What One Thing Changed Your Game the Most?

[amished]

Spending some time with a PGA pro to help get certain feels better ingrained into myself to have a better swing, and reading the books by Lynn Marriott and Pia Nilsson.  I've always been super analytical in my daily life and their books have helped me find a place for (and handle the negativity from) my brain, and then allow my body to do what it needs to do while on the course. Everything else I read is great for between rounds, but they broke it down to something that you can hold on to during a round which makes a big difference for me when things can get too fast when going downhill...

It's allowed me to keep the concepts provided by the 5SK and allow me to figure out what my swing is like for that day.  Their books have been the best mental game books I've ever read, and I'm not fully through the three books of theirs that I own just yet.  And this is compared to The Inner Game of Tennis, and Golf is Not a Game of Perfect, both of which I swore by before, and still do for their own purpose.

[Bobby2Swings]

Treating the golf club like any other tool humans use. I let my brain automatically handle the body mechanics.

Have you ever been told or even thought about how your arm and elbow should move when you swing a hammer? Probably not. You just feel the weight and swing it into a nail, your brain handles the rest. When I did the same with the golf club so many good things started to happen.

I just feel the heavy weight of the club head by taking a nice light grip, and I swing that weight through the back of the ball. A nice easy whip through impact, nothing forced. I don't focus on my body, just the task. It really is that simple. Everything else just falls into place naturally.

[darthweasel]

most of my improvement was a long, slow grind involving lessons and club fittings. But then I made nearly a 10 shot jump watching the Mickelson short game video. 2-3 of those are from having worked the clock putting drill but the primary gain has been his 2 minute 45 second chipping video. I went from being that guy who chipped back and forth over the green or chunked it into the sand/water to someone who knows going in he will be on the green at worst and occasionally close enough to 1 putt or have a reasonable shot at it.

 

Complete game changer when I know that being close to the green in regulation means I am likely looking at bogey worst case instead of double or triple which used to be routine was such an amazing moment for me. Thanks Mickelson, that super short video has been a true game changer for me.

[louisfr]

6 hours ago, darthweasel said:

most of my improvement was a long, slow grind involving lessons and club fittings. But then I made nearly a 10 shot jump watching the Mickelson short game video. 2-3 of those are from having worked the clock putting drill but the primary gain has been his 2 minute 45 second chipping video. I went from being that guy who chipped back and forth over the green or chunked it into the sand/water to someone who knows going in he will be on the green at worst and occasionally close enough to 1 putt or have a reasonable shot at it.

 

Complete game changer when I know that being close to the green in regulation means I am likely looking at bogey worst case instead of double or triple which used to be routine was such an amazing moment for me. Thanks Mickelson, that super short video has been a true game changer for me.

Would you please mind sharing the chipping video?

[mcanadiens]

Plantar fascitis.

 

[Vespidae]

The a-ha moment for me was when I realized there is no a-ha moment. It’s about setting goals, measuring performance, practice, feedback, and instruction. I wish I had started this way 30 years ago ...

[No Mulligans]

Is the 5 Simple Keys one thing?

I actually only work on the first three, that and a looking at video of my swing.

But if I had to narrow that down to one thing, it would be key #2, weight forward.

[CarlSpackler]

Age...

[darthweasel]

19 hours ago, louisfr said:

Would you please mind sharing the chipping video?

not sure the linking rules on here, but if you go on youtube and search for "Phil Mickelson chipping" video it will come up. 2 minutes 57 seconds of awesome. It is part of an old "Secrets of the Short Game" 2 or 3 hour thing he did. It took me a bit to figure out the keys but once I got the proper weight shift and shaft lean...it has been magic. As recently as last night when I went over a bunker to a short side flag and checked up about 3' from the stick I literally said out loud, "Thanks Phil". That used to be in the sand or 50 yards over the back

[louisfr]

On 7/17/2020 at 5:21 PM, darthweasel said:

not sure the linking rules on here, but if you go on youtube and search for "Phil Mickelson chipping" video it will come up. 2 minutes 57 seconds of awesome. It is part of an old "Secrets of the Short Game" 2 or 3 hour thing he did. It took me a bit to figure out the keys but once I got the proper weight shift and shaft lean...it has been magic. As recently as last night when I went over a bunker to a short side flag and checked up about 3' from the stick I literally said out loud, "Thanks Phil". That used to be in the sand or 50 yards over the back

Thank you mate. Will look into. 🙂

[Southern by Choice]

As a woman who came to golf late in life, I tried to speed up the learning curve by taking lessons—lots of them.  I’ve probably taken a lesson or attended a workshop by eight different local pros.  My husband corrected me; some girlfriends advised me.  And then there is all the UNSOLICITED advice that men feel qualified to give to any female golfer!  Regardless of the source, I had WAY too many thoughts in my head every time I stood over the ball.  If there were four things I should be thinking about, I’d remember two—and it was never the same two!

 

My club's new PGA pro TIM ASHLEY is from Arkansas, and he’s the best teacher I’ve ever had.  Why?  Before we started, I asked him to please watch four or five swings before he made any comments, since I don’t always do the same things twice in a row!  And then I asked that he choose no more than TWO things I needed to correct, since I was unlikely to process/remember more than that.  First up?  I was standing too far from the ball.  He showed me a simple way to get to the proper stance, regardless of the club.  That was it.  Immediate results!  I worked on that for a couple weeks, then came back for Lesson #2, and tackled one or two issues, since I’d already "grooved" proper stance/ball distance and now had room in my cluttered brain to learn something new.

 

I've dropped SEVEN strokes from my HI over five months, one step at a time.  Not all lessons provided new information, of course, but the way it was presented resonated, and I changed things methodically, a bit at a time.  I still forget something or slip into an old habit, but the catch-phrase or "feel" memory brings it back.

 

SO HAPPY AND EXCITED TO BE PLAYING BETTER AND IMPROVING MY GAME!

 

 

[louisfr]

On 2/11/2020 at 4:49 PM, Rippy_72 said:

It was about 45 years ago, an older fellow recommended that I aim intently at the center of the green on par 3 holes and just two putt if outside 20 feet, never think about birdie, just two putt.  He then challenged me to just try to hit the center of all greens in my next game.  This thinking was a game changer for me.

All greens meaning not only the par 3s? Should you never pin chase?

[Shindig]

12 minutes ago, louisfr said:

All greens meaning not only the par 3s? Should you never pin chase?

I haven't chased a pin on a par-3 in over six years.  Most of my "pin chasing" is third shots on par-5s when I'm within 80 yards for the shot.

I've made a good number of birdies in that time.  

And in principle it could be different if you're down in match play and running out of holes, depending on circumstances.

Check out this thread: 

 

[louisfr]

4 minutes ago, Shindig said:

I haven't chased a pin on a par-3 in over six years.  Most of my "pin chasing" is third shots on par-5s when I'm within 80 yards for the shot.

I've made a good number of birdies in that time.  

And in principle it could be different if you're down in match play and running out of holes, depending on circumstances.

Check out this thread: 

 

Exactly what I was looking for, when I started thinking about it it all made sense to just aim at the green. Will read it now, thanks 🙂

[BeCu]

One a-ha moment came many moons ago when I was a junior golfer. A mentor friend taught me how to get out of sand trap with a dollar bill. The drill basically was place a dollar bill in the sand, put the ball in middle of dollar bill. Allow club to enter sand right where the end of the dollar bill is and focus on club coming through to ball and exiting through where front end of dollar bill would be. That visualization has stuck with me after all these years, never have feared sand since and consider myself a pretty good sand player because of that. 

[Shindig]

1 hour ago, BeCu said:

One a-ha moment came many moons ago when I was a junior golfer. A mentor friend taught me how to get out of sand trap with a dollar bill. The drill basically was place a dollar bill in the sand, put the ball in middle of dollar bill. Allow club to enter sand right where the end of the dollar bill is and focus on club coming through to ball and exiting through where front end of dollar bill would be. That visualization has stuck with me after all these years, never have feared sand since and consider myself a pretty good sand player because of that. 

Good thing you didn't take up golf in Canada, I doubt this drill works with a loonie.  

[TourSpoon]

I always joke that my best club is my range finder. If you couple that with sound course strategy it is a game changer.  For instance, a 150 pin with a 135 cover for the bunker is a different shot than it is with a 140 pin with the same bunker.  In the first example, knowing that I have 15 yards, I can take it almost pin high for that uphill putt with a slight mishit more than clearing the bunker for a 2 putt par. With a tighter pin its take it a little past the pin and the miss is almost pin high.  The mentality shouldn't be 150 always hit the 150 club but to know your distances, your misses, and put yourself in the best position to make par or better. When you know your strategy is sound, you are more confident to put a good swing on the ball. 

The biggest aha for the swing started with chipping and hinge and hold. Feeling that right hand maintaining the angle and how the ball feels off the club allowed me to feel that throughout the regular swing. 

[Softouch333]

I had the biggest improvement by simplifying my short game and taking out a lot of wrist hinge. The improved impact inspired me to apply that to my woods and hybrids and I found I made better impact with them too, as long as I make a full turn.