In the summer of 2005 and 2006 I really struggled with a hook off the tee¹. Over the last year, I’ve reversed that and have been playing a straight ball or fade for most of this summer. I’ve made the change primarily with ball position – a little closer to me and further up in my stance.

In the last two weeks, things fell apart a little bit. I starting cutting my shoulder turn too short, standing too close to the ball and stopped releasing my hands aggressively and ended up playing a weak fade that ended up a good club or two short. My round on Saturday was dreadful, shooting 100 (admittedly on an unforgiving course) for the first time in a long while.

Today I moved the ball a little further away (though I kept the ball position forward) and made sure to release my hands through the swing. It wasn’t all perfect – adjusting back produced a few foul balls as well. However I turned in a solid 81 with a couple of strokes wasted on balls I hit OB².

Trying to improve my swing is a good thing, but it’s important not to go too far in either direction. I’m never going to be a tour player – as much as I’m playing right now (1.5 times a week with no range time), sticking with what works is probably the best recipe for success. I’ll be much more confident for my next round – maybe I’ll get a round in the 70s this season after all.

1. Mainly due to ball position too far back and a tendency to hang back on my right side when trying to protect against overswinging. [back]
2. A frustrating one trying to get home in 2 on the 17th hole when I overdid it and hooked my 3-wood just OB left. I ended up with a 7 instead of an easy 5 on the hole. [back]