Saturday, February 21, 2009

I understand that it is quite snowy up there again in Chicago, and I must admit I’m feeling a little guilty that I am able to dodge another wintery bullet. As usual, it going to be 68 degrees on Saturday down here in South Florida, and the locals are complaining that it’s too cold. The average high for this time of year is around 78. They still look at me funny when I wear shorts in this weather, but last night I did have to get up and put a T-shirt on during the middle of the night because I was cold, so maybe I’m becoming one of them. I hope not. They are mostly rude, self-absorbed people, who drive recklessly. Hey, maybe I’m one of them already!

I am leaving the Fort Lauderdale area on Sunday to head up to Orlando for golf camp. Yes, you heard me correctly; golf camp. I inadvertently stumbled across a video on YouTube that extols the virtues of the “natural golf swing”. I have been getting nowhere with my “traditional golf swing” lessons, and I am willing to try anything a this point. The natural swing seems to resemble my swing, which is more like an old-school baseball swing (no hip turning). The natural club grip is different than the traditional one, and I’m hoping that the combination of the two will provide some sort of epiphany. You can see what I’m talking about at http://www.swinglikemoe.com/

I will be writing a daily blog about my trials and tribulations for the Chicago Tribune web site and At Play the following week. I will be sure to provide you with that information here at dahl.com. This natural swing is an unorthodox approach with respect to trying to figure out how to play better, but often the unorthodox way seems to be the way that not only appeals to me the most, but also works for me the best. How great would it be to walk up to the ball, address it and knock it both straight and far using a swing that is not recognized by the PGA as legitimate? That would make me a golf outlaw, and I like the feel of that. Of course, all of this is predicated on the fact that it actually works.

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