Here's a little story about muscle memory. Sometimes I am amazed how quickly the brain forgets let alone muscles. If you learn to do things correctly when you are young chances are you will not forget or at least it won't take long to get the skill set back. Did you ever have a good drop when you were young Phil or is this something you are trying to pick up later in life?
I had or am having some rather interesting yet perplexing muscle memory issues myself. After taking a job here in Sweden I had to postpone my pursuit of perfection in the game of golf. Recently I terminated my job and I started picking up my golf clubs and started fiddling around with them again. What I found was that I had completely lost the feel for the short shots...chipping and pitching. You have know how idea how maddening it was/is. I don't know if I am over it yet.
Well the worse it got the more determined I was to fix it. Trust me...it got worse. And worse. I could not make solid contact with a ball on a short shot to save my life. It nearly drove me insane. I used to have all kinds of touch and feel for this part of the game probably because of my tennis background. I should note that I took my first golf lesson on my 40th birthday.
But I kept at it. At times just trying to resign myself to hitting millions of bad shots before the problem corrected itself. At times screaming at the heavens...asking what it was that I had done to deserve such a cruel fate. Then pausing to reflect that if my worst problem in life was my short game then that paled in comparison to some of the real problems in the world. I would go back to work...hitting bad shot after bad shot.
It seems like such a simple thing, particularly for a spin doctor like myself who has made a life of hitting shots. Perfecting techniques until it is only a "feeling" but I had lost the feeling. I couldn't find it for the life of me. I came to the conclusion that it had to be a question of technique so I just gave up and told myself that I was a total beginner and started from scratch. Once I got to the point of resignation it was just a matter of researching the technique and putting in the work. Once you slip into the hell of hitting these crazy shots it is hard to erase from your memory.
Variations of my misery were blading the ball (hitting the back of the ball), hitting it fat (sometimes hitting as much as six inches behind the ball in the ground), chilly dipping (this is where your shot is so shittly it sort of pops up into the air and you hit it a second time with your club as it follows through). This is what I was doing on every single shot. Every once in a while I would hit it soundly...by accident.
Little by little I was getting the ship to stabilize then it would all go south on a moments notice. Back in the rut of madness. I could chilly dip sometimes three times in a row which I have concluded is nearly an impossible thing to do. But I kept on trying. Little by little getting my mind back in the game. Giving up on every being the perfectionist that I was and just went back to being a beginner.
Finally yesterday it all clicked. I saw a few videos on youtube and was able to assimilate the tips into a feeling on the practice range. I was hitting these shots perhaps better than I ever had. What is the most important thing was that I could "feel" what I was doing. The process I went through nearly drove me insane...not kidding. But I am not the kind to give up. So I didn't. I am not certain if this is a permanent fix at this point. I certainly hope that it is at least the beginning.
In the end the only thing this old world understands is hard work. I have not begun to fight (work).
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Muscle memory
I have managed to improve my groundstrokes, but what stubbornly refuses to change is my serve backswing. When I go through the motion in front of a mirror, I manage to change it and get a good drop. I have done the new swing at least a hundred times a day, for weeks. I get on the court, video the movement, and practically nothing has changed! I start with a very loose grip. Then my autopilot (muscle memory) takes over and bingo, same old movement occurs! Yes Kyle, I have the toss more to the left. If I practice it without the ball, looks great, just how I want it. Soon as I am on the court, it is a Mr Hyde and Dr Jekyl siruation. Dr Jeckyl takes over.
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