Going 'after' the ball.

I've been playing for 35+ years and have been through all the phases of the game. Finally got to a point that I was comfortable with my 'style' of play. Still beating the pants of my buddies, and MOST of the people I get partnered with when I go solo. But in the last few seasons, I noticed that I was losing yards on my irons. 7 irons stopped going 155-160 and started falling off to the 130-135 yd range. But I adapted as I went and just chalked it up to any excuse I could come up with OTHER than 'getting old'.:-) As the season began, I realized that even in 'getting old', I was still in decent shape and that 135 for a 7 iron was a bit weak (in MY case). I realized that I had become so comfortable in my game I was being lazy. Taking a half-hearted swing at the ball- especially with the irons. I had it in my head not to over swing as most people are instructed. But I was over doing it a bit much. I started by putting a slight forward press before the swing. Same swing, and it helped a bit. Obviously, de-lofting the club a tad gave me a few more yards. I then started by ramping up the swing to the 85-90% range. And bingo, yards came back to the 'normal' range I was so used to a few years ago. There was no "Range work" involved. I just decided to take to the course and see if I could get the old feeling back with some concentration and effort. That's what was so lacking from my game in the last few years. I fell into the "I'm good enough and don't need to think anymore" trap. Yesterday's round kind of put it all together. Taking the time to line up correctly, and making a good swing by 'going after the ball' instead of just swinging through it was a real eye opener. Hit almost all the irons crisp and on-line and pretty true to the yardages involved. Hit more GIR than I can remember in quite a while. Of course when one part of the game turns on, another goes away. Putter let me down, but I know that will come back and I'll make a few more of those next time. So it isn't always about getting those extra few yards off the tee, it's usually about the 6 inches between your ears.

If you are not going to go after it, then why go after it at all...