Subtle Signs of Improvement Outside of Score

[ZMendle10]

What are some signs that your golf game has been improving that are not reflected on your score. There are tons of ways to measure improvement outside of just simply keeping stats and score.  Maybe you don't fear bunkers as much when hitting your approach shot, those 4 foot knee knockers now seem automatic and less of a thought than before, or maybe you are just more relaxed over every shot than you were a few months ago. 

For me I noticed that my ball flight with my irons were just curving a lot less and I no longer hated or feared a Par 3. 

So much of golf improvement is focused solely on score but score is the last thing that benefits from an improved game and in my opinion should be the last thing you are concerned with when improving. 

[GolfSpy_APH]

This is great timing for this topic as I had this for my round yesterday. The score was not nearly as indicative of how I played. Yes, I had a few squirly drives and some mishits, but I really felt great on the course and had some great smart shots that just didn't quite pay off. 

For me distance control is a big one - I hit a lot of irons the last 2 rounds and the distances have been on point. I can recall when I was playing my best golf I would grab the club from the bag knowing I needed it to go X amount and it would. It has been a while since I felt this and especially last round I had it dialled in. Example on the 10th hole I played 4 iron off the tee and pulled it a little right, just in the first cut and left myself with 115 yards. This is one of my favourite holes on the course and the green is tough! The middle is open, long and begs just to go there. The pin was tucked on the left, big bunker in front that is death and 1/3 as long front to back. Even in the semi I knew I could get it over the bunker and stop. I went right at the flag and nearly holed out and misread the putt to clean up for a easy par. There were several other shots during the round whether it was a layup or going into the green I had the right distances nearly all the time even if my line had strayed a bit. 

Second is simply confidence in shape. This is something I do struggle with at times, but recently have been able to really make sure I am getting the shape I want and plan on it. I often can get too quick and have a nasty pull hook (it sucks), however more recently I have been able to slow things down which has lead to a nice fade or if I pick up the pace just a little I can get the draw again. So shape would be number two for me. 

Finally putting. Because my approach game does leave a good bit to be desired I rely on my putting a lot and thankfully it is great most the time. Avoiding  3 putts and just having distances and the imagination to get putts close is really key for me and although it leads to better chances at scoring it is the big piece of my game that if it is off well than I am in for an awful round.  

[ZMendle10]

1 hour ago, GolfSpy_APH said:

For me distance control is a big one - I hit a lot of irons the last 2 rounds and the distances have been on point. I can recall when I was playing my best golf I would grab the club from the bag knowing I needed it to go X amount and it would. 

Second is simply confidence in shape. This is something I do struggle with at times, but recently have been able to really make sure I am getting the shape I want and plan on it. I often can get too quick and have a nasty pull hook (it sucks), however more recently I have been able to slow things down which has lead to a nice fade or if I pick up the pace just a little I can get the draw again. So shape would be number two for me. 

The confidence in hearing a number pulling a club and just firing away is something that gets far to often overlooked. There is so little thinking when this shots happen and they just become automatic and very rarely is there a poor result when there is such a commitment to the shot needed. I was okaying in a tournament and had 145 approach shot from the rough at a pin over water which was 125 to carry. I new even a mishit was gonna fade and be like 135 so I pulled my 9 iron and aimed left of the flag. There was no way I was getting in the water with a clean strike so it just freed me up enough to put it 5ft left of the pin and cleaned it up for birdie.  

Another thing that I have noticed with myself was while I wasn't particularly scoring great one day while playing with my brother and I kept missing the shot I was trying to hit. I wouldn't say I was playing aggressive but I wasn't playing conservative either. My misses weren't putting me in trouble but my great shots weren't stuffing pins either and he just looks to me and says how even my missed shots seemed under control and still had such a solid flight.  My score was still possibly about 9 over through 12 because I fail my short game from lack of practice but there was nothing wild or out of control with each shot.