Winter Blues

Today was the first time in the last 33 days that the temperature has crept above freezing here in the tundra that is Minnesota. In conditions like this its hard to stay sharp and focused on the season to come but I've been doing my best to not get too out of golf-shape by swimming at the local community center and swinging the weighted club in the back yard at night. I've decided to try and swim the equivalent distance of crossing the English Channel (34 miles) this winter and just passed the half-way point to my goal on Thursday. I got the idea a few weeks ago when I was forced to share the pool with a water jazzercise class that was populated by a large contingent of immensely overweight women. When they got to "rocking and rolling", the water became so rough that I felt like, well, I was trying to cross the English Channel. On the days I don't swim I might go for a jog on the treadmill in the basement if there's some interesting tournament to be watched on TV, but otherwise I have promised myself that I'll go outside and swing the club no matter how cold it is. I don't think I've missed more then half-a-dozen days so far. Last week I also made my own impact bag, after contemplating the purchase of one at my favorite web-site TGW.com. I took an old duffel bag and filled it full of old clothes as tightly as I could--it seems to work pretty well. My recent readings on the swing have left me thinking I need to work hard on my impact position and making sure my left wrist is flat when I strike the ball. I know from watching video of my swing that I have a tendency to flip my wrists through the ball--the kiss of death to solid and consistent ball striking. Hopefully the homemade impact bag will help me with this. Like always, I'll keep you posted.