Getting back into the game and where to go from here?

[Rearviewmirror]

Hey folks, first time poster so be gentle! I recently got back into golf after a ~9 year layoff. I played a lot as a kid and at times was around 16 handicap, but my mental game was awful and one bad hole would totally derail a round, so my good rounds were low 90s and bad rounds were in the 110s.

 

Fast forward to today. In the past couple of months I've played 7 full rounds and a handful of 9 hole rounds. Garmin tells me I'm right around 23.1 handicap, but in there I've also shot an 88 and a 105 (!!).

 

I'm still using my old clubs for the most part (ten year old Adams Tight Lies irons and strong 4 wood), and just got fitted for a driver (Ping G425) which made a world of difference to my driving consistency/dispersion. I'm averaging 250yds with the driver to either the fairway or 5-10yds into the rough, and when I'm on my iron striking is pretty consistent with a 10-15yd fade. That said, my irons are regular flex, whereas the new driver is stiff flex (swing speed with the driver was right around 100mph) and part of me wonders if that is hurting dispersion/consistency.

 

I feel like the primary thing that is taking down my scorecard at the moment is that most rounds I'll card 3-4 holes of triple bogey or worse which are either an out of bounds off the tee, thinned shot lost through the back of the green, or lost ball in the rough. I'm averaging about 30% of Fairways and GIRs, and my putting has been mediocre - with a 2.1 putts per round average, 37 putts total, and very few one putts across a round.

 

My approach shots are almost always spot on for distance, but dispersion is a bit of a mess, despite solid contact. 

 

I know the obvious answer is "go work with a pro", but I don't think there's anything fundamentally very wrong with my swing (the pro fitting me for the driver agreed).

 

I just finished reading the Dan Grieves "3 Releases" book and I'm starting to see progress on my chipping and pitching, but need to get more reps in, and I also know I need to get my total number of putts down and one putts up. But other than that I'm a bit at a loss of where to focus to fix the problem of a single bad shot leading to a triple/quad.

 

At some point I would like to get fitted for irons, as I do wonder a bit if my old clubs aren't doing me any favors on mishits. 

 

Anyway, all of that is a long way to say - other than getting more short game reps in, and playing more golf, is there anything else I should be spending the majority of my time on?

[khalespace]

39 minutes ago, Rearviewmirror said:

Hey folks, first time poster so be gentle! I recently got back into golf after a ~9 year layoff. I played a lot as a kid and at times was around 16 handicap, but my mental game was awful and one bad hole would totally derail a round, so my good rounds were low 90s and bad rounds were in the 110s.

 

Fast forward to today. In the past couple of months I've played 7 full rounds and a handful of 9 hole rounds. Garmin tells me I'm right around 23.1 handicap, but in there I've also shot an 88 and a 105 (!!).

 

I'm still using my old clubs for the most part (ten year old Adams Tight Lies irons and strong 4 wood), and just got fitted for a driver (Ping G425) which made a world of difference to my driving consistency/dispersion. I'm averaging 250yds with the driver to either the fairway or 5-10yds into the rough, and when I'm on my iron striking is pretty consistent with a 10-15yd fade. That said, my irons are regular flex, whereas the new driver is stiff flex (swing speed with the driver was right around 100mph) and part of me wonders if that is hurting dispersion/consistency.

 

I feel like the primary thing that is taking down my scorecard at the moment is that most rounds I'll card 3-4 holes of triple bogey or worse which are either an out of bounds off the tee, thinned shot lost through the back of the green, or lost ball in the rough. I'm averaging about 30% of Fairways and GIRs, and my putting has been mediocre - with a 2.1 putts per round average, 37 putts total, and very few one putts across a round.

 

My approach shots are almost always spot on for distance, but dispersion is a bit of a mess, despite solid contact. 

 

I know the obvious answer is "go work with a pro", but I don't think there's anything fundamentally very wrong with my swing (the pro fitting me for the driver agreed).

 

I just finished reading the Dan Grieves "3 Releases" book and I'm starting to see progress on my chipping and pitching, but need to get more reps in, and I also know I need to get my total number of putts down and one putts up. But other than that I'm a bit at a loss of where to focus to fix the problem of a single bad shot leading to a triple/quad.

 

At some point I would like to get fitted for irons, as I do wonder a bit if my old clubs aren't doing me any favors on mishits. 

 

Anyway, all of that is a long way to say - other than getting more short game reps in, and playing more golf, is there anything else I should be spending the majority of my time on?

10-15 yard fade is too much with irons. That is a slice and not a fade anymore. I think you need to reduce your out to in swing path first. There are many videos on Youtube that address this topic.

 

Thin shots and fat shots are basically your club head bottoms out before contacting the balls and you hit the balls on the way up. You need to turn and open up your body more.  Search Youtube for "rotate your hip through impact". This basically means you need to shift weight and move impact point a few inches forward by turning your hip. I bet that at impact your hip is almost parallel with target line. The pros have their hip turned 30 to 40 degrees at impact. One drill I use is hitting irons with a towel on the ground 5 to 6 inches in front of the ball. Initially you will hit the towel, as you turn better, you can make better contact.

 

With these two items, you already have a lot to work with.

Edited August 9, 2023 by khalespace

[Chunkitgood]

Understanding what proper contact is, and evaluating your swing in light of that knowledge.  You may find your pro was overly sanguine.

 

 

[iutodd]

I find that most of my blow up holes are because of mental mistakes.  I rush a bit, or I'm not exactly sure what kind of shot I want to hit, or I'm aimed wrong/have the wrong club and then I make an indifferent swing because I'm not focused right.  Sometimes I get away with it, sometimes I don't. 

 

There are definitely things that you can work on in practice - but I often find advice doesn't focus on the mental side of the game at all.  Think about your course management, your pre-shot routine, and how you maintain the right level of focus throughout the round.  

 

If you want specific advice: if you're only hitting 30% of your greens and not developing many one-putts - your short game needs work: when you miss the green you aren't chipping or pitching it very close.  You first want to make sure you're picking the right club and right target from the fairway - knowing your tendencies and knowing where to "miss" can give you easier shots around the green.  Then work on developing a repeatable technique on shots inside 25 yards - lots of youtube videos about short game shots out there as well.  Find a technique that works for you and then practice that.

 

As for putting: work on making as many putts inside of 5 feet as you can.  And then work on eliminating 3-putts from inside 30 feet as much as you can.  Lots of drills out there for short putt practice and for lag putting.  With the short putt practice - try to include some element of pressure.