing at 6900yds. Anyone who has played there knows it's quite the track from the tips so I was very proud of the way I played. I'm not seeing the really low scores I would like but I think something better is starting to come about. Consistency. I had one triple bogey and zero birdies so quite a few pars and that speaks volumes. Now we need to figure out how to knock some birdies down and get under 80 more often in 2010!!