Fail and Three Quarters

Everyone fails at doing something. This week, not only did I fail but I fell flat on my face. Imagine a guy running full speed on pavement, tripping on a boulder and slamming the ground causing a minor earthquake. Sort of like this nimrod skateboarding

This is not me. Probably some rad dude though!!

This past week I was attempting to improve my seven and eight iron shots. I can strike the ball with force but it doesn't matter if it dips to the right landing you aside some pinecones, rusty leaves, and tall trees. The problem with my golf game is the accuracy and consistency.

PGA professional Jeff Coston helped me straighten out my swing. As misleading as the first sentence might have been I didn't meet the great Jeff Coston in person rather on PGA.com where I watched a two minute video. He talked about how many golfers raise their backswing straight up causing a slice. No not a slice of pizza (although that sounds quite delicious right about now) a slice that curves from left to right ending you up either on the right side of the green or further more ending you up in the boonies.

Jeff Coston demonstrating the INCORRECT way to bring the club back.

A good thing to help make sure your hands go straight back instead of straight up is to place a tee under your armpit. Make sure you have an adequate amount of deodorant on or else the tee will grow legs and run away. The tee should be under your back armpit, so if you're right handed it would be under your right arm. Try and keep the tee under your arm as you bring the club back and as you strike the ball. This will force you to bring the club back the proper way.

Getting to spend time out on the golf course is great. Getting to move around and feeling like you accomplished something when you make a nice shot is the best. But the worst part is having to sit on my butt and read a book. I'm not the type to sit down with a cup of green tea reading a book. No. I like to go and go and go. I can't stop once I start to move. This kid basically describes me reading my book.

Somebody save him!

The book I am reading is Harvey Penick's Little Red Book by Harvey Penick. It teaches the basic fundamentals of the game to beginners. I am hoping to pick up a few tips and tricks to get me one stroke closer to my goal.

I haven't discussed much about my final goal but I know have it here in numerical terms.

FEB 25-MAR 3: From 6 feet and closer to the hole I have a 52% accuracy in making it in one shot. By the end of week one I want to increase this percentage by at least 10%. Putting tutorials on PGA.com and the book by Harvey Penick will help me achieve this goal.

MAR 4-MAR 11: On March 9th I have a lesson at the Philadelphia Cricket Club with PGA professional Chris Young. Before, during, and after my lesson I will be tape recording, and video recording Chris Young and myself. I will get Young to analyze a tape of my swing and I will have an interview session with him to get helpful advice.

I don't want to plan my schedule too far ahead since I will focus on what makes since each week. If Chris Young suggests I work on bunker game and chipping then the week after March 11th I will do that. Before I meet with Young I am trying to play a round of golf at least once. My scores for each hole will be posted once I complete round.

Now for me to talk about this past week and as I call it the "Epic Fail."First, picture a teenage boy hitting his irons on the driving range. Some I connected with solidly and the others hit off the tip of the club and dipped to the right. So I was about two buckets in and I get this one ball that is cracked and looks like one of those deformed nerds that you get. I didn't want to waste the ball and throw it away because you know, times are tough. I placed the ball down, lined up, took my club back, and drove the head straight into the ball.

It sounded like the noise from George Jetson's car when he drives to work. My ball zoomed to the left so far that I thought it was going to go out of play. Not only did it go out of play but it kept on carrying and was heading straight to the road. I was cringing watching it as the ball struck a car and I heard a loud crash.

Simultaneously I packed my bag up and got the heck out of there. Hopefully they would blame the eighty year old man who hit his six iron a blazing ten feet. After that my week got worse as I was hitting in my basement and goofing off a slight bit and my club smashed into a light bulb.

Yeah, not so good for the first week but you know what they say, it's just the calm before the storm.

http://www.pga.com/golf-instruction/instruction-feature/hybrids-and-irons/swing-station-make-swing-right-video

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvey_Penick

http://www.golf.com/tour-and-news/book-excerpt-little-red-book-harvey-penick-foreword-davis-love-iii