Day 66: Range

I need to improve my greens in regulation (g.i.r.) percentage which means I need to improve the accuracy of my irons. It also means that I need to improve my fairway percentage to set me up for a good approach. So basically, it means that I need to practice hitting more balls. Now that I have a swing that I like, I feel like I just need to really focus on consistency in my swing and work on dialing in the accuracy.

Today, my gal and I went to the Range at Westchester. It was her third time to the Driving Range, but I believe the third time in as many weeks that she has had a club in her hand. She is a very patient student of the game. She hit a few great balls that I know had to feel great. It is that one special moment, invariably every time you come out, where you made the ball do what you wanted with it with the greatest of ease and graceful fluidity that keeps you coming back.

We shared a large bucket. I watched a lot of her swings and hit shots in between. Because of my left to right ball flight yesterday, I wanted to see if I could get back on track with that right to left ball flight hitting from some real grass (not a mat).

I need to focus more on my set-up. If my set-up is good (grip, club face, spine angle, feet-hip-shoulder alignment) and my take away is good, I have a good chance of hitting a nice shot. After my take away, I focus on trying to ‘swing in a barrel’ and not let my body start to shift around too much. I am always trying to keep a steady head. Once I start the downswing, I have to fight the tendency to shift my body forward with both of my knees leading the way.

I focused on these things and was pounding my 5-iron. I moved around to my pitching wedge and 8-iron (irons only from the grass) and finished my last 5 balls with my 5-iron.

I hit these balls well only because I had a good, repeatable set-up and had good swing thoughts. This is the type of clear thinking and coordination that I need to bring to the course. This is the type of clear thinking and coordination that I will bring to the course.

We finished with taking a few putts. The practice green right in the front of Westchester is so tiny it is almost comical. I feel like as many people try to fit on it as possible and all bump into each other gracefully while gently apologizing. They should turn the entire area into a nice garden and save people all of the confusion and anxiety.