My Road to Improvement - swing video 3/15/24

[Habitual Flipper]

On 12/6/2023 at 12:39 PM, bortass said:

 

I can drop an individual swing in if there is one that any of you experts would like to see.

 

 

I'd be curious to look at some of your individual swing graphs. Can you post a couple? 

[bortass]

22 hours ago, Habitual Flipper said:

 

I'd be curious to look at some of your individual swing graphs. Can you post a couple? 

Here are three of them. I'd make a good model of what not to do, lol. The one for Shot 17 is pretty ugly to a layman like myself. Let me know if there are any others you'd like to see.

[bortass]

On 12/12/2023 at 9:28 AM, Patnachts said:

Sounds like you are playing winter golf now! Bad conditions, tough to practice, etc. 

When that comes around I almost shift my focus a bit, start working on parts of the swing I'd like tightened up. Additionally, you just gotta expect the 2-3 index increase that comes with the bad conditions. Winter golf is really where you lay the foundation for a successful next season.

Very true but at least I get to play still! In Maine, I would have been done by early November until mid to late April. I knew my index was going to go up. Okay, I didn't know but the odds were extremely high, just because of the scoring pattern. I don't think I have every had seven of my top eight rounds be consecutive before. And like you said, winter golf tends to drive indexes up because scoring is harder. 

 

 

23 hours ago, skim4 said:

How's the road 4 years in? Have you seen dramatic improvements in your game? Or at least had fun along the way? The journey can be the destination. 

The road travels to infinity, lol.  I have seen dramatic improvement, shot my best round ever, 82, and managed a couple 83s. The original goal of this thread was to shoot under 84 which had been my best ever before I quit the game back in 2013/14.

 

Did I have fun along the way? Yes and no. The not having fun was linked to having a specific scoring target, the sub 84. I would get frustrated by bad rounds and holes. The self inflicted pressure of a scoring target and documenting it here because it really does suck to be three years in and write what boiled down to "hey guys I couldn't break 90 again, it's been three years but I know I can do it". Thinking about what I was going to write about a round while playing said round is not the way to do it. I created stress that I didn't need nor could handle. You'd think I would learn because the same theme was present in both threads I had here when I first tried to break 100 and then 90. 

 

The good part is I did eventually learn that the journey can be the destination. Work on my game, play, and see what happens over time. Don't measure my golfing self worth by just the number on the scorecard. I'm not perfect with my detachment from the results of course. I still get frustrated when playing at times but it's not as bad and less common. I do not torpedo a round because I had a bad hole and let it affect my mental state. It's much easier for me to just say 'oh well' after chunking a shot into the pond and move on.

 

I don't have set goals right now. I want to see if I can break 80 and get my index to 10 or less but that's something that will happen on it's own possibly. I'll focus on the process of improvement and playing golf and see where it takes me. Maybe I get there someday, maybe I don't, but at least I'll be having fun seeing where I end up.

 

 

[bortass]

Made it to the range this afternoon. I did a twenty minute session working on the flat left wrist backswing drill from NTC with my nine iron. I did four sets of 3/10.  It was a mixed bag but I was happy with the results.

 

I then spent twenty minutes with Hackmotion. I did their guided motorcycle drill twice. Each run through was three practice backswings and it gave a tone if you were in range at the top of your backswing. You then hit three shots and it let you know while swinging if you hit the top position in range. That was the entire drill which is why I did it twice. I was pleasantly surprised with the results, I did a much better job getting into or close to the correct range at the top of my backswing. I then spent the rest of time hitting balls with the Hackmotion, twenty shots with nine iron.

 

It went quite well IMO. I hit my backswing range 2/3 of the time! Impact is still way too extended. I made a comment in the pictures about swing #17. I tried to add in cast A and I FUBARed the entire swing, lol. Still a long way to go because one decent practice session doesn't mean much.

 

 

Ignore shot #17, I tried to add in cast A and made a complete mess of the swing.

 

 

 

[leftycabe]

Does anyone know the answer to this question …….? If I buy the device from a private seller and I want the pro version of the software - how do I do that? I can’t find any information about this online and I’m thinking it might not make sense to purchase privately if there are no savings. Thank you to anyone that can assist. 

Edited January 2 by leftycabe

[bortass]

11 hours ago, leftycabe said:

Does anyone know the answer to this question …….? If I buy the device from a private seller and I want the pro version of the software - how do I do that? I can’t find any information about this online and I’m thinking it might not make sense to purchase privately if there are no savings. Thank you to anyone that can assist. 

Not sure but you may have better luck in one of the dedicated Hackmotion threads. All I know is you can purchase the upgrade from Hackmotion. I assume you'd be able to do that with a private sale.

[bortass]

Happy New Year! Vacation is over and I got seven rounds in. Weather was not great for most of them. Cart path only most rounds and the course was very wet for a couple of them. Had rounds with temps in the mid forties to mid fifties. It was 36* when we teed off Saturday for example. I shot some spectacular scores in the 97-107 range.... Index is now 19.3 and still under a soft cap.

 

A couple of trends have unfolded.

• I slice the ball now for my miss. Had a real doozy with my driver where the ball started at the left rough and curved all the way over into the right rough. 
• Driver swing is very steep all of a sudden. I have broken multiple tees in a round which is unheard of for me even though I already have a steep swing. Also had a couple idiot mark pop ups.
• Short game feels like garbage. The nine iron chips via putting stroke are horrible, mishits that are either very short or very long. I am blading chips with my 56*.
• Mental state has not been good. A fair bit of frustration with the mistakes. Two great shots on a par five and block a partial wedge into the lake with the third. Too much vocalization that I suck. It's bad enough to think it after a bad shot but now I'm actually saying it.
• I don't feel like I know how to swing the club. No range time, so I am actively trying to think about my swing when playing.

 

I feel lost with no clue on how to right the ship. Everything is bad, waaaaaah.

 

A healthy mix of physical and emotional issues, lol. @betarhoalphadelta clued me into a riding program on the Peloton. Basically, you take a test that sets benchmarks and follow the program to improve said bench marks with another test at the end to see how you did. One of the instructors has repeatedly stated it's not linear, it goes up and down and do not measure self worth by a single number. Sounds like wisdom for the golf course to me!

 

I think in the near term, I just need to try to get some sort of mental balance. I still am not able to shrug off the bad shots when they seemingly happen all the time. Once in a while bad shots, I could laugh away and move on. Guess it's just showing me where I have opportunity to grow as a golfer and person.

 

I am not sure about the swing side of the house. It's difficult for me to get to the range in the afternoon and before work range sessions are out for a few months because of low temps. I'll have to figure something out and just accept that winter is not a time where I can try to make much improvement. 

 

One positive with the bad rounds is I still enjoyed my time out there. The bad play didn't suck the fun out of the round which is likely the biggest mental win I have made in the last few years. I am not happy with the results but being out there is still awesome.

 

I plan to do a year in review post later.

 

Have a good one!

 

 

[hammersia]

2 minutes ago, bortass said:

Happy New Year! Vacation is over and I got seven rounds in. Weather was not great for most of them. Cart path only most rounds and the course was very wet for a couple of them. Had rounds with temps in the mid forties to mid fifties. It was 36* when we teed off Saturday for example. I shot some spectacular scores in the 97-107 range.... Index is now 19.3 and still under a soft cap.

 

A couple of trends have unfolded.

• I slice the ball now for my miss. Had a real doozy with my driver where the ball started at the left rough and curved all the way over into the right rough. 
• Driver swing is very steep all of a sudden. I have broken multiple tees in a round which is unheard of for me even though I already have a steep swing. Also had a couple idiot mark pop ups.
• Short game feels like garbage. The nine iron chips via putting stroke are horrible, mishits that are either very short or very long. I am blading chips with my 56*.
• Mental state has not been good. A fair bit of frustration with the mistakes. Two great shots on a par five and block a partial wedge into the lake with the third. Too much vocalization that I suck. It's bad enough to think it after a bad shot but now I'm actually saying it.
• I don't feel like I know how to swing the club. No range time, so I am actively trying to think about my swing when playing.

 

I feel lost with no clue on how to right the ship. Everything is bad, waaaaaah.

 

A healthy mix of physical and emotional issues, lol. @betarhoalphadelta clued me into a riding program on the Peloton. Basically, you take a test that sets benchmarks and follow the program to improve said bench marks with another test at the end to see how you did. One of the instructors has repeatedly stated it's not linear, it goes up and down and do not measure self worth by a single number. Sounds like wisdom for the golf course to me!

 

I think in the near term, I just need to try to get some sort of mental balance. I still am not able to shrug off the bad shots when they seemingly happen all the time. Once in a while bad shots, I could laugh away and move on. Guess it's just showing me where I have opportunity to grow as a golfer and person.

 

I am not sure about the swing side of the house. It's difficult for me to get to the range in the afternoon and before work range sessions are out for a few months because of low temps. I'll have to figure something out and just accept that winter is not a time where I can try to make much improvement. 

 

One positive with the bad rounds is I still enjoyed my time out there. The bad play didn't suck the fun out of the round which is likely the biggest mental win I have made in the last few years. I am not happy with the results but being out there is still awesome.

 

I plan to do a year in review post later.

 

Have a good one!

 

 

A driver that slices the width of an entire fairway is quite rare these days, I'd suggest your swing path is going to be extreme, like 8-10 degrees out to in. 

 

My "playing" suggestion is simply to think of path, as in visualise coming from in to out 5 degrees. Definitely with driver, but you said you blocked a wedge into a lake so try that in to out path with all clubs, you'll be less inclined to open the face.

 

If you do get some practice time, maybe put the hack motion away for a bit so that it doesn't distract you from getting your path playable.

[SNIPERBBB]

1 hour ago, hammersia said:

A driver that slices the width of an entire fairway is quite rare these days, I'd suggest your swing path is going to be extreme, like 8-10 degrees out to in. 

 

My "playing" suggestion is simply to think of path, as in visualise coming from in to out 5 degrees. Definitely with driver, but you said you blocked a wedge into a lake so try that in to out path with all clubs, you'll be less inclined to open the face.

 

If you do get some practice time, maybe put the hack motion away for a bit so that it doesn't distract you from getting your path playable.

Depends on how big your fairways are lol... My home course the average fairway is barely 20 yards wide at the widest. 

[bortass]

Well here's proof that you can't look at a snapshot to judge things. I'm theoretically ending 2023 where I was at the end of 2020 and that's not the case. I'm a better golfer now than I was then recent numbers be damned. I am not sure if there's any value in these numbers. I had hoped they would eventually show a trend of improvement but so far my improvement has been for shorter periods of time and end of year golf is a crap shoot with weather etc. But I really hvae been playing poorly lately, lol.

 

Last 10 rounds compared to a 12 HCP	01/11/21	01/03/22	12/27/22	1/2/24
Overall SG	-14.3	-16.1	-13.9	-14.2
Driving SG	-3.2	-2.8	-5.1	-4.4
Distance	-1	-0.3	-0.2	-1
Accuracy	-0.4	-0.8	-1.3	-0.4
FW Hit %	60%	59%	49%	54%
Left %	14%	17%	27%	16%
Right %	26%	24%	24%	29%
Penalties	-1.9	-1.7	-3.7	-3
Approach SG	-7.8	-6.3	-5.6	-6.5
Par 3	-0.7	-1.2	-0.9	-0.4
Fairway	-6.3	-3.7	-4	-4.9
Rough	-0.9	-1.3	-0.8	-1.2
Sand	NA	NA	0.1	NA
GIR	21%	19%	23%	23%
Long	5%	6%	3%	4%
Short	58%	57%	54%	55%
Left %	6%	8%	7%	6%
Right %	10%	8%	13%	13%
GIR Average Distance to Hole (12 HCP averages 31 feet)	33 feet	24 feet	27 feet	26 Feet
All Approaches Average Distance to Hole (12 HCP averages 65 feet)	123 feet	94 feet	88 feet	96 Feet
Short Game SG	-1.3	-2.9	0.1	-0.3
Chips 0 – 25 Yards	-0.2	-0.4	1.5	0.9
Chips 25 - 50 Yards	-1.4	-1	-1.5	-1
Chips 0 – 25 Yards Average Distance from Hole (12 HCP averages 17ft )	14 feet	17 feet	10 feet	12 feet
Chips 25 - 50 Yards Average Distance from Hole (12 HCP averages 26ft )	35 feet	27 feet	30 feet	31 feet
Sand 0 – 25 Yards	0.2	-1.3	-0.1	-0.1
Sand 25 - 50 Yards	0.1	-0.1	-0	-0.1
Sand 0 – 25 Yards Average Distance from Hole (12 HCP averages 24ft )	24 feet	33 feet	24 feet	19 feet
Sand 25 - 50 Yards Average Distance from Hole (12 HCP averages 32ft )	34 feet	71 feet	32 feet	34 feet
Putting SG	-2	-4.2	-3.3	-3
First putt 0-10 feet	-2.1	-2.3
0 – 2 feet	NA	NA	0.2	-0.2
3 – 5 feet	NA	NA	-0.8	-1.3
6 – 9 feet	NA	NA	-1.5	-0.8
First putt 10 – 25 feet	-1.1	-1.3
10 – 14 feet	NA	NA	-0.4	-0.2
15 – 24 feet	NA	NA	-0.4	-0.4
First putt 25 -50 feet	-0.8	-0.5
25 – 39 feet	NA	NA	-0.3	0
40+ feet	NA	NA	-0.1	-0.1
First putt 50+ feet	0.1	-0.1	NA
One Putt %	15.0%	17.7%	17.70%	21.10%
Two Putt %	65.0%	55.0%	63.30%	62.20%
Three+ Putt %	20.0%	26.1%	17.20%	16.10%
Putts per Hole	2	2.1	2	1.9
Putts per GIR	2.3	2.2	2.4	2.2

[bortass]

Actual year in review post.

 

2023 was a great year and I played the best I ever have. I posted 88 18 hole rounds to GHIN, I think that's a new record for me. I started 2023 as a 20.2, hit a lowest ever of 14.4, and ended the year at 19.3.

 

Besides the best ever index, I shot the lowest 18 of my life, 82. I also had two rounds at 83, all of which break my previous best of 84 back in 2013. I had 18 posted rounds in the 80s. The scores in the 80s should be repeatable. I don't think they were flashes in the pan. It won't be easy but I can do it. I saw some of the best potential with what happens when my swing is on with driver and approaches atg the same time.

 

I did not get out to play many practice rounds aka solo and that does hurt me. I wanted to do that more in 2023 and did not. However I got to the range much more than normal and I think it was very productive. The pattern I worked out has been great for me and I can't wait to be able to pick it up again.

 

The Monte clinic was pure golf and it took over a month of working on things to see a real change but it happened. I plan to go again this year, just waiting to see what the dates are since I assume he will be in ATL.

 

[bortass]

On 1/2/2024 at 11:05 AM, hammersia said:

A driver that slices the width of an entire fairway is quite rare these days, I'd suggest your swing path is going to be extreme, like 8-10 degrees out to in. 

 

That was a one off extreme example with regard to the ball flight, it's not normally that bad. What seems significant to me is the fact I'm slicing the ball. I'll clarify that by slice I mean the ball starts left and curves way right. I have seen a slice defined someplace as what I call a push fade, ball starts right and curves right.

 

Back in the day, say pre 2011, every shot was a slice for me. Even when I straightened out my irons, my driver was an insta-slice. It was only usable on one par five that was a 90* dogleg right off the tee. My slice could get around the corner, lol. My normal miss with irons and driver the last few years has been that push fade. I start the ball right of target and it curves more right. The current spate of slices seems to have started when I started thinking about flattening my left wrist during the takeaway.

 

My swing pattern is OTT and I tend to not release the clubhead. This probably sounds real dumb but not allowing the wrists to release has nothing to do with holding angles to create lag yada yada. It's because I've read in the past the release occurs naturally, so you don't need to do anything. For what ever reason my brain interprets that as you don't need to make your wrists move for the release. Perhaps someday I will have practiced it enough that it's second nature but I ain't there and I really struggle if I am thinking about more than one thing when I play. Reality is I probably struggle even just thinking about one thing.

 

@SNIPERBBBcomment on fairway size, they aren't tiny like that. My guess is the ball curved a good 40-50 yards, lol.

[betarhoalphadelta]

I've always defined it by the result. A fade finishes in the fairway. If the ball ends up in the right rough (or worse), it's a slice 😉

 

Or essentially, if it's mild and controllable and the ball ends up where you intend, it's a fade/draw. If it's extreme and you can't keep the ball where you want it, it's a slice/hook. 

 

Do you have any launch monitor data on exactly how extreme your path is? 

 

What have you been doing to work on the OTT pattern? 

 

[bortass]

27 minutes ago, betarhoalphadelta said:

I've always defined it by the result. A fade finishes in the fairway. If the ball ends up in the right rough (or worse), it's a slice 😉

 

Or essentially, if it's mild and controllable and the ball ends up where you intend, it's a fade/draw. If it's extreme and you can't keep the ball where you want it, it's a slice/hook. 

 

Do you have any launch monitor data on exactly how extreme your path is? 

 

What have you been doing to work on the OTT pattern? 

 

Lol, I've had slices end up in the fairway after bouncing off a tree! The definitions I saw many years ago, fade/slice start left and curve right, draw/hook start right and curve left. The amount of the curve determines if it's in the naughty zone.... Sometimes I feel generous with myself and mention I just hit my power fade, which is now lost in someone's yard on the right side of the hole, lol.

 

No LM data. I've only been on them for fittings and it's been a while, not that I had/noticed the data at the time.

 

Nothing specific for the OTT. My last lesson was the Monte clinic at the end of April last year. Probably should bite the bullet and send him some video. Of course I'm scared he'll tell me my swing is still too short.

[hammersia]

As I say, can't see that getting into the weeds with hackmotion is helping when you have no idea what your path is, and in your own words flattening your left wrist is making your path worse. 

[eddie3392]

On 1/1/2024 at 10:20 PM, leftycabe said:

Does anyone know the answer to this question …….? If I buy the device from a private seller and I want the pro version of the software - how do I do that? I can’t find any information about this online and I’m thinking it might not make sense to purchase privately if there are no savings. Thank you to anyone that can assist. 

I did this and it is easy to do, you will open an account and it will transfer to your email. HM has great customer service as well

[betarhoalphadelta]

Got it. You may want to look into if there are any local places with Trackman bays. I think it would be helpful to have at least some semblance of your data. 

 

For the OTT, I can say it's something I've seen from your swing videos. Seems like the first move from the top is to throw the right shoulder towards the ball like you're getting ready to bear down and arm-wrestle someone. IMHO it's a move that immediately throws your swing into an OTT plane, and trying to learn to rotate the shoulders down and through instead of out and over is the key... But I don't know how to teach that lol 😉

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

BTW I would add one thing since you brought up Peloton. I would highly suggest adding in core classes. I think it's one of those areas that atrophies the most for those of us who live mostly sedentary office-based lives. I.e. I've gotta carry my 250+ heft around the world so my legs get worked out every time I have to climb the stairs, but my core rarely gets any targeted work. 

 

So much of the golf swing happens between the shoulders and pelvis, from flexion/extension at the waist, side tilt, rotation, all while having to balance your spine on an inclined plane. The stronger you are in your core, the easier it will be. It's entirely possible that some moves you're making in your golf swing are compensations for a lack of core strength that make it harder to do the movement as designed.

 

I'm trying to ramp up my core work this year; I want to do it daily if possible. Part of that is b/c I'm going to Kauai in May and I want to look good lol. Part of it is that it's just an important (and oft-overlooked) area of focus to improve my general fitness for life. But part of it is also in the hopes that it helps me swing a golf club more effectively! 

 

[bortass]

@betarhoalphadelta And risk losing my one pack? Ah heck no!!!!!! LOL

 

You are correct that I should do more core work though. It really wouldn't hurt. My fitness goal for '24 is to shrink the one pack. The rides, so far, have been to improve my cardio health. I expect they will start to help me with the one pack once I address the core issue of food intake. 

 

I need to start a habit of doing a stretching workout on a regular basis. Wife and I did Matty's evening stretches before bed most nights when we first got the app while waiting for the bike to arrive. So much I want to do and I need to learn how to make the time  to do it instead of being lazy.

 

Speaking of goals, for golf in 2024 I am thinking of the following:

• Attend Monte clinic
• Get two video lessons with Monte
• Play 9 hole practice rounds twice a month
• Improve bump and run irons around the green
• Improve chips and pitches with a wedge
• Read I Found the Golf God, The Pro, Lowest Score Wins and Break Free from Suckville.

 

Monte covers full swing. My lowest scores were when my driving and approach shots were better. Approaches are my worst area and have been a slow grind to improve but it's slowly getting better. Driving is dictated by penalties since I have reasonable distance and accuracy for my skill level.

 

Short game is my strongest area but there is a lot of room to improve and I still think it'll have a good ROI since I miss so many greens. I don't expect nor need to get to Obee levels of short game magic to make a difference. I just need to get competent.

 

I miss my 9 hole practice rounds. They went by the wayside once I started to play twice almost every weekend. They were helpful in the past, especially when I was playing irons only. It would be a good chance to mess around with some different club options as well. There's the five hybrid I never use and I have old three and five woods that's I'm curious about. I have room in my bag and could go three, five, and seven woods, instead of four and seven woods.

 

The books are to expand knowledge, pretty straight forward.

[bortass]

I managed to get out and walk nine today. Yup, I walked nine for the first time in about three years and I didn't die, lol. I played the back nine since the front was busy when I got there. There are a number of hills on the back, it goes up and down. So a lot of hit ball, walk down hill, hit ball, walk up hill etc. I was semi-winded for a number of my shots. Being a lardass doesn't help at all and even though I've been doing Peloton rides for five months or so, it's a different walking up and down hills, lol.

 

It was between 45* and 48* with some wind. I played the forward tees and brought my three wood and actually used my five hybrid. I can't post a solo round, so I hit an extra ball at times. I didn't care about the score. I had no swing thought except for trying to focus on my target. I left the mechanics at home.

 

The result was awesome. I had a great time walking again and not really caring about the result. I actually did fairly well, all things considered. I shot a 48* but I was +5 through seven and went double on #17 and +5, ten, on #18 with penalty strokes on three separate shots, lol. The * is because I did hit a second shot a few times and used two of them.

 

#17, 354 yard par four #6 HCP hole, Decent drive into the wind, 190 yards. Topped five hybrid about eighty yards. A partial sand wedge should reach center of the green. Decent contact but heavy and it only goes sixty-four yards and lands a couple yards short of the green. Chip with putter seven feet past the hole and two putts. Not the end of the world.

 

#18, 494 yard par five, #2 HCP hole. A stream and pond need to be dealt with. Slice my driver into the right trees(marked as hazard). First and only slice all round. I drop 187 yards down in the right rough. Layup with eight iron to about fifteen to twenty yards short of the stream. Into the wind and back of the green, where the flag is, is about 175 yards, so I go for it with the three wood. Top into the stream. Drop next to the stream and try again with six iron. Decent shot that lands short of the green and rolls back into the pond. Drop where it crossed the hazard line by the green, chip to fifteen feet and two putt for a ten.

 

Outside of that I played bogey golf with two pars. The three wood was interesting off the tee. Fairly straight but lower than the four wood. It also has a stiff shaft while my four wood has a regular flex shaft. My only three wood off the deck didn't work so well, lol. The five hybrid is something that will take some work. I'm not used to hybrids, so my results weren't always great though I did have one great shot with it.

 

I did hit both par threes with nice high baby fades. No sign of that weak @ss high push fade.

 

Only used driver four times, hit three solid fades and then the slice on #18.

 

Overall it was a very positive round. The biggest thing was not caring about the results. maybe walking and being semi-winded helped take my mind off things. I do miss walking because I find it creates a nice natural separation between shots. I don't race around in my cart when I'm solo but I would have finished in about forty-five to fifty minutes riding versus the hour fourty-five walking.

 

 

Avg drive: 187 yards, with two three woods and a five hybrid in the mix. It was also a bit cool out since it was sub 50*.

Longest drive: 226 yards

Fairways: 6/7

GIR: 4/9

Avg Approach: 101 yards

Up & down: 0/5

Putts: 20 

 

Strokes gained compared to a 10 HCP. 

Overall: -7.7 strokes

driving: -0.8, penalty stroke cost me one and distance cost me another 0.3. 

Approach: -4.9, 2 penalties.

Short game: +0.3, this was better than normal.

Putting: -2.2

[PNWGuy]

4 hours ago, bortass said:

@betarhoalphadelta And risk losing my one pack? Ah heck no!!!!!! LOL

 

You are correct that I should do more core work though. It really wouldn't hurt. My fitness goal for '24 is to shrink the one pack. The rides, so far, have been to improve my cardio health. I expect they will start to help me with the one pack once I address the core issue of food intake. 

 

I need to start a habit of doing a stretching workout on a regular basis. Wife and I did Matty's evening stretches before bed most nights when we first got the app while waiting for the bike to arrive. So much I want to do and I need to learn how to make the time  to do it instead of being lazy.

 

Speaking of goals, for golf in 2024 I am thinking of the following:

• Attend Monte clinic
• Get two video lessons with Monte
• Play 9 hole practice rounds twice a month
• Improve bump and run irons around the green
• Improve chips and pitches with a wedge
• Read I Found the Golf God, The Pro, Lowest Score Wins and Break Free from Suckville.

 

Monte covers full swing. My lowest scores were when my driving and approach shots were better. Approaches are my worst area and have been a slow grind to improve but it's slowly getting better. Driving is dictated by penalties since I have reasonable distance and accuracy for my skill level.

 

Short game is my strongest area but there is a lot of room to improve and I still think it'll have a good ROI since I miss so many greens. I don't expect nor need to get to Obee levels of short game magic to make a difference. I just need to get competent.

 

I miss my 9 hole practice rounds. They went by the wayside once I started to play twice almost every weekend. They were helpful in the past, especially when I was playing irons only. It would be a good chance to mess around with some different club options as well. There's the five hybrid I never use and I have old three and five woods that's I'm curious about. I have room in my bag and could go three, five, and seven woods, instead of four and seven woods.

 

The books are to expand knowledge, pretty straight forward.

As a guy who made living doing process improvements, I'd say your goals are more about process inputs than outputs. I would expect a process output to be something like "reduce my index from x to y by the end of the year." The reason I say this is that you can accomplish all your goals without moving the needle on your scoring.

 

I may be wrong by assuming that you're doing all these activities to reduce your index.

 

I hope this doesn't come across as pedantic. Thanks for all the time and effort you spend on this thread, I enjoy following this topic. I can relate to a lot of what you are going through.

 

 

[bortass]

3 minutes ago, PNWGuy said:

As a guy who made living doing process improvements, I'd say your goals are more about process inputs than outputs. I would expect a process output to be something like "reduce my index from x to y by the end of the year." The reason I say this is that you can accomplish all your goals without moving the needle on your scoring.

 

I may be wrong by assuming that you're doing all these activities to reduce your index.

 

I hope this doesn't come across as pedantic. Thanks for all the time and effort you spend on this thread, I enjoy following this topic. I can relate to a lot of what you are going through.

 

 

First, it's not pedantic and I appreciate the feedback. Second, I'm glad you like reading my ramblings.

 

When it comes to goals, I always struggle. I dislike them because I have no clue what makes a good goal and I do not sit and think in five years I want to be XYZ. It's not how I'm wired, I tend to be more go with the flow. 

 

What I do know is a specific scoring goal causes me issues. I lock onto it and base success and failure on it. The continued perceived failure eats at me and I become frustrated and golf can start to suck, lol. I'm pretty sure I have the potential to break 80 but if I make that my goal a blackhole may appear and I'll be lost in the singularity of frustration.

 

My real goal is not SMART. It is pretty simple, to become the best golfer I can, whatever that may be. To butcher James Clear from Atomic Habits, I am trying to improve my systems(process) by making small changes over time to get me to my goal. Gonna paraphrase him but reading that we do not rise to our goals but sink to our systems resonated with me. It set me free really, I dropped the drive to break 84 and just focused on making positive changes and letting the process get me there. Lo and behold, it did.

 

So I guess my golf goals for 2024 are really the additional steps I want to take to try to improve my process and get me closer to my true goal. No clue if that makes sense or not, or if they are really goals. To me it's a goal so that I try to make sure I do it, namely the practice rounds. I want to rebuild a habit I lost. The lessons are a goal because I've never done an online lesson before and I can see myself getting near the end of the year and never doing it unless I try to make it a goal. I guess it's about accountability in the end.

 

All that said, I'm always open to suggestions. It's food for thought and ya never know when something will resonate.

[PNWGuy]

No problem, you have to set goals that make sense to you.  You have done that.

 

I loved Atomic Habits, if you are a reader I also recommend One Percent Better.  It's the same idea but slightly different.

 

Hang in there and keep posting!  

 

 

[bortass]

@PNWGuy I'll have to check out One Percent Better after i get through my current backlog of reading.

 

Speaking of reading, I just finished a book that @GungHoGolf recommended in the non-swing book thread, I Found the Golf God by Dori O'Rourke. It is a very easy read, maybe a few hours, and I recommend it. It applies to pretty much anything in life. I told my wife and stepdaughter they should read it after I had finished the first couple chapters. Neither golf but my wife finished it before me and thought it was good and that the (step)daughter should read it.

 

It's an older book first published in 1991 and I see some similar themes/concepts in both Adam Young's The Practice Manual and Jon Sherman's Four Foundations of Golf.  The main theme centers around harnessing your mind to improve. Think and visualize what you want to become; Focus your energy on things that will lead you there; Harness the power of the subconscious while playing and practicing; Focus on the positives and have fun!

 

I'm not doing the book justice because it's pretty short and I don't want to give away it's contents. I'll have to make a cheat sheet of the ten secrets and stick it in my golf cart. The concepts are not that difficult but may require a shift in how one views things. @GungHoGolfhas a review of the book here: 

 

I happened to apply some of the concepts in my nine hole round yesterday. Some of it may have been because I was semi-winded on some shots from walking up hills, namely I didn't think about my swing. I focused on my target and just swung the club. I just had fun out there and I think it made a difference. The ball was not as offline as it has been and some of the shot shapes were much improved. It's not a magic pill that will fix everything overnight, and it doesn't claim to be, but I can see how leveraging the concepts could lead to improvement. Definitely would make rounds more enjoyable and help reduce some of the frustration I feel at times.

 

[bortass]

Got out both days this weekend. I'll start with weather/course conditions. Rain came in late Friday night and didn't stop until about 7 AM Saturday. The course was soaked on Saturday with large puddles in spots and a number of holes where there was no escaping casual water. Every step pretty much squished unless on a path, green, or in a bunker. Here's a picture of #3 fairway which is the lowest point on the course. There's  a stream on the far side of the fairway that everything tries to drain to but as you can see, a small pond has formed.

 

Temps were around 45*F but no wind.

 

Sunday was drier but still cart path only and very soft. Temps were about 41*F and there was a 10 MPH wind with gusts a bit higher.

 

Everyone bailed Saturday, so I played solo from the forward tees. Shot a 50/46, 96* The * is because I hit a second ball at times and used it three times I think. One birdie, two pars, nine bogeys, three doubles, two triples, and a quad.

 

A couple of things to note. I had no penalties off the tee on par four and five holes! That is a big win for me. The other is I focused on concepts from I Found the Golf God again. I picked and focused on a target and just swung the club. I stayed positive and had fun. What I found is the ball flight was improved. Still plenty of issues but the ball stayed in play more and I had more decent shots. There was  stretch where I started to mess with my grip and everything feel apart, so I went back to my normal grip and got the swing thoughts out of my head. Lo and behold, things improved.

 

Lastly, I noticed a few minor things on various shots like if I rotate when I chip, it's much better than if I'm all arms. Nothing too profound but every little bit helps. Being by myself on a messy course with no thoughts of try to shoot a number really freed me up to notice things better.

 

Sunday I played with a couple buddies from my normal whites and shot a 46/58, 104*. The * is because I took an X on 18. I am not sure why things went sideways on the back nine but they did. I started the back double, quad, double. Throw in another double, triple, and two quads and I was toast. I took the same approach as Saturday with regard to target golf with positive results. Again no penalties off the tee on par four and fives. I kept it in play and hit some decent drives considering the conditions, a few lackluster ones as well but nothing horrid.

 

I did manage some pretty decent putts but had too many dogs. Funny thing is my putting stats were still better than the recent trend even with the four three putts and one four putt, lol. The big trend is I burned a few edges on the low side and nothing dropped. 

 

Approach game killed me. I had ten penalties with approaches, nine of which happened on the back nine. 

 

Four wood: #7 a solid pull draw that landed left of the green and kicked into the edge of a hazard, leads to a double. #18 approach over stream and pond to green. Top first into stream, drop and try again and send it into the pond. Take an X.

 

7w: #11 approach over a stream to a back pin, blade it and it ends up in the stream about 120 yards in front of me. Leads to a quad with the help of the SW shot to be mentioned later.

 

6i: #16 par three, shank first tee shot into right trees. Decide to retee and top it 50 yards, leads to a quad.

 

7i: #14, approach shot is thin push fade that starts too far right and ends up in the pond short of the green. Led to a double.

 

SW: back to #11. I drop from the 7w into the stream and flub my pitch into the rocks on the opposite bank. Take a drop on the far side and get a quad.

 

No change in my index when I posted the 101 since NDB dropped three shots.

 

Overall, I am still happy with the round. I was doing decent on the front and spit the bit on the back. Driving had no penalties. I stuck with the target golf better than Saturday. Execution just fell apart.

 

I'm not sure what my schedule will look like this week. I wouldn't mind trying to walk 9 again and range time would be nice too. Not sure if any of that is doable though. Lowest Score Wins came in so I plan to start reading it today. I'll write up a review once I finish it.

 

Edited January 8 by bortass
typos

[bortass]

I finished Lowest Score Wins. @iacasis one of the authors, so there's a resident expert on it here. I enjoyed it and it's giving me a fair bit to think about, which is exactly what I look for when it comes to golf related books. The book has three main sections, Technique & Equipment, PracticePlan, and GamePlan. The sections are aptly named. The writing is easy to read and the usage of stats is good. One may be familiar with some of the concepts already because similar ideas are in other books. For example, they go into proximity to the hole is what really differentiates golfers. Lowest Score Wins was published the same year as Every Shot Counts and it uses some data from ESC to support things but it is not a rehash of ESC. Lowest Score Wins is easier to understand, at least for me. So it helped refine my high level understanding of separators in golf.

 

Technique & Equipment talks about things such as club fitting, four wedge clock system, some common myth busting, and various techniques and helpful information. One of the big things that resonated from this section for me is I really need to consider improving my skills i.e learn to make better contact with my current swing. 

 

PracticePlan is about practice. Shocking eh? It rates the importance of various skills and provides recommendations on what to work on and some drills to do so. As you may surmise full swing is king but they include their logic as to why one skill may be more important to work on than another. This gives the reader insight into the reasoning and allows one to interpret how that fits into their circumstances. For example, practicing greenside bunker shots may not have a great ROI across the majority of golfers but if your course has a lot of greenside bunkers and it always takes two to three shots to get out of one, maybe you should spend a little time learning how to get out in a single shot, even though you really need to work on your full swing more to avoid said bunkers in the first place. 

 

GamePlan is the course management section of the book. It provides a methodology to help make the best decision based on the readers abilities. Determine your realistic dispersion pattern and see how that fits in with the hole. Proximity may always be king but you need to do it safely. They talk about various course conditions and how to think about them when it comes time to decide on your shot. It boils down to how to determine the best shot for you. They also discuss outliers and certain situations that may change the equation. If you need a birdie on 18 to win, be aggressive, because a double bogey is the same as a par. 

 

I loved the GamePlan section of the book. It's gotten me thinking about my Arccos data and how can I use it to improve my scores over time. I also like the grading system for various course features and how much weight to give them. There's a buffer zone concept, which seemed obvious after I read it, but I have never thought of it before.

 

As always, this is just my opinion. I think it was well worth the time and money. It is getting me thinking, bolstering my understanding, and it's helping solidify some thoughts on what I may want to do going forward. I'm glad I read it. It's worth checking out.

[iacas]

23 hours ago, bortass said:

Lowest Score Wins was published the same year as Every Shot Counts and it uses some data from ESC to support things but it is not a rehash of ESC.

 

A month after ESC came out, yeah. We had about 11 or 12 days to get some footnotes in that referenced ESC as supporting facts/stats. 😄 

 

23 hours ago, bortass said:

I loved the GamePlan section of the book.

 

The GamePlanning and "Decision Maps" are the thing that, once you learn it in about half an hour or so, you can apply to every round for the rest of your life. It's very straightforward, even without having to turn it into a Paint-by-Numbers version (🤣), and I think a lot of golfers find that to be the best part and the part that they can apply immediately to shoot lower scores.

 

23 hours ago, bortass said:

I also like the grading system for various course features and how much weight to give them. There's a buffer zone concept, which seemed obvious after I read it, but I have never thought of it before.

 

Thanks.

 

23 hours ago, bortass said:

As always, this is just my opinion. I think it was well worth the time and money. It is getting me thinking, bolstering my understanding, and it's helping solidify some thoughts on what I may want to do going forward. I'm glad I read it. It's worth checking out.

 

I appreciate the feedback. Thank you, and I'm glad you enjoyed it. Tough to believe it's been nearly 10 years.

[kowalgolf]

Hi, earlier in your thread was about Hackmotion. I'm down south and able to use mine now and having the same problem as you are at impact which is too much extension. I've improved my BS from extension to too much flexion to maintaining some extension but I have the same problem at impact as you do. TOO MUCH EXTENSION. Were you given any thoughts/intents on this or did you not address this problem? I like the product but haven't used it in over a year.

[bortass]

On 1/13/2024 at 6:54 AM, kowalgolf said:

Hi, earlier in your thread was about Hackmotion. I'm down south and able to use mine now and having the same problem as you are at impact which is too much extension. I've improved my BS from extension to too much flexion to maintaining some extension but I have the same problem at impact as you do. TOO MUCH EXTENSION. Were you given any thoughts/intents on this or did you not address this problem? I like the product but haven't used it in over a year.

I have only been able to use it twice. First time was to set the benchmarks and the second time I worked on the backswing drills that are in the HM app. Impact position is not something I have worked on with HM.

 

No golf or range time for at least a week. Lows are going to be in the high teens until next Monday, so the greens are covered and course closed.

 

We got around three inches of rain Tuesday, so the fairway in the picture in a prior post was completely underwater since the stream flooded. Things were still very wet with large puddles Friday and more rain came in and then temps dropped below freezing overnight. The guys all cancelled but I managed to play nine solo early Saturday afternoon. Course was very sloppy and temps in the mid 40s. It was sunny and I walked, so I didn't notice the cooler temps at all.

 

I played the forward tees again and hit multiple balls at times, so the score is of no true value. A couple things of note and hopefully writing about it will help me remember them.

• I took more club based on a guiding question from @iacas with regard to my shot pattern. It worked fairly well. I have been playing my 'stock' yardages but that has not taken two factors into account. First weather, temps are lower and the ball doesn't travel as well. Second, I am much more likely to mishit the ball short of the green than hit it very solid and long. It didn't feel 'manly' to hit my five iron from 150 out but I got a GIR and par out of it. I will need to be more cognizant of reality.
• Low point makes a world of difference. My contact is mostly thin, not much of a divot if any, so I top, blade, or hit a real low shot. A couple times I managed to improve my low point and actually take a divot after the ball and it just took off with the high draw. Now if I have a wedge in my hand, I can either hit it thin or chunk it. Just improving low point control would help me out even with my current less than stellar swing.
• Watched the Rick Shiels vs Bryson D video last week and one of the things that stood out was how Bryson putts. He looked like he was a statue and just rocked his shoulders, maybe it was because of how he putts or his size but it really stood out. That image helped me remember what Monte said at the clinic about putting and I tried to use just moving my shoulders as my putting 'feel'. The result for nine holes was very promising, my putting SG was much improved (putting was the area I did not take second shots, so I feel like it is fairly legit to look at). 

 

[iacas]

1 hour ago, bortass said:

• It didn't feel 'manly' to hit my five iron from 150 out but I got a GIR and par out of it. I will need to be more cognizant of reality.

 

👍🏼