Tom Courage's blog

Every Shot Should Have a Purpose

This is an outline of a book written by Anika Sorenstam's coaches.

Ch 1. Purpose:different approach to game. Controllable goals. Practice with a purpose, structured so as to resemble the game of golf.

Ch 2. Physical, Technical,Mental, Emotional, Social: all are important. Vision 54 is a commitment to a process to make 54 possible. Bad thoughts can lead to a bad swing.

Ch 3. Think Box/Play Box. Balance left and right sides of brain.

Ch 4. This shot is all that matters. Drill: 1 pt for fairway, GIR, par, up and down. (Train for full focus each shot.)

Ch 5: state intentions of each shot out loud.

Ch 6. Golf ball tossing drill: recognize signs of fear and doubt.

Ch 7. Post-shot routine: Anger => Stupid. Associate w/good shots; Disassociate from bad. Rank reaction. Drill, no reaction golf.

Ch 8 Blame game. Victim? Is that true? What can I do about it?

Ch 9 Total commitment to ntarget. No fear.

Ch 10. Practice: different club,target,every shot. Practice course shots in order on range. Chip & putt. 18 hole par 2.

Ch 11. Play w/ purpose. Honesty=>trust. Try 9 aggressive, 9 strategic holes.9 hitting front of green, nine beyond hole.

Ch 12. 30 seconds in think box, 5 in play box, then mind on vacation, be self

Ch 13. Putting, believe line seen behind ball.Game: 3 pts 20 foot putt, 2 points for 1 putt, 1 oibt fir outt eyond hole w/in club length

Ch 14. Get ball in hole, pretty doesn't matter. Divide course into 6 3-hole courses; play ch4 pt game

 

+Flogblog Log

This is a journal of golf outings in 2008.

 

October 19

I played 18 with Fred Van Liew on a cold blustery day with a strong wind out of the north. What am I doing out here, I thought, but Fred seemed to have no such reservations, so I kept going. It turns out he was thinking exactly the same thing. Though I had on my green Agawam lined windbreaker, I was still freezing. My play improved around the eighth hole, when I became completely numb. I had a strong back nine, and found that a strong follow-through really helped.

October 12

Not playing much, due to this continuing mange that completely saps all energy. On this Sunday, Hollie and I went out and played nine holes, using a cart. I really felt like I was dragging. I hit the ball ok but couldn't putt to save my life. On the ninth hole I was standing there for several seconds, deciding whether to throw my club. I decided not to.

October 5th

Hollie and I went out to practice at Carnegie today--to tired to play. I practiced on bunkers. Out of 50 shots I got five out. When I looked later at my instructions I realized that I was not keeping my hips and shoulders level, which may have caused me to hit too far behind th ball.

September 21

Have continued to be under the weather and have not played sine the 12th. I did have a lesson today, on Bunker play, written up in Flogblog.

 

September 12

Played 18 at Carnegie with Bill Jennings, Tom Godfray and Whip Seaman. We again played in carts on a cloudy, breezy day, which was good because I felt awful, no energy, somewhat inflamed, and my right shoulder ached. A bit strange that I played the best round I ever have with a true 91. (A previous 92 was scored by Bob Menard, a factor that seemed to take a couple of strokes off the score. This round I kept complete control of my ball, using one ball for the entire round. On my one triple bogey (on seven) I was just off the green in three. I hit a bunch of greens from about 175 with my seven wood. Only two pars, but then only two doubles, and a ton of bogeys. I concentrated on keeping down and slowing the tempo (counting to a slow three from the beginning before letting the backswing go). I putted from off the green whenever possible and got the ball reasonably close most of the time, one notable exception being on six, where my putt went into the left bunker. However, I still got up and down for a bogey. My one chip was fair, and I didn't do any short pitches.

September 7

Played 18 at Carnegie with Hollie, John and Irene. It was a spectacular clear day following a very foggy one. I was on the front end of an energy sapping cold and did not play well--would say I was at about 107. Nice dinner afterwards.We played using carts, which helped everyone get around.

September 1

Hollie and I played 9 at Carnegie. Her pitching and chipping was incredible. I was tired and didn't play that well.

August 31

Hollie and I practiced at Carnegie

August 25

18 at Carnegie with Peter Gross and Jack Sutherland

August 23

9 at Carnegie with Hollie

August 14

7 at Agawam alone

August 13

16 at Agawam alone

August 12

Hollie away until 16th. 5 alone at Agawam. Tired. 

August 10th

Practiced chipping and putting then played five holes alone at Carnegie. On the first, I topped my second shot (got to stay down on downhill lies and hit into hazard, for eventual eight. Bogeyed the rest. On two a decent tee shot stopped by the wind, then a not too bad pitch over the mound front right, then two putts. On three, I attempted a draw but blocked it right, surprisingly over the stone wall. A very good seveniron cleared the tree on the right and left me pin high to the right of the green. My putt was too weak and dove left; then two putts fro the bog.. On four, good drive, and a seven wood to the right and beyond the greenside bunker. Stubbed the first chip; second five feet beyond the hole. "That's better", yelled Scott, watching from the third tee. Holed nice five foot putt for the bog.

Ran into Scott in the parking lot, who advised: 1)stand closer to hole for a more up and down path, and 2) hold set of wrists--I had let them turn over.

 

August 9th

Practiced chipping for an hour. Practiced piching--not good, skulled repeatedly--am letting hands to relase and turn over.

August 8

My fourth lesson with Scott. We covered chipping and had started work on pitching when the stormarrived

August 4

Played 18 alone at Agawam, shot 100. Hit well, the usual wastage around the greens. On 14 my second shot over the trees after a short tee shot ended up six feet from the hole.

August 2

Played 18 at CA with Fred van Liew. Got a sandy on 16 when my tee shot went into the left bunker. First tee shot--still in left bunker. Second tee shot--in the hole. Also happy with 19: after a strong drive and a disappointing wedge 20 feet short of green, the putt from off the green went in for a birdie. I played much better than the 101 I scored. Just too many shots thrown a way. E.g. a really nice tee shot to ten feet from a difficult back center pin placement. Yes, putting the hole at the top of a ridge is unfair, but still, a four putt for a double is a bit infuriating

July 28

I dropped Hollie off at the golf clinic at Carnegie and played a quick 18, starting on the fourth hole. Did not play as well, but did par 14, bogeyed 15 and 16. I didn't even see anyone until I got back to the first hole, and then it bogged down, slowing my sub-three hour rate of play. I'm pretty sure I had another sub three hour round at Carnegie but I can't figure out when it was.

July 25

Played at Agawam with Ned and Peter Gross. I was very happy with my game, shooting 48-46-94. I parred 11 with a nice short pitch from the right, and I parred 12, reaching the green with my second shot, a three wood.

July 20

A little cooler today--low 90's. After watching Harrington pull away quickly from Old Man Norman, Hollie and I made it to the first tee around 11, so we could get through the first nimne before a Husband Wife shotgun (think about that) beginning at one. I got mostly bogeys, and could have shot really low if I cold have gotten up and down on more holes (I did on five, but failed on one, two, four, six and nine.) I am swinging well and very relaxed in balance and with a good finish. I was particularly happy with my tee shot on four, which I drew into a stiff southwesterly and put it way out there. We finished by one, skipping the eight to make it. We needn't have bothered, the assemblage was receiving instruction at the Outlook when we drove by. I met Randy Millen's wife.

July 19

On a sweltering day in the mid-90's, Hollie and I played 1-8 at Carnegie. To deal with the heat and to move us around the course, we took a cart and started around 5, taking a shower and having dinner afterwards--a good way to deal with it, as it was almost pleasant by the time we started. Played reasonably well. Hollie's tee shots are amazing--she now has to use a three wood off the first tee or she reached the wetland. She also used her new utitily club to good advantage--she can hit it out of the rough.

July 16

Played 1-7 and 15-16 at Agawam with Bill Jennings and Tom Godfray on a steamy night. I was very tired and did not play well, finding ways to get doubles on most holes.

July 14

I played  back nine at CA while Hollie went to ladies clinic.Butch Harmon looked at her swing and had only one word of advice: beautiful.

My round was quite enjoyable. Played nine in an hour and a half. Mainly bogeys. Game is coming along.I was quite happy.

 

 July 13

Played nine at CA with Hollie. Her driving was incredible, other shots less good. But we had fun and ate lunch at eh Club.

July 9

On another very hot evening (Hollie turned down the chance to play) Bill Jennings and I played nine holes at the Agawam. Hard to believe that the competitors in the Rhode Island Amateur played 36 holes in this heat. Bill and I started a little later than usual so it wold cool off some. A slow group was scatterred all over the hill on the first hole, so we walked out to six and played six through twelve, then crossed the street and played fifteen and sixteen. We were both pretty bad. I couldn't hit a tee shot to save my life. I did scramble for a nice par on nine after a tee shot into the trees on the right. Other than that, not much I care to remember, apart from the good company.

July 7

The Kent Hospital charity tournament is typically on a miserably hot summer day at Potowomet, and today was not an exception. Tish had to leave for a wake in Boston anfter about twelve holes, and Marilyn was happy to leave then too. Ned and I had a great time. He was hitting the ball extremely well. It was a scramble, so it was hard to measure our progress. As a team, we ended up with an 84--not bad, a fair number of pars balanced against the bogeys.

July 6

On a very hot and humid day, Hollie and I played five holes at Carnegie. Nothing particularly memorable to report for either of us.

July 3

Played with Randy Millen and Ben Conway at Agawam. Randy is club champion at Carnegie; Ben is a caddie there, and a member of the URI golf team. We played with Peter Shank, who was able to offer a little more insight regarding the course than me. Both Randy and Ben will be plaing in the RI Amateur championship at Agawam the following week, and I invited them to get another look at the course before that. It was great to watch really good players tackle the course. I was up and down, did manage to reach fifteen in three, several others in regulation, and I got up and down to par eighteen. Although the temperature was in the high eighties, a steady breeze kept it pretty comfortable the entire time.

June 28

On a steamy Saturday I played eighteen at Carnegie with Bill Jennings and Whip Seaman. I shot 99, the first time in a while I have broken 100. On nine I san a 110 foot putt for a birdie. I had a couple other pars, a fair number of bogeys, and more triple bogeys than I care to remember--the holes I blew I really blew.

June 25

Played at the Hinckley Allen Snyder outing at Newport Coountry Club, with Mick DeFanti, Bill Hatfield and Ronnie Picerne, great Company. These guys are all good golfers and the first objective I set for myself was to have one of my shots actually count in our composite round. I got better as we went, and my best hole as 17, a long difficult par four, where all four of my shots were counted toward the score. A very long putt on 18 lipped out. I had a great drive on 15, and a 85 yard pitching wedge on an earlier hole that ended twelve inches from the hole.

June 22

After my lesson I played 1-5 and 9 alone at Carnegie. I am hitting further and will have to reclub myself. After the fifth there seemed to be a logjam and I just walked to the ninth, hoping nobody was in my way, and I teed off from the ladies tee. I slammed it with my new swing, and was a bit startled to find myself 133 years from the hole. I was glad to be way out there because a twosome did in fact come up behind me. I bought a hot dog and a beer at the new halfway house (which I love) and watched the twosome, who turned out to be Dennis Slutsky and his son, who knew Nick Wall at Wheeler. We had a most ejoyable conversation.

June 21

Carnegie closed due to CVS sponsor tournament, Hollie away in Seattle, played 1-5 alone at Agawam. Hitting OK, putting terribly. Getting doubles, even when reaching green in regulation. The greens are like marble floors.

June 18

A long golfless stretch, due to tournaments, heat, rain and a visit to my mother. Finally got in 11 with Bill Jennings at Agawam after work. The range was closed so I couldn't really awaken my swing. Instead I putted for twenty minutes, treying the Galway drill of walking to the hole with my eyes shut, then walking back and putting it. I did better with length, but that may have been because the greens were cut razzor short for the Agawam's three day the Weekend before. I tried putting in the Y configuration to get better contact, which helped slightly. I parred five, bogeyed 16 and 18, doubled (or worse) the rest. As we were finishing up four, a caravan of carts parked itself across five and the occupants climbed up the hill on the left. What's up, I asked. They were doing some kind of measurement for Gil Hanse. We'renot in his way exclaimed Peter Reid in a tone that I considered to be somewhat surly. Scratch him from my list.

 

June 8

Even hotter. We were just going to have lunch, but brought the bags down just in case. Met someone named Shaunessy at lunch. We played three to the top and left. I was hitting the ball pretty well, I thought.

June 7. Nine holes at Carnegie with Hollie. Ninety degrees. We walked and carried our bags. Play was indifferent, but hey, it was pretty good to be out there at all. 

June 1

Nine holes at Carnegie with Hollie. Saturday was a complete washout, and Sunday morning the fog was completely opaque, but as predicted, the fog broke and it became a beautiful day. After twenty minutes of practice, we went out to Carnegie to play nine. I was pretty bad--very tired. Hollie struggled a bit with her short game but hit her full swing extremely well. She even bogeyed the long uphill ninth, hitting every shot solidly and capping it off with a nice chip and putt. On my sixth stroke I was approximately in the middle of a long siege in one of the three bunkers.  I mainly got double bogeys except for that blowout hole.

 

May 28

Played eleven at Agawam with Bill Jennings on a spectacular afternoon. The eleven we played (1-7 and 15-18) included most of the hardest holes on the course. I hit the ball very well and was three over bogey on the eleven holes (seven bogeys, one par, two double-bogeys, one triple). Decent putting would have gotten me at or below bogey. I left everything short, partly because the greens were slow, and partly because I didn't hit the putts solidly.

Here are the highlights. After hearing my first shot brush some leaves on the par three sixteenth, I hit a provisional shot, which we couldn't see as the evening turned darker. Approaching the green, my second tee shot turned out to be six inches from the hole, and would have been an easy tap-in bogey had Bill not found my first lying in an unpleasant sidehill lie in the rough (while looking for his). I wondered whether the rules would allow me to declare my first unfindable after he had already in fact found it. (I turned my back to get a club, it was dark, etc.) I played the first and got the bogey anyway.

I hit the 18th green in regulation for about the third time ever. I also hit the 17th in regulation. I was just off the miserable par five 15th on my third shot, which took three good shots. I was on the 7th in regulation. I was on the very difficult sixth in one over regulation, a result that more than satisfies me.   Unfortunately, I three-putted all five of these holes.

The only par was on the par five fourth. After a decent drive I scuffed the second shot, leaving me a 175 yard shot from the rough over trees to get to the green. A nice seven wood left me pin high ten feet away, and for once I got down in two. Apart from the putting, I don't think I've ever played better. Of course we did play from the white tees, which are slightly easier.

May 26

A fabulous round. On the way to the first tee we ran into the Buckwalters heading up the first fairway. They invited us to join them, and after playing three we walked back down to the fifth tee and finished the round with them. I started out indifferently, but the hot dog at the halfway point seemed to really launch my game. On fourteen, Stan and his friend (Lisi? doesn't sound quite right) joined us. Stan asked whether Buck might treat the hole as the seventeenth, inasmuch as Stan would only be playing that round. So Buck (needing no more encouragement) offered up his famous toast to the Founders. Hollie, Stan and his friend went intothe Golfhouse after this hole--thirteen holes is more than she has played while walking and carrying. I was hitting the ball extremely well, getting mainly bogeys. The Buckwalters are great company, the golf was gratifying, the weather perfect, a hard day to beat.

May 25

Hollie and I practiced for an hour plus at Carnegie. After spinning out like crazy warming up, I mainly worked on swinging in balance, and then on hitting the ball in the correct impact position.

May 24 (Saturday of Memorial Day Weekend)

Played five holes at Carnegie with Hollie. Played ok. Learning about working the ball--what and what not to try. Fading the ball to the fifth hole is a bad idea--the ball worked back to land but bounced off the slope back into the hazard. At least with the pin on tthe left (as it was) better to let the ball tral over land and try draw it in.

May 18

Practiced some more, getting better with the new moves. It seems like significant changeses are best practiced at home without a ball. I've been doing that and am very happy with the feel of the new swing, and am anxious to try it on the course. I ate lunch at the Golf House bar and met Dr. Nolan, whom I had not met.

May 17

I practiced for an hour, not doing that well with the short-swing to impact drill. I did find, however, that I was getting a lot better at working the ball both ways. I went out and played eight holes, focusing on working the ball. I didn't do that well with it, but it did seem like a very powerful idea. On the sixth I was able to draw the ball, getting it pretty far down the left side of the fairway. I then hung a fade out over the left bunker and got it to land in fronof the green. It was an aha moment.

May 16

Lesson is covered elsewhere on this site.

After the lesson I went out on a "practice with the pro" event, and played with Steve Napoli, Peter O Brien, Daniel and Joan Levangie (very nice people whom I had not met) and Nancy Mayer. We played 1-6 and then 13, abandoning the thought to play 14 when the rain stepped up. I played ok, starting with a bunch of bogeys, then fading as fatigue overtook me. Work these days is knocking me out by week's end.

May 9

Played a most enjoyable round at Agawam with Ned, Paul Mooney and Ned's friend Dan. New swing worked well when I let it. I just missed a hole in one on 2, ending with a par; also parred 4. I didn't keep score but I would say I shot a 47 on the front 9, despite the bumpy greens.

May 7

Played 1-5 and 16-18 with Bill Jennings, Gerry Knowles and Tom Godfrey. Shot 12 over on the eight holes, with plenty of room for improvement. Greens were again like pinball. Audie Jeninnings joined us on 17 and 18.Arnie Yasinski was out playing with his wife, Adele.

May 6

Beautiful evening. Hollie and I went out to practice after work at the Agawam. Warmed up hitting balls on the range, then moved to the green. I am still struggling with the "drop" of the arms Scot is trying to teach me (drop before moving the lower body). For some reason, the way I am doing it is draining out the power. I was hitting pitching wedeges further by just bringing the club back into the "dropped" position than I did on the full swing. I need to have Scot look at this.

The I moved to the green. After finding the flattest spot I could find, I did experiments attempting to relate the putting backswing to the length of the putt. I have been trying to do everything by feel for fifteen years and it just hasn't happened, so I thought I'd try some systematic mechanics. Results, today, on Agawam putting green: backswing 2 inches, putt of one and a half yards; 3 inches . 2 yards; four inches, 3 yards, five inches 3.5 yards.

Then I tried chipping from just off the green, just checking for total distance, all chips landing on green. I chipped from a fairly square stance, ball off the back foot, club back to eight o'clock (facing me). Distances: sand wedge, 7 yards; pitching wedge, 14 yards; 9 iron, 18 yards; 8 iron, 21 yards. Results with all clubs were consistent, except the obvious flubs.

Ran into Bruce Moger, who I have known for 50+ years. Bruce was in my Cub Scout den in Riverside, Connecticut. We played baseball together. He wants to play more golf this year. Bruce captained the Brown basketball team, and at some point  played against Alcindor. Bruce is a congenial golf partner and I am making a note of his desire to play more.

May 1: Played 11 holes (1, 3-7, 8,9,14-16) with Bill Jennings at Ag. For first 9 we played I was 2 over bogey (bogeys, ecept two doubles). This was with a lot of three putts on slow aerated greens. Hit every fairway pretty much down middle with good length, good irons, fairway wood not hit with confidence, chipping decent, putts short. Quite pleased with new swing. Increasingly evident that flares to right result from tension and failure to make full turns, and it mainly happens on tight shots. (Whether you think you can or you can't, you're right.) After seven we crossed the street to see  how eight has been radically cleared--looks much different. Had an Old Speckled Hen (Beer) in greenside bar afterwards--worth remembering.

April 26, 2008

Practiced at Carnegie with Hollie for an hour and a half, working mainly on the dropping the hands move, trying not to throw the hip out at the same time. Then we went to the short game area and I workd on Scott's idea of chipping by keeping the butt of the clubhead pointing to the body throughout the shot. I found I made consistent contact doing that, ditto with putts, though I have to learn to calibrate the distances. Then we played five holes. I parred one, really pleased that my tee shot went almost all the way to the wetland, thirty or forty yerds further than my usual drive. Then a seven iron to the mounds near the fairway bunkers, an iron to the right of the green and a pitch to just off the green, pin way back, then sunk a twelve footer from just off. On two, my tee shot was on the green, but very poor putting gave me a five. An so forth. I was pleased to be hitting the full shots very well, and to have a method showing promise on other shots.

Apr 23: 1-5@ Ag w/Hollie

Apr 20: 1-5 @Ag w/ Godfray

Apr 20: Practice @ CA 1 hour w/ Hollie

Apr 19 18 @ CA w/ Fred, shot 101. C caddie, Shawn (Tiverton HS student). Bogeyed 16-18. Shot 101.

Apr 18: 1-7, 15-16 w/ Jennings & Godfray

Apr 16: 1-5 @Ag w/ Hollie

Apr 15: 1-5 @Ag w/ Hollie

Apr 13: Lesson @ CA

Apr 6: 1-7, 15-18 alone @ Ag

Mar 30: 1-6, 9 w/ Hollie @ CA; bogeyed five from in water.

March 9: 18 holes w/ same at Creek Course, Hammock Dunes.

Mar 8: 18 holes w/ John, Irene and Hollie @Links Course, Hammock Dunes.

Feb 2: Two holes w/ Hollie @ CA, interrupted by swirling snow.

Jan 12: Alone @ Agawam (Hollie still not feeling well); 1-5, 17,18. Eight over in seven holes.

Jan 6: Alone @ CA (Hollie not feeling well); mainly doubles or more, parred 7, bogeyed 8

January 5, 2008: Nine @Carnegie w/ Hollie, OK, more bogeys than doubles.

  

Flog Blog

 

This is a collection of golf and golf swing thoughts over the course of the year.

2008

April 6

2008 is going to be my make or break year in golf. I know, those around me have heard this before. But this time it’s really true, much more true than any previous time anyone ever heard the same thing. All those previous corners I turned—those were faux corners, signifying nothing, at least not anything good.

So what is different than before? Well, I’ve committed to a bunch of lessons from our club head teaching pro. I’ve even already paid for them. I may fail, but it isn’t because I didn’t put my money where my mouth was. Remember, I said make or break. Break it might be, but it will only be after every effort has been made.

Also, to get better you have to focus on learning and practicing, as opposed to playing. Like most, my desire is to take the clubs out on the course and play. But last year I got pretty tired of going out there and getting my clock cleaned and my wallet emptied. So I don’t care that much about playing until I have a game to take to the course.

I am a mid 20’s handicapper. Neither a totally terrible nor a decent golfer. My goal for this year is to become somewhere between decent and good. Getting down to an 18 handicap would be fine; getting to a 15 would be great. The pro is very confident that my athleticism will make this a snap. Had my athleticism made more progress in the fifteen years I have been playing I might agree with him.

This blog will start with my 90 minute conference with Scott on April 5th. We went over my goals and he set forth approaches to each of them. I will be working on a draw. Early in the year we will work a lot on ball flight, not worrying as much about where the shot ends up.

On Sunday, April 6th I played eleven holes at the Agawam. I worked on ball flight and was pretty pleased with the result. I carried my heavy bag, because I have been getting tired, and I thought  a little overload training would be good. I was pretty happy with the result.

April 7

At my periodic checkup this morning I told my doctor about my exhaustion on the course, and my strategy of combatting this by overtraining. He said if I lost weight I wouldn't be so exhausted. OK, for golf I'll do it.

Last night I ordered a golf book from Amazon.I pushed a "purchase now" button and discovered that I was committed to pay more for delivery than the book itself. Because I did not have my amazon password at home I couldn't undo it. Oh well, now I know, and at least I'll get the book quickly.

April 13

The book I have been reading is good. My second time through it I'll post some notes to help me remember the high points.

I took my first lesson with Scott today. First he had me hit soft chips. Instead of using my arms he had me pivoting, club always pointing to my stomach. It worked well.

Then the full swing. Back to two o' clock, then sharply up then complete turn then let club drop, hands all the way down to hips then clear hips and fire away. It seems to take a LONG time for the hands to drop so far, and my hands didn't feel loaded up when it happened.

On the range I used the new takeaway, not the drop, and smoked a bunch of drives, drawing some, fading some, relatively on purpose.

When I got home I did the takeawy move just back to Scott's release point (hands at hips) and it felt pretty powerful. Then some full swings and drops--getting better.

May 16

Work has been so crazy I debated all week whether to cancel my Friday  afternoon lesson with Scott. I really didn't want to, because his tournament schedule would have put off my next lesson for longer than I would have hoped. My first had been mid-April, and I was trying to stay close to mid-May. Anyway the lesson was held as planned.

Scott seemed happy with my takeaway and swing, except that he corrected some over rotation of the wrists on the takeway which was causing me to take the club back in a laid off position. The major point of this lesson is sometimes referred to by golf pros as keeping a firm left side. My strong tendancy had been to let the left hip bulge out to the point that the swing basically collapsed at the end. He wanted me to allow the weight to transfer to the left side while dropping the club, at this point keeping the left leg as a post to rotate around while making the golf swing. After the drop was pretty much done, I could start the power start of the swing, not by throwing the left hip out but by turning it towards and through the target line. This is, again, a swing that involves less lateral movement. When my weight shifts to the left, I absorb it with my instep, holding the foot and leg in place. When the upper body carries around, my weight will roll over the left foot to its outside, something that had never happened before.

One other change: Scott is looking for three ball positions, in the middle on the 9-P, part way to the front foot on the 5 to 7 iron, and left instep on the woods.He also suggested practicing coming to the impact position after short backswings.

May 30

The May 16th lesson seems to be assimilating. The results are good. I won't know until the next lesson whether I am incorporating some incorrect moves into the swing. Some degree of this is to be expected. This is one reason why six lessons makes sense.

The drop of the arms before the pivot is much more natural to me now that it has been clarified that I can load up the weight on the left leg as the arms drop, just so long as I hold the pivot until the drop has been completed. The pivot is a much more controlled move than it was--more of a turn of the hips than just throwing the hips out laterally, though there has to be some lateral movement associated with the change in the spine angle. When I swing in the living room, what I am now watching most closely is the left side, trying to keep it much straighter as it takes on weight. I can feel the soul of my foot driving straight into the ground. Then the pivot, and the swing then happens whether I want it to or not. It is really the pivot that I should try to delay. The leverage that the pivot creates cannot be resisted by conscious thought.

The swing has a much more level feel than before. The up-and-downness of the swing comes from the arms, with the shoulders and trunk remaining much closer to the same plane. Hopefully fewer moving parts will produce a more consistent swing path.

I am finding it interesting that other people who have been taking lessons from Scott have been telling me completely different things about what they are being taught. I pay no attention whatsoever to what he has been telling anybody else. Obviously different swings warrant different instructions. I don't even start telling anybody  what I am hearing. I frankly doubt that very many people are getting such detailed, analytical instruction, or such a complete overhaul--or so it feels to me, anyway. In any event I have made the largest swing changes in the fifteen or so years since I started playing, and it seems to be paying off. At least my wife says my swing now looks like a golf swing. That's reassuring. It is child's play to delude myself. My wife is a different story altogether.

 

June 11

I've been very busy and it was very hot last weekend, so I haven't played as much golf as I would like (well, when do I ever, anyway--but no need to be churlish, I am a very fortunate human being overall).

The swing seems much more centrally balanced than it was. When I let the club drop and let the weight drift over the left leg, I am actually pulling the left knee in a bit and keeping the weight on the inside of the left leg. Then, as the pivot occurs my weight rolls over on the left side of the left foot and the swing center  passes the foot. (Previously the left foot could not resist stepping out in front of me--another baseball move.)

I scheduled another lesson on Sunday, June 15th and need to decide what to do. Maybe Scott will have a suggestion. I'm sure I could work on the full swing all summer, and one thing we haven't done is video tape it. I suspect I am now losing the most strokes around the green. My chipping is better; but my putting is not. I am still having diffiiculty making solid contact with the putter, very often topping the ball and leaving it short. (Short to long ratio must be at least 5 to 1.) A very long putt is very likely a three putt. The CA greens are large, and while I am getting on in regulation more often, I am giving a lot of strokes back on the green.

June 18

Tried the Galway putting drill of walking to the hole with my eyes shut. Surprisingly, I was consistently one to two feet by the hole. This is obviously not getting translated down to my hands, or maybe it is that I am getting poor contact. Staring at the hole and getting it in my mind helps. Anyway, the thing makes sense; basketball players don't look at their hands when they shoot. I practiced this at the square patch of green at the Agawam (between the 5th, 6th and 16th hole).

 

June 3

Third lesson today, of my series of 6. Scott filmed me. The film shows me on plane, with a much better swing arc.

He strengthened my grip, leading to squarer hits. To counteract hitting left, he suggested hitting it more from the inside (at seven o'clock).

He showed me ways to increase my backswing, and how to maintain good sight of the ball--don't let the head come back but hold it against the turn of the left side of the neck.

Last time he corrected the hands turning early; this time he corrected liting too early. Wait until I have turned about half way.Keep the hands in front on the backswing, right elbow pointed down. (The  turn is with the body, not the arms.) A longer swing not only increases coubhead speed; it gives more time to do the other things in the swing.

We worked on balance with a styrofoam half-pipe. That will be something I can work on at home. Staying on it while swinging is a challenge.

He had me do the machine gun drill, which he said will help the turn. This must have to do with giving yourself time.

We worked on chipping. He said that he forgets obout the club when he chips--don't "help" the ball. Hit down on it.

He wants to check the loft and lie on my clubs.

 

July 14

I choked down on my clubs today, especially the irons, and got better control without loss of distance, maybe because the hands were closer to the clubhead, or maybe because the grip is thinner down near the handle. I always liked thinner handles, on bats, racquets or anything where I wanted to whip my wrists through.

I have been putting cross-heanded, which has eliminated the flippy wrist and given me much more solid and consistent contact, almost always going by the hole.

The magazines want you to put most your weight on the left foot when chipping. I seem to do better with weight centered and using my usual weight shift.

I found the half pipe thing difficult, but improvement came quickly. I can stay in good balance through the hitting area; staying in balance in the follow through is the hardest. Staying in balance while on one foot and one toe seems a lot to ask.

The follow through has always been a problem for me. Curing the early release helps at least with getting the club all the way around. Now it is a footwork issue. I have never been good at rolling over onto the outside of the left foot. This may because the baseball instinct is to point the lead foot at the target. It may not help that I once had a terrible sprain in the left ankle that killed off half the nerves in the foot, though I have since been able to strengthen it a good deal for skiing. I should ask Scott how important he thinks this is.I am not losing distance with this, or at least more solid contact and better swing is producing the distance.   

July 24

I have been working a lot with the half-pipe roller, and getting better at it. The hardest part is maintaining balance in the follow-through, especially given that my front foot wants to turn towards the target.

I am getting more of hte idea of the "firm left side" and that firmness goes all the way from my left foot through the straight left arm and the cocked wrist. Keeping the arm straight produces consistency in the swing path and creates a huge amount of whip in the club.

August 10

Lesson with Scott, mainly workded on chipping. SW, half fly half roll. 9 iron, fly third of way to hole. Routine, feet together closte to ball, right foot away from ball hands forward, wrists elastic, follow through low, right palm facing sky.

Pitch, same feel, clost to ball, same thing on not turning club over.

September 21

Lesson with Scott on pitching and bunker play.

 

We started with instruction on the short pitch, as an intro to thoughts useful in the bunkers. With lower body still, lift club high and just let it drop. To go higher and shorter, open clubface. Easiest in long grass with grain; if against gain may have to "pop" it a bit.

In bunker:

Swing shought, get the sand out. I have been keeping weight back, righ shoulder lowered, causing a hit too bar back that does not get sand out. These are keys:

Feet wide, to eliminate lower body motion.

Ball in middle--looks forward because of open stance.

Shoulders and hips level.

Weight forward, sternum above ball..

Knees bent towards hole.

Stand tall

Full turn, lift club high (steep swing)

Hit one inch behind ball

Weight shift to hole, not around

On follow through extend right hand through to hole

 

2009

 

 

May 15th, first lesson of year, Scott advised as follows:

Setup: hands slightly ahead of ball, even with driver

Backswing: slightly faster tempo, only rotate arms a little bit (or will rotate too much and too soon on downswing)

Turn all the way back, and hold turn (give hands time to drop)

Keep wrists cocked until the end thenturn hands over, head stays back 

OK to use legs if in balance

Watch for too much extension--don't want arms to tightn up

 

Practice: hit seven iron (then five iron and five wood) off tee, work on swinging from inside and drawing hte ball.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Making of "In the Leather"

Twofister

I play the trumpet. My golfing buddy Rick moved to London five years ago. What have we learned so far? That I am an internationally known trumpet player.

 

Everything has a pinnacle, even the sea floor. My trumpet careeer reached its pinnacle in high school, where ninety minutes of practice were part of my daily method to blow off steam in an effort to diffuse some of the pressure I was putting on myself. In the process I became fairly proficient, playing first chair in a combined New England boarding school band that played at the Bushnell in Hartford in the spring.

 

My career took a dive that summer, when my best friend and I drove from Connecticut to Mexico to celebrate our graduation. While body surfing in Acapulco, my face made abrupt contact with the pinnacle of the sea floor, fracturing two of my front teeth. The accident made extended practice painful, and while I was able to participate in my college band, I could not sustain the level I had reached, and improvement was not in the cards. After college, I pretty much stopped playing for the next thirty years.

 

A few years ago I had my trumpet refurbished, valves loosened, cleaned out and lubricated. I started playing again. I also bought a little pocket trumpet, just because it looked so cool. Then, to terrorize myself into some serious effort, I accepted an invitation to play in a talent show that provided entertainment at the end of a continuing medical education event run by one of the hospitals I work for.

 

This event gave me the chance to satisfy my curiosity about a number of things. When I performed in high school I became very tense. My mouth dried up and I almost seemed to freeze. I was surprised I could play at all. After many years of having to speak and perform in public, and after reading a book about how professional musicians moderate their fears, I wondered if performing would prompt the same response as in the distant past.

 

Also, I  had come across an article on improvisation that quoted Bobby McFerrin saying that, to him, the ultimate performance would be to walk out on stage not knowing what he was going to do. The thought intrigued me, despite the fact that doing this was completely antithetical to my nature, which inclines strongly towards compulsive over-preparation. It was also way out of my zone as a performer. For me, playing notes was essentially a conditioned response to seeing them printed on a page. It bothered me at times that my approach to playing was like that of a skilled machinist executing someone else’s idea, without any understanding of what the idea was.

 

The physician who ran this educational/entertainment program sees himself as a countercultural hippie-type who is obstructed in his effort to bring optimal care to his patients by administrative and legal types like myself. Part of why I did this was to demonstrate to this guy that I wasn’t such a stiff. One of the themes would be to go onstage dressed like a member of a motorcycle gang, which would make an interesting contrast with Schubert’s Ave Maria, one of the pieces I planned to play.

 

I received a lot of help and encouragement in this project, much of it from a woman at work who had transformed herself from a single mother biker chick to the Senior Vice President of Human Resources of our company of six thousand employees. This person served as my “Wardrobe Consultant” advised me regarding ebay, the source of the Brando-like motorcycle jacket I ended up purchasing, and helping assure biker authenticity of the rest of the outfit. She also fixed my hair for the performance in the style of Sal Mineo. In a voice message she also gave stage directions for the beginning of the performance, which is described below. This voicemail managed to find its way onto a CD I later made of the studio version of the performance. She would not be the last voicemail victim to make it onto my CD.

 

In addition to my two trumpets, my ensemble also included my keyboard, which has a lot of pieces programmed into it, so that it could provide the backup to my playing.

 

One of the sounds programmed into the  keyboard sounded passably like a motorcycle, and the performance was supposed to start with an audible motorcycle pulling up and revving offstage. Nice idea, if the sound guys hadn’t turned the sound off between performances. So far so good.

 

Then I made my grand entrance, with a long-necked bottle of Bud in one hand and cigarette (unlit) in the other. I raised a fist in greeting and coolly flicked the cigarette twenty feet across the stage, just as envisaged by my Wardrobe Consultant. Cigarette flicking happens to be one of my many completely useless talents. The crowd roared. They did not expect this kind of thing from their attorney. In fact, a woman work works in my building told my wife: “That’s not Mr. Courage. I work with Mr. Courage and that’s not him.” Another woman told my secretary that “I didn’t know that Mr. Courage was hot.” Definitely a persona appeared up there that had never before emerged.

 

My first question had already been answered. I was terrified. My throat felt like petrified wood. The commotion following the cigarette stunt sort of launched me into the act and I stopped thinking about anything and just performed.

 

After introducing my instruments, all of which have names and personalities (and are sometimes in need of stern discipline), I did the improvisational piece. I played an accompaniment to Bach’s Prelude #1 from the Well Tempered Klavier. I had listened to and played along with the prelude so many times that  improvising was no more complicated than breathing. This was a good thing. My deeper hope of using this effort to really understand the music just did not happen. Usually when I study something deeply its substructure starts to emerge. But for me, at least, playing the piece hundreds of times proved not to be a substitute for a course in harmony. The improvisation went pretty well. The crowd seemed to like it. God there are a lot of people out there, I thought. It was probably good that it was dark out there and I couldn’t really see anyone—just an undifferentiated mass of humanity. There—the sweating part was over. I knew I could nail the heavenly Schubert piece in my sleep, and if I fluffed up any of the phrasing, nobody would ever know of my higher aspirations for the piece. After a jaunty swig of beer I raised the bottle in salute to my audience and walked off the stage.

 

I found my way to the bar and ordered two scotches—the antidote to my performance. One of the performers to come expressed her unrestrained admiration: “We’re going to kick your butt,” she said. My friend Ned had brought his camera, and he caught me just after I had finished one drink. I joined my wife and secretary at their table and watched the rest of the show.

 

The show was taped, and they gave each of the performers a copy. They hadn’t exactly caught my whole performance, and the sound quality was not great. (I’m not just talking about my trumpet playing.) That’s when it occurred to me to do the CD.

 

I own a Mac with musical editing capability. Trumpets can be harsh when not recorded well, and the pinhole microphone on the Mac wasn’t really that good good. However, I have heard worse.

 

At about that time a college classmate called and left a voicemail, asking me if I would be interested in performing in an arts event at our upcoming reunion. I put his voicemail on the CD, billing him as “Talent Scout”. It is probably inadvisable to leave me with voicemails, unless you want to end up on my next CD.

 

For the CD cover I used pictures Ned took at the event. Someone helped me with a collage inside the case, displaying various of the themes in the performance. I had written a couple of simple pieces on my keyboard and put those on too. I called the CD “In the Leather”, which appears on the cover (together with my name) in severe Gothic letters.

 

In this commercial age, success is based more on the marketing than the quality of the product itself. That meant there was still a thin ray of hope for my CD. My business plan was simple. I would give the CD’s away until they reached the tipping point, after which everyone would have to have one. I could then sell them at any price and spend the rest of my days counting royalties. The flaw in this plan was that I did not have the production capacity to support it. The making of each case involved cutting up all the sides with an exacto knife. I didn’t make it easier by creating sides for the spine of the thing. Each CD case took more than a half hour to make and I made about forty of them. Of course, I used up part of my supply giving them to my cast,  family members and all the little people who helped me along the way. When I had exhausted my supply, the tipping point was still nowhere in sight.

 

A new strategy was called for. I would write and distribute a piece called “The Making of In the Leather”. People would see that and think, well I never heard of it but if someone is writing about how it was made, it must be pretty good—I’ll buy a copy. We’ll see how that works.

 

I am often asked whether my recording career is over. I think not. As Obi-wan Kenobe said to Luke, “There is one more.”

Illegitimum Non Carborundum

Now THERE'S a drum

                                   

After my sorry mug got slammed into the ocean floor in a freak body surfing incident the summer after high school graduation back in the mid-60's, I hardly touched my trumpet for months. Nonetheless, the time eventually came to leave for college, and my trusty horn made the packing cut. Although the surfing episode left one of my teeth looking like something out of a Road Runner cartoon, and it hurt to play for any length of time, my investment in the trumpet had been deep and longstanding, and I wanted to sustain it at least at some minimal level. So following my arrival at school, I went to an audition for the band.

They put a fairly hard piece in front of me. I was awful. My playing made me think of cars honking angrily at each other in a crowded intersection. It astonished me when they told me I had made the band. My God, what kind of musical organization was this?

When I got back to my room and told one of the people in my suite, he decided to go over and try out with his clarinet. This would be a test, as his attempts had given little indication that he had ever tried to play it before. It turned out that the band did actually have minimum standards, though it was seldom necessary to apply them.

Anyway they gave me a slip of paper that authorized me to purchase a band jacket and tie at the Harvard Coop. The jacket is crimson (which turned out to be a color closer to maroon than I would have thought)  with a crest depicting the giant drum which is the band's trademark. Inscribed on the crest are the words "Illegitimum Non Carborundum"-don't let the bastards grind you down. We have a two verse song in Latin by that title, which the band sings as a chorus to the most popular fight song. The jacket now fits a little more snugly than it once did, but it would still get me into most games free. Every so often it comes in handy.

It surprised me greatly to discover that while in high school the band was nerdy, in college the band was viewed with great favor. Sometimes it seemed as much a college humor organization as it was a musical one. In fact, on a few occasions we were given as much credit as the football team for attracting people to the stadium--or at least for keeping them there. This was partly the result of individuals and small groups in the band, but mainly the halftime shows, which could be heard throughout the stadium, and (to the dismay of some) sometimes broadcast across the country.

There was fierce rivalry between opposing bands. They would try to steal our drum. We fought on a more ethereal plane, stinging them with epee-like thrusts of our razor sharp wit. Like, "What is the color of SHIT?", a question we posed loudly and often in Providence. Or "Harvard Rejects!", a greeting addressed to any band we might happen to encounter in New Haven.

The band has many well known alumni.Ted Kaczynski, Class of 1962, briefly played trombone in the Band before achieving prominence in the fields of both tax advocacy and munitions.

It was not our precision marching that distinguished us. In fact, we wisely avoided situations in which it might have looked as though we were trying to march in straight lines. Rather, we changed formations at a dead run upon the firing of a starting gun. The halftime shows, usually some type of lampoon, were written during the week and kept a closely guarded secret until Saturday morning, when we had our only chance to practice them. For most of us, fatigued by a week of scholarly endeavor and quite possibly hung over after Friday night, learning the formations was largely a matter of keeping the person next to you in sight and following him when the gun fired and he ran to his place in the next formation. He, of course, was following the person in front of him. Occasionally, the guy who led the entire line would go to the wrong place, as happened once when the band showcased a wholly original spelling of "UNICEF" on national TV. This might be an appropriate moment to note that there is little truth to the rumor that the band once formed a working nuclear reactor right on the field.

Halftime routines, like everything else, come and go. Although we never approached Janet Jackson's Super Bowl halftime performance, the halftime shows were often on the edge of raunchy. On one occasion, the band went over that edge. After those swells in the Princeton Band had offended the bluebloods of Cambridge one time too many, the Harvard Director of Athletics, who reviewed the contents of our shows to assure suitability for family viewing, informed the Band before the game the following year at Princeton that he would be unavailable to review our show. We were instructed to police ourselves properly without adult supervision. The Band knew precisely what was expected of  it, and performed an obscene series of skits on the theme of "Life at Princeton". I would be too embarrassed to provide the details, but a typical excerpt commented about Princeton being famous for its eating clubs and the "cunning linguists" who frequent them. That should give you the idea without me having to explain what we were doing on the field. This particular game was being broadcast on national TV, but the network nimbly cut away to ten minutes of commercials until it was safe to return, that is, when the Band was off the field, and the football teams back on it.

Well by golly as you can imagine there was heck to pay. The Director of Athletics was, of course, deeply shocked, and the usual suspects were quickly rounded up and sternly admonished. This episode was even written up in Playboy, and it was of course gratifying to us musical highbrows that the print media embraced us even as the TV media (ever the lowest common denominator) shunned us.

Not every performance of the Band was so raucous. Only five months before the infamous Princeton performance, those members of the Band who remained in Cambridge to play at commencement exercises the previous year were asked to travel to Washington to play at Robert Kennedy's burial in Arlington National Cemetery. Surely one of the more somber moments of the era.

But most of the time it life in the band was light and fun, kind of an antidote to the oppressively serious and self-important politics of the time.

No doubt the experience of every generation of band members is different. Previous band members are now referred to (I would like to think fondly) as "crusties". In my day, dammit, we didn't have YouTube, so I can't give you a clip of those halcyon times in which we played. But I can look at the clip below and see manifestations of the same gene sequences as those that marched the real grass at Soldiers Field in olden times, and note with pleasure that the songs are the same, and everyone is still having a great time. For any crustie, one lifetime could never be enough for too many iterations of the Latin chorus to Leroy Anderson's "Ten Thousand Men of Harvard". And before the feature film, I would be remiss if I did not provide a link to a snippet of a Harvard song played by the band while actually paying attention to the music--there are actual musicians in this organization. Here is that link:

http://www.hcs.harvard.edu/~hub/sounds/yoho.mp3

And here is the feature film. All credit and thanks for this to Anne and her family, whose post I have appropriated without permission. In the trombone section, see if you can spot any future Unabombers. One of the fun Band rituals is the march through the streets of Cambridge on the way to the stadium. If Harvard Square were overrun by Hessian mercenaries, the cars would roll on unconcerned, just as they now do when the Band goes by.

  

Harvard Band Crustie at the Game 2006

 

The Place of this Blog in the Universe

Commonfencepoint

This is my new view. You see, I am a water freak. Not properly supervised, I could probably look at water until I starved to death. We came to this area in 1973 to be on the water. At the time I thought that, being an apprentice slave, I should live close to my office. By the time I had become a more advanced apprentice slave, and potentially able to move closer to the shore, we were so wired into schools, sports and music that it would have been unthinkable to uproot our family. But now the boys have grown up and moved on. The water still beckons. So I bought this place, with a porch from which I will be dispensing the wisdom of the ages. I would have liked to take the identity of The Oldest Member, but P.G. Wodehouse beat me to it. So Twinhart it will be, a fragment composed of translations of pieces of my name, too obscure to get into here.

So what will this blog be about? Not work. My hope is to convey some small fraction of the richness I have found in life that might otherwise pass into oblivion.  I have stories of sports, music and other dimensions of my life that I would like to distill into something that readers will enjoy. Ultimately, of course, the true goal (from which I will not waiver) is to  leave the impression of being someone much smarter, funnier and more lovable than I really am.

Until next time, then.