This was a busy but a very blah week. Played four rounds this week and not any closer to the answer. Started the week by shooting 80 at St. Clair, 74 at Indian Run, 80 at South Park and 81 today at Pittsburgh North. The week was typical of what it has been all year. I had a good day at Indian Run, where I thought I had some good mental progress and ideas, only to have a very bad weekend where these same thought processes turn to rubble. This whole thing brings back memories or should I say nightmares, of when I was trying to find a swing. What I have found frustrating is the search for some kind of mental key or process has affected my ability to execute the shoulder swing. Today was a very bad brain day as I was yippy on most of my putts and even though I hit a lot of good shots , my bad shots were really bad due to a combination of bad swings and bad planning. The only good thing that has happened in the last week or so is that I have come up with a way of selecting the right club that is a little bit unique. If this continues to work well the next week of two I will give out that information. In the meantime I will continue to wander in the deep crevices of my pathetic brain trying to figure out this goofy game. The answer could be just a synapse away. This week looks good weather wise and hopefully I can get in another 4 rounds. Does it rain in bowling alleys?
The Goofy Game of Golf Searching for the Answer
This week I was only able to get 2 rounds in because of getting a re check on my orat surgery and an outing on Friday at South Park, that closed the course. The rounds were not that great an 80 at Madison Club and a 76 at Riverview today. This will mark the third anniversary of starting the blog. I have played 87 courses, found what I consider the key to the golf swing and now in search of trying to figure out the mental side of this game. Along the way I have walked off a golf course after the 12th hole, hurled a sandwedge into the woods never to be found, battled the chip yips and shot a 4 under 69. I have read other golfing and non-golfing blogs and have marveled how everyone struggles at this game but continues to enjoy and love the game. The blog and fellow bloggers have kept me going, at a time when I had really thought I was through with this goofy game. This year has been an odd year so far, in more ways than one. The search for some mental answers has brought my game down a notch, just like the search for a key to the golf swing did. Believe me some of the things I have done trying to find the mental keys have been just bizzare as some of the things I tried with the golf swing. Getting a flu cold bug and having to have a tooth root removed has also slowed some progress. But progress has been made. Right now I am in the process of losing the chip yips. My new putting technique, more mental than physical is starting to show so slow but steady improvement. My swing has suffered some, from the mental challenges. But today I got back to the shoulders controling the swing. Hopefully I may be on to something that can make this game just a little easier for all of us diehards. At the end of this week I will be playing in a tournament in the Pocconos so the blog may be a day late. Meanwhile keep on swinging, the ball will wind up somewhere.
The Goofy Game of Golf Searching for the Answer
Happy New Year as we head into 2013. No golf in the Burgh, as we have had a couple of snow events over the last two weeks, and there is still about 5 inches of snow on the ground. Believe it or not, there seems to be a warming trend developing at the end of the week, so who knows, maybe golf in January. Over the next few weeks I will be discussing the swing thing I have doing for the last 14 months, that has really revitalized my game. Before we get to that, I would like to discuss a few other thoughts and principles of the golf swing and technique. I still think that the most important thing in golf is the address position, and I have discussed this in the blogs of last winter. But there is one aspect of the golf swing that I think is the most misunderstood part of the game, and that is the cocking of the wrists. Now, I am not going to review any of the writings on the subject but let’s just say that there is a lot of confusion on the subject. I think one of the reasons for this, is because the wrist is such a complex joint. It can make a full circular rotation very easily. So lets look at some past and present pros and what they seem to do with their wrists. I like to divide pro golfers into three groups when it comes to wrist cock. The first group is what I call the stiff wrist players. They include among others Paul Azinger, John Cook, and Zack Johnson. The second group is the moderate wrist cock group, which is the more classic swingers. Tiger Woods, Adam Scott and Nick Faldo would be included in this group. Then you would have the final group, which would be the big wrist cock group, which would include Bobby Jones, John Daly and Phil Mickelson. The other thing that the wrists do is affect the position of the club face at the top of the swing. The club may be open, closed or shut faced, and square. The other terms you hear at the top of the swing is , square, cupped or bowed. Again this is talking about what the wrists are doing at the top of the swing. There have been many great players that have had all those positions at the top. What does all this mean. I think what your wrists do is of no consequence in the golf swing. You are just going to have a natural tendency to make your wrists do what they are going to do and your instinctive sense will make it work and bring the clubhead squarely into the ball. So as far as the wrists are concerned let freedom ring. Next week we begin.
The Goofy Game of Golf Searching for the Answer
The blog is a day late as we had a big holiday family party with lots of food, and lots and lots of wine. By 8:30 last nite I didn’t even know I had a blog, let alone write a new post. But today after 10 aspirins and lots of water I am ready to type away a little after 2pm the next day. Before I get into the year in review, I am going to talk about the round of golf that I played last Wednesday, with one of my golf buddies, Andy. We played at Scenic Valley in less than ideal conditions, on a cloudy day, with temperatures barely getting into the low 40’s. Andy shot an impressive 1 under par 71 and I came in with an equally unimpressive 81. Look’s like I got whooped pretty good. But looking closer at the round we each hit 11 greens in regulation and I hit 9 fairways to Andy’s 8 and overall drove the ball better. These two rounds, bring up two points, that have been brought up in the past. Obviously, Andy putted way better than I did and did everything better than I did from 50 yards in. Short game, short game, short game. We all know this. This also goes to show you that even though these rounds look far apart there is not a big difference in shooting those scores. With very similar ball striking you can shoot 2 very different scores if your not putting and chipping well.
Now to the year in review. Overall this was a very good year for me with my handicap going down to 3.2 from 5.6. This is even more amazing, because most of the year I battled the chip yips, and at times was still doing some swing experiments. This swing thing that I have been doing for the past year is the main reason I peeled off a couple of strokes. I was not nearly as frustrated with my ball striking as I have been in the past and I knew how to fix things on the course. One of the things I was trying to do, was to apply what I was doing with the full swing to chipping and putting. Even though I had some success doing this, I now know that this was a mistake. For shots of about 50 yards and beyond my swing technique worked just fine, but chipping and putting are unique endeavors. So the goals for 2013 is to refine the swing technique and improve the putting and chipping. The blog will be put to sleep for the remaining year as there is just too much college football for this junky to take time to write the blog. Beginning next year I will begin to discuss this swing technique that has rejuvenated my game. The first blog, is what I call a set up blog, and then we will really get into it. Have a great holiday and see you in 2013.
The Goofy Game of Golf Searching for the Answer
The blog is coming from sunny San Diego today as I am spending a little pre Christmas time with the grandkids. This blog as promised, will discuss the book The Modern Fundamentals of Golf, by Ben Hogan. Even though this book is considered one of the classics, I think this book is one of the worst instructional books ever written. Is there any redeeming qualities about the book. Yes, the illustrations are great and the writing itself is very concise and easy to understand. Lets look at the book chapter by chapter.
The Grip
The biggest problem with this chapter is the position of the right hand. Hogan advocates a position where the V’s of the right hand point at the chin. This puts the right hand too much on top of the shaft. A great comparison would be to look at the position of the right hand in Tiger’s book. While is left hand is pretty much with the thumb straight down the shaft, his right hand is in a position where the palm is more or less facing the target with the V’s pointing between the right shoulder and the right ear. With the position that Hogan advises, it is almost impossible for the average golfer to square the club head. A much better explanation of the grip and what it is supposed to do is in John Jacob’s book Practical Golf.
Stance and Posture
This is where the book really goes off on the deep end and advocates things that even Hogan himself did not do. First of all he advises to keep your right foot perpendicular to the line of flight. This may be ok for the really advanced golfer, but to slightly flair the right foot out at a 10 to 15 degree angle will make the hip turn a lot easier for the beginner. The book says that the feet should be shoulder width for a 5 iron shot and then wider for the longer clubs. Again such a wide stance makes turning more difficult. The feet should be about shoulder width for the driver and then begin to get narrower as the clubs get shorter. But the final thing is the instruction to keep the elbows and the arms as close together as possible at address and throughout the entire swing. If you look at pictures of Hogan at address he really did not follow this. If you try this, it just creates a lot of unnecessary tension in the address position. The other thing that was interesting Hogan used a closed stance for the longer clubs even though he was a fader of the ball. He discussed this at the end of the book. Even with a stance that favors a hook, Hogan could still fade the ball with the technique he describes in the book.
The First Part of the Swing
He writes about the hands starting the swing and the plane concepts really means advocating a one plane swing. He claims that you are heading for disaster if you thrust your arms up above the plane so that they would shatter the imaginary glass plane running from the ball through the shoulders. It makes you wonder how Nicklaus ever won a tournament.
The Second Part of the Swing
There is over emphasis on turning of the hips and not enough on the lateral shift the hips must make in order to clear the hands and arms so they can approach the ball from inside the line. The illustration of Hogan half way down, so ex saturates the inside position with the club shaft almost parallel to the ground, that I defy anybody to duplicate that position and hit a straight shot. Of course we wind up with supination. Try to do that and see how far it gets you.
This book tells how to keep from hitting a duck hook or a hook of any kind. If that had been the emphasis of the book or stated in the forward of book I would have no beef. But to claim that this is the fundamentals of golf, let alone the modern fundamentals, has probably caused more people to quit the game than the book has helped. But if you know anybody that can not keep from hitting a duck hook then give them this book. You will have made a friend for life.
The Goofy Game of Golf Searching for the Answer
Well, here we are December 2 and we were able to get in 18 holes of golf today. Went to Riverview today and broke the streak barely with a 79. In the beginning the putter was kicking ass again as I three putted the first 3 out of four greens. Then I settled down and even though I had only 2 one putts, did not three putt again and parred 11 out of the last 14 holes. It was a very good ball striking day as the weather did turn a little nasty with some wind and rain but for this time of year in the Burgh it was a very good golf day. Now on to another subject that is really bothering me. In some other blogs and in general, the book Five Lessons The Modern Fundamentals of Golf, by Ben Hogan, is regarded as one of the best instructional ever written. Some great pros Nick Price and Larry Nelson, to name a few, have said that this is the book that they read when they first started to learn the game. I maintain that this is one of the worst books written on golf instruction. The main problem is with the title. If it had been titled, Golf My Way by Ben Hogan, then there would be no complaint. This is not to disparage the golfer Hogan in any way. There is no question he is one of the top 3 or 4 players to have ever played the game and arguably the best. He just wrote a bad book. Remember this is a book that is just about how to hit a golf ball. There is nothing in it related to the short game, putting, or playing the game. That is not a criticism of the book but just to make clear that this is a book strictly about the golf swing. So I am heading out to San Diego next week to do a little holiday celebrating with the grandkids. This will give me a little time to go through the book in more depth so I can really rip into it next week. As I said in an earlier blog if you are a duck hooker then this is the book for you. However this book has about as much to do with the “Modern Fundamentals of Golf” as horseshoes.
The Goofy Game of Golf Searching for the Answer
Did not play any new courses this week and in fact because of weather played less than ususal. Three rounds all in the 70’s but nothing spectacular. Started off with a 76 at Riverview, a 78 at South Park from the blues, and today at Highland Springs in Wellsburg, West Va. shot 77. I’m in one of these spells right now where I am doing all right but make one or two big mistakes which takes me out of shooting a really good round. Tried a new old putter the last two rounds which did not help at all so will be going back to the putter I have used for almost the whole year except for about 4 rounds. The swing really came together today put the putter really let me down, so again the score was not as good as it could have been. No new insights on the mental game to report on either. Obviously the American Ryder Cup team does not have any new insights either. How about Rory showing up about 10 minutes before his tee time and still playing well. That goes to show you it can be done on any level. Just show up on the first tee and give it a bang. Going to be playing a new course this week for sure but it will be too far away to put it on the list. Hopefully the weather will be a little better but we are getting into that time of the year where it could be anything, but hopefully we have a lot of golf left. We will see what another week of playing this goofy game will bring. By the way I will be writing the blog from San Diego next weekend as it will be grand kids time again.
The Goofy Game of Golf/Life Searching for the Answer 