2020 Goal – Do You Have One?

I have one goal for 2020 and it’s process oriented.  Before detailing, I’ve been drawing a tremendous amount of inspiration from the book:  The Score Takes Care of Itself, by Bill Walsh.   The Hall of Fame football coach details his controversial approach to leadership and building a world class organization, but the underlying takeaway is to get immersed in the details of process and good results will naturally be forthcoming.  While a common theme from most sports psychologists, I needed to read his specifics about not confusing effort with results and found it inspiring.

Last season, I stumbled on a process-oriented adjustment in September and rode that to higher confidence and better performance in the Fall, and over the Winter.  The experience was so positive that I will try to leverage for 2020.  In 2013 I had experimented using the nine-shot drill that Tiger Woods made famous and found that difficult to implement.  The drill requires you to hit low, medium, and high trajectories with straight, draw, and fade shot shapes.  I couldn’t do them all but last Fall, during practice sessions and warm-ups I began hitting low, medium, and high straight shots with each club in the bag (lob wedge through 4-iron).  Suddenly while on the course, I felt comfortable calling on any of these trajectories, which allowed me to play more aggressively and with greater confidence.  To execute, you simply move your ball position from back to middle to front with each club.  I practiced this way and warmed-up this way.  The advantage, especially during warm-ups, is that on some days I’d find only one trajectory was working but I could take that one to the course with confidence.

Granted, this is somewhat of an advanced technique and you should have your swing mechanics in pretty good order.  During a lesson last year, my instructor had me hitting full wedge shots using my lob, sand, and gap from the back position, and we really liked the ball flight.  He recommended that I add the shot to my arsenal, and I did.  I then added the other ball positions after experimenting.

Fast forward to this year.   My goal is to get comfortable working the ball.  Do I need to add all six other trajectories in the nine-shot drill?  No.  I’d just like to be able to control a draw or fade with the most comfortable trajectory.  I know my biggest challenge will be with the fade because I hit a little natural draw and I can’t remember fading a ball on demand, but think I can learn this using the same approach.  First up, some experimentation on the range, then off to my instructor to dialog the plan.  If I can work the ball with the same level of confidence, great things are going to happen!

What are your goals for 2020?

Play well!

Sunday Is Opening Day!

What do you look forward to most about your opening day of the golf season?  This year’s round is about three or four weeks later than my traditional opener as the bad weather has been prohibitive.  Honestly, I’m just glad to get out.  My opening round is usually one of the most enjoyable of the year because there’s no mental baggage buildup.  Just a clear head and go.

There’s a fair amount of angst this time because of the off-season work I’ve been doing with the Nine-Shot drill.  I’ve used it over the past six weekend range sessions and am comfortable moving the ball in both directions off a mat with my irons.  Haven’t focused on tee shots or hitting off grass yet, and last weekend I first tried to play a simulated round shaping shots and found it a bit uncomfortable.  Transitioning from “hit it and hope” to a serious dedicated effort at better course management will probably take time, but I’m attempting this because it’s the right thing to do.  Actually, I am chomping at the bit to battle test it; good or bad and with opening day in mind, I actually worked in some putting practice last weekend.  I couldn’t hit water from a boat; it was just awful, so I’m not going to concern myself with score too much and will focus on taking the correct mental approach towards shot placement, and hopefully shaping a few as desired.

We all want to improve and at the end of the day, if you keep practicing the same way and getting the same results year after year, doesn’t it makes sense to change your approach?  Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results sounds something like Einstein’s definition of insanity.

I will be adding a new menu section to the blog starting this week to provide transparency into my scoring and performance metrics and I’ll trust you’ll send me feedback if you spot some trends good or bad.

Hope your season is a great one; let’s get it on!

Slice Of Heaven – Corner Of Hell

Quick pop-survey:  How many of you have shanked your first five balls in a driving range session and left the facility feeling great about your game?

The marvelous thing about golf is that you can experience firsts at any age or stage and this was mine today.  I think ex-heavyweight champ Mike Tyson once said, “Everyone has a plan until you get hit in the mouth.”  Well my plan today was to leverage all the good swing habits I’d built through my off-season indoor workouts into some solid ball striking.  If five straight shanks to start your season don’t hit you in the mouth, nothing will, and I was lucky the pro didn’t throw me off the range before I put one in someone’s eye socket, but I managed to right the ship and here’s how.

Readers of this space know I’ve been experimenting with the Nine-Shot drill in an effort to add shots to my repertoire.  Admittedly, this is not an easy practice technique since it requires you to work the golf ball in both directions with multiple launch angles, all the while using a variety of clubs.  You must steel yourself to move onto the next shot when you mishit one and continue to focus patiently on ball flight.  This drill saved my range session and my discovery is important.

Normally during a bad range session, you end up trying too many fixes, usually out of frustration or desperation and hope to stumble upon the right one; we’ve all done it.  The beauty of the Nine-Shot is that you are focused on executing a shot with a particular shape and trajectory, not on mechanics.  However, to make the shots, you consciously alter your ball position, alignment, and swing path.  In the event that one of these fundamentals is the cause of your original fault, you are likely to stumble upon it simply executing the drill.  Today, I found that when I moved the ball position forward, my contact immediately improved and the shank move was gone.  Why?  Because the forward ball position changed the bottom of my swing arc and forced me to move a little weight backwards on my back-swing.  Yes, the shank move was being caused by a reverse pivot.  Where that came from I do not know, but once I identified, all sense of normalcy returned.

The “ah ha” moment happened when I left the course and realized that I had solved a serious swing flaw without even trying.  I’m confident that this drill has value and you should give it a try.  Yes it’s hard to do but the benefits are worth it.  I can’t wait to battle test it during a warm-up session before an actual round.  I suspect it’s a big confidence builder and confidence usually leads to a good day on the course.  Good luck if you try it!

Try The Nine-Shot Drill For Confidence

Hank Haney and Tiger Woods
From zimbio.com

It was 55 degrees and sunny today; perfect time to resume working on my golf game.  I went to the range and tried out the Nine-Shot drill which I had just learned about in The Big Miss.  This is the drill used by Tiger Woods while under the tutelage of swing coach Hank Haney.  Nine-Shot works you through a swing matrix for high, low, and medium trajectories with fades, draws, and straight shots.  There are nine different combinations and the thought is to rotate through every club in the bag.  Hitting all 13 clubs would take a significant amount of time and concentration so I modified the drill to accommodate a 50-ball range session.

Not having hit a ball since November 10, I found the drill difficult because I was rusty, but beneficial because my ability to concentrate was better than during a boring old range session.  There was an unintended side-benefit as well.  There are several ways you can approach this drill but I elected to order my shots by first hitting medium-straight and then going to high and finally low, and then worked the same order for the draws and fades.  I did not try to mix the draws and fades and to keep this as simple as possible I only varied my alignment and ball position and did nothing with grip or swing speed.  Using a PW, 8-iron, 6-iron, 4-iron, and driver, I rotated through 45 balls and hit a five ball warm up with my PW.

The Nine-Shots
From rotarygolf.com

The unintended side benefit was that by changing ball position and alignment, I was able to correct a swing flaw.  While trying to hit the draws with the 8-iron, I smother hooked a couple and when I switched to a fade, my shots flew straight.  This information indicated, I was taking the club back too far to the inside.  I made the adjustment and contact improved immediately.

I also decided that next time I’m switching out the Driver for a 3WD.  Hitting low cuts and draws with the Driver is just too difficult, and it’s easier to curve a ball with the 3WD because of the increased loft.

This drill requires discipline when you hit a bad shot.  The natural tendency is to rake another ball and try the same shot, but I steeled myself to just move to the next shot.  I found this alleviated frustration as there was no urgent need to fix; just move on.  The potential is excellent to use this for pre-game warm-up as well.  Trying the nine different ball flights should allow you to settle on a comfortable one for your round.

The Nine-Shot passed the smoke test today.  It’s going to be 65 tomorrow and 70 on Sunday; perfect to fully develop the concept.  Good luck if you give it a try!