Getting a grip (and a new stance)

A camera guy and I went out to Pumpkin Ridge today for my weekly meeting with Christopher Smith (CS).  We Got there about three hours early to practice a bit before we met up at noon and had a good little morning session.  It actually didn’t rain for, I think, the first day of The Plan, which was very welcomed!  The lesson went really well too.  CS and I chatted for a bit about the previous week’s golfing experience as well as about life in general over a cup of tea/coffee and then headed out to the practice green to see what I had been working on.  He watched me putt for a bit while using Pelz’ putting tutor and then had me shift my upper body slightly, saying my shoulders were out of line for where I was trying to hit the ball.  And, of course, once I made the adjustment I started hitting it straight off the putting tutor without a hitch.  Everything else about my stance, including the new grip from last time, seemed pretty good, so this week my main goal is to try and make sure I am aligning correctly and then to just keep it up.

We did not add any games to my daily routine, but instead are going to stick with what we have so far, which is:  a three foot putting circle, a ten foot “distance” game where I hit from one penny to another ten feet away measuring my accuracy, a six foot game where I call what section of the cup I am aiming for, using the putting tutor and a nine hole game where I keep score while shooting to three different holes in the putting green.

I also heard from the two psychologists from Florida State University today, Drs. Ericsson and Hill.  I had written them with a question about deliberate practice and how it prepares someone for the length of an actual tournament.  They both wrote saying that the best way to prepare when it comes to golf might be to work for a period of time, take a mental/physical break, then work for a period of time again, take a break, work, break, etc..  that way it will both extend the amount of time that I can really focus on golf by breaking up my concentration ability into smaller chunks and replicate an actual game (where during a four hour tournament you might actually be striking the ball for five minutes..).  It was good to hear from them and I will be applying their thoughts into my exercises starting tomorrow.  Think I will go out early and do 30 minutes on, ten off, repeating that pattern until I have been “on” for four hours and see how I feel.

For now, It’s off for a jog and then time to catch up on logging all of my statistics (which for the three-footers I am either at or very close to 80 percent.  Not sure where I need to be to move out, that’s another thing that CS and I discussed today.  We were going to find out what a tour player would get and consider that the level for advancement.).