Several months ago (when putting well) I discovered that if I let gravity rule and allowed the putter to simply swing through impact, the putt would roll true and I made putts. If I tried to control the putt at any point during the swing, slight variations in the roll of the ball would occur, with the putter-face imparting tiny amounts of side spin causing the ball to roll inches off line. Frustrating, especially on 3 foot putts!

The problem was having the day-to-day ability to allow the putter to swing through impact with natural rotational forces assisted by gravity. It seems like such a simple thing to do (look at a pendulum). Yet there were days when I found myself saying: “let gravity rule, let the club swing through impact”, but I could not feel that happening no matter how hard I tried. Today, finally, I think I understand why!

If the center of the club-head’s swing arc moves (be it a putter or any other club), the natural rotational forces of your swing are all thrown out. Consider the simplest example of a short putt: If your entire left arm moves back with the putter head (as I have found myself starting to do), you’re not creating a swing path for the club head to swing back down with the natural assistance of gravity. Instead, you are using your whole left arm as a controlling rudder. Gravity doesn’t even apply when you do this (which explains why there were days when I could not feel the natural pull of gravity on the club head).

You have to feel as if you are picking the club head up (while retaining your swing radius). It’s the only way the club-head will be allowed to swing back through on its natural path with our friend gravity. Otherwise you are fighting it. And as Moe said when questioned about the single most important thing in golf: “Don’t fight it”.

Moe was a very smart man. Less moving parts.

I’m using this to recover from training and give my body the fuel it needs to build muscle and ligament strength as quickly and effectively as possible. With over 90% protein and a surprisingly great taste (just like a sweet vanilla milkshake), I’m a very happy customer.

Locally, about $160 for 3 kilos is very good value (compared to the price of buying eggs for the egg whites only to get the equivalent protein I’d need).

I was tossing up between Horleys and “AST SPORTS SCIENCE VP2″ range of protein powders, but Horleys won due to local distributors being available nearby.

• Various stretches.
• Spiderman pushups.
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrUBm0NADds.
• Star jump into pushup.
  4 breathe combination, 1 = star jump, 2 = hands on floor + feet jump back into pushup position, 3 = pushup, 4 = jump back ready for star jump.
• Squat variations.
  Jumping squats, Y squats, prisoner squats, exercise ball squats, lateral squats.
• Jackknife crunches, alternate with bicycle crunches.
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqoD0Bdggto.
• T-bar rows for the back (NOT heavy) + bicep curls.
  Bicep curls: standing 1 foot away from the wall, then lean against the wall so your lower back is glued to the wall. This isolates the biceps and forces them to do the work. Finish with hammer curls to really work the outer bicep.
• Bench press + tricep extensions/presses/kickbacks
  Chest: double tap at the bottom of the rep to really stretch the muscle.

GENERAL RULES:

As a general rule, I try to execute these as fast as I can with perfect form. Always have quality over quantity. You can mix things up by doing extremely slow repetitions. Have fun with it, but never do things too fast.

For all resistance training, do 6-8 reps to a ratio of 3:1 (3 seconds down, 1 second up). Obviously there will be days when you want to mix this ratio up, but generally stick to this for strength building.

I just finished reading the most recent post from Chad who was describing his recent experiences of Cancer, Death and Hope of a family friend. The musings of Chad always draw me in regardless of the topic, but this one hit home …and hard. Just last week I was forced to re-live the events of my mother’s death with questions from my best friend, who I turned down because I broke down crying in public. Reading Chad’s post has triggered those feelings again. It’s time to explore this for my own sanity. Baby steps.

I think the hardest line for me to read was that he accepts pain and suffering as facts of life. This is a topic I see myself struggling with. Like Chad, I accept that death is not an end but a transition (at least that is what I choose to believe). But suffering of any kind I cannot accept, and is possibly the reason I struggle with the events surrounding my mother’s last 10-15 years of life, or what could better be described as one long painful struggle with M.S.

The attachment to God, or hope, is something that I also saw first hand from my experiences with my Mum. The mention of this lady’s smile in Chad’s post also brought to mind the day I knew my Mum had but weeks to live. I held her hand, looked her in the eyes and I said ‘I love you’. Even though I was forcing away the tears and feeling my heart rip in two, seeing her face light up at my words, she gave me such a loving smile despite her total loss of function from M.S. That moment I will treasure forever.

Perhaps there are just some experiences in life that we will never get over, they are just too strong to ever leave us. It has nearly been three years since her death. I still have not been able to watch Kill Bill 2, the movie I was watching when I got the phone call. Everytime I pick up the DVD my heart tears just a little and I am forced to put it back on the shelf for a day when I am stronger. There are some questions in life, like those surrounding prolonged suffering, which I believe no-one has any answers to. I’ve cried so many tears. I’ve thought about every possible ‘reason’. No matter what I do I always end up back here. If I ever find a way out of this vicious circle, I will let you know. Until then, on with life for yet another day.