A Simplified Version of the New Swing and 7 in a Row!

Written on 6-12-2020.

        I have my “older” keyboard, and I am using it to type on my iPad tonight. Our new MacBook Air is in the shop to fix its Bluetooth, a hardware problem according to Apple Support.  It’s a Friday, and we are being mellow out on our glorious deck. It’s Belinda, Kody, and me again.  Danielle just posted on FB about her adventures in Alaska, specifically the news from the past four days on the Isom Creek Fire near the Yukon River, the mosquitoes, and how she and her crew were pulled from the fire a day before they were finished to get tested for Covid-19.  What an adventure!  *Update on 6-17-2020, they all tested negative.

Kody continues his recovery.  Oops!  Pikachu just joined our back deck party.  Hello, kitty.  

I bought Kody some new dog food, because he wasn’t eating the old stuff.  He gobbled the new food right away, so I guess it was the flavor.  He went to go see Jess for lunch today, and to Aunti’s house tonight, too, because Char was in town.  He should sleep well tonight.  That was the most activity he has had since the accident.  

Speaking of the accident, B and I saw Frank at the store, and he joked he was going to buy Kody a Get Well card and some Milk Bones.  All joking aside, he was truly concerned, and I let him know Kody is recovering well.  He’s on his way to chasing rabbits again soon.  Hopefully, not trucks, though!

On to golf...

My own adventure continues with the single plane swing.  I did my Friday “longer than usual” workout today, and I cooled off at the end by using a training club Don gave me.  After my workout, I added some notes in my um...err...notes.  This is what I wrote to try and help me learn this new motion more quickly, and it is a way of simplifying it and the differences from a traditional swing.  

Address: Legs straight, arms pointed straight at the ball before the swing

At Impact: Left knee flexed and braced, trail arm straightens in the follow-through

Finish: Let the swing balance me!

See, that’s a very simplified version of the new swing that I am trying to emulate.  I noticed that when I tried to remember lots of different things when I was practicing swinging a club, it didn’t work out too well.  Those thoughts were steady head, trail foot stays on the ground during the strike, brace into the lead knee, remain in the bends, and stand up in the follow-through once the ball is gone.  That was a lot of different things to focus on, and I really could only focus on one feeling each time.  Eventually, they will become a part of my sub-conscious, and I will focus only on...

Getting Set Up for How I Will Change My Swing

 Written on 6-10-2020.

        The learning continues.  I am in our computer room, and I am relaxing on a Wednesday afternoon.  I made a makeshift training aid, and I used the measurement from Todd Graves’ book, but I don’t think it’s accurate.  It is both an alignment and a ball position aid.  $100.00 is what I saved by making my own, because that’s what I saw for its price on his website.  I don’t want to pay that much for a piece of plastic with marks on it.  So, I made my own, and I think it is correct, since I also used my Kindle book.  In that book, he sets up with his feet apart 22” for a driver swing with the ball position for irons set 5” back from the lead foot for the ball position for a driver.  That’s what I have done with my homemade aid, but 22” might be too narrow for my larger body.

I video recorded my swing using...

Kody Tries to Catch a Big Blue Rabbit

 Written on 6-8-2020.

Well, what an adventure we’ve had today.  Kody, in his youthful exuberance, attempted to catch our neighbor Frank’s truck.  He caught it, but not in the way he probably pictured.  We thought the worst, because we have seen this happen before.  The first time it happened, we lost our Zen.  We ran from our spot just outside our front doors as soon as he took off, yelling all the while.

“Stay! Stop, Kody! No! Stay!”

He wouldn’t listen, hellbent on catching a large blue rabbit with tires.  We didn’t see what happened (thank goodness), but we heard it (yikes!).  What an awful sound!  That terrible thumping sound of dog against metal and tire.  It didn’t sound good, and I thought he was a goner, for sure.  I am pretty sure Belinda thought the same thing.  It sounded bad.

Thankfully, he wasn’t a goner.  He is resting in our bedroom right now.  We got him to Valley Veterinary Clinic in less than 15 minutes (I drove a little faster than the speed limit), and he was taken away for an evaluation.  I was encouraged, because he walked to the truck to be able to go there, and then he repeated the task going up to the their building.  He couldn’t be hurt too bad, I thought, if he could do that.  

He had no internal bleeding.  He had no broken bones.  Both small miracles, truly.  He did have some serious road rash on the underside of his front right leg, however, and they did discover a laceration that needed six stitches in that armpit.  He is on pain medication and antibiotics, of course, and we will put him in the “cone of shame” at night and anytime we won’t be watching him until it heals.  Poor dog.  Poor us.

I am going to bed now.  It’s nearing 11:00 PM, and it’s been a stressful day.

Until next time…

First Step: Are My Clubs Correct for a Single Plane Swing?

Written on 6-7-2020.

It has dawned on me that I need to figure out if my clubs are fitted to the single plane swing.  I talked about the grips above, but I wondered about the rest of the clubs, too.  I am watching a video from Moe Norman Golf about the importance of club fitting.  What about single length?  Steel or graphite?  Are my lie angles and lofts correct?  I am listening to find out.

The person talking about club fitting with Todd is saying that graphite is better, so that answers that question.  He says they are easier on the body, more consistent, and they will hit it a little bit farther.  He is saying people don’t like to take divots, because they are afraid of hurting themselves.  I never thought of that.

He is also saying, though, that the two wedges (sand and lob/56 to 60 degrees) need to be forged and with steel shafts.  Forged material is softer, and steel has more weight.

Oh, it’s Tim Graves, Todd’s brother.  Makes sense.  They own the Graves Academy.

        I just submitted my information for a club fitting at moenormangolf.com.  I will wait to see what happens.