A Swing. . . and a miss.

I'm going to the driving range tonight with all intentions of just having fun, hitting balls, and enjoying the beautiful day and not have too many expectations or goals. The driving range is really fun--except for when I miss the ball completely. It's so embarrassing. I just hope if anyone saw it they thought I was getting a practice swing in before each shot. It is pretty amazing how big a difference hitting balls makes before getting on the course. First, I go through the set-up checklist: Knees bent, left foot aligned with the ball, right distance away from the tee, weight on the balls of my feet, tailbone down, shoulders back and down, hands properly placed and wrists firm. Once I've reminded myself of these things a few times, I find myself getting in a groove where I can focus simply on my weight shifting from back foot to front foot, inhaling on the way back, exhaling through the shot, and finishing with the club in the right place. When I've played after the driving range, my tee shots are much better (relatively) and the putting is the problem. When I've been short on time and skipped the driving range, the tee shots are horrendous, but at least then the putting doesn't look so noticeably bad. I'm getting to the point now where I can get through a bucket of balls only missing 2-3, and a handful are hit so badly they barely make it off the mat, but other than that, they are straight and up in the air. Next, I need to figure out how to bring some power in to make them go farther! Baby steps, right?