Mid-season check in - who's gotten better/worse?

[getitdaily]

It's middle of August. That means for a lot of you, about 3 months of golf left until cold and potential snow. 

 

Time to fess up. Who has had a better year? Worse year?

 

Score wise I'm worse than last year. My stats suggest a few areas that are the culprits 

 

1. Putting - biggest issue. The changes I made in the offseason haven't paid off yet. They're starting to look better but my birdie avg is way down and I'm just not making anything. 

2. Missed a few more par 3 greens this year than last.

3. Course mgmt mistakes are up from last year.

4. Greens hit are down about half a green per round...minor decrease and is probably directly related to more course mgmt issues

 

The good - definitely driving the ball better. Strokes lost or opportunities lost due to bad drives are down .4 per round from last year. My up and down % is better this year, which is amazing considering how terrible my putting has been. 

 

This year has been interesting. My approach play has been better even though I've missed more greens. My driving has been statistically better but I had more big issues with driver early on as I got my stealth+ dialed in. More doubles and triples this year which speaks directly to more issues with course mgmt.

[b.mattay]

Game is about the same scoring wise-have stayed at about a +2.5 handicap this year. 

 

Positives:

• Iron play improving (went to a softer iron shaft, distance and trajectory control getting better)
• Green-side play improving (almost up to 60% scrambling) 
• Putting is more free (maybe owing to less time practicing, which tends to leads to less tinkering) 

Negatives: 

• Driver has regressed to about a 40% FIR (been dealing with a torn TFCC and some neck issues that cause some commitment issues on aggressive swings). Distance is still relatively there, but accuracy isn't. 
  • Switch to a new driver (my trusty M5 broke) might have something to do with this too. 

 

Edited August 19, 2022 by b.mattay

[otto6457]

Weird thing about this better or worse.

 

My results in competitions this season is worse.  0/4 in State and USGA qualifying tournaments.  My local tournament results have been mixed. 

 

My SG in putting and approach is down.  But not by much   My SG in driving is as good as it's been in many years.

 

Scrambling is not as sharp as it should be.

 

More penalty strokes which is concerning.

 

Mostly, I'm older and not thinking as well is my self examination.  Not sure how to address it at this point.  I'm not going to get younger any time soon.  All I know to do is to keep grinding as long as I can.

[msg]

This year is my best year so far. Last season at 10-9 handicap. I thought that was my ceiling that I can never beat last season. I was wrong. Right now I am sitting at 8 and got as low as a 7. I have shot in the single digits a lot this year and this is something that I have not been able to do before. I also shot even par at my favorite golf course. Sure it is not the longest or hardest but to shoot even par twice, back to back days, in early May, just made my confidence sky rocket lol.

The things I changed that helped me:

 

1. I put the driver away when the hole has too much trouble and does not fit my dispersion. I use what I feel the safest club in the bag. So far it works for me. My average score on holes that usually kicks my butt has gone down and lost balls and double bogeys or more has lessened by a lot. Other than that, it's driver all the way. 

2. I aim at the middle of the green and club up. My gir rose to 10% more from last year!

3. I read so many golf psychology books in the winter to help me with the mental side of the game. 

4. I play with one shot at a time thinking and never have I not committed to a shot nor given up when things go sideways. 

5. I just transformed into a grateful golfer who just soaks the experience in and just sees scores as a bonus.

 

The only negative thing right now is my make % from 10 to 15 feet. It is alarmingly bad. lol 

 

 

Edited August 19, 2022 by msg

[ericz]

I've improved greatly this year. Took a while to start seeing results, but I have been really improving over the past couple of months.

 

Started the year at 7.3 index, got up to a 8.7 in June, and now down to 4.5.

 

Biggest contributing factors in my opinion are:

 

1) Playing a lot more actual golf and got off the driving range. Used to hit 300 balls a day, 5 days a week. I think that was mostly wasted time. To go with this, I didn't have any kind of plan when I went to the range. Not good!

2) Tracking strokes gained. I've tracked every shot over the last 38 rounds since June 18th. This helped me cool down my temper on the course when things weren't going my way. I now have data to better understand the why, which allows me to tackle the actual issue instead of just guessing what's wrong when looking at a score and being upset.

3) I avoid driving range mats like the plague now unless I have no option. Low point control is much improved.

4) Playing weekly competitions. I've had some really bad rounds in June, but started improving over the past month or so. In these comps I try to make sure someone in my group is better than me. I've learned a lot just watching better players.

5) Asking questions here when I'm stuck with something I'm trying to figure out.

6) Better course management. Very much a work in progress.

 

Attached is my strokes gained per round trend since 6/18. I've improved 6.2 strokes per round in 60 days. I'm better in almost every category. A couple categories are flat, but not as many shots collected. It's nice to have data that backs up what I'm feeling.

 

 

[getitdaily]

4 minutes ago, ericz said:

I've improved greatly this year. Took a while to start seeing results, but I have been really improving over the past couple of months.

 

Started the year at 7.3 index, got up to a 8.7 in June, and now down to 4.5.

 

Biggest contributing factors in my opinion are:

 

1) Playing a lot more actual golf and got off the driving range. Used to hit 300 balls a day, 5 days a week. I think that was mostly wasted time. To go with this, I didn't have any kind of plan when I went to the range. Not good!

2) Tracking strokes gained. I've tracked every shot over the last 38 rounds since June 18th. This helped me cool down my temper on the course when things weren't going my way. I now have data to better understand the why, which allows me to tackle the actual issue instead of just guessing what's wrong when looking at a score and being upset.

3) I avoid driving range mats like the plague now unless I have no option. Low point control is much improved.

4) Playing weekly competitions. I've had some really bad rounds in June, but started improving over the past month or so. In these comps I try to make sure someone in my group is better than me. I've learned a lot just watching better players.

5) Asking questions here when I'm stuck with something I'm trying to figure out.

6) Better course management. Very much a work in progress.

 

Attached is my strokes gained per round trend since 6/18. I've improved 6.2 strokes per round in 60 days. I'm better in almost every category. A couple categories are flat, but not as many shots collected. It's nice to have data that backs up what I'm feeling.

 

 

Good stuff man. I need to track formal strokes gained data. My approach game has improved through fewer shots cost by bad approach shots, but I don't know if proximity has improved or not. 

[ericz]

1 minute ago, getitdaily said:

Good stuff man. I need to track formal strokes gained data. My approach game has improved through fewer shots cost by bad approach shots, but I don't know if proximity has improved or not. 

 

Yeah, approach data has been eye opening for me. Turns out my proximity isn't as bad as I thought. I thought that was the reason for my putting woes. Turns out I just need to work on putting!

 

I'm not positive, but I think with the Golfmetrics app at least, you can track only certain categories. So just do approach shots to get an idea without going all in.

[skraly]

Playing the best I have in the last two years.  7 under my last 4 rounds.  Shot my age or better 3 out of the 4👍

Edited August 19, 2022 by skraly

[SNIPERBBB]

Slightly worse this year for me. Just not making birdies this year. Or when I do i make a bunch of bogies to off set, like today 5 birds, 3 doubles and 3 bogies. 

[getitdaily]

Just now, SNIPERBBB said:

Slightly worse this year for me. Just not making birdies this year. Or when I do i make a bunch of bogies to off set, like today 5 birds, 3 doubles and 3 bogies. 

I feel ya dude. Same boat for me. My per round birdie avg has dropped by 50%. And more bogies. Almost entirely due to course mgmt and putting.

[NoTalentLefty]

Good season just started . Last year and much of this year saw my hci climb up 2 strokes. But the last 3 weeks everything hitting on full. 
1) Started putting cross hand. 3 and 5 footers are dropping . Got the feel down.

2) Added a chipper in the bag now for the last 3 rounds and chipping has improved massively. 
 

Edited August 20, 2022 by NoTalentLefty

[Kuuuch]

Cool idea for a post!
 

Definitely better than last year, way more consistent this year. Scoring average is right around 71 last time I checked and highest score this year has been a 78 which I’m thrilled with. 
 

Good things: 

1) Not tinkering, only working on what Dan C prescribes. Really starting to understand what I need to do swing wise to reach my goals. Been doing 1 drill only that’s really been doing wonders. 
2) Putting is starting to come around. Good putter fitting and using the eyeline putter pendulum has really helped me out a ton because that’s always been the weakest part of my game. 
3) Playing more, have a tendency to be a range rat so getting out 2-5 times a week has been good for my game. 
 

Where to improve:

1) Lag putting - I keep losing on average a stroke a round with lag putting. Our greens are tough with multiple tiers but still continuously have dumb 3 putts. 
2) Chipping has not been as good as it usually is.

3) Still think there’s room to improve under pressure. I keep getting off to a slow start in big tournaments. 

[jomatty]

I’m about where I was a year ago.  I’ve played a lot of golf but really haven’t practiced much at all.  I’ve switched gear around like crazy.  I’ve got some time to make a fall push and my game is in a good place, so we will see.  

[ShortGolfer]

Mostly practice and waiting for new clubs while the weather is hot and humid.

Adding two very valuable clubs to the bag.  Lob Wedge and Driver!  i practiced enough that my dispersion with both is excellent!

Getting good swings with the new clubs but since I'm hitting the ball farther now, I need to figure out a new set of distances.

 

I told my fitter that I'm more concerned with accuracy and spin as I'm most interested in playing short courses and playing from the forward tees.

My new AW goes 13 yards farther and holds the green better.

Edited August 20, 2022 by ShortGolfer

[getitdaily]

2 minutes ago, ShortGolfer said:

Mostly practice and waiting for new clubs while the weather is hot and humid.

Adding two very valuable clubs to the bag.  Lob Wedge and Driver!  

Getting good swings with the new clubs but since I'm hitting the ball farther now, I need to figure out a new set of distances.

I think you may need to change your username. Something like "randomlyunrelated" may fit better?

[Saijin]

8 hours ago, getitdaily said:

It's middle of August. That means for a lot of you, about 3 months of golf left until cold and potential snow. 

 

Time to fess up. Who has had a better year? Worse year?

 

Score wise I'm worse than last year. My stats suggest a few areas that are the culprits 

 

1. Putting - biggest issue. The changes I made in the offseason haven't paid off yet. They're starting to look better but my birdie avg is way down and I'm just not making anything. 

2. Missed a few more par 3 greens this year than last.

3. Course mgmt mistakes are up from last year.

4. Greens hit are down about half a green per round...minor decrease and is probably directly related to more course mgmt issues

 

The good - definitely driving the ball better. Strokes lost or opportunities lost due to bad drives are down .4 per round from last year. My up and down % is better this year, which is amazing considering how terrible my putting has been. 

 

This year has been interesting. My approach play has been better even though I've missed more greens. My driving has been statistically better but I had more big issues with driver early on as I got my stealth+ dialed in. More doubles and triples this year which speaks directly to more issues with course mgmt.

 

Scoring is definitely worse for me.

Full swing issues . Consistent toe shots and I get very tired easily the last 4 months.

I still feel like I lost my swing and I'm picking the ball up instead of compressing.

 

 Putting + chipping + pitching + 150yds in are my absolute strength.

Driver is my biggest enemy... I use 3W to tee off.

 

My course management is the same.

Found out that when my driver gets me in trouble, my 3i stinger is very consistent and reliable to get out from under the trees + deep rough.

 

 

 

[GolfTurkey]

Someone mentioned course management being a challenge as we get older.

 

I’m definitely finding it much harder; I used to be able to play 18 holes without doing anything egregiously stupid, but not anymore.

 

Two examples today. Missed a green on a par 3 today, ball rolled off the fringe down a swale and next to a drain. Wet, muddy, into the grain lie on Bermuda with an awkward stance. All the voices in my head were screaming “putt it” as I chunked a 60.

 

Another dog leg par 4 where I usually hit driver to cut off distance had the tees in a different spot where driver was too much club on the angle. Hit 7 wood instead but didn’t adjust my line for the shorter club so didn’t make the carry, the ball took a terrible kick off the last tree and ended up snookered behind a tree root.

Edited August 20, 2022 by GolfTurkey

[phizzy30]

My handicap has dropped a full stroke since January.  Putting has always been the strongest part of my game since college so nothing's changed there.  Biggest improvement is strokes gained off the tee as I'm hitting my driver and 3 metal so much better now as a result of dialing in the clubs and making adjustments to my swing which has finally started to click a few months ago.  As a result, I'm finding more fairways and not hooking the ball as often.  I used to be very shallow into the ball with irons leaving very small to no divots but am now taking bigger divots and compressing the ball correctly.  As a result my irons are flying further and stopping faster.  The biggest weakness in my game is chipping and pitching where I could dedicate more time at the practice area at my home course.  It's a really extensive green with 3 different pin positions and 3 bunkers so I have no excuse, lol.   

Edited August 20, 2022 by phizzy30

[iceman1118]

Great topic. Love talking about this stuff. 
 

Handicap has remained stagnant all season which is great. Still play to a 2. Been steady for almost 2 full seasons now. 

Winter for me was grooving a consistent and repeatable putting stroke. It has paid off in droves. Not necessarily making more putts but a ton of less 3 putts this year. So will continue to groove that stroke. 
 

I have always fought an inside takeaway, roll face open, early extension snap hooks. Really hard to break this habit. Last couple of months have been working hard to keep the club in front of me and hit nothing but fades. It is an extreme work in progress but I am keeping at it. My plan is to not see the ball go left ever again. Arm swing illusion/Jim Waldron was big for me here. Hard to wrap my head around it but when I really focus on pushing arms away, keeping club in front, use my pivot, etc it really is incredible how well I strike it. 
 

Also really took a hard look at course management. Tried to eliminate compounding mistakes. Taking my medicine is important. Wasting strokes on the hero shot doesn’t work. 

[ezra76]

Came back after about 12yrs off playing. Started at a 16 handicap and went up to 19. After a lot of work I'm back to 17. Just shot a 79 and feeling positive. 

 

Started doing an online coaching about 8 weeks ago and the changes we've made taking hold. My wedge game is really solid from a lot of hours the field with a home depot bucket. Putting drill I came up with has me confident my putts are online. If I can play like that over the next couple months I may make the 19 to 9 handicap jump.🤣

[ShortGolfer]

Half a dozen strokes better than last season over nine holes.   Played a round this morning and spent an hour on the practice green.  Figured I need to get some time in with a sloped green.

Edited August 20, 2022 by ShortGolfer

[bekgolf]

On 8/19/2022 at 12:30 PM, b.mattay said:

Negatives: 

• Driver has regressed to about a 40% FIR (been dealing with a torn TFCC and some neck issues that cause some commitment issues on aggressive swings). Distance is still relatively there, but accuracy isn't. 
  • Switch to a new driver (my trusty M5 broke) might have something to do with this too. 

 

 

I'm throwing this out there just in case you haven't gone this route yet.

 

I dealt with a TFCC injury last year.  I visited a Hand Therapist three times per the Hand Surgeon recommendation. 

 

It helped immensely.  Mostly by breaking up scar tissue which in turn increased pain free range of motion (she measured it every visit).  It took about 10 months of healing before it felt normal again.

[PoeKingShankspeare]

Starting Jan. 2022 I had several goals before the years end, and I pretty much accomplished all my goals. Funny how I put my mind to it, it’ll happen. 

 

1. Stop watching YouTube instructional videos that focus on positions w/the  full swing. 
2. Improve my mental game - Focus on my task, intentions, trust, recover on bad holes and/or shots. Use my past experiences from other sports and marital arts to help with my golf. 

3. Break double digit handicap (earlier than expected)
4. Lowered my putting ave. Per round (dropped almost 3 putts/strokes)

5. Fall in Love with bunker shots and improved on it. 

6. Improve and add more shots to my short game - flops, bump and run, low, high, medium chip shots. (MrShortgame and my friend helped a lot)

7. Slowly improving my GIR and FIR

8. Accept my (short) distance with driver.  BUT, It’s rather funny though. without trying to gain distance, I gained up to 40+ yard on some drives. From 230 to 280 😮 couple 290’s this year.

9. Play more 9-18 holes and less range time. Range Only for short game practice.
10. And have fun no matter how good or bad my round is going. There’s no rewind on time, but there are second changes in golf and life.

 

There’s was a more important reason why I had these goals and I needed to accomplish them. “If I can do this, then I can do that.”
 

by completing these golf goals, it motived me to improve my physical and mental health issues I battled with. Mental diseases can manifest anytime for me, which leads to some type of addiction or addictions. And even if I slip, I can get up and it’s okay to fail.
 

“It’s not how many times you fail, it’s how many times you get up and keep trying.”

 
I heard that The light bulb was invented after 1000 failures… he never gave up 

[soberD]

Better:

 

1. Truly dedicated to using the line on the ball for putting alignment, hitting many more putts

2a. Focus on not allowing my right side to dominate downswing

2b. Focus on keeping my head in the swing (basically keeping it down while the left shoulder moves away)

 

Worse:

pushing and pulling from 125 and in (partial shots) and not getting up and down, particularly from the sand, has totally negated the above

 

 

[teedub21]

Started the season at 14.6 and currently 16.3.  Thought this was going to be my year to get under a 14.  Alas it wasn’t meant to be.  Started having a nasty pull hook with my approach iron shots.  Makes scoring tough when you miss the green all the time.  Gonna sign up for some lessons with our pro this fall.  

 

Also coming to the realization I will never be more than an average golfer.  Just need to embrace that and stop getting disappointed when my game doesn’t improve.  

[jibbs1082]

-Went from a 10.4 to a 9.1 (not near as much as I have hoped for the effort and practice I put in from March-July)

-Serious focus on some mechanical changes (Wrist flexion, shallowing, impact position, early release)-played the most rounds of my life this summer (30+)

-Almost shot career low round 77 at a Slope 140 course... but chunked pitch's and doubled 18 ha

-Went on to play extremely poor for the next month with zero control of the ball

-Burnt out, regained obsession over the last 2 weeks

-Big improvements during range sessions... swing and impact gets dialed around ball 30-80 of the bucket 

-Feel WAY worse on the course...actually feel like I can barely have any control over my ball flight right now

-Lost best club in the bag from last year (driver) and back to filthy cuts vs tight baby pull draws

-Found a thin miss somehow this season (bottom groove all-star) - think the early extension is killing me... maybe I need some flexibility work to get through these shallow and rotational swing changes??

-Think I need a mental lesson - swing thoughts are killing my game and confidence... need to just execute and be "an athlete" during a round vs trying to have the correct swing

 

All in all, a perfect golf season.

 

Feel like 70s are knocking on the door but have been very elusive for various reasons.

 

[Cicero]

It’s been an “on the verge” type of season for me.  I came in with a particular focus on short game and putting, while also maintaining or improving the other aspects of my game.  And while I’ve played and practiced less than last  year:

 

- My driving is the best it’s ever been, even though I’m not allowed to hit driver at the range, for fear of braining someone on the 10th tee, with a different driver to boot;

 

-My short game is miles better, to the extent that if I have a chip or a pitch, I’m not over the ball with the fear of a bad shot in the back of my head;

 

-I have a more reliable partial shot game.  Now I rarely will hit a full shot if I have a yardage that I can hit a 3/4 shot, and I’ll use anything from lw to 6 iron;

 

-My putting has also improved a lot.  That drill where you hit 20 3-footers in a row from four spots around the hole did a lot for me in that regard.  I need to add some 6-10 work as well.

 

I’ve learned a lot about my individual game.  I’ve figured out what I do with putting, chipping, pitching, partial shots, full swing irons, and woods.  Each one is a little different.  But they work for me, and don’t seem to require a ton of maintenance, which is good because as much as I love to bang balls, it doesn’t really help my game to repeatedly hit the range, and it’s hard on my body.  
   
Speaking of the range, I also happened upon the formula for learning a skill which seems to work well in for me.  Basically, I’ll take a range session to figure out a technique or shot (whatever is giving me issues on the course), but it has to be honed on the course, not the range.  It seems like I learn best from short, spaced-out bouts, rather than multiple long sessions hitting a lot of balls.  The cool thing is that once I learn a technique that works, the basics of it kind of hang around, as long as I’m playing.  The reps on the course are what sharpen the skill.  This is how I learned the 3/4, flop, sand, pitch, and chip techniques that I use now.  Except for the sand shot, I learned the techniques that I use for these skills this season, using this method.  I always felt I improved more quickly from play than range time; to me, this validated that feeling (except for putting; I seem to benefit from more practice reps there).

 

Today I tied my low 9 hole round with a +3.  The last time I did that, I felt like I played the perfect round, like everything was going just right.  It felt like the best I had in me at the time, and it probably was.  This time around, it didn’t feel like that at all.  I wasn’t playing above my head to shoot that score, and that has me hopeful that my goals are attainable.  I’m excited for the rest of the season, and even more excited for next season.  

[DaveMc82]

There’s been a lot of positives this season. Handicap index is down 2.8 from where it started and things are markedly different from the end of last season. 
 

Positives:

 

1. The big block miss has gone having corrected my swing path to 2-3 consistently from 6-9 as it was. The winter work paid off. 
 

2. Wedge spin on approaches is way more controlled. I’ve stopped sucking balls off the front edge like I had been. 
 

3. Putting pace control is miles better thanks to a grip change and aiming for simplistic putt to a spot mentality. 
 

4. Distance is still in the rise from continued fitness improvements via CrossFit 5x per week. 
 

Negatives:

 

1. Trapped a nerve in my neck about 2 weeks ago and not been able to play or train. Physio reckons it’s stress related as I’m changing jobs imminently. I’m not sure how my swing mobility will be until it’s fully fixed. 
 

2. I’ve found new ways to mess up off the tee. My safe go to pull-fade with the driver can turn into a pull-draw. Round my course this either results in lost ball or hacking out from US Open style rough. It’s the main contributor to my index not dropping massively. 
 

3. Due to my distance improving, I’ve lost my confidence in my carry numbers. I’ve noticed my approaches being far more consciously manufactured than just hitting my number. The more I think, the more likely I am to laterally miss which gets you in severe trouble at our course. 
 

4. I’d stopped practicing due to life factors, most notably concentrating on extricating myself from a toxic work atmosphere. Before the injury I felt like I was creating a wave of form and waiting to fall off. Those weekly range sessions of just grooving mechanics and checking-in on video are super important. 

[BabyCarrot]

Going from Better: New irons and driver shaft in June. Dispersion better than ever before.

 

To Worst: I think I over did it practicing with the new irons. WebMD says cancer, but feels more like shoulder bursitis.

[becoh]

This was my first full season of golfing, and I've improved overall. Start of the year I was sometimes breaking 100, now I'm low 90s with a personal best of 89. Lessons have been very helpful, and my ball striking/wedge work has been a strong point.

 

Still have lots of work to do on my driving, both in distance and consistancy. Currently working on "proper" weight transfer/turn with my woods - feels great with irons.

 

Lessons will continue. Also looking at a proper club membership for next season. I would like to get my scores into the low-mid 80s on a regular basis.