2011

So with the new year my interest in golf is being rekindled, I'm not sure what it is, but I seam to lose interest as the nights draw in during the autumn and it starts again as I notice the light staying longer in the January late afternoons.

I've been to the range a couple of times since the new year started and a few times before Xmas. Then today played 12 holes and spent an hour on the practice ground getting a feel again for pitching and putting.

So far I can say that my irons are coming back to form but my wood play is woeful. Still, it's early days and I'm looking forward to the season.

Over the winter I went back over the notes I have from lessons and after some range experimentation came to a decision. This year with my irons I'm going to play for a fade.

For the past few years I have put a lot of effort into developing a draw shot and with some success, however in playing so hard for a draw I have ingrained a fault into my swing. To get to the inside I make a kind of lean back with my torso, it produces a draw but, it also makes fat shots far more common.

My last lesson was partially about trying to fix that fault in order to reduce fat shots and get the golf ball first before hitting the turf. I can do this quite well however it does produce a fade rather than a draw. The more I have hit and seen the fade the more I'm beginning to get used to it. Wrongly or rightly I always used to equate a draw with good players and a cut with high handicappers. It's why I tried so hard to play a draw myself. As time goes by I'm beginning to realise that a fade is probably the more controllable shot.

Here's to a golf filled 2011, and Lot's of birdies!!!