BBC and some pre-lesson work

There was an interesting story in the BBC last weekend that featured K Anders Ericsson, David Epstein, Malcolm Gladwell and yours truly:

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-26384712

It came along with a podcast which, to me, is a bit more informative.  You can download that podcast here:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/moreorless  It’s the one called the 10,000 hour rule from March 1, 2014.

It’s good to hear different sides of the debate and interesting to see that there are so many opinions on the matter; not just from these gentlemen, but from people all over the world.  Since that story aired I have received countless emails about the project and more than a few have offered their opinions on my future potential.  These opinions run the gambit and I enjoy hearing what people think.  Typically, when someone tells me they think I can make it to the PGA my confidence is boosted, and when someone says it is an impossible task it helps me concentrate and work harder.  It’s a win-win situation.

My coach, Bruce Furman, is returning to Portland this weekend for three days.  It’s been about 6 weeks since I had a lesson and I’m curious as to whether I have been progressing in the right or wrong direction since then. I feel like my ball striking is improving and have had some good breakthroughs with my iron play lately and hope that means that I am doing what Bruce wanted me to do back in the desert in January.  There is only one way to find out and that is to got to my lesson with him tomorrow morning.

The rain storm that we have had over the past three days should have passed by tomorrow as well.  Yesterday and today have been especially wet and windy turning the course into an almost unplayable marsh.  But, the covered range is still open so instead of practicing on the course I stood there working the full swing for about 3 hours yesterday.  It was a surprisingly good practice session as I realized I had gone back to a quick-hinge takeaway that was causing some issues with my iron play.  Once I got that back on track my balls were flying how I envisioned them before the swing, which is great and a relief.  It’s funny how easy it is to “lose” a swing that just a few days ago you “had”.  Golf is all about figuring out what you did right and wrong on the fly, more so than any other sport I have ever experienced.

I’m heading to work the swing for a few more hours today before my lesson tomorrow.  Will report back soon about what changes I have made both for the positive and negative over the past 6 coach-less weeks.

UPDATE:

The winds seemed to have prevailed last night.  The canvas from the rain tent was completely torn off due to stormy weather, leaving just a skeleton of what was the best way to stay dry on the range through winter and spring:

photo-2

Hopefully they can fix it pretty soon.  Good news is that it’s actually supposed to be decent weather for a few days this weekend and next week.  But, if it’s not fixed it may limit some realistic practice sessions during the heavier storms.

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