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!!