Golf Confounds

[BrianW]

Re: Golf Confounds

I have often played practice rounds with a 7 iron and putter, it's a great way to improve course management. Funnily it is the par 3's that give me the most problems doing this.

[mferraguti]

Re: Golf Confounds

I understand importance of short game. But right now, I really want to get better off the tee. It would be nice to rid myself of those embarrassingly poor shots and play more consistent. Not perfect. Just consistent. The mishaps will occur but most of us would like to minimize the effects of mishaps. They'll never be eliminated. And yes, definitely, work on short game too.

[LowPost42]

Re: Golf Confounds

I understand importance of short game. But right now, I really want to get better off the tee. It would be nice to rid myself of those embarrassingly poor shots and play more consistent. Not perfect. Just consistent. The mishaps will occur but most of us would like to minimize the effects of mishaps. They'll never be eliminated. And yes, definitely, work on short game too.

What's the longest club you can hit in play consistently?

The answer to this question is your new tee club while playing.

Work the longer clubs at the range.

Like I've posted before, I've only broken 80 once. But I learned an awful lot from it:

Making putts and chipping/pitching it close are keys to a good score. Here's where strokes are truly lost. If you can chip, pitch and putt, then you're in good position to make up for a poor tee/iron game.

It's a little clichéd, but it's better to be 100% wrong than 98% right. On a couple shots I just wasn't sure of the club in my hand - and the result showed.

Think about where you want to hit it, not where you don't. This goes hand in hand with playing for a good miss. I scored well because even when I missed my target, I was left in a position that still gave me a good look. I wasn't shortsided, trying to hit a cute flop wedge, or stuck under some bush or behind some tree. My driver shape was a 20 yard slice with an occasional 5 yard pull - so I set up down the draw side of the fairway. It's amazing how small the slice gets when you give yourself the entire fairway for it to run.

Finally, I never forced a shot. If the hole called for a draw to thread the ball down the dogleg to the 150, I'd lay back to the throat of the dogleg. On one hole I wailed on something 190 out (there was room to spray it around the green), and on another I hit a 3/4 gap wedge to 110, to hit a full gap wedge to the back pin. I ended up nailing it and having a 3 footer, but even if I didn't, I was still going to be putting.

But what brought my swing around was committing to a swing model and following it - and only it. No tinkering, no trying tips from the golf rags, no listening to Peter Kostis do swing analysis on saturday afternoon. Just follow the plan and do the drills.

The only thing I'd offer to get in less trouble off the tee is to use a three-quarter swing. I get in trouble when I try to use a 'full' swing (or a full-feeling swing) as I get out of sync. If I start losing it, going back to three-quarter swings works for me (I feel like my lead arm doesn't get past parallel to the ground. I know it does as video doesn't lie, but that feeling keeps me nice and compact.)

[LowPost42]

Re: Golf Confounds

LowPost,

Do you still slice and pull the ball? If so, I assume you believe that your swing model along with the drills you use will eventually correct your swing faults and thus eliminate your slices and pulls.

How long have you been following the swing model and using the drills? Have they improved your swing to any great degree? On the other hand, if you've been following the same swing model and using the same drills for a healthy amount of time with no real results, or only randon or fleeting results, what keeps you from seeking a better model and different drills to improve your golf swing?

It sounds like you are using good course management...and it's based on your recognized swing faults, which is good. But I'm curious to know how you feel about your improvement (or lack of improvement) with your golf swing.

GL, I still haven't put in the work with the driver, but I do suffer from slices and pulls - when I don't pay attention and let my ball position creep forward. The day I shot 78 I was hitting 20 yard pull-slices but was aimed up the left side like normal.

I've now completed two seasons with the same swing model and no tinkering. My ball striking has improved by leaps and bounds over the last two years and while I haven't sniffed 80 (84's been my best score this year) it's been due to a shaky putter and some questionable chipping. My swing has come a long way IMO and my game has come with it. I don't expect the model to cure errant shots - but with the model I follow I know WHY an errant shot shows up and I can self-correct on the course; there's no more "where did that come from?" and "why did that happen?" questions - if I block one, I know why.

As for improvement, my index has dropped 7 points from 22 to 15 in these two years - and the real kicker is that I've been to the range to "work" on stuff exactly 3 times in the last two years. Here in Canada, winter is a great time to do some drills, but again in this model, I don't have to drill in the classic exaggeration manner (making it feel like it's waaaay outside or waaaay inside, etc) - there's simply some specific drills that move my body in the proper motions. So with likely 6000 reps in (none of which involve hitting balls), my improvement has been truly ridiculous.

So I feel as though I'm better than I should be given the lack of work I've put in on my game. I completely trust the model I follow, largely because it appeals to how I learn and it's something I've been hunting for since I started thinking that lessons might be useful.

If for some reason my swing started to falter, a few drills would get me back on track. Don't get me wrong, I haven't done enough to be brainless while swinging (but given my nature I don't know that I can), I still feel for my downswing trigger, but there's just so little minituae that I find that I don't get caught up in things like where my hands are or what my wrists are doing or what my elbow does or how far I've moved anything... perfect for me (who overanalyses anyway).

[achandl1]

Re: Golf Confounds

I have often played practice rounds with a 7 iron and putter, it's a great way to improve course management. Funnily it is the par 3's that give me the most problems doing this.

Brian,

Sorry to sidetrack this thread. Could you possibly give a video example of your greenside bunker shot from a different thread? I would like to try it out but can't do it just by reading the text from your other post. I have tried to google it and have not had any luck. Since you say many pros use this sand shot I hope you could provide me with a video of someone using your shot.

Thank you so much. I get a lot from this site. I hope in the future to be able to contribute as much as some of you guys with a better game than mine.

Andy

[BrianW]

Re: Golf Confounds

Brian,

Sorry to sidetrack this thread. Could you possibly give a video example of your greenside bunker shot from a different thread? I would like to try it out but can't do it just by reading the text from your other post. I have tried to google it and have not had any luck. Since you say many pros use this sand shot I hope you could provide me with a video of someone using your shot.

Thank you so much. I get a lot from this site. I hope in the future to be able to contribute as much as some of you guys with a better game than mine.

Andy

Hi Andy,

First take a look at this video from Jeff Ritter. It shows him using a number of clubs but the sand shot is a good example. See especially in the chipping example how he uses the hinge and hold technique that does not allow the clubface to pass his hands, this is important to maintain loft and works the same with a greenside bunker shot.

This second video shows how to set the body leaning forward with the club vertical.

[achandl1]

Re: Golf Confounds

Thanks Brian, I will try this method and see how it works for me.

Andy