Age and Score

I've reached the age where my age in years (69) is a larger number than my lifetime best score (68); that was when I was 27, and repeated a few times in my later 20s/early 30s. My best ageplus score is age plus 8, a 74 three years ago when I was 66. Full disclosure: that was a short course, but a tricky one.

Equipment

The R7 Driver (TaylorMade) I'm using now is the best I have EVER used. Period.

The original Ping Anser is my putter of choice, for now.

I've learned to like Cleveland Wedges. Thinking of getting three groovy models before they go out of fashion.

Irons? Right now, 3456 Callaway BB, 789E, Hogan Apex Forged or Apex Plus (the E there would have to be the Forged). Could substitute 34 hybrids, or even go all Apex Forged, but I'll try the AF/BB combo this weekend, with old Cleveland 49 and S56.

Trevino's secret

is my secret too. The left hand holding firmly on the club controls where the face is looking, and that factor -- where it's looking, more than path, more than center hit -- controls the direction that the ball starts.

The old-timers (i.e. the golfers who were old when I was young) used to talk about "don't lose the club at the top." I figured out early that the only way I could be sure of where the face was pointed was to be aware of where my left hand, really the knuckles and/or back of the hand, was throughout the stroke.

The release is an un-hinging motion, a backhand left-handed slap at the ball, supported by a continuing rotation through the ball. The hand gives direction, the rotating core provides power.

Saturday morning

Waiting for the ride to the course. My car is in the shop, my wife will drop me off.

So it goes.

Thursday's outcome

Five over in the first two holes, then five over for the rest of the round! Took until the third tee for me to make a decent stroke, then three more holes until I made a good stroke, but from then on I was in a zone, able to just hit it without a thought in my head!

My Latest Changes

Since I've been preaching for ages that eye-dominance matters, I went to the range yesterday and set up open, right eye just inside and behind the ball...and hit dozens of straight shots.

Next, I made sure that on count 4 of my 7-step preshot routine [waggle 3 times, 4 ground the club, 5 forward press 6 back and 7 through] I took a good look at the 'picture' of the club in it's pre-impact position, and held that image in mind as I swung through the ball.

I've also incorporated a flat wrist at the transition -- no cupping or hinging.

Having made those changes, I hit several shots with 5fw hybrid, 3-iron, and 2-hybrid...the 2 hybrid hits the ball higher than the 3-iron, but shorter, and with less spin. The 5-wood has the distance and height advantage over the 3-iron, so it stays in the bag. The 2-hybrid is gone, and the 64º Cleveland is back!

Tee time today = 2pm. Can hardly wait.

Sobriety

Today, September 5th, is day 48 without alcohol. It's getting easier, especially since my game seems to be coming back.

Club selection

I belong to the world's most exclusive club, the Take Enough Club Club. If my buddies are swinging a 7 or 8 iron, I've probably got a 5 in my hand from the same distance.

Why?

1. Because knowing that I have enough club means that I can modulate my stroke, from what feels like about 60% effort to about 80% effort, and
2. that, in turn, means that it's extremely unlikely that I'll have a gross mis-hit, either fat or thin, pushed or pulled, sliced or hooked.
3. That means I don't have to feel like a dummy for having hit an embarrasment of a shot, and
4. THAT MAKES THE GAME EASIER. Not easy, mind you, but easier. And
5. that means I have more time and energy to devote to preparing to hit the best shot of my life.

Part of my routine this year has been to silently repeat to myself, before each and every stroke, that this is the most important golf shot of my life. It's the only one I have any control over. The past is gone, the future isn't here yet. So I have to first visualize the perfect shot -- the one that I know is within my physical limits. Then set up for that shot, mentally and physically rehears the checkpoint of my stroke, then step up to the ball and perform the stroke.

One final point about club selection. The most important club in my bag is not the one that I use the most, it's the one that shortens the golf course the most. That would be the driver.

IMPACT: The Essential Thought

Golf is, in the limit, all about impact. I've found that I can't play the game with Snead's 'blank mind', but I can drill down to a single sense impression.

1. The thought process starts with an overview of the shot I want to play; the landing area and the trajectory that I want to employ, either straight, draw/hook or fade/slice.
2. Then I leave that thought, and go to the setup, stance and alignment, and clubface orientation. I follow Hogan's example: the body can only accommodate one swing sequence. The hands and body must perform the same task repeatedly, but inserting the club in the hands is like inserting a drill bit into a chuck. I start out with the grip on the club with the face perpendicular to the line of flight, then turn the handle clockwise to produce a left-to-right shot, anticlockwise to promote a right-to-left trajectory, then aim accordingly.
3. Then I leave thought to and revisit all of the sequential cues and feels that make up my swing, from the takeaway to the shoulder hitting the chin to the left heel plant to the transitional hip sequence to the finish pose
4. Then I leave all of that behind, and concentrate on approaching impact feeling as though the knuckles of my left hand are above and behind my left wrist. I know, intellectually, that they're not, and that my right hand is in fact driving the clubhead down, but I also know that it takes almost 1/2 of a second for a sense impression to reach the brain. And I know from experience that this sequence of thought gives me my best chance to hit a decent, acceptable golf shot.

THAT'S ALL I CAN ASK. Or say, today!