Taking My New Swing Out For A Test Drive

I took my new swing out for a test round today. Overall I am pleased. There were some ups and downs. I hit some great shots and I hit some shots that I would like to forget. I was not expecting too much considering the new swing and the fact that I have not played a round in over three weeks.

Since I started working with Mike Southern on fixing my coming over the top swing, I have just been practicing. And with that, I have only been hitting wedges. I wanted to work on the one-piece takeaway and ingrain the movement into my swing.

During practice, I am swinging the wedges really well. I am much more consistent and the ball is flying fifteen, sometimes twenty yards further than what I was used to. Going into the round I was a little concerned about the other clubs in my bag. Since I have been only hitting wedges, I had no idea what to expect from my irons and woods.

On the driving range my concern grew. I could not hit my irons and I did not feel comfortable with the driver in my hands. I hate hitting off of mats, and on Mondays, Miami Beach Golf Club only have the mats available for practice.

My wedges were okay, but I could not hit the 7-iron. I kept on hooking it. Hook after hook after hook. I then hit a few hybrids which I kept on slicing. I was not looking forward to my round. I tried to hit a few with my driver but they only have those rubber tees which are always too tall, so the few swings I did take were useless.

My first drive was in the fairway but only went about 215 yards. This was a common theme throughout my round. In the fairway but not long. For some reason I kept on pulling the ball left. Not a big hook, but the ball would take off with a very low ball flight and go a little left. I will have to get some footage of my swing with the driver so that I can see what is going on.

Like I said before, my wedges are flying a lot further and so now are my irons. Once I got onto the grass, I started hitting them better. I rarely have a good warm up before a round anyway for some reason.

I will have to figure out my new distances over the next few rounds. I hit an 8-iron into a green that was 140 yards away. That is what I used to hit to this distance. I flew the green by 15 yards. All of my irons were longer. I hit some really good 6-irons which I used to be apprehensive about. It felt good today. Once I make these adjustments, I think my scores will start to come down.

I fell in love with my hybrid again. I have a 22 degree which I use instead of the 4 or 5-iron. I used to hit it to about 170-175 yards. I had a shot into the par 4, 4th hole. The pin was 204 yards away after another lack luster. I hit the best shot I have ever hit with this club. It was straight as an arrow, landed just short of the green, and it actually rolled past the pin. I was stunned.

The driver continued to give me trouble which left me with a lot of long approach shots. It is a good thing I was hitting the hybrid well. If I can get my drives back out to 250-260, everything will start to come together.

Now it is time to get back to practicing chipping and putting. These aspects of my game were lacking today simply because I have not been practicing in these areas. I have a good foundation from which to work from now. My swing was broken down and now I can build a better game from this point on. Can't wait to get back in my golf laboratory. I think I will be up early to practice tomorrow. Have a great round and always hit your target.



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