smurfsky101

Already seeing improvement! 2 9 hole rounds today, got up and down a few times, so 1.67 putts per hole and 1.82 putts per hole to shoot 1 over and 2 over respectively. 2 birdies on each nine, so the putting was working. http://www.gamegolf.com/player/smurfsky101/round/1218446 http://www.gamegolf.com/player/smurfsky101/round/1218775 Although to be fair, East Potomac is a very very easy course.

First off, thank you all for your advice! Am working on practicing with a purpose, chipping with the phil technique and putting everything out, adding pressure before being done with the practice session Just got back from Scotland (wedding there), played a few links courses including North Berwick. - the fairways are so hard you can putt pretty much everything from around the green! Highlights include (North Berwick Links) * 6 strokes to get out of course * four putt * chipped into a stone wall a few times (losing distance on the hole) * 2 birdies * 87

Thanks everyone for the tips! I think I have a lack of fundamentals on <50 yard shots. Spent some time yesterday comparing my chipping & pitching strokes against a more 'hinge & hold' technique. Made some modifications and saw immediate results (able to get most shots from 20 to 50 feet in the fringe to within 5 feet out of a few hundred practice strokes on a variety of lies) Putting in particular i'm having issues with reconciling what my minds -eye line is compared against where I'm 'actually' aiming. Going to try and work on that today. Also, I have some mental issues surrounding shooting low scores, get nervous and start thinking about the score instead of hitting each shot, hopefully with time that will get easier. Maybe go play a few rounds from the ladies tees to practice shooting real low. @DaveP043, you're out of NOVA also? Where do you normally play?

Does anyone have a good resource / thread to go to to get a 'training plan'? I just came off a long break since high school, where I usually shot in the mid 80s, but never really practice properly (just whacked the ball around on the range). Coming off the break, I figured the best approach would be to play a decent bit of golf and get a 'baseline'. I'm trying to approach this like a damn scientist. The whole game golf thing is really fun. Obviously, I need to learn how to get up and down. Whenever I miss a green or am more than 20 feet away, I have a dreadful feeling that i'm about to throw away another 3 strokes as i walk up to the green. GameGolf link http://www.gamegolf.com/player/smurfsky101 Current State / Stats Relatively happy with my swing / solid fundamentals. average score 79.5 41% FIR 57% GIR 25% scrambling 36 putts 285 yard driver average (35% fairways hit) 247 yard 3 wood average (43% fairways hit) 3.71 avg (par 3s) 4.37 avg (par 4s) 5.21 avg (par 5s) Strengths length off of tee short irons bunker shots escape / recovery shots (over trees, punch shots, etc) Weaknesses chipping from all distances and lies 4 to 7 foot putts 15 to 50 yard pitches lag putting course management What next? My goal is to reduce my handicap by 4 strokes (getting closer to averaging 75) before the end of this year, including the existing rounds. I assume that will mean I'll need to dedicate 90% of my time to short game practice, but I want to make sure I do it in the most efficient way possible. Given the above information, does the community here have any ideas for a 'training plan' that I could attack? I find that my short game practice isnt productive, and I'm not seeing any gains reflected in my score in that area. I know i've geeked out a bit here, but I'm treating this like a job, and I believe that I have the ability to drop at least 3 strokes before it 'gets harder' again, and I'll have to really work to find areas to pick up easy strokes. It's very frustrating hitting 11 greens and still shooting around 80.....

So some good news, no video update yet though. I've implemented a slightly open left foot angle for (most) of my shots. I've also flattened out my backswing and added a definite pause / squat to the top of my swing, which prevents my over the top mishits. * Shot my second eagle in a tournament yesterday! (very short par 5, bad drive, to a weak fade / topped 7 iron, then 12 footer downhill) * Have been able to get drives that consistently carry between 265 and 285 on the range * shot 38 for 9 holes , 3 times in the last week, and 2 over at a difficult par 3 course in my area. One of those 38's was with 8/9 GIRs, so ball striking was not the issue (putting) I think I'll be able to get it together with the slightly modified swing and a lot of practice

Thanks @Hardspoon! I've been checking out a lot of the content, good stuff here. Hopefully some members might point me to something that sticks out the most here. I took a lesson this weekend, spent an hour going over chipping and pitching .

^^ @ 9:35 seconds or so for a face on 5 iron shot that went pretty well ^^ @ 6:42 seconds or so for a down the line drive that was very solid (290 or so, straight) I've been Playing Golf for: 5 years (played 4 years in high school, took a 7 year break, and am getting back into the game now) My current handicap index or average score is: 18, who the hell really knows My typical ball flight is: too high The shot I hate or the "miss" I'm trying to reduce/eliminate is: high blocks to the right. I'm concerned that I'm not creating enough forward shaft lean, as evidenced by unreasonably high ball flight, and somewhat inconsistent ball striking. I have pretty high clubhead speed, 97 mph with the 6 iron , and up to 117 mph on the driver (when i'm trying to kill it). I just went through a fitting and got set up with Mizuno MP-25s on Project X 6.5s. In no way do I think the irons will help me shoot better scores, but I much prefer they way they look at adress, and I have am just a mizuno fan boy. I was also fitted onto a 7.5* 915d on aldila silver (S) flex, but am playing with a taylormade mated to a XS aldila silver. The XS shaft seems to make me pull & draw the ball more, where I am more likely to miss hit with a high fade/ slice on the 915d. Looking for brutally honest feedback here, I'm trying to determine if I should begin to 'try to just play with the swing I've got' - or put a lot of work into fixing it and start from scratch. In high school I was able to shoot in the mid 70's sometimes in tournaments, but now i'm anywhere from low 80's to low 100's. I intend to put in a lot of time, as my goal is to break 79 before fall of this year, which should be doable if I practice my short game and play 3/4 swing shots w/ my irons, and avoid driver. (my home course is short) Videos: