Dan's Papers - July 25, 2008 - The Plight of Swingers (and a tip from Jason McCarty)

With the summer officially in fully swing (no pun intended), every golfer has hopefully taken advantage of the long-awaited weather to get out onto the links. Those 14 clubs in your bag are either your friend for the day, or your foe. Enemy or not, you, as the golfer, are solely responsible for the relationship.

In a nutshell, this is part and parcel of the beauty of the game - you are an amateur golfer. Take a deep breath and embrace that thought. Accept that fact. Regardless of your social or business stature off the course, when you tee it up, you're just another one of the 12 million golfers. You're not a tour professional who has trained for years, hours upon hours, day after day, week after week. Very few, if anyof you, have lessoned with the finest teachers, had swing coaches, mental trainers or even accessibility to the club manufactures tour trailer tweaking and adjusting your clubs right there as you test them. While you maybe be an avid golfer who sets personal goals, a lover of the game and appreciate the sport, suffice to say that you have, at one time or another, hit a poor shot and asked yourself, "Why?" Like I said, you're only an amateur. Accept it, be true to yourself, and don't put yourself in a position unfamiliar or foreign to your golf game.

Two years ago, I found myself in the middle of an epiphany as an amateur golfer, an awakening of what we all have in common out on the course: unrealistic expectations with good intentions. Wow, that's a mouthful. But it's true. Think about it. While playing in a PGA event at Pebble Beach, one of the amateur partners in my group for the week consciously - and selfishly - decided to risk a four shot lead for our team by executing a shot which he had never practiced, never attempted, but only witnessed as the tour professional we played with used that same shot over and over. It was part of the professional's golf game, not my partner's. In one split second he double hit a ball, costing us two strokes, after attempting to hit a putter at a 90-degree angle using the tip from deep rough onto the green. After three putts and our lead was shot, "Mr. Fortune 500" man looked at me with disbelief. My blood boiled as he chucked his putter over to his caddy and had the audacity to grab the side of his head, looking me straight in the eyes, and asking, "Why"? You don't want me to put in print my answer, but a simple hint - it wasn't a birthday wish. Yes, I considered chucking my putter as well. Just not into my bag!

To clearly understand all of the components of golf as an amateur, you must first understand the cause and effect of ball flight and behavior. "All too often, golfers have no clue about ball action, impact and reaction - key elements," said Jason McCarty, director of golf at the Sebonack Golf Club. "Once a student has learned to master these skills efficiently, with clubs of shorter distance, the same swing keys can be applied to clubs used for longer distances, such as fairway woods and, of course, the driver." And, he's quick to point out, understanding the principles of how the ball reacts off the face of a club will only enhance a golfer's control of a particular shot and encourage a repetitive swing motion. Muscle memory is paramount to successful golf swings.

Thoughts or comments? E-mail Kay at evenpar4u@aol.com.

Golfers at any skill level can benefit from a solid, well-planned practice session as a routine. Starting with the putting stroke, which is the shortest swing, and working backwards followed by chipping, pitching and finally advancing into the full swing enhances muscle memory. Essentially, each stroke used with a different club is simply a small extension of the previous stroke by another club. By practicing this way, any golfer can accelerate a clearer understanding of all key elements needed to obtain proper club path, position and ball flight. The end result is a depth of confidence which makes playing the game of golf much more enjoyable.