I played a round of golf today at Keysgate Golf Club in Homestead, FL with my good friends Hurchell and Marc. I was excited because it was the first time we were playing at this facility. I love playing new courses. My collection of club logo balls is growing. I am up to 35 as of this post. It should be more, but there have been a few pro shops that did not have one available.

Marc had to work in the morning and we had to rush to make our tee time. As a result, we did not have time to hit balls before the round. We got to the course, paid for our round, and went straight to the first tee. Hurchell lives near the course so he was warmed up and ready to go by the time we got there. It ended up being a rainy afternoon, so on top of not being warmed up, we had to deal with soggy course conditions.

I was disappointed that I did not get a chance to warm up because I wanted to work on some things in my swing that Mike Southern of the Ruthless Golf blog had pointed out too me. Mike is doing a four part series on my swing demonstrating how to get rid of the over the top swing or the “loop” as I like to call it.

In part 2 of Mike’s dissection of my swing, he pointed out a few quirks in my takeaway that were causing my loop. The areas were:

* Dexter has an over-the-top swing because he gets his hands in a bad position early on.

* He gets them in this bad position because he bends his right elbow too soon.

* He bends his right elbow too soon because he doesn’t turn his shoulders early enough in the backswing.

* If we teach him how to turn his shoulders properly, then his elbow won’t bend too soon, which means his hands won’t go to that bad position and he’ll stop swinging over the top.

The following stills illustrate what Mike is talking about. The black lines are where the club should be. As you can see, my right elbow is tucked into my side and bent way too early in the takeaway. Even Marc, who has no real idea of swing mechanics, pointed this out to me on the tee box.

In Mike’s next post(part 3), he will give me and my fellow loopers(not caddies, but guys & gals like me who swing over the top) some drills to work on to help cure our ugly swings. Now that I understand why I am coming over the top, these drills should help to ingrain the proper technique in my takeaway in order to stay on the proper plane throughout the swing.

The following is footage of my approach shot into the 18th green. The loop is evident but I have to stick with it until I get the drills from Mike. The flag was placed on the top level of a two-tiered green. Unfortunately I hit it onto the bottom tier. This left me with a difficult 45 foot putt uphill to save par(I hit a bad tee shot and had to chip out on the prior shot). So what do think? Do I make it? Check it out.

Have a good round and always hit your target.

P.S. Marc wanted to make sure that he received credit for his camera work. So…Thank You Marc!

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I just finished watching last week’s episode of the Big Break, Dominican Republic. This season features former contestants from prior Big Break competitions. It is a team competition. A battle of the sexes for a chance at $ 50,000.

The one thing that stuck out in my mind was the mindset of Brian Skatell and how it hurts his game. The other players call him “The Ticking Time Bomb.” Brian calls himself “the most intelligent and analytical” of the group and ironically his smarts gets in the way.

Brian is the “analytical” golfer. He analyzes every shot and every situation. On top of that, he is a perfectionist. When things do not work out in his favor, he self implodes. Whenever he hits a bad shot, he gets so down on himself, it ruins any chance of hitting a good one on his next shot.

I find my self doing the same time when I am practicing and during a round. When I hit a bad shot, I get really angry. I do not throw clubs or start offering up a series of expletives, but I can definitely feel the blood starting to boil in my veins.

I guess it is because I know I can hit the shot. I have done it before, so why can’t I do it every time? The fact is, even the pros have mishits from time to time. If the pros do it, why should I, an amateur who has only been playing for three and a half years, put so much pressure on himself?

The answer, I am a perfectionist like Brian. I want to be good now and if I am not then I am trying to figure out why. I feel like the guy in the picture above. Way too much thinking going on for only 1.5 seconds. Way too many expectations.

Most pros, when asked what they are thinking about during their swing will say, “nothing.” I guess they know and understand that the only one that can get in the way of a good swing is their own negative thoughts.

Sometimes we have to learn from other peoples mistakes. Watching Brian get so frustrated with himself reminded me not explode after a bad shot. Bad shots are going to happen. What matters most is what I do next. I can choose to let my frustrations simmer in my belly, causing another bad shot or I can let it slide and move on.

Ben Hogan said, “the most important shot in golf is the next one.” I have to be ready physically and mentally for the next shot at hand. What happened on the last shot no longer matters. I can’t change it, so why worry about it?

David MacKenzie, who publishes Golf State Of Mind has this article about the best swing thoughts to have during your swing. He gives the reader great advice on how to clear the mind of useless thoughts that deliver unwanted results.

I have received some valuable instruction and now it is time to commit to what I have learned and trust it. My mind can be my own worst enemy if I allow it. My mind can also be my greatest asset. I like assets. The more assets you have to more you can build and grow and right now I’m trying to build a better golf game.

Have a great round and always hit your target.

Image courtesy of Swingology Golf Schools

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