My spring effortts are firming up. This included a series of sessions with my father whose short game is spot on when it’s going. He gave me a system to concentrate on. The pitching wedge and the 52 degree gap wedge are full swing clubs. He controls distance by feel, knowing how far the P and G will fly on a full and half swing. The sand is for everything fifty on on by half swinging. Distance control is by choking up for shorter shots. Direction is paramount. The lob wedge is for getting out of sand only and special short stuff when the ball is teed up. This has given me direction.

Putting improved with his tips, but the putting rug has also helped. The big thing is vision. Seeing the line takes practice. The rug helps.

I’ve settled on the R9 Quad driver. It gives me the ability to shape shots. The Sumo straightens me out too much and the offset results in too many hooks. The power fade is a very important bail shot and a technical driver like the R9 lets me do it naturally.

The move to a 4 wood was great. I can jack it almost as far as 230 yards on the fly and it is forgiving. The Nike SQ feels wonderful at address. The previous 3 wood gave me only distress. Carrying the 4 let’s me drop my 5 wood which was my bushwacking club. The hybrid 3 and 4 have the small head that run through rough well and go at least as far as the 15 year old Taylormade steel wood went.

The putter has been moved back to a more traditional putter and is a Never Compromise bought on eBay. I have gained respect for the putter that I never really had before. If you want immediate impact on your game, you need to produce on the green.