Fighting Back: Rob Smith Golf Blog 12

Fighting Back: Rob Smith Golf Blog 12

Such has been my work- and travel-load since my last blog that I have not had time to visit my coach, Paul Foston.

Happily that will change this week, but for now the focus of this update is on how erratic one gets when undergoing swing therapy.

I think this is quite understandable - some days (indeed some swings) you remember what you have been told, whilst others you drift back into your bad old ways - worse still, a hybrid of the two.

The week before last I headed down to Bournemouth to prepare a Golfer's Guide for the magazine.

I thoroughly enjoyed returning to four tip-top courses that I had played before; Broadstone, Ferndown, Parkstone and Remedy Oak.

I was slightly less taken with Meyrick Park, not so much because of the course itself, but the fact it is on public land with more dog walkers than I have ever seen before.

Playing with the secretaries at Broadstone and Ferndown, I was particularly poor at the start but on both occasions settled down to double my score on the back nine (10 and 20, 9 and 18).

I think this shows that a great deal is about finding a balance of confidence and concentration.

Keen not to look a complete idiot, I started by doing exactly that before I managed to focus on the job in hand.

Last week it was down to the lovely course and set-up at Bowood in Wiltshire (35 points) before the GM team competition to celebrate the 50th birthday of Jezz Ellwood.

Around the ever-excellent Royal Porthcawl, I had one of those days where I failed to focus on almost any shot.

This may have been because I missed my bedtime by about three hours, but it has confirmed what I need to work on with Paul.

First to concentrate and slow down the backswing, then to work on consistency.

Rob's other Blogs

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