I Fix This, Then That Breaks: A swing story

[thechrisgibbs]

What is a routine I can use for practice that keeps all parts of my game crisp?

So I started golfing 5 years ago. I almost immediately became addicted. This is something almost every golfer experiences, where they fix one part of their game, and another part immediately stops working. Example: I had an incredible game with my driver the other day, but I couldn't hit a green from 60 yards out to save my life. So I work exclusively on my 40-90 yard approach game for two weeks till it's crisp, then my long irons go out the window.

PLEASE HELP haha. Is there a routine you use that seems to keep all of your game in shape? A range routine, home practice routine, or even an on course drill you use to keep your whole game working?

[cnosil]

If you find out what it is please share. I think we all suffer from that problem.

[Tom the Golf Nut]

17 minutes ago, thechrisgibbs said:

What is a routine I can use for practice that keeps all parts of my game crisp?

So I started golfing 5 years ago. I almost immediately became addicted. This is something almost every golfer experiences, where they fix one part of their game, and another part immediately stops working. Example: I had an incredible game with my driver the other day, but I couldn't hit a green from 60 yards out to save my life. So I work exclusively on my 40-90 yard approach game for two weeks till it's crisp, then my long irons go out the window.

PLEASE HELP haha. Is there a routine you use that seems to keep all of your game in shape? A range routine, home practice routine, or even an on course drill you use to keep your whole game working?

We have all been there. Good day with a driver and irons stink. Then next time its the other way around. The more you play and practice the difference between the two gets smaller.

For a range routine I work from the bottom of the bag, (Wedges) to the top (Driver). I need to hit 4 quality shots in a row before I can change clubs. Once I get to the Driver, I work my way back down again. Once complete I will play an imaginary 9 holes. Don't focus on distance, just good contact and direction. Range balls are junk for the most part and are designed to be beat to death. 

I will dedicate a different day to short game work. Pitching, chipping, and putting. I always do this with the balls I play with during a round. My course has a separate area for this so I can use my own balls. I can also do this at home. I take an old golf umbrella with the metal tip and stick it in the ground, open it up and practice chipping into the umbrella from different distances. Putting is at the course. This way I practice with the same green speed that I will be playing on. I usually putt to a golf tee. If I can hit the 1/8" tee, then the hole seems huge. Plus there havent been tons of footprints around my tee like you will get around the cup.

[MNUte]

4 minutes ago, Tom the Golf Nut said:

We have all been there. Good day with a driver and irons stink. Then next time its the other way around. The more you play and practice the difference between the two gets smaller.

For a range routine I work from the bottom of the bag, (Wedges) to the top (Driver). I need to hit 4 quality shots in a row before I can change clubs. Once I get to the Driver, I work my way back down again. Once complete I will play an imaginary 9 holes. Don't focus on distance, just good contact and direction. Range balls are junk for the most part and are designed to be beat to death. 

I will dedicate a different day to short game work. Pitching, chipping, and putting. I always do this with the balls I play with during a round. My course has a separate area for this so I can use my own balls. I can also do this at home. I take an old golf umbrella with the metal tip and stick it in the ground, open it up and practice chipping into the umbrella from different distances. Putting is at the course. This way I practice with the same green speed that I will be playing on. I usually putt to a golf tee. If I can hit the 1/8" tee, then the hole seems huge. Plus there havent been tons of footprints around my tee like you will get around the cup.

I do similar work of working up the bag. But another thing I do that also helps is that I work up the swing and speed. So eighth of a swing, then quarter, half, and so on. So if I'm doing something that is causing a bad result, i know the general quadrant of my swing that it's happening in.

[thechrisgibbs]

17 hours ago, MNUte said:

I do similar work of working up the bag. But another thing I do that also helps is that I work up the swing and speed. So eighth of a swing, then quarter, half, and so on. So if I'm doing something that is causing a bad result, i know the general quadrant of my swing that it's happening in.

Oh, you know when I am working on Pitching, I do this with the Quarter, Half, Three Quarter, and Full. I kind of like the idea of doing that with my Irons, MNUte. Maybe I'll work that into my practice while moving throughout the bag while going up and down. I've tried things like playing a full course in my head while at the practice range, but then I get on the course and am spending time in the sand instead haha.

[thechrisgibbs]

17 hours ago, Tom the Golf Nut said:

We have all been there. Good day with a driver and irons stink. Then next time its the other way around. The more you play and practice the difference between the two gets smaller.

For a range routine I work from the bottom of the bag, (Wedges) to the top (Driver). I need to hit 4 quality shots in a row before I can change clubs. Once I get to the Driver, I work my way back down again. Once complete I will play an imaginary 9 holes. Don't focus on distance, just good contact and direction. Range balls are junk for the most part and are designed to be beat to death. 

I will dedicate a different day to short game work. Pitching, chipping, and putting. I always do this with the balls I play with during a round. My course has a separate area for this so I can use my own balls. I can also do this at home. I take an old golf umbrella with the metal tip and stick it in the ground, open it up and practice chipping into the umbrella from different distances. Putting is at the course. This way I practice with the same green speed that I will be playing on. I usually putt to a golf tee. If I can hit the 1/8" tee, then the hole seems huge. Plus there havent been tons of footprints around my tee like you will get around the cup.

I'll give this a try when I'm at the range today, Tom! What do you do for a pre important round warm up? Something to identify things you need to be conscious of? I usually just hit Gap Wedge, 8 Iron, 5 Iron, 2 Iron and Driver, but even when I hit driver well warming up, that first tee shot is anyone's guess haha. I fight a hook a lot on my first tee shot, but it usually fixes itself by hole 3.

[Tom the Golf Nut]

33 minutes ago, thechrisgibbs said:

I'll give this a try when I'm at the range today, Tom! What do you do for a pre important round warm up? Something to identify things you need to be conscious of? I usually just hit Gap Wedge, 8 Iron, 5 Iron, 2 Iron and Driver, but even when I hit driver well warming up, that first tee shot is anyone's guess haha. I fight a hook a lot on my first tee shot, but it usually fixes itself by hole 3.

I will hit the driver last, because that's the first thing your going to hit on the first tee. On the first tee i tee up the ball. Verify correct tee height. Then I stand about 6 feet behind the ball and pick out my target. I pick a distant target or spot out in the fairway. Then get into hitting position but a foot away from the ball. I check ball position in my stance, grip, and grip pressure. Then one practice swing. (my practice swings are the same speed as my actual swing.) I am ingraining muscle memory by doing this. Its not the norm but its what works for me.

Then just step into the ball and swing. Low and slow back and 90 percent speed during down swing. 

[jaskanski]

Sounds boring and I hate to keep repeating it - but fundamentals like grip, stance, ball position and alignment are what you need on a regaular basis to keep bad shots to a minimum. If you can't get the basics nailed down cold before you even swing, then you've not much hope of getting anything like consistent.

If nothing else, set up fundamentals eliminate any other variable that may be present in your game (and let's face it, our swings  and form are not as repeatable as we'd like) so it gives a good place to start from.  Once you know your set up is good, it makes small adjustments to swing techniques a lot easier to get a hold of.

You can't build anything without a solid foundation (as my old teaching pro used to say) - he was right. Whenever I find my game a little rusty, the basics are the reality check that is a sure sign of what is wrong - for me, it's usually ball position creeping too far forward. Not a huge deal I hear you say - but the knock-on effect it has with the rest of my swing is massive. So a quick check that everything is where it should be in the set up leaves one less thing to think about in the swing, freeing up the part of your brain to concentrate on executing a good shot.

[Micah T]

[mention=108560]thechrisgibbs[/mention]
If all facets of your game were working at the same time, you wouldn’t be here talking with us

But seriously, we all have A, B, C, and D games. My A game shows up as soon as the leaves start to fall, lol. The rest of the time, we’re scrambling to get up and down for par, putting the driver away because it’s misbehaving, or 2nd guessing our swings due to a sudden outbreak of “the lefts”. That’s why your handicap is not the same as your average score. Just keep grinding, and enjoy the journey.


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[MNUte]

57 minutes ago, Micah T said:

[mention=108560]thechrisgibbs[/mention]
If all facets of your game were working at the same time, you wouldn’t be here talking with us

But seriously, we all have A, B, C, and D games. My A game shows up as soon as the leaves start to fall, lol. The rest of the time, we’re scrambling to get up and down for par, putting the driver away because it’s misbehaving, or 2nd guessing our swings due to a sudden outbreak of “the lefts”. That’s why your handicap is not the same as your average score. Just keep grinding, and enjoy the journey.


Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy
 

I see someone watched the GolfSidekick episode from today

But you're 100% right. Golf is a lot like surfing or rock climbing. There are peaks and troughs, but the majority of the time is spent working our way up the middle and pushing ourselves higher. 

[Middler]

You would probably have to ask a pro. I know I can rarely get all parts of my game in sync. I’ll putt well one round, and miss too many fairways. Or hit a lot of fairways and my full iron approach shots are off. Some days I chip well, other days I blade half of them. I’m usually reliable out of sand, but I left one in a trap twice a couple weeks ago, and it wasn’t a tough trap? Then of course I’ll have a good round going and go brain dead on the back, or mid round. Of any combination of the above. If you find the answer, we’d all love to know?

[DaveP043]

23 hours ago, thechrisgibbs said:

So I work exclusively on my 40-90 yard approach game for two weeks till it's crisp,

To me, this is part of the problem.  For most of us, the game requires consistent maintenance, each part of the game requires maintenance.  If you neglect something, even if it WAS working well, its going to atrophy.  If you focus 100% on something, everything else is logically going to suffer.  So sure, devote extra time to a problem area, but don't completely stop practicing the other bits.

Almost all of my "routine" practice is full swing stuff, and I generally only get a couple of practice sessions a week.  But if I have a couple of bad days with the putter, I'll dedicate an extra 15 minutes a couple of times a week to putting.  Same with chipping or pitching.  But I don't abandon my full swing, that's the bread and butter of scoring.  I can putt great, but if the first putt is always for par or bogey, I'll never shoot good scores.  Good players don't average 50% up and down, I need to hit greens.  All of it counts, all of it needs practice, its just that the weak spots need a little extra attention.

[Micah T]

I see someone watched the GolfSidekick episode from today
But you're 100% right. Golf is a lot like surfing or rock climbing. There are peaks and troughs, but the majority of the time is spent working our way up the middle and pushing ourselves higher. 

Lol I totally did! He’s my golf spirit guide; except when gets on one about strokes gained...


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[SlowNLow]

On 4/1/2021 at 5:35 PM, thechrisgibbs said:

What is a routine I can use for practice that keeps all parts of my game crisp?

So I started golfing 5 years ago. I almost immediately became addicted. This is something almost every golfer experiences, where they fix one part of their game, and another part immediately stops working. Example: I had an incredible game with my driver the other day, but I couldn't hit a green from 60 yards out to save my life. So I work exclusively on my 40-90 yard approach game for two weeks till it's crisp, then my long irons go out the window.

PLEASE HELP haha. Is there a routine you use that seems to keep all of your game in shape? A range routine, home practice routine, or even an on course drill you use to keep your whole game working?

Maybe during your session at the range dedicate about 20 balls and pretend you are playing the holes a familiar course.   Tee one up, visualize a fairway using whatever visuals are available and smoke it.  Iif you hit well, then hit a wedge shot.   Or whatever club you think will get you to the pretend green.  If you miss your approach, next hit a chip or pitch shot.  Putting might be not be practical.

However at the range where I go often, the practice green is very close to hitting area, so I hit shots, then I will even go to the practice green to chip or pitch, and hit a putt or two, then go back to the hitting area.  I look like a weirdo but it is a cheap way to practice playing a round of golf.   And no do-overs, unless you have hit a shot so badly that on your pretend hole you went OB or in a penalty area.  When we play, we can't re-do the last shot, we have to grab different club and play the next shot.

This will simulate a little of bit of pressure too, which is good since we have to deal some pressure when we play.   Whether it is very little or a lot, it is still there in some degree. 

Only thing missing is the beer cart girl.