Recap of Positive Golf Improvement Project

As the unseasonably warm weather turns cold and snowy in the Northeast, I leave the course for a little while and reflect back on this past season and the Positive Golf Improvement Project for the year. My Positive Golf Improvement Project for 2009 - achieving better balance (see original posting on April 4, 2009) - came about as a result of my inability as a weekend golfer to consistently "time" my weight shift with my swing motion, a fault which often led to off-balance, off-course golf shots. Over the years, my standard antidote for this nagging problem has been to practice "punch shots" - a process which involves moving the ball back, keeping my weight forward, shortening the swing, and driving down through the ball with a lower finish. A common term for this general techniqaue is "trapping the ball," and I was often amazed how it seemed to instantly deliver more solid contact and a beautiful (albeit lower) right to left ball flight along with a balanced finish. Thus, the punch shot aproach was my starting point, and my intention was to gradually build my full swing around it. My goal was to eliminate or at least greatly lessen the need for "timing" by significantly reducing lateral body motion during my swing. The substitute for lateral motion was better rotational motion.

Over the year my quest proved to be quite challenging. Retraining one's mind and body seldom happen overnight. My success has come about gradually, with patience and persistence. Like most recreational golfers, I have limited time to practice, and the truth is that I've done the greatest part of my work at home - two minutes here and two minutes there - ingraining the feeling of what it's like to swing on balanced footing. I'm working with a number of ideas, the overall concept from mind to body is as follows:

With a relaxed lower body and steady left foot weight pressure, swing the club with the hands and arms and let the natural body rotation follow.

I've made good progress so far and plan to achieve further gains in 2010 following both the mental and physical elements of the Positive Plan that I put together. I will also develop a Positive Plan for improvement of another facet of my game. Have you planned a Positive Golf Improvement Project for 2010? I invite you to share your plans with other Positive Golfers right here.

Here's to great golf in 2010!

Ricke Semple
Positive Golfer
Co-Founder, TheHeartofGolf.oom
http://www.TheHeartofGolf.com