A Season Finale Worth Remembering

The Fall season came to a close for our team at the 2010 MAC Preview last week. It was another great tournament for us and it was especially memorable for junior Hanna Ek who won her first ever collegiate individual title!

I have so many thoughts on this tournament on a professional and personal level...

First of all, it was great for us to go down to Longaberger and do a "dry run" of the MAC W. Golf Championship that we will host in April 2011. I didn't think the MAC Preview went very smoothly as it could have. The first round, the tees were not set to the ones that we played during the practice round. There were significant differences on certain holes, but for the most part it made the course set up shorter and a little easier. I was certainly embarrassed throughout the day and angry at myself for not making sure this was taken care of from the start! The next day the tees were put back in the correct positions, but I do think this mistake will be a helpful thing in the long run. I did a hole-by-hole comparison over the different yardages and found some interesting statistics and it will lead to changes that will make the Championship more enjoyable, yet still competitive when April rolls around.

The team and I all laughed at the tee mistake. They had a great attitude about it honestly. The quote I kept hearing from them was, "Well...everyone had to play the same golf course!". I think their positivity was great for me as well as their golf games! It really showed in our score during the first round. We came out with a great round on a tough course and put ourselves in position to win the event! Hanna Ek came out of the gate quick with the only under par round shot in the whole tournament!

She played simple golf...hitting fairways, greens, draining putts and of course, starting the day birdie, birdie, birdie always helps! In the end, it gave her a 3 shot lead over some of the best players in our conference! I know she was super nervous the second day. She had the opposite start the 2nd round...bogeying her first three holes. And despite that tough start she finished strong and came away with the win! Hanna is one of those people that has her own way of doing things. She works very hard on certain aspects of her game and she also works hard with her academics. The girl can win a college event AND have a 3.9 GPA in Mechanical Engineering...quite an accomplishment I must say!

Kristen Hill also played very consistent both days shooting two 76s. She gave her own teammate a run for the title, but no one was happier for Hanna than Kristen herself! It was a proud moment for me to see Kristen and the rest of the team congratulating Hanna :).

So, with the stellar play of Hanna and Kristen, the team finished 2nd. We made a run at Western Michigan who has had a tremendous Fall season. We beat three teams that were ranked better than us going into the event...that helps our head-to-head ranking and our confidence for Spring. Ending on a positive note will be helpful for us heading into the off-season.

A Victory that Made History!

We knew going into the Zippy Invite that we would be the favorite to win it all. Sometimes that brings more pressure with it than you think!

Our home course, Rosemont C. C. is so challenging. We play and practice there everyday. Our qualifying scores at Rosemont the past three years have been on the average about 4 strokes higher than our tournament scores in the various events that we have played in. So, we know how much tougher our home course is and we know how much focus it takes to play well there.

I thought we came out of the gate well during the first and second rounds. Our consistent play gave us a big lead going into the final round. I was proud of how well we played the tough holes during the 36 hole day and that is definitely what set us apart from the rest of the field. We were so happy with the big lead, but we all knew in the back of our minds that anything could happen at Rosemont C. C.! It was important to go into the final round thinking about only playing the golf course and not the people in the group. Sometimes getting into the match play mentality hurts more than it helps. We didn't finish well down the stretch, but it was still enough to win. I've always said it doesn't matter if you win by 1 or 100...a win is a win!

I'm especially happy for the team. They deserved the chance to WIN! We came in second so many times and although those were big accomplishments for our program at the time, the team's new mantra became "Second Sucks!". They work very hard on and off the golf course. Being the new kids on the block in the MAC has made them work hard to earn the respect of other teams that have established programs and it has also given them motivation that they have something to prove to the other MAC teams. I know they have to be so excited to see their hard work pay off!!

The steady overall individual play of Kristen Hill (individual runner-up) and Amanda Butler (t-9, her best collegiate finish), helped lead the team to victory! Katie Jenior, Sara Chaves, and Hanna Ek were also on the winning squad and contributed in a great way...it was truly a team effort!!

I'm glad we notched our first every program victory at our home event. It is great defending our home turf and keeping the Zippy Invite in AKRON!!!

GO ZIPS!!!

3rd Annual Zippy Invite

The 3rd Annual Zippy Invite is right around the corner! Come out and support your Akron Women's Golf team!!


Where:

Rosemont Country Club, Fairlawn, OH
http://www.rosemontcountryclub.com/

When:

Monday, October 11th: 9:30am Shotgun Start (36 holes)
Tuesday, October 12th: 9:30am Shotgun Start (18 holes)

Teams:

AKRON, Cleveland State, Ohio, Bowling Green, Detroit-Mercy, Oakland, Marshall,
Eastern Kentucky, Grand Valley (defending champions), California University of PA, Allegheny College, and Bucknell



The golf course is in phenomenal shape right now and we are looking forward to using our home course knowledge to our advantage. All week we have been working very hard on our short games and all shots from 100 yards and in. Excellent course management will be key to victory and with the experience that we have in our line-up we will have a head start on the field.

We are still looking for our first victory in program history and we are very excited about our chances to achieve this accomplishment at home!

GO ZIPS!!!

MARK YOUR CALENDARS!!!

Please mark your calendars for the first ever "Tee Off with the Zips" event Monday, August 30th at Rosemont C. C. This is an Akron Women's Golf fundraiser outing.

You and your foursome will get the chance to play with a member of the Akron Women's Golf team or one of the coaches!

The format will be a 5 person scramble and the entry fee ($150 per individual/$550 per foursome) will cover lunch, golf, dinner, and participation gifts! Other contests include: Men's and Women's Closest to the Pin, Men's and Women's Long Drive, and a Skins game.

Tee Off with the Zips Schedule of Events

12pm-1:15pm--Registration and Lunch

1:30pm--Shotgun Start

6:30pm--Dinner/Awards/Raffle

For questions concerning the event or if you would like to enter a foursome or enter as an individual, please contact myself at jking@uakron.edu!

GO ZIPS!!!

Accomplishments Off the Course...

Now that summer is in full swing, it has been a great opportunity for me to reflect on this past year. Sure, we've had our successes on the golf course, but we've also had some great accomplishments off the course as well.

The team really outdid themselves in the classroom this past Spring semester. Our team GPA for the Spring 2010 semester was a 3.74! We set a goal for ourselves in the beginning of Spring to achieve a 3.3 team GPA and we just blew that goal out of the water! I'm obviously very proud of their hard work. We have a great shot at having the highest team GPA for next year's Athletic Awards Banquet...so we'll just have to wait until April 2011 to see if we win that award!

Hanna Ek, who will be a Junior this Fall, was named to the 2010 All-MAC Academic Team. She was the only player on the All-MAC team with a 4.0 GPA! Hanna is a Mechanical Engineering major and is also the number two player on the team. Hanna works herself to the bone in the classroom and as you can see it pays off. I often worry about Hanna because she has many late nights studying and staying on top of her labs, homework, etc. I know that sometimes lack of sleep can lead to a person running low on energy and getting sick, so Hanna is definitely a fighter! Again...I'm very proud of her newest academic accolade. She is very deserving of the honor!

Not only did we have probably the best year in team history (easy accomplishment I guess since it is only our second year!), but we did amazing things in the classroom as well. I'm proud to say that I have a well-balanced team. They work hard in every aspect of their life and they don't like settling for mediocrity. That is honestly the one thing I want them to have on their side when they leave college and enter "the real world": being a well rounded individual. They will get far in life because they will have the work ethic already ingrained.

GO ZIPS!!

2010 MAC Championship--Daily Report

Wednesday April 21:

At 3pm we loaded up the van to head out of town and on our way to Fishers, IN for the 2010 MAC Championships! Loading up the van isn't always an easy task because there are a few people that pack heavy...haha! I was actually one of those this week. When I looked at the forecast it looked like a variety of temps and weather was possible, so I made sure I was prepared. I hate being cold, so I made sure to pack plenty of layers :).

The drive was pretty smooth. We ran into traffic around the Columbus, OH area only because it was rush hour, but we got through it pretty quickly. We finally stopped to eat some dinner as soon as we hit the Indiana border. The girls are actually not too picky when it comes to restaurants, so we found an O' Charleys and had a nice meal!

Once we arrived in Fishers at the hotel, we checked in, unpacked, decided on our uniform for the practice round, figured out the time to meet downstairs for breakfast and went to bed! The hotel was very nice and relaxing!

Thursday April 22:

Our practice round time was set for us at 9:20am. We were the third team to play that morning. So, we met for breakfast around 7:45am and then made sure we made it to the course to have an hour to warm up before playing. The weather for the practice round was beautiful. The sun was out and it was warm and there was no wind at all. Some of the girls had their yardage books from last year and kept mentioning how the wind was completely opposite from when we played there for the MAC Preview. No wind on that course definitely opened the door for low scores. After a 6 hour practice round and plenty of short game work, I had to head to a Head Coaches Meeting for the tournament and the team practiced for about an hour and a half. We had a great day and looked very good. I thought the preparation we did that day was very beneficial.

After we got done at the course, we decided to go ahead and grab some dinner. We were all hungry, but there isn't a time when we aren't hungry!! We head to our favorite place...Applebee's! We could probably eat there everyday as a team if possible, but sometimes it's good to mix it up a little bit. Some of the parents that were already in town joined us, so it was a great time as always! There is never a dull moment with this team...I'm always laughing!!

So, once dinner was over, most of the team called it a night, worked on homework and then went to bed. Before I went to sleep, I met up with some of the other fellow MAC Coaches and talked with them for a little bit. Such a great group of people to be around and funny too!

Friday April 23:

Tournament Time!! We drew the second wave of tee times for the first round of the 2010 MAC Championship and we played with Kent State and Bowling Green. This was the first time our team has seen Kent State all year and actually the first time we have ever played with them. It's amazing that we are only 20 minutes apart and have actually never played with them before. The girls got along with them quite nicely and I saw some future friendships develop :)! We made the turn in great position, but the back 9 (the tougher 9) got us pretty good that day. Although we didn't finish strong, we still posted a decent 310 and wasn't far back from the leaders (only 13 strokes down). We were in 6th place after day 1 and Katie and Kristen played very steady that day shooting 75, 76 respectively. Toward the end of the day it started raining on us a little bit. Once we were done we ate lunch at the clubhouse and went out to practice a little while there was a break in the clouds. That night the girls went out to dinner with their parents...I try to deem one night a tournament a parents night, so they get a chance to spend time with their families. The team seems to love that option :).

Saturday April 24:

We had the second wave of tee times again. This time we were paired with Eastern Michigan and Toledo. The forecast for that day was rain/thunderstorms. I looked at a radar for an hour the night before trying to figure out the direction the rain was coming from, but of course, I couldn't tell anything. We just all assumed that it was going to be one of those rainy golf days that everyone had to play in, so we were mentally preparing ourselves for it. But...the rain never came! There was no wind and even the sun showed itself several times! Ideal playing conditions yet again. Once the 2nd round was all said and done and the scores were added up, we found ourselves still in 6th place as a team shooting another 310! At least we were showing consistency! Kristen's play lead the team that day...she shot a 75 (without any birdies!). Tyler made a strong comeback shooting a 78. We still weren't too far behind the leaders though. With a good final round anything would be possible!

After the round was over, we went to Panera for lunch and then went back to the course for some practice. Once everyone felt good about their games, we headed back to the hotel for a little rest and to clean up before the banquet. The MAC Championship banquet was held at the Hawthorns clubhouse that night and it was a great setting. The food was tremendous! My plate was pretty full I will admit ;). The seniors were honored (I won't be doing that for another two years!) and the MAC Players of the Week for the year were recognized...Kristen received that honor 3 times which was the most by any MAC Women's Golfer this year! There was a really cool MAC Women's Golf video tribute at the end. But overall, it was a very nice evening out!

When we left the banquet, the weather started acting up! The wind was howling and the rain was starting. We had tornado watches until 3am the next morning! I slept through it of course...:).

Sunday April 25:

The skies were ugly when we got up and that didn't change the whole day. I felt bad for Hanna because it was her birthday and she had to spend it on the golf course in the pouring rain and hard wind! I think she had a good birthday though because she loves her teammates and she got to spend the day with them :). But, we knew that it was going to be a tough day. The girls hung tough mentally and really played well under the hard weather conditions. We shot a 309 (YES! Got off the 310 streak!!) and moved into 5th place! We were close to 4th place missing it only by 3 shots. Katie Jenior came to play...she was definitely in the zone. She shot a 1 over par 73! Kristen shot a 77 and birthday girl Hanna Ek shot a 78. Amanda Butler came in with an 81 and we were all so proud of her because she played the whole tournament very sick...at one point lost her voice! She definitely displayed some toughness there!

So once we finished, we loaded up the van and did our best to dry out. The cookout was after play, so we went into the clubhouse and had our lunch. Kent State took home the title...their 12th in a row. Ball State finished 2nd. Kristen finished the tournament t-13th and Katie finished t-11th. Kristen was voted on the 1st Team All-MAC!

Once the awards ceremony was done, we congratulated the winning teams and said thank you to the host school Toledo. We changed into some dry warm clothes and got on our way back to Akron! We arrived at 10pm, which wasn't too bad, and everyone parted ways to their houses :).

It was a great weekend! We had fun and held our own. We all have seen that it is possible to make a run for the MAC Championship we are already looking forward to next year! GO ZIPS!!

Highlights of the 2010 Spring Season...

We have had many great successes this Spring. I am definitely proud of what we have accomplished and hope to keep it rolling as we enter into conference play this week!!

Here are some of the 2010 Spring Season Highlights:

• In the Kiawah Island Intercollegiate, the largest field in women's college golf, the Zips missed the championship flight cut by 1 stroke. However, the Zips had a strong finish on the last day, led by Kristen Hill's 72, Tyler Etcheberry's 73, and Hanna Ek's 74, to shoot a final round team score of 299 and to win the 1st Flight by 12 shots!


• Kristen Hill wins the 3rd Annual Claud Jacobs individual title shooting 74, 77, 72. It marked her 2nd Individual Win in her college career and it helped lead the team to a 4th place finish out of 16 teams. Hanna Ek also recorded a top 20 individual finish.


• MAC Player of the Week honors went to Kristen after her win that week. Making it her 3rd overall honor of her career.


• At the C & F Bank Intercollegiate, hosted by William and Mary, the Zips recorded another top 5 team finish with a Runner-Up finish out of 20 teams! The Zips were led by the consistent play of Kristen Hill who finished t-4th shooting 77-72. Katie Jenior grabbed a top 10 individual finish with a 78-74 and Tyler Etcheberry finished in the top 20 shooting 78-79.


• At the Canes and Cardinals Classic in Miami, FL, the strong play of the Zips and Kristen Hill continued. The team finished 3rd overall out of 10 teams only missing the Runner-up spot by one shot! Kristen Hill captured the Canes and Cardinals Individual Title shooting a 1 under tournament score of 215 (73-70-72)! That marks her 3rd individual career win!! Hanna Ek also had a great tournament placing 3rd individually shooting 70-82-73.


• MAC Player of the Week honors that week again went to Kristen Hill after her win at the Canes and Cardinals Classic. She has received that honor 4 times in her career only as a sophomore.


• We are currently ranked at 116 in the Golfstat Head-to-Head Standings.
  

Our confidence is high as it should be. We look to ride this wave of confidence into MAC Championship play later this week. Everyone has been working hard to prepare for the MAC Championship. It has been a season long preparation. No matter what our finish is this weekend, we have to be very proud and excited about the direction that our program is going

More to come this week and hopefully a full MAC Championship report! GO ZIPS!!

Where Have I Been?!?!

I can't believe that I haven't been keeping up with the blog very well! We have been so busy with our Spring schedule that I just honestly haven't made it a priority.

We have possibly one tournament left this Spring: the 2010 Mid American Conference Championship. We will travel to Fishers, Indiana next Wednesday. We'll play a practice round Thursday morning at Hawthorns G. C. C. and the tournament will be Friday-Sunday. If you are intersted, please feel free to travel to Fishers! Or if you can't make it, please follow us on LIVE SCORING on http://www.golfstat.com/!! The tournament is going to be highly competitive. Kent State will enter as the favorite as they are ranked 30th in the country right now. Ball State and Eastern Michigan are ranked in the top 100 and then you have us, Toledo, and Western Michigan that can make a move as well. If we win MACs we will continue our season into post season play! The girls are ready to take everyone on...

What I like about this year's MAC Championship is that there really is no clear favorite. I think it is anyone's game! It should be exciting to see which teams survive down the stretch and overcome the pressure. We played this course well in the Fall and what gets me excited is that we are currently playing great this Spring!! We are really working hard in practice and should have great confidence heading into this year's championship!

I'll do better keeping you posted from here on out. I'll also be pointing out some highlights from our Spring in the next few days!

GO ZIPS!!

4 More Days and We Head South!

I really can't believe how quickly these past two months have flown by! We've been doing all we can to prepare for our first tournament of the Spring. The struggle with the weather has been difficult to deal with, but with our indoor facility, we've had the advantage of being able to practice no matter what is going on outside! This time of year presents other struggles as well...dealing with swing fundamentals, swing changes, and just being out of sink with swing and tempo are common early in the year, but I see them all overcoming those one day at a time.

The big thing we will have to deal with going into our first tournament is trust. Will we trust our swings? Will we be able to commit to the target or the shot at hand? Will we have enough trust to have confidence in that shot? Those will be big questions. I have no doubt in my mind that the team will be able to hit the great shots that they need, but the mental part of it is so tough this time of year. My job will be to ensure we go into the tournament as prepared as possible and relaxed. Of course we have a goal for ourselves, but we our expectations can't be extremely high or we will play too tight. This is the perfect opportunity to look at this tournament as a great way to start our quest for a MAC Championship at the end of April. We will have a great chance to play OUTSIDE on excellent golf courses.

No matter what our finish will be...I'm grateful we have this opportunity to travel the country to play golf and have the chance to get our games more in tune for the next tournament. Student-athletes have a great life, but I think golfers have it the best :)!!

Guest Blogger---Sophomore Katie Jenior

This week has been going pretty well so far. I started off the week with a team Super Bowl party at Tyler and Amanda’s apartment. It was a lot of fun! We all got together to watch the game with the team and the boyfriends, Amanda made great food including pigs-in-a-blanket, pizza, cheese and crackers, and chicken wings, and we just all hung out and had a great time. And since the Super bowl was at an earlier time this year, we still all made it home in time to get enough sleep for workouts the next morning.

As the week went on, most of us attended our classes even through the cold weather and heavy snow. Some people were sick though so they were unable to attend a couple classes. Now, everyone is healthy and ready to go! =)

Now we have come to the middle of the week which is my favorite day… Wednesday! Every Wednesday night, I love to go line dancing at the Dusty Armadillo. Line dancing is a huge hobby of mine and has been for a couple years now. It’s one of my fun nights where I can get away from school work and everything and just have fun with my friends.

As far as the golfing goes, we have been inching into harder practices trying to nail everything down. Our first tournament is next weekend so we have been working really hard and trying to get our games back to top notch. The team is looking great and everyone has been very dedicated. However, the thing we have been working on the most has been chipping. We have been working on bump-and-run drills and bucket drills every day. We also made a game out of it. Whoever gets 3 balls into the bucket first is the winner. I, Katie Jenior, have defeated Amanda Butler! This is just a fun way to keep practicing interesting and keeps the competition flowing. We will be finishing up our Short Game Boot Camp this week as well as hitting outside tomorrow (Friday). We will be traveling to Hackers, which is Firestone’s public driving range. We cannot really hit on the course yet seeing how the weather has not been treating us very well. But that doesn’t stop us!

Wish us luck and cheer for us in our first tournament!

Go Zips! Katie Jenior

Guest Blogger--Women's Golfer Amanda Butler

This week has gone by so fast…Overall it has been a great week! It started off pretty hectic because I was sick last week so I had to get caught up. My classes this semester are really enjoyable; I’m pretty much done with all my general ed. classes so I'm starting to get to take classes that are related to my major.

I am really looking forward to the start of season. I think the whole team is ready to get back in the flow of things and travel to all the amazing places. We only have 15 days till we leave for our first tournament!!! Our team is so fortunate to have an indoor facility we can practice at during the winter months. Today some of my teammates and I had a contest going and I would like to announce that ”I BEAT KATIE” haha!! We were hitting shots at a bucket that was about 25 yards away but the catch was that the bucket was 12 inches in diameter so it made it challenging. An hour later I finally made the shot and we all moved on to different drills, knowing that tomorrow the same competition would begin.

This week I feel that as a team, we have grown closer together. I know that through thick and thin my teammates will always have my back as I will always have theirs. Team unity is a main component of success. We always laugh and have fun with each other which makes time on and off the course worthwhile. I have establish a team circle, which means that we trust, support and motivate each other no matter what the situation may be. Since the first day I met my team and my coach, we have all become very close friends and we are becoming more comfortable with each other every day.

“Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision. The ability to direct individual accomplishments toward organizational objectives. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results.”-Andrew Carnegie

GO ZIPS!!Amanda Butler

Golf Tip Tuesday--Happy "Groundhog Day"!!

Happy Groundhog Day to all! I believe our little groundhog is predicting 6 more weeks of winter, but maybe he'll be wrong this time!

This day always reminds me of the movie "Groundhog Day" starring Bill Murray. Bill Murray's character as a tv weatherman, hated his latest assignment to cover the Groundhog Day events in Punxsutawney and because of this he found himself repeating the same day over and over again! I love this movie, but it also makes me think of golf (just like everything almost!).

Repeating a day over and over again might not be ideal. Some days just need to be done, but sometimes we would all love that second chance! Repetition in certain aspects of the game are very important. For example...you would really want a preshot routine that repeats itself before you hit every single shot on the golf course. Repetition with your preshot routine is a must. It gets you in the zone before hitting your shot. It can relax you and ease your mind when you are familiar with your routine.

I highly recommend paying attention to the pros on tv before they hit a shot. Learn something from their preshot routine. Also, a book that is perfect for this would be "Every Shot Must Have a Purpose" by Pia Nilsson and Lynn Marriott. It suggest many useful techniques for the preshot routine and also your thought process before each shot.

So, remember to fine tune your preshot routine and make it the exact same every time. A comfortable, repetitive preshot routine will help you eliminate repetitively bad scores!

Golf Tip Tuesday--Damage Control on the Golf Course

We all strive for perfection in the game of golf. But let's face it, perfection in golf will be a never ending pursuit, so mistakes will happen. The best players in the world hit errant shots even. So damage control is highly important in golf. Since we know we can't prevent bad shots from happening, damage control prevents further mistakes from those bad shots. How many of us play 14-16 great golf holes and have those 2-3 holes with large numbers? If you saved 2-5 strokes per round from those big number holes, how different would your handicap or golf game be?

Follow these steps to prevent those big numbers from happening:

1. Assess the situation:

--Check your lie. Is it a good or bad lie? Anticipate and imagine to the best of your ability the ball's reaction after you hit it. This will determine what type of club you should hit. If it is buried or nestled, take a club with more loft. If you have a lie that isn't too bad, then you can use whatever club the shot calls for.

--Check the scene. Where are you first of all? What is near you? Tree limbs hanging high, low? Hazards near? There are many things you should look at when you are in a trouble area.

--After checking the scene, think about your target. What possible shot can you hit when you look at each different target? Sometimes the flag is not always the best place to aim at. Where is your safest landing area? Maybe your best way out is backwards!! We hate that option, so it's hardly ever used, but it could possibly be your best bet!

2. Plan your shot:

--What type of shot should you hit? Does it need to be high or low? Short distance or middle distance? Most important...have you hit the shot that you need before? If the answer is no, then it might be a shot you shouldn't attempt.

--What type of swing do you need? This might depend on obstacles in the area that will affect your swing. This might depend on the type of ball flight you need to curve it around obstacles that are in front of you. A big key in getting out of any trouble with obstacles around you is that you almost never use a standard normal swing in these situations. You have to create and improvise sometimes very dramatically to even get the club on the ball! Don't let what your swing might look like hold you back from getting yourself out of trouble!

3. Practice the trick shots:

--Many times when we are playing by ourselves or playing in a practice round, we tend to take the ball out of the trees and throw it in the fairway or take our ball out of a buried lie in the bunker or rough and set it up on a nice piece of grass or even rake a better lie. Experiment with these and give yourself some extra practice. Preparation is the key. The main reason we are not good at getting out of trouble is because we never practice it!

It is simple...damage control is all about playing the percentages. What are the percentages of you pulling the risky, miracle shot off? What are the percentages of staying out of further trouble if you aim a more forgiving target where you know you'll get a good lie as opposed to aiming at the flag with giant trees in your way?

For more detailed information, I highly recommend the book "Damage Control" by Dave Pelz. Play the forgiving percentages and you'll be surprised at the shots that you cut from your score. This is an important tip when you're first getting back on the course after that long winter's break! Good luck!

Guest Blogger--Women's Golfer Hanna Ek on her First Two Weeks of School

Everything went well on the morning of January 10. We left my home town early in the morning and dodged the bad traffic on our way to the airport. However, my flight from Arlanda, Sweden, was delayed and the only thing I could do was to keep my fingers crossed. I was lucky this time. After sprinting through the airport in Köpenhamn, I made it on time for my transatlantic flight! I was so excited!

The plane was packed. I got to sit beside a sneezing, coughing man who blew his nose every ten minutes all the way to Washington DC. Lovely. But at least I was on the flight! We arrived early to Washington so I had plenty of time before the boarding for my flight to Cleveland would start. However, the flight from Köpenhamn was not the only international flight arriving at the same time in Washington. Immigration was a nightmare. It took me more than two hours to get through and I was running out of time. My only option was to run. Again! I made it to the final call! I was tired and I could barely keep my eyes open when I boarded my third and last flight for the day.

In Cleveland, my Coach and her husband picked me up, but unfortunately my luggage didn’t make it. I was really annoyed, but with classes starting the next morning I just wanted to get back to my apartment.

I got my luggage the next day. I unpacked, I went to my meetings, I practiced and worked out, and I ran back and forth with papers. Back to reality. When Friday came I was tired and I wasn’t feeling well. I had felt something in my throat the entire week but it wasn’t too bad, at least not at first. When I woke up on Saturday, I knew something was wrong. I got worse and worse throughout the day and I went to bed early. I was hoping to be able to sleep it away. The night between Saturday and Sunday was horrible. I had a very high fever and my bed turned into a pool of sweat. Lovely. To try to swallow was not an option; I could not even get water down because my throat was too swollen.

I had to go to the hospital the next day. I got an injection, some steroids, and penicillin. I’m still taking the penicillin and the only thing I have been able to eat for the past five days is yogurt. My throat is still swollen and I’m exhausted, but I feel a lot better than I did a few days ago. Hopefully I’ve had my share of illness this semester. From now on, things can only get better!

Go Zips!!--Hanna Ek

Golf Tip Tuesday--Stay Healthy for Optimal Performance!

We are having a rough start to week 2 of off season practice due to illness among the team, so I see it as very appropriate to discuss staying healthy as today's golf tip!

After a nice long break of relaxing and getting plenty of sleep, we returned to school last week which means the total opposite: fast paced schedule with much more stress added to the mind and body. That type of schedule can take a toll on your immune system and cause you to get sick more easy.

Not only will it affect their practice time, but it can also have a negative affect when they go to class...if they are well enough to go to class anyway!

So, when stressful times happen in your life take the following precautions to help prevent illness:

--Get plenty of sleep! You might have to sacrifice missing you favorite TV show or something at night, but that's what they created dvr for!!
--Drink plenty of fluids...mainly water! Your body is made up of 90% water, so an inactive person should drink half of their body weight in ounces of water each day! So, if you are 200lbs, then you should drink 100oz of water.
--Wash your hands! It's a no-brainer and it also keeps bacteria from spreading.
--Develop a regular exercise routine. If you don't have one, now would be the time to slowly get back into a routine or consult a personal trainer about that. Exercise strengthens the immune system, but it doesn't do much good when you exercise while sick...that could make it worse!
--Find time to relax each night. It's very helpful to find time for yourself and reflect on the day. That might seem more like mental health, but if you are having a stressful, fast paced week, then relaxing the mind and quieting your thoughts are just what you need!

This may not stop you from completely getting sick, but it sure does help! I am one of those rare people that never get sick and I highly believe it's because I stick with the above. I also think it's because I have this ability to mentally block sickness out! I feel when it's coming and I tell myself I will not get sick today or this week! Not sure that works, but I believe it, so I'm going with it...haha!

So, hopefully those tips help you out and keep you healthy so you can keep practicing your games :)! Hopefully in a couple of days, the team will be back to normal and feeling better again!

Good First Week

Our first week back to practice went great. Although we are in our off-season practice schedule, the team looked like they didn't miss a beat.

I met with everyone this past Wednesday and we discussed each individual's goals for the Spring season. I believe each player came in to the meetings very motivated about their games for the Spring and it will be fun watching them focus and work hard to achieve their goals.

So, right now the focus in practice is great!! I'm very satisfied with what I see so far and I'm looking forward to traveling very soon. We leave for our first tournament of the Spring in 34 DAYS!!!

Golf Tip Tuesday--Perfecting Your Putting Stroke

Again, there are many great ways to work on your game during the winter months. One way to perfect your putting stroke during those cold, snowy days can simply be done in your home on the carpet or hardwood.

All you need is three clubs...two clubs of any kind to lay down parallel and of course, your putter! Practice your putting stroke between the two clubs laying down. Keep your putter between the two parallel clubs throughout your stroke to ensure a consistent path straight back, straight through. You do not need a ball, but it is good to see how you are rolling it after several repetitions without.

This easy, simple drill will give you instant feedback on how the path of your stroke is looking. It will also be a great drill to help you gain a consistent stroke and more confidence with your shorter putts. Repetition is key as well as patience!!

And the Spring Semester Begins....NOW!!

Today is the first day of classes for the Spring semester at the University of Akron. And as you can imagine, campus is busy, busy, busy! I'm a little sad that the break went by so fast, but I'm also happy to get back into a groove with coaching and having more of a set schedule. I'm also really glad that the girls are all back on campus. Hopefully they are all feeling refreshed after break and they are ready to go!!

We'll have our team meeting this afternoon to talk about the upcoming semester, schedule, etc. I will also get with them individually to discuss their goals for the Spring season. And we will actually start our off-season practice schedule tomorrow!

We will be super busy until May, but it's a lot of fun! You really can't beat being a college golf coach or even a college golfer! I will also have more to write about now too :).

Golf Tip Tuesday--Indoor Practice Tip

With record snowfalls and low temperatures being recorded all over the world this winter, not much golf is being played in many areas. Right now in Akron we have about 6+ inches of snow on the ground, so we will be spending a lot of our practice indoors. Not many people are lucky enough to have an indoor golf facility complete with chipping, pitching, and putting areas, but we are and we will take full advantage of that this spring to prepare for our MAC Championship at the end of April.

You might not have an indoor golf facility available to you, but you probably have something in your house that could be a great help during the cold winter months. It is simply a mirror...a full length mirror is more preferred.

If you are making any swing adjustments, you can check and re-check your swing fundamentals in the mirror. Having a golf swing that repeats and holds up under pressure is a big key to being successful with the game, so what better way to accomplish this than by watching it in the mirror. Not only that, but you'll see and feel the club and your swing in the correct position.

Teaching your body the right moves will be highly beneficial and you will see great improvements in your golf game once the snow clears the course and the temperatures warm up!