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| Blindfold golf |
Good God, I thought, my swing has got so bad that he can't even bear to look at me!
I was used to this response when I put a home-cooked meal in front of guests, but had never had it at golf before.
"If it's that bad, couldn't you just close your eyes?" I asked.
"It's not for me," he said, "it's for you."
Good God, I thought, he's going to shoot me!
I stepped backwards.
He stepped forwards.
I stepped backwards, and fell over my bag.
The pro helped me up. I couldn't see any gun-like bulges under his clothes.
He motioned me to get my 6 iron and return to the driving bay. "You have a problem with trust," he said, approaching me with the blindfold.
"Only since watching the 'Crime and Investigation' channel," I said.
The pro shook his head. "Trusting your swing."
I relaxed. "Oh, trusting my swing. Now I see."
The pro tied the blindfold across my eyes and oriented me to the practice ball.
I swang.
The ball went sideways. I fell over.
I pushed the blindfold up and hit a practice ball, ok, and then put the blindfold down.
The ball went forwards, but not very far. Me too.
I obviously needed to work on my balance.
I played one shot without the blindfold and then one shot with it. After half a dozen shots, I hit a very good 6 iron with the blindfold, and managed to hold my finish without falling over.
The pro removed the blindfold. "Any time you have a bad round where you're not hitting your irons solidly, I want you to go to the practice fairway and do this drill. The main thing wrong with your swing is that you hit a few bad shots and then get too analytical."
"Paralysis by ananlysis," I said.
He nodded. "If you can hit the ball that well, without seeing it, and maintain your balance, you will learn to trust muscle memory."
NB. Don't leave your car at a 45 degree angle to the practice fairway. This is a great exercise for golfers, but can be hard on parked cars.
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