i remember a long time ago when i first started playing golf. i had a wicked 50 yd slice with my driver and i sliced all my other clubs accordingly.

but the thing is, it was consistent.

it was so consistent, that i played the slice game coupled with a very naturally coordintated short game and within 3 months of playing, i would shoot in the 80's on most courses.

i of course tried to straighten out my game and it was a disaster.

so, i went to the driving range and went back to my consistent slice game.

i got a bucket, pulled out the driver, set up left and WHAAAP!!!......hit a dead straight ball.

not only was it straight but it had a 30 degree tragectory that kept on going all the way to the hill at the end of the driving range.

hmmmm, that was strange but pretty cool.

i tee'd up another and WHAAAAP!!!!! same thing

if there was a virtual 10yd wide tunnel that went straight to the hill, the ball would have went right through it dead center.

i'd say the hill was at least 230 yds away but the ball was hitting the hill about 60yds up.........but the ball never lost energy. it just left my club face and kept going like a lazer.

every shot i hit went the same way. people walking by would stop and watch. it was the neatest thing.

theyd ask how long ive been playing for and how do i hit that kind of shot etc. etc.

i told them i didnt know, lol.

i called that day, "the bucket of lazers".

of course, the next time i went to the range, i tried to duplicate it and the lazer shots were just a memory.

ive had other great days at the range since........but nothing like that day.

has anybody else ever had these strange but great days?

Back in the mid 90s I played pretty much every weekend Saturday-Sunday at the crack of dawn with a friend of mine. We played a lot of different courses. At that time I was slightly longer than I am now - I could get about 150 out of an 8 iron instead of having a 6 iron be the 150-155 club - but still was pretty average in distance.

One Saturday we were slightly delayed teeing off and went to the range to kill a little time. For some unknown reason, something clicked into place and I began absolutely flushing it. I had what I thought was an insight about my plane earlier in the week, maybe that was it.

Anyway, it carried over to the course. I hit absolute lasers all day. If I pictured a shot in my head, I hit it. Hitting 1 or 2 iron off the tees I was well past my buddy's driver, a good 50 yards longer than I usually hit it. I can still remember having 210 in to some hole, a bit of a flier lie in the light rough, needing to carry some bunkers, and thinking "just a solid 6 iron". And it was - I hit it to four feet.

Of course I was still me on the greens, I hit every green on the front and three putted 6 times.

The great ball striking lasted one more day, and then not playing during the subsequent week caused whatever I'd been doing right to vanish. I've dreamed for years of being able to recapture the ability to hit the ball like that again. I've never had another day that even came close, distance-wise, although I've had a few that were as good in terms of being able to execute shots.

i remember a 2 week stretch where i swore to god i had the game figured out. i used to sweep the ball like greg norman and then i decided i was going to start trapping the ball and just explode through what ever ground the ball was sitting on.

man did that work good. i started doing the pre shot routine like mike weir.

if i wanted to hit a draw, i'd do the mike weir thing and swing and hit the draw.

same thing for a straight shot or fade.

the sweep was gone from my swing now which made hitting 2-4 irons really tough........so i avoided using those clubs.

man was golf fun.

then 2 weeks into this, i went to the golf course to torture the game of golf that i now had conquered, drove my ball in the fairway, hit my second shot, looked up at the sky to view my pretty shot (ho hum, this game is getting boring) and quickly noticed my massive divot went further than my ball.

ok, dont panic, its probably because i'm not warmed up yet.......yeah, thats it.

so, i walked the epic ten feet to my third shot and chunked again.

i left the course after the 4rth hole and i never did get back that form i had for those 2 fun weeks.