Friday, November 23, 2007

Golf: Things I picked up today 11/23

I got a good couple of hours at the driving range today. Picked up my driver, 3 wood, 7 iron and my new Callaway sand wedge (which my buddy Vish got me for my birthday) and drove to the range. I've been having big problems with my driver and the sand wedge off late. I slice almost every shot with the driver and my touch with the sand wedge is bad to say the least. So I got up early(10am for a holiday is early, I guess) and drove off to Tara Greens, on Rt 27. I like this range here cause you can hit balls off of the grass unlike in other ranges where they have matted areas. It also has par 3 pitch and putt area and that gave me an opportunity to use my sand wedge. I feel quite comfortable with my iron game. I specially fancy my chances with my 7 iron on the 140-170 yard par 3s.
So I started off with my favorite club, the 7 iron. Hit some balls and tried to get some good elevation and flight. Hit the 150 yard mark pretty consistently. Picked up the driver next and tried to do a few things:
Open the face of the club a bit more than usual.
Kept my right hand loose and did not try to force my shot.
Brought the ball back a bit in my stance and did not leave 2 inches in front of me as I usually do.

Tried all these but did not get much out of it. Hit around 50% of them to the right as usual. I do agree that the short game is more important than the long but I think my game will not be as complete as I would like it to be without getting the driver right. I watched a program on Golf TV with Vijay Singh handing out some useful tips. The way he swings with the driver is so effortless. I think that is what I'm doing wrong. As they say, I try to "hit" the ball instead of "swinging" at it. Next time I'm on the range I'm going to try the one two count while hitting the driver. One on the up swing and two on the down swing. Also, i swing harder on the down swing. The idea is to keep the same club speed all the way. It's funny how sometimes we over complicate things to make it work. Many times (in life too...ok i'll stop preaching) , the lesser you try the better things get. So, next time I am on the range here the things to try.
Swing slow and with consistent rhythm. Try to hit straight first then we can go for distance. A 200 yarder on the fairway is better than 250 in the woods.
Stand closer and taller, don't reach for the ball
With the sand wedge, get the 70-80 yarders right. The flight is good but get the distance and direction right.
Decide on how to close the face of the club for different distances.
Feel the grass with the club several times before each shot.

So there goes. Few things to fix and a long way to go. Hopefully will get closer to my goal soon. Just for people who find quotes cocky/cliched I'll end this post with one.

What other people may find in poetry or art museums, I find in the flight of a good drive. ~Arnold Palmer

Keep swinging.

Monday, November 19, 2007

Things I did today...11/19

Watched "Before sunrise"...Julie Delpy...blew me away...everything about her blew me away. From her French accent to her smile to all the silly things she falls for in the movie...like what the fortuneteller tells her and the poem written by the guy by the river...neat role in a pretty decent movie. Screenplay keeps the movie ticking with interesting conversation between just two main characters or maybe i just too bored and this movie filled in the vacuum. All in all a good way to spend 2 hours in front of the tooobbbb...

First Post

My blog...my thoughts...my attempt to see how random and chaotic my daily life is. What I plan to gain from this....To see how I think and how I can best express my thoughts. Jot down things that piss me off, things that make my day. Say things that is 'cool' right now and see if they change over time. I'm just looking to keep tabs on myself. See if I have changed over time for good or for worse......................................