2-4-09:

Just swung for about 5 min here in the office. Felt good.

Warmed up a bit with just a throwing motion - w/out club, I think this got me into the right frame of mind.

Don't know how this will translate to actually hitting the ball, but the throwing motion seems to be a winner.
And its a quite different motion then the one I'm used to.

Somehow I've had the idea that you swing should be like a pendulum - which might be fine for your short irons, but utterly and completely wrong for your driver.

I'm sure this is the reason why I've always had an outside-in swing, and also why I've never been able to keep my left arm even the slightest bit straight.

Also, now that I'm twisting my body in prep for the throw/swing I'm feeling something in my right arm I've never felt before. It's a kind of a tension, but not a bad tension, more like it's part of the loading process - and, it seems to be what helps keep my left arm straight (do I obsess about the left arm too much?).

A little off topic here, but reminds me of an article I saw in the Dr.'s waiting room the other day showing 3 different swing paths/planes depending on body type, basically:

slender build bring the club up high,

wide build bring the club more around -

So maybe this is another reason why the twisting motion seems to suite me.

Anyway, I feel like I'm making some progress in finding my swing - and - if this does end up improving my game, it would seem to be the best thing you could do.

If (big if) this does help, than I will have to conclude that this off the course, club only awareness practice is extremely useful.

Also, I think I'm making steady progress in keeping my head still and my eye on the ball (or quarter that I use when swinging at the office). Anyway, I'm anxious to get to the range and see if my imagined success will transfer at least that far.