Going Pro Golf Blog

Well it isn’t exactly a golf trip but I am heading away this Monday night to North Carolina.  I am bringing the sticks and plan on trying to squeeze in 2 rounds while I am there.  It will be my first time playing since October and more importantly, it will be my first time playing since beginning my work with Jon Roy. I have a number of concerns heading into the week: 1. I have been doing well at the range but taking it out to the course will be a whole other matter 2. Pressure, I actually feel I must do well for Jon.  His efforts have been great and I want to repay him with a good first showing 3. Nervous about the driver.  I have been working on nothing but irons so far and worried how well I will drive the ball 4. My girlfriend!  I’m not worried about her letting me play, I am worried because she wants to watch and drive the cart.  I have taken her to the range twice and she enjoyed it but having her on the course for 4 hours could be trouble, she has the attention span of an 11 year old on crack.  Wish me luck! No matter what happens I am pretty confident in the progress we have been making.  I feel better about the swing and the results so far.  Let’s just hope that is reflected on the scorecard. Prediction?  I am very confident I will do well so I am thinking high 90’s since I haven’t done any work with the driver yet.  Lets say 99 just to be safe.  Jon’s prediction: 106.  I was hoping he would say much lower but like he said to me; “I have taught you the mechanics of a swing but you haven’t learned to play golf yet”.  Very profound, I think I heard Kwau Chang Caine say that once in Kung Fu. I will try and post while I am away.  As for what is coming up.  I managed a lesson with Jon last night which I will write about when I return.  Totally different from any lesson we had done before.  At one point I was hitting left handed with my club head upside down.  It was a fun lesson which I will get to.  I will also finish up my blog on the PING fitting. Speak with you soon!

Right now I am playing with 7 year old PING Zing Drivers and PING II Irons.  While they have been great clubs for me to play with, by now they are dinosaurs and it might be time to retire them.  Technology has evolved so much since that time.  Irons are now made to hit the ball further and with a much more forgiving face.  Now that I have had a few lessons under my belt, Jon and I feel it is time to get fitted for new equipment!  Bring on the new PINGS!  I’ll write more about the fitting process and why I chose PING clubs once again.

I am posting this is the Illogical Golf Blog as well as the Going Pro Golf Blog because I feel it is relevant to both subjects.  What would you rather have when at the range?  All you can hit golf balls for 30 minutes or a bucket of balls?  The answer is simple, all you can hit right?  That is what I thought too.  I figure I could hit 3 times as many golf balls in that time but is that a good thing? 2 weeks ago during my lesson with Jon Roy, I shanked 3 balls in a row.  Not just bad shots, horrible shots.  I quickly set up a fourth ball to hit when Jon stopped me.  Those 3 shots had all taken place in a span of about 90 seconds.  Beside me was one of the kids in Jon’s junior program, one of the top juniors in Canada.  Jon asked me to stop and watch him for a while.  I do no exaggerate when I say this; the kid took 5 minutes to hit a single shot.  He would hit a shot, walk away, look at his club, get a drink of water, stare at the ground, stare at the sky and whistle to himself.  “The kid has never hit a shot which didn’t matter to him” Jon remarked.  That is easily the most profound thing I had heard since starting my golf training.  There are no wasted shots!  Every shot matters and is a learning experience.  While 5 minutes is a long time the lesson is simple, take your time and learn from each shot.  Jon says we should break down the driving range into 2 areas.  The think box and the play box and the two should never blur.  The think box is off the mat.  This is where you think about what went well/wrong during the last shot, what you will do the next shot, etc.  The play box is where you just hit the ball.  Clear your head of the work box thoughts and hit a solid golf shot.  Two days after this lesson I was at a golf dome where there is a 30 minute all you can hit special.  Two guys were on the mat beside me hitting balls at a furious pace when one commented to the other; “Hurry up dude, we only have 5 minutes before our time is up and we will start getting charged for the next 30”.  Those next 5 minutes they must have gone through 20 balls, all of them horrible shots.  Unfortunately it seems like more and more practice facilities are going the route of all-you-can-hit balls which may be damaging to players who need to relax and work on their game.  All I know is once I am able to get outdoors and work on my game, I will be at a range where I can grab a bucket or two and just relax and hit shots that matter to me.

I got a message from Jon earlier this week saying he believes we are a month away from hitting balls outdoors!  Wow, that is pretty exciting stuff because that also means I will be able to get out to a course and see how my game looks so far.  Then I had some better news…I managed to get a week away in North Carolina on Lake Lure the first week of April.  While there I am going to try and squeeze in a few rounds at Bald Mountain Golf Club and Apple Valley Golf Course.  Both look like decent courses but I am just dying to get out and see how I do.  Granted, I haven’t started using a driver yet but I am sure I will improve leaps and bounds based on what Jon has already ingrained into my brain