Thanks Again Trev (And Well Played Rocky!)

On a bitterly cold, late January morning, I arrived early for my 7th and final of my, somewhat protracted, block of lessons which start back in late October.

I wasn't that optimistic that the lesson would be very good as my iron play was absolutely awful. After a great 105 balls on Friday, I returned to the range yesterday and, for the first time ever, it was so busy that I actually had to wait for a bay. The place was positively rammed and, without trying to sound at all elitist, the place was mayhem. There were groups of "pissed up" louts who had nothing better to do other than to cause chaos and it was so off putting.

Now I'm not saying that golf shouldn't be open to everyone, I'm a working class kid at the end of the day, but if people want to go and have a swing, they should have the decency to respect others who want to take their practice seriously. Needless to say, the practice soon deteriorated into a farce and any good that was done during Friday's practice was unravelled piece by piece in that awful hour.

Trev turned up a couple of minutes early and asked how I'd been doing and I informed him that my confidence was fairly low. If someone asked me "What is your major weakness or flaw in your character?" I would have to say I have no self confidence. At the end of the day, this weird and wonderful game relies very much on self belief.

In the ensuing half hour lesson, Trevor amazingly turned me around to be positive and believe in my swing. At the beginning, I was merely hacking at the ball with my irons but by the end of the tuition, I was gracefully sweeping it off the deck. I was striking my woods and hybrids (the harder of the clubs) superbly but, the minute I picked up an iron, the red lights came on in my head.

Trev then quite literally alternated each shot between wood/hybrid and iron and within 5 minutes, the self doubts had gone and my ball striking was significantly improved. My backswing had never been a problem but I was choking my follow through completely and this was causing the problem. I was too tight and had to relax. When I did this, it was like a rough sea turning into a millpond. A total transformation.

I left the range "A Believer" once more. I now have to practice and keep hold of the momentum.

Finally, congratulations to Robert Rock from Lichfield who held off Tiger and Rory to win the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship today. No choking down the home stretch and a thoroughly deserved victory.

Work Gets In The Way

Not posted for a few days mainly due to the fact that work has got in the way a bit this week. A strike and a refinery closing as caused my terminal to be the busiest it's been in months and has caused quite a few headaches.

Prior to today, I've only managed to get to the range once. It was a slightly indifferent performance but I could see a glimmer of hope on the horizon.

I've had a day off today and, despite being fairly busy, I managed to get to the range for a quick 105 balls which went really well. I was concerned that this Sunday's lesson would not give me its full benefit due in no small part to my own inability to be able to practice but I'm feeling a lot better after today.

I was hitting the ball very cleanly and achieveing relatively consistent distances from my striking. Even long irons were going relatively straight and true and I was achieving consistency with distances per club.

I've been using my swing aid a lot on my time away from the range and I have learnt to trust my swing a lot more than I did previously. I'll try and get back to the range for an hour again tomorrow and carry on grooving the swing ahead of Sunday's lesson.

Loving The Hybrid

As I mentioned yesterday, I got on really well with the 23 degree hybrid. In fact, I loved it so much that I bought the 20 degree equivalent today.

I popped out at lunch time and hit 60 balls and the new club felt excellent. Had a quick word with Trevor who was giving a lesson at the time. All is well with the new born.

When You're Day Is Going Downhill Fast, What Do you Do?

Well, I picked my hybrid up yesterday along with a swing and grip tool.

I have left the tool at work so I can use it as a bit of a stress-buster and, I have to say, it came in really handy today. I've been getting really annoyed at work of late as I feel I'm being taken for a ride a little and it peaked when I visited Theale yesterday and saw how little my counterpart does down there.

He has an Assistant Manager who knows more about the place than he does and he does very little of the day-to-day work whereas I am left with the majority of work at my Terminal. I really felt pretty crap today and by the time lunchtime came around I felt the need to visit the range and hit 105 balls.

I was keen to try out my hybrid but didn't want to pick it up straight away as it was the first time I'd ever used one and wanted to be loose and swinging well before I used it. I worked through the gears and felt really good. I'd been using my swing aid to bust some stress earlier in the morning and that too felt good.

Everything was going reasonably straight and I was hitting nice and cleanly. I got up to a 6 iron and thought "Now is the time." Without thinking twice, I positioned the club just in front of centre stance and hit a clean strike approximately 200 yards. The club felt wonderful and so easy to use. I hit another 15 or so balls and I was extremely pleased with the results. I then took my driver out and that too went straight and long.

Pleased with my performance, I then worked back down through the gears until the entire basket of balls had gone. I took off my glove, put the clubs I'd used back into my stand bag and left the range feeling "at one" with the world.

My stress had almost completely disappeared and the afternoon passed by without problem. It's Friday tomorrow which is usually a relatively tranquil day so I'll probably be able to shoot to the range again in my lunch break; and then, the weekend is with us. I'm away from home with work again on Sunday evening but I wont leave for the hotel until late so I should be able to squeeze 105 balls in each day.

"Frustrated of Bedworth"

Only a short post tonight because I haven't got a great deal to say due to me being stuck in a Premier Inn near Thatcham.

This is my third night away in eight days and, as a consequence, I haven't been able to get to the range either yesterday or today. I'm hoping that a couple of days break will actually do me good and I'll return to the place eager to go and hitting the ball a bit straighter.

If I get finished early enough tomorrow, I may get back in time for a quick 60 but we'll have to see how the day at Theale goes.

In the meantime, I'm going to get my teeth into John Feinstein's "Caddy For Life".

Back To The Range

On a bitterly cold day, I popped to the range this morning for an hour or so. I was hoping to pick up a hybrid but unfortunately, they'd only got the 23 degree G20 in a regular shaft where I'm looking for the stiffer one. It's been ordered for me and should be through by the end of the working week. To complete my bag, I'm looking for a new driver, 3 wood and 5 wood and will probably look to get a 20 degree hybrid. I'll also look to get a new lob wedge to round it off.

I'm a little concerned that I'm pulling my irons a little bit when I hit them cleanly. I'm not too sure if it's me or if the clubs may need tweeking slightly. Trevor is back from his paternity leave on Tuesday so I'll ask him to have a look later in the week and maybe take another lesson next Sunday if he has room.

I'm starting to think that it looks like I'm saving the best of my golf to the course; this isn't a bad thing but it can be frustrating at the range if things aren't going well.

The diet is going very well; I've lost half a stone in a couple of weeks, mainly through eating healthily and taking more exercise and I'm starting to tone up a bit after my dietary lapse over the past few months. I'm also finding that I'm becoming more confident in myself both on and off the course which, if nothing else, has done me a massive favour. I've always been a relativley insecure and shy person but this has changed of late.

We've also managed to get a couple of holidays booked at Easter and in the Summer and I'll look to take a couple of clubs with me as well as my usual fishing tackle. My son, Josh, and I are massive speedway fans, Coventry Bees through and through, and I'm looking to go and watch The Isle of Wight Islanders while I'm away; something I've been meaning to do for the past few years but never got round to. Maybe we'll make it this year.

The next course visit will hopefully be to Stoneleigh Deer Park on 27 January. This course looks very nice even though it's Winter and is high on the potential membership short list. I'm looking forward to the lighter nights so I can go after work and squeeze at least 9 holes in.

Steady, Consistent But Can Improve - and God Bless Billy Graham!

Well, here I am and, I have to say, I'm pleasantly surprised after today's return to Hatchford Brook.

I drove the 20 or so miles to the course, a little apprehensively after my shortcomings at the range over the past week or so but, to my surprise, I played relatively well. I shot a round of 86 on a sss70 (16 over) in relatively tricky conditions after a good overnight frost and off Winter Tees which were in line with the regular White Tees.

But the biggest and most pleasurable piece of news is that my iron play was extremely good - even with my 5 and 6 irons. My woods off the deck weren't brilliant but my driving was fairly consistent with probably 85% of drives hitting the fairway. The greens were frosty and inconsistent and this probably added 5 shots on to my score. My short play around the greens was absolutely amazing and I stiffed 3 chips with a 7 iron to within 2 feet of the pin.

As you can see from the score card above, I shot 43 on each nine and, save a couple of 7's, I was relatively happy with the scoring. On the front nine, the 7 was attributable to a pulled drive which left me with no alternative other than to chip backwards from a fence and an extremely frosty and bumpy green. The seven on the back nine was again due to a poor drive which forced me to take 3 off the tee and, despite a good 5 iron for my second in play shot, I messed up around the green.

You'll notice that my card was marked by a playing partner who I bumped into prior to starting the round. He was an ex-trainee vicar turned evangelist called Graham whose hero is Billy Graham. He carries around 7 differing woods in his bag each around 35 years old. He was a delightful chap who chatted throughout the round and this probably took my mind off my range problems and this, in turn, contributed to my relative success.

My aim is to be playing to single figures by the end of the year and today has given me some new found confidence and belief in myself. Graham, if you ever get to read this blog, thank you for your kind words today and taking my mind off my golfing issues. Maybe we'll meet on the course in the future.

D Day

So, tomorrow is the big day. The yardstick which I will measure my performance against over the next 11.5 months.

I'm trying to stay as positive as I possibly can over it all even if my range work with the irons is, at best, mediocre.

I know that I will improve. I need to get my next lesson with Trevor sorted as soon as he returns from paternity leave. I'll probably look to book another 3 or 4 lessons in the near future as I feel like I've reached a plateau with my golf at present.

I haven't been able to practice as much in the last week or so and this has knocked my confidence somewhat. A decent round tomorrow will help me enormously.

Enough for tonight. A longer post will follow tomorrow doubtlessly.

FRUSTRATION!!!

What a frustrating week this is proving to be so far.

This is the second night in 3 which has seen me stuck in a hotel room. I have to go to my head office at St Albans tomorrow for a training course. The meeting is early and the M1 is murder in the morning. To facilitate me getting there on time, work allow me to stay away so I can avoid leaving the house at "stupid o'clock".

The down side to this is that I can't get to the range. I went last night for an hour. It started off terribly as though I was starting all over again. But I worked at my swing, recalled previous lessons and, gradually, it all started flooding back. I was hitting very straight and quite a reasonable distance by the end of the hour.

It's payday at the weekend and I think I'm going to get my hybrid sorted. I feel unconfident with my long irons and I'm going to test the G20 to see how I feel with it. I've got a game booked at my old stamping ground, Hatchford Brook in Birmingham, on Friday and I'm really looking forward to it. I always played the course well and with my new found confidence in my driving, I hope to keep 5 & 6 irons to a minimum.

I don't think I've mentioned it before but I've started a diet. I was very successful in losing two stone in weight just over two years ago but I've let my fitness slip since I gave up coaching Ladies Football and I'm determined to regain my stealth like figure. I lost 5 lbs in the first week and I feel better for it already. Take aways have gone out of the window and I'm eating a lot more healthily together with a bit of exercise.

If all goes well, I plan to be finished at St Albans shortly after lunch tomorrow so I may be able to pop in to the range on the way home. I also need to clean my clubs before Hatchford on Friday but I should be able to do both as well as the weekly Tesco Shop with Rach.

Tempo, Tempo

Two trips to the range today and I feel reasonably content with my day's work. I left the range this morning feeling as though I could have performed slightly better with my irons although my driving continues to astound me. I really want to get my hands on a new G20 driver but need to wait a couple of weeks. I also want to get a hybrid-5 and would like to back them up with 3 and 5 woods but Rome wasn't built in a day.

After a potter around a local antiques dealer and a spot of lunch, I was driving home feeling relaxed and felt that now would be a good time to hit some more balls. I mentioned it to my wife and she gave me the green light so, after dropping her off back at home, I headed back to the range for another 105 balls and how pleased was I that I did go back?

I took my time with a wedge and then decided that I needed to work on my mid irons. After working through the gears of 9 and 8 iron, I pulled out my 7 iron and, after a couple of "fat" shots, I finally clicked into gear and started hitting really smoothly and with consistent distance (approximately 165 - 170 yards carry).

After hitting a few more drives, I left the range happy with my afternoon's work. As I'm going to be working at St Albans for a couple of days this week, I also called Redbourn Golf Club to confirm that their range is open to the public as it will pass away a couple of hours rather than be stuck in a Premier Inn room with nothing to do. I'll also take the oppportunity to listen to my Dr Bob CD's in the solace of my room.

Only down side of the day, The Mighty Hammers got knocked out of the cup at The 3rd Round stage by Sheffield Wednesday. My excuse - it was pretty much a reserve team that we put out.

Thanks Sergio

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, I read a couple of articles, one of which was by Sergio Garcia, in Today's Golfer and it made me think back to my first couple of lessons.

After spending a day walking round Leamington Spa having a bit of "Retail Therapy", I dropped the family back at home and headed back to the range.

I slowed everything down, took Dr Bob's recommendation of a pre-shot routine to heart, reverted back to my earlier set-up and for 90% of the time, it was Bob's your uncle.

I was so relieved to actually start striking the ball better. There was a lot of noisy folks up there and usually, that would really bother me, but not tonight. I managed to block everything else out as I walked behind the ball, selected a target, pictured the shot in my head, went to address, had as many practice swings as necessary until I felt right, then struck the ball. I even walked away from the ball on the couple of occasions where things didn't feel right!!

Sergio may be an infinite distance away from me in golfing terms, but his small article has gone a long way to sorting my problems out and I really feel quite confident about waking on to the 1st tee next Friday.

I'll probably hit 200 balls again tomorrow as this week's workload sees me away from home for a couple of nights. I might try and find a range around St Albans and take a few clubs with me. I'm also planning to purchase a new driver and a hybrid-5 although even my long irons were pretty good this evening.

As Dr Bob says, it's amazing how having confidence in your own abaility can change your mindset.

Tomorrow's another day...................................

I Wonder

I actually hit 210 balls today but I still don't feel at ease with myself.

Practice swings feel fine and when I do hit it right, I really do hit it. But this isn't happening frequently enough. I have a feeling I think I know what the problem is and hope to have it sorted overe the weekend.

I've been under a heck of a lot of pressure at work this week and this hasn't helped but I think my main thing is that my swing is much too steep. I've read a couple of articles this afternoon and hope that I can put them into practice over the next couple of days.

I've got a tee time booked at Oakridge next Friday morning - this is one of the courses I'm considering joining so it will be good to have a look at it again.

We'll just have to see how things go over the weekend.

One Of Those Panic Moments

I haven't felt it too often but I'm in the middle of a bit of a crisis at the minute.

I can't hit a ball cleanly for toffee. The minute I feel it's getting better, a little worm starts crawling through my mind and making me doubt my ability.

I know I can do it but there's a nagging thought at the back of my mind which is causing me to tense up and swipe at the ball rather than to sweep it cleanly off the deck.

I only hit a 9 iron at lunch time (60 balls) but I was spraying it everywhere and there was no consistency in the distance either. All I can do is keep practising but I don't want to get into a downwards spiral and blow my confidence completely.

I know I need to relax and slow down but it's really difficult when you're mind has negative thoughts. I think it's time for a read of Dr Bob once again. I'm waiting for delivery of 3 of his books but The 15th Club is always a good reference point. FINGERS CROSSED!

Back To Earth With A Bump

Popped out for a quick 60 balls at lunchtime and wished I hadn't bothered.

I started off hitting wedges pretty well and stepped up to an 8 iron which again went well.

I then moved up to a 6 iron and it all started to go wrong. I was shanking everything as though I was new to the game and hadn't hit the best part of 3,000 balls in the last 3 months.

I spoke with a chap at work this morning who tried to give me some advice and, like a fool, I listened to him. I tried it out at the range and that was that. I need to listen to one person and forget everyone else's pearls of wisdom.

I also think that rushing to hit 60 balls in 30 minutes may be a problem. I'll probably look to reduce down to 30 balls from now on and try to hit them properly with a pre-shot routine.

Tomorrow is another day - HOPEFULLY!!!

A Day Off

I had a day off today to pursue my other sporting love - The Mighty West Ham United.

Like Meccah, I made my annual(ish) pilgrimage and who else could I choose to watch other than Coventry City.

We left it late; I thought it was going to be one of those frustrating goalless draws but Kevin Nolan, who'd done nothing all match, got on the end of a James Tomkins headed cross after 70 minutes to leave a nail biting last 20 where we should have scored at least 2 more.

Managed to get a few bits out of the Hammers Shop including a home kit for Josh and even Rachel picked up a scarf.

Back to it tomorrow with a few balls at lunch time.

I'll keep you posted.

Happy New Year

Well, the challenge starts now. Happy New Year to anyone viewing this blog although only my wife and my son are following it at the minute.

So many things to get sorted to get this thing off the ground. I really need to get a course sorted. It's no point playing lots of different courses now as this isn't going to get me a handicap.

I also need to get the remaining clubs in my bag sorted. I'll give it another couple of weeks, then I'll look to getting some new woods and a hybrid.

I popped to the range yesterday morning after the reality check of the lesson the day before. Surprisingly, things went relatively well. I went through the gears of the clubs and found that I was hitting long irons relatively well.

I was disappointed to discover that the range was shut today as this was the last chance I was going to get to practice until Wednesday as I'm away with work for a couple of days. I'll take the days off as a chance to look for a course.