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The journey so far...

Welcome to my blog, a place that I'll use to collect all of my thoughts and explain my golfing journey. So, let's start at the beginning - I'm Matt and I'm a golfaholic BUT whilst I'm hooked this time around (excuse the pun), the same can't be said for when I played golf in my formative years. And, to that end I believe I picked up my first golf club around the age of 7, when my Dad took the family to the driving range so he could practice his own game. I don't remember much about my golf in between then and my teenage years but I do know that I took lessons when I was around 12 and began playing a little too. The problem was, I liked it but I didn't love it. There were other things in my life that I felt deserved my time, including football and school and so I can't say that I ever really gave it my all. I can also confirm that club technology has improved dramatically in the twenty or so years since I last played, which was late in my teens, as bac
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Still more to come...

  Last session in the full speed spectrum program was a bit of a disappointment if I'm being honest, as I was pretty far from my best and should have completed it the following day, rather than after a round of golf. However, what it does prove, in my opinion, is that even when I'm not 'on it' I'm still considerably faster than I used to be and that results in me being able to get it out there that bit further. As you can see in the program summary, my peak eSpeed was set in session 23 at 109mph with a distance potential of 303 yards achieved, whilst my quickest swing also came during that set, with a 110mph and 307 yard potential. A few days later I completed the progress check and once again I wasn't at full tilt but still close to my potential with a 96mph Stack / 105mph eSpeed which equates to 292mph. A couple of things worth noting are that I completed the driver swing during that session with the mini driver, not my actual driver, so there's going to b

Target in sight

Having got back on the horse with session 22 it was time to crank things up a notch for session 23, with records tumbling on the 135g by 5mph, both in terms of the fastest and the set, with a 103 and a 102mph versus the prior 98 and 97mph respectively. But, it's the driver related 195g that really draws the attention, as not only did I hit the magic 100mph Stack / 110mph eSpeed number that I set as my stretch goal when I began stack training, I did it twice in the set. Furthermore, I took the set record up to 99mph, gaining 2mph over the previous best, with the first in the set the one holding down the average. That pushes me over the 300 yard distance potential precipice for the first time too with a 99/109mph tallying 303 yards. So, I still have a little ways to go to be at the average of 110mph / 307 yards distance potential but I don't think it's actually that far off. I felt a lot quicker during this session and I think it's partly due to the stack arranging some o

Slow, slow, fast

  We've got two sessions to digest in this post, with my busy life schedule having impeded my progress a little in the early stages of May. Session 21 was the first in a new phase of the full speed spectrum program and I always find that first session puts me a little out of kilter, as you become so used to the routine in each phase. Nonetheless I did post a new record of 98mph on the 135g weight, although that really would be the highlight of that session, with my speed on the 195g pretty sub-par compared to where I had been. In reality I should have listened to my body and moonwalked right out of the session but I ploughed on regardless, which I hope isn't to the detriment of my improvement long term (it won't be). However, it did crystallise my thoughts on rest, which I heeded with session 22, as I waited until I felt like my back and ankle were in a better place. Six days on from session 21 and I was still feeling a little sore to be honest and my back issues had also l

Phasing Out

  The last session in phase 3 was pretty successful with previous records continuing to be toppled, with a new high speed of 104mph on the 135g (previous fastest - 101mph), which also led to a jump from 98mph to 102mph as the set record. This was followed up by another 4mph jump from 107mph to 111mph on the 65g, which facilitated the set record jump from 106mph to 109mph. Then, on the 240g I eeked out another 1mph to take the set record to 93mph. It was all the 97's for the final set on the 195g, giving an eSpeed of 106mph and distance potential of 297 yards. The routine will change again as I enter phase 4 of the program but I doubt it'll be too far from where we are now and I'm looking forward to digging in and getting quicker still.

Slacking but still stacking and definitely making gains...

  I haven't posted here for ten days as I've had somewhat of a busy schedule to cope with, however, I've maintained my stack schedule as best as I can through that period... Session 17 saw my top line drop a little compared with recent sessions, as recorded a 94mph stack speed which equates to 103mph eSpeed and a 287 yard distance potential. But, that's not the story of that session as I was 4mph quicker with the 95g in a step set, taking the record up to 106mph and managed a set average of 103mph, which is also 2mph quicker than before. Meanwhile, on the 60g step set I achieved a 108mph and a set record of 106mph, with these step sets really starting to pay dividends in terms of sequencing the swing. Moving onto session 18 and you'll see my usual day off between sessions had slipped due to other commitments but I was back to 96/105mph on the stack/eSpeed, which equates to 293 yards distance potential. And, it was a similar story on the other weights, with a record/

In the ballpark

  One of the nice features of the stack app is that it understands you need rest between sessions, with a day off between each session scheduled if you want to stay at a 100% grit score (I always aim to stay at 100% as I want to get as many sessions in as possible). Anyway, I digress, the nice feature is that if you do a speed priming session prior to a round it will then move the session down the line by a further two days, giving your body the reprieve it needs. In my case I did just that ahead of a competition round, in order that I could get loose and limber for the round, especially as I was already a little sore from pushing my body over the previous few days. That said, when it came due for my next session I was playing another competition on that day too. However, with the rest I'd had in between I decided to push on with training before heading out onto the course. I wasn't at my absolute quickest with the 195g, albeit only 1mph short on the average, but I made up for

Hanging in there...

  Not quite up there with the big ole 97mph that I recorded a few sessions ago but I'm still hanging on in there with the 195g with a 95mph average which equates to 290 yard distance potential. However, once again, perhaps it's not all about that driver equivalent number, rather it's about improving on the other weights too, which is precisely what I did in session 15. There was also a couple of other things to consider for this session too, as I started the day with a migraine, which is never good and when I got to the course, the bay I use was sopping wet, as we've had a lot of rain over the last few days. Anyway, I had my grippier wet weather shoes on so I tried to act like it wasn't going to bother me. Over to the records for the session and the first came with the 65g with the step movement and it was a huge gain on the previous best, which I set in session 12, with a 7mph improvement from 101mph to 107mph. The average has also jumped significantly, with a set