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!