Played my first 18 holes for 2008 in Holzhäusern. Consiously used as little right hand as possible, which accomplished two things 1) Avoided strain and pain in right arm 2) Really helped to get that sweeping feeling back into the swing. Much improved contact, even 2 perfect 3-wood shots. Good distance, bit less han normal but not much, straighter but not always yet. Will try and rebuild me swing around this principle.
Other thing to try: left hand hitting only.

To improve rotation and avoid injury to right arm, keep right elbow down and in (head cover under arm). Keep right hand very light on the grip to avoid impact strain.

During my stay in Ireland this summer, I played the Lee Valley Golf and Country Club, not far from Cork, just follow the road to Macroom and you will see the signs after about 20 minutes. Arrive early during the week, and the course will be very quiet, and you'll get the early bird discount before 10:00 at EUR 35, which is well worth it. Very friendly staff, nice clubhouse, great course, thoroughly enjoyable.

Had a lesson with Franco today at the Golf Club in Bubikon to try and address my hooking tendencies. Very good, to the point practical advice from Franco. Take-aways:

• Hinge - and make sure that there is a clear 'bump' showing on the left hand (i.e. turn the left hand so that the club is square, not closed, as checked at halfway-point, clubhead somewhere just above ear level)
• With the driver especially, make sure that setup is - ball inside left, grip NOT ahead of ball, basically neutral, pointing to center of body - grip neutral
• Keep weight behind the ball
• Start turn using shoulders, not arms; show back to the target
  

Very warm April weather - nice round of golf. Ok on 1st nine, terrible on 2nd. Anyway, played with Uwe, who considers making baseball-warmup swing essential to hitting a good drive - pretty solid thinking really, fits in nicely with my current learnings about trying to pacify the hands. The essence of the approach being that the wrists are passive, the club (bat) pulls them around, no active movements. Must try this out. Got good drives of early hinging, slow backswing, aligning writst perpendicular, easy swing.

First 18 holes of the season - Otelfingen. Fairways not great yet, but greens ok. Not a particularly strong round, I've got a lot of strong draw into my swing (again), but some good shots, not too bad for the beginning of the season I guess, really enjoyed being out on the course again. Otelfingen is a nice starter course, flat, not much trouble, water in play on a fair few holes. Not much variety.

Haven't played my first eighteen yet this season, but a few trips to the driving range have been quite good. I've been watching a few videos (see other story on the site) of Tiger and a number of other pros, and this is helping me to visualize the mechanics of the golf swing a lot better. My preliminary conclusions are that I should aim for a much steeper swing, using the natural square hinge as guidance (which is quite a difference from last year's plane for me), and focus on keeping the head behind the ball to ensure proper rotation. Grip very light, slow swing, emphasize good contact.

On friday I played a round at Rheinblick Golf Course (in Nack, Germany, just across the Swiss border). Nice course with great views, some elevated tees, good layout. Not too hilly. Unfortunately the greens were terrible; at the end of September the course is already getting so wet that play playability is suffering a bit. Tough rough - stay out if you can... I even had difficulties getting good contact from the semi-rough. Still - the weather was nice, and I enjoyed the round.

Schloss Langenstein is a great golf course, well worth the drive - get off the highway A81 at the exit of Engen, follow on towards Stockach and you will eventually see the course sign posted.

Didn't play that well on the first nine, but the 2nd went quite well. Even managed to get longest drive with 235 meters, and almost eagled the hole hitting the flag with my 3rd shot.

Very good, fast greens, a joy to play. The last few holes are played close to the castle, and the last hole is spectacular when played into the sunset, as was the case for our flight - thanks to Angela and Stefi for a

Latest insights: must stay compact on the back swing, i.e. keep the left arm in contact with chest, and turn the trunk and arms as a unit. Hinge early with the shorter clubs. Same on the through swing, don't extend the arms away from the trunk. A little waggle to check that the alignment of the hands is correct is quite helpful - hinge, don't turn the hands is the motto here...