Day 42: Home on the Range

It felt good to get back to the range and take some full cuts.
At this point, I need to sharpen my iron skills and bunker play.
While looking for some tips at fine-tuning my ball striking, I came across this video showing the tee drill:


I did this drill for a half-dozen shots and noticed that I hit the tee on 4 out of 6 shots - not too bad for not knowing what the outcome was going to be. I stopped doing this drill because I ended up losing 4 tees.
After I hit balls, I shared this drill with my pal and he told me about an extension to this drill and that is to put another tee a couple inches behind the ball to make sure that you are not coming down too steeply on top of the ball. The goal then is to clip both tees while firmly striking the ball.

I also came across this Jack Nicklaus video that shows how you should not alter your swing for different clubs. You should alter the width of your stance and the length of your backswing, but not necessarily change your swing:


I went all through my bag, hitting every club. I am striking the ball better, but still pushing the ball out to the right a little bit. However, I will say that my rhythm, timing and tempo have improved greatly and it is starting to seem like I am putting very little effort into hitting the ball. I use the same amount of effort with my 3-wood as I do using my 8-iron and the balls are launching off the club face. I have a feeling that as I continue to hit more and more balls, I will become more and more accurate with a beautiful tempo and good mechanics. Some day I might even become as smooth as the Hawk (aka Ben Hogan). Check out this masterful video that someone put together showing how dialed in Mr. Hogan's swing is:


I could watch this video 1 million times and never get sick of it. After reading more about Ben Hogan and his approach to golf, he has become an inspiration to me. He was the first person to invent the idea of 'golf practice' and according to sources close to him, no one practiced harder. He had an indefatigable work ethic. That's me! He truly believed that anyone, if true to the fundamentals and mechanics of the swing, could play par golf. I read a fun quote somewhere from Mr. Hogan stating that he could not wait to wake up in the morning and hit balls. Again, that's me!

In closing and as I stated earlier, I went through my entire bag at the range. I jumped around and hit every single club. Some balls go straight, some I push to the right, some I hook to the left - all in an effort to find that perfect 'groove'. It is not frustrating when I don't hit my target. I know that I will find that groove and be able to call on it over and over. I am just happy to have found my rhythm, timing and tempo that creates a well-struck ball every time. I know that with more and more practice, I will find the right mechanics that will produce the desired result.