Visualization

We've had a lot of rain the last few days as Tropical Storm Beryl passed through the area, so I wasn't sure if the practice facilities would be in decent shape or not. While still a little soggy, the course handled the rain well and was actually in great shape.

I only had about 1.5 to 2 hours to practice after work, so I decided to break it out into 30 minute chunks of short game and putting followed by time on the practice course.

At the chipping green I chipped around 100 balls of various lies, distances, and angles to the pin. For the first few balls I focused purely on mechanics to make sure I was using my shoulders properly and wasn't getting handsy with the chip. Lately I've started to put my hands a little lower at address - for several reasons I won't go into here - so I was also making sure I got that feel during my setup.

Once I found my mind wandering from repetition on mechanics, I switched to some up-and-down games. Basically I threw 9 balls down with random lies and locations, chipped 3 balls to each of the 3 pins on the green, and then had to make each of the 3 putts at the 3 pins. First time through I got 5 of 9. Second time through 7 of 9. Third time through 8 or 9.

While playing the up-and-down game I realized I could hit my spot on the green if I focused on the spot with my mind's eye while executing the chip. And when I say hit my spot I mean from about 20 feet I could hit a spot on the green in the air within a few inches of a spot the size of a quarter. I'm completely speculating, but I wonder if my years of playing baseball, particularly as a pitcher, has anything to do with my ability to consistently do the same sort of thing with a golf club. After thinking about it I decided it was worthwhile to practice this skill, much in the same way I would practice hitting spots as a pitcher in baseball.

For the rest of my time chipping I played a variety of shots with a focus on visualizing a spot on the green where I wanted the ball to land. I didn't think about anything during the chip except to have a picture of this spot in my head while my shoulders started to turn. I varied the landing spot depending on the lie, distance, and type of shot I was playing - lob versus rolling chip, for example. While execution wasn't perfect every time, it was both exciting and interesting to realize I had so much control over the golf club. I'll work on the same until my next competitive round with the hopes of carrying it there.

After chipping I moved to the putting green. My focus there was again on visualization of the ball going into the hole while executing the putting stroke. I tend to get too mechanical with my putting stroke, and that approach really hasn't been working for me lately, so the focus now is to free all thoughts once I get my read and address the ball. Overall, putting went pretty well.

For the last hour or so I went to the practice course where after hitting my tee and lay up shots on the par 5 I hit wedge shots into the green from 70-100 yards out. A setup change I made recently was to lower my hands slightly at the address position. I had recently discovered that during my backswing the clubhead was being sucked back inside the plane, and during my downswing I was re-routing the club at the top to bring it down on plane. After some experimentation I believe that move was at least partially due to my hands being too high at address, where it's easier to roll the wrists and forearms over. The net result is higher but straighter and more penetrating ball flight with less hook/draw and less deviation from the target due to wind. My miss is a big 20 yard push right. In fact, I feel like it's impossible to hook the ball right now - it's almost as if I have to do it on purpose.

Anyway, it was around the time I was hitting wedge shots that I realized I'm very confident in my swing now. I started working the 9 ball flights from that yardage - draw low/med/high, straight low/med/high, fade low/med/high. While not every shot was close to the pin, everything fell within 20-30 feet. I'll take it.

At this point time was running out so I moved on to the par 3 and par 4. I played the par 3 with two balls and shot par with both. The par 4 I played with one ball and also shot par. For both holes I had a tough chip that I executed well, again focusing on visualization of the ball landing on a spot on the green and rolling up to the pin. It was a great way to end the session.

One other thing to note is that I forgot to take my golf shoes so I was practicing in my Skechers that are sort of like sneakers. While not optimal, practicing in these shoes forced me to stay balanced through the shots. Out of all the swings I took I only slipped once - with my driver on the last par 4. Balance is something I've put a lot of focus into the last 6 months, and getting more balanced has drastically changed my swing, so I'm happy to see that I've passed the test of playing in wet grass while wearing sneakers.