Don’t Choke Up

It’s kind of comical to try to write a post about what I’m trying to work on, because at this stage in my game I’m kind of working on everything. My misses are somewhat consistent, but I’m also not above having a miss arise from opposite swing paths…oops. And the title? Well I’ve been very fortunate to have been given a lot of clubs. If you know how expensive golf clubs can be, you realize this is a rather big deal. The only issue, however, is that I then need to choke up (interchangeably called “choke down” in golf) in order to accommodate for the added length of the shaft. The clubs I am receiving or buying from (generous) grown men are undoubtedly a little too long for a woman who stands at 5’7″. So now, as per my request, whoever I am playing with is welcomed to yell at me “don’t choke up” whenever they notice me doing it.

Besides that I am kind of working on several different things given the kind of club.

DRIVER: In a lot of ways, I am just trying to get used to my new driver (a BEAUTIFUL Callaway Rogue), especially since it has been cut down a bit (making the shaft a little stiffer) and has a smaller grip put onto it (makes it easier to turn your hands too much coming through, but also gives you more control and a better feel for what’s going on with the club). After a lovely experience at the range yesterday, I noticed that even my “decent” drives were coming right off the heel of my club. Luckily, whatever the heck is on my driver club face makes it really easy to see where you hit the ball at impact. That said, why am I always hitting it at the heel when I am square at address? Well this issue likely comes from getting used to choking up before (the club head would be closer to my body if I have choked up on the shaft). However, it makes much more sense to then line up my toe with the ball at address than to try to swing differently.

I spent my time at the range with an alignment stick tracking diagonally, as I tend to throw my club down and away from me, instead of keep my arms close to each other and closer to my body, so I can send the club head through from more of an inside angle (you know, also so I don’t hack down at the ball…). An online golf presence that I really enjoy is Colin McCarthy, and he used a metaphor once of trying to hammer a nail into the ball, and as such, you would be trying to hit right into the back of the ball.

WOODS/HYBRIDS: This one is tough. I have a poor quality Wilson hybrid that came with my ladies set that I can hit pretty alright, but this is likely because of the loft of the club, and my dispersion would be much better if I had a better quality club. I have a 19 degree Titleist H2 Hybrid that I love, but it’s the club that I hit know half the time the ball won’t leave the ground (100 yards straight on the ground isn’t the worst thing that could happen). I was gifted a Callaway GBB Fairway Wood (I even found a reg flex Kuro Kage graphite shaft to use for it!) but I’m still getting the hang of it. At this point, I suppose I need to keep my head down, and really focus on sweeping across the ground, instead of hacking down at the ball (nothing feels worse than a hybrid chunk). My 3 Wood (Titleist TS2) needs some trust too… gosh do I ever just need to trust myself.

IRONS: This one is exciting! If you asked me what my favourite club is, I would say 7 iron, without a moment of hesitation. Since I’ve gotten these new irons (WHICH I LOVE), my misses have been to either not get it high enough from true contact (this sucks because it can get you into trouble when you are trying to hit an iron a certain distance and instead you rocket launch it across the ground), and to bring my arms around me too much on the downswing, pulling the ball rather left (and every once in a while creating a perfect, gorgeous draw). To deal with this I have been working on actively shallowing my golf club at the top of my backswing, so I have the space to bring my arms through straighter. When I do it right it feels GREAT!

WEDGES: These tricky guys have caused me a lot of trouble. I love these clubs, but they are probably the clubs I am the least confident with. I have learned several sets ups for hitting them, and though I feel confident at the range off the mat, the second I’m in real turf I either thin the ball or chunk it. Fast forward to my partner, who has played golf for a long time, telling me not even he has a full wedge shot in his bag… I’ll probably stop trying to hit my 60 degree wedge 50 yards forward expecting a perfect swing. I suppose that’s where Irons differ from wedges in yet another way… you’re meant to hit your irons a certain distance, while your wedges are all about controlling the ball and being creative. And what would fun would the game be if you didn’t get to be creative. Anyways, after realizing I will miss a full swing wedge shot 9/10 times, my partner walked me through a little soft arms only 54 degree shot on 16 over a green-side bunker. Drained the put and made par! My biggest thing to work on with my wedges is, well, to work on them… to practice. But also, to trust myself.

PUTTER: My putter is my little buddy. We don’t always get along, but this may be the part of your game that needs the smoothest combination of mind and feel that we get on the course. You need to see your line and figure out how to play it. I had so many putts JUST miss this week. This is hard because it’s automatically another stroke every time you miss, but also JUST missing means you hit a relatively good put. Anyways, with this one I guess I’m trying to figure out how to gauge how firmly to hit it.

Take homes? I love golf…. but it doesn’t always love me.