Swing to Success!

   Golf has always been a love/hate relationship for me. Growing up, both of my parents were very into golf. It was actually one of the hobbies that brought them together. When I was younger they tried really hard to get me to love the sport…. spoiler alert, I did not. They got me my first set of golf clubs when I was three, started taking me along with them when they would go every week and even put me in golf tournaments. To this day I still remember the lessons and the skills of golf that my dad would try to teach me but I always wanted no part in it. I did my last golf tournament when I was 12 and finished in the top three where I received 2nd place. Most people would take that as motivation to keep going but me, no,  I decided to be done with golf. I did not touch a golf club for several years after that. My friends and I would golf the odd day or I would go to the driving range with my family  the past few years but nothing too serious. It wasn’t until I met my now boyfriend that I seriously wanted to pick up a golf club again. Since I have met him, he has always loved golf. He would always want me to come ride along on the golf cart with him or try and hit the ball but I was always hesitant. Last summer I started trying to go and play with him and was actually starting to enjoy it. A few months ago he bought me a set of new pink and purple golf clubs, emphasis on the pink. I love everything pink so it was a great decision on his part. He has tried so hard to make it as fun for me as he can and I appreciate it so much. Since he bought the golf clubs I really want to start trying at golf again. I decided that for my learning project I am going to learn the proper skills of golf and the tools that work for me to achieve better accuracy and overall, improve my golf game.

   Right now the only skills I know and can do really well is driving the ball. Building off of that,  the next skill that I want to try and improve this week is chipping. For the life of me, I cannot figure it out. My ball will be good one time and on the next hole I feel as though I am doing the same thing but my ball goes in the total opposite direction.  I realize that this is because I have no clue what I am supposed to be doing, I am just hitting the ball. I am a visual learner so throughout my learning journey I will be using a mix of different learning videos on different platforms. I decided to start watching a couple beginner videos on youtube which I have found super helpful. Phil Mickelson: Chipping 101.

 My takeaways from the first video has been that firstly, I need to focus on my weight. My weight should always be on my front foot. Secondly, you would think that your arms should be straight, pointing down at the ground but actually that is false, they should be forward making it so that your arms are angled. Lastly I learned that the ball should never be in between your feet which is a mistake that I have made up until this point. In the video I learned that I need to choose if the ball is lined up with my back foot or my  front. If I want the ball to stay low to the ground I need to have my back foot lined up with the ball, and if I want to hit a high shot, I need to have the ball lined up with my front foot.Another video that I have found very useful is this video by Phil Mickelson.

 . So far I have really loved Phil Mickelson’s Youtube page. I find his videos super easy to follow along with while teaching you all that you need to know when starting out. I am actually on a golf trip with my boyfriend right now in BC, where we are golfing everyday. So far we have been here for two days and yesterday was the first day that I tried out these three tips that I have learned. The words that I run through my head are weight, arms, feet. These are the words that I find most easy to help me remember and that I can say to myself as a quick check  to see whether or not I am properly trying to execute my chip on the green. So far it has already helped me a ton. Obviously I am not an expert after a day but my overall confidence after playing 18 holes with these tips has improved immensely. I am so excited to keep improving and to see where I can take my golf game after these following weeks. Thank you for following along with my golfing journey!