Weird

I don't know if it's the new handicapping system or some sort of weird alien force-field interference, but my handicap keeps going down and staying down, yet I don't feel like I'm playing good golf.

Perhaps what happens is you reach a certain level of competence and you become dissatisfied with anything you do at a standard below your best. I know it gets harder and requires more concentration to play to a lower handicap. Mistakes are amplified and harder to compensate for because nothing short of a string of solid pars and the odd birdie will do the job.

So, I'm still convinced that a single plane swing is my best option. I went away from it in my last round and disaster after disaster struck. Luck was not on my side, but that was only part of the story - I did not trust my revised swing - it was mainly just really poor ball striking.

Ironically, my putting was not the problem, and I'm extremely happy with my split hand grip. I have about one hand-with between my hands, right hand low (right-handed). This grip allows my right hand to dominate and I think that makes sense for a right hander. Your feel like you are throwing the ball to the hole and somehow that helps with distance control. The left hand just supports and acts like a pivot point, not anchored, just there to keep the top of the grip under control. I like it a lot. And my short putting is unaffected, I just need to keep my backswing short and attuned to the length of the putt.

But back to the full game. I need to re-commit to the one-plane swing. Perhaps I need to remind myself of the Adam Scott advice - start everything down together - it seems to help take some of the other complicated swing thoughts out of the picture (as I've said before). I just need to overcome the feeling that I have less power with the shorter, more compact, one-plane swing, because it actually isn't the case - the increased, faster body turn takes care of clubhead speed.

It's actually surprising how far a ball will go with a shorter swing, somehow better contact, including compression with iron shots, is very effective. And the side-benefit is greater accuracy, which is so critical with fairway and approach shots in particular.

I'm looking forward to playing some half decent golf in the coming weeks - but the reality is that neither good nor bad golf will see my handicap changing - weird!