Friday
I hit up the range after work and continued my solid play from this past week. I know I’m swinging well when my swing thoughts are minimal, my body is relaxed and I’m just free flowing. I remember last week, my range sessions were terrible, I was gripping the club in a death grip, thinking about where my arms should be in the back swing, the path of the club down, my hips, turning through….a dozen different swing thoughts clouding my mind. As a result, I hit the ball like I was a 30 handicap, became more and more frustrated and less and less confident. I know they say that playing well breeds confidence, but it is just as true that having confidence allows for playing well. Hit my driver amazing on Friday night, focused mostly on my wedges, but I left about 15 balls for my driver at the end and hit 13 out of 15 down my target line. Feeling confident in that club again, let’s hope I can keep that going this next week on the course.
Saturday
Went putting for about 2 hours before work trying to work on my lag putting which has been killing me lately. Still seems like my tendency is to leave the longer putts short, I feel like I’m killing the ball, but it still comes up woefully short. I’m going to go see my coach next week for a putting lesson, really need one badly. I experimented with widen my feet near the end of my putting session and it seems to give me a more stable base and allowed for the club to swing more freely, we’ll see if it helps me putt better on the course Monday.
Sunday
Going to be playing another round on Monday, late afternoon after work at the Vineyard….will be my 5th round since starting the blog at the Par 70 Vineyard course and I’m looking to break my upward trend of scores. Started off with a 74 here, but since have gone 76, 80, 81 consecutively since. I’m finally feeling real confident in my driver, so I will really be disappointed with anything in the 80s on Monday.
Went to the range again tonight after work, hit the ball very well again. Was hitting almost every club in the bag well, except the few 3 woods I hit. My driver is coming around nicely, I am crushing the ball down my target line right now, I’m really starting to figure that out, excited to bring it to my round tomorrow. On the last 4th of my range bucket tonight, I used the balls to visually play the first 6 or 7 holes of the course I’m playing tomorrow. I went through my whole routine as if I was on the 1st hole and then based on my tee shot, I judged how far out I would be with my 2nd and played the type of shot needed (straight, draw, cut). I did this for the remaining balls I had and made it through about the 7th hole. I have a solid plan for how I’m going to play the first couple holes tomorrow and preparing like this can really help you gain a lot of confidence going into a round. I’m expecting a mid to low 70s round tomorrow……now let’s make it happen!
Nice looking practice facility….WOW! A bit of advice on long putts, ensure you follow through twice as far as your drawback of the putter head. You will find that you will have consistent contact, which in turn will ensure more consistent distance….just a thought.
Cheers
Jim
Thanks Jim, I’ll give that a try today before my round on the practice green, see if it helps any