Golf Tips from the Commish

Five Minutes to Better Pitching and a Better Lawn

This is one of my favorites and I have even convinced Mrs. Commish of the necessity of taking certain types of divots out of the lawn. I easily weed two areas of the lawn simultaneously as I take three balls and hit in one direction and then hit them back to where I started. I practice this one until I hit what I consider to be three “perfect” shots from each direction without hitting a “clunker.” Problem: Very few of us have enough land to hit full shots and even if we did who would want to pick up all of those golf balls? And what about all of those divots we would leave in the yard. How can I practice actually hitting golf balls without going to the driving range? Solution: I found a way to show Mrs. Commish how I could hit balls (away from the cars and house, of course) and, at the same time, weed the yard and improve my chipping and pitching. I place a golf ball slightly in back of a weed. This used to be easy because weeds were quite plentiful in my yard. I would then take my sand wedge, open the face, and hit various pitch shot over her garden or chip under tree branches. I can practice all sorts of trajectories and if I hit the shot absolutely correctly I remove the weed with my divot. If the weed is gone my mechanics are okay. This is a confirmation of the old saying, “Hit the little ball before you hit the big ball.” The divot should start in front of where the golf ball was placed and shallow out just after the weed has been removed. Remove noxious weeds, improve your short game, and “be green” as you weed without pesticides. All in all the most perfect drill I have ever thought of.

Smash That Pile of Leaves for Power

In the fall leaves everywhere. Mrs. Commish makes me rake them and throw them into the goats’ field where they eat them, sleep on them, and, over the next year or two, convert them into new soil which I have to dig up and move to one of her gardens. Great fun. While performing this drudgery, I found a new use for those leaves. Problem: If you have ever taken golf lessons I am sure you have heard the term “extension.” Through “extension” comes power. A great idea but I found it hard to do along with all of the other swing thoughts that I am trying to keep straight. Solution: Rake a pile of leaves and swing your club through them. I make a pile at least two feet long and swing with a different club each day. Driver, 6 iron, hybrid, etc. By forcing the club to travel through the length of the pile, you have to keep it on plane longer and thereby “extend through the hitting zone.” I keep swinging away until the leaves are re-distributed across my lawn and then I go to work. My swing feels stronger; my feel for what “extension through the hitting zone” is greatly improved; and, whacking a pile of leaves is just plain fun.

A Better Swing Path Courtesy of “The White Death”

During the golfing season Mrs. Commish takes a very dim view of my taking divots out of the lawn for any reason and snow on the ground used to mean put up the sticks ‘cause you ain’t playing golf. Now it is an opportunity to check my swing path and I look forward to two or three inches of the cold, fluffy stuff. Problem: I know that an outside-to-inside swing produces a slice and an inside-to-outside promotes a draw. What kind of swing path do I really have? It feels like I’m swinging from the inside but too often my long irons fade too much. Solution: When there is a little snow on the ground it is easy to take swings and quickly be able to see proof of what kind of swing you are producing. With a little diligence you can begin to change that swing path to show in your “snow divots” the kind of swing that you want to try to take to the course with you in a few months. Never pass up the chance to check your swing path in the snow.

The Commish Commits to Winning The Specimen Cup

After a less than stellar 2010 season, The Commish has decided to work hard in the “off-season” in order to reclaim the coveted Specimen Cup, symbolic of superiority in the Bad Golfers Association. While we make fun of our foibles and have learned to enjoy golfing even though we will never be good at it, it does not mean that we do not want to crush our playing companions and make them suffer for their atrocious attempt to play this god forsaken game.

While much of what is written in this site has a degree of humor, or at least an attempt at such, let me forewarn those who read The Commish’s Conditioning Program that there is nothing funny involved. These are tried and tested methods for improving my golf game and my sincerest hope is that you may benefit from them, also. I feel safe in giving away these closely held secrets since the Snowman and the Misters Fifteen and ForeSkin neither practice nor read my words of wisdom.

My criteria for these drills is that they cost nothing (always a good thing) and, since I take a few minutes after “haying” the goats and before leaving for the office, they must be able to be completed in five minutes or less. Some of them even help me with my yard work. I do the same drill everyday until I feel that I have internalized the feeling that the drill is supposed to give me. Usually this takes three to four weeks and then I move on to another drill. I make sure that I practice something correctly everyday. After all, we’re only talking about five minutes or less to improve something that I really enjoy. I owe it to myself to become the Best Bad Golfer that I can be.