The upcoming year........

Hello again folks, not been a lot to report lately as the weather is continuing to be a pain in the a*** if you know what I mean.

I did have a lesson recently which was encouraging. My main aims are currently to work on posture, both at address and then more importantly maintaining it throughout my swing. It became apparent that I was 'getting taller' on my downswing which was causing all kinds of problems with my swing plane. Hopefully, by grooving this new change, I can improve my swing plane and reduce the need for fast compensatory hands. Apologies there to any non golfers who read this as I would guess that paragraph made absloutely no sense to you! Haha, sorry!

I have decided that as from March onwards I will go for two lessons per month - one to work on my swing and the other to work on my short game (chipping and putting etc). I have also been getting some excellent advice from my boss too with regards to my mental side - an area he really excels at and i'm fortunate enough to get his advice on this. I haven't mentioned the fact that I have lessons elsewhere to him as I don't want him to take it personally - it certainly isnt personal. I've spoken to friends and they also have lessons away from the club they work at. I guess the issue is that we don't want to stand on their toes and take away from their business by asking for their time during a working day.

I had an interesting discussion with my boss the other day and it was quite interesting because he said he saw my personality traits being mirrored in my golf game! The main factor with me is confidence. I'll admit I'm certainly not always the most confident person in the world off the golf course or at work necessarily, but in golf (playing test aside) I always thought I played confidently. After more consideration, I realised how right he was. I have full faith in my abilities when they aren't being put to the test (or 'under pressure'). However, when they are being put to the test, I immediately begin to doubt myself and my ability and play in the most negative way possible! I know this for a fact as I know how I felt during the tests last summer. Itried to play so safe or 'negatively' that I never gave myself any opportunities or a real chance to pass. Rather than 'playing to pass the test', I was 'playing not to fail the test' and exerting pressure on myself for the whole day.

The biggest thing I can try and do for this year is to be more courageous and fully accept the consequences of decisions I make on the course. Technically speaking my game is shaping up really well except for my putting which is gonna need a whole bunch of work (i'm quite worried about this actually!). I'm sure with a bit of hard work this will improve.

I have been considering my schedule for this year. One thing coming up is the Davies and Tate again. It's quite weird as I have represented Hollingbury for the last 8-9 years and this year I will be representing Mid Sussex. I played a trial for Mid Sussex last week with the captain who had never seen me play before and hopefully the 71 I posted will be good enough evidence that I can contribute to the team. We have been drawn against a team called Cowdray Park and I've not played this course before. I look forward to going there tho, as it sounds exciting and challenging.
For the rest of the year, I will play in a county Order of Merit called the 'Chanctonbury Ring' at West Sussex. This will be great playing test practise a it is 36 holes in a tournament environment. Then, if all going well in test terms, I will stay amateur up till the end of June (and enter the Sussex Amateur Championship and the Mid Sussex Club Championship) and then turn pro at the beginning of July!

Thats the goal, lets see what happens........