Clinic and Progress Update

I’m continuing to attend the weekly golf clinic and I’ve seen significant improvement with my short game. Before we begin our clinic session, the course is allows us to play a few holes to warm up and become more comfortable on the course. This practice has significantly improved the group’s confidence level and has provided for some friendly competition.

We now have a new coach, who is a Lady Golfer. She is currently the golf coach for one of the local high schools and is a 7 handicap from the men’s tees, 5 from the women’s tees. I’m still learning about the handicap system, so I won’t go into an explanation.  You’ll have to research on the internet – when I do learn more I’ll add on to this post. Anyways – the basic idea of the handicap is the lower the number the better you're ranked as a golfer in comparison to other players. The fact that she is in the single digits means that she is an excellent golfer. So far, we have had two clinics with her and both have proven that she will be a good fit.

I’ve been having a big problem lately. Regardless of whether I’m hitting a driver or 6-iron or 8-iron, I’m hitting waaayyy to the right, this is also known as a slice.  Our previous instructor has not been able to figure out what I’m doing wrong. Needless to say… I’ve been VERY frustrated.

When we had our first session with the new coach, I was looking forward to hearing her opinion and hoping she could help fix my problem. During this clinic, we went to the driving range and practiced with an 8-iron. This allowed the new instructor to get to know all of our swings and where we need to improve. Unfortunately, she was unable to figure out what I was doing wrong.

During our second clinic this week, we practiced our chipping on the course practice green. I was happy because the short game is the one area where I’ve actually been doing well.  

Below is an example of a putting green. We had a little competition – each of us would chip from the edge of the green to see who could get their ball closest to the designated hole. I ended up winning and got luck with my last chip actually making it in the hole. It’s great to have a little bit of a confidence booster before I start slicing when I take a full swing! Anyways, it was fun and made all of us really focus on doing our best.  Competition is good!

                                                                                            

 

We then moved to the practice range… where the slice would once again emerge. Our instructor displayed her frustration in not being able to figure out what I was doing wrong. She made me run a few drills to see if we could narrow down the options of what might be the problem – it’s my grip or something I’m possibly doing with my wrists on the downswing.  After the range, we headed out to play a few holes on the course. The first hole is a Par 4 so I whipped out my driver and hit it to the right. This time I felt the club shift in my hand. The second shot, I hit my 5-wood.  Again, I felt the club rotate in my hand and the ball went right. I thought for sure it had to be my grip. I removed my glove to get a better feel next time I hit the ball with a full swing. I moved my ball next to the green on the fringe, chipped really close to the hole and made it in the hole with one putt. It was getting late so a few of the other ladies went home and three of us remained.

Second hole was a short Par 3 –  I grabbed my 8-iron and we each hit a few times from the tee box. The first  ball when straight right… big surprise. Taking my glove off made me realize something didn’t feel right with my grip. The other two ladies hit their balls really well. Both of these ladies are in their mid 60s and both are really good. Each of them played when they were younger and decided to pick it up again. Anyways, each of the ladies hit their balls straight but not far enough to be on the green. I played  with my grip for a bit and adjusted my left hand. I remembered Ben Hogan’s Book and the illustrations concerning the grip. I finally realized what I was doing wrong! All I needed to do was to return to the basics. I set up my ball to hit my second shot and BAM! – I hit it straight and made it just on the fringe of the green. One small change to my grip and I was back on track. Finally!

Moral of the story – go back to the basics when something isn’t going right with your swing.