Wow. First Entry. This is kind of historical.

[JetFan1983]

Emerging from the rust and dust of yet another injury, I have returned with the same dream I had when I first picked up a club in May 2008: Figure out how to play this game at a high level. I've been hitting the range three times a week for the past two weeks it seems. That's great consistency for me, and as long as my body holds up, I'm hoping that becomes the norm for the rest of the season.

In my profile it says that I'm a 19.2 That's not entirely true. At one point, I was. But that was before a back injury robbed me of the entire 2009 golf season. I actually have not played a round of 18 holes since April of 2009! It's been a long road to recovery, and that included a winter of hitting the gym, eating better, and getting strong for 2010. I've suffered some more injuries (most recently an abdominal injury that lasted 6-7 weeks), but I'm healthy again for the most part and back on the range.

Like the other regs on these boards, I spent my fall and winter reading all of iacas's posts, and though I was reluctant and defiant for some time, I have finally given in and made the choice to join the Stack and Tilt team. It's only been a few months, but already I like what it's done for my swing. I'm getting much better contact, distance, and accuracy, and my confidence to self-diagnose problems and subsequently fix them is the highest its ever been. Granted, that's not saying much considering how lost I felt in the not-to-distant past. Still, the belief that I'm actually on the right track is a very inspiring feeling.

I was able to get to the range this evening after work, and today I worked on the two clubs that I felt I needed to work on the most: Full sand wedge shots and the driver. When I have gotten the opportunity to practice this year, it's all been with my irons (PW to 5-iron). I really didn't bother practicing with anything else because I felt that iron play was my most glaring issue at that time. Now that I feel as if I've made great strides so far in that department, I felt it was time to change things up.

As expected, my SW was pretty good tonight. I was hitting a consistently high and straight shot that flew 70+ yards. I figure since these are range balls, my gamers will carry a good 10-20 yards further on the course. Now the driver? That's a different story entirely.

I definitely don't think its just me, but I find it much more challenging to maintain the flying wedge through impact the longer the club gets. So you can imagine the problems I've had with my driver. The majority of my results are straight-slices. They fly 180 yards or so and then take a break-neck right turn for an additional 60-80 yards of carry in the wrong direction. I know that I'm flipping. I also know that my hip slide is not where it needs to be. These two things combined create a bit of a wicked out-to-in path at impact. But am I frustrated? Not in the slightest. In the past, I would have no idea why this ball flight was occuring. But with the help of Stack and Tilt, I now understand the ball flight laws, and I know that there are simple solutions to my issues; they'll just take some time to become muscle memory- especially since I'm going at this alone.

I believe that the flat left wrist/flying wedge is the secret to good golf. Well that and a consistent hip slide that gets your weight left at impact (while also keeping your upper center in place). This isn't easy for me to accomplish the longer the club gets, but at the same time, I know this will take time. I believe in the flying wedge drills that I do.

I won't be able to get out again until next week, so no golf this weekend for me unfortunately. I have to go to a friend's wedding. But come Monday-Tuesday, I'll have that golf itch in a real bad way, and you can be sure I'll be out there doing my thing and chasing the dream. When will I get to make my long awaited return to a real course? An old buddy from high school invited me to play golf with him next Saturday, and as of right now, that will be the big day. I'd like to be hitting my driver straighter obviously, so I've got probably 3-4 possible range sessions to get something going before I play. And if not...hey, just have fun. Be grateful to be playing again.