I played on the weekend, not knowing what to expect out of my back. I was feeling a bit of pain on the front 9, but as the day went on the pain disappeared.
As for the golf... it was painful to watch :)
I had more short game dramas. I bogeyed the first hole after leaving myself a 1m+ putt for birdie. It can be terrifying standing over a 1m putt and not knowing where the ball might go. To anyone out there experiencing the yips.. my condolences to you. It can be a soul sucking experience.
My putting did improve during the day, but only through sheer force of willpower. Trying to relax and releasing the putter really helped.
A good point was my driving. I've managed to get back some distance and had most drives cranking around the 230m - 240m mark. Hitting around 71% of fairways is also good... but only making 33% of greens... not so good.
Hopefully my short and iron game starts to improve again. The way I was driving the ball... I really should have scored better than 89.
Monday, April 24, 2006
Friday, April 21, 2006
You want me to play more golf?
So I went to the physio yesterday and he had a poke around my back. He felt my sore spot and he said "Wow.. that's pretty tight there. I want you to come back tomorrow for another session." So it's either pretty bad or he just wants more of my money :)
So there I was feeling like I would be off the golf course for a month and getting a bit down about it. I asked if I should stay away from this blasted game and I was quite surprised by his answer.
"Actually Zan, it'll probably do you some good to be swinging a club."
Apparently keeping that muscle in my back active will promote it to un-tighten and stop the spasms. YAY!
Anyway, he did a pretty good job and gave me an exercise to carry out during the day. I demonstrated this to my wife and she had the biggest belly laugh at me. It does look kinda silly.. but I'm not going to argue with a professional. I don't do this in public though.
So I'll probably head out on Sunday for a round. Might take it easy and not take full swings. It'll be good practice to try and get more clubhead speed with more wrist action.
z.
So there I was feeling like I would be off the golf course for a month and getting a bit down about it. I asked if I should stay away from this blasted game and I was quite surprised by his answer.
"Actually Zan, it'll probably do you some good to be swinging a club."
Apparently keeping that muscle in my back active will promote it to un-tighten and stop the spasms. YAY!
Anyway, he did a pretty good job and gave me an exercise to carry out during the day. I demonstrated this to my wife and she had the biggest belly laugh at me. It does look kinda silly.. but I'm not going to argue with a professional. I don't do this in public though.
So I'll probably head out on Sunday for a round. Might take it easy and not take full swings. It'll be good practice to try and get more clubhead speed with more wrist action.
z.
Tuesday, April 18, 2006
Yippers!
I've always thought of the putting Yips as something that couldn't possibly happen to me. Putting just seems like the easiest thing in golf. Putter back... putter forward, no need to think about swing planes, swing paths, releasing clubheads etc. But I think I had the putting heeby jeebies yesterday. I had a good number of makable birdie putts, but I ended up getting bogey 3 times and making just one birdie. I guess after 2 weeks away from a full round and just practicing on my iron / driving at the range my short game is bound to suffer.
The rest of my game was just average. The round felt worse than my score of 85... which could have easily been around 80 if I didn't miss so many putts from inside 1m.
Something else that was a worry was a sore back/shoulder blade. I think I hurt this a week ago working on my car, and it was affecting my full swing. Kinda like a pinched nerve type of feel. It seems to be getting worse and I'm having trouble sleeping because of it. Think I'll make an appointment with a physiotherapist to get some relief.
It's also good to see Badds score a win on the PGA, and quite uplifting to see someone so open about his faith in the public eye. Pity about that tartan jacket he had to wear. The winners cheque should come in handy for a new one. :)
The rest of my game was just average. The round felt worse than my score of 85... which could have easily been around 80 if I didn't miss so many putts from inside 1m.
Something else that was a worry was a sore back/shoulder blade. I think I hurt this a week ago working on my car, and it was affecting my full swing. Kinda like a pinched nerve type of feel. It seems to be getting worse and I'm having trouble sleeping because of it. Think I'll make an appointment with a physiotherapist to get some relief.
It's also good to see Badds score a win on the PGA, and quite uplifting to see someone so open about his faith in the public eye. Pity about that tartan jacket he had to wear. The winners cheque should come in handy for a new one. :)
Sunday, April 02, 2006
Fixing a broken swing
Well after last week's debacle I dragged myself to the driving range to try and regain a bit of form with my golf game. After spending a good 2 hrs there I think I'm back to about 65% of my potential form. The irons were average at best. Driving started off ok. I was hitting some pretty long drives with a little fade. I really wanted to get my ball flight going straight / draw again and it was quite frustrating not being able to pull it off.
There was a ray of light towards the end of my session with my last couple of drives having a very nice straight and spearing ball flight. The fix was to strengthen my left wrist grip pressure slightly, I think this helped promote a "pulling down" of the club from the top of my swing and helped keep my hands in-front of the clubhead.
I think another session at the range is what I'll aim for before heading out for a round again. :)
There was a ray of light towards the end of my session with my last couple of drives having a very nice straight and spearing ball flight. The fix was to strengthen my left wrist grip pressure slightly, I think this helped promote a "pulling down" of the club from the top of my swing and helped keep my hands in-front of the clubhead.
I think another session at the range is what I'll aim for before heading out for a round again. :)
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