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