Filed under: golf
For the entire months of August and September my game has been terrible. I usually keep my scores in the 80′s. I’ve been pretty reliable in that. Something happened where I began losing my driver. It was usually a severe hook. I was confused but eventually worked it out. Just as I fixed that I lost my irons. As good as my driver became my irons were bad. I began to hook the ball sometimes 40 yards. I began to hate par 3′s because I could hit the green for anything. In addition I started shanking the ball. I could hit a perfect drive into the middle of the fairway, leave myself 135 yards to the green and then hit the ball at a 90 degree angle out of bounds. I started to be afraid of hitting houses. I had zero confidence.
After a frustrating hour on the range last Monday I’d had enough. My last shot up there was a gap wedge that cleared the net to the right and headed towards traffic on the adjacent road. Fortunately it landed in the median, but I was finished. I packed up my bag and headed to the pro shop. I talked to my pro and just said “I need help”. We set up a lesson for Wednesday. He said he’d straighten me out, but I had my doubts.
On Wednesday I warmed up on the range and was hitting ok, but still with the hook. When my pro arrived I immediately began shanking the ball. He watched a little and had me stop (I think because he was afraid I might rub off on him or kill someone on the range). He told me what I’d been doing wrong and how to fix it. What he said to do felt foreign and awkward but I hit the ball straight as could be. After awhile it even started feeling easier to hit the ball. I was amazed and relieved. I couldn’t wait to get out on the course to try it.
I got that chance on Friday. Now, my pro had said I should make the same correction throughout my bag but I hadn’t had a chance to practice it with my woods. There was a little doubt as to how I would do. My first few holes were ok. I hit some fairways and I missed some as I made my corrections. When I missed I had trouble from the rough (4″ deep and thick). My approach shots were way better though. The greens that day were super fast thanks to the upcoming three day tournament, so putting was interesting. My score was where I’d usually be upset, but I felt like I was making great progress and the round wasn’t a struggle. I’ve shot better before the change but I had to work for every stroke. This time, although my score was higher, I could see where practice will improve me. I feel like there’s room to improve and I’m excited about it. A few more session on the range and I think I can be back where I should be.
I can’t thank my pro enough. I needed a second set of eyes to see what I couldn’t feel. It made all the difference in the world. I only wish I’d done this a month ago. The handicap is trending up but I know now that I can get it back down. More importantly I can enjoy playing again. I truly missed that.
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