Forgot to mention

Two things I forgot to mention in the previous post relate to putting and backswing respectively.

Further research on putting grips tends to indicate that the best putters look to have what they refer to as a 'neutral grip', with the thumbs down the front of the putter and the fingers overlapping or not in what feels most natural to the individual. Some experts also favour a palm or lifeline oriented grip, but feel with the fingers is something that Dave Stockton, for example, favours. I'll see how this goes.

There's actually a second thing re putting. I think keeping the trailing arm close to the trailing hip might help reduce the tendency to pull putts. I will check this out also.

The second main thing I forgot related to backswing. I think I need to find a position of my trailing arm that I can consistently find on all shots. I have quite a short backswing, so I think there is no problem in linking my trailing arm to that side of my torso or at least getting close to that position.

In the good old days, this was advice given to many golfers that has been roundly condemned by many golf teachers since. However, one of the problems I have, as do many average golfers, is the lack of consistency in my backswing. And, since I find myself focusing on my backswing in trying to get it right, I don't put my concentration where it should be - on actually hitting the shot. As they say, you don't hit the ball with your backswing.

So, next game, I intend to try to replicate this trailing arm/elbow close to my trailing side feel, in the hope that I can find a backswing that I can repeat and be confident with. I know this will restrict my backswing and I can live with that because I can generate plenty of club head speed with my slightly short backswing. I don't need to try to overpower my shots, good rhythm and timing and solid ball contact is all I need at my age and level of golf.

Basically, I am in search of consistency, like so many others, and short of hitting a thousand balls a day, I don't think there's any hope of this without a consistent backswing.