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 When I committed to play in a golf tournament in Michigan this summer, I thought it would be a good excuse to get in shape, tune my game and make an effort to play my best. But I wasn't prepared for the growing pains. Prodding myself to break a sweat, following a stretching routine and watching what I eat has been a minor inconvenience. I feel stronger, more flexible, have more energy and have lost some weight. Those are all good things. Feeling hopeless and confused on the range and course are bad things, however. Do you know what it's like to stand on a tee and have no idea where the ball is going because you have a thousand negative thoughts racing through your head? For the past 15 years I had settled into a comfortable zone where 80 had become my par. On a good day, my score dipped into the 70s; on a mediocre one, 85 was about as high as it went. It was good enough for the occasional round with my buddies, but I knew that neither my game nor my body could be expected to hold up over four days of tournament competition. Last month, Dale Abraham from East Valley Golf Club in Beaumont worked on my backswing. After a month of practice, I'm proud to say that Abraham gave my backswing an A-plus. Unfortunately, my body is revolting and my habits are reverting to the old days. The result is a gnarly mess of flailing limbs and thrusting hips. Abraham said my spine looked like the letter "C" with the top and bottom trying to get to the ball and the middle bowing away from it. He illustrated the proper posture by taking a shaft and tucking it in the back of my belt and through the strap in my cap. As I made slow, small swings, I felt different muscles working but my spine wanted to bend that shaft in the worst way. The new motion felt good and completely foreign at the same time. The drill was also a great deterrent because arching my back caused my cap to get ripped off my head. The whole process was frustrating and humbling -like a deer trying to skate. I was a golf dork hopelessly looking for the secret. "You have to look at what you do for eight to 10 hours a day," Abraham said. "You sit in front of a computer with your back arched and your shoulders hunched forward in a bad posture position with your tail end tucked underneath you. It becomes your body's comfortable position and it wants to work itself back there. "Unfortunately, that's not the proper posture for hitting a golf shot." Abraham said I should try sitting on the edge of a chair with my chest up while at my desk. "Do it for five minutes," he said. "It's harder than you think." He's right. It's like trying to learn the golf swing all over again from scratch. Unfortunately, I have 27 years of preconceived ideas of what I think I should be doing during the swing, and the battle is a bloody mess. While battling my body during a recent round, I hit a ball out of bounds on four consecutive holes with a wicked hook. I was ready to revert to my old swing, which would have guaranteed me an 85, but my instructor put it in perspective. "Your backswing is a whole lot better," Abraham said. "A month ago, you were two-and-a-half feet across the line with the driver. Now you're only a couple inches. Unfortunately, the backswing is independent of the downswing. When you tuck your tail and stand up during the downswing, the club shallows and comes too much from the inside. Your only hope was to hold on with the face open or release it and hit those hooks. We have to keep that spine angle consistent for you to take the next step." I guess it's time to hold on to my hat and head back for more drills. Hopefully the next step comes soon. This one hasn't been a lot of fun. |
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