Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Somewhere my father is shaking his head

After another usual night at the driving range, I have embraced another truth: My golf swing is an way-to-fast exercise in wristiness (very technical golf term) and over-active hands. If my father were not the cool, level-headed man that he is, I imagine that he would scream with fury that his many generous lessons to 'fix' my swing have fallen by the way side. I fully understand the concepts and exercises that he has been trying to incorporate into my swing, i.e. swing easy, quiet your arms, come from the inside-out. However understanding these concepts and executing them with my oh-so stubborn muscle memory seem to be impossible to acheive. While I can make my swing move from the inside-out to create (sometimes) a slight draw, this swing path is acheived by my quick hands and my brutal need to hammer the ball. I understand that I can generate more power and acheive more consistency by using my lower body, but gravity's pull on my generous posterior refuses to allow me to make the proper sequence of moves to acheive the perfect golf swing. As such, I throw my arms out like a clumsy olympic hammer-thrower, hoping that the club head will miraculously find its target on the golf ball and compress the ball against the ground and then into the air. Usually this results in my ball acheiving a ball flight like a drunk on I-40 before veering hard off to the right, but sometimes (more often than not now due to my dedication to this ungainly swing) the ball rockets from the face of the club rising into the air till it reaches its apex before diving slightly to the left in a nice draw. These are the shots that keep me coming back, seeking some clue to trigger a repeat of my previous swing and that beautiful shot. Despite this dedication to mediocrity (much like my beloved Vols from the looks of the first game), I still come home, arms tired and sore from the onslaught unleashed on all those little white balls, imagining my father shaking his head in disbelief and bewilderment that I just don't get it. Just that image, makes me giggle. I'm doing it now. LOL!

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