Let there be light

In my last blog I spoke about returning to a couple of ideas that I either forgot about or rejected without giving them enough time. Now that I have returned to these concepts, I'll report on progress.

The first of these ideas was about connection.

Now connection can mean different things to different golfers and I for one probably haven't fully understood the term. Placing head covers under the armpits is probably the most common perception of what creating connection is about. But it's not the full story.

Certainly it's important to coordinate the arms and the body (torso), and restricting the backswing in this way is OK for a drill, but what we really don't want to do is concentrate too much on the backswing or this kind of connection when we are actually playing. I have found this out to my peril, and my scores have climbed.

More important I now believe is maintaining connection with the ground - an awareness of where your weight is - particularly at impact. It is so important to stay down on (or with) the shot through contact. If you can do this, it generally means that your weight has automatically transferred to the front foot. Coming out of shots is really a common fault, sometimes wrongly termed 'lifting your head', when it's actually the whole body lifting (with a loss of spine angle), and often with the weight staying on the back foot.

Many golfers habitually come out of every shot they ever play. I've done it for months on end without realising. It was only when a pretty good golfer pointed this out to me recently that I realised I was getting back into the habit of lifting and losing this connection with the ground (coming out of nearly every shot) and therefore hitting a lot of thin and weak shots.

The main point is, however, that whatever ones swing style, swing path and speed, shot shape, trajectory, etc. each shot requires this commitment to connection - both with the upper body but particularly the lower body. Issues of sequencing, weight transfer, etc. will largely take care of themselves if this commitment is there. It is often possible to fix a multitude of faults by correcting a key problem in a golfer's swing - in this case a failure to commit to connection.

The second of the ideas I wrote about was left hand low putting (for right handers).

I have now adopted this putting style, having gradually become more used to the sensation of square shoulders and having to peep over my left shoulder to see the line and the hole. I also had to get used to the significant loss of control with the right hand, which is of course one of the problems for short-putt yippers like me.

Using this (Jordan Speith) method, I've now holed more medium and long putts and missed far fewer short putts in the past few weeks than I can scarcely believe. The initial awkwardness has been replaced with much greater confidence that I can hit the ball on the chosen line. Assuming I pick the correct line and have reasonable feel for the pace, this makes my putting much more reliable. I had 31 putts in my last round, which is not by most standards exceptional, but for me it is very satisfactory.

Left hand low is probably not for everyone, but for budding tippers it is a revelation. Anyway, it's worth a try. The bonus is that if it helps one putt better, it flows through into the rest of one's game.

I've got a few other things going on with my game at the moment, but my modified view of connection and my new putting method have put me in a better, more confident, frame of mind - so there is light at the end of the tunnel - just so long as it's not another train.

Another addendum:

Adam Scott's form continues, so it's timely to add a couple of his tips on driving.

His concept of 'connection' in relation to the lower body is 'groundedness', ie. feeling solidly connected to the ground. Look up Adam Scott tips for more.

He also emphasises a slow takeaway and transition, and notes that the target is the finish of the whole swing; the target is not the ball. He does like to picture good slow swings, and likes Inbee Park's swing for that reason.

Very importantly, Scott also states that focusing on technical backswing issues during a round is not the done thing; these issues should be kept for the range.

All good advice, much of it in keeping with the blog entry above.