I can’t say enough good things about the Tour Academy experience I went through Monday through Wednesday of this past week. Attending the academy is the best thing I could have done for my own enjoyment of the game of golf, and I’d recommend it to anyone looking to get more enjoyment out of the game. My instructor was awesome, and I’m hoping to get some private instruction from him in the near future (more on that later).
Physically, I’m still sort of recovering from the massive amount of golf I took in. Not only did I do a lot of drills and take a lot of swings each day, but temperatures were in the low to mid-90′s with a heat index around 110 degrees. I think I went through at least a dozen water bottles a day to stay hydrated.
I went into the academy with the mindset that I would only get out of it what I put into it, which I believe is generally true with anything involving education. We were allowed to get to the academy early to practice, so I took advantage of that. We were given a booklet of all the information we were learning, so I took notes. If I wasn’t sure about something, I asked questions. When playing on the course each day, instead of just “having fun”, I took the opportunity to practice the things I had learned. Besides, that was more fun for me anyway.
There’s a lot to say about the academy. I don’t really know where to start. For that reason I think I’m going to keep it simple for now and reference the academy over time.
So for now, I can say that I feel like my golf game is either much better or that I now have the building blocks to get much better. My swing is actually pretty messed up right now as I try to make a few changes, but with practice it will become more consistent again. The good thing is that I think my swing will be even better once I get that consistency back – I’m already noticing a 20-30 yard increase in distance for all my clubs, and when I strike the ball correctly my accuracy is excellent.
I now know how to practice more efficiently, which is important as I don’t have a lot of time to practice. My putting and short game are drastically improved – for instance, I have much more confidence in my chipping abilities, and pitching from 50-60 yards is no longer something of concern.
That’s probably the best thing I got out of this experience – my golf game confidence is much higher than it used to be. I feel like there isn’t a situation out on the course where I won’t be able to figure out a game plan. That’s a big difference from before where I wasn’t confident if I was doing the right thing half the time. It turns my game from one of guessing and then trying to execute with doubt to one of picking from options and executing the chosen option.
Despite a short vacation out of town without golf, I’ve already had two practice sessions since my time at the Academy was finished. And already I’m seeing huge improvement. My swing is starting to come around with the changes, and my short game is getting much better. It’s amazing the difference some good knowledge makes.
Tomorrow is Tuesday 9-hole golf, where I’ll get to try out some of what I’ve learned. I’m not necessarily expecting to play much better – particularly since I’m still figuring out my swing – but I do have a goal to shoot less than 45 for the 9 holes, which I think is reasonable at this stage. I’ll report how things go after the round is over.