Grip Change

I've been using the Vardon overlap grip since I started playing the game three years ago. I never much liked the interlocking grip. It felt uncomfortable. However, a week or so ago, in an effort to reduce tension in my hands, arms and shoulders, I have switched to the interlocking grip and here is why.

It is a well known fact that muscle tension is the number one killer of good golf shots. Grip pressure should be light and constant throughout the swing to keep your muscles from tensing up. You should hold onto the club with just enough pressure to control the club and not have it slip during the swing. The proper way to do this without adding tension in your forearms and up to your shoulders is to apply pressure with the correct fingers.

The proper fingers to use to apply grip pressure for a right handed golfer are the last three fingers on your left hand (middle, ring, pinky) and the middle two fingers on your right hand (middle, ring). By keeping the absolute minimum amount of pressure in the pinchers (thumb and index) of the hands you reduce the amount of muscle tension up through the arm.

I found that switching to the interlocking grip has allowed me to keep the grip pressure in my pinchers very light. Try it... if your applying too much pressure in the pinchers with an interlocking grip it is going to be very uncomfortable. You won't neccesarily notice the extra pressure of the left hand pinchers with the Vardon Overlap.

I've found that the interlocking grip forces me to ease up with the pinchers at least on the left hand. This has allowed me to relax my hands, wrists and arms to decrease tension. Less tension has allowed me to set the club properly at the top with a flat left wrist which equates to a square club face at the top. When I grip the club too hard I have a tendency to cup my left wrist at the top thus opening up the clubface at the top. So far I am pleased with the results. Hey, if the interlocking grip is good enough for Tiger it's good enough for me!

Pine Ridge Country Club - 8/31/08

Well, I made it out for a full round over the long weekend. Here's the recap...

• Score: 83
• Birdies: 1
• Pars: 6
• Bogies: 9
• Double Bogies: 2
• Putts: 34
• GIR: 6
• Fairways: 9/14
• Penalty Strokes: 2
• 3-Jacks: 2

Although the score I posted is not that great I really feel good about the way I was hitting the ball. The daily swing drills I have been doing have really been paying off. My swing has been totally transformed. I really felt like I was swinging the club rather than hitting at the ball. The bucket drill, which I started doing about 4 days prior has really helped with getting my arms and body more in sync. I still have a ways to go but there has been definite improvement. I could tell my core rotation was stopping prior to impact before starting this drill. I really felt my rotation through the ball and the right shoulder working down towards the ball through impact. This felt great!

I hit my driver the best I have all season. I had a couple of 270+ drives and averaged 257 yards for the day. My main miss was a pull with my hybrids and irons. I'm still going a little too hard with the arms from the top. I have to keep on working on "passive arms". I'm getting there. Late in the round I could tell my back was getting tired (I have arthritis in 3 joints in my lower back). Play slowed down and my tempo got quick. Chopping down that tree the day before definitely had an impact on my stamina. I could also tell I have been neglecting my putting. I missed a couple of easy putts and had two lags that were less than stellar. I really need to get better at reading greens!

All in all I am very pleased with the round. I had fun, kept my focus off score, and just enjoyed the day. I'm sticking with my daily non-ballstriking drills of...

1. The Broom Drill
2. The Body Drill
3. The Bucket Drill

I'm not sure when my next full round will be. I'll probably make it out for a practice 9 later this week.

Comming to Grips With Who I Am as a Golfer

It's taken me quite a while to figure this one out but I finally think I'm getting this. Have you ever tried to take less club and muscle a shot because your thinking you should be able to hit that 7-iron 155 yards. Have you ever tried to bomb a 270 yard drive because you thought you could, only to fly it 225 instead? Have you ever been 130 out behind a tree and decided to hit a low cut around and under the tree even though you have never attempted this shot before? Guess what that outcome was!

All the above scenarios I have experienced on more than one occasion. I have since come to realize that this is my EGO talking and telling me I can do these things when in fact the odds are I won't be able to pull it off. And until I can keep my EGO in check I won't be able to consistently play well.

I'm starting to accept the fact that I'm not a big hitter. I've wasted half the season trying to be one. Tinkering and tinkering and tinkering with my swing. And, as a result, moving in the opposite direction.

I vow from here on out to play within myself!

• I will hit the club that gets me to the the green regardless of the number on the sole
• I'll hit 3-wood and play from the short grass more often
• I'll never attempt a shot I have not practiced (during a scoring round)
• I'll never blindly hit 3-wood approach shots on Par 5's I can't reach in 2

Some of my best rounds have come when I played smart and within myself. Why oh why do I seem to forget that so easily?

Don't Be a Swing Adulterer!

If there is one thing I have learned this year it is this; pick an instructor and a swing philosophy you whole heartedly believe in and stick with it. Near the beginning of this season I bought into Chuck Quinton's Rotary Swing and I'm not looking back. I would urge you to do the same and not commit swing adultery... you know what that is right? You read some forum post about how great some dude you don't even know is puring each and every iron immediately after switching to the Stack n Tilt as you long to hit every iron shot on the screws... "I oughta try that. My iron play has stunk lately." Adulterer! Or, your reading your most recent Golf Digest and come across the instructional article by Tiger Woods entitled "How to Hit My New (more complicated)Stinger (you shouldn't ever be trying to hit)" and think to yourself... "I know I can hold off my release a split second. Why not? I drink Tigerade too!" Adulterer! Or, some 20-capper walks by you at the chipping green and uninvitedly offers up a nice little nugget about how your grip is incorrect and you weight distribution at setup is out of whack and you think... "Maybe he's right" and you change your grip before the round you're just about to play. Adulterer!

You get the picture, right? My unsolicited advice is to buy into a philosophy. Find a good instructor who is willing to invest in your success and give it a reasonable amount of time to really sink in. If you need an instructor/philosophy I would highly suggest you look into Chuck's Rotary Swing. He is a great guy who really knows his stuff. He also knows how to teach it. Those are two traits that are hard to come by in the golf instruction world.

And then you can take all those back issues of Golf Digest and Golf Magazine that are piling up on the back of the toilet to the recycling dumpster!

Baseline: Where I'm At Now

This golf season has been one of extreme frustration. At the end of last season my index was at -10.6 and I had the lofty goal of getting to the 5's by the end of the year. With the high expectations I've placed on myself I've become a mental mess on the course. I'm working on that though as I'll get into in a separate post. I've broken into the 70's this year for the first time. Man, is that a good feeling. But, at the same time I now expect to score that well each time out. I definitely have the tools to do so. I think of myself as a better golfer than I was last year at this time. The scores just haven't been there for me. I've learned so much this year about the game, learning the game, and myself. It's just a matter of time before it all starts coming together.

If I can get off the tee well I usually score very well. But, if I'm all over the place with the driver, which has been the case a lot this year, my confidence dips and it really affects my whole game. I'm a solid iron player; if I'm in the short grass and 150 in I'll hit the green 7 of 10 times. I avaerage about 32 putts per round. Not bad but not stellar either. Chipping and pitching, which I practice the most, is the second weakest area of my game behind driving. As a result, I am working on putting a new short game system into play. I'll share this in a separate post. The initial practice results are promising. As for the driving, I rarely take the big dog out of the bag anymore. I'll hit the 3-wood just as far and if I don't try to squeeze every last yard out of it I'm very accurate with it. Hmmm? maybe that should tell me something.