How'd you play?

[RichL85]

51 minutes ago, chisag said:

 

... Here is the thing. There are so many moving parts to a golf swing that will make solid contact with the ball with a good trajectory, combining spin and height and of course going where you are aiming. Oh yea, and the exact distance you need the ball to travel. All those moving parts need to work in unison in order to accomplish these goals. But it only takes doing one moving part incorrectly to throw the entire process in chaos. 

... This would be bad enough but diagnosing exactly which part is the culprit can be very difficult. And what we all do to some degree is trying to fix ourselves by changing what we are doing well. We have all had swing keys that fixed our swing at some point in time. But more often than not those swing keys addressed a particular fault and if that part isn't the culprit in our current swing, the key that worked can actually cause more problems.

... As an example lets say you were over extending on the backswing without a proper wrist hinge and getting disconnected. You either stumbled on a tip or found out on your own that if you cock your wrists sooner, it stopped the over extension disconnection and brought your swing back into sync. Fast forward to a current swing out of whack and you remember the "cock the wrists sooner" swing key that worked so well, but the problem is you have stopped turning your shoulders and cocking your wrists sooner makes things even worse. 

... Obviously the guys on tour have a coach that keep an eye on all those moving parts and usually stop a flaw before it becomes a problem. The fact that Tiger needed coaching should be an eye opener. As an instructor I am my own worst client just like a lawyer defending themselves, so I know your frustration. I have found that ignoring a swing problem during a round is usually better than trying to fix it while playing. Of course I am not talking about well struck shots with a swing that feels good and are just offline or moving one way or another and poor distance control. I am talking about what we all have experienced ... the swing just doesn't feel right and we know something is out of whack and we are hitting shots we normally don't hit. If we could only figure out what little piece needs to be "fixed" we could regain our form. 

... So other than making some adjustments to deal with how you are playing today, don't try and fix your swing on the course. Heading to the range after the round is ideal and all the pros do it, but most of the time we don't have the option. Of course lessons are always a good idea. And sometimes whatever that little swing flaw was, it disappears the next round and things feel pretty good without "changing" anything. The more we love the game and the more competitive we are, the more we are our own worst enemy. I go through weeks sometimes playing 5 rounds or more and it seems like a constant struggle and then hit a stretch where it just seems so easy. But perfect is not an option so whenever possible cut yourself some slack, even though on the worst days it seems impossible when swinging so poorly, and accept what poor swing you have today because your better swing will always come back. 

 

Not going to lie. I kind of needed to read this after today's round. Course was only able to let me play 9 this morning because they have a tournament going on and so I was able to play the back before the tournament caught up. Anyway, went to warm up and everything was just OK. Nothing great, but solid enough. Went to the course and it was legitimately a struggle. Almost all of my tee shots were low and left. Just not hitting anything all that well. I mean, I did manage to hit a number of trees pretty solidly, but that's about all I can say. Managed to walk away with only one par, but at least I was able to walk the course since the weather has finally gotten a little cooler. 

It was honestly just an ugly round. I've been going through some swing changes and it got me thinking about how do you manage to play in the middle of making drastic swing changes. "my swing" is definitely flawed, but when I'm practicing and playing often enough, I can time it pretty well to be mostly effective. The idea behind the swing changes is to reduce the reliance on timing everything perfectly. Reduce variables so to speak. It's a rough transition for me, and so I go through periods of just awful results. Tomorrow I may go out the range and pure everything with the swing changes. It's just not there yet. 

So how does one stick through the bad rounds and keep going when I know I could just revert back to my "wrong" swing and put up better scores? Should I just forget about playing for a solid chunk of time until I have the swing changes grooved? Out on the course I find myself kind of half committed to the changes, and half relying on timing, and that leads to some very interesting results. 

[chisag]

16 minutes ago, RichL85 said:

I've been going through some swing changes and it got me thinking about how do you manage to play in the middle of making drastic swing changes. "my swing" is definitely flawed, but when I'm practicing and playing often enough, I can time it pretty well to be mostly effective. The idea behind the swing changes is to reduce the reliance on timing everything perfectly. Reduce variables so to speak. It's a rough transition for me, and so I go through periods of just awful results. Tomorrow I may go out the range and pure everything with the swing changes. It's just not there yet. 

So how does one stick through the bad rounds and keep going when I know I could just revert back to my "wrong" swing and put up better scores? Should I just forget about playing for a solid chunk of time until I have the swing changes grooved? Out on the course I find myself kind of half committed to the changes, and half relying on timing, and that leads to some very interesting results. 

 

... We have all been there. Just remember, it took Tiger about one full year to make a permanent swing change. That's hitting balls every day and having a coach help with his transition. So for Am's a swing change can be catastrophic when actually playing golf because you will be caught between swings. Your brain wants to do what it has done in the past so it is a constant battle. Everyone has their own path so no right answers. That said, I have always felt you should put thoughts on hold and just play golf. Save the changes for the living room, yard and especially the range. If you can't dedicate serious range time, a swing change will be darn near impossible.

... But you will be caught between what you have done and what you want to do with your swing, so just accept the good and the bad results. I know, I know it is easier said than done. There is also nothing wrong with committing to the swing change on the course and just playing poorly while the changes start to take hold as long as you are OK with really bad caught in-between two swings golf. But either way committing to one or the other is paramount because going back and forth will make both approaches frustrating. 

[CarlH]

Better day today, despite strong winds.  Drove the ball fairly well and my ball striking was better than it has been lately.  Had 2 doubles (1 from an OB and one from sheer me-ism).  Burned a lot of edges with the putts, so the score had potential to be quite a bit better than the 79 I carded.

[MacTourney]

6 hours ago, Lacassem said:

Beautiful morning though so not all was lost. And had a single chip in which is good!

Nice pics, thanks.  

[Rickp]

6 hours ago, Lacassem said:

I walked off the course after 15 holes today…..I am so lost on my swing right now and only 2 weeks after one of my better ball striking rounds. So lost….

Beautiful morning though so not all was lost. And had a single chip in which is good!

 

Relax, it’ll work it’s way out.  You have a lot going on with new sticks that took forever and end of Fall coming up.  You’ll work it out.

[Lacassem]

1 hour ago, Rickp said:

Relax, it’ll work it’s way out.  You have a lot going on with new sticks that took forever and end of Fall coming up.  You’ll work it out.

Thanks Rick!

[Rickp]

1 hour ago, Lacassem said:

Thanks Rick!

[Kenny B]

6 minutes ago, Rickp said:

What are you going to do when we lose the  emoji?  

[Rickp]

Just now, Kenny B said:

What are you going to do when we lose the  emoji?  

Panic I guess!!!  I just found that emoji last year

[fozcycle]

Day 1 of our Fall Blitz two day tourney.  Weather was awesome 66*-84*. I shot a 42/43:85 FIR 9/14 64% GIR 4/18 22% with 30 putts.  I had 6 Up & Downs for 54%. Finished in 5th place heading to Day 2.  $7k in winnings plus $4k in the Calcutta. 

[Bang60]

What a mess today, 1st hole 33deg doglegleft about,  2nd 165M 3Hybrid to 6ft sunk the putt birdie. Felt good and shouting to everyone I could SEE as I played alone, Bugger....

[JerryB]

Owen and I played a scramble outing with Mark and our other friend Kevin at Marengo Ridge yesterday.  Cool temps and a steady breeze meant layering up and I've come to realize that I just can't play in those conditions, lol. 

Marengo is a tricky course; lots of trees and other hazards, plus a ton of doglegs and other blind shots.  We didn't play badly but we also just never got on track.  Approaches were routinely short for all of us and the ones that weren't short left miles of putts.  

Owen started out okay but since he'd turned 21 in August he's drinking a bit on weekend rounds.  Since he doesn't drink often it hits him quickly and hard.  He fell off on the back and also decided to leap a fence for an OB ball to predictably disastrous results.  He's got a pretty scraped up knee and a severely wounded ego!

Me, on the other hand; I have no excuses and just played poorly.  I couldn't hit a putt on line all day and couldn't put together a string of good shots in general.  Overall we went (-3) 69 to finish on the bottom third.  We're already looking forward to it next year!

[MattF]

Got out with @Mr_Theoo and @MaxEntropy at Delaware Golf Club near Columbus today.

Hit some good and some bad. 44/45 89. Found my driver on the back but just made some dumb mistakes.

[Kenny B]

Played pretty well with a sore back and 46º when we teed off.  Shot a 42 on the front nine (+5) with a double on #3.  Played the back nine at EVEN par 35 with 2 bogeys and 2 birdies... so 77.

The highlight was on the short par 4 risk/reward hole #14.  If the wind is right, I can drive the green; no wind today so I tried it anyway.  Beautiful line at the flagstick, but when I hit it I knew that the trajectory wasn't high enough to cover the bunker that runs from 80y out all the way to the front of the green.  Until this last year I never would try for the green, but my bunker play has been really good.  Ball was in the bunker 20y from the pin, just short of the grass in front of the 3 foot elevated green.  Beautiful 60º wedge shot to a foot for a tap-in birdie... thank you Monte for the bunker lessons!!!

[MaxEntropy]

3 hours ago, MattF said:

Got out with @Mr_Theoo and @MaxEntropy at Delaware Golf Club near Columbus today.

Hit some good and some bad. 44/45 89. Found my driver on the back but just made some dumb mistakes.

Fun time, fun course. About the time Matt found his driver, mine went AWOL, but I still managed to mostly avoid the big numbers (two doubles) and scrambled around in 42/44 (par 71). 

[fozcycle]

Day 2 of our Fall Blitz. Did not perform like yesterday. Shot 45/45:90 with one birdie (Par 3 #7). Finished tied for 7th out of 37 with +4 for 2 days. My points quota was 19. Had a CTP on #7.

FIR 10/14 71% GIR 3/18 17% with 34 putts with 3 lip outs under 2 feet! Ouch!

 

[GregB135]

Last round was a very average 43/43-86. Only 3 GIR but still managed 8 pars with decent putting.

[DiscipleofPenick]

Got out yesterday afternoon for another round, but it wasn't quite as good as my Tuesday round - 39/38 for 77. I birdied the first hole, but that was it for the highlights. I just kept totally blowing a shot every couple holes. There was a lot of luck down the stretch to help me save some pars. Like on #7 I pull hooked my drive into trees, but then put a 3W on the green. Next hole I put my second into a bunker on a par 5, and missed the green short escaping it, but ran in a 12 footer for the par save, just odd stuff like that. Still nothing wrong with +5 (Net +1) They have 3 nines, and the holes 5-8 on my second 9 is a really tough stretch. The yardages are 425-435-410-595 and they always play into the wind.

[cjeffs12]

So @crbishop entered a 2 man 36 hole event this weekend, and we came out victorious!!!  Saturday was a scramble, and Sunday was a Chapman. Saturday we played fairly well, my swing felt good. We stayed fairly consistent. I could not lag putt to save my life, but Connor came in clutch with the lag putting. I had maybe the best putting of my life inside of 6 feet, I have never made so many putts. We had a 2 stroke lead after the Scramble on Saturday.  I did not think I would have the nerves that I had on Sunday. My swing struggled under pressure, and the group that was 2 back was pair with us again on Sunday. They were a great group to play with, and they tied it up with 4 to play. It stayed that way until 18, we applied the pressure with a clutch par on 17 when Connor hit an impossible shot off the lip of a fairway bunker. It lead to them hitting really bad tee shots, then we stepped up and bombed drives that gave us wedges into the green.  We made par and they doubled. It was a great learning moment for me, I can see how outcome thinking leads to poor outcomes. Once we lost the lead we got back into our thoughts of hitting our targets and the swing loosened up for me at that point.  First victory for me, it was really cool to experience.  

[jayjay0808]

Got one round in this weekend. I hadn't picked up a club for a couple weeks. Started solid Bogey, Double, Bogey, Bogey and shot Even... Seems standard, just not good for the heart