Is The Swamp Now a Lake?
 

Just wanted to see what type of condition The Swamp is in. Up here in Forsyth County, Windermere is about 1/2 flooded, Olde Atlanta Club is fine, Legacy Club is 1/2 flooded. Sounds like Cobb county was one of the worst hit counties.




3JACK

Fun Swinging In the Rain
 

Last week, I was privileged to teach at Cape Fear CC in Wilmington, North Carolina, and thus avoided the week-long rains that had already descended upon Atlanta.

I spent the last two days at The Swamp/West www.mariettagolfcenter.com (and not The Swamp/East www.cuscowilla.com) working in our covered bays with my student, a physician from Manchester, England. Yesterday, as the rains poured to epic proportion and banged down on our rooftop, my voice got louder, but otherwise, it was business as usual: strong draw shots that powered-out and held the left-to-right rain and wind. It was a far cry from what had been brought to the table and described as the "primary problem"; namely, weak, 'dying quail' shots that started right -- way right -- and then sliced.

Working with PGA TOUR players is fun. Helping these talented athletes do better what they already do great is very satisfying. But, taking 'the rest of us' from CAN'T to CAN is even more fun.

Honest to goodness, it is the most fun of all.

lynn@lynnblakegolf.com.

:salut:

That's good to hear. This is what 17 at Windermere looks like, which is nothing to other places around the area:



Yesterday was the first day in 4 months that I didn't hit balls.




3JACK

Nice little hazzard to hit over...now getting to the green you would need a wet suit.

I got to play today as we had two days of sunshine. All of the water is drained out. The greens were slow, but oddly enough I putted really well on them. The only hole in rough shape is #12, which runs parallel to the left of the hole in the pic. They drained quite a bit of water off the fairway, but about 1/4 of the fairway is in bad shape.




3JACK

you've hit balls every day for 4 months?:confused1

Jeez, I'd love to see how good I'd be playing after doing that!

Less is more
 

You would think better...BUT generally less is more! In recent months I have "limited" my practice to two session per week. In addition to that I have limited my range work to 30 balls per session. The withdrawal symptoms were acute! I am guilty of sloppy practice habits (as are many PGA Tour pros) in that I work on a multiplicity of components simultaneously using an unobservable full motion.:naughty: I have actually started to use the book we all love so much!:salut: So yesterday I was working on component #17 alone. I hit 15 balls with a golf ball wedged under the outside of my right foot (got a nice hip turn for free!) and then I did the penny drill on my left foot. I "quit" while I was still a fan of the game! I guess I am not against everyday practice, but most people never quit hitting ball while they are ahead, or have actually accomplished something. Saturday I am devoting my "30" to 7-19/Lag Loading. Speaking of which. Question:

What am I doing when I am using my pivot to assemble and load my power package at top?

I used to think that but over the last 6 months I have played more and practiced more, taken lessons....I still have the same handicap, its actually slightly higher. Now I am making changes all the time and searching for works for me, but the only thing that has improved is some of the short game shots.

I used to think the same way. The more I would practice, the worse I would get.

Now thru TGM and understanding the components of the swing, understanding lag pressure, understanding what my flaw tendencies are and learning feel from mechanics, more practice is beneficial to me. Now I can work on different things as well. Instead of working doggedly just on my swing, I can now practice that for a bit and move onto other things like working the ball, trying to replicate real round situations, chipping, etc.

It's like the old saying, perfect practice makes perfect. I've become sort of like Hogan in the sense that I really enjoy practicing because I am infatuated with the feeling of hitting it flush which now I can do repeatedly because my alignments are much more precise.

I do look at it like I don't want to be out-worked by somebody else. But the key is that since my results are so much more precise, hitting balls is now a beautiful thing to experience.







3JACK

It's wonderful to have a blueprint for the swing, something you can see in black and white to help you when you are having problems, or even just to try something new.

I really appreciate Rich's efforts to help us better understand that blueprint, for anyone who hasn't been following his blog, you need to!

Thanks Rich,
Kevin

As you were!
 

I get what you are saying. The fact that you play as often as you in addition to practicing as much as you do makes you a special case :salut: The swing, or hit is simply a vehicle...you gotta take it for a spin! The old saw of practicing like you play applies here. I was once told by someone that it took Hogan a considerable amount of time to hit a relativly small quantity of balls when practicing. That is the essence of my point. I would also contend that practice time should be goal oriented. When The Goal is met practice time is over. So in my previous example it is a worthy goal (given the cumulative mess of years of non-practice practice) for me to demand that I focus on just one component for the duration of the session. In fact, it exposed the slighest of sways! My weight was moving to the outside of my right foot INSIDE my shoe. I have a bad habit of buying shoes that are 1/4 size too large in hopes that the feet will be encouraged to grow! :eyes: The benefits of TGM are inumerable but isolating the stroke into compatible/incompatible components is the genius. Now you can actually work on one thing (OK maybe two) at a time. I leave my practice session looking forward to the next. I have only once thrown a club on a golf course (dear old dad slapped me with a 6 month golfing hiatus) but the driving range has been a heli-pad over the years! :naughty:

Perfect example today. Drove about 70 minutes to go and play a 7,300 yard course. Didn't hit many balls yesterday as a friend and I went to East Lake to watch the Tour Championship (saw Yoda and said hello). Feet were sore from walking around so much yesterday and took awhile to get loosened up. Struggle early on at the range, then went back to basic, acquired and total motion and brought some new swing feels. Shot 76, on aerated greens and having 4-iron or more on 8 different holes. Hit the ball okay, but that defines consistency. You're not going to be on 100% of the time. You just want to still be pretty good when you're off your game.




3JACK