First Outside Range Practice

While driving to the driving range this morning I noticed that my dashboard indicated it was 7 degrees outside. I made sure to layer my clothing prior to leaving the house. I met Nick in the parking lot and he asked if I would prefer to have our lesson in the dome or outside. The sun was shining and where we would be hitting balls from was somewhat out of the wind. I opted for outside and it turned out to be the right decision.

While I have hit many balls indoors during the course of this winter, no simulator or dome provides the visual feedback of being able to watch the trajectory of your ball as it leaves the club face.

I had mentioned to Nick that my driver was definitely not my best friend and as such we worked on improving that aspect of my game. I explained to Nick that my last practice session produced drives with a low trajectory and unwanted hooks and slices. Nick explained that my driver swing will be different than my iron swing....and that this is very common on the PGA Tour. Nick suggested that perhaps my hip slide was happening to quickly resulting in the bottom of the swing arc being pushed forward. He suggested that I try dumping my angles early on the way down which immediately produced a higher ball flight.

I was pleased with the results of this morning's lesson and could of played almost every shot if they had been made on the course. Eliminating far right and left drives will be the biggest boost to my game this year. If I am not always having to scramble out of woods and other assorted nastiness I will shoot lower scores.

We did spend some time on the practice green and he taught me how to properly read greens. He suggested a method that I had never heard of or read about and it has me wanting to spend some time on the green to work with these ideas.

While I think that it is to early to suggest that my driver is now my friend, it certainly is now an acquaintance.