A tale of 2 Nines.......

I'll preface this story by saying that it's no secret that I've been feeling that my golf game is really hurting lately and my scores have sky-rocketed.  I've made many statements about this many times on here and to my playing partners.  Today was a real gut-check when my handicap recalculated and I've went from a 12 to a 22 in about 6 months.  I was dejected and disheartened, but decided to walk 18 by myself just to work on the game and really pay attention to what I was doing.

I ended up playing the front 9 twice because of a few large groups packed up on the back, and with the Super Bowl, there was noone on the front at all.

The first time through was a train-wreck.  I played ever worse than normal and just couldn't figure out why I've been striking the ball so horribly lately.  I did absolutely nothing right.  Here's the stats:

Time:  1:54

Score:  52

FW: 28% (2)

GIR:  0

Scrambling: 0%

Putts: 20 (2.22 avg)

The 2nd time around, I figured that I would just relax.  Don't worry about any swing thoughts, just concentrate on swinging in a circle and releasing the clubhead.  (my first 9, I was blocking/slicing everything).  By just worrying about those two things, my game changed a lot.  I still didn't feel like I was striking the ball well, but bad shots weren't nearly as bad.

Time:  1:16

Score:  42

FW:  57% (4)

GIR:  16% (3)

Scrambling 6.67% (1)

Putts:  17 (1.89 avg)

Hopefully I can keep my ball-striking going back in the right direction.  42 was an average front 9 for me last year before I was having swing problems, so maybe this is a sign that things aren't as bad as I think they are, and I just need to relax and swing the club instead of worrying about swing thoughts.

More good news, thats 33% GIR

You are correct........... lol.

I was just copying the numbers off the scorecard on my phone.  I guess it doesn't calculate GIRs for 9 holes correctly.  Everything else seems to though.  I need to shoot them an email about that one.

I think because of my background and my job, I'm too analytical about everything.  I teach complex computer programs to Army Battle Staff Operators on a daily basis.

It worked great for building a race car and driving it as well.  Specific set angles, which could be changed exactly using tools to get it right.  Specific numbers, specific launch conditions.  If something wasn't doing right, then you made a quick angle change and corrected it and locked it down.

The problem with golf is that there's no specific changes that you can instantly make.  You can't adjust a screw on your right elbow to make it better.  You can't get into the laptop and change the sequence and timing between your hips, hands, arms and weight shift and then upload it and tinker with the base program.  There is no program.  While I was happy to see good changes creeping in again, I know there's a chance that next weekend they may or may not be there when I tee off.

There's a driving range 3 miles from my work, and I get a rather long lunch.  I should start going over there everyday to work on my ballstriking and then see the Pro for a lesson or two to get things a little more understandable to me on what's going on with my swing.