Broke 100, now bring on 90

[Vegan_Golfer_PNW]

10 minutes ago, Kenny B said:

Sounds like short game work next week.  

That and ground contact. Ground contact was sketch all day due to some swing work I’ve been doing lately. Everything was straight, just some fats and thins in there. 

[Kenny B]

2 minutes ago, Vegan_Golfer_PNW said:

That and ground contact. Ground contact was sketch all day due to some swing work I’ve been doing lately. Everything was straight, just some fats and thins in there. 

I'm working on that too.  I tend to not stay in Left Tilt which puts me behind the ball at impact = fats... don't seem to have thins, fortunately.  I know what I did, so it's just a matter of focus on the next shot.

[Vegan_Golfer_PNW]

A secondary recap to my round. 
In the four foundations, a big part of the book is on the mental game like expectations, strategy and emotions. I took those to heart this round. 

Expectations:

im a 20+ handicap. My game will have it’s moments but work in progress. My swing is on between as it is improving so I know while I may hit some good shots, some bad shots will happen. Enjoy playing with three guys you haven’t played with in a while. Enjoy 18 holes while you can. Any first putt within 12 ft is great at my level. Any second put within 5ft is also good. I’ll say I hit on all of these. We played two man best ball and I actually overall score on the front beat my partner by 4 strokes. He is at about a 7-10 cap. He was also getting super frustrated. Surprised he didn’t snap a club. I was proud I kept my cool going in knowing my expectations.

 

Strategy:

I played to smart targets all round. As well when I was in trouble, instead of a hero shot, I played a functional safe shot and told myself bogey would be great here and to try and avoid double bogey. For the most part I accomplished that. As well, my mishits sans a couple were all still playable and didn’t hurt me much. Just one unlucky blow up hole and the four other doubles, two came due to penalties and the others I just need to practice a little more as those could be avoided. Hell all of them could be. Good learning experience.

Mental

Enjoy the highs and after analysis of the lows, move past it. I think this was much better than I usually do. I didn’t stew over bad shots or holes (see the par I got after my blow up hole). I also tried not to get too amped up or low and sad. With that it caused me to thoroughly enjoy the round. I almost got very dejected when I hit what I thought was a sage drive to find out it kicked toward a creek and ended up penile. I held it together and pushed through when that coulda brought me down. One thing I may or may not have done well was when I had a chance to win the hole and miss the putt I felt sad but not disappointed. My partner gave me a look and my opponents tried to rattle me by telling me this is for the hole. I tried to tune those out as much as I could and that definitely helped.

[Vegan_Golfer_PNW]

 

 

As well here is how some of my swing work is coming. Trying to work on low point here with the lead shoulder up and away. Noticed my wrists need a little more setting and was able to do that soon after watching this one. Small steps but progress. 

[Vegan_Golfer_PNW]

Working on feel vs real and trying to make my swing changes. It’s a slow process but I am committed to seeing this through. Here is the slow swing feel drill I do and how I try to incorporate it into my full swing. 

 

 

[RickyBobby_PR]

1 hour ago, Vegan_Golfer_PNW said:

Working on feel vs real and trying to make my swing changes. It’s a slow process but I am committed to seeing this through. Here is the slow swing feel drill I do and how I try to incorporate it into my full swing. 

 

Here are a screen cap of your setup at home and on the range. You can see how different the two are in terms of where your balance points are

Also remember when filming the camera should be on the hand line 

[Vegan_Golfer_PNW]

7 minutes ago, RickyBobby_PR said:

Here are a screen cap of your setup at home and on the range. You can see how different the two are in terms of where your balance points are

Also remember when filming the camera should be on the hand line 

Thanks for pointing that out. I knew I shoulda used sticks today to get it better on my hands. So at the range I was on my heels and at home on the balls on my feet. Nice catch. Not having shoes on in the house probably also accounts for that

[RickyBobby_PR]

12 minutes ago, Vegan_Golfer_PNW said:

Thanks for pointing that out. I knew I shoulda used sticks today to get it better on my hands. So at the range I was on my heels and at home on the balls on my feet. Nice catch. Not having shoes on in the house probably also accounts for that

Yeah. You have more forward bend at home and not as upright and back on the heels

[WiTerp50]

Course management can help. Everybody likes the big stick but maybe not every time. With a 280 drive, maybe there are narrow fairways and hazards starting at 265 through 290. If you lose or get an unplayable 50% of the time, then maybe go to a club you can hit 230-250 in the fairway. It might ensure a GIR+1, but that beats a double or triple due to a poor drive. GIR+1 for 14 par 4’s, and hitting par 5’s in regulation and a par 3 will still let you have a half dozen 3 putts and still flirting with 90. Play the hole backwards. If you suck at 30-50 yards out, layup from 60-90 yards. Also remember that you won’t always match your one-time best distance with a club. If you come up short more often than not, expect your clubs to hit their average distance. Swinging 100% can have its own set of issues. 

[Vegan_Golfer_PNW]

36 holes in with shot scope and getting a pretty good idea what I need to work on. My tee game for now is solid at my cap. Approach game is atrocious but I feel my swing is coming around. Yesterday short game mistakes on sim and distance control killed me and putting us coming along. What is even more interesting is my worst holes are par 5s  I am almost -6 SG on them and avg a double bogey whereas par 3s are slightly less than bogey and par fours slightly more. So the holes I really need to focus on more are par 5s and getting myself in situations to not blow up. Some of that is off the tee (yesterday I didn’t get it through the window and smacked a tree square just past the white tees), where as others in working on iron ground contact (last weeks 11 on a par 5 and number 15 yesterday) or better aim (number 12 yesterday had a hard pan lie and low drew my 4i. I should have aimed right of the green instead of middle as I likely knew I wasn’t gonna get a clean contact or just chip out to the fairway and make a smarter decision). The short game and putting I plan to tackle a lot in my practice with the aids I have coming in and learning what different lofts do for me chipping and speed wise. The approach game is coming along and I expect by this time next year to have that significantly better with the work I am putting in with my coach and my off-season plans. I might get one more shot at 18 this year to try and reach the break 90 milestone but won’t be disappointed if I don’t .

[Vegan_Golfer_PNW]

Had an epiphany the last few days after doing some reading and i realized why i am hooking my longer clubs. I have been setting up with the face closed, even though it looked square to me. The offset was throwing me off. I need to test this theory out on the range this week and see if I can visually see a flight difference. It looks strange with the fix as the club looks very open looking from toe to heel but aligning the white align groove to a straight-edge, it is a square face.

[Chester3488]

18 hours ago, Vegan_Golfer_PNW said:

Had an epiphany the last few days after doing some reading and i realized why i am hooking my longer clubs. I have been setting up with the face closed, even though it looked square to me. The offset was throwing me off. I need to test this theory out on the range this week and see if I can visually see a flight difference. It looks strange with the fix as the club looks very open looking from toe to heel but aligning the white align groove to a straight-edge, it is a square face.

You are working hard on your game. You will see results. It's a good idea to check your set up as well. When I start getting really "hooky" I generally find that my stand has closed much more than I thought it was. 

Good luck, enjoy the journey.

[Vegan_Golfer_PNW]

Got out for a quick nine before work today. Shot a 47 that could have been so much better. I'm not kicking myself but instead seeing the potential.

1) Hit a 266 yard drive right at my target which ended up being right rough. Hit a flier GW from 138 out past the green by 15 yards. Chipped on and made an 8ft putt for par.

2). Hit a pully drive 261 but ended up behind a tree. Had to pitch out to the fairway. Then pitched from there to 15 ft and 2 putted for bogey

3) This was a hole i messed up. Hit driver, didnt aim far enough right and into a lateral hazard. Instead of dropping I re-teed. That cost me at least two strokes. from the retee ball had to hit a low hook to try to get to the green and almost pulled it off. Unfortunately, my chip i should have used lower loft and didnt get it on the green. ended up chipping again and 2 putting for an 8.

4). Downhill par three hit 6i. Missed the green left but was pin high. Chipped on over a corner of a bunker to 8 ft but missed just right and made bogey

5) Pull hooked my drive past the green of number 7 (296 yards). Hit a half swing 6i to get back in play. Then played the back distance despite a front pin, didnt hit a flush 7i and still landed half way up the green and hit the downslope leaving 16 feet to the hole. Didnt hit my putt firm enough into the break and 2 putted for par.

6) On this hole, i likely didnt aim enough right, but i am always afraid to due to OB and its tight on the right side. Hit a crushed drive (going into my swing routine practiced trying to hit a big fade to help my hook tendency) right at my target. Unfortunately it went through the dogleg and into a brush penalty. Took my medicine but hooked an 8i behind a tree by the green. Had to chip out twice and 2 putted for a 7.

7) Hit 4w off the tee since trees are in play with driver and this dogleg. Again clubbed up to the back distance. Didnt hit a great PW but enough to clear a front bunker and hit a slope to 28 ft. Hit my lag too long but sunk a 5ft back for par.

8 ) 9i off the tee to the back distance. Didnt aim enough right but was still ok. Just off the green between two bunkers. Nearly chipped in for birdie (missed by 2 inches to the left). Unfortunately 2 putted for bogey from 8ft (miss read a little too far to the left)

9) Missed my target from the tee but gave enough room that my drive bounced off the slope on the right 274 out. Hit my 4w to the uphill green on a slight side slope. Caught it thin but still got it up to the green pin high but right of the green. Hit a second ball just for practice and actually flushed it to 15 ft from the pin. That gives me confidence I can hit this club from the deck. My chip from my in play ball hit a down slope and just off the green. From the fringe 18ft out i hit it to 3 ft. Biffed on the comebacker and 2 putted for bogey  

So places of improvement:

Putts within 10 ft. That is actually my worst SG putting metric. Good thing my aids are coming in today  

Knowing the course penalty areas and take drops when they make sense instead of a provisional.

Play my driver shape better. Outside of the 9th hole it was either straight or draw. Have confidence in it and play it that way.

Keep aiming for back of green distances. Saved my butt twice today.

Maybe try playing up one tee instead of the tips, just to play different clubs and see how it feels to shoot lower scores.

 

[Vegan_Golfer_PNW]

Here were the holes i aimed wrong ( and incurred penalties off the tee) and where i should have aimed.

Hole 3 (triangle for Driver. In hindsight I should just tee 4w here since driver makes more trouble in play)

 

hole 6 (I aimed at the lighter green tree near the left of my dispersion triangle) The whole right side is basically OB or lateral hazard.

[RickyBobby_PR]

29 minutes ago, Vegan_Golfer_PNW said:

Here were the holes i aimed wrong ( and incurred penalties off the tee) and where i should have aimed.

Hole 3 (triangle for Driver. In hindsight I should just tee 4w here since driver makes more trouble in play)

 

hole 6 (I aimed at the lighter green tree near the left of my dispersion triangle) The whole right side is basically OB or lateral hazard.

If you are trying to hit a fade on 6 why are you even aiming right?

your target should be inside the tree on the left. 

 

[Vegan_Golfer_PNW]

4 minutes ago, RickyBobby_PR said:

If you are trying to hit a fade on 6 why are you even aiming right?

your target should be inside the tree on the left. 

 

I try to hit one shot shape with driver. My main shape has been straight to draw hence why I should have moved my sim. My bad miss is a push fade which can sometimes pop up. The fade feel i talked about was trying to get me out of my pull hook miss i had on the prior hole.

[RickyBobby_PR]

6 minutes ago, Vegan_Golfer_PNW said:

I try to hit one shot shape with driver. My main shape has been straight to draw hence why I should have moved my sim. My bad miss is a push fade which can sometimes pop up

 

2 hours ago, Vegan_Golfer_PNW said:

6) On this hole, i likely didnt aim enough right, but i am always afraid to due to OB and its tight on the right side. Hit a crushed drive (going into my swing routine practiced trying to hit a big fade to help my hook tendency) right at my target. Unfortunately it went through the dogleg and into a brush penalty. Took my medicine but hooked an 8i behind a tree by the green. Had to chip out twice and 2 putted for a 7.

Per your recap your swing thingy was to hit a big fade. Aiming right with the intention of hitting a big fade isn’t ideal.

Something isn’t adding up. Because if swing thought is to hit a fade that’s going to be completely different feel than hitting a draw or making your normal swing. Has the potential to lead to a double cross or errant shot which sounds like what happened.

[Vegan_Golfer_PNW]

2 minutes ago, RickyBobby_PR said:

 

Per your recap your swing thingy was to hit a big fade. Aiming right with the intention of hitting a big fade isn’t ideal.

Something isn’t adding up. Because if swing thought is to hit a fade that’s going to be completely different feel than hitting a draw or making your normal swing. Has the potential to lead to a double cross

This is something from The Four Foundations Book. Fighting a miss with the other bad kind of miss. Fighting fire with fire. So my feel was a fade. The real was hoping for a straight ball or slight draw since my last two drives were solid pull hooks. If i could shape my clubs on command, this would easily be a fade hole. For me its all about keeping a ball in play. Apologies for the confusion

[RickyBobby_PR]

2 minutes ago, Vegan_Golfer_PNW said:

This is something from The Four Foundations Book. Fighting a miss with the other bad kind of miss. Fighting fire with fire. So my feel was a fade. The real was hoping for a straight ball or slight draw since my last two drives were solid pull hooks. If i could shape my clubs on command, this would easily be a fade hole. For me its all about keeping a ball in play. Apologies for the confusion

Havent read that book but rom experience trying to think of one swing thought to avoid a miss is a recipe for disaster.

I’m taking whatever line my ball flight is which is what I find on the range in warmups. If I’m pulling the ball I try a couple swim feels to see if I can keep it from hooking too much but get on the first tee with the notion that my ball is going to move to the left and take my target line according to that. I would be a mess if i aimed for a draw and wanted to feel a fade swing. 
 

If I block it or it doesn’t draw as much I’m still in play. 

[Kenny B]

1 hour ago, Vegan_Golfer_PNW said:

This is something from The Four Foundations Book. Fighting a miss with the other bad kind of miss. Fighting fire with fire. So my feel was a fade. The real was hoping for a straight ball or slight draw since my last two drives were solid pull hooks. If i could shape my clubs on command, this would easily be a fade hole. For me its all about keeping a ball in play. Apologies for the confusion

I think there is a reason why Jon Sherman put his Fighting Fire with Fire discussion in the Practice Foundation part of his book.  This is something to do when you are practicing... probably on the range... and likely for someone that has better control over their shots (I think he was scratch at the time).  

He also said in the Strategy Foundation part of the book that recreational golfers should not try to hit draws and fades on command, but they should stick with their one best shot shape... the "one trick pony".  Monte said the same thing this weekend at the clinic.  Play to your strength and don't try to make changes during the round.  If you hit a bad shot, maybe it was just a bad shot... pros do it all the time.  They don't start making swing changes during a tournament.  If you try to make a change for the next shot based on what you did on your last shot, you will keep perpetuating crappy shots and won't know what's causing it.

My question is:  Are you playing the round to get a score or are you playing a practice round?  If you are playing for a score, play the shot appropriate for the hole... if your 4W was the better play because it took bad spots out of play when using driver, play it.  Pick the shots that give you the best possibility to give you a lower score.  If you are playing a practice round, don't keep score!  When you hit a shot that doesn't give you the result you expect, analyze why you think it was bad.  Make your correction and try again.  If the swing didn't feel bad, re-focus ... drop another ball and make the same swing.  The practice round is just a range session out on the course.  When playing for score, don't think about your swing... focus on the target, make smart choices, and just play!!

[Vegan_Golfer_PNW]

2 minutes ago, Kenny B said:

I think there is a reason why Jon Sherman put his Fighting Fire with Fire discussion in the Practice Foundation part of his book.  This is something to do when you are practicing... probably on the range... and likely for someone that has better control over their shots (I think he was scratch at the time).  

He also said in the Strategy Foundation part of the book that recreational golfers should not try to hit draws and fades on command, but they should stick with their one best shot shape... the "one trick pony".  Monte said the same thing this weekend at the clinic.  Play to your strength and don't try to make changes during the round.  If you hit a bad shot, maybe it was just a bad shot... pros do it all the time.  They don't start making swing changes during a tournament.  If you try to make a change for the next shot based on what you did on your last shot, you will keep perpetuating crappy shots and won't know what's causing it.

My question is:  Are you playing the round to get a score or are you playing a practice round?  If you are playing for a score, play the shot appropriate for the hole... if your 4W was the better play because it took bad spots out of play when using driver, play it.  Pick the shots that give you the best possibility to give you a lower score.  If you are playing a practice round, don't keep score!  When you hit a shot that doesn't give you the result you expect, analyze why you think it was bad.  Make your correction and try again.  If the swing didn't feel bad, re-focus ... drop another ball and make the same swing.  The practice round is just a range session out on the course.  When playing for score, don't think about your swing... focus on the target, make smart choices, and just play!!

Thanks Kenny. I was playing for score but after analyzing the round did i realize my strategy gaff.

On understanding the cause mid round, i knew i was striking it solid, but my face was closed relative to path causing the hooks. That is why i just did the thought. I thought i remember Jon mentioning doing that mid round once but i could be wrong. He did definitely have it in the practice chapter

[BMart519]

11 hours ago, Vegan_Golfer_PNW said:

Here were the holes i aimed wrong ( and incurred penalties off the tee) and where i should have aimed.

Hole 3 (triangle for Driver. In hindsight I should just tee 4w here since driver makes more trouble in play)

For someone avoiding a left miss off the tee, you can't aim at left side of fairway or left trees even with OB right. You need to trust your shot shape and take less club if that is required to not go through the fairway up the right side. 

For short game, you just need to get reps in at the course you play. Setup flat, downhill and uphill chips from different distances around the green. Hit to upslopes and downslopes on the green to start seeing how the ball lands and rolls out. This will help you make to decide on landing spots and make club choices on the course. You'll also develop feels from these reps on how hard to hit the shot based on the lie. Practicing chipping into a net is good until your contact is consistent, after that you need to practice situations that come up on the course so they are comfortable. 

[Vegan_Golfer_PNW]

3 minutes ago, BMart519 said:

For someone avoiding a left miss off the tee, you can't aim at left side of fairway or left trees even with OB right. You need to trust your shot shape and take less club if that is required to not go through the fairway up the right side. 

For short game, you just need to get reps in at the course you play. Setup flat, downhill and uphill chips from different distances around the green. Hit to upslopes and downslopes on the green to start seeing how the ball lands and rolls out. This will help you make to decide on landing spots and make club choices on the course. You'll also develop feels from these reps on how hard to hit the shot based on the lie. Practicing chipping into a net is good until your contact is consistent, after that you need to practice situations that come up on the course so they are comfortable. 

Makes total sense. I need to embrace my stock shape and play it properly.

my course I practice at has a decent short game facility that I practice on although their chipping greens have lots of bare spots. What I just need to do is just play a practice round with multiple balls and practice different shots. 

[BMart519]

4 minutes ago, Vegan_Golfer_PNW said:

Makes total sense. I need to embrace my stock shape and play it properly.

my course I practice at has a decent short game facility that I practice on although their chipping greens have lots of bare spots. What I just need to do is just play a practice round with multiple balls and practice different shots. 

Course selection will affect your strokes gained:
- the course with nice greens near me I always putt the best
- the one with thick damp rough hurts my short game numbers because of no spin to help stop the ball
- the tight, tree lined course makes me hit less than driver. Reducing SG: OTT but will often increase SG: approach because of higher average approach distances and I hit my hybrids well (relative to my handicap) 

If you can't find enough turf to do short game practice, use the course when it's empty like you mention or look for a new one to play. Life is too short to hit off rock hard dirt. 

[Vegan_Golfer_PNW]

Experimenting with left hand low putting. So far at home it has been more consistent. Inspired by the euro event going on. 

[Vegan_Golfer_PNW]

Had one of those days where the putter just didn’t work. First round left hand low. I’m not even mad. What happened was my putts hit the center so solid my distances were all long. Even with hitting the putting green earlier. I just had no feel for distance control. So I just choke that up to learning a new stroke and needing an adjustment period.

 I also hit some drives of my life today. On one drove the green and had an uphill 15 ft for eagle but missed it short by 2 ft. One bad hole where I did shank a driver ob. Otherwise Driver was very solid. Iron play also not too bad. One bad hole with short game due to steep drop offs and everything playing fast. I see so much potential even with my poor SG putting today. It felt awesome. 
 

[cnosil]

1 hour ago, Vegan_Golfer_PNW said:

 

Wow,  putting did kill you!

[Vegan_Golfer_PNW]

6 minutes ago, cnosil said:

 

Wow,  putting did kill you!

Ya it was very strange. Like I said, I hope this is just an adjustment period. 

[cnosil]

1 hour ago, Vegan_Golfer_PNW said:

Ya it was very strange. Like I said, I hope this is just an adjustment period. 

If you are hitting the center more frequently that is a good thing and should ultimately help with distance control versus hitting all over the face.   Some people struggle more with a grip change and some just make a natural progression.   I switched back to LHL a few weeks ago and it felt really good and not much change from a standard grip;  probably because even with a standard grip I am left side dominant and a little more mechanical in nature.   Just head to the practice green a few times and work on building the new feels. 

[Vegan_Golfer_PNW]

Listened to the hack it out podcast today. Committing to 4 things this offseason

 

1) meditation so I can learn to get in a low brainwave frequency state

2)strength/mobility. Fit for got off-season and winter strength programs

3) technique work with foam balls to ingrain feels from my lessons this season

4) speed work. Mostly maintenance work but will do one final 4 week ramp up following surgery recovery 

 

I’m gonna catch you @dlow206