Confessions of a Hacker – Seeking Help
Before we get started on what the seeking help reference alludes to, a little primer on how this new weekly column came to be.
Once upon a time, in Coffs Harbour on the mid north coast of New South Wales, I was a teenager who played a lot of golf. Never scaled any great heights with it, but did sneak down to a 6-handicap all too briefly in 2001 and spent about 4 years hovering around the 8-to-9 mark.
After my university days ended and full-time employment in Canberra beckoned in early 2002, my membership lapsed and until a new one was taken up in May 2010, with only a handful of rounds each year in the interim.
The results upon resuming regular golf (first at Gungahlin Lakes Golf Club, before switching to Yowani Golf Club in September of last year) were disheartening to say the least. Breaking 80 was now the thing of pipe dreams. Indeed, there have been more rounds on the wrong side of 100 than the happy side of 90. Handicap and ego have been delivered comparably large body blows for more than 18 straight months.
Thus here we are – an 18-handicapper fighting the ghosts of competent golf past (and infuriating golf present), who also happens to be a blog writer looking for a weekly column hook that doesn’t involve even more sports tipping. Fish, meet barrel.
Each week I’ll tie a story of (mis)adventure on the links in with a lesson/ moral of the story, some thoughts on what the pros do and maybe a misguided analogy/ joke or two. Will the process be cathartic and usher in a year of improved play and a few strokes shaved off the handicap? Will it turn into a weekly tale of torment revolving around hitting balls 80-100 metres off line and into nearby residential areas? Will Making The Nut’s editor-in-chief Nick Tedeschi veto further instalments of this column inside a month from now? The possibilities are endless. And with that in mind, we kick things off at an old stomping ground of mine – the driving range at Coffs Harbour Golf Club.
“My swing has completely gone to shit. Can you book me in a couple of lesson with Alsy (Coffs Harbour club pro Matt Allan) while I’m up there?” Another weekend of 2 rounds in the mid-90s had left me in no mood for beating around the bush when discussing my game with Dad just prior to heading north for a Christmas holiday. My home-spun theories on faults and fixes were proving frivolous – outside help was clearly needed.
Explaining to a pro exactly how far offline your worst shots are going can take some work – work primarily associated with making them believe a ball is capable of deviating that far off the intended line. Luckily, a round at Coffs the day before provided enough contextual examples to turn any scepticism into bewilderment. Or maybe that was a bad thing.
At any rate, out came a bucket of balls and a 6-iron. No more than half a dozen balls were struck before:
“I know exactly what you’re doing wrong….. out of interest, what are you playing off?”
“18, but I can’t play even close to it at the moment.”
“You’re going to have a really good year. Your swing is good – it’s your posture at address that’s causing the problem.”
Turns out my head was buried into my chest too much at address, which meant it got shunted out of the way by my left shoulder during the backswing, then flicked forward again on the downswing. As any golfer will tell you, head movement is the silent killer of consistent golf shots – and potentially any flora and fauna which would ordinarily be a safe distance from the flight path of even a reasonably errant golf ball.
The instructions were to lift my head up at address and then keep it still, let the left shoulder tuck under it on the backswing and only let it shift to follow the path of the ball well after impact. The ‘new’ swing still feels a little odd and there are occasional lapses (usually at the most inopportune of times), but it is already bearing some fruit. Nearby residents and motorists appear to feel much safer and are going about their weekend business more confidently.
Importantly, I could have had 100 guesses and not come up with a ‘buried head at address’ as the diagnosis. One lesson (and a 10-minute check-up the following week) will probably do more for my game in 2012 than a new driver, new set of irons or any other significant spend could have done. Not to mention being substantially cheaper.
It goes without saying that tour professionals are in frequent contact with their coaches, either on the range at a Tour event, on the practice range between tournaments or even on the phone if teacher and pupil are in separate locations for a period. It also goes without saying that your standard club member can’t afford such an arrangement. But what can you reasonably afford?
Take a pen and paper and sketch out how much you spend each year on golf (rough numbers are fine) by various line items – the amount spent on annual membership, competition fees, golf clubs, balls, other accessories, etc. Add these numbers up. In the majority of cases, I’d wager you have a 4-figure number written down.
Now ask yourself this – is there a case for adding another $100-250 to that ‘golf budget’ and getting 2-4 lessons per year? You’re already investing plenty of time, effort and money into your golfing habit – is something that could improve your game (and by extension, your enjoyment) worth an extra outlay? Or alternatively, would a few lessons be a better way to spend the existing budget than buying a new putter or driver? I’m sure your cat would enjoy getting kicked less frequently when you get home after a round.
To slightly manipulate a well-worn cliché, not all teaching pros are born equal. If you are inclined to find a pro to book in a few visits per year with, do your due diligence. Look for a local AAA-rated professional and just as importantly, one that explains things in a way you easily understand.
Practicing frequently after a lesson is also important. Swing changes are never easy and you’ll probably go backwards before you go forwards, so speed the process up by practicing frequently until the new lessons learnt start to feel more natural. This will also help you focus on the swing changes themselves and not worry about a few inevitable poor shots, rather than ruing the prospect of another MF-ing triple bogey on the card (an issue we’ll tackle in about 32 different columns on the mental aspects of golf).
If you’re like most golfers, striving to improve your game and reduce the ol’ handicap is part of your mantra. And the shortest distance between the current and desired points often passes through helping yourself (by practicing) and asking learned others for help.
