Bristol and busy week!

Good morning all! I have posted a link from my twitter page to this blog so if anyone chooses to read this then hello to you and thank you for taking the interest!

I went to Bristol and saw my Nan in hospital over the weekend. To cut a long story short, she had (baring in mind she's 93) a 4 hour operation about 4 weeks ago and now she's doing great. Was so great to see how positive and relaxed she was. She's been through a lot over the last few years but now she has a cracking chance of making the big 100.

I seriously hate going to hospitals, they make me so anxious. I always come out counting my blessings that I am healthy as some of the people in there are suffering in a way I probably can't even imagine. One girl in there, only a 27 years of age was in the bed opposite my Nan and she was so ill it was awful. I discovered she had Crohn's Disease. I don't really know what this is but I know for sure that I never want it. It's all too easy sometimes to think you have significant problems, when in reality you aren't even close. This was a big wake up call for me. Anyways, Nan is doing great and will be home very soon.

I haven't played much golf at all this week. I have been doing a lot of hours in my other job so have only played once. I played on Tuesday afternoon at Sweetwoods. This is a great course near East Grinstead. I played really nicely actually and hit some really good iron shots. I was +3 through 14 holes but then had no choice but to leave. I can only describe it as sunstroke? I was poodling along nice then suddenly my mouth went completely dry, I got unbelievably dizzy and my legs started trembling. I think it was extreme dehydration and it was entirely my fault. I won't let this happen again ever. I've written 2 or 3 assignments about the importance of hydration and it is vital!! If you dehydrate, you can't concentrate and you feel very poorly indeed. This is not condusive to good golf.
I was hitting the ball nicely though and really beginning to feel comfortable with my backswing.

I've been to the range twice this week to continue grooving my backswing. I am so excited by the way i'm hitting it and even more excited by the fact that I finally have full understanding of where I've been going wrong. I've chosen not to be taught by anyone. I believe I have a good enough understanding of my technique and beliefs that I am content to work this way.
My backswing feels very shallow indeed and when I get it right the club feels miles behind me. This is because I am now letting my arms and the club follow the turn of my shoulders, rather than my previous fault of lifting my arms and getting disconnected (or above plane). I know this is correct because all I need to from there is turn my shoulders back through as hard as I can on my downswing. The club never gets trapped behind me as long as I turn!! FACT!! This has yielded some arrow straight shots, time after time and even extra distance!!

There are critics out there, my brother being one of them, for me undertaking this method. I have always had faith in the concepts of it though which is why I have stuck with it. Even on bad days, I have simply told myself that I just hadn't executed it properly. It has taken me over a year to get to this point though as it has been essentially a complete change of method and the way I have struck the ball this past week has made it totally worth it!

I have a tournament next week at The Drift which I'm really excited about. I'm not going to grade the success of the day by my scores. I just want to hit some nice shots under a competitive environment and feel comfortable with my swing. If that happens I will consider the day a success! I can't wait.

I also have my equipment repairs exam coming up which I am very nervous about. It's all stuff I have done before but this is the only thing that I need to do to pass my PGA course so it's fairly important you could say. We'll see what happens.

Anyways I'll leave it there for today and will write again soon...