I've got to make it to write just my feelings about what has been going on each day!! "Private Diary": I do not know why, but I feel a little uneasy about until when it will last.  Riko Higashio

April 4.2007 Wednesday

I’m right in the middle of a two week break. I did some fine tuning with my clubs last Monday and Tuesday. My off-season time has been spent going through rehabilitation and tweaking my clubs, and even though I’m not completely ready yet, I was able to get the distance on my wedge down these last two days. I wore out the grooves on my wedge, so I changed to a new one, making it easier to control my spin.

It’s been a lesson on Wednesday, a round on Thursday and Friday, sound driving practice on Saturday, playing lesson on Sunday, a round on Monday, more solid driving practice on Tuesday…looking back on it, I think, “Huh? I forgot to take a day off.” It’s just that I want to learn ball control so badly, I’m really into practicing every day. I talked a lot with my coach, and we’re going to check on video whether what I think feels right is matching up with what he’s looking for in my swing.

Today, I watched my swing from about 2 years ago on video. Even though the club and my stance are much better than they were, I couldn’t figure out why I still don’t have the feel for it, nor can control the ball. It was surprising, comparing now and then. I didn’t notice myself, but it’s like my body moves away before hitting the ball to protect my left shoulder, and I’m not putting everything into my swing. That means the reason I don’t feel any impact even though my backswing has gotten better is because I not fully hitting the ball, or giving it a full swing. I guess it’s going to take a lot of time, training, and courage to get it right, and my shoulder and I are going to have to work it out without overdoing it.

Another thing, somebody wrote, “The conditions are the same for everybody” in the comment section from the last time I blogged. That’s completely wrong. I didn’t write in enough detail, but since I don’t want to be misunderstood, let me add to that here.

I hope I can get my point across- There are two tee-off times, A and B, in the LPGA. A is for the champions and players who are doing well in the rankings, B is for rookies, invitees, and players who aren’t established yet.

There are two starting times, in the morning and afternoon. Half of the B players tee off in the morning, then the A group. In the afternoon, the A group goes first, then the B players, that’s how it goes. By doing that, all of the main players’ game comes together in the middle of the day, making it easier to broadcast on TV.

In the case of Arizona’s Safeway International, round one on the first day was stopped on the afternoon of the first day, and had to be continued on the morning of the second. Since the afternoon groups hadn’t finished, players from group A started up again on holes 2-5, players from B started on 6-9 from 6:45 am. Everybody following me?

Ok, I need to add a little bit more about how the LPGA is set up. During the two days of the qualifying round, to make sure everybody plays both in the morning and afternoon, if you start in the morning of the first day, you start in the afternoon of the second, and vice versa. That’s how it’s done. Therefore, players who start in the afternoon of the first and finish on the morning of the second day get to move right on to round 2.

This is where there’s a problem with having A and B times: when everything goes smoothly with no interruptions, A and B start without a hitch, but because the remainder of round 1 in Arizona got absorbed first, group A finished first. If none of the pairs are changed, there would have been an equal break time of 20-30 minutes for everyone, and we could have cut down on time as well, but because of the TV relay it was decided that group B would go first.

As a result, players in group A had 2 hours until their next starting time, but everybody in B ended up with only about 10 minutes. While all A players had enough time to rest or practice, those in B barely had time to use the restroom.

Since I’m in group B, it was sign the scorecard, go to the ladies’ room, and run back to make it just in time. At any rate, it became a problem because it was unfair, and it looks like it’ll be on the agenda at the next players’ meeting.

Well, this message has gotten to be a bit long, but I don’t want anyone to think I’m making excuses, so I tried to explain the background in detail. Is that more clear? I’d appreciate everyone’s understanding.