My less-than-textbook swing has attracted countless quips over the years, from ”more planes than Gatwick” to “lead boot” on account of my static right foot at impact. Despite this, I got down to single figures in the mid-1990s and have stayed there ever since, mostly between 5 and 7. I didn’t miss many fairways, had a decent short game and usually putted well. I broke 80 more often than not and enjoyed sometimes beating those with infinitely better swings. I’d always brushed off those mostly good-natured swing ‘observations’ and let my scores do the talking. But in early 2022 my scores weren’t doing much talking, and it dawned on me that I was in grave danger of finally losing my single-figure status.
Perhaps the most alarming decline was in my putting. Three-putts and missed shortish ones had become alarmingly frequent. The
