Re: What Are You Working On?
So I broke 90 about five weeks ago for the 1st time and have done it couple times since them; however, my scores yo-yo like crazy. I hate being inconsistent, so I decided to change my swing and my practice regiment. I used to never go to the range; I only played practice rounds. While this dramatically improved my short game, my full shots weren't very good. When I mishit a shot, I didn't have the opportunity to figure out why because I had to keep the pace of play up.
My quest is now for increased distance and better technique with my irons. No more rounds of golf for at least a month. From now on, the only place golf exists is at the grass range.
My old swing had the ability to break 90, but that's about it. I had plateaued with it. I'm hoping my new swing will have the strength to break 80. So far it's been absolutely grueling, and I go home from the range every day bitter and pissed off. My lower body turns too much on the backswing, and I'm not fast enough to get my hips turned back in time at impact. My clubhead lag is poor and I can't get my hands ahead of the ball at impact with regularity. I've been shanking a lot, and it's been very frustrating. I still have that awful head dip thing that I've been battling for six weeks now, but I've reduced it a decent amount.
So for the next several weeks or months or however long it takes, I'm going to have to have great discipline. If I do, it will pay off for the rest of my life. If I get lazy or defeated, I will just have my old swing for that much longer. No more driver, five wood, or 3-5 iron work. The focus will be solely on full shots with my sand wedge to six iron. I'll practice putting, chipping, short pitch shots, and bunker shots, but that's it. The rest of my free time will be devoted to the scoring clubs.
It was over 80 degrees here tonight, and I was almost at the point of passing out because I was hitting so many balls. I'm trying to relax before each shot and really focus, but when I get frustrated, I tend to just fire away at shots like a madman. It's wasteful and I have to stop doing that. I think that the point I've reached right now has been the most frustrating period in my golf game- even more so than the days when I was a total beginner. I expect a lot from myself, and I tend to beat myself up when things go badly. I've had two bad range sessions in a row, but I just have to suck it up and move on to the next one.
I'll let you know how it goes in a month or so. The fundamentals have been and still are my focus, but damn it is this game cruel. May 1st will be my one year anniversary with golf, although I've really only played 8-9 months if you don't count the winter when I didn't play once. I feel like I hit my driver and woods fairly well and I like my short game, but it's my iron play that really kills me. I know that once I can consistently compress the ball with my PW-3 iron I will become a very strong player. I'm no longer settling for my 100 yard PW 3/4 shots. Wish me luck. Or better yet: pray
