Confirmation

In my previous post about being rather more sane and simplifying my approach to the golf swing and putting I mentioned a couple of plans for future rounds.

So far, the signs are good that the simple approach works. I have even taken it a step further. I had been fussing about my grip - stronger, weaker, just right - but have now found that I can simply grip the club in a way that feels natural. This means just grabbing the club, without looking at my hands, and setting the club down with a square clubface.

The results have been surprisingly good - a slight draw with most shots - provided, of course, I don't set up with open shoulders or in some other 'non athletic' position. But I've long since ingrained a square to closed, athletic (for me) set up. So it all works quite well.

My other issues have been with the so called scoring shots - pitches, chips and putts - but even here my approach is now simpler and more effective.

With pitches and chips it is really only critical to trust your brain to calculate where you want to land the ball (having chosen the loft needed) and to make sure you commit to the shot. That is, make sure you don't try to a) steer or b) finesse the shot, which almost always leads to deceleration - the BIG NO NO in the short game. A positive pitch or chip beats a half-hearted, cautious, one 99 percent of the time.

Putting, now this has been a bogey of mine for some time. But help has come in the form of simplification - no grip trials, no theory about swing length, no other technical thoughts - just a focus on smoothness, rhythm and trust. There are still some misreads, mishits, nervous twitches at times, but golf, putting in particular, is not a game of perfect.

Only one qualification to the above. I have adopted a standard Vardon grip for putting (little finger of bottom hand overlapping forefinger of top hand) as is used by many golfers for the full swing. I find this technique, traditionally used to slightly weaken the lower hand and reduce clubface closing, useful in putting, and more effective than the much more common reverse overlap most putters use.

I use a ten finger grip for full shots. I am not a pro and see no reason to weaken my lower hand for full shots. I like the feeling of control acquired by having all my fingers on the club - as you would with any other bat or racquet sport!

Anyway, I'm quite pleased to have confirmation (so far) that simplicity is good. Perhaps I am moving closer to being 'The Effortless Golfer'?

Sanity

I have decided to stick with a neutral grip for regular full shots, having toyed again unsuccessfully with a stronger grip. I became a very unhappy hooker. I can still draw the ball with a neutral grip if I want to, but usually it's better, safer, more sensible to play a straighter ball, even if you lose a few yards in the process.

Having said that, there is always the opportunity to strengthen the grip if faced with a shot on a tight dogleg or a recovery out of the trees. Hitting a fade is more difficult; I'm working on that.

But my short game is where I'm scoring better lately. I've discovered the eight iron. It's a versatile club, not too lofted, not too strong. I'm using it as often as possible to get used to the flight and roll involved. I'm talking here about chips, chip and runs and similar touch shots around the green.

Putting, for so long my greatest problem area, has improved now that I've given up on trick grips and techniques and gone with the simple philosophy of smooth and low. It's a kind of a Crenshaw approach; nothing too technical, just using the hands to feel the stroke, find the distance, make good centre contact. The odd short putt is getting away and the odd misread is causing problems, but all in all I'm putting much better.

In general, I know I have reasonable technique and skills in all areas of the game, but I have been my own worst enemy with all the fiddling I've done, all the theories I've tried and rejected. Let's see if I can stick to this new, simplified approach. I will monitor my scores over the next few months and review things then. I'm hoping that sanity has finally prevailed.