Journey to scratch

[kengan]

Hi all,

 

I've come across a few of these posts and wanted to get on the bandwagon in the new year in sharing my own journey with like minded golfers.

 

The goal I've set is not within my immediate reach but that's the target I've set for myself, regardless of how long it'll take for me to get there. The purpose is to use this thread as a "public" journal and documenting my strategy, progression along with my thoughts - I'll be tracking my handicap, scorecards and relevant stats through the Garmin app.

 

OP will be edited for summary and I'll be adding immediate thoughts in the thread via posts. 

 

Background: In my early 30s and just wrapped up 2 seasons of golf. No prior experience playing golf. 

 

Thus far:

 

1st season:  I was almost strictly at the driving range where I practiced 1-1.5 hours per session, 3-5 times a week. Actual on course was 5~ full rounds plus a dozen or so sunset rounds. This recipe yielded almost no improvements on the scorecard. My hands got banged up during early winter practice and the frequent practice combined with poor strikes and banged up worn out mats made it so my hands never fully healed until after the summer. My goal was to break 100 by the year of the year which I barely made through a December round in Maui.

 

2nd season: I re-gripped my clubs with thicker mid size grips and minimized my range practice to 1-2 sessions a week. This helped preserve my hands and was able to practice/play throughout the season with no pain/discomfort. While my practice time decreased, my rounds played doubled what I did in the first season, and it seems to have helped my game tremendously. The goal was to break 88 this season and I was ecstatic to have reached it with a score of 87 at the end of summer. 

 

During this season, my misses have gone from slicing/fading right to double sided misses to predominantly hooking left. The driver, being my favorite club to hit, has become a double edged sword for me. When hit well, I can get around 280 yards out of it which leaves me within striking distance from the green playing on the middle tees. On the flip side, there are times where I set up for a 10 yard fade and the ball ends up pull hooking out of bounds to the left. 

 

As for my irons, learning the draw has made my shots very handsy. The inconsistent low point has come with a slew of mishits, especially chunking and thinning. 

 

Starting point: 16.6 handicap, typically shooting high 80s up to mid 90s. (Jumped up to 18.5 at time of January due to a few poor winter rounds)

 

Garmin stats: 

 

Start of season: 

 

 

Goals for next season: 

- Break 80s

- Reach a single digit handicap 

- Maintain a playable driver club speed of 110

- Hit 50% fairways

 

Off season: 

Given the limited weather conditions, the focus is on fitness and being ready to play at the best physical conditions starting Spring. Also work on swing changes/feels and limit the amount of changes being made mid season. 

- Conditioning:

- Aiming to lose 10 lbs. Currently sitting at 6'0 188 lbs

-Home smart stationery bike 3x a week, doing a moderate program for 20-30 minutes (200+ calories)

-Limit overall calories, opt for salad lunch

-Last meal before 8pm

-Limit sugar/alcohol

- Increase playable speed to 110. Currently around 106~

-Workout 2+ times a week in the gym, doing compound lifts as well as targeting my personal weakest link in the kinetic chain (grip strength, wrists)

-Superspeed program: 3x a week

-Flexibility/general conditioning

-15-20 minutes of stretching, 5x a week

-15 minutes of body workouts or 100 pushups/sit-ups on off days (from gym/superspeed)

 

-Swing change:

-Practice motions at 50% or less at the range. Reduce speed if I cannot maintain footing post swing. 

-Practice feels at home

 

Mid season: 

- Register for at least 2x tournaments in the higher flight bracket

 

Long term goals:

- Reach a scratch handicap

 

Strategy*: There will be no doubt be some circling back/changes made to my strategy as my golf experience changes, but I'll be documenting them every step of the way. I'm treating how I approach things as a scientific experiment, there are believes in the forms of hypothesis that I'm willing to test out and amend if needed. 

 

- Short game: I've spent less than 5 hours total practicing putts and chips. I fully understand this is by far the lowest hanging fruit which is why I've put it off, and I do plan on working on it during this season. Some of the reasons include: 

- My goal is to reach scratch which would require more than just a good short game 

- Putting doesn't translate to any other areas of the golf game

- Striking the ball better off the tee and on approaches have helped me appreciate the game more during my first two seasons. Any frustrations I have with golf are all due to mis hits.  

- Tinkering: During my first two years, I've tinker non stop with my swing. This has led to very painful times but I fully believe in the long term process. I believe in that to have a consistent swing, I would need to firmly believe in what I'm aiming to achieve, and the tinkering has helped me rule out things that I do not wish to have in my swing. After hundreds of hours of online videos, I do feel a lot more certain as of now in what my golf swing should be, and I'll be aiming to polish that swing. I don't plan on tinkering as much as I have in the past going into the next season. 

- Fitness: My personal believe is that for many people, while they want to make changes to their swings, they're not physically capable of doing so nor are willing to put in the effort. My case in point: I was paired up with a borderline obese man in his 50s struggling who's spent $5k on Golftec lessons while struggling to make contact with the ball. While I enjoy seeing numbers to backup swing changes or ideals, there's no benefit in knowing what the PGA average is for hip angle if we're not physically able to get there. This off season, I'll be concentrating on gaining strength and flexibility by stretching and hitting the gym on a regular occasion. 

 

*Section to be expanded on at a later time

 

Postface: Thank you all for reading! I hope my journey can spark some meaningful conversation. Whether you're on your own journey to improve, or you'd like to share your insights that you've gained along the way, I'd love to hear it. Best of luck to you all in reaching your goals in the new year and beyond. 

 

 

Edited January 19, 2023 by kengan

[naj959]

Only thing I can add is that you should start working on your short game ASAP. When I first started the game as a junior, I had the same mindset of get the full swing down first since the short game "should be easy". Looking back I wish I had done the opposite. I've battled with the yips and my handicap has more or less remained stagnant due to my lack of understanding of how to get up and down consistently. I've finally turned the corner in that regard but would probably be a much better player than I am had I developed a solid short game as a junior. 

 

Good Luck on your Journey!

[Justsomeguy]

Welcome to the machine.

Some posts similar to this over the years, but each uniquely its own journey. I wish you luck.

Don't get discouraged. Don't rush.

Do get lessons w a pro that fits you asap. Do enjoy the ride.

Injuries happen. Shut it down immediately when they do.

Have experiences. Go places. Travel to odd courses outside your area. Hopefully make some golf buddies.

Enjoy yourself, and good luck!

[MelloYello]

A few thoughts: 

 

#1 - Improvements generally allow you to reduce your handicap by ~50% per year if you're practicing & playing a lot. 

 

#2 - Improving your index always requires more playing than you think. Don't just plan to practice. Plan to play!

 

#3 - Handicap is most closely related to ball-striking, that is, your ability to hit the center of the face and hit the ball straight. 

 

#4 - Play competitively as often as possible. Find a regular group. This will get you out there playing and push you to worry about things that directly matter more than a generic "practice schedule." 

 

 

[raindawg1]

My advice is to devote 75% of your practice to short game.  Not only putting and chipping but 100 yards and in.  Also, every range session carve out some balls for practicing punch shots.  The type shots where you want to advance it up the fairway but are in the trees, or hitting under obstacles, etc.  Learn to do different punch distances with each iron.

 

The long game will come.  But if you focus mostly on that now, you'll always be tinkering and chasing the next "feel". 

 

Good Luck.

 

 

[dvq9654]

You stole my thread! 😂

 

First off, good luck with the journey. It will be incredibly rewarding despite many highs and lows. 
 

Second, at your current level you essentially need to get better at everything to reach scratch. Without any stats it’s hard for me to say where you need to improve the most, but the reality is generally this: you will make the most improvement long term by improving your ball striking from tee to green. As such, I would suggest finding a good coach who can help you identify the areas of your swing that need the most work and slowly chip away at those areas until you can hit 10-12 greens a round regularly. 
 

Alongside that, I would suggest getting a putting mat at home and putting gate (eg Dave Pelz Putting Tutor). Make it’s easy to practice for short periods each day and eventually get to where you can start putts on line without much concern. This is the key to good putting and can be a game changer. 
 

Supplement that with practicing other elements of your short game (pitching, chipping) depending on how weak those elements of your game are. 
 

You’ll obviously need to adjust over time as you identify strengths and weaknesses, but if you use the above as a foundation I think you can make great strides towards your goal. 
 

Lastly, as others have said, don’t underestimate how important it is to play golf vs solely practicing. Playing allows you to get smart about strategy and see how your game actually performs in a real application. I’d say you need to play at least once a week, if not twice, to reach the level you are seeking. 
 

Best of luck. 

[Krt22]

Find a good instructor, otherwise you will spin your wheels a lot, and likely develop bad habits that will taken even more time to reverse later on.

 

Scoring milestones are great, but a single good outlier/career round can be very misleading with regards to your over-all progress. 

Edited January 5, 2023 by Krt22

[getitdaily]

12 hours ago, Krt22 said:

Find a good instructor, otherwise you will spin your wheels a lot, and likely develop bad habits that will taken even more time to reverse later on.

 

Scoring milestones are great, but a single good outlier/career round can be very misleading with regards to your over-all progress. 

Agree with point 1. Disagree with point 2.

 

A career round should be viewed as something that's possible. It should be used as mental training in one's journey to better play. The entire philosophy around breaking scoring barriers is 100% mental. 

 

I wouldn't dismiss a career round any less than a really good round on a short course. "I shot 3 under but it was only from 6400".

 

A low.round is a low round. It provides the mental training to score better.

[MelloYello]

17 hours ago, dvq9654 said:

You stole my thread! 😂

 

First off, good luck with the journey. It will be incredibly rewarding despite many highs and lows. 
 

Second, at your current level you essentially need to get better at everything to reach scratch. Without any stats it’s hard for me to say where you need to improve the most, but the reality is generally this: you will make the most improvement long term by improving your ball striking from tee to green. As such, I would suggest finding a good coach who can help you identify the areas of your swing that need the most work and slowly chip away at those areas until you can hit 10-12 greens a round regularly. 
 

Alongside that, I would suggest getting a putting mat at home and putting gate (eg Dave Pelz Putting Tutor). Make it’s easy to practice for short periods each day and eventually get to where you can start putts on line without much concern. This is the key to good putting and can be a game changer. 
 

Supplement that with practicing other elements of your short game (pitching, chipping) depending on how weak those elements of your game are. 
 

You’ll obviously need to adjust over time as you identify strengths and weaknesses, but if you use the above as a foundation I think you can make great strides towards your goal. 
 

Lastly, as others have said, don’t underestimate how important it is to play golf vs solely practicing. Playing allows you to get smart about strategy and see how your game actually performs in a real application. I’d say you need to play at least once a week, if not twice, to reach the level you are seeking. 
 

Best of luck. 

 

Haha, when I saw the thread title I thought it was yours and you had made another update! 🙂

[MelloYello]

15 hours ago, Krt22 said:

Find a good instructor, otherwise you will spin your wheels a lot, and likely develop bad habits that will taken even more time to reverse later on.

 

 

I would definitely second the instructor thing. 

 

Avoid working on your own. You don't have the answers. The more you can find someone to help you adjust how you move the club and what adjustments you made, the better. 

 

 

[Krt22]

4 hours ago, getitdaily said:

Agree with point 1. Disagree with point 2.

 

A career round should be viewed as something that's possible. It should be used as mental training in one's journey to better play. The entire philosophy around breaking scoring barriers is 100% mental. 

 

I wouldn't dismiss a career round any less than a really good round on a short course. "I shot 3 under but it was only from 6400".

 

A low.round is a low round. It provides the mental training to score better.

 I agree, a career round is a good milestone, nothing to be scoffed at. In the context of this thread I think they can be detractors since it's clear the OP is using singular scores to gauge his progress. As a high cap, they can be telling, things are moving in the right direction, cap is dropping. Once you get into the single digits they can be more misleading IMHO. "I shot 72 once with this swing, if I keep at it, I will do it again..and again". In reality it only happens once or maybe once a season.  

 

If he was a Junior picking up the game, totally different story IMHO.

[CasualLie]

Personally, I would be ignoring about 90% of the advice here.  Good entertainment, but it will take you a long time to develop the "filter" that works for you allowing you to enjoy the entertainment without sidetracking your journey.

 

I like the intermediate goal of getting to single digits from a 16.6 hcp in one year with at least one round breaking 80.  I don't see anything in the OP's strategy section about mental.  That's a mistake.  Given you make some improvements to your ball striking skills and game around the green; your path to breaking 80 is largely mental.  So learn earlier rather than later how not to choke away the last three holes when you are panicking over the scenario "all I need is three bogeys on the last three holes to break 80"; it's going to happen.

 

Less tinkering is not enough of a strategy.  Get a coach.  In the long run, it will save you so much time.

 

I am not firmly in the camp that would suggest you cannot be a good ball striker just practicing on mats.  But I will say, if you are going to practice on mats all of the time, then make sure you are validating you actually are making good contact.  There are many drills for this; use them.  Do not fall prey to 180 yd 7 irons off the mat that struck dead center of the club but you didn't realize you actually hit it fat and your low point was directly at the ball.

 

 When you get to single digits (notice I did not say "if"), whether that be this year or soon after, hopefully this "diary" will give you a good understanding of what to took to get there; then you need to understand getting to scratch is likely 5X that journey, and still no guarantees.  Check out Jon Sherman's journey through his website https://practical-golf.com. He's been at this a very long time, just won his club championship, and currently a 1.8.  He has a lot of insight on what this journey looks like.

[Krt22]

1 hour ago, CasualLie said:

 

 

 When you get to single digits (notice I did not say "if"), whether that be this year or soon after, hopefully this "diary" will give you a good understanding of what to took to get there; then you need to understand getting to scratch is likely 5X that journey, and still no guarantees.  Check out Jon Sherman's journey through his website https://practical-golf.com. He's been at this a very long time, just won his club championship, and currently a 1.8.  He has a lot of insight on what this journey looks like.

The chasing scratch guys are another good data point. Similar age group, slight advantage because they started playing younger, were mid caps when they started, got to mid/low single digits with relative ease, then have hit a wall for the past few years. I really enjoy their pod, it's entertaining/compelling, and shows just how hard getting better at golf is once you are an adult. I also think with a more comprehensive mental/ball striking improvement plan from the start, they would be closer to their goal.

[kengan]

Looked away for a couple of days and was not expecting this much traction. Great to see some comments in here! Appreciate the words of encouragement as well as the advices. 

 

I'll try to address some of the comments in here: 

 

1. Short game practices: Absolutely, my goal for next season is to ramp up the time spent practicing short game. Being able to consistently get up and down will be a goal. There are no shots which I dread more than hitting out of greenside bunkers as I have 0 practice other than when I'm on the course, and that'll have to change. 

 

2. Coaching: In 2022, I had 5 lessons scattered throughout the year with an ex D1 player and one of the top players locally. Like many, he's one of those guys who's played since he was young and not the most technical coach. I have a great coach-student dynamic with him - I've learned a lot by simply picking his brains and trying to decipher his "feels" and what he wants to accomplish. He always gives me his best efforts even though I'm not one of his cash cows. Having said, being a inquisitive and technical person, I haven't ruled out seeing a coach who's more able to answer the Xs and Ys for next year. 

 

Unfortunately I'm not at the point in life (doubt I'll ever be) where I can afford seeing a coach every week. Given that, for me to improve, I'll have to learn to be able to breakdown my own issues and be my own coach for most of it. If it ever gets to a point where my self-help is getting in the way of improvement, then that's when I'll seek help. 

 

[kengan]

2 hours ago, Krt22 said:

 I agree, a career round is a good milestone, nothing to be scoffed at. In the context of this thread I think they can be detractors since it's clear the OP is using singular scores to gauge his progress. As a high cap, they can be telling, things are moving in the right direction, cap is dropping. Once you get into the single digits they can be more misleading IMHO. "I shot 72 once with this swing, if I keep at it, I will do it again..and again". In reality it only happens once or maybe once a season.  

 

If he was a Junior picking up the game, totally different story IMHO.

I agree with your sentiment, and that's certainly not how I'm going about it. 

 

Low rounds are great for see how my game can potentially go if I'm in top condition, but at the same time I'm very careful to not have the expectation that it's the norm. That's where I believe tracking the handicap comes in. 

[Ifelloffladder]

You guys just hijacked his journal thread by telling him to do this and that.  Lol

[kengan]

1 hour ago, CasualLie said:

Personally, I would be ignoring about 90% of the advice here.  Good entertainment, but it will take you a long time to develop the "filter" that works for you allowing you to enjoy the entertainment without sidetracking your journey.

 

I like the intermediate goal of getting to single digits from a 16.6 hcp in one year with at least one round breaking 80.  I don't see anything in the OP's strategy section about mental.  That's a mistake.  Given you make some improvements to your ball striking skills and game around the green; your path to breaking 80 is largely mental.  So learn earlier rather than later how not to choke away the last three holes when you are panicking over the scenario "all I need is three bogeys on the last three holes to break 80"; it's going to happen.

 

Less tinkering is not enough of a strategy.  Get a coach.  In the long run, it will save you so much time.

 

I am not firmly in the camp that would suggest you cannot be a good ball striker just practicing on mats.  But I will say, if you are going to practice on mats all of the time, then make sure you are validating you actually are making good contact.  There are many drills for this; use them.  Do not fall prey to 180 yd 7 irons off the mat that struck dead center of the club but you didn't realize you actually hit it fat and your low point was directly at the ball.

 

 When you get to single digits (notice I did not say "if"), whether that be this year or soon after, hopefully this "diary" will give you a good understanding of what to took to get there; then you need to understand getting to scratch is likely 5X that journey, and still no guarantees.  Check out Jon Sherman's journey through his website https://practical-golf.com. He's been at this a very long time, just won his club championship, and currently a 1.8.  He has a lot of insight on what this journey looks like.

 

Agreed on many things, especially the filtering out. At the end of the day I'll have to be the one to pick and choose what works and what doesn't for my personal situation. 

 

The mental game was actually the next part I was planning to expand on in the OP but I ran out of time 😄 . There's definitely a lot I have to say about that. 

 

For the range practices, yep... mats can definitely mislead players. Often I either lay down a towel or an alignment stick behind the ball to help me ensure I'm set up to hit the ball first and divot after. 

[kengan]

Just now, Ifelloffladder said:

You guys just hijacked his journal thread by telling him to do this and that.  Lol

 

Haha to be fair - if I'm posting on a forum, I'm opening myself up to it. I've been around long enough to know that people love to share what's gotten them there 😄

 

More or less I'll be sticking with the plans I have in my head. I'll edit the OP to include them and share my successes and failures throughout the season. 

[CasualLie]

39 minutes ago, kengan said:

 

 

Unfortunately I'm not at the point in life (doubt I'll ever be) where I can afford seeing a coach every week. Given that, for me to improve, I'll have to learn to be able to breakdown my own issues and be my own coach for most of it. If it ever gets to a point where my self-help is getting in the way of improvement, then that's when I'll seek help. 

 

 

No one needs a coach every week.  It's not the most efficient way of going about it, but you could post your swing in the forum and "filter" out the peanut gallery and lock in on the 4 - 5 regular posters here, who are instructors, who can help.

 

Really, you need 1 coach with a swing philosophy you resonate with.  Ideally, you spend 2 - 3 hours getting a comprehensive lesson so you two get to know each other in terms of methodology and how you learn.  Then you take the 1 thing most important to nail down, just 1, and work on that for 4 - 6 weeks.  You get a check in with the instructor, and go back to that 1 thing.  Get a check in 4 - 6 weeks later.

 

Over time that 1 thing will evolve into the next thing, but it is a slow process.  And that "1 thing" can be 1 for full swing, 1 for short game, and 1 for putting. The point it, weeks coaching is a luxury, and not necessary.  6 - 8 sessions a year is plenty.

 

 

[dvq9654]

One more thought about truly embracing getting better at golf. The path to better golf is not linear. This is especially true if you have a good instructor who is asking you to make meaningful changes to your swing. These changes are undoubtedly for the better, but they are often painful in the short (or even medium) term. You have to accept these periods of pain and realize that making changes is hard, so the best path often feels as though you are moving backwards. I can assure you you are not.
 

I can think of many times where a change made me so bad I could barely even hit the ball (in fairness, these were massive changes so hopefully you don’t reach the lows I did…). Ultimately though, these periods would invariably end with weeks or months of the best golf of my life. Golf is a cycle and embracing all elements will give you a massive leg up.

 

I give this advice because I see so many people who claim to want to get better at golf never do because they don’t like the challenge associated with real change and improvement when in fact the correct changes and associated challenges are the path to better golf. 

[aggiegolfer21]

I would put pullups in with pushups if you can.  Pullups will not only help your speed, they will also help your posture as you must engage a lot of upper back muscles.  I would also add in chipping with multiple clubs.  This will help you improve your touch for both chipping and putting, but it will also help your ball striking.  Chipping practice helps you learn to strike the ball on the proper spot of the club face because you are working at slower speeds.  Your brain then begins to recognize where the center of the face is making it easier to hit the center of the face in your full swing.  This will also keep you from fatigue.  It's going to be easy to get worn out hitting balls for an hour vs. hitting balls for 30 minutes and chipping for 30 minutes.

[Chunkitgood]

Golf is about consistently hitting the ball under control for a good distance.  This can only be done if the tool-the club-is used as designed.

 

You should first figure out how the club is designed to be used ( a step unbelievably enough most golfers seem to never take) and how to use it in that manner (the vast majority, never having learned what the club is designed to do, learn to use it to do something else).

 

All this, in adults at least, who seem to have difficulty with implicit (unconscious) requires some degree research and use of your intellect, as well as a modicum of practice.

 

It is the first step to expertise, but one that cannot be skipped.

 

Forget breaking 80 or whatever, forget your handicap, and learn to use the club.  The rest will follow.

[kengan]

19 hours ago, aggiegolfer21 said:

I would put pullups in with pushups if you can.  Pullups will not only help your speed, they will also help your posture as you must engage a lot of upper back muscles.  I would also add in chipping with multiple clubs.  This will help you improve your touch for both chipping and putting, but it will also help your ball striking.  Chipping practice helps you learn to strike the ball on the proper spot of the club face because you are working at slower speeds.  Your brain then begins to recognize where the center of the face is making it easier to hit the center of the face in your full swing.  This will also keep you from fatigue.  It's going to be easy to get worn out hitting balls for an hour vs. hitting balls for 30 minutes and chipping for 30 minutes.

100% agreed on all the above. Thanks for the chime in.

 

Chipping I've been thinking the same thing for a while. The chips are great for developing feels and plus help improve your game tremendously from 100 yards and in. 

 

Pull ups are definitely up there for me  - I'll definitely be doing some pullups/lat pulldowns at the gym. They're also great for improving grip strength which is something I'm focusing on. 

[Ri_Redneck]

This hasn't been mentioned yet, but I consider it vital for EVERYONE taking this game up. EDUCATE yourself on why the ball does what it does and what causes it. Ball flight dynamics and how the club causes them is highly documented here and other places online. Knowing why the ball does things allows you to assess the situation better in your mind. Educate yourself on how the clubs work and how the components compliment each other and your swing. This will keep you out of equipment rabbit holes and help you separate the meat from the fat in these discussions. As was mentioned earlier, get a putting mat and find a level place in your house where you can position it so the ball rolls true. With this, you can practice DAILY (regardless of weather) on one of the most important aspects of the game. Lastly, the most important part of physical conditioning is your grip strength. Strong hands/forearms will help you control the club and cut down on injuries. I simply keep a rubber ball nearby and squeeze it regularly. You can do it anywhere and even when working or watching tv.

 

Good Luck!

 

BT

[kengan]

1/2 month update into January: 

 

Played a round of soggy winter golf today (12 holes).

 

Good: Recovery shots, approach shots 100 yards and in.

Bad: Putting, Tee shots

 

Was striking the ball well to start but couldn't hold it together for the later holes which resulted in some big scores. Putting was just awful - I have yet to get accustomed to the new scotty newport 2 I purchased recently which is 1" longer and heavier than the previous putter I owned. 5 feet putts were the death of me. Ended up averaging 2.4 putts per hole and typically I'm a 2.0 putt per hole. Will definitely being doing some additional putting practice, at least at home, so that I can get more control over using the putter. Shot +19 which translates to 100.5 over 18 holes. Not discouraged with the results as there were some good holes for me and good takeaways (work on putting!). Winter golf has never been kind to my scores. 

 

Training regime wise, been more or less active so far into the year. With the wife out of town, I've been pushing myself hard and hitting the gym whenever I can. Body has been adjusting to the muscle fatigue and been seeing some noticeable gains in the gym. Unfortunately the body weight have stayed the same so that'll be an area of emphasis for the next little while. 

[Sean124]

On 1/5/2023 at 1:14 PM, CasualLie said:

 

No one needs a coach every week.  It's not the most efficient way of going about it, but you could post your swing in the forum and "filter" out the peanut gallery and lock in on the 4 - 5 regular posters here, who are instructors, who can help.

 

Really, you need 1 coach with a swing philosophy you resonate with.  Ideally, you spend 2 - 3 hours getting a comprehensive lesson so you two get to know each other in terms of methodology and how you learn.  Then you take the 1 thing most important to nail down, just 1, and work on that for 4 - 6 weeks.  You get a check in with the instructor, and go back to that 1 thing.  Get a check in 4 - 6 weeks later.

 

Over time that 1 thing will evolve into the next thing, but it is a slow process.  And that "1 thing" can be 1 for full swing, 1 for short game, and 1 for putting. The point it, weeks coaching is a luxury, and not necessary.  6 - 8 sessions a year is plenty.

 

 

I agree with this 100%. I probably see my coach 8 times a year, and the lessons are only 30 minutes. 
 

He watches me hit balls, I bounce my dumb ideas off him, we identify the next thing to work on, and I grind for a while. 

I wouldn’t see him every week if I was rich. 

 

[MelloYello]

On 1/3/2023 at 6:13 PM, kengan said:

Hi all,

 

I've come across a few of these posts and wanted to get on the bandwagon in the new year in sharing my own journey with like minded golfers.

 

The goal I've set is not within my immediate reach but that's the target I've set for myself, regardless of how long it'll take for me to get there. The purpose is to use this thread as a "public" journal and documenting my strategy, progression along with my thoughts - I'll be tracking my handicap, scorecards and relevant stats through the Garmin app.

 

OP will be edited for summary and I'll be adding immediate thoughts in the thread via posts. 

 

Background: In my early 30s and just wrapped up 2 seasons of golf. No prior experience playing golf. 

 

Thus far:

 

1st season:  I was almost strictly at the driving range where I practiced 1-1.5 hours per session, 3-5 times a week. Actual on course was 5~ full rounds plus a dozen or so sunset rounds. This recipe yielded almost no improvements on the scorecard. My hands got banged up during early winter practice and the frequent practice combined with poor strikes and banged up worn out mats made it so my hands never fully healed until after the summer. My goal was to break 100 by the year of the year which I barely made through a December round in Maui.

 

2nd season: I re-gripped my clubs with thicker mid size grips and minimized my range practice to 1-2 sessions a week. This helped preserve my hands and was able to practice/play throughout the season with no pain/discomfort. While my practice time decreased, my rounds played doubled what I did in the first season, and it seems to have helped my game tremendously. The goal was to break 88 this season and I was ecstatic to have reached it with a score of 87 at the end of summer. 

 

During this season, my misses have gone from slicing/fading right to double sided misses to predominantly hooking left. The driver, being my favorite club to hit, has become a double edged sword for me. When hit well, I can get around 280 yards out of it which leaves me within striking distance from the green playing on the middle tees. On the flip side, there are times where I set up for a 10 yard fade and the ball ends up pull hooking out of bounds to the left. 

 

As for my irons, learning the draw has made my shots very handsy. The inconsistent low point has come with a slew of mishits, especially chunking and thinning. 

 

Starting point: 16.6 handicap, typically shooting high 80s up to mid 90s.

 

Goals for next season: 

- Break 80s

- Reach a single digit handicap 

- Maintain a playable driver club speed of 110

 

Off season: 

Given the limited weather conditions, the focus is on fitness and being ready to play at the best physical conditions starting Spring. Also work on swing changes/feels and limit the amount of changes being made mid season. 

- Conditioning:

- Aiming to lose 10 lbs. Currently sitting at 6'0 188 lbs

-Home smart stationery bike 3x a week, doing a moderate program for 20-30 minutes (200+ calories)

-Limit overall calories, opt for salad lunch

-Last meal before 8pm

-Limit sugar/alcohol

- Increase playable speed to 110. Currently around 106~

-Workout 2+ times a week in the gym, doing compound lifts as well as targeting my personal weakest link in the kinetic chain (grip strength, wrists)

-Superspeed program: 3x a week

-Flexibility/general conditioning

-15-20 minutes of stretching, 5x a week

-15 minutes of body workouts or 100 pushups/sit-ups on off days (from gym/superspeed)

 

-Swing change:

-Practice motions at 50% or less at the range. Reduce speed if I cannot maintain footing post swing. 

-Practice feels at home

 

Mid season: 

- Register for at least 2x tournaments in the higher flight bracket

 

Long term goals:

- Reach a scratch handicap

 

Strategy*: There will be no doubt be some circling back/changes made to my strategy as my golf experience changes, but I'll be documenting them every step of the way. I'm treating how I approach things as a scientific experiment, there are believes in the forms of hypothesis that I'm willing to test out and amend if needed. 

 

- Short game: I've spent less than 5 hours total practicing putts and chips. I fully understand this is by far the lowest hanging fruit which is why I've put it off, and I do plan on working on it during this season. Some of the reasons include: 

- My goal is to reach scratch which would require more than just a good short game 

- Putting doesn't translate to any other areas of the golf game

- Striking the ball better off the tee and on approaches have helped me appreciate the game more during my first two seasons. Any frustrations I have with golf are all due to mis hits.  

- Tinkering: During my first two years, I've tinker non stop with my swing. This has led to very painful times but I fully believe in the long term process. I believe in that to have a consistent swing, I would need to firmly believe in what I'm aiming to achieve, and the tinkering has helped me rule out things that I do not wish to have in my swing. After hundreds of hours of online videos, I do feel a lot more certain as of now in what my golf swing should be, and I'll be aiming to polish that swing. I don't plan on tinkering as much as I have in the past going into the next season. 

- Fitness: My personal believe is that for many people, while they want to make changes to their swings, they're not physically capable of doing so nor are willing to put in the effort. My case in point: I was paired up with a borderline obese man in his 50s struggling who's spent $5k on Golftec lessons while struggling to make contact with the ball. While I enjoy seeing numbers to backup swing changes or ideals, there's no benefit in knowing what the PGA average is for hip angle if we're not physically able to get there. This off season, I'll be concentrating on gaining strength and flexibility by stretching and hitting the gym on a regular occasion. 

 

*Section to be expanded on at a later time

 

Postface: Thank you all for reading! I hope my journey can spark some meaningful conversation. Whether you're on your own journey to improve, or you'd like to share your insights that you've gained along the way, I'd love to hear it. Best of luck to you all in reaching your goals in the new year and beyond. 

 

 

 

Let me just share a couple more insights that might be helpful to you. I apologize for the length of this post but it's all good advice, I promise. Just know that over the last 3 years I've gone from being a 5-index to a +0.5. So I can tell you a lot about what matters and what doesn't.  

 

 

Fitness is always good but if we're honest, scratch golf is not at all like golf on the level of professional competitions. Scratch golf is still recreational golf. It doesn't require much physical planning for someone in their 20s or 30s. For instance, I'm an engineer and since Covid emerged in 2020, I've been working from home and have generally slacked off in working out. I'm eating more and not burning it off. I was 180-lbs about 5 years ago and now I'm 220-lbs so I've ballooned into a fat guy.

 

While I should 100% get thinner for my own health, my golf game hasn't been affected and I'm scoring as good as I ever have. Last year I walked about 50% of my rounds, too, so it's not like I'm always taking the easy way out there. I just eat too much. Simple as that.

 

So don't think I'm knocking fitness when I say this, but fitness is not a huge priority for a recreational or club golfer. Whatever you do in the gym is great but it's not the reason your index is what it is. You're probably already in better shape than me. Flexibility is a better topic but even that you'll get with thousands of swings. The more you practice, the more that'll take care of itself. 

 

 

A thought about distance. I started playing golf in my mid-20s after college. I'm about to turn 37 in March so I've been playing for about 15-years. When I started, my SS was around 113-mph but these days it's slowed to about 105-mph. I still think the biggest obstacle was a short-term shoulder & nerve injury that side-tracked me in my late 20s. I had to quit for awhile and that injury really took away my "high gear" as I never fully regained that 110+ speed. But still, I'm playing my best golf ever and distance is not my limitation. Most of the single-digit players I compete with would love to have my 105-mph speed. Being 100+ is still a huge advantage.

 

Just think, LPGA Professionals -- the best women on the planet -- are shooting rounds of 60 and 62 with less SS than me on courses that are equally long! Heck, I'm as long as the longest women in Professional golf. If you're already over 100-mph, speed is not the thing that's holding you back. 

 

Don't compare yourself to the PGA Tour professionals. As long as you have the requisite SS for the courses you play, you're fine. 105-mph is not slow at all for Amateurs and it's very much in line with most low-handicap golfers (including scratch). I play with a very large group who are all long-time recreational golfers in the single-digits and I'm probably about as long as all of them, certainly longer than most. 

 

In my experience, the biggest distance concern is the speed we lose with age, but that's not something to be all that concerned with until we hit 50 and beyond.

 

 

In my eyes, here's the real secret...

 

There is definitely a particular thing that's contributed to my going from being a 5-index to a scratch over the last few years. The problem is I feel like most people don't really want to hear it. It's not the answer they prefer. Maybe it's not a convenient answer? I'll share it anyway because it's important to understand.

 

If you want to get better you have to play a lot of golf. That sounds simple, but your plan sounds more like you're concerned with working out and practicing. You really didn't say anything about joining a club or finding a group or competing in weekly money-matches with other skilled players. And yet, those are the things that drive index down. They get you playing as often as possible and they put some pressure on you to find actual answers. And you get a lot of insights watching other (better) players handle their business shooting solid scores. 

 

In 2020 I joined a private club for the first time. It didn't take long at all to find friends there and I quickly began playing in regular pairings, often competitive money games. Typically, I played an after-work competition mid-week (usually 9 holes) as well as another 36 over the weekend (usually playing 18 both Sat and Sun).

 

I've kept that schedule up for the last 3 years. So, at an absolute minimum in any given week I've been playing 45 holes of golf across 3 days, never skipping more than 2-3 days at a time, with casual practice during those intermediate days to make sure I'm still hitting the ball solid, staying flexible and remaining comfortable with short game & putting so that I'm ready when the competitions start. I also routinely ad in an additional 9- or even 18-hole round on Thu or Fri to prep for the weekend competition as a kind of "practice round."

 

When you play that much, you always know what to practice and you're constantly keeping your game sharp in a way you'll probably never if you're only playing once per week. God forbid you play by yourself and do it for sheer personal pride. Those stories almost never end in success. 

 

You have to find a group. They'll encourage you to play more and it'll all fall into place. What we can learn from Professional golfers is that they almost all started competing early and often. They didn't practice in isolation for very long. They were driven by the environments in which they (or their parents) placed them. 

[uitar9]

On 1/5/2023 at 12:27 PM, kengan said:

Unfortunately I'm not at the point in life (doubt I'll ever be) where I can afford seeing a coach every week. Given that, for me to improve, I'll have to learn to be able to breakdown my own issues and be my own coach for most of it. If it ever gets to a point where my self-help is getting in the way of improvement, then that's when I'll seek help. 

Whatever you do get out of that time with a coach, don't forget tp practice what they teach you. The lesson itself, is just instruction.

 

On your own, spend time to see what your club face is doing and where that ball is hitting that face. That was a great learning experience for me.

[kengan]

6 hours ago, MelloYello said:

 

Let me just share a couple more insights that might be helpful to you. I apologize for the length of this post but it's all good advice, I promise. Just know that over the last 3 years I've gone from being a 5-index to a +0.5. So I can tell you a lot about what matters and what doesn't.  

 

 

Fitness is always good but if we're honest, scratch golf is not at all like golf on the level of professional competitions. Scratch golf is still recreational golf. It doesn't require much physical planning for someone in their 20s or 30s. For instance, I'm an engineer and since Covid emerged in 2020, I've been working from home and have generally slacked off in working out. I'm eating more and not burning it off. I was 180-lbs about 5 years ago and now I'm 220-lbs so I've ballooned into a fat guy.

 

While I should 100% get thinner for my own health, my golf game hasn't been affected and I'm scoring as good as I ever have. Last year I walked about 50% of my rounds, too, so it's not like I'm always taking the easy way out there. I just eat too much. Simple as that.

 

So don't think I'm knocking fitness when I say this, but fitness is not a huge priority for a recreational or club golfer. Whatever you do in the gym is great but it's not the reason your index is what it is. You're probably already in better shape than me. Flexibility is a better topic but even that you'll get with thousands of swings. The more you practice, the more that'll take care of itself. 

 

 

A thought about distance. I started playing golf in my mid-20s after college. I'm about to turn 37 in March so I've been playing for about 15-years. When I started, my SS was around 113-mph but these days it's slowed to about 105-mph. I still think the biggest obstacle was a short-term shoulder & nerve injury that side-tracked me in my late 20s. I had to quit for awhile and that injury really took away my "high gear" as I never fully regained that 110+ speed. But still, I'm playing my best golf ever and distance is not my limitation. Most of the single-digit players I compete with would love to have my 105-mph speed. Being 100+ is still a huge advantage.

 

Just think, LPGA Professionals -- the best women on the planet -- are shooting rounds of 60 and 62 with less SS than me on courses that are equally long! Heck, I'm as long as the longest women in Professional golf. If you're already over 100-mph, speed is not the thing that's holding you back. 

 

Don't compare yourself to the PGA Tour professionals. As long as you have the requisite SS for the courses you play, you're fine. 105-mph is not slow at all for Amateurs and it's very much in line with most low-handicap golfers (including scratch). I play with a very large group who are all long-time recreational golfers in the single-digits and I'm probably about as long as all of them, certainly longer than most. 

 

In my experience, the biggest distance concern is the speed we lose with age, but that's not something to be all that concerned with until we hit 50 and beyond.

 

 

In my eyes, here's the real secret...

 

There is definitely a particular thing that's contributed to my going from being a 5-index to a scratch over the last few years. The problem is I feel like most people don't really want to hear it. It's not the answer they prefer. Maybe it's not a convenient answer? I'll share it anyway because it's important to understand.

 

If you want to get better you have to play a lot of golf. That sounds simple, but your plan sounds more like you're concerned with working out and practicing. You really didn't say anything about joining a club or finding a group or competing in weekly money-matches with other skilled players. And yet, those are the things that drive index down. They get you playing as often as possible and they put some pressure on you to find actual answers. And you get a lot of insights watching other (better) players handle their business shooting solid scores. 

 

In 2020 I joined a private club for the first time. It didn't take long at all to find friends there and I quickly began playing in regular pairings, often competitive money games. Typically, I played an after-work competition mid-week (usually 9 holes) as well as another 36 over the weekend (usually playing 18 both Sat and Sun).

 

I've kept that schedule up for the last 3 years. So, at an absolute minimum in any given week I've been playing 45 holes of golf across 3 days, never skipping more than 2-3 days at a time, with casual practice during those intermediate days to make sure I'm still hitting the ball solid, staying flexible and remaining comfortable with short game & putting so that I'm ready when the competitions start. I also routinely ad in an additional 9- or even 18-hole round on Thu or Fri to prep for the weekend competition as a kind of "practice round."

 

When you play that much, you always know what to practice and you're constantly keeping your game sharp in a way you'll probably never if you're only playing once per week. God forbid you play by yourself and do it for sheer personal pride. Those stories almost never end in success. 

 

You have to find a group. They'll encourage you to play more and it'll all fall into place. What we can learn from Professional golfers is that they almost all started competing early and often. They didn't practice in isolation for very long. They were driven by the environments in which they (or their parents) placed them. 

 

Thanks for the share! Great tidbits. 

 

On the topic of finding a group, I've signed up for a local course men's group. They're full unfortunately but I'm on the waitlist - hoping I can get in this season and find some folks to regularly play with. 

 

Playing more last season (still not as much as I'd like) definitely helped my game more than anything else. 

[kengan]

added additional goal for this year: hitting 50% fairways off the tee. 

 

As my distance have grown with the speed training and weight training, so have my dispersion off the tee. In addition I'm missing off the tee in both directions, currently to date I'm hitting 39% fairways and 29%/31% to left and right respectively. 

 

A shot I'll be looking to gain is a 10-20 yard fade fairway finder for the tighter holes. If my goal is to score well, I should probably hit that shot 100% off the tee. 

 

Ideally with the speed gains, I want to swing more easy but have more stable speed on course.