What Are You Working On?

[Abu3baid]

A few things.

I think the most important piece for me right now is my take way.. I want to make sure I am taking it back smoothly and up while maintaining the pressure in my right arm pit while trying to incorporate the  correct feeling in my left arm.. (Also, working on keeping that left arm straight but not locked on the take away and position to impact)

The next thing is my weight pressure in my feet.. really trying to understand and then apply the pressure in the correct place during both takeaway all the way to follow through.

[JonMA1]

After having a bit of trouble with Key #2, I took Erik's advice - watched some videos again and re-read some posts. I think something may have clicked.

The problem I was having with trying to get my weight forward is that my hips were simply rotating and not shifting.

What I hope is a correct swing thought (for me) is to "feel" like I move my hips along the same in-to-out swing path of my hands instead of along the target line. I don't think that's the reality, but it's a swing thought. When I do this, I'm seeing that secondary axis tilt (if that's the right term) and my head seems to be staying back and remaining somewhat stationary while my hands move forward and feel aligned with my left thigh at impact.

I still have to take video to confirm what I'm seeing in the mirror. I don't think my left hip is very much beyond my left foot at impact but it looks so much better than what I was doing before.

If this key is finally heading in the right direction, I have to remember to slowly work up to a full swing instead of jumping right into it. I want any improvements to really become ingrained.

[PJCdude]

I live close to Riverside Park in NYC and they have some turf fields and a gymnastics rings/beach volleyball area with sand. I decided to work on my short game over the winter and tried this area out the other day. Not sure if I should technically be there, but the turf soccer/football/baseball field has a alot of markers which are great targets to practice pitching/chipping to and the sand area is a great place for practicing getting out of the sand. Not as close to the real thing as playing, but cheap and close by!

[JamesA]

I just bought a set of Mizuno MP 60's so I am working on my iron play. In general just getting used to the clubs, trying to get clean, consistent hits with them.

[dchoye]

1) sign in for membership this year, and will try to play regularly and join some formal competition and money games , I will try it and see if I like it.

First time I join a CC . Previously I would play on my own or play with a friend who is a member.

2) got new forge irons and will try to work on more neutral grip. previously had cavity backs and offset and a strong grip.

3) work a lot more on inside 50 yards. there were days when my ballstriking was good but I couldnt convert with my short game.

Also noticed days when my putting was superb and i didnt hit the ball well. I  scored better than days when I striking ball but not stroking the putts as well. Of course its nice to have both, but I tended to work to much on ballstriking last year

4) participate less on golf forums as an armchair golfer, and just play golf with more target in mind less mechanical thoughts and just try to feel my way around the course.

[Abu3baid]

Posture.. Can anything really be more important than good posture?

[Sixshooter]

Working on bowing my left hand at the top of my swing and holding the bow through the hit. Dustin Johnson does this and Ben Hogan bowed on the way down and held it.

the only way to release the club seems to be a strong turn through the ball keeping my body turn ahead of the club.When done correctly this reduces my hook into a little draw

[Club Rat]

There is an interesting article this week about Jimmy Walker in GolfWeek by Alex Miceli.

~~Records and statistics matter not when you can put a “W” in the win column, yet stats were what made Walker better by his own admission. It was just a simple thing, looking at his scoring average on par 4s and par 3s. Two years ago, Walker took a look and couldn'’t believe he was as poor as he was on par 4s. In 2012, Walker was 62nd in par-4 scoring average with a 4.05 average. In 2013, Walker made a conscious effort to change his scoring on par 4s and was second on the PGA Tour with a 3.99 average. In 2014, he's fifth with a 3.91 average. “I was 60 or 70 over on the par 4s,” Walker said. “And I just got to thinking like, 'Wow if I just parred every par 4, I would save 60 some odd shots this year.' And if you did the math on it, at a golf tournament, I would have won one. And so that got me kind of thinking." Walker looked at his par-3 scoring average next. Last year, he was 161st on the PGA Tour with an average of 3.13. So far in 2014, Walker is 49th with an average of 3.01. The fix to both the par-4 and par-3 scoring was simple: Don’t play too aggressively; and let the birdies come, but make pars. “I really felt like I thought to win out here you really needed to make a ton of birdies and you needed to do this and you needed to do that," Walker said. “And I feel like I've kind of come to the realization that par's a really good score sometimes. And it's about grinding your pars out and making pars.”

Club Rat

[SimonAinsworth]

Im going to really knuckle down on removing my pull slice, for too long ive adapted rather than corrected it. It caused me to stop playing as requently a few years ago, but the love of the game brought me back. I hope to achieve this through drill work, mostly putting a driver head cover behind and above the ball to stop my out to in swing and using my phone and an app to record my swing. By the end of the season i hope to play a round where i can aim at my target not to the left of it. Its not the biggest dream but achieving will mave me feel so happy to have removed the biggest obstical in my game

[mmoan2]

I can't stress enough how happy I was with my range session today. I was concentrating on two things - exaggerating my weight forward and adjusting to a wider stance with the driver to add stability (I read an article in Golf Digest by Gary Woodland espousing a wide stance, so I gave it a try today. Good idea). I noticed that once I got into the rhythm of compressing the ball and feeling all of my weight on my front foot through impact, I could really lean into shots while remaining loose. The wider stance seemed to really help me stay balanced with driver, especially on the backswing. I was really mashing some drives extremely straight, with confidence, by the end of the session.

[jsgolfer]

Working on my tan, not! :-P

[imsys0042]

I've taken some lessons over the past year to remove a lot of the movement from my swing and this has given me better contact and solid shots. I feel like I am hitting the club on the sweet spot a lot more. After going back and forth I decided to replace my game improvement irons with player irons. I want to force myself to swing right and use this to identify what needs to be worked on next.

[jbishop15]

Trying to keep my head still. I have a tendency to stay still going back but lurching forward three to five inches on the downswing. Causes inconsistencies.

Over the last two weeks or so I've made really good progress; the lurch is less, more along the lines of one or two inches. Still creeps back in from time to time. Gotta keep at it.

[putt and pray]

Working on EVERYTHING!

As a beginner I have no real grasp on what I can realistically expect from weekly practice and lessons. I do, however, still expect to reach the following goals by years end -

In no particular order -

1. Learn how to properly (and accurately!) swing all my clubs at full power.

2. Play an 18 hole course at 90 strokes or better.

3. Consistently drive the ball 250 yards.

4. Make a Birdie.

5. Establish a handicap (hopefully under 20)

6. Play in a Tournament - and not be last!

I plan on practicing twice a week (possibly 3 times depending on work) and taking lessons on Saturdays with the PGA Pro at Mamala Bay Golf Course. I also plan on playing the Par 3 Course 2-3 times a month until I feel confident enough to try a "real" course.

[saevel25]

Working on getting the golf club inline or outside my hands in the backswing. when I get this, the club falls to the inside much easier.

[Abu3baid]

Working in keeping my right arm from basically reaching around my body on the backswing. Using ball between the arm drill and feeling like I'm taking a 3/4 turn.

[MS256]

Working on my tan, not!

Trying to keep my head still. I have a tendency to stay still going back but lurching forward three to five inches on the downswing. Causes inconsistencies.

Over the last two weeks or so I've made really good progress; the lurch is less, more along the lines of one or two inches. Still creeps back in from time to time. Gotta keep at it.

Working on getting the golf club inline or outside my hands in the backswing. when I get this, the club falls to the inside much easier.

All of the above, and then some, all winter long.

Hardest part is going to be to have patience if and when things don't go well...So far so good.

[Hammer 4]

Still, for me keys 1, 2 , 3. Even after 3 months, I still work on those keys every time I'm at the range, and I can see improvement. Now I seem to have some issues with my 3 wood, and a power leak with my driver...