Joey's Golf Bag

Yesterday, I decided to cut 1/2" off the length of my SasQuatch Lucky 13 driver, re-do the swingweight to D-0 and see how well I can swing it. This afternoon, after work, I went to the Hank Haney Golf Ranch to practice and give the driver a try. The weather was unseasonably warm, with little breeze. The only downside is the day is shorter and the sun was setting as I practiced.

First, I warmed up by hitting a variety of sand wedge shots, from 1/4 swing to full swing. I struck the sand wedge pretty well, though hit a fat shot or two, which for me, means I’m rushing the downswing. Next, I did the same set of shots with the lob wedge, still having pretty good ball-striking, and then followed that up with full pitching wedge shots. I then moved on to hitting the irons in succession, hitting them pretty well until I got to the 6-iron. By now, I’d hit half the balls, so I got out the driver. After a poor shot off the heel to start, I worked on my alignment and started hitting shots, most of which had no side spin at all, maybe a bit pushed or pulled. I then got out the other long clubs, the 7-wood, the hybrid and the 4-iron. The 4-iron I never hit well tonight. I made good contact with the other clubs, but the shots were high and short.

I then ran the pin-hunting drill, and had a pretty good day, hitting 10 of 20 shots with a score of 4 or 5. My main faults today were hitting the long irons fat or hooking them badly. I also had one fat wedge shot, but I was otherwise pleased with my ball-striking.

My swing is still a work in progress, but having cut both my irons and driver 1/2" shorter than I was playing before has seemed to help my ball-striking and has not had any particular effect on distance. Time will tell, but I’m optimistic that my game is improving again.