Avalon GC

I'm gonna head up to Avalon Golf Club for 18 Friday (tomorrow). The course is just a few miles from the inlaws place. Hopefully the weather is cooperative... I'll probably be there anyway! Hopefully I can keep it between the trees.

I'll post a report in a couple of days.

Reverse Pivot Discussion

Let me tell you (and myself) something: A reverse pivot is going to kill your fun at the golf course. I am speaking from experience here. A reverse pivot drains the punch out of your swing and makes it very difficult to be accurate in your shotmaking. In an effort to improve I am referring to a couple of resources.

You'll this discussion by PGA Pro's offering a fix to those practicing the dreaded reverse pivot helpful.

Jim Mclean simplifies what to do right to fix the reverse pivot here.

Coil above your right side (for right handed golfers) and don't slide foreword on the downswing. Stay back.

Pick the ball off the carpet

It helps me to think "just pick the ball off the carpet" when using long irons and fairway woods. It keeps me from hitting it fat and promotes a sweeping swing required with longer fairway sticks.

Aim Small, Miss Small.

Mel Gibson's character in The Patriot says to his sons about shooting a musket, "Aim small. Miss small." Well, that seems good advice when putting. Pick the smallest target you can such as a blade of grass at the cup or some imperfection on the green, dial in the sight line from the target to your ball and pull the trigger. Keep the mental variables to a minimum and trust your instincts and your smooth stroke.

Slow Takeaway

I'm blown a way how much of a difference a slow deliberate takeaway changes the trajectory and direction of the golf ball. My results are changing dramatically since I've slowed my backswing down to a crawl. It is easier for me to feel the swing come together and do the right things throughout the swing. This is probably my best swing change so far.

Club Head Position...

I am notorious for leaving the clubface open at set-up. To me the clubface looks square at set up but I need to turn it to what appears to me to be a closed position to hit it the right direction. You'd think I'd figure that out sooner. That is the quickest way to fix my "leave it right" problem.

Putter

Well I got my "precious" Mezza Monza Center Shaft putter for Christmas and after a little work on the carpet started hitting a quarter on the carpet at about 8 feet fairly regularly. Well, now I notice a tendancy for me to open the clubface on the backswing and the grip is too small... smaller than I'm used to. Anyway, I think my hopes were a little too high for this putter. Part of me is reluctant to take it out to the course and scuff it up.

I had gotten fairly accurate with an old Titleist sp-203 my father-in-law passed on to me. Anyway... I'll quit complaining now.

Looks like I'll be selling the Mezza and looking for something else.

In search of a driver swing

Hit my longest drive ever off the tee at #1 at Nisqually Valley, the goat track called a golf course down the road from our house. I've been working so hard a straitening out the stroke. I typically send the ball far right off the tee. The ball ended up approximately 260 yards down the fairway from the white tees. It went so far because it went mostly strait which is nothing short of miraculous.

Here's the thoughts and technique that I've been trying to employ:

1. No reverse pivot... keep hips still or even slide them slightly (1-2 inches) back on the backswing. Stay back on the downswing and let arms pull you foreword.

2. Position chest above right foot.

3. Close club-face slightly at address.

4. Swing from the inside.

Many times I'll fall back into old habits and have to correct myself but I'm heading in the general direction of improvement. I'm really pleased with that one drive because it shows me that I was heading in the right direction. I feel that with persistence and discipline I'll achieve the consistent swing I'm looking for.

None of this comes naturally of course, it must be a deliberate and methodical approach to improvement with my eyes on long term results.

18 Friday

Friday is the first day of my weekend and naturally my first golf day so I dub this golf blog "18 Friday" for the first day I get to play after a week at the office.

Here we go...