Last Post!

Dear Blog,

         It is to the saddening of my heart that I am writing to you for the last time about my 20% time project. Remember the time when I said that I was scared of this project? How about the time when I wrote about how excited I was to find my mentors or the time when I wrote to you about my first day on the practice field? My presentation about being America's Next Top Golfer will be either on December 12, 15, or 16, and it is suppose to be like a 'TedTalk' from www.ted.com. I did some online shopping about the what outfit I will be wearing on presentation day, and I found a grey Slazenger Prescot Women's Polo at www.dickssportinggoods.com, but it has been out of stock for a week and a half now. This shirt is so beautiful and cute; I wish I owned it. Also, I like the Nike Modern Rise Sporty Women's Golf Shorts from store.nike.com; they are cute, but because they are Nike, they are so expensive. Because the shirt is out of stock, and the shorts are expensive I probably will not dress up as a golfer on presentation day like I said in the previous blog entry.
            Furthermore, I had another lesson on Thursday, December 4, 2014. This day will go down in history because it was the first day where I had confidence in my golf game! When I win the US Open, I will be sure to recognize and thank my mentor for giving me this particular lesson on December 4, 2014. I was hitting balls straight AND far all the time! It was so exciting!! The best shot was hit with a 3 wood; it was straight at the target I was aiming for and 300 yards which totally beats my old consistency of hitting the ball to the right 150 yards. It was great to feel all the money and hours spent at the range pay off. All I did was remember my mistakes and the fundamentals from the previous lessons and stop thinking, and look at me now. I can hit the ball far and straight! Is that sad that I am excited about hitting the ball straight? I solidified the statement that I am a natural athlete. I am not trying to be condescending by stating that I am an athlete, but my coach/mentor and I were talking and we both agreed that there are people who know mechanics of the sport and there are people who "feel" the sport. If it does not feel right, then the player knows they did something wrong. These 'feel' athletes are natural athletes, and I would say that I fall in that category because once I stopped thinking and just played I hit the ball well.
           Lastly, I am officially finalizing my results by saying that I will not be able to play a full round of golf by the end of this project. If I present Friday, then I will definitely not. If I present Monday or Tuesday, then I might be able to go on the weekend with my grandma and play 9 holes because I could use some grandma- granddaughter bonding time. But hey, I can hit the ball straight! HOLE-IN-ONE HERE I COME.

ohhhhh no

Dear Blog,

          I am getting nervous! It has been about 4 months, and presentations are near, and I do not have much to show for it. Researching online for weeks was useless because I remember very few things. I am so glad I finally got lessons because I am a very visual person and having an instructor show me what to do sticks in my mind. Speaking of which, I had yet another lesson with my second mentor this past Tuesday, and I enjoyed it thoroughly. It is just a shame that I wasted so much time in the beginning. I think that for my TedTalk presentation I will have a power point about my project and progress and then also give a mini golf lesson with pictures. I might dress up as a golfer, but if I did then I would have to go shopping; I hate shopping.

Dear Blog,

         This past week I had a golf lesson Thursday, and I am proud to announce that I hit the ball straight a few times! Is that sad? I hit it straight only a few times. Well when I do hit the ball correctly, it's a beautiful sight. It is just very difficult to stay consistent. I'll hit an amazing shot, and then hit maybe 8 'bad' ones after that. I contact the ball every time; the balls just curve to the right usually or does not get enough height. My instructor said I have made great strides, but I still suck. I most definitely will be going out to the range this upcoming Thanksgiving break. Besides that, this week was kind of uneventful project wise. However, I can conclude that I love golf- JUST WISH I COULD PLAY IT!

Dear Blog,

        I warn you this is going to be a long post. Brace yourself. This past week my lesson was canceled because my instructor was stuck in meetings. I was actually relieved because I had so much that needed to be done; there was no time to enjoy myself. The seven day span from November 12th to the 19th has been one of the busiest weeks of my life. Volleyball commitment night on Wednesday, two major tests Thursday, a Physics C test Friday (which I might have failed) and then work from 4 PM to 11 PM, work, college application, and a volleyball banquet on the weekend, science fair judging and another volleyball banquet on Monday, and finally a fall leadership conference Tuesday straight after school until Wednesday night. And yet, there are people who are more tired than me. I do not know how they do it.
         There is no way I will be able to play a round of golf by the end of this project. I know that in my past blog post I showed you a link to an article about "what you think" is "what you are." Well, I am being very negative, but by the end of this project I am hoping that I can hit the ball straight. Golf is so difficult! :(
       Because my lesson was canceled, I just further looked at golf.about.com. Here is what I found:
Remember: 
1) The 'V' made by your hands should be pointed to the right ear/shoulder, but the hands should be in alignment with the center of your body about a hand's length away from your pants zipper. 
2) If you are having trouble with a slice or hoot shot, you probably need to fix the face and path of the club.
Links:

This link talks about these shot: slice, hook, push, pull, fade, and draw.
        http://golf.about.com/od/golftips/ss/mishit_tips.htm
This talks about these types of mishits: fat, thin, topping, shank, and skyball.
        http://golf.about.com/library/tips/aa080305a.htm
From this link I got the following diagram:
         http://golf.about.com/od/golftips/ss/ballflighttips.htm

The Basics of Ball Flight
Hook (pink line): Cause - closed clubface at impact. Effect - ball curves to the left.

• Slice (orange line): Cause - open clubface at impact. Effect - ball curves to the right.
• Pull (yellow line): Cause - red-to-yellow swing path. Effect - ball starts left of target and flies straight.
• Push (blue line): Cause - green-to-blue swing path. Effect - ball starts right of target and flies straight.

A draw and a fade (not depicted on graphics) are nice descriptions of a slight hook and slight slice.

None of the ball flights described above will get the ball to the target, unless your alignment is off. But a combination of two of these ball flights can get the ball to the target. Let me explain:

Pull-Slice (yellow-orange line)
Cause - red-to-yellow swing path with an open clubface. Effect - ball starts left of target and curves right.

Some characteristics of a pull-slicer:
• Usually toe-deep divots that point to the left. Toe-deep means the toe of the club digs into the ground more than the heel.
• Battle scars on the top and toe of the driver from hitting the ball straight up.
• Tee marks on the bottom of the driver that are at an angle.
• Contact on the toe of the club.
• Ball flight is high with a loss of distance.
• Fights a slice.
• Best feeling shot is a pull to the left.
• Tension, tension, tension.

Push-Hook (blue-pink line)

Some characteristics of a push-hooker:
• Usually heel - deep divots that point to the right.
Divots are usually very shallow or non-existent.
• Usually a good player, but one who fights a hook

Note: Clubface position has a bigger influence on direction than the path of the swing. You could be making a pull-slice swing but because the clubface is very open the ball might not fly to the left before it starts slicing.

Videos:

http://video.about.com/golf/How-to-Correct-a-Slice.htm
http://video.about.com/golf/Correcting-a-Hook-Shot.htm

Dear Blog,

        Today it was rainy and damp, so I didn't want to go out and practice like I said earlier. I have emailed my second mentor about having a second lesson, and so we are going to have another lesson next week. I am really excited about that! So for this week, I read a few articles: What to Expect from a Golf lesson and Re-program Your Mental Game in Golf. Then I found a website about Exercises and Stretches one can do to improve their game.
       It was interesting to read the article about the golf lesson, considering that I have had one already. The instructor pretty much followed the game plan listed in the third link below. I had a great time at my lesson because I felt like I learned so much. My lesson went like this: meet the instructor, show the instructor how I swing a short iron, instructor corrects my mistakes, and then slowly progress me to swinging longer clubs like a wood as he tries to fix my swing at the same time. If you ever need a lesson, make sure you like the instructor because anything you do you should enjoy.

            Remember: This tip comes from this website: http://golf.about.com/od/golftips/a/reprogram.htm

"Getting mad at yourself over a lack of performance is non-productive and can erode your confidence. The human body is not a machine. Some days it works better that others, and for many different reasons.

So when you see yourself starting to get mad or losing your focus, think to yourself, "I did the best I could, given all the circumstances," and let it end there.

My point is simple: Stop putting yourself down. Think about the things you are telling yourself on the course. Ever heard the expression, "What you eat, you are?" Well, "what you think, you are."

Everything you tell yourself is programming, so make it productive. Choose carefully what you think about. Don't work against yourself.

Most negative dialogue is a bad habit that you can change. You start first by listening to what you are telling yourself, recognizing the negative and working to put an end to the negative. Once you start, it's easy to change your internal dialogue to focus on the things you want to achieve.

The instant you hear yourself starting up the negative stuff, say to yourself, "stop," and don't allow yourself to finish the negative thought. Now change that negative into something productive."

Links to the articles I read:
http://golf.about.com/od/golftips/a/golf-lessons.htm
http://golf.about.com/od/fitnesshealth/tp/golffitness.htm

Some pictures that I forgot to post about gripping the club:

Dear blog,

        This week, I had an actual golf lesson! Remember that second mentor I told you about? Well, he and I went to a driving range this past Tuesday. I was amazed with the amount of knowledge he had about golf. All the stuff he told me, I probably would never of figured out from researching. Even if I found an article about why the ball keeps going right, I would have to film myself and analyze the film because I can't watch myself swing the club. All of that would be too much effort. The lesson was only an hour, but I feel like a whole new golfer. I have so much more confidence in myself now, however, I still don't think I will be able to play a whole round of golf by the end of this project. I bit off more than I can chew.
       Then during class time, I went to the practice field again to swing the club. I did better than last time. The balls went straight, but they didn't go that far. I am gonna give myself a little credit though; they were wiffle balls. See? They're little orange dots. My goal was along that white line. Next week I am probably going to practice on the practice field again during the class time.





















P.S Wear bug spray when you go to a driving range. Both times that I have been, there were bugs everywhere.

What I do WRONG that maybe you do too:
1. strong grip (seeing three knuckles on you lead hand when you grip the club)
2. hit the ball to the right- this is due to a strong grip and an open club face
3. don't transfer my weight- I more cut the ball like in baseball, instead of moving pretty much all the weight to the left foot on the swing. I used to have to more weight on the right.
4. move my body, instead of rotate- on the back swing, when I thought I rotated my body, I also kinda shifted my body to the right so that I wasn't properly aligned with the ball.
5. clubs too much in my fingers
6. totally miss the ball
7. left foot not rotated about 20 degrees 

Hello Blog!

         I practiced hitting golf balls Friday. During the 20% class time, I took my wiffle balls and a couple short irons and went to the practice field to hit a few. I made contact with at least 65% of the balls I swung at, but I hit probably five perfect and straight balls out of 35. Then later that day, I went to the driving range! It was so official; I saw business men and everything typical at a golf course. I actually improved within the few hours spent in between practicing at school and practicing at the range. I tried to focus on contact with the ball instead of power, and every time I did that I got a contact with the ball. However, any time I tried to swing the club hard, I missed or cut the ball hard right. I learned that I have a problem with closing the face of the club for a straight shot, watching the club hit the ball for a clean impact, and swinging the club straight along the target line during impact with the ball. I had a great time at the range! This upcoming week, I will probably review during the week or the morning of 20% time day and then go out to the practice field again to try out my swing. Also, I have my first lesson with an instructor this week. I hope that he can improve my game 5,000%.  

Good warm up at the range:

1) Swing at a dozen balls with your feet together. 

Swing the club in between 9 o'clock and 3 o'clock.

This warm-up drill makes the golfer focus on watching the ball and gives the golfer a bit of confidence.

2) http://www.menshealth.com/fitness/golf-mechanics-exercises?utm_source=zergnet.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=zergnet_200084&cid=partner_zergnet

Remember:

1) Try to keep the thumbs in neutral position- which means after setting up the grip, make sure both thumbs line up straight down with the shaft of the club. 

2) Keep the club in your fingers, not your palms. 

3) Keep the grip pressure to a 5- based on 1 to 10 scale.

Visit this link:

http://blog.golfhelptips.com/page/3/

http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-instruction/2007-07/tigerupclose_gd0707