Journey to Break 90

[J Jack]

It makes me nervous just to read the swing-by-swing and know that you're recording that stuff while you're playing a round of golf. Down to the yard.
You would have to be Superman to block the "171 slice" out of your mind for your next drive.

I saw an interesting interview with Jack Nicklaus - they were basically asking him about bad shots and he claimed he couldn't recall a single specific shot that they brought up.

Have you tried any old-time golf? Just you and the ball and the current shot you're playing. No rangefinder, no stats, just the little white ball at your feet.

[bortass]

[quote name='ChipDriver' timestamp='1308772468' post='3327707']
What tees are you playing? What yardage? 6,000?
[/quote]

I'm playing the whites which are 6334. They have red and gold as well. Red is 5426 and gold is 5474. Red are the forward tees. Gold are senior tees that were added some years ago and aren't on original tee boxes on all holes. There are also blue tees aka the tips which are 6555 but those tee markers are rare to see. Very few people use them, so they are never out.

I'm starting to understand what you mean by the 6 iron swing BTW. Monday after the league the pro worked with me on my weight shift. I start weight left and keep moving left throughout my swing. So my head is infront of the ball before I start my downswing and I kept trying to move forward even more. The pro got me to understand what the backswing feels like when you let your head stay behind the ball. For me it feels like all my weight is going right and I feel pressure on my right instep. I never felt this before. It's this feel that's getting me hitting the ball off the tee alot better.

I'm using the same exact feel with my fullshot irons. I struggled a bit because it's completely new. So I don't have the low point worked out yet with a more correct swing. So I'm hitting them a bit thin but everyonce in awhile I hit it real solid. The swing feels exactly the same whether it's a 6i or a driver now.

Before this I was following a S&T model which has your weight varying based on the club. Maybe 60/40 for a mid iron but 45/55 or maybe 50/50 for the driver. My number are probably off but you have more weight left at address with irons vs a driver is what I'm getting at.

I love it when I finally have the little light bulb go off and understand what people mean when they say something about the swing. The lightbulb sometimes takes a few years but what you were saying clicked during today's round. So that's probably a record

[bortass]

[quote name='J Jack' timestamp='1308773703' post='3327761']
It makes me nervous just to read the swing-by-swing and know that you're recording that stuff while you're playing a round of golf. Down to the yard.
You would have to be Superman to block the "171 slice" out of your mind for your next drive.

I saw an interesting interview with Jack Nicklaus - they were basically asking him about bad shots and he claimed he couldn't recall a single specific shot that they brought up.

Have you tried any old-time golf? Just you and the ball and the current shot you're playing. No rangefinder, no stats, just the little white ball at your feet.
[/quote]

I played "old-time" golf for years when I started out. Back then I thought I hit a 5i 200 yards... The GPS quickly showed me the error of my ways though, lol.

Sometimes I can block out a bad shot completely. I pretty much did all day today. I have a harder time blocking it out when it's a trend, ie I'm slicing everything. It's easier to do as long as I have shots I consider good in the mix . An individual bad shot I don't think about during my round for the most part. No I'm not superman, It took me years to learn to do this. I used to go in the tank after a bad hole last year because I knew I had no shot of reaching my goal. I could be playing 9 and my target was 50 cuz I was trying to break 100. I'd get a 7 on #2 and into the tank I went. I didn't break 100 until I developed a little mental toughness and not let a bad hole screw me the rest of the day. I'm not perfect though, so sometimes i let it get to me during a scramble or tourney cuz I know I can do better and I feel like I'm letting my team down. I shot a 44 for 9 a few weeks ago with 2 7s on the card, so a bad hole is not the end of the world.

I have a system for tracking stuff and I've been doing it for over 3 years now. This is only if I'm playing alone. I always GPS my tee shots and mark down if I hit the fairway and if it's playable. So 223 RY, is 223 yards, right and playable. I look at the GPS to get my yardage to the green on all my approaches. I grab the club that matches the distance and conditions and hit my shot. 151 6i lg means 151 to my target, I hit a 6i and it was long. When I'm near the green I chip on and I will pace off my putt. If I miss I'll either guess or pace it off. If I'm pacing it off, I missed by more then 5 feet. I then wite down first and last putt distance and number of chips and putts. I'm actually telling myself the numbers before a putt or as i walk off. So 20/3 is 20 ft first putt and 3 feet for the one I holed. 1/2 is 1 chip and 2 putts. Pacing off the first putt is easy since i have to pull the flag.

If I am playing with other people, I do not pace off my putts. I keep all the other stuff though. I play alone 90% of my rounds.

Now sometimes if I hit a shot that I think is real good and it's not a tee shot, I'll actually GPS it. Those are rare. Today I did it 3 times, 2 solid 4w and the GW on my birdie hole. This is a high number. Most rounds I never GPS an actual shot outside of the tee shot. I do this to get an idea of what I just did. It helped me when I started to gain yards with my irons. After flying a few greens I started to GPS the shots to get a feel for how much I was going long by.

Now the time it takes. I think it's fairly quick. I played 18 walking today and it took 3.5 hours and I had to wait at times during the last few holes. I also stopped at the clubhouse during the turn to get a snack and a drink for the back.

So I have a score card with my tee shot, approach, and shortgame. When I write up my round in detail it's from memory with the card. There's a picture of what my card looks like at the end of my thread about breaking 100. All the stats go into OOBgolf which is how I know I am averaging 1.91 putts per hole the last 20 rounds.

[CCCakumbra]

Great to hear you achieved your goal. Good luck on your next also. Naturally as humans we will never be happy so similarly my target score is continually decreasing. I play off 23 Handicap but I can play to a 12. I broke 80 for the first time last month and now am looking to break 75 which will take a lot of work and I'm sure many frustrating close calls.

[bortass]

[quote name='CCCakumbra' timestamp='1308779045' post='3328009']
Great to hear you achieved your goal. Good luck on your next also. Naturally as humans we will never be happy so similarly my target score is continually decreasing. I play off 23 Handicap but I can play to a 12. I broke 80 for the first time last month and now am looking to break 75 which will take a lot of work and I'm sure many frustrating close calls.
[/quote]

I haven't hit my goal yet.. I came close last year but this year has been a mess.

I'm learning some stuff about the more centered swing. I've narrowed down that my pull hook is caused by the ball being too far forward. I needed the ball that far forward before because I was moving my entire body left at the start of my swing.

I have had my heel catch the ground a few times now and the ball goes right. The heel catches which slows the clubhead but my hands keep moving forward which twists the face open. I think I'll have my irons bent to standard. They are +3 upright and I've changed my posture quite a bit.

The driver is an instaslice still. I dunno what happened Wednesday with that club but that mojo is long gone. So I'm using my 4w now. I keep it in play a heck of alot more and the distance is decent. 185 - 200 or so when I hit it good. So I may be losing 30 yards but I can't play from where the ball goes with the driver now.

My distances need to be dialed back as well. I haven't learned how to hit the ball solid with a centered swing. So I'm thin alot. I think I'll drop things back 10 yards and see how it goes.

I'm not expecting to see any good numbers anytime soon. I'm gonna keep working on things with the 6i. The 4w is good enough and if I get my iron shots more solid, I should be in a much better spot.

[bamboobender]

Hi Bortass, great thread. Really admire your honesty in posting your struggle to break 90 on here, the good, the bad, and the ugly. lol Pretty easy for everybody to be a hero online(IMO). I have read through the whole thread because your experience is so similar to mine when I first started, it's not even funny. Right down to the IT Guy Problem solving,150yd 5i, possible ADD part. Not to mention that I'm a tinkerer as well. IOW I feel ya man! I'm not a golf instructor, or even a great player, but I think I can share some of what I have learned that might be of some help to you, from an apparently similar perspective. I hope you can take this for what its worth. And these are just my observations, based on what was written here, along with a lot of wisdom my Dad( who was a wonderful, scratch or better golfer) tried to pass on to me, but I was hard headed, couldn't understand. No free advice, just sharing what has worked for me from a similar perspective. (IMO)

First and foremost, even though it seems you have probably received some good instruction from your instructor, I believe you may be that you may be on the old "Tips roller coaster", something my Dad tried to warn me about, in his own way, but, of course, I jumped right on it anyway, reading every possible golf "theory" I could find. And, like every roller coaster, it lead to some fantastic highs, and almost always some frustrating lows. I'm sure you know what I mean, a little of this and a little of that, take a "stronger" grip, different stance, focus on this, that, or the other. Having a lot of "epiphanies" thinking " I got it now", only to find that they were just a bandaid that that temporarily covered some other problem.

Secondly, you have received some great advice already in this thread, some of which may be hard to swallow. Namely, leaving the driver in the bag, or even better at home, until you gain some more consistency. the truth is that the driver being the longest club with the least loft is truly the hardest to hit consistently, even being a sweeper, flipper, whatever you want to call it, you can get away with it just often enough to keep trying it, while the whole time, in reality, taking many unnecessary penalty strokes. If i had "wrapped it around a tree" like my my Dad suggested, I would have probably progressed much faster, in hindsight. I got my first birdie, and not too long after an eagle, when I finally gave in that the siren song of twenty possible extra yards off the tee was doing more harm than good. Also reducing the number of clubs,to hitting your "favorite" club, even though your "favorite" club opens a whole new "can of worms: too much to go into at the moment, maybe later, if you're interested, can help a great deal due to the confidence you have in it.

Thirdly, I see from your posts that your short game is "ok". Again, not trying to give advice here, just relating what worked for me. When I, finally, began to practice my short game more than my long game, like I said I'm hard headed, I went from ok, to decent, to pretty good, to getting remarks like "dang that was a good shot!" when I stuck one to less than five feet from 60+ yards. Not saying that I can do that every time, but more often than not I can get pretty close, especially when my long game seems to be lacking.This alone has kept my score from getting too horrible, despite not playing a round of golf for about nine years, for various reasons, I was still able to shoot in the mid to lower nineties, sometimes eighties, even flirting with with breaking eighty at times, It stands to reason though, since statistically a third or more of the strokes taken during a round occur within 100 yds and in. Statistical advantages of of 33%, are next to, if not impossible, to overcome. Just ask the casinos why they work so hard to blackball "card counters", who are honestly smart enough to do to do this in their head, with no cheating devices at all, because they can achieve a slight statistical advantage in doing so and take a lot of money from the casinos, who make their money from having a relatively slight statistical advantage.

A couple things I have found that haven't been mentioned here, as well as most other golf instruction oriented venues to any great detail, is the subject of forearm/grip strength. The common advice is to grip the club "lightly, as if holding a baby bird, or tube of toothpaste, etc." I truly believe that this is just a perception passed on by good/great golfers that, in reality have much better than average grip strength due to forearm strength, either naturally, or from the countless hours they spent swinging a club at high speed. In my own experience, doing wrist curls with a standard 45# Olympic bar, both ways, even though I wasn't actually doing them to improve my golf game, did wonders for my control and accuracy. Grip style is another factor IMO

[bortass]

Bamboo,

I hear you on the driver. I'm going back to my gameplan from a few years ago of using a wood for my tee shots. So it's my 4w now instead of a 3w with a too stiff shaft from last year. I think it'll stay in the bag since I may still use it on #9 plus I don't really have another club to replace it with. I could add my 4i back into my bag but i'm not sure what that would buy me. Last time I used it I struggled with it. I have a 3h in my bag but it's a stiff shaft and I rarely use it. I'll use it on #15 which is a par 3 pond carry when I have 170ish to center. I had that yesterday with the wind in my face. I hit it fat and in the pond and my retee was thin and in the pond. I probably should just pull that club out of my bag as well and just hit a 5i and pray.

I do have a 7w in the bag but I dunno what role it plays. I can get it airborne high enough to hold a green but it's not very long, maybe 150ish. I have tried at least 3 makes of hybrids and I didn't hit any of them well enough to consider buying.

My shortgame woes are focused in one area. My chipping. It was better for a period of time earlier this year but it's not good. I had 3 two chips and 1 3 chip yesterday. I had good results with hinge and hold but I think I'm not doing it correctly now. I'm getting alot of thin/blades with the occasional fluffed shot. I'll bew rewatching the DVD to refresh myself on the technique. It's funny cuz i use his technique for flop type shots and it works great. I never blade those. My distance control isn't perfect but i've yet to not execute that shot even though i may only use it once every 5 rounds. I only use it if I'm forced too.

Grip pressure is funny. Everything I read say light. Snead had the forearms of a blacksmith according to a reference i've seen. So light is probably relative. My pro has mentioned I need to hold the club tighter because I have a pretty lose grip and the club may move a bit during my swing. I struggle with this, trying to reconcile holding a club firmly vs lightly. I'm finding that my interpretation of common golf fundamentals is wrong. Sigh.

[bortass]

League night was tonight. So I played 9 holes and it was the front. No breakdown since I was the scorekeeper for our threesome. I have no clue how far any shot went etc.

Driving - I hit my 4w on #1 and snapped it over left into #2. Hmm kinda like Wednesday and my driver was on that day after hooking my 4w on 1. I tell the guys to keep an eye on my ball as I tee of with driver on #2. A high baby draw into the middle of the fairway. I hit driver on 3 and it goes right on me but into a playable spot. I hit driver again on 5 and it goes right and into a pine tree. So on 7 I hit a nice fade with my 4w into the fairway. On 8 I push my 4w into a tree on the right. On 9 I go with driver and setup to hit my fade around the corner, I blade it instead and it rolls maybe 70 yards in the grass. I plan to keep using the 4w, though my mishit on #8 surprised me.

Approaches and par 3 tee shots - #2 is the #3 hcp hole on the course and i hit my 7I on the green and got a par. My approach on 1 was mishit. On #3 I hit it thin and missed to the right. #4 is a par 3 and the tees were back, 170ish. I hit my 5i and it's a very high draw that hits the green and rolls 9 feet from it's pitch mark. It was just inside 19 feet from the hole, I measured in case of closest to the pin. #5 I hit my SW and miss long right. #6 is a par 3 and I hit my 8i and miss short left because i hit some trees, an over draw. #8 is a thin PW long and right. #9 was a LW from the rough from 47 yards or so and I stuck it about 6 feet past the hole.

Misc shots - My 4w on 7 left me 204 from the front of the green. I wait for it to clear and I hit my 4w from the upslope. It's a bit low and down the right side and a blind shot. My ball is three yards to the right of the green.... My tee shot on 5 bounced of a tree and was in the fairway on an upslope. i hit my 4w off the deck and it was a high draw that got me inside 90 yards. It's close to a 400 yard par 4 and my tee shot maybe went 110 or so. I'm starting to feel real good about the 4w off the deck. I can only hit it in greenlight situations, namely a good lie in the fairway or thin rough. For example, I wouldn't dare hit it on #3 from 180 out even if I was in the middle of the fairway. It's a blind shot with a stream to carry and long is very bad. So long and too short are death, not a good place to try a 4w.

I have a new drill for my ball striking. I'm doing a pretty good job of keeping my head centered in my swing now. The biggest problem is my low point is way off and I hit it thin alot. So take an impact bag and place it 2 feet behind the ball. Address the ball and then put the club head on the impact bag. So you're kinda preset part way through the backswing. Then you take the club back a little more, which gets it up and off the bag and then swing down and hit the ball w/o hitting the bag. This really started to get the club back down into the turf. I did this for the first time today before my round and it's why I hit that great 5i on #4.

Chipping - blows chunks. I either fluff them or hit it thin and through the green/way past the hole. This need alot of focus and work. I've tried using my SW and my LW and it's a crap shoot either way. I have tried a few different methods over the years w/o alot of luck. I'll start working on hinge and hold. It gave me the best results when it was 'on' earlier this year. My chipping has a direct correlation with my score, no surprise there I know.

So my gameplan is to work on my chipping and the new drill. My short term focus is the chipping. So instead of hitting a large bucket on the range, I will either just hit a small and work on my chipping or just work on my chipping. I'm not sure if I can take chipping practice for over an hour. So if I have 90 minutes to work on stuff maybe I can do both. If I have an hour or less, it'll be chipping.

[wwjbd24]

Couple questions, I dont know if it's been mentioned, but what equipment are you using? Just curious

also do you belong to a club? or do you pay per bucket of balls/round?

[bortass]

[quote name='wwjbd24' timestamp='1309221591' post='3340438']
Couple questions, I dont know if it's been mentioned, but what equipment are you using? Just curious

also do you belong to a club? or do you pay per bucket of balls/round?
[/quote]

I'm a member at the course and also picked up a range membership. I've played enough to cover 75% of the course membership already. So I should be playing for 'free' by the end of July. The range membership is new for me. I'm not sure if I'll break even or not on that one but it's nice being able to just show up and grab a bucket of balls whenever.

My clubs are:
Wishon 919THI driver w/ a Matrix R flex shaft.
Cally Diable Octane 4w w/ stock R flex shaft.
MacGregor NVT 3H w/stiff shaft( bad shaft for me)
Component 7w that is rarely used these days
MacGregor M565 irons w/ 95g R flex Aerotech graphite shafts, 5 - PW. My 4i has the same shaft but isn't in the bag. My 3i has the Rifle stiff 5.5 in it still.
Vokey 52 & 56* wedges with the same shafts as the iron but they are 110g
Wilson 60* LW I bought many years ago for $25 with stock steel shaft.

[bortass]

Spent about an hour working on my chipping this morning. The course has two practice greens. The one near the clubhouse is pretty flat and is surrounded by fringe only. The other one is located on the side of a hill. So there more breaks and the slope to deal with. It also has rough and you can find uphill lies just like on the course when your ball is sitting on the upslope that faces the raised greens. I practiced at the one on the hill.

I think I finally figured out the thin/blading problem. My shoulder rotate pretty flat in relation to the ground when I chip. This is also how my fullswing was until a few weeks ago. I finally decided to let my right shoulder get lower then my left and hold my follow through. The thins went away! I also made better contact with the ball. Phil only talks about the mechanics of the stroke itself on his DVD, i.e. where to put the ball, how to setup the club, etc. I need to watch it again to see what his shoulders are doing but I think his left one will dip lower then his right.

I was also trying out various lies while working things out. I only used my SW and started to play with opening the face when I had a short sided chip. Overall I think I made some progress today. I had a few real good chips and was starting to get more balls inside 5 feet near the end. A good chip will be inside 3 feet, at least that's my benchmark.

My next practice session will be chipping as well. Maybe later today if I can find the time or tommorow before work.

[bortass]

I worked on my chipping for another 30 minutes during lunch today. I plan to work on it more in the coming days.

I normally play volleyball on Tuesday nights. The weather was nice and I decided to play 9 instead. I played the back with 3 other members because the front was backed up. The back is 330 yards longer then the front, so it always gives me fits.

10 - par 5, I hook my 4w 174 into the left rough. My lie is ok but it's not good enough for me to hit my 4w. I go with my 5i and hit a low draw back into the fairway. This sets me up 214 from center. The wind is behind me and I hit my 4w off the deck. It's a high draw that misses right by a few yards. I would have only been on by a few yards if I hit the middle anyhow. I chip on and have a putt in the 15 foot range. I read more break then there was and 2 putt for a 6.

11 - long par 4, I hooked the 4w so i hit my driver. It's a nice mid height draw 207 into the middle of the fairway. I'm 200 yards out and into the wind. I hit my 4w off the deck and it's a high draw that stops a few yards short of the green. I chip on and have the distance down but my aim was real bad and I'm 10 feet right of the hole. I two putt for a 5.

12 - par 4, I go with driver and hit my instaslice into the right trees. It goes 133 off the tee but I made it through the hazard but I'm still in the edge of the trees with no good shot. I hit a 4w into the rough on 11. I have no shot for the green because of too many small pine trees. I try to punch a 5i into the fairway of 12 but it's thin and stops in the rough on the right side of 12. I'm 141 out and hit my 7i on the green from the rough. I have a long putt and 2 putt for a 6.

13 - par 3, about 137 to center. I hit my 8i and it's a very high draw that hits the green and stops 5.5 feet from the cup. I sink the birdie putt and start to hear jokes about me being a sandbagger. One of the guys knows I'm a 30 HCP.

14 - long par 4, I push my 4w and it comes down through branches that overhang the fairway on the right side, 183. I'm 206 out and hit my 4w. It's another nice shot but I miss the green a little short and well right. I'm maybe 8 yards off and I have a real tricky chip. The ball is in the rough, I'm above the green and there's a sharp downslope right where the green starts that then levels off. I somehow need to land my ball in the rough and have it roll over this mounds and hope it trickles on the green and near the hole. I setup to chip and blade it through the green. I chip again inside 4 feet and sink the bogey putt. This is the #2 HCP hole on the course, so i'm real happy with the 5.

15 - par 3 with pond. I putt 2 balls in the drink with my 3H last time I played this hole. It's about 148, so I hit my 6i. It's a very high draw that lands on the back right of the greeen, 148 yards... I hear more sandbagger comments. The ball rolled less then 2 feet from it's pitch mark on landing. So I'm back right and the flag is front left. I blow my putt well past the hole and end up with a 3 putt bogey.

16 - par 4, I hit my 4w and it's an ok draw about 155 into the fairway. I'm 179 out and loing is bad. There are also 2 tricky bunkers on the right and not much room to miss near the green and be in a good spot. I decide on my 5i which should be short and leave me with a chip. I hit it thin and it rolls to 80 yards out. My SW goes a bit right on me and lands in the fringe and rolls on the green. I have a long side slope putt and 3 putt for a 6. Damn.

17 - par 4, I hit my 4w and it's a high draw 190 into the fairway. I'm 124 out and the flag is left. You need to miss short and not on the opposite side. I miss and it goes in the right rough, a few yards off the green, and I'm about hole high. This is not a simple chip again...Bah. So I chip and the ball ends up 2 feet below the hole.... The only way that chip is better is if i hole it out. I sink the putt for my par.

18 - par 5, another high draw with the 4w 200 yards in the fairway maybe 4 feet right of a bunker that guards the corner.The ball is a little above my feet but it's just a few inches, the lie is great otherwise. There's a pond along the left side of the fairway. I aim for some trees on the right side of the fairway and hit my 4w. It's another high draw that ends up 82 yards out in the fairway on the right side. A perfect shot. I go with my SW and the ground is soft. My wedge slides completely under the ball and I miss to the right and a bit short. I have a tricky chip because I'm short right and the green has a bowl effect that goes from right to left. So I need to chip it through the rough close to parralel with the green and let the slope pull the ball down and on. I hit it too softly and it stays in the fringe. So I have the same kinda shot but only need to get through a few feet of fringe, so I use the putter and it goes 6+ feet past the hole. I sink my putt for a 6 though.

I shot a 44! My PB 9 is a 43 on the front and the front is 300 yards shorter and is par 35, while the back is par 36. So I essentially tied my PB on the harder half of the course for me. My rounds of 91 and 92 last year had me shooting a 46 and 47 on the back respectively. This is my second birdie on the back in the last week as well.

The biggest things are my centered swing and the chipping.

I feel great with a 4w in my hands either on the tee or off the deck. A few weeks ago I'd top my 4w off the deck even though it was decent off the tee. My ballstriking is better with the wood because I'm staying behind the ball. My irons are also starting to show some improvements as well. The 5i from last night and the 6i and 8i from tonight were awesome. High draws. Distance is good too. I'm about 10 yards longer then I was at the start of the year. So I'm not the full +20 that I was hitting them 3 weeks ago but I don't care. My mishits are starting to be alot better and I didn't see any pulls with my irons at all tonight.

90 minutes of chipping practice has already made a difference. I only hit 3 greens and while I did chip twice on two holes, my overall results were alot better. I still gotta get my chipping into much better shape though. So it's still my #1 priority.

I so wish I could have played a full 18. I was in the groove tonight. I hit all but 2 fairways, and only 1 of the misses was bad. I also did most of my tee shots with my 4w. I always figured i need my driver to have a chance at a good score because of the length on the back. Not now!

(can you tell I'm excited?) lols

[J Jack]

Congrats on the44.

What is amazing is that you're hitting 4 wood or 5 iron into most greens. Pros would have a tough time hitting those clubs into 75 percent of greens like you're doing.


I think you should play a 5500=5700 yard course so that you can hit those nice 8 irons into greens. You'll get that 80s round and feel the pressure lighten.

[Desert Golf]

[quote name='J Jack' timestamp='1309315567' post='3344125']
Congrats on the44.

What is amazing is that you're hitting 4 wood or 5 iron into most greens. Pros would have a tough time hitting those clubs into 75 percent of greens like you're doing.


I think you should play a 5500=5700 yard course so that you can hit those nice 8 irons into greens. You'll get that 80s round and feel the pressure lighten.
[/quote]


I agree with J Jack. Moving up a tee box can do wonders by giving you shorter approach shots which translates to lower scores. Once you post low scores from the "senior tees", you will break the mental barrier and you will have the confidence to post a low round from the "regular" tees.

Most of my buddies like to play from the blue tees (over 6300 yds) which puts a lot of pressure on my short game since I'm not very long off the tee (about 225yds). From the blues I often struggle to break 90 but I will often shoot in the mid/low 80's (and occasionally in the 70') from the white tees.


You seem to be dedicated and I'm sure you will reach your goal but I would recommend moving up a tee box and see how you do. It worked for me.

[bortass]

[quote name='J Jack' timestamp='1309315567' post='3344125']
Congrats on the44.

What is amazing is that you're hitting 4 wood or 5 iron into most greens. Pros would have a tough time hitting those clubs into 75 percent of greens like you're doing.


I think you should play a 5500=5700 yard course so that you can hit those nice 8 irons into greens. You'll get that 80s round and feel the pressure lighten.


[/quote]

That's the nature of the back 9.

#10 is a 560 yard par 5 and only has a slight dogleg. A solid tee shot and solid 4w second shot would get me someplace between the 120 to 150 range. I've been inside 100 before in two but I hit a great driver and a solid 3w to do it last year. Compared to #9 which is 488 yards but it's a 90* dogleg right off the tee, so the straightline distance from the tees is closer to 380.

#11 is a 420 yard par 4. I'm coming into this green with a 4w unless I nut my driver and then it's a 5i.

#14 is another 420 yard par 4, so it's the same as above.

I hit my 5i into #16 last night because my tee shot only went 155. Another 25 yards and it's a 6i.

On the front there is only one long par 4. #5 is about 380 yards, card says 400 and plays long. I can sometimes hit my driver over the hill to the 150 marker. That would give me a 6i or so depending on wind. Most times with either driver of 4w, I'm more like 180 - 210 out, so it's a 4w.

The course is a bit shorter then the card says though. The best example is #17. It's listed as 375 on the card but my gps has it closer to 320. It is a slight dogleg left. Last night I hit my 4w 190 off the tee and had 124 to the center. But I have no clue how they measured the distances. I know it's not straight line, so maybe I shortened the hole somehow with my tee shot.

The cool thing is I felt zero pressure last night. I just went about my business. A bit over a year ago, I may have crumbled on the last few holes to mental mistakes while playing 9. I saw it happen alot. That doesn't happen much anymore. I don't get nervous because I started real good and may be + 3 through 4 holes. I do feel the nerves a bit more over those close birdie putts though. I only have 8 birdies compared to 216 pars in the rounds I've posted on OOB golf that go back to 2003.

Now I will not say that's the case if I'm playing 18 and doing well. Who knows what happens then.

[bortass]

[quote name='Desert Golf' timestamp='1309316579' post='3344174']
[quote name='J Jack' timestamp='1309315567' post='3344125']
Congrats on the44.

What is amazing is that you're hitting 4 wood or 5 iron into most greens. Pros would have a tough time hitting those clubs into 75 percent of greens like you're doing.


I think you should play a 5500=5700 yard course so that you can hit those nice 8 irons into greens. You'll get that 80s round and feel the pressure lighten.
[/quote]


I agree with J Jack. Moving up a tee box can do wonders by giving you shorter approach shots which translates to lower scores. Once you post low scores from the "senior tees", you will break the mental barrier and you will have the confidence to post a low round from the "regular" tees.

Most of my buddies like to play from the blue tees (over 6300 yds) which puts a lot of pressure on my short game since I'm not very long off the tee (about 225yds). From the blues I often struggle to break 90 but I will often shoot in the mid/low 80's (and occasionally in the 70') from the white tees.


You seem to be dedicated and I'm sure you will reach your goal but I would recommend moving up a tee box and see how you do. It worked for me.
[/quote]


I did this last year when I was trying to break 100 for the first time. I played both the golds and the reds, once or twice. My scores didn't change that much but I wasn't hitting the ball as well as now. I'll be honest and admit I struggle with the idea of moving up a tee box. It's the stupid ego. I don't know how I'd feel if I broke 90 from the forward tees. Those shave 850ish yards off the course. Would I feel like I have an asterisk next to my score?

Here is the real stupid thing. When I was first trying to break 100 I played a weekly 9 hole round at another course. It's about 5500 yards from the whites. I would feel great if I played there and broke 90. Makes alot of sense huh?

[Thats_OB]

[quote name='bortass' timestamp='1309352284' post='3344823']
I did this last year when I was trying to break 100 for the first time. I played both the golds and the reds, once or twice. My scores didn't change that much but I wasn't hitting the ball as well as now. I'll be honest and admit I struggle with the idea of moving up a tee box. It's the stupid ego. I don't know how I'd feel if I broke 90 from the forward tees. Those shave 850ish yards off the course. Would I feel like I have an asterisk next to my score?

Here is the real stupid thing. When I was first trying to break 100 I played a weekly 9 hole round at another course. It's about 5500 yards from the whites. I would feel great if I played there and broke 90. Makes alot of sense huh?
[/quote]

Mr. Bortass,

I'm not suggesting you should move up, but you could use the 'Tee It Forward' chart to help select the right tees for you. Don't worry too much about the [i]color[/i] of the markers.
[url="http://www.playgolfamerica.com/index.cfm?action=teeitforward"]http://www.playgolfa...on=teeitforward[/url]

[bortass]

Played a quick 9 earlier. No magic today, lol.

My 4w was only so so off the tee. I hit a few weak draws, one of which went into the trees on #3. I even sliced it into the trees on 7. My irons missed to the right with a few mishits. One went into a stream and another sliced into some trees. The slice was real odd.

I did have some good stuff though. I hit a GW 7 feet from the cup from 114 yards. The ball hit and only rolled a foot or so. I hade no bladed or duffed chips. My distance control is still spotty but I had a chip acroos a green with a sidehill slope that stopped 1 foot from the hole. A great chip.

So small flashes of very good golf but I wasn't steady enough to capitalize today.

[qtlaw]

Bortass, glancing through this it looks like you are making very nice progress.

Whenever people say break 90, I tell them, look at what that means, generally its bogey golf. What's it take to do that? Most basic terms is 2 putting and getting on the green 1 over reg. You've done that a great deal of the time so that's doable. Think bogey is a good score. Throw in a par on a par 3 and you've done it. Its basic course management.

One thing I would suggest is, based on what I read on your posts, when you are over 180 out/in heavy rough/in the woods, forget the 3w/4w/long iron. Play for two shots to the green. Your wedge game seems okay, so just think about getting to that yardage, then wedge it on and try to 1 putt. That will solve a great number of problems. Instead of topping fairway woods 50 yds or getting into more trouble, just try to get to inside 100 yds from where you are, a lot easier.

Good luck.

[bortass]

[quote name='qtlaw' timestamp='1309479582' post='3353235']
Bortass, glancing through this it looks like you are making very nice progress.

Whenever people say break 90, I tell them, look at what that means, generally its bogey golf. What's it take to do that? Most basic terms is 2 putting and getting on the green 1 over reg. You've done that a great deal of the time so that's doable. Think bogey is a good score. Throw in a par on a par 3 and you've done it. Its basic course management.

One thing I would suggest is, based on what I read on your posts, when you are over 180 out/in heavy rough/in the woods, forget the 3w/4w/long iron. Play for two shots to the green. Your wedge game seems okay, so just think about getting to that yardage, then wedge it on and try to 1 putt. That will solve a great number of problems. Instead of topping fairway woods 50 yds or getting into more trouble, just try to get to inside 100 yds from where you are, a lot easier.

Good luck.
[/quote]

The 4w off the deck is when I have a good lie and my target is open enough. I rarely use it from the rough. The exception is if I'm in the rough but it's thin. There's some spots like that on my course where the rough just doesn't get that thick. I'd say 90% of the time I'm hitting a 7 - 9i out of the rough, regardless of how far from the hole I am.

Here is my thought process when I'm in no mans land for yardages. Say a 220 4w or 170 - 180 5i. I will not make it to the green, so it's 2 shots regardless. A solid shot means I'm chipping. A duffed shot means I'm hitting a 7i or wedge in, depending on how far it goes. I've tried to layup to 100 yards in the past and it didn't help much. I'm still likely to miss the green and be chipping. The closer to the green I get, the better chance my next shot is good.

There is one hole on the course that I layup on alot, #3. It's a blind approach that needs to carry a stream. So if I'm out of my comfort zone, I layup into the 110 - 120 yard range. My average score on that hole in the last year is 5.9. #5 is a long par 4, that I can't hit in 2. My average score there is 5.9 as well.

This is my logic. I'm not saying it's right though.

I'm happy with bogies and even a dbl on 5, 11, and 14 because they are the 3 hardest holes and are longer. So I need pars to pick up the slack. Luckily I am getting those more frequently. Birdies are very rare but I've had 3 in the last month I think.

[bortass]

I played the front again tonight after dinner. Nothing like walking 9 after a couple bacon cheeseburgers off the grill

I played slightly better and I hit driver...

I had 2 bad holes. #3 I push my driver into a pine tree next to the forward tees(I've hit this tree a number of times over the years with my 3w, 4w, and driver). The ball bounces to the right and hits a bench and lands in a hole in the ground filled with grass. I try to hack it out with a 7i and it goes 2 feet and lands in a puddle. So my casual water drop makes it the same as an unplayable. I still in a bad spot and it takes me 2 shots to get to my layup spot of 111. I hit my GW and miss the green right. My chip is agressive and goes long an d i rush and 3 putt for an 8. #4 I hit my tee shot heavy and into the stream. I drop and pitch on with my LW but i'm on the right and the flag is left. So I 2 putt for a dbl.

Driver - It was interesting. I hit draws on 1 and 2 that went 212 into the fairway. I hit a low fade on 5 200 yards into the fairway. I somehow pull it on 7 172 into the left rough. I mishit it real low on 8 but it's in the fairway, just 149 off the tee. On 9, I try to cut the corner but fail to, so it's a short tee shot but playable, and I end up with a par. Overall it was decent.

Chipping - another round of no duffs and no thins. Still some distance problems but I stuck two chips inside 2 feet, for pars. The modifications are really paying off. I no longer dread it like I was on Monday. I used to say 'my chipping sucks' alot on league nights and think it when playing solo. Not now. I feel competent.

My irons are getting interesting too. I'm not hitting greens but I am missing on the right side alot, even when my ball draws. I'd say the common miss is within 3 yards right of the green and anywhere from a few yards short of the front to the middle of the green. It's not like I'm missing way right because it slices, though I did manage that this morning on 1 hole. I also have not pulled the ball in a number of rounds. So I'm starting to think that my cone of misses either left or right is shrinking. I'm not making great contact still for 80% of the shots though. I'm either a touch heavy or thin. I haven't worked on low point since Monday night. I may do that on the range in the morning instead of chipping practice. I get a nice high draw that will hold a green when I make solid contact.

Lastly, my 4i is going back in my bag. I never use my 7w and my 3h is rarely used and I have no faith in. So I'll pull the 7w and use the 4i to see how it works out filling that gap between 5i and 4w. The 4i will be used like the 4w in that I'd need a good lie and have an open target. At least at first, if I find I don't have major misses with it I'll work it in more. Maybe someday I'll find a hybrid I can hit to replace the existing 3h. I gotta find a way to fill the gap between 5i and 4w, lol. My 3i was never reshafted, so it still has the stiff shaft in it. I don't know if I'll play around with that vs the 3h. I guess some range work would help me sort that out until i can find better replacements.

[bortass]

Played 27 yesterday and 18 today. It caught up to me today. Got a headache now, may be from too much sun or dehydration. I normaly drink a gatorade and once that's getting low by the 5th hole, I start filling it with water. I probably drink about 64 oz during 18 holes. Maybe a bit more. So I didn't even try to play another 9 this evening.

My 18 yesterday was a disaster but the 9 last night was alot better.

My 18 today started out pretty good IMO. I was 18 through 4 which is +3 and it includes the only holes on the front with water. I got up and down on holes 2, 3 and 4. I got a dbl on 5 which is the long par 4.

My first blowup was the par 3 6th. I pushed my tee shot into the rough. I'm pin high and leave a real long chip from the rough on the fringe. I then get cute and try a chip that stops quick and left it short. I then 3 jack for a 6.

So I'm 30 through 6 now. Still kinda on pace.

#7 I slcie my tee shot through the trees w/o hitting any of them and I'm in the 8th fairway. I hit a little low runner through the trees and I'm sitting about 110 out. IO hit my PW and it's a high draw that hits the green and hops back a foot. I'm about 7 feet below the flag and drain the par putt. I'm doing a happy dance since I completely missed the fairway.

I get an ok drive on 8 into the right rough. I'm too far out and hit a 7i layup. This leaves me 60ish yards out and I leave my approach short. My chip goes too far and I 2 putt for a 6. This frustrates me. I hit a good tee shot and bone things even though i played it safe with a layup from the rough.

#9 I hit a slice off the tee but it ends up boucing off a tree and landing in a good spot. I really chunck my 5i that I was trying to punch to the 150 or closer. Not a risky shot. I finally hit the green and 3 putt for an 8.

I have no clue what my score is but I figured I was toast after the two triples.

#10 I manage to get a 6 after having to hit a low runner under a tree and layup with a 7i from the rough.

#11 and the 4w becomes the club I hit off the tee. I hit two good 4w shots that get me close. My SW pitch lands on and I two putt for a 5.

#12 I hit another good tee shot with my 4w. I'm in the FW and chunk my 6i. I don't hit my next shot well either but i'm on the green. I think I hit a little wedge punch thin. 3 putts later I have a 6 and I'm mad at myself.

13 is a par 3 fiasco that lerads to a 5.

On 14, I hit a great tee shot with my 4w 207 into the fairway. The ball is above my feet a bit and I'm 204 out. So I hit my 4w again and slice it OB. I did the same thing yesterday. I need to add 'ball above feet' to my list of lies that i can't hit a 4w from. I proceed to melt down and card a 9.

15 is a par 3 and I yank my tee shot into the pond. I had the ball too far forward. I setup better and hit a high draw with my 5i that only bounced less than 2 feet from its pitch mark. I'm on the wrong side of the green though and card another 6 on a par 3.

I'm able to pull off anoither up and down par on 17 and that's about it.

Not a good round even though it started out that way.

I'll take it though. I learnt some things that I think will help me out:

I'm done with the driver. It teases me with it's siren song and leads me onto the rocks. When it's on, it's on but no consistancy. I think I'll take it out of the bag and put it in the garage. I looked at my stats since June 1st. My average driver is 172 with a range of 10 - 248 yards. My avg 4w is 169 with a range of 48 - 212 yards. I hit my 4w 38 times off the tee and driver was 146. The big difference is fairways, I hit 60% with the 4w vs 42% with the driver. I also marked 69% of my 4w tee shots as playable vs 54% with the driver. Numbers don't lie. I've just been blinding myself with thoughts of those days when my driver is on and I hit the ball 220+

I have a new criteria added to my 4w off the deck. I try to be careful where I hit it because I don't want to get in trouble.

I can still get par even with a bad tee shot. It takes some luck but it's doable.

I'm getting up and down more lately. The chipping practice is helping.

[bortass]

Another hot and humid day up here. I did some work around the house and played 18, teeing off a bit after noon. I took my driver out of my bag and left it in the trunk of my car. There would be no listening to to it's sweet words tainted in poison this round.


1 - par 4, I hit my 4w 180 into the fairway. So I'm off to a good start. I decide on an 8i from 134 and it hits the green and stops 2 feet from it's pitch mark. I two putt for a par and the game is on!

2 - par 4, My 4w is a draw into the right rough 183 off the tee. I have a good lie and hit my 6i from 142 because I'm going uphill. I miss the green to the left. I'm in the fringe about 6 inches off the green. I use my putter to chip and and get up and down for par.

3 - par 4, I hit a high draw 182 into the fairway. I have a slightly downhill lie and i'm 172 out. I think about laying up but decide to go for it with my 5i. I hit it thin and watch it roll over the hill towards the stream. The ball stops halfway down the hill, so I hit a sw across and well short of the green. I hit a nice chip and sink the bogey putt.

4 - par 3, my 5i misses the green left. The flag is more to the right, so i have plenty of green to work with. I manage to skull my chip through the green, grrrr. I chip the next one close to the hole and sink the bogey putt.

I've made it through the only holes with water on the front and I'm two over par. Things are going great.

5 - long par 4, it's hot and humid... I swing my 4w and it slips in my hands and it's alow duck 55 yards to the left in the rough. I can't keep my hands dry enough, so I put my rain gloves on. I hit my shot from the rough and get to the top of the hill in the fairway. I can't reach the green and hit my 4w i think. I mishit it and it rolls to 111 out. I go with my PW and it's a high draw that hits the green. I two putt for a 6.

I'm a little bummed about the 6 but the club slipped on my tee shot. It happens.

6 - par 3, my 7i is heavy and short. My chip is short and well below the hole. I two putt for the bogey.

7 - par 4, I kinda hook my 4w under the left trees179 yards. I take the safest angle out and I'm in the fairway on the right side, 146 out. I'm thinking 7. I'm above the green and the wind is in my face. I'm trying to figure out if i need to go with a 6i because of the wind. I stick with my 7i. I hit a high draw that lands in the right fringe middle of the green. Another chip and two putt for a bogey.

8 - par 4, I hit a nice draw 193 into the FW. I'm 152 out and leave my 6i short by a few yards. It was a bit heavy. I chip on and two putt for a bogey.

9 - par 5, I hit a fade into the face of the hill 158 and I clear the corner. The ball is below my feet, so the 4w stays in the bag. I hit my 5i thin but it gets to a flat spot 164 from center. I hit my 5i again and it lands short of the green and rolls on. I have 9 feet for birdie and I miss ending up 3 inches on the low side away. I tap in for my par.

So I haven't added my score on the course but I know I'm playing very good(for me). I end up with a 42 on the front which is a PB for 9 holes. We head straight for #10 w/o stopping at the turn.

10 - par 5, I hit a push that clips trees on the right. I'm 134 off the tee and just in the trees. I take the safe shot and hit my 7i into the fairway. I hit my 4w thin and it rolls to about 142 out. My 7i is mishit and short. I leave my chip real short too and two putt for a 7.

11 - long par 4, I hit a high draw that only goes 169. The wind is picking up with thunderstorms starting to form. I hit another 4w and itt's thin. So I'm 100 yards out and i hit my GW. It's a high slight draw that lands and spins back in the right fringe. I misjudged the location of the hole and thought it was in the front when it was really in the middle. My chip leaves another longer putt 7+ feet. I two putt for a dbl bogey 6.

I'm thinking to myself that i can't be wasting these chances to chip close and get a bogey. I have a buffer but it's not huge.

12 - par 4, I hit a fade 168 into the right rough. I'm too far out and I hit my 5i layup heavy, so I'm 90 yards out. I grab my SW and it slides right under my ball and short of the green. Bah. Another chip that leaves me in the 9 - 12 foot range and i two putt for another dbl. This has got to end.

13 - par 3 with a strong tail breeze. My 7i is thin and short. My chip is kinda eh and I two putt for a bogey. See a trend?

14 - wind's still picking up and we hear thunder in the distance. I hit a low draw with my 4w 200 yards into the fairway. I learned my lesson the last two days and layup with my 5i. I'm 100 yards out and hit my SW. The ball lands to the right of the hole and the horn sounds to clear the course. I mark my ball and we head into the clubhouse. It takes about 20 minutes, maybe a bit more for the thunderstorms to clear the area. I add up the numbers for the front and know i have a 42. I dunnot what i have on the back so far. I just know i have too many doubles and I never did the math to say I need to shoot a 47. I've been thinking that I just need a good chip and 1 putt here. My ball is maybe 4 feet off the green. I don't chip it well and two putt from 9 feet. I guess the rain didn't slow the greeens any.

15 - par 3 with pond. I hit my 5i and it's a low draw that hits the front apron of the green and just stops. I'm on the right and the flag is more middle left. So plenty of room. Again it's a weak chip that is well short of the hole. This time I 3 putt for a 5. I'm just letting this great round go with a whimper. Not a blow up just a steady stream of mediocrity.

16 - par 4, and I'm thinking i need to get some pars. I hit a high draw with the 4w 175 into the fairway. I'm 153 out and can't go for the flag because of a lone tree on the corner of the FW. I hit my 6i into the right fringe. I'm in a good spot to get up and down for par. My chip is heavy and short of the hole. I again 3 putt for a double.

So I know I'm toast now. I make a comment 'well if I par the last 2 maybe I still have a chance'.

17 - par 4, I hit a low draw 179 that shortens the hole. I'm 125 out and goof and hit my PW. I miss right and short. Good thing I goofed. I would have been in a worse spot if I had hit the 9i the yardage called for. I'm just short of the green and I chip the ball 7 feet below the hole, which is a good place to be since this green slopes back to front byt quite a bit. I roll in the par putt. 3 of my last 4 rounds I have a par this hole.

18 - par 5, my 4w is a sky ball into the right trees. I dunno what happened but I see a skid mark in the grass behind the ball from my club. "The nail is in the coffin", I said. "Actually it's been slowly closing and that should do it", I add. I find my ball and I have to hit under/through low branches and somehow get it over the hill right in front of me. I'm literally looking through the branches at the face of the hill and the hill goes a bit higher. I whack a 5i that rolls up the hill part way. I duff another 5i to the front edge of the hill. So now I'm where I'd be if I took a S+D penalty and hit a great drive. I mishit a 4w to 162 out. Then I mishit my 5i to about 86 yards. I'm in a soft area, so I'm sinking a touch and the ball is above my feet. I have my Sw and I choke down on it and hit a high draw that lands on the right side of the green. I two putt for my snowman.

Bah, a 42/52 for a 94. best round of the year though.

I had two bad tee shots with the 4w. The slip on 5 and the popup on 18. The push down the right trees on 10 I don't consider a mishit because it wasn't way offline and there was no curve to it. The driver staying in the car was a smart play. Even the slip on 5 I'm not too bummed about. Rub of the green. The pop up on 18 hurt but I had no chance by then anyways. I didn't know it for a fact but deep down I did.

The only difference IMO between how I played on the front and the back was my chipping. I gave myself some good looks and capitalized on them. I was in position to do the same thing on 8 of the last 9 holes and only did it 1 time. All I needed was to bogey 5 holes and I would of shot an 89 even with that 8. So all my work is going to be chipping related for the forseeable future.

This is a great round for me. It reminds me of when I was trying to break 100. I shot a 45/57 for a 102 and then went out and shot a 97 the next day. My ball striking was consistant all round. The only difference was my chipping. I didn't get nervous or anything. I remember how I did that when I'd play good and get close to breaking 100 and that's not the case now. So it's not in my head. I also know that my 4w is good enough to crack 90 from the whites.

[bortass]

I moved up a tee box to the gold tees. I made it through 4 holes last night before a fast moving thunderstorm shut down the course. I then played 9 tonight from the same set. Overall I didn't like it as much.

The gold tees were added after the fact within the last 7 years. The course was built in the 60s. So on a few holes the gold tees aren't on a normal level tee box. On 5, and 7, it's a low cut section of fairway on the upslope of a hill. On #1 it's on the same tee box as the red tees but the markers were set up on a downslope. I struggled with my tee shots and bounced my 4w off the turf a few times for some reason.

I probably just wan't comfortable. I'm not sure.

My score definately didn't improve any but that was because of my chipping, not the tees. My chips ranged from 6 - 54 feet from the cup. I just didn't take advantage of the shorter course.

So highlights from the last two nights. I hit a LW approach on #1 last night and missed the green on the right and the ball spun back. I've started to see some backspin on my wedges. Right now I consider that 'cool' or 'neat', longterm I dunno if I'll like it or not if it keeps up. Tonight I was 121 from the hole and hit my 9i 3 feet short of the cup. I'm starting to hit the ball alot closer to the cup on approaches or a par 3 every 5 or so rounds it seems. Nothing I can count on and while still rare it's alot more common then in the past when I'd maybe have two shots a year inside 6 feet.

Two day tourney this weekend. It'll be interesting. I should be ok with my ballstriking and it'll all come down to my chipping.

[bortass]

Things haven't been going awesome. I did ok the first day of the tourney and posted a respectable score. The second day wasn't pretty. The number one issue was short game and putting.

My putting was decent two months ago. It's been getting worse. I had 41 putts in yesterdays round.... Pathetic IMO. I dubbed a few chips, which didn't help and really didn't get the call close then I hit it ok.

My full swing is still good enough. Though my 4w is getting dodgey now too. It's mostly good but I still hit a clunker off the tee at times. It's also not playing nice off the deck. SO long par 4s and par 5s where I'd pull it out and hit w/o worry, I now doubt. I've lost a few off the deck to the right lately. I wasn't doing that before.

I had a lesson this AM and we taped my putter stroke and chipping strokes last night.

Putting: I'm taking the ball back outside my target line and cutting across. I dunno when that crept in.
Chipping: We saw my head dip left like it used to with my fullswing.

So I spent time last night working with my putting arc and on my chipping. I think the putting will recover quicker once I get back to a more solid stroke. The chipping will be just alot of practice.

We looked at my 6i and 4w on video today. I'm keeping my head behind the ball much better now. The two things that popped up is my weight doesn't go left and my backswing is too short.

I take the club back to about vertical to the ground and stop. So we worked on getting more wrist set and the clup past vertical. I'm not flexible enough to get to paralel but that's fine. The feeling that works for me is to literally feel like I'm swinging the club back and it's momentum is what sets my wrists. I hit a high long ball when I do it. The lesson was on the far side of the range, so I was hitting back towards where you hit from normally. So I don't have a great feel for the distance, since the flags are reversed and I dunno how far we are from them. I definatelt feel like the ball went longer then i'm used to. I am to focus on the wrist set for now. It's a power leak in my swing and when I let it sent I start to make better contact.

The getting left is something I need to do but not a priority ATM. Also I may need to have the clubs flattened. i've been delaying it and I did lose some shots left during the lesson. They were different then my low pull hook. These were high and very little curve but missed 20 yards to the left. I'll see but the pro is thinkign it's time to go to standard lie angles instead of the +3 I have today.

The driver may make an appearance at some point. I've been playing w/o it the last week. No big issues but I'd like to see what happens if i set my wrists with it. It's a club I do need to get back under control at some point as well. I'm not in a big hurry though.

[EnglishBob]

Hey Bort,

I've been following your threads for a couple of years or more it seems, and my story is almost the same as yours. I broke 100 a couple of weeks before you if I remember correctly.

I have gone through two patches of rough putting and to get over both I switched putters for a couple of rounds, got my confidence back, and then reverted to my original putter. Don't know why this works for me, but it does!

As for moving up to the golds, a few of the holes on my favorite two courses seem to play easier for me from the blues, than the whites, probably because it takes some hazards out of play for my drives, and gives me better angles of approach or distances where I have more confidence in the club I am using. I have more confidence with my 7 Iron than any other club in my bag, so whenever i can leave a 7 Iron into a green, I feel much happier than even hitting a wedge in.

[bortass]

[quote name='EnglishBob' timestamp='1310396294' post='3381760']
Hey Bort,

I've been following your threads for a couple of years or more it seems, and my story is almost the same as yours. I broke 100 a couple of weeks before you if I remember correctly.

I have gone through two patches of rough putting and to get over both I switched putters for a couple of rounds, got my confidence back, and then reverted to my original putter. Don't know why this works for me, but it does!

As for moving up to the golds, a few of the holes on my favorite two courses seem to play easier for me from the blues, than the whites, probably because it takes some hazards out of play for my drives, and gives me better angles of approach or distances where I have more confidence in the club I am using. I have more confidence with my 7 Iron than any other club in my bag, so whenever i can leave a 7 Iron into a green, I feel much happier than even hitting a wedge in.
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The course I play only has two hazards that need to be carried off the tee and both are par 3s. There's the stream on #4 and the pond on #18. The only real advantage you have from the red or gold tees is the fact the course is shorter. There are no fairway bunkers except on 12 and 18 and both of those bunkers are no big deal. It really is a pretty player friendly course. Fairways are fairly open and it's not target golf.

I don't have that one club that I have alot of faith in. Years ago it was my 7w. I just hit it alot better then other clubs. I don't know if this ios good or bad. I never find myself doubting the club in my hand because I hit a different one much better. But that also doesn't give me a 'go to' distance when I layup. I think I may just have to pick a goto distance, maybe 110 or so which is what I use as the baseline for my PW.

[bortass]

Played my league 9 tonight. It was on the longer back. Not sure where to begin.

I brought my driver with me tonight. I used it on #10 and hit a monster slice. I hit a provisional with my 4w and it was a slight push fade that went down the right side and into the rough behind the trees. I have been hitting all my tee shots on this hole here lately. I do find my first ball though and settle with a dbl bogey 7.

I hit 4w on 11 and it was a weak fade into the wind and very high, about 165 off the tee in the FW. On 12 I hit my 4w and sliced it over the trees on the right and into the rough on #11. On 14, it was another pull fade that hit some trees OB and somehow rolled into the fairway 125 off the tee.

I was kinda mad after the par 3 15th and went into screw it mode. On 16 I hit my driver. It was a high fade 237 around the corner and in the fairway on the left side. My best drive ever on this hole. #17, driver again, I hit a push down the right side 202 yards and it lands inbounds.

On 18 I hit a high fade with the driver 205 through the fairway on top of the landing area. 18 is a 90* dogleg left and you are teeing off into a hill that is above you. My fade was very high and carried itself all the way to the top of the platuea before dropping down. One of my best tee shots ever on this hole.


My irons were scarey. I hit alot of pulls. From the rough, the fairway and anything between a 9i and 5i got pulled. This killed my on par 3s. I hit into the woods on 13 and found the ball but it led to a 5. on #15 I pulled my 6i into the pond. I then reteed and hit a high push into the right trees. End result is a 7....

My wedges were on though. I hit those nice and high and never missed a green with them. I was 4/4 with my SW and LW. So i think my layup yardage will be around 80 to 100 yards. That will leave me a LW - GW and if I hit them like I did tonight, I'll be in business.

Chipping, I only had 3 chips all night. On #10 I was in the left rough and fluffed my chip. So it was a two chip. I was in the left fringe on 14 and used my putter to chip from the fringe and got my only up and down though it wasn't a good chip. I suck at putting from the fringe. I should have just chipped with my LW or something.

Because of this I had alot of long putts. I hit 5 greens with my approach, pitched on the two par 3s. I had 19 putts but except for 1 hole it was alot better. I got frazzled on the par 3 15th and lamely 3 putted. I never left the ball short, except on that hole. So a few times I went further past the hole then I liked. I sunk a number of putts aggresively but also let the ball die in the hole on a few trickier ones. I had more putts that were good then previously. I had a 20+ foot birdie putt on 16 that had some slopes to deal with and left my ball 3 inches from the side of the cup. I started to putt by looking at my ball and making my stroke w/o looking up until the ball was well on it's way. This seems to work better then the weak stroke I had going the last few rounds.

I think my putting stats will go up if I don't ship because I'll be further away for the most part. I'll take a 2 putt any day over a chip and a two putt.

I had 22 chips and putts tonight. My 18 holes yesterday had 55 chips and putts. I had 50 chips and putts with Saturdays round. So this is a slight improvement.

[wwjbd24]

got any recent vids of your swing? maybe you're coming too far inside on your driver and 4W, causing pushes, make sure you draw the club back 12-18 inches straight back before starting your normal backswing; it's helped me to cure my pushes
I don't want to give advice that might potentially mess with your head and add to the multitude of things that you're already thinking about!!
do you know different techniques of chipping? just a helpful tip from "school of golf" last week:

air time to rollout ratios:
SW 1:1
PW 1:2
8 iron 1:4

so for example if you had a long chip you might try your 8 iron to get the ball rolling on line as opposed to a SW you'd have to hit very precisely to land closely

just a thought

[bortass]

[quote name='wwjbd24' timestamp='1310445392' post='3383847']
got any recent vids of your swing? maybe you're coming too far inside on your driver and 4W, causing pushes, make sure you draw the club back 12-18 inches straight back before starting your normal backswing; it's helped me to cure my pushes
I don't want to give advice that might potentially mess with your head and add to the multitude of things that you're already thinking about!!
do you know different techniques of chipping? just a helpful tip from "school of golf" last week:

air time to rollout ratios:
SW 1:1
PW 1:2
8 iron 1:4

so for example if you had a long chip you might try your 8 iron to get the ball rolling on line as opposed to a SW you'd have to hit very precisely to land closely

just a thought
[/quote]


I almost always chip with my SW. Once in awhile, I'll use my LW. I played a course with firmer and faster greens today. I chipped with my SW and did better over all. My home course has slower and softer greens. The ball doesn't roll out as much. I may try chipping with my GW to see if I get a better result.

I think I know why I hit pushes. The pro wanted some video of my swing with the wrist set. so after my league round I hit a few balls for him to capture the swing. I hit a push and his comment was 'that's right where you are aiming'. I need to start working on my alignments. This has been mentioned a few times by him and another guy over the last 6 weeks. I just need to actually spend the time working on it.

It's quite foolish because who cares how well you hit the ball if you miss your target?

I'm hoping to drop off my clubs to be bent tommorow. Going from +3 upright to std.