For Long Term Results----Go Short!

Well, ever since the heart attack, power has been right out the window as far as my game is concerned. I haven't posted here lately, as I've felt I was under rehab, and there was little I could add to anyone's game while I was busy rebuilding my own. Then the fun started.

Putting With A Purpose

I retooled with a new putter after checking my actual stroke on video vs. the stroke I thought I had. The ever faithful Nike Oz--always a good steady putter, if nothing absolutely fabulous, was replaced with a Scotty Cameron "Detour." I haven't had a 3 putt in over 3 months. So impressed was I that I bought another as back up. No--I'm not made of dough, but for some reason, the Big Clunky Detour Mallet has not proved to be as popular as other Scotty Models. Though it fits my semi-pendulum/semi-arc hybrid stroke perfectly, I guess there are others out there who just don't care for it's rather gargantuan, and seemingly unwieldy proportions. For that I am grateful, as the original MSRP of $1000 for both of mine, makes my less than $200 investment seem like an incredible bargain. As I said---I haven't 3 putted since.

Lesson 1----Tape your actual putting stroke and review it. It just might surprise you. Many tour pros who thought they were pure Pendulum Stroke Putters, with Pure Straight Back and Straight Through Piston-like strokes, have found that they are indeed Arc Stroke putters. Their latent cases of yips are actually being caused by the subliminal conflict of consciously attempting one technique while the unconscious mind is well aware of their actually utilizing another. Of course their subconscious tussles a bit with the conscious, their timing eventually becomes unglued, and the split second of hesitation grows longer and more frustrating with each failed attempt at birdie.---Don't do this to yourself----It ain't worth it! Tape it, laser it, do what you have to do, but take it from me---knowing that I'm off the green in two putts max takes a lot of pressure off my game.

Chipping Away At It

There was a time when I was incredibly proud of my 60 foot flop shot. Yeah that's right--60 FEET. Trouble was, this is a high maintenance shot, and most off the green chip shots don't grant you that extra fluffy lie that is so necessary for that mortar like lob that stops on a dime, or even backs it up on occasion. Nope, most off the green lies on Muni and even some of The High Priced Daily Fee Courses can be pretty scruffy. I needed a shot that I could pull off at lots of micro manageable distances, and I soon had it.

To get something consistent I went with a dead quiet lower body. No more slow hip turn and then timing the firing at the moment my hip turned my front knee. (It really works quite well--I promise--trouble is--due to timing issues--it is a high maintenance shot.) I found that by keeping the lower body absolutely quiet, and just focusing on keeping my weight slightly forward, I could take a nice slow and steady "dead hands" (as Dave Pelz would say) back swing to 9 o'clock, just before the wrists hinge, and do this time and again--even in my sleep. I soon found that by doing this at level playing fields, my wedges went 64*--30 feet, 58*--45 feet, 54*--60 feet, 50*--80 feet, PW 105 feet. The consistency was astounding.

Lesson 2---A consistent back swing leads to consistent distances. All I had to do was pace off the distances. Going uphill from uphill lies sawed a little off, and downhill shots required I club down roughly 1-- 1 1/2 clubs depending upon steepness of angle and green speeds. Armed with such knowledge, my game has become deadly accurate from off the green, and my up and down percentages have literally skyrocketed. Do yourself a favor---figure out a consistent back swing that you can repeat w/all your wedges.

Strength From A Neutral Party

So often the game of golf is counter intuitive. I had often fought a slice from having a slightly open shoulder position. Even though I eventually corrected my over the top move, my strong grip and closed face at impact compensations remained, unbeknownst to me, part and parcel of my swing. They were simply ingrained into my setup, to the point that I never really thought about it. I loved the draw I got off the tee box, but never quite connected it with the bad tendency I had at times of pulling my approach shots at critical points in my game. Hell--I was even pulling my Wedge Shots left, and just not connecting the dots. Fortunately, let's give credit where credit is due.

I read an article written by Jim Furyk, whose accuracy and consistency I have always admired. He was preaching about the fact that, " an overly strong grip can even be the root cause of a slice." I may never adapt his double overlap grip, but I will certainly stay with a more neutral grip from now on. As I said--power is no longer part of my game. This more neutral grip has me clocking it straight down the fairway time after time. I cannot thank Mr. Furyk enough. My more efficient drives, shooting from the short grass--even at the expense of a few yards, are so much more effective than hitting out of the rough. (Let's not even talk about hitting out of the trees, taking water drops, blasting out of fairway bunkers, etc....)

Lesson 3--- Check your grip! Just because last season's grip seemed to work, doesn't mean it doesn't need a tune up. Had I tuned mine annually I probably would have gradually weakened my grip instead of having to conduct a massive overhaul after this season's heart attack. Remember that Lord Byron took the grip to heart before embarking on his professional career. Ben Hogan had to change his grip in order to save his career. I doubt anyone reading this is better than either of those two. Hell--even Tiger has adapted a flatter swing more like Hogan's, and Lord Byron's consecutive wins record might be the only record Tiger never breaks. If these guys consider giving the grip an annual tune up as a vital part of the game---I'd listen to them.