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!!