When is practice not practice

To develop a skill requires four steps.

1 knowing what to do
2 knowing how to do it
3 becoming able to do it
4 get to a high level of skill

The first three steps are learning steps,  the third is practice.

Let's say you want to learn how to hit a draw.

Going to the range and trying to hit a draw is NOT practice. It is a futile and frustrating exercise.

Do step one first.  Learn what must happen to create a draw.  What is the setup.  What is the club path. What is the face angle? What needs to happen to create a draw. Write it down on paper.  Draw it out if that works for you. Design the swing that creates a draw like an architect designs a building. Become an expert in describing the process of hitting a draw.

Now do step two. Take a moment to figure out how you can actually do what you have designed. Your body and your swing, dictates what you're capable of.  Learn how to do what must be done to hit a draw. Discover how to turn the description of hitting a draw into the actual motion of hitting a draw. Do it in slow motion.

Step 3 is knowing the skill you must aspire to and develop at least a modicum of ability to actually (at least occasionally) hit a draw. This is where you test the theory and design of your draw swing. Verify that it can actually work.

Congrats, you know what to do, you know how to do it and you have demonstrated that you can do it.  Now get good at...get skilled...become consistent.  That is practice.

Shooting your lowest score ever, and having the most fun ever.

Going Low

Golf can be a very humbling, even humiliating, endeavor. Golfers must travel vast expanses of inhospitable land just to knock a tiny ball into a tiny hole that is hundreds of yards away. I have played thousands of rounds of golf with hundreds of different golfers of varying skill and each golfer has played with the same flawed sense of purpose.
They all have played as if the idea of the sport was to hit the best shot possible every time to get them as close to that little hole as humanly possible. The results are often that the best shot possible was highly improbable and the actual shot did not accomplish the goal of getting as close to the hole as wished.
I have played with great golfers, and, great people that were lousy golfers. They all played the same way. Let's change things up for the next few rounds you play. Let us see if we can discover a way that allows you to have more fun and lower your score. Lower your score a lot!
You have never, or only rarely, broken 100. How about changing things up enough that you can actually score in the 80's quite easily! Let's change things up enough so that the 70's are a possibility every time you play.
I am not talking about getting lessons or spending hours at the range or getting "custom fitted" to a new set of irons. You can score better with the equipment and skill that you already have.

Four Strategies to Lower Scores.

1. CHOOSE THE RIGHT TEES. How far do you hit your 5 iron? 100 yards? 160 yards? 200 yards? The question is not "how far can you hit your 5 iron?". Be honest. Remember that we are going to change things up so being honest with yourself is a good place to start.
Let's say you hit your 5 iron 150 yards pretty much on average. Multiply 150 time 36 to get the total yardage  you should be playing. 5400 yards! Does that seem short? Well its actually a lot longer than the big hitters on the PGA tour play! The typical tour pro can hit his 5 iron maybe 220. That means they should play at 7920 yards. So the typical PGA tournament is played at several hundred yards shorter than the average player's potential.
Now be confident enough in to play the tees that are the closest to your proper yardage.

2. REDESIGN THE GOLF COURSE. If none of the tees allow you to play the ideal length, change it up. Play some holes from the middle tees, some from all the way forward, maybe even some from the back if you are so inclined. If you want to create a new tee box up near the 200 yard marker or even further forward go ahead. After all tee locations are rather arbitrary, so "play it forward". As forward as you need. If on your best day you still wouldn't clear the water on your tee shot, tee off from somewhere else.

3. FEWER CLUBS. The rules say your can have no more then 14 clubs but nothing is said about carrying fewer clubs. Unless you can count on striking the ball cleanly most of the time with any given club, don't carry it! Most amateurs would play better without a driver and many would play better without most of their woods. Use only the clubs that you know you hit well, regardless of how far you feel you need to hit it.

Now for the most important strategy of all!

4. RETHINK THE GAME.  While the goal remains, "shoot the lowest score possible", the game changes.  We are going to play 2 different games: Island Hopping and Capture the Flag. 

Island Hopping is a fun and easy game with just enough risk and reward to make it exciting. Remember as a kid trying to cross a little stream without getting soaked? You knew where all the rocks were that you could step on to get across the the stream. It didn't matter if you could jump 6 feet if the rocks were only 4 feet apart.  We better just jump four feet or we're getting soaked. 

This is how were are going to play golf. We stand on one side of the stream, the tee box, with the hope of getting to the other side, the green, without getting soaked. Now because we have picked the right tees we know that a 5 iron should be enough to get the ball across all 18 streams in 36 jumps. Maybe some holes will take only one jump and others might need 3, 4 or 5 jumps but we can cross them all in 36 jumps.But just to be realistic let's give ourselves a few more jumps.... 24 for each 9 holes for an extra 12 jumps.

Now the first jump is always the easiest. Our feet are dry and on stable dry land and we only have to get to that first rock. No pressure!  Once we are in the middle of the stream the pressure can build, but all we have to remember is; the goal is to get to the next rock.The last jump can be tricky because the bank might be slippery and we could slide right back down into the creek. Sploosh!

But where are the rocks on the golf course? Wherever you decide they are. Lay out a path that allows for 1 or more easy jumps to get from tee to green. On a 350 yard par 4 the first rock might be 165 yards away so we hit a solid 4 iron or 7 wood and we are safely on the rock. Wow! We are still a long 185 yards from the island, but we are only 100 yards to the next rock...an easy 9 iron! Cool! Only 85 left and a wedge to the middle of the island and we are safe and dry. On the green in three! And we never had to hit a hard shot. This is fun! Let's do it again.... 17 more times.

The most important shot was not the tee shot. It was the shortest shot that got us onto the island. If you have time to practice it is best to practice what's important. All those 85 yard and shorter jumps.

Capture the Flag is the game we played where we tried to capture the opponents flag without getting caught. To capture the flag on the island we just landed on all we have to do is knock the ball into the hole. This is easy because no one is there to defend the flag. Just roll the ball up near the hole and tap it in. Now we change things up a bit, again. Rethink the club you are going to use to roll that ball up close to the hole.Putter? No! Maybe the 5 wood or 3 iron or maybe this is the best place to finally use that massive headed driver. Driver to putt with? Why not? It's got a huge head and very little loft, its very light and should be able to easily roll the ball the required 20, 30, 50 feet or more with little effort. If you're more than 10 feet from the hole decide that the target is really 4 feet wide and you just want to get it inside that. Tap the resulting 2 footer in and go to the next tee box.

Your goal is to capture the flag in as few shots as possible, 2 or fewer would be the best.

The most important putt was not the 25 footer but the 2 foot tap in! If you practice what's important, short putts, you will get better.

At the end of the round we discover that it really took only 45 shots tee to green, not the 48 we anticipated, and because we putted pretty well it only took 34 putts for an easy 79!

Try changing things up for a few rounds and let me know how it worked for you.

Swing Thought

There are a few things that I am asked about quite frequently;

• Where should my feet be?  In your shoes and on the ground.
• Where should I look? Before, during or after your swing?
• What should I think about?  Hard to come up with a smart-alec answer to that one.

Swing thoughts have been baffling and befuddling golfers since golf began. Head down, knees flexed, relax, turn, beverage cart, hit it hard, swing soft, why is he jingling his change, don't put it in the water. All reasonable thoughts and not a swing thought among them.

I think a quality swing thought is all about confidence, belief, tempo, timing, movement and energy. Most swing thoughts are all about mechanics, fear, uncertainty and doubt.  The more clearly you can visualize your golf swing, the more completely you understand your golf swing the simpler the swing thought.

Sit back for a moment, close your eyes and think "Mona Lisa". Depending on how well you know the painting, the painter, the history of the piece, and even the model the more complete and complex your thought is. Two words can evoke visual images, emotion, admiration and a myriad of other senses.

I like my golfers to pick two words that can create that same kind of image, but in this case it is the complete and complex image of the golf swing. Your ideal golf swing. 

I use "turn turn" as my swing thought producing 2 word mantra. Two identical words with two distinct meanings in the context of my swing. I say the words softly and in the rhythm of my ideal swing. I say the words three times, with the third time being during my swing. I say the words out loud.

I have golfers that use "tic toc" or "right left" even "Ernie Els". Some have used three words "top, drop, turn" or "swing, set, thru". 

Find a simple little diddy that will work for you and think your way to a great round.

Consistent thoughts produce consistent actions.

Technology

Arnold Palmer once said that the most significant advancement in technology for the golfer was the modern greens mower. Watching some of the classic golf matches, like Shell's Wonderful World of Golf, makes a believer out of me. Those green were simply awful! I have played local golf courses that had tee-boxes better than those greens.

Technology has made a significant impact on the amateur golfer, and for me.

Video. When I first started teaching I purchased the best video diagnostic tool I could find for the golf swing. Multi-window, slowmo, golfer overlay, lines, angles, stop action, tempo, nearly everything could be analyzed. It cost me a princely sum. Now (FOR FREE) you can have all that tech and then some on your smartphone or tablet, Mac or PC. Yes free! Look on your app market or browse for v1golf, several thousand dollars worth of tech for FREE!

GPS. Remember yardage books? I actually took the time to create one for my home course, Sunnybreeze. Very detailed, good artistic overview of the hole, it was great until Hurricane Charley blew all the trees away. As far as I know the only surviving copy is in the hands of my Canadian friend Sparky Kelterborne. Now, you can get all that detail at your fingertips. And its FREE! FreeCaddie, and GolfLogix are 2 great examples of how you can have all the numbers the pros have, right on your smart phone! The only thing missing from the GPS yardage books is the Pro's description of how you should play the hole.

Take advantage of these 21st century aids to the ancient game of golf.

Next time I'll chat a bit about the technology in golf clubs, shirts, shoes, tees, balls, grips, or food.

Training Aids

The other day I spent a large portion of my afternoon watching the Golf Channel. I started paying special attention to the commercials and full length programs touting products, swing types, videos, books, schools programs and websites that all claimed to take strokes off your game. It was truly amazing. Apparently all I needed to do was buy a few books, a half a dozen training aids, take some pills watch an Englishman and a rather loud golf instructor, go to a couple of websites, and watch some DVDs get fitted for new clubs and new balls and suddenly I will be setting scores below that of the best touring pros.

I actually added up all the claims to lower my score by 3 strokes, 2 strokes, or even more! The total I could shave was a remarkable 34 strokes. For an investment of just under $5000 I could be shooting in the 50s for 18 holes. Fame and fortune would certainly be mine!

I doubt it.

In reality lowering your average score or handicap index by even one stroke is quite an accomplishment. Any one should be capable, through commitment, of taking several stroke off their handicap over the period of a year or so.  I restate emphatically. "through commitment!" 


A wise man once said to me, that if he knew where I spent my time, effort and money he could tell me what I was committed to.

So maybe all those training aids and programs are really best at keeping us committed. Will swinging  the latest triple jointed speed enhanced whippy wonder stick make you have a better swing? Yes! So will swinging the trusty old 5 iron you have your golf bag right now.

We get better with repetition, spaced-repetition. Do it over and over again over a long period of time and even the worst swing will produce better results. There are no shortcuts. All the aids, lesson, books and TV shows will help you stay committed but YOU have to swing the stick.

Swing Thoughts

What are swing thoughts, how many should you have? Good questions. 

To fully understand "swing thoughts", let's figure what they are actually for, because in reality they are not necessarily thoughts you have while you swing! I believe you should break down the swing thoughts into three segments.

1. preparation
2. execution
3. focus

1. PREPARATION These are the thoughts that take place while you are deciding what you want to do. What club do I choose? What is my target? What distance do I have to carry it? What ball flight am I expecting? Wind, terrain, stance, pin location, lie, and a myriad of other factors come into play while you are in the preparation phase of your swing thought. Before you move on to execution thoughts, you must be totally committed and totally confident that the choices you made during preparation are complete and are the right choices. You must believe that the the choices you made will result in a swing that you know you can do, and do it well.

2. EXECUTION This is the golfer's version of the pilot's pre-flight checklist. Take an overall census of your swing fundamentals; grip, stance, alignment and relax!!  This is happening just before you take your stance over the ball. Finally remind your self to do those 2 or 3 things that you have been working on with your coach or on the practice tee and take one or two rehearsal swings to create the short term memory you need for confidence. Now you are ready to focus.

3. FOCUS This is where you create the confident state that generates the great swing. From a few feet behind the ball you begin your focus process. Focus on the target! Stare from the ball to the target, see the ball's intended line of flight, visualize the club's swing path and breath smooth and easily. Take your grip, lead hand first. Focus on the grip and get it exactly how you want it, based on the decisions you made earlier. Now add the trail hand precisely like you have practiced it. Calmly walk to the ball and place the club head behind the ball with the face of the club exactly on the target line, step into your stance with the trail foot first then the lead foot. Get into your well practiced and confident stance and mood. Focus on the ball! Pick the smallest spot on the ball that you can see and commit to strike the ball on that precise spot. Focus on the swing! Each golfer must find that one key thought that enables them to freely swing the club with confidence. It may be a tempo or rhythm thought. It might be all about swing path. Or perhaps you need to focus on the shoulder turn or the finish, the important thing is to hold that one thought vividly in your mind until the swing is completed.

The brain can only hold one thought at a time, and it will always have a thought. Either the thought you put there or something random and not helpful that just creeps in. Like "get over the water", "don't chunk it", or "where's the beverage cart?".

Practice those three steps, make them automatic. Until they are automatic create a cheat sheet, to remind you of the things you should be thinking about before every shot.

Finally a good round

Played a leisurely round with Flip and shot a pretty easy 74. I was even par on the front with 2 bogies, both caused by mental errors, then on the back I repeated those same mental mistakes but without any birdies to offset.

It seems the mistakes are caused by trying to get more out of a shot than I really need. Hit it further, stop it fayster, cut it or hook it more than I really can. We see Bubba, and we all want to work it.

By trying to do more than I was capable of I took a below par round and wrecked it.  Like Clint says, "A man has to know his limits." So I spent some time reflecting back on past lives, as a baseball catcher, as a coach, as an employer, and I remembered that my success came from getting the best out of my teamates, my self and my employees. To get that very best performance I had to make sure I never set them or myself up for failure. Never ask them to do something that they might not able to do; unless I was sure that failure was not going to be catastrophic.

In golf we just need to make decisions that will not create a catastrophic failure if we can't pull the shot off. That means spending enough time on the range to know exactly what your safe limits are, and just how far you can push it if you need to.

Near the end of the winter season.

Last posted in September, right when my busy season was about to start. And start it did, I had a wonderful Snowbird season this year, worked with a lot of old friends and made several new ones. Did things a little different this year; added 2 several hour walk in clinics.  Tried to pattern them after a doctor's clinic, you come in anytime during clinic hours and I'll try to fix whatever ails your swing.

The Saturday morning clinic at Longwood was expanded to 3 hours, plenty of time to work on several aspects of the game. We had short game areas, putting, and just about everything imaginable and of course everything was on video so the students could review later, good old YouTube!

The Academy @ Sunnybreeze was a new addition this year, the clinic hours were Thursday mornings from 8 AM to Noon. That's four hours to hit as many balls as you want, or as you can. The setting at the Academy is really very nice, we have 2 putting greens and chipping areas, a huge grass tee-box and a massive range with targets every 25 yards. The Academy is the new permanent setting for my golf school campus, this allows for multiple video sessions, 2 launch monitors and a variety of training aids. Also we are located on a great Old Florida golf course with 18 holes of championship play, and a 9 hole par three course to sharpen those scoring skills.

Well I suppose I have no excuse not to start working on my own game again. I did manage to end the winter season with a single digit handicap index, maybe by the start of the next winter season I can cut it in half.

back to basics

After several months working to get back to a low single digit handicapper and eventually to scratch, I  seem to be moving backwards. So I took some time to process the journey I have been travelling. Looking backwards I can see that the trip has not been a straight one.

Like most of my students I allowed the desire for short term gains to influence the overall journey. In other words I kept changing paths, for awhile I was strictly conventional, then a bit of stack and tilt crept in, followed by a relapse into "natural golf". I ended up with a swing focusing on style rather than substance. Some how I forgot the purpose of the journey was to prove that the simple "Turn - Turn" swing could get a golfer to the best golf of their life.

I spent a little time on the range yesterday going back to the beginning. Neutral set-up, turn turn swing, rhythm and tempo. Results were great. On the flag with my wedge and in flip flops too!

I think it is important to examine was caused me to alter my path. DISTANCE!!!

Like everyone else I started looking for more distance instead of lower scores, disaster. So I reread the early part of my book, and remembered that distance was the last of the key outcomes.

1. Smooth full turn around a fixed axis, creating powerful weight shift with the proper sequence of movement.
2. Consistent rhythm and tempo
3. Controlling the bottom of the swing arc. . .hitting the ground exactly where I want.
4. Predicting and controlling the balls flight.
5. Distance. Be long enough and just long enough.

When the focus moves from the first four outcomes to the fifth outcome (distance) too early in the journey, those first four skills are not automated and habituated so they must begin to fail. That is what happened to me over a very frustrating and discouraging few months. Each outcome-skill must be developed and habituated in the correct sequence. This is a very valuable lesson for me as both a golfer and an instructor, I have to be patient with myself and help my students be patient with themselves.

There are no short cuts.

A fairly solid round in the H E A T ! ! !

Played pretty well both Saturday and Sunday, even in the oppressive heat. Shot 74 both days. Should have been lower but I am just not putting very well. That's not exactly the fact, I am rolling the ball very well, but I am horribly misreading the breaks. Going to play again today and use the electronic break reader.

I guess what is concerning me the most is my lack of distance with my driver and woods. Short irons are fine, 120yds with my wedge is ok. I actually hit a few drives in the 170 yard range and shorter, I can actually hit my 3 iron farther than my driver! But the good news is that I am hitting fairways.

After a bit of time.

Time does just kind of slip away. One minute here a day or two there and pretty soon your looking at social security. 13 months from now I will be eligible, will it still be there when I get there?

Oh well, 50 50 chance, either it will or it won't.

Darren Clark wins the British, that's a good thing. That's 2 majors in a row won by spectacularly non-spectacular golf. Straight hitting, great putting and awesome short games will beat the longballers every time.  We can learn from that. Play it forward (shorter) hit it straighter and make some putts.

Darren's philosophy of having his attitude affect his golf game instead of his golf game affecting his attitude is another gem we can all take to heart.

For my self well the weight is coming down, the scores are coming down and I feel pretty good. The foot is still a bit of a nag, but I can live with it, well me and Mr. Aleve. Will play several times this next week to see if my swing will hold up. I'll let you know.

Dave

The Beginning of Summer

It has been a long time since my last entry, and the progress has been slow and even a bit to the rear. Suffering a new injury to the foot I have used food and adult beverage once again as a medicine so the weight came back.  I am thinking now that getting to scratch might turn out to be easier than losing 65 pounds.

I have some glimmers of hope in my last few rounds, a near par round at the Links and a low 70's round at Sunnybreeze were intermixed with some rounds in the 80's. They did share some common stats. My up-and-down ratio is way low. I think the cause is the putting, on one round I never made a putt over 5'!

I have hit 40% of my greens in regulation but only have 8 birdies to show for it, that is less than 1 birdie for every 10 GIR.

I did a little experimenting with a different putter and that showed me that it is the read of the green that is causing my problem. I am consistently missing on the high side. I am reading in too much break, or I have too much pace.

So I guess I have to practice putting, but like the rest of you I find an hour of putting practice is BOOOORRRRIIING.

I have been using GolfLogix on my smartphone for yardage and stats info, it has been pretty good but the info stored on the websight is a bit odd. Most importantly they do not have the Blackberry set up to track putting distances. Can't even enter them manually after the round.

Finally a good round.

For a few months now I have been working on getting my swing back. I suppose too many swing thoughts and concepts had crept in because of the hundreds of lessons I have given this past year. I have taught everything... 'Stack & Tilt', 'Natural Golf', 1 plane and 2 plane, long backswing, short backswing, young, older and even older. All the while I have tried to maintain the core concept that it is a rotational swing. But somewhere along the way my "turner" quit turning, my hinges rusted, and my towardser went askew. As my friend Chris is prone to say, "I lost my shiveagetter!"

Well for a brief time this past Sunday all felt right again. The turn was smooth and efficient, the patient had patience, and the ball knew where it was supposed to go. Maybe it was the new toy; I started using the GolfLogix range finder and stat tracking app in my phone, way cool stuff. Or maybe it was playing a new golf course; the Links at Cape Haze is a very nice 'executive' course with real grass on the fairways, greens with intelligent pin placements and aesthetics that have been missing at my home course.

I felt really good and have my shivagetter back and working better than ever, I think scratch is in reach.

Ups and downs

My Grandfather would always tell me, "Anything worth doing is worth doing poorly!" Of course he didn't mean that one should keep doing it poorly, or even get better at doing it poorly, but to understand that greatness is always preceded by failure. He would also say that one of the most powerful impediments to greatness, is to be "pretty good".  The time, effort and money it takes to get from "pretty good" to great, can be overwhelming.

Those truths are really hitting home on this quest to scratch. I am seeing glimmers of greatness but mostly is see myself getting better at doing it poorly. I can score better, but not actually play better. However I do believe now that it is possible for the casual golfer to become a 0 handicap, and I believe I can be there before the end of summer.

Still working it

Well the progress has been real slow. It is clear that I cannot get the distance that I once had. I am fully 75 yards shorter than just a few years ago.  I know its not strength or technique, I think it's flexibility, in the shoulders, wrists and back.  Jeff Davis is coming to the Longwood Clinic this Saturday, he is from the Titleist Performance Institute and will take a look at me and all of the participants. I'll let you know what he has to say.  Come out and join in.

I have been playing pretty well, except for the par 3's and my longer putts. Not hitting the greens and not sinking longer putts.

For the putting problem I am going to try what I call the Shuffleboard Stroke.  Stand a bit open aim the palm of the right hand at the line and stroke it while looking at the target, NOT THE BALL.  Tried this for a few days, worked in practice but does not stand up in competition.  Back to normal I go, well as normal as I can be.

Another day another way

Played a few rounds since the last post. Went out to Arcadia and played the public course, $15 for 18 holes, I guess public money must make up the difference.  Fairways and tee boxes were ok, greens not so much.

I struck the ball very well. Worked hard on getting my full backswing, getting my chest parallel to my back foot, then rotating aggressively through to impact.  Good straight long ball flight, but my short game let me down.  78 from the tips par 72.

In the skins/nasa games I am doing ok. Winning the match play but not making enough birdies or better for skins.  Gave myself chances but didn't convert the putts.  I think I need to make about 150 feet of putts in a round to score low. Last week the only holed out long putts were to save par.

I really stunk up the first two par three, doubling them both, so through 7 holes I had 5 pars and 2 doubles! 

Physically doing mostly OK. The weight isn't falling off like I wish it would but the waist is getting smaller. Dr. Matt is doing wonders with the back and left side.  I am suffering a re-occurrence of Plantar Faciatis, an inflamation in the bottom of the foot back by the heel. Feels like a very bruised heel.  It is caused from a lack of stretching, so I am stretching it more. I read in a golf magazine that too high of acid content in the system can keep the inflamation from subsiding at night, so they suggest 1 teaspoon of baking soda for every 100 pounds of body weight, it does seem to help. Tastes awful.

Working this week \on completing the forward turn.

Later

A little bit of success

Success is the "Progressive realization of worthwhile personal goals". Success is therefor a process, to be successful means that one is filled with worthwhile progress.  On Sunday I began to feel a bit of that success. My belt is a few notches tighter, so my waist is a few inches smaller, progress! Success!

And my golf score was a few strokes smaller also!  Success!  I played Sunday with Flip, I was just working on staying planted through impact. Like Moe Norman focusing on facing the ball at impact. Solid shots for the most part, a few birdies and a 76 with a ball O.B. not too bad.

The ball O.B. was caused by too much and too early of a hip slide towards the target. Staying centered put a lot of stress on my left knee so Dr. Matt had his work cut out for him on Tuesday. I left his office pain free once again.  He used needles in my right bicep and inside the elbow area to relive the pain in my left knee.  Dramatic results!

From now on I will wear a knee support when I practice and golf.

The following video shows the hip slide, while it is not waaaay out of whack it is enough to cause me to be too far in front of the swing.  Please, any comments would be appreciated

The quest continues

Did play this past Wednesday, saw some positive forward movement in my short game, putting let me down a bit.  Working very hard on getting my right hand moving freely around my left.  Fast hands swinging freely around my body, hard to do when you feel like a 100 years old!

I am getting to the point where I can hit more balls in practice.  Actually a few hundred during the course of a day. Not just short shots but full swings. I guess the little bit of work I am doing with the stretch bands is working. I am going to change my workout time from just before bed-time, to first thing in the morning. I think I have the discipline to get up a half hour earlier.

Till next time

Week 4 or thereabouts

Played this morning, sort of.  Cold windy raining, all around a lousy day for golf. Really only hit 2 or 3 good shots. Maybe a little doubt is creeping in that I can actually get back to scratch.

On the positive side, the weight is still slipping away and my waist line is shrinking.

I am clearly in need of more practice time. This weekend I should get a few hundred swings in on the range, most of my work will be on the mid and short irons.

About 3 1/2 weeks into it

The weather has not been cooperative.  Too cold to golf, at least for me. Too many really nice days in Florida to golf when it's below 45. Did spend a bit of time at the range working on my hand positions at impact and finish. I am trying to get to a position at impact where my trail wrist is still fully cupped backward, creating a downward pressure at the contact point of my trail index finger and thumb pad. Doing this also putts my lead palm in an up-facing position. This to me is what is meant by hitting down on the ball. As I extend my trail arm it is in a downward motion.

Towards the finish position I want to maintain the pressure on the same 2 contact points, most significantly on the upper part of the pointer finger. At finish the back of my trail hand is still bent back. I can see the back of my trail hand through-out the swing, start to finish.

Done correctly I feel pressure on the trail index finger through the entire arc of the swing. The pressure is ALWAYS pushing in the direction the club is moving.

I fully intend to play in the skins and match play game on Wednesday morning, I'll let you know how I do.