May 21st range session

I got up looked at the weather and decided to go out early again this morning because of impending rain. I was able to go to my club Traditions in Bryan and hit balls on the range the grass was perfect and the range was close to empty when i got there that morning.

I started off by stretching which is always a great thing to start your session with, and then i slowly worked with my weighted club swinging with the head over under my arm. My right arm was flooding correctly and not working away from my side. Progress and good progress. I also had a head over under my left arm pit to get the feeling of the proper release going forward and it felt like the swings i had made he day before.

I hit balls for about an hour and hit all of them in the center with very little time with the head of the club under my arm. Then i decided to go to the bunker and see if my bunker play was a result of casting as well. I have always been a decent bunker player but not a good one by top level players standards, i hit the chunk and roll shot and had not been able to get the feel of a crisp bunker shot the had spin. My fear was to always blade it out and some where out beyond the course so i would take too much sand and make sure i got it on the green with a possibility to make a putt for par. It has worked for me for a long time but you can always be better at the short game.

The ultimate test

I have been hitting short shots with e head over under my armpit and hitting them crisp and on the center with spin, no-spin, flop shots, and just about anything you can imagine. So I am now taking this to the bunker.

I placed the head cover under my armpit made a few practice swings and got into place to strike the ball. What i discovered was my set up was correct placement of the ball was correct but i moved during the swing before and now with the head cover my right arm folded and i delivered the club back to the proper place in the sand the ball came out correctly and landed on the green one bounce and stopped on a down hill slope. Wonderful, success or luck? After 20-30 shots in the bunker and all hit properly i the only conclusion i could come too was that in my mind i felt i had to lift the ball out of the sand and not allow the club to do the work. Sounds crazy from a individual that has a 1.3 index, but i will tell you EVERYONE has a shot or a grouping of shots that they don’t feel confident with no matter how good they are or how much they practice. For some it it’s the short putt, others a ball off a down hill lie, some it is hitting the ball over water, there is always something to affect us mentally in the game.

My teacher,( Henry Ransom) that i miss so much always said nothing can affect a properly struck golf shot. We all achieve to that magnitude but we all fail because this is not a game of how well we hit the ball but how well we miss it and then manage the misses to get the ball in the hole faster than our opponent. The object of the game is to get the ball in the hole in the fewest amount of strokes.

There is a reason the boxes on the score card are so small. It is to only know how many strokes you made not the book on how you made them.

Thought of the day

Be target focused on the course. Approach every shot as a new experience and enjoy the fact that it is a challenge one you accept and will accomplish.

Prepare, body then mind. Clear mind then execute with intent . Go find it and repeat