Ball position… the most overlooked

I don’t deny it, this is gonna be the most difficult golf relating post I have yet to make to date. You ask how something seems so simple poses so much aggravation. Why is it difficult? well, to understand the ball position, one must understand some basic swing mechanics (haha and tht’s one big word by anyone’s standard). Trust me, I am not trying to confuse you. Ball position is probably the least talk about topic in the search of self improvement in golf, despite being one of the pivotal elements in the whole business of golf swing.

Let’s start with the basic swing plane and arc. Since a golf swing rotates on a stationary axis, we must be in agreement that there are no straight lines but everything flows along a curve on a swing and because of the different shaft lengths we must also agree that a short iron swing is steeper than says a driver as we have to stand further away from the ball. This is why you hear so many mention words like ‘descending blow’ with wedges/short irons and ’sweeping action’ with longer clubs like long irons/woods/driver. This goes to explain why you tend to take a deeper divot with shorter irons and a shallower or no divot at all with longer irons. Assuming that we all have a fairly decent swing and maintain our axis stationary during swing, do you agree that the swing would bottom out exactly the same position on its arc every single time. Let me give you a clue, “No’ is not the word I am looking for.  OK, so far if you manage to still stay awake, reassuringly, you are tagging along just fine and  I know there are many assumptions and involuntary agreements from you. For now, just bear with me, we will get to the point soon. Wow….boy, am I glad to get all tht out of the way!!

As I have mentioned numerous times, golf swing is dynamic and everything just has to come together pretty well to produce a decent shot. Exactly like fitting the puzzle pieces. Now, this tip is gonna help particularly those toppers and duffers but i am in no way advocating that this will cure all that ugly mishits since there are more than 1 way to top/duff a ball. The bottom line is there is no misconception but only misunderstanding, this occurs very frequently in those who self thought and reluctantly I have seen many so called instructors are also guilty for the sin (but what do I know hey). Many read from the books/magazines that the longer the clubs the farther to the left they must place the ball, guess what? unless your change your spine angle or have excessive body shift (which are both a bad thing and will undoubtedly open up a whole can of worm altogether) to compensate during the swing, you are almost guarantee to top/duff the ball. What about the business about placing to ball forward to hit a high floating shot and placing the ball back for a low penetrating flight. Unless you know where you swing bottom out and you are able to return to the exact spot time and time again, you would not have known how far forward or back in your stance to place the ball.

I promise i will get to the ball positioning ….. and reveal to you the shot you can create that you never thought possible simply by just manipulating the ball position. There is no messing around with swing plane, feet alignment, expensive tool, rhythm or back/downswing business. I mean how easy can this get?

ok, ok…. Golf has been around long before I was born, I am not gonna take the credit and lie in your face that I thought the whole thing out, that’s would be the biggest pile of cow dung on this planet as mankind knows it.

Jack Nicklaus said “I play every standard shot with the ball in the same position relative to my feet. That position is opposite my left heel.”

Then you wonder why Leadbetter and Tiger Woods ex-coach Butch also happen to share the same view, mm…. as you wonder some more! something definitely smell fishy here!

I am of the view that if there are less movable parts in your swing, there would be less chance for things to go out of order and thus less effort for me to compensate for the flaws. That’s why I like you to think of 1 ball position. Let me explain more. Always position the ball in line with your left breast/ear. The only thing that changes is the width of your stance – - where your right foot widens out farther the longer the shaft of the club gets. what this would do is to give you the visual illusion that your ball has moved forward.

If you think about it, if I was hitting a wedge shot, it would look like the ball was pretty much in the middle of my stance. Equally if I was hitting a driver, you would have thought that I moved the ball way up in my stance. In truth, nothing has changed. All I have done is to widen my stance out for the different clubs. This means that my alignment stays the same and my shoulders stay square the target line. Remember, ball position off the left heel does not necessarily mean forward in the stance. With longer clubs, your stance widens, so the ball moves progressively forward in the stance. Conversely, as you use shorter clubs, the ball moves progressively back in the stance. For example, ball placement for a PW would appear near the center of the stance because the stance is so narrow. Here are some clips that will help you to internalise what I say.

BUtch video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ps_dv7HxMM&

leadbetter video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wtYoSQq7-6s&NR=1

Nicklaus video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJ87eGG0svo

Here is the second part. Now, those who against all the odds in the world and manage to stay alert with me all this time might ask..hey, what about the fancy shots I said I was gonna show you? Alright, even I am tired from typing now and I shall let Mr. Clement do the talking.

shawn video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvKRrpKSKzc

While new information from the clip start to coalesce and trickle into something comprehensible in your mind. I am pretty sure you will soon work out how to set yourself up when you encouter the ball on uneven lies eg uphill, downhill, ball below your feet and ball above your feet. All that being said, if you are seasonal toppers or duffers, believing you have a sound swing and still topping the ball, the chances are your ball position may be out. Try it out, It may or may not work but this is what works for me. So, why do so many get it wrong?? Just like Tai-chi and the yin and yan concept, ball position is so simple to correct, at the same time it is so easy to mess up. I admit even I get it wrong.

At last, I can now settle into my bed and with one long, last, loving glance at the Toshiba air filter, I turn out the light    ZZZzzzzzz

Unusual golfing experience 2

continue……

so..there I was at this dinner celebrating Pit’s birthday. It was quite an eye opener for me as a foreigner to see how a local celebrated in all colourful Thai style. The food was plentiful, alcohol was free flowing, all these in the midst of entertainment that was put on show to bemused the guests, me including. There was even a singer dressed in glamorous ball gown singing with female backup dancers wearing platforms shoes and skinny skin-tight hot pants, now let’s pause for a moment and try to picture the scene and also boy, were the speakers loud? All I can say was that the Thai style certainly was very different. It was around 11pm by the time the guests started to disperse. All this time, I either stared blankly into the distant or showed how much I enjoyed both the food and entertainment, I did not talk much, besides there was only so much you could praise how wonderful Thailand is. I was quite tired from the long car journey (even though I slept thro most of it) and golf. I said to Oilapin that I was gonna call it a night. She replied “please wait for a minute!” and excused herself. There I was all alone smiling like an idiot to other guests. 5 minutes later, Oilapin reappeared with Pit holding a bottle of whisky in his right hand and his neck encicled with layers of yellow golden scarfs all very cheerful. Apparently, the dinner was merely a prelude to the real celebration for some selected guests…., which strangely I believed I was enlisted. Pit had made reservation at a night club in Sukhumit Soi 14 (I think). He insisted that I came along with him, I told him I don’t drink and he replied he doesn’t either. I stood there for 5 minutes declining his invitation in vain, soon I began to realise that Pit was not gonna take ‘no’ for an answer. I just did not have the heart to offend the host so I gave in.

I hung around for another hour or so, then finally I was hustled along with Oilapin to the car park where cars and MPVs were waiting for us plus 20 or so other guests. We reached this Q Bar night club and the place was packed like a sardine tin, from the look of it, Pit had reserved a whole section for his guests. I got talking to a few other guests there and most of them were either business partners or associates with Pit. I was kinda expecting some “taiko” figures but disappointingly I didn’t see any. There was also a Taiwanese guy who had lived in Bangkok for more than 30 yrs.

The DJ was good that night perhaps all because of the facts that he played many songs from the era I am familiar with, the 90’s, so tht got my feet all very itchy, spurred on by a few drinks, I asked Oilapin how one said “let’s dance” in Thai and then I went straight to Pit and practically dragged him from his chair before he got the chance to say anything. All got a bit chaotic and his spilt half of his drink on me accidentally but all for a good laugh. I put on my John Travolta’s hat and started to boogie away in my ah pek style. Well, that sort of break the ice from then onwards. I couldn’t understand half what Pit was saying to me but I just laughed most of the time and that seemed to go down very well (I have wondered if someone had spiked my drink!).

Strangely how time passed so quickly when one is having fun. It probably was around 3a.m when I finally had to retreat gracefully before being dragged out of the club by its bouncers and may I added, most were equipped with hidden firearms!! so, take note, if you are a foreigner and especially a foreigner, you do not want to cause trouble in Thailand.

Part 3?

Rescue, Utility and Hybrid clubs. What are they?

rescue club = hybrid wood= utility club, these terms are used interchangeably and they all mean the same thing, it;s just tht different manufacturer would refer them differently (just to confuse us more).

The most common reason to have rescue woods is to replace the feared long irons eg, 2, 3, 4, and maybe 5 iron…whatever irons you lack confidence in. A few golf manufacturers even have a whole set of irons in hybrids.

Hybrids are usually thought of as being for the beginner to average golfer but many tour players are using them eg, Jim Furyk, Davis Love, Stuart Cink and many more names are added to the list each day. Most pros find that when they need to hit a high, soft-landing shot of 210-240 yards these clubs do a much better job than a 2 iron. BUT Of coz, the great Tiger Woods would think otherwise and still carries a 2 iron or 5 woods in his bag (but he’s fr Mars)

As you look down at a hybrid club, it gives you the feeling that it is easier to hit because it looks more like a wood (bigger head). It’s also shorter than a wood (=more control) and all these add to your confidence. Generally, the head design allows the center of gravity to be moved lower and farther back from the face. This gets the ball up easier and at a higher angle.

The loft of utility clubs varies between 15 and 27 degrees typically. A 3 iron will have approximately 21 degrees of loft. Many of us mistakenly think that a 15-degree utility club will produce the same distance as a 15-degree fairway wood. Typically for hybrid irons, they will go about 5-8 yards farther than their iron replacements. If you hit your 3 iron 180 yards than a 3 hybrid should go about 185 but at a bit higher trajectory and not roll as far. Because of its forgiveness and confidence boosting appearance, I have opted out the 3 iron in all my new set to save some money and use tht to buy something else.

In addition, rescue clubs can even save you shots around the green, because of their shaft length, small head and loft, you can easily use them to chip the ball.

looking for that extra distance?

To generate enough power in order to send the ball down the fairway as far as possible requires an efficient energy transfer from the club head to the ball. Many attempt to increase the swing speed by increasing the speed of hip turn, shoulder rotation or consciously swing faster with their arms. However, without a good tempo, a lot of the energy will dissipate into the thin air as soon as it is generated..

The question is when should we impart this extra muscle power ie pulling down the club, to ensure efficient energy transfer from the club head to the ball? Start too early or too late, we waste extra energy and are at risk of losing balance from loss of rhythm. To put you in the right frame of mind, let’s talk ‘Kung Fu’. Well, this is more akin to ‘Tai-Chi’. The key is to use just enough energy to channel the maximum power stored up from the weight of club head combines with the downward swing momentum.  I hope you get the idea now.

Now, let’s put the Tai-Chi aside and cast your mind back to your younger years. Picture yourself in the playground and assume every playground has a swing. Sitting in one of the swings is your friend, Ah Kow who is full of enthusiasm and eager to swing as high as possible. He asks you to give him a push. How are you going to do it?

You get the picture now? NO?…..

Pushing him too early before the swing reaches the top and you will run the risk of being knocked down by the swing. Pushing him too hard too quickly will almost certainly send Ah Kow flying off the swing and land face first! Equips with the knowledge of Tai-chi, you now become wiser and time your push to perfection, and that is a fraction after the swing begin to drop towards the ball and you would continue this pulling effort until the swing past through ball impact. In short, you want to ensure an interrupted momentum.

Now imaging Ah Kow is the golf club, when do you think is the best time to add extra juice to your down swing?? Certainly not as soon as you complete the back swing. The right moment occurs ONLY AFTER you begin the downswing. That is roughly just before your lead arm is parallel to the ground and you will continue to increase this effort through the ball impact. Does this make sense?

So, get your timing right next time and you will see your ball flies farther than you have ever imagined possible. Oh, one more thing to add…regardless how hard you want to hit on your downswing, your back swing should always maintain the same duration.

How hard shall I swing?

there is no 1 right answer. as I mentioned b4, some use shoulder/hip turn or even rely on knee turn to generate power. if u hav been to a pro tournament, u will c tht many pros’ shoulder/hip turns are no faster than many of us and yet their balls flew miles. This is because, in their swings, everything is in sync.

everything starts fr the ground up ie the initiation of a downswing begins fr yr feet, so u c balance is the key, if u hav a sound balance, believe it or not, your shoulder turn can be faster than some pros! 

everyone’s physique is different, some tall..some short, some very athletic and some very arthritic. one  way to check how fast a swing u r comfortable with is to swing with yr feet close and then gradually increases the speed until u feel u r losing yr balance.

one tell tale sign when yr body is swinging too fast is when yr hands get lagged behind and subsequently blocked by yr body producing nasty slices and hooks.

a guide to a Desirable swing tempo

You saw someone swung so effortlessly, yet the ball went miles…. tht’s Rhythm, Tempo or Timing (whichever you want to call it)… if you lose your balance after a swing, you are swinging too fast.

Remember, a golf club is just like an extension of our body thru many hinges and joints. If one hinge or joint gets out-of-sync, you definitely lose some of the stored energy.

Ok, this is what I think and come to the conclusion. I am by no means a golf instructor but just sharing with what I know.

The average golfer may seem to appear swinging extremely fast, because they don’t have the correct tempo for example an equally fast back and down-swing. Compare tht to Ernie Els’, his swing speed is fastest those most of us but it seems so slow and relaxed… Because he has one of the best swing tempo around. For the majority, a proper golf swing should last between 1 to 2 second fr the beginning to the end.

Some of us may have a quick takeaway, some even have a deliberate pause at the top then follow by a sudden rush down towards the ball. Everyone is different because we all carry a different biological clock, tht’s why some walks slow and some fast….. for me, a tempo of just under 1s suits me the best.

Now, let me reveal the secret, most if not all Tour players share the 3:1 rhythm ratio. What does this mean?? Well, for the sake of argument, let’s assume I feel most comfortable with a 2s golf swing, I shall divide it by 4 which gives me circa 0.5s, a perfect tempo would mean a back-swing (from ball address to the top) tht lasts 1.5 and a down-swing (from top down to ball impact) of 0.5s. Next time you go to a driving range, try it out and see. Because tempo is just a small part of the the whole golf mechanics, I can’t guarantee good shots but it sure makes you look as smooth as Ernie..well, near enough..!!

So, now we know the theory behind this, the next question is how do we achieve this tempo?

The 3:1 ratio merely serves as a guide. We are not talking abt Einstein’s quantum theory in relativity here, we do not have to be that precise. The trouble is that too many golfers have preconceived ideas of what a perfect golf swing should be. For every yin, there is a yan and for every positive, there is a negative. Remember, 2 negatives = positive. Ok, enough of my gibberish. At the end of the day, it’s the score tht counts. Just go out and enjoy the game.

For those perfectionists, you can time your swing precisely using any golf analysis software like cswing which I use, or you can even resort to a metronome to get an idea how long are 0.5s, 1s and 1.5s.

In general, the take home messages I was trying to convey were

1) your backswing and downswing should not be of the same duration

2) your downswing is relatively quicker and is approximately 1/3-1/4 your backswing.

3) regardless of how hard or slow your down swing, you should always maintain the same backswing.

p/s some of you will feel comfortable with an equally quick back/down swings, I would consider this is the exception and not the norm

Like they say, u r not hitting the ball on yr backswing, why go so fast?

all because of a loose connection

boiler has been down for 2 days, awaiting engineers to come and fix it.

decided to change the PCB in case it was faulty.

it was not the PCB…….

tested all connection, still no joy.

eventually went to the manufacturer website and ran thru the fault finding flow chart…..finger then pointed to the gas valve.

engineer came and quoted £260 to change the gas valve, i replied ‘ huh!!? u r kidding? ‘ silently.

neighbour gave me contact for his boiler friend

friend came late afternoon as promised, he took a look at the boiler and hesitated. Put his hand on the gas valve and turned on the boiler….. it ignited and there was fire !!!!

it turned out to be a loose connection to the gas valve

I was defeated and utterly deflated!!

why is everyone crazy abt ‘cross processing’……

I don hav the answer but I was too attracted to the visible impact of a photo that has undergone digital cross processing. The effect was discovered accidentally on the good old film photos after someone somewhere had used the wrong chemical to develop the films. The only way to describe is the effect gives a photo the ageing element, like one of those photos my grandpa had dug out to show me.

Anyway, enuf of my interpretation, here is how.

1) duplicate yr photo

2) bring up a curve layer and tweak the individual RGB profile like shown in the picture below (consider saving these settings like I did)

3) create a blank layer and fill it with yellow colour ( any yellow shade will do, u do not hav to be tht precise. This step is optional).

4) change the blending mode to ‘color’

5) readjust the opacity to your liking (@8-15%)

tht is it……

The Prince’s Golf Club – my golf links experience

Clear, 22 degree

After its undignified use as a bombing practice ground during the WW2 by the British Royal Air Force, it hardly can be described as unspoiled. It was said that Lord Brabazon, a member of the war cabinet likened the pounding it received to ‘throwing darts at a Rembrandt’. Some may said that it was actually a blessing in disguise as during the restoration, not only 17 out of the 18 greens were saved but it had gained extra 9 holes. Although it may not quite satisfy the sentimentalists with long memories, its 27 holes have won the hearts of many more from recent generations.

I woke up at 5:45 am in order to make the t-time at 9:30 am. So, why on earth did I pull myself out of the bed so early?? Getting there will require 2-hr drive, yes that’s 120 minutes of my finite life time spends behind the steering wheel. The journey was smooth as the traffic in the morning was expectedly scarce. It is difficult to imagine that this medieval town of Sandwich was in fact once a major port and the great King Richard the Lionheart actually landed here on his return from his crusades but now it sits 2 miles from the sea, so driving pass many period houses through the narrow winding twisting streets was quite refreshing with such rich history behind.

Just before you enter the private link road (Prince’s Drive) to the golf club, there is a toll on this road for non-resident motorists unless you inform the guard that you are here for golf. There are many nice looking bungalows and houses along this road, reminiscent of driving through the Wentworth estate before one reaches that famous GC. Nothing could have prepared for what I was about to come across, a dilapidated building standing by the road. For a second, I thought I was not gonna be playing any golf. Then my logic got hold of me and I later discovered that it was the old club house that unfortunately succumbed to the fire many years ago. It was reassuring to know that a newer and modern club house just 1.5 miles down the same road awaited my arrival.

Upon reaching the club house, I looked at the tripmeter, it read 101.6 miles! This meant I had to drive another 101.6 miles to reach home (in theory) but none of these would dampen my excitement for playing on this golf course and I was not going to turn my back until I have played all 3 nines (Himalayas, Shore and Dunes) that the Prince’s has to offer. The weather was near perfect, only a mild cross breeze but that was in the morning, I knew that the wind would pick up considerably later in the day when the tides came in.

Shared green, Himalayas 4th & 8th

Himalayas 1st T, rain hut

Himalayas 1st T, dogleg right, Richborough power plant

Himalayas 2nd, dogleg left

inviting?

The feeling when you find your balls in the tall wispy grass is like dropping your favourite ice cream on the floor. You suddenly become very religious and begin to ask the God ‘Why me?’. The ball is almost guaranteed never to see any day light, let alone anyone tries to knock it back in play. I had one of my balls so deep in the rough that I naively thought I could hack it out. After burying it further with my failed attempt, I was reduced to the size of an earth worm and decided to end the pain by declaring the ball unplayable and eventually made a double bogey.

thickest rough

swirly wind

Shore 6th, Royal St. George GC is just across the border, rain hut

  

Shore 9th

Himalayas 5th

a typical links bunker

The green condition was tip top, I suspect they were sand based as I could feel the springiness when I set foot on them. I did not see any pitch mark and the balls roll true but not as fast as I had imagined. There were 3 pins position, A, B and C. Albeit only one is assigned by the club on any day. Pin position B does not immediately mean that all will be position in the middle section of the green, they could be anywhere so getting a course guide will help you to judge your distance better as some greens were as long as 20 yards. The fairway condition was equally good. Balls landed on the fairway will sit nice on the grass and be rewarded with a realistic chance to have a go at the green. There were not that many golfers playing yesterday considering it was a weekend. Perhaps the under usage of the fairways would ensure a pristine condition all year round.

Overall, I think that the Shore and Dunes play are the 2 stronger nines and thus are more difficult than the shorter Himalayas but none lacks any interesting holes. As you can see, some of the holes were sitting next to and over looking the Royal St. George and I presume their course condition was not much difference than the Prince’s but you save half the cost by playing at the Prince’s!! I’ll say that’s a bargain.

old club house

signage

I must have teed off with a provisional ball no less than 8 times, not fancied my chance of locating the balls with 20-25 mph swirling wind that later picked up even if I hit a good shot. It was quite an experience to have played on an open link next to the sea. There were times where I had to aim at least 50 yards left of the fairway for the wind to carry the ball back to the fairways. My friend Jon who miraculously managed to play with the same ball through out the 27 holes certainly deserved a prize on itself. Some tight fairways have meant that the driver spent most of its time in the bag, there were some par 4s that scoring a par was like netting a birdie. It was a good day overall, I managed to hole a few long 10-15 foot putts, avoided all the bunkers and eventually walked away with a respectable nett score of 79 (Himalayas/Dunes) and 41 (Dunes).

Back in the club house, the staffs were generally friendly and quite welcoming which was nice. The only mild disappointment was when I discovered that one of my shots was blew right off the line  (5 iron punch shot to 168 yards) by the wind and had hit my friend’s right calf on the following teeing ground (Dunes 5th hole), I did not realised the incident as my view was blocked by a large bunker on an uphill slope. I was fortunate that it was not serious as the ball speed was dying down before it hit him.

Will I return? you bet ….. I just need to find a willing driver.

bench

London Underground

Underground: What you need to know

It has 268 Stations 400km Length Longest in the world

Over 1 Billion passenger journeys

Began 10th Jan 1863 11 lines

4.25 million per day travel

Began with Paddington to Farringdon Via Kings Cross (metropolitan Railway)

Started just 10 feet deep Northern Line- first deep line in 1890

Deepest line- Piccadilly 200 feet deep.

Deepest place however is just under Hampstead heath so deepest station is…

Nationalised 1st Jan 1948 by labour

Billingsgate Market ..a trip down memory lane

Day, Sunny 30 degree

12 years…. probably longer than that. Definitely before I got married and I am married for just over a decade now (goosh, it seems like a life time!). Decided to venture down to the biggest fish market in London hopefully to snatch up a few bargains.

The market starts trading from 2 am but that is mainly for the big buyers for restaurants and distributors. It s now all online live bidding for those guys. They just send their vans to pick up the stocks later. I was duly informed that though the trading start that early, no fish is allowed to leave the market before 5am since the porters only start working from 5am onwards and this has been the tradition for a very long time. Got up at 5am, like most men… 10 minutes later, I was on the road. Set my GPS and with the picture of Captain Jean-Luc Picard from Star Trek in my mind, I murmured “ENGAGE…”.

Drove on A12 passing by the Olympic Village and saw the skeletal frames for London Olympic 2012 main stadium. The site has been completely transformed. I just hope it won’t become another white elephant left in dilapidation after the game. 25 minutes later, I promptly reached planet Billingsgate…I mean..Billingsgate Market. There were already plenty of activity taking place, the traders on the phones checking prices, the nosy public eavesdropping on the person standing next to him for best price, porters wheeling polystyrene carts of fishermen’s catches to the buyers. Luckily I wore my track shoes as the floor was wet and slippery. So, here I was, standing in the midst of market floor wondering which direction I should start?

Newbie like me hesitated briefly then decided to walk down the middle aisle as it seems there were more people. There were probably up to 60 traders there, some selling fresh catches and some selling frozen seafood. Stopped by a stall and enquired the price of some fish. Most traders sell in bulk, which mean in polystyrene boxes. Unless you fridge is small and has few friends to give away the fish, it’s always cheaper to buy in bulk. Having said this, there were some traders selling individual fish.

Here were some of the prices I got, Sea Bream/Bass (£32-36 Large size (35cm) and £28-30 Medium size (30cm)), there were about 14 fish in a box. A box of 30/40 large prawns (£18), Tiger prawn (£33). A whole medium size salmon (£14, 55cm). Small Cray fish £6.50 each (could be small lobster??). Live crab £2.50/kg. There were also fresh groupers, monk fish, squids plus many more funny, ugly and alien looking fish that I have never come across. There were also Topes/Skates, hmmm….should be good for curry!  At the end, I spent about £80 on 1 box of Sea Bream, 1 box of Sea Bass, 1 Salmon and 1 large Sea Bass. That’s a lot of fish!!! Not much haggling took place unless deals in large quantity. I got talking to an Indian chap and he sold me the salmon for £12 instead of £14 and that’s about as much discount you can get in this place.

No photos because cameras aren’t allowed in this market.

What did I do to my catch? well… I divide them into 3 portions. 1 for myself, 1 for my neighbour and 1 for sister-in-law who live nearby. It will be at least a few months before my next trip….. tht’s provided I wont get tired of eating fish