Be Better, Brad! (Update 4-11-2024 with new swing videos)

[betarhoalphadelta]

So I'm going to shamelessly steal from @bortass and create a thread to document my journey to--hopefully--sucking less at golf. 

 

I previously had a thread in the swing videos forum as I was trying to figure out some changes, but realized I should be getting help from an instructor rather than the internet, and that won't be the place to journal my progress. 

 

So here's my story. I started swinging golf clubs at a young age. Sometime around the age of 10 or so I started playing, and really liked it. By 13 I was a caddie at a course in the western suburbs of Chicago, and the next two summers I was starter at a little 9 hole exec course, so during those years I got to play quite a bit. My parents had gotten me swing lessons so the basic fundamentals are there, and I even tried out for my HS golf team freshman year, but I was not nearly as serious as others so didn't make it. I continued playing through college

 

After graduation, I got fit for clubs as a gift from my parents shortly after graduation, and then life got in the way and I didn't play much from there on. Which is sad as I'd moved to California (with a 2 year stint in GA) and could play year-round golf. It's not to say I quit--I just didn't have much time and didn't make golf a priority. I did have a run of lessons in there, with a pro who wanted me to swing like Moe Norman, and I still haven't forgiven him! But then after 2015, I just... Didn't play. Part of it was getting divorced and meeting a new lady [now my wife] and wanting to spend time with her on the weekends I didn't have my kids, part of it was having nobody to really play with anyway, and part of it was just malaise about a game that was just a hobby. So I didn't play another round until last summer.

 

Then, like many people, I decided to play a round after COVID showed up because there wasn't much else to do. From that first round I was hooked right back into the sport. And I realized that if I'm going to play this game, I should probably actually put in some effort to improve. 

 

At 42, I think I have the physical ability to do it. I'm a very large man with athleticism and basically decent mechanics, so distance and swing speed hasn't been an issue. I can hit the ball long and straight. I can pitch and chip and putt. But... I'm about as inconsistent as you can be. I have no problem carding two pars in a row and a quadruple bogey the next hole. 

 

So this is my adventure to "suck less". I'm not sure I'll ever be good at golf, but I'd like to reduce how often I'm very, very bad. 

 

Edited April 11 by betarhoalphadelta
Title change

[betarhoalphadelta]

So we'll start with my swing... NOTE: I am not looking for swing advice here. Just posting to document the journey. Monte is local to me and I've already seen him once, and as needed I'll go back to him for help. 

 

Here is me in January:

 

 

 

Yeah... So that's a pretty bad stall/flip lol... Along with some early extension. 

 

I spent two months trying to fix it myself, as COVID case rates here were so bad that I didn't want to do an in-person lesson. Quite literally I was beating my head against the wall trying to figure out how to get open at impact, how to develop that shaft lean that everyone loves, and fundamentally--how to get a more consistent strike pattern.

 

Well, one lesson with Monte helped. Both at determining what flaws exist and how those flaws cause the worst of my shot inconsistencies. I had the "light bulb" moment of figuring out why my sequencing made it impossible for me to get open and how rotation is actually supposed to work, as opposed to how I thought it was supposed to work. 

 

Been to the range 3 times since the lesson, and here I am now:

 

 

 

Still a lot to work on, but I'm making progress. 

 

(Note: I was not wearing cargo shorts to impress Monte--I'm just a nerdy dad and that's how I roll.)

[DLiver]

FWIW, your swing from today looks a lot like my motion, and my index is <3.

[CasualLie]

That looks pretty good.  No swing advice here...just game advice.  Work 75% on 30 yards in, including putting.  As strong as you are hitting the ball and that form, getting up/down and sinking putts will get you to low single digits in no time!  Good luck!

[golfarb1]

Three simple changes to facilitate more rotation .

1. Square  off your trail  foot so that it is perpendicular to the target line and flare out  your front foot 1/4 turn towards the target 

2.Open your stance a little by pulling back your lead foot about an inch away from the target line

3. Your stance is too wide .Wider stances facilitate lateral movement , while narrower stances encourage more rotation. Narrow your stance  a little.

 

Although most good players have some lateral motion during transition , any lateral motion beyond that can be considered the enemy of rotation . For future reference you need to minimize your lateral head motion  going back and minimize your lateral movement going down

[bortass]

Well just don't steal my inconsistent progress from not working on things regularly enough! Being good is relative which is something to keep in mind. 

 

Our games have some similar aspects which makes sense since our indexes look to be about the same. Love the wild swings on the course, par, bogey, par, quad... lol. 

 

Having the ability to take live lessons from Monte is a big advantage. I'm still hoping that someday I'll be able to go one of his ATL clinics.

 

Do you already know of any patterns or holes/type of holes that cause issues? There are so many areas that we can work on with this game to get good. It's just not swing. @CasualLie

 

mentioned short game.  There's also course management, the mental game, how weather/conditions effects things, etc. A couple advantages of documenting your progress is being able to see the improvement you've already made and being able to review things at a later date and possibly pick up on something you had mentioned but forgot about.

 

Looking forward to following along with your progress!

[betarhoalphadelta]

Next--as to why I suck... Much like @bortass, it's hard to really understand a score without everything that went into it. I always like reading about his rounds in a "play by play" format, so I'll give that a shot.

 

The course is Oso Creek in Mission Viejo, CA. It's 3670 yards, par 60. Course rating is 57.4, slope of 95. So this is a short and easy course.

 

Hole 1, 285 yard par 4: My driver and I aren't on speaking terms right now, and certainly not on the first tee of a course that doesn't have a driving range for warm-up. I take 5i off the tee. Nice poke out into the middle of the fairway, ~200-210 yards. Leave myself about 100 to a back pin. I can hit a choked-down half PW or a full swing SW, and choose the PW. Hit it nicely, and straight, and it drops onto the green somewhere around 20-25 feet short of the pin. Hey, it's a GIR! This is a good start to the round! Well, not so much. Lag putt leaves me about 6 feet to go, which I miss, and so I three-putt for bogey. +1

 

Hole 2, 171 yard par 3: Pin is again back, so my watch tells me it's playing about 180. I made two good strikes on the first hole, so I pull my 6i. I get GREAT contact, with a nice high ball flight--started left and curving farther left... I end up pin-high 30 yards left of the green. With a big tree trunk blocking my angle to the pin, and more importantly, blocking my angle to land the ball ABOVE the hole since this green slopes pretty strongly back to front. I pitch with the SW, hit it a bit long, and it hits the green but rolls all the way out to the fringe on the opposite side. Left with a really tricky right-to left putt from the fringe, probably 35 feet. I get it in the ballpark, but again leave myself 6-8 feet, and miss. I clean up for double bogey. This goes on the card as a 2-putt, but I always personally consider it a 3-putt. +3

 

Hole 3, 146 yard par 3: Pin in the middle, tees up a bit, playing about 140. I pull PW and again make actually pretty decent contact. I see it tracking a little left of the pin, but it hits I think the fringe behind a bunker and kicks right. I see it track to roughly in line with the pin, but don't really know how close I am due to the green being slightly above the tee box. I walk up and realize I'm about 2" left of the pin and about 12" long! Tap-in for birdie! +2

 

Hole 4, 266 yard par 4: This hole has trees all down the right side, and the fairway slopes pretty strongly right-to-left. The trees can catch errant balls to the right, dropping them on the slope where they often roll right to the middle. I'm feeling good about my ballstriking so I pull out the 4w. I hit it a little low on the face (common miss for me) and right. The first tree catches it, it drops down, and doesn't go as left as I'd like to stop 6" to the left of the cart path. I'm left with 205 to the green, and I'm still sorta in the trees. I'd be golden if my stock shot was a fade, but it's straight-to-draw[-to-hook] normally. But I pull 5i thinking I might as well go at it. I catch it cleanly but not with a lot of power, and it's dead straight at the green. It clips one or two leaves, and stops about 5 yards shy of the green. I don't think the tree really caused it--I just left it short. I hit a just okay chip with the sand wedge, and two-putt for bogey. +3

 

Hole 5, 168 yard par 3: This is an uphill hole, plays long. IIRC, tees and pin were both back, so I grabbed 5i. Which I proceed to completely s#&@k about 30 yards, but luckily the design of the hole rolled it back left. Left with a PW, which I catch nicely but it's leaking right, landing about 5 yards short of the pin and off the green to the right. Again, a "just okay" chip with the sand wedge leaves me a 2-putt for double-bogey. +5

 

Hole 6, 296 yard par 4: Creek across the hole that shouldn't be in play, which continues up the left side and becomes a greenside pond. I think back to my beautiful 4w shot the previous weekend on this hole and pull the 4w, which I BADLY top. I think I see it hop the creek that shouldn't be in play, but when I get down there I can't find it. So I drop and I'm hitting 3 from about 200 out. Think I pulled 5i, and it was a worm-burner low and left that goes only about 110 yards... I'm left about 90 out to a front pin, over a palm tree, so I pull SW knowing it'll fly high enough to clear--because I've hit over/around/near that tree many times lol. I make great contact but pull it left, and it lands and stops on the back fringe. Which isn't helpful because this is another strong back-to-front sloping green. I putt, terrified that I'm going to run it 20 feet past the hole, and proceed to leave it 12 feet short. 2 more putts for a triple bogey. Again this goes on the card as a 2-putt, but it's really 3 in my mind. +8

 

Hole 7, 148 yard par 3: I think this was playing somewhere in the 150-155 range, so I pulled 9i. Good strike, but it starts towards the left edge of the green and is curving slightly left from there. It hits a berm greenside and kicks back and left. I pitch with the SW, and make really great contact--which means I overshoot my landing area and the ball rolls out to the fringe on the other side. And... 3 putt (again counts as 2 putts but it's really 3) from there for a double. +10

 

Hole 8, 174 yard par 3: The pin is again back, so this is playing closer to 180. I pull 6i and hit it a bit low on the face, heading left. Luckily I get a good bounce and it stops about 3 feet short of the left greenside bunker in light rough, about 1/3 of the way up the green. I have a back pin location and plenty of room, so I pitch with the SW and leave it about 3' short and right. Finally, I made a dang putt, and walk with a par! +10

 

Hole 9, 317 yard par 4: I hate this hole. I really, really do. There's a creek running along the left side and then crossing the fairway right at the 220-230 mark, particularly when the tees are back like they are today. If I hit driver, and strike it well, I can easily carry that. But as I mentioned, I'm not on speaking terms with that club right now. So I've gotta lay up... But here's the diabolical part. I'd love to lay up with a 5-6i knowing that I won't reach the water, but... I will. The creek is in a pretty steep ravine, and anything I hit anywhere near it will roll and roll, and roll, into the water. It also feeds heavily downhill to the left. I've hit 9i here that hit left center of the fairway and rolled all the way down to the creek on the left. So I'm hitting PW off the tee of a 317 yard par 4... Oh well, at least the pressure is off--I hit it beautifully, it rolls forward, downhill, and to the left within yards of the creek as usual, and I'm left with about a 160 yard uphill shot to the green. Being uphill I take the 6i and make great contact, with a straight ballflight just left of the green, but long. Ball comes to rest behind the green on a cart path. I take relief, and chip with the SW to about 12 feet short, above the hole. And then I smack the par putt about 8-10 feed past (grr!). Luckily, I make the putt coming back to save bogey lol... +11

 

Hole 10, 242 yard par 4: Another hole that almost always screws me. It's so short and easy, and playing 225 today, that I figure I can reach with a 3i. Trying to reach this green NEVER ends well for me... I end up catching great contact with the 3i, but heading WAY WAY right of the hole up into some nasty stuff. There's a huge hillside along the right side. But with the carry I had--I'm thinking my ball might have carried the worst of it and be found somewhere near the 11th tee. So I climb the hill, I'm looking around were it might have been, and don't see it. I look back towards the tee, and see a ball in a drainage channel about 10 yards back. Could it be mine? Nope... Bridgestone, not Kirkland, But going back to retrieve that one I see another one 10 yards farther back. Check it, and it's mine! Nice. Because it's in the concrete drainage channel I get free relieve (right?) so I get it out, but I'm still in a terrible spot 30-40 feet above the green with 90-100 yards to the pin over a tree. I run down the hill, grab my trusty SW, climb it again, and take a swing. Actually make halfway-decent contact, clear over the tree, and the ball stops about 3 yards short of the green. Hey, I'll take it! I chip from there to about 6 feet short under the hole, and make the putt for another par! +11

 

Hole 11, 172-yard par 4: It's slightly uphill, and it's a blind green but I can see it's a blue flag so it's in the back. I estimate 180, so 6i. My contact is so-so, with what seems to be too low of a ballflight for a 6i, but I'm on a great, straight, line, right at the flagstick. I see it bounce once on what I think is the front of the green, and lose it from there. I figure with that low ballflight there's no way it stopped on that green and that I'm over. So I'm VERY surprised when I get up there and I'm perfectly pin-high, 3 feet right of the cup. I might be able to do something I don't think I've ever done in my golfing career, and make two birdies in a single round! So, of course, I pull my putt 3" left of the cup and a foot past, and I "only" get par... That's what I get for greedy thinking I guess... +11

 

Hole 12, 118 yard par 3: This is a downhill hole, tees are up a little bit, and the pin is in the front, for I'm guessing about 100 yards [downhill]. I pull out the SW for a full swing. I catch it great, but I'm left, and I'm just HOPING it clears the greenside left bunker... Which it does and it stops on the very back left of the green, a LONG way away from a front-right pin location. I've probably got 50 feet. I line up the first putt, ready for a nice confident strike... And I hit the ground in front of the ball and I stop 15 feet short of the hole. Hit the next put a bit long and left, so now I've got a breaking 4-footer for bogey and I'm just praying that I don't 4-putt a GIR for double... Well, thankfully I didn't... Made the putt for bogey. +12

 

Hole 13, 288 yard par 4: I've been striking it well, so I pull 4i thinking I can get a little closer than some of my other par 4s. Decent but not perfect strike, starts dead straight but with a little baby draw. Hits the front of a berm along the left rough which checks it up so there's no real roll-out. I'm left with maybe 100 to a back pin. Pull out the PW for a choke-down 3/4 swing, ball below my feet. Chunk it and it goes maybe 25-30 yards. Now I'm left with a choke-down SW and the ball above my feet. Naturally, I chunk it again and it goes another 25-30 yards. Finally pitch it up onto the green halfway competently, but now I'm laying 4 after a nice tee shot. Unremarkable 2-putt for double... +14

 

Hole 14, 163 yard par 3: Another uphill par 3 to a blind green. I think this one was at least a center pin. Can't remember tee location or whether I hit 6i or 7i, but I think 7i. I make great contact but push it a bit, and it lands about pin-high in the right greenside bunker. Great... Sand. I hate sand. I've had trouble at this course because the sand consistency is terrible, so I figure I'll change my strategy and use my 60/14 wedge instead of my set SW. I've got a bit of a downhill lie in the bunker. I line up and... Blade the crap out of it. Luckily though, I didn't hit it 30 yards over the green... Because I hit the lip of the bunker and I'm still in it. At least now I have a nicer uphill lie. I take another swing and it actually looks halfway decent, and I'm out of the sand with about 13-15 feet to putt. I two-putt that, for another double. Ugh... +16

 

Hole 15, 162 yard par 3: Tees are up and it's a front pin, so it's only playing maybe 145. So what do I do? S$%@k it to the right, into the trees. It drops and then rolls back just right of the cart path. Now I've got a problem. There's a net to the right of the tee box to avoid hitting OB into houses. I can't go over the net. However, the net starts about 8' above the ground to allow carts to drive through underneath it, and that gives me a window straight at the green. Now... I don't think I am going to be a hero and put the ball anywhere close, but I pull out my 5i and figure a tiny half-punch under the net would be perfect here. And it would... if I didn't catch it cleanly and hit the net 8" above the bottom... Ball comes back, but now it's kicked far enough left that I actually do have a clear look at the pin, maybe 100 yards. So a little choke-down PW should be easy, right? Nope... S$&#k that one underneath the net [thankfully] into the bushes and can't find it. I take a drop, and I'm now hitting 5 on a par 3 and I'm still not near the green. Dribble my next shot about 10 yards closer to the green, finally get on with an unremarkable chip, and two put for... Quintuple bogey. Wheels coming off. +21

 

Hole 16, 136 yard par 3: Tee and pin are back, so it should be playing about 155. Take a 9 iron, and make good contact, but it's starting left and turning WAY left. End up 10 yards short of pin-high, over the creek to the left, with a fluffy downhill lie near the 17th tee box. Got a long pitch over creek and bunker to get to this green. But with the fluffy lie I like my odds with my 60 degree. But that downhill lie screws me up and I blade it into the bank of the far side of the creek, and THANKFULLY get a lucky bounce that it kicks another 2 yards forward and it's not in the water. Another fluffy lie awaits me, and here I actually do think I can play the 60. I do, and I catch it nicely, which of course means I'm long, and I'm yelling at the ball to stop... I can't see it from my angle, but my partners say it actually stopped for me. I don't know what I did, but I actually played a "hop & stop" pitch shot. Granted, I'm still 20 feet long of the hole, but I'm on the green. Manage to save double with a 2-putt. +23

 

Hole 17, 193 yard par 3: Again with the back pin on a long par 3, but the tees were up, so I estimate about a 180 for this hole despite the back left pin. I hit 6i and hit it pretty well. It's tracking slightly left of the pin, hits the green and stops a little past the hole off the green. I'm left with a decision. I've got about a foot of barely "rough" to traverse and then about 5 feet of "fairway" type grass on the fringe and then maybe 15 feet of downhill green to get to the hole. I worry about all the ways I can screw this up chipping, so I grab the putter thinking that's my best option. I end up leaving myself about 6 feet short, so not well executed at all. And I 2-putt from there. So another bogey. +24

 

Hole 18, 225 yard par 3: I still don't know how they get away with calling this a par 3 on an executive course, but so be it. Tee is a little up and the pin is up, so I figure it's playing about 210 today. I grab the 4i. Hit a terrible topped wormburner left, which I'm worried is going to be in the creek, but I bounce over the creek and I'm safe. Left with about 80 yards. Hit a decent SW to the left side of the green a little past the hole. This is another back-to-front sloped green, so I've got a tricky breaking downhill left-to right putt for par. Miss that, leaving myself IIRC 6-7 feet for bogey. Miss that also, and end up with double. +26.

 

So... 42 out (+11) and 44 in (+15). Putting REALLY let me down, and I gave up some strokes in general in short game more than usual. The lesson and range work IMHO actually helped me overall already with ballstriking on full swings. It's still a long way to go but it wasn't destroying my game this time as it has in the past. 

 

But +26 on this easy course is not a good day. The way I played would have been +35 on a regulation course. 

 

Anyway, hope everyone enjoys the novel. 😉

[BogeyParBogey]

Sounds great, just don't get so caught up in the destination that you miss the journey 🙂

 

Dave

[betarhoalphadelta]

1 hour ago, DLiver said:

FWIW, your swing from today looks a lot like my motion, and my index is <3.

 

Yeah, I've seen a lot of players with far uglier swings than mine. Then they beat me by 20 strokes 😉

 

1 hour ago, CasualLie said:

That looks pretty good.  No swing advice here...just game advice.  Work 75% on 30 yards in, including putting.  As strong as you are hitting the ball and that form, getting up/down and sinking putts will get you to low single digits in no time!  Good luck!

 

Absolutely. Right now my practicing is the opposite, because I'm just trying to get this swing change ingrained and a little more consistent. But I need to get to the point where short game is the bulk.

 

I realized one thing I need to do is to teach myself to roll putts true, i.e. practice with a line around the ball and putt until I know that line won't wobble. That's one that I can do at home, too. 

 

19 minutes ago, bortass said:

Well just don't steal my inconsistent progress from not working on things regularly enough! Being good is relative which is something to keep in mind. 

 

Our games have some similar aspects which makes sense since our indexes look to be about the same. Love the wild swings on the course, par, bogey, par, quad... lol. 

 

Having the ability to take live lessons from Monte is a big advantage. I'm still hoping that someday I'll be able to go one of his ATL clinics.

 

Do you already know of any patterns or holes/type of holes that cause issues? There are so many areas that we can work on with this game to get good. It's just not swing. @CasualLie

 

mentioned short game.  There's also course management, the mental game, how weather/conditions effects things, etc. A couple advantages of documenting your progress is being able to see the improvement you've already made and being able to review things at a later date and possibly pick up on something you had mentioned but forgot about.

 

Looking forward to following along with your progress!

 

Thanks! I enjoy your thread, hence why I stole the idea 😉

 

Short game is a huge one, and I need to spend a lot more time there. The hard part about it is that my best round at that course was a +15 where I was +2 on the front 9--and it was because my short game was keeping me afloat. I wasn't hitting a lot of greens but I was getting up and down. Then I have days like Saturday where just my putter turned 3 pars into bogeys and one birdie into a par... 

 

Weather? I live in Southern California--I'm not familiar with that term lol...

 

I don't think I get too bad on the mental game, since I suck, and I know I suck, so I'm not mentally angry about the fact that I suck. As I improve one of my worries is that I'll develop expectations, and then I'll need to manage those expectations. But I don't think it'll be that hard for me. Getting out to play golf is a nice thing regardless of my score, and I try to keep that in mind. I tend to be pretty zen about things. I'm not trying to be a tournament golfer, so it's not like I've got tons of pressure. And my group's "money game" is $1 skins, so a day I lose all 18 holes isn't exactly going to bother me either lol. 

 

One thing I've tried to be smart with is course management. One of the advantages of distance--especially when the only tee times I can find are on short courses--is that I can take iron off the tee. Sure, I could score a lot better if I got closer the hole off the tee--or not considering my short game woes lol. But I [mostly] keep myself out of trouble with an iron off the tee. And 190-210 yards with a 5i is a lot better than topping my driver for 50 yards. 

 

But oh, I long for the days when I can step onto the tee box with the big stick and swing away!

[betarhoalphadelta]

3 minutes ago, BogeyParBogey said:

Sounds great, just don't get so caught up in the destination that you miss the journey 🙂

 

Dave

Not worried lol... Given that it's going to be a LONG, long journey, I doubt I could 😉

 

[Krt22]

You won't be a 23 for long with that swing and working with Monte. Good luck! 

[95124hacker]

Helpful books. Read these, you’ll learn a lot. 

 

 

[bortass]

16 minutes ago, 95124hacker said:

Helpful books. Read these, you’ll learn a lot. 

 

 

And if you like these I can think of a few other ones that are pretty good.

[Myherobobhope]

I love a good golf journey!

 

one thing I’d recommend is to figure out speed control with your putter... this is something I’m working on and something most of us can always improve upon...

 

Easy to say, but let’s talk about doing it!

 

For me, tempo is what helps me control

speed... I’ve spent hours now practicing taking the putter back a controlled distance and through that same amount... two tees with the ball in the middle is a great way to practice... then hit multiple balls and make sure they all cluster together.

 

I like to hit multiple balls the same distance, and see what my dispersion looks like... I just focus on tempo and roll the putts.

 

from there you can get into ladder drills... take four ball marks, place them in a line with a foot between them. You now have a three foot target. Mark 5, 10, 15 feet from the first ball mark. Hit balls from 5-10 feet into a 1 foot target, then from 10-15 into the 2 foot range, then 15+ into the three foot range. 
 

good speed will help eliminate three putts. That’s going to be a huge help in lowering your score.

 

as you progress at golf, remember that getting better is more about avoiding big numbers than it is making birdies. 

[betarhoalphadelta]

Thanks @Myherobobhope. I'm getting my son into the game and maybe I can have putting competitions with him too...

Edited March 30, 2021 by betarhoalphadelta
Update

[bortass]

Regarding your round, here is what I noticed with my first pass through what you wrote:

• You miss left quite a bit, where are you aiming? It also sounds like you have a two way miss. Sometimes you miss left and other times you miss right. That makes it a real challenge if you don't have an idea of where the ball will likely go. As much as I dislike hitting my push/push fade, I at least know the odds are the ball is gonna go right on me....
• If you have time, pace off your first putt distance. It will start to help you with speed control. It also will give you a better idea about how good your shots, whether a full 6i or a chip with the putter, that hit the green are.
• Personal opinion, don't count the putter off the green as a putt. You don't want that clouding your putting stats. I'm pretty sure Obee mentioned he stopped doing that as part of his putting improvement thread. If it's on the green, it's a putt. When I chip with my putter, in my mind it's like a putt, so I have higher expectations of getting it close to the hole versus a chip from the same spot with any other club, but it's still a chip at the end of the day. Also if you ever try to do strokes gained stuff with your putting, the chip with putter doesn't count.
• Are you playing a skins game every time you play? The reason I ask is because if not, perhaps you should play some rounds more conservatively. Bogey golf is +18, 8 strokes better than what you just posted. GIR+1 with a two putt is bogey golf. Sure that doesn't make sense on a lot of the holes because of length but #10 is a place the concept applies. Sure you could drive the green but what are the realistic odd of doing that? Perhaps PW/PW to get on the green in 2, still a GIR, and the shorter the shot, the closer to the hole you should be. Just something to think about.
• Are you tracking your stats anywhere? It can help to see what the patterns are once you have some data. #10 at my course is a 342 yard par 4. So it's not very long and is the #10 HCP hole, so also not super difficult, in theory. I noticed I suck at that hole, I average 6.4... So I obviously need to change how I play it. I only average over double bogey on two other holes which are par 5s that happen to be the #2 and 5 HCP holes on the course. That's a scoring example but it applies to other aspects of your game.  It can help find where the problems are.

Hope you don't mind all my rambling. It's just my thoughts and opinions, so take it with a grain of salt and disregard whatever you feel like. I'm looking forward to reading you next round to see how it unfolds!

 

Good luck!

[betarhoalphadelta]

Thanks @bortass

 

• A two way miss? That's for amateurs... I have a 4-way miss! Thin/fat/left/right, it could go anywhere on any given swing! All joking aside, the lesson from Monte is helping somewhat with the thin/fat, and more range time should continue that improvement as I get more consistent low point control. As for left/right, my stock shot is straight to slight draw. When I miss right, it's purely a push, basically never a fade/slice. I just don't get the clubface as closed as I'd like. Typically I'm aiming straight as I don't always know where it's going, but in general I should probably be aiming slightly right and playing in case of the draw/hook. Just don't want to doublecross myself and aim right and then push right lol.
• That's actually a really good idea. I try to not exactly pace off but to approach the green on long chips/pitches to make sure I look at the landing area and plan my strike, but I've never really paced off distance on putts. That would probably help me a lot with speed control just so I know consistently how far away I am rather than eyeballing it. I appreciate that!
• I don't count putts from off the green when I input scores each hole on The Grint. I used to count them as putts, but I think it'll help me really track GIR and putting statistics much more effectively if I track them properly and don't count them as putts. 
• We do play skins but we all suck. I [narrowly] have the lowest index of the normal group. And they're $1 skins, so it's more for fun than for making any money. We're all just trying to get the ball in the hole! I'm not letting that make me play more aggressively. On #10 when it's playing to its 235-240 distance I usually just hit 5-7i off the tee and figure I'll pitch the rest of the way. But when it's playing short I view it as a par 3 with an extra stroke available. There's not a lot of trouble in play unless you hit it WAY right, and if I make a good strike with the 3i, I should be beyond that trouble to the right unless I'm WAY right, as it opens up nearer the green. 
• Right now I'm using The Grint, but one thing I don't typically do is track shot distance. I'm thinking of getting Arccos w/ the Link to go on my belt because if I have to manually track distances, it's a PITA. I know you use it and have seemed really happy with it. Just haven't pulled the trigger on that yet as my shot patterns are so inconsistent that I'm worried it'll just tell me my pattern/tendency is a shotgun spray. I should probably be paying more attention to the stats available on The Grint though...

 

[bortass]

2 minutes ago, betarhoalphadelta said:

Thanks @bortass

 

• [snip]I'm thinking of getting Arccos w/ the Link to go on my belt because if I have to manually track distances, it's a PITA. I know you use it and have seemed really happy with it. Just haven't pulled the trigger on that yet as my shot patterns are so inconsistent that I'm worried it'll just tell me my pattern/tendency is a shotgun spray. I should probably be paying more attention to the stats available on The Grint though...

 

I really like Arccos but use my phone. I don't have the Link, so don't know about it. It makes it easy and I let Arrcos do all the number crunching etc. What I have to do each hole is mark the flag on the green. I have a routine I follow for that since i don't use the 'mark at my location' feature for the hole. I used to but it meant standing by the hole waiting for the GPS in my phone to settle down. So I started to mark them manually but I think the Link has a button you can just push when you're standing at the hole. Either way it's pretty easy to move things around on the app if needed.

 

Sometimes I have to add in a shot manually as well but that's rare. Most times I'm deleting putts or a wedge. The wedge is from putting it on the ground after a chip. Sometimes it registers it as a shot. The putts will sometimes miss a tap in or it'll add an additional putt, probably from bumping the putter or something.  Both are simple to fix via the app.

 

As for the stats, I can grab some random screen shots if you haven't seen what they provide.

 

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

I like The Grint and it provides me both with a GHIN-compliant handicap and it's nice for tracking scores with my buddies for the skins game... When I play with them it makes it easy for me to request attest now that they've joined The Grint. So I think I'd prefer the Link because that works without the phone (so I don't have to have the Arccos app up and awake), and the phone can be devoted to The Grint. 

 

Complex, I know lol 😂

[aenemated]

17 hours ago, 95124hacker said:

Helpful books. Read these, you’ll learn a lot. 

 

 

 

All of these are on my end table! 

 

I would add "Tom Watson's Strategic Golf" and also ... "Golf in the Kingdom." 

 

Everyone who plays golf should read "Golf in the Kingdom." A high school golf teammate gave it to me for my birthday my sophomore year and it had a huge affect on how I think of and approach the game. 

Edited March 30, 2021 by aenemated

[aenemated]

Also, "Lowest Score Wins" is a key one to have, too. 

[Barfolomew]

Oh I hate slow mo video..... maybe coaches like it but can never see the rhythm of a swing

 

Hey "Don't Suck!"

[betarhoalphadelta]

I just bought Percy Boomer's "On Learning Golf" so I need to work through that one. Sounds like I need to expand my reading list.

 

For those who have done it, are any of these Kindle-appropriate or do you really need the printed versions to get the full effect? I.e. I read almost everything on Kindle, but things like cookbooks you simply cannot do it without the printed version because it's a reference book, not a "read it once and you're done", and in many cases it will have diagrams that might not translate easily electronically...

 

1 hour ago, Barfolomew said:

Oh I hate slow mo video..... maybe coaches like it but can never see the rhythm of a swing

 

Hey "Don't Suck!"

 

I'm not even sure what coaches like, but I figure if my phone shoots 240 fps I'll be able to see a lot more than if it shoots 30 fps lol...

[freeze16172002]

looks like you move your hands away from your body to start the swing. But I would ask a married woman, they tend to suck less after getting married

[betarhoalphadelta]

Hit the range Monday and Tuesday already this week... 

 

Finding that the change to get more open is using muscles in my left ankle and left hip that must not have seen a lot of recent work in my life. 

 

I'm not in bad shape, but I'm thinking I should try taking at least a day off between range days while I get more used to this much swinging... That would be a good excuse to spend some time on the putting green anyway.

 

Any recommendations on good home putting mats? 

[betarhoalphadelta]

Hit the range again today. Mostly drilling 7i and PW with a half to 3/4 swing to get my hips to work through rotation properly, but I like to mix things up and pitch with SW and LW to short-range targets too, trying a variety of shots (ball forward in the stance, trying to get higher loft, ball backward in the stance, trying to get more spin, etc).

 

I took some alignment sticks with me today to try to make sure my setup is consistent, and to put a stick on either side of the ball to instantly correct me if I make a toe strike, which is a really common miss for me. Overall I was doing well there--I gave myself about an inch on either side of the clubhead and *mostly* avoided the inside stick lol... 

 

I then figured I'd hit some pitch shots and use Padraig Harrington's drill where you put an alignment stick 4-6" behind the ball to ensure that you're coming in on the right angle... Well, I'm now down from 3 to 2 alignment sticks!  😂

 

Planning to take my son to the range on Sunday, and possibly work the short game area with him too... But I get my first vaccine shot tomorrow, which means I might not be able to lift my arm on Sunday morning. I might just end up watching him lol...

[bortass]

I'm with you and the toe strike miss. They are so much fun but better than a nice shank off the hosel.... 😉

 

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

Not too much to report... Hit the range with my son on Sunday, and continued to work on my drills and intersperse some long pitches in there for fun. I don't put too much stock in what I'm doing when I'm there with him, because he's so new to the game and has a lot of questions/etc. 

 

One thing I've really been noticing is that when I try to integrate my drills into my "full" swing, my "full" swing is more than full. I'm getting shoulders well past 90 degrees, and although I've mostly stopped the over-rotation with my arms and taking the club past parallel on the backswing, my swing is way too long. I've seen when I am still doing what feels like a "drill" swing but slightly longer than the shorter drill swing, my consistency is better and my distance is equal to what I call a "full" swing--at least as much as I can tell from hitting range rocks. 

 

When I keep the swing shorter, I'm hitting my irons SO much better... I'm going to continue working that and take it to the course. Still can't hit woods or driver consistently, so a lot of work there.

 

This week I've got the kids all week *and* they're on spring break, so no practice time for me. I did buy a box of pocket bunkers and a home putting mat from Amazon, and I plan to start getting in a little work on both... But for now, the kids get to screw around with them to keep them out of my hair while I'm working. My son has been hitting plastic balls in the backyard a lot this week too... I think he's hooked on the game lol.

 

I'll be taking him to the little 9 hole exec course on Sunday. Should have a little more range time and some time with the putting mat next week before a "real" round next weekend; hopefully I can find a tee time somewhere at a regulation course instead of my usual...

[bortass]

Your son seeming to be hooked is great. Mine never showed any interest in the game.

 

Part of Monte’s No Turn Cast video talks about the issue people have with an overly long backswing.  It is worth checking out and less than a lesson with him, though not nearly as good I bet

[betarhoalphadelta]

Yeah, the big thing is that I feel like I'm restricting my backswing, and then...

 

 

Nope... Still too long.