Lessons Learned

[Late4ttime]

It dawned on my last night after I limped off the course all kinds of pissed off that in an effort to improve my swing and my game- I'm getting progressively worse.

In an effort to go from a 10 down to a single digit- 1 stroke would do it- I've been tinkering with my swing- reading posts on this site, watching The Fix- checking out S&T-; etc....experimenting with things along the way but not heading in the direction I want to go.

That is not to say that the info I'm getting isn't good info- there are a lot of people on this board that know what they are talking about- and Harmon, Leadbetter, Haney, Breed, S&T; guys- they all know what they are talking about too- but I realized at some point there is a too many cooks in the kitchen syndrome.

I liked my swing and it was fairly consistent- gave me scores from 79-84 pretty regularly on my home course (68.3/120)- but I would read or hear something that I wasn't doing- take ball position for example- Breed a couple of nights ago suggested that essentially everything except longer clubs should be in the middle of your stance- well my 7 iron is in the middle and the shorter clubs go further back in my stance all the way down to my 60* which I play inside my right heel- longer clubs move progressively forward to the driver which is inside left heel. So last night I tried Breed's way and sprayed everything- except my driver and my 7 iron. I was hooking- slicing- fat- thin- I might as well have played left handed.

So in retrospect- I realized that my goal to get to single digits can be accomplished by better applying my course management with my grooved swing- my most consistent ball flight is a straight draw- so instead of figuring out how many milliseconds I need to delay releasing the club so its open enough to create a push draw- I'm just going to aim right- instead of worrying about my ball position not being "correct" and adjusting the steepness of my swing to get the ball to spin- I'm going to play the ball in the wrong position and spin it like I used to- cause that's how I know how to do it consistently.

I think once golfers get to the low 80's they must be doing something right- and lowering their scores might not come from changing their swings.

Thoughts?

Late-

[lonewolf]

Agreed on your assessment. I too became overloaded on tips and information. I played a horrible 9 holes yesterday and then hit balls until I yanked 8 straight drives / fatted 8 straight irons. After nearly losing it I left my clubs on the range / took a seat for a few minutes / thought about playing golf when I was younger. I emptied my brain of random tips, if you will.

A few minutes later I took a driver and walked up and swung. No thoughts about grip / ball position / stance / first move / swing plane / footwork / finishing position / blah blah blah. I just swung.
1st swing result: Heel-cut.
2nd-5th swing result: nice high ball flight with a little cut at the end (260- 275 yards). Just like old times.

Then I swung 5 straight Gap wedges. 110 yards with a nice high ball flight a little left of center. Just like old times.

True test comes at the range this evening and when I play tomorrow morning.

BUT, I am purging my brain of recent and random quick tips.

[Gerald]

Same with me ..... I have been thinking of going stacking and tilting, and I have been trying to change lots of things, hitted about 3000 balls in a new way, to get it in, but then decided to leave it, going back to natural, to my personal swing, etc. I don't mind hitting a 5 iron 20 yds plus, I was pleased with my old 175 yds anyway. I don't have to hit 200 yds with a slight draw,,,, 175 yds with a little fade bites into the green better.

Sure going S&T; will improve a 30 or 20 HC players practicing seriously for the about first time in their golf life ....... but changing a 10 HC player ..... is a different cookie .....

Getting back took me another 3 weeks, but from there on I went from 14 to 10 HC.

It was just tooooo many minds and during the S&T; weeks I hitted so many thins and fats ...... the best thing of this period is that a hitted so many balls, that I improved my muscles a lot.

Now life is simple again, setup an just strike the ball like about I used to, no aiming well to the right, no this, no that, no such, etc.

Was it all bad, no certaintly not, my swing has improved, my ball contact is more consistent, my release has improved, I don't tilt my left heel anymore, etc.

I played a few rounds well below 80, so my HC will get well below 10 soon ...... not too bad at my age (still feeling 20 of course).

[mchepp]

I think this heavily depends on your goal when you play golf. If scoring is all you care about, then you need to look at what is the biggest factor in lowering your score. From my own analysis that is GIR. Simply put over enough rounds this determines my score more than anything else. Putting or putts per green is second, but seems it is more tied to consistency rather than overall scoring. Some may disagree with my analysis, but I would be really surprised if GIR was not the biggest determining factor in your score if you analyzed it.

Now, for some, a friend of mine, all they care about is how far they hit the driver. The score on the scorecard is meaningless, he hits his drive brags to me about how far he hit it past me, and then proceeds to play the rest of the hole without a care. He is a 90's shooter, but he could care less because the drive is all that matters. For that I have to say to each his own. Whatever makes you happy.

I think that is the key I think, do what makes you happy, if managing your ball around the course and competing against the course is what makes you happy then I think go for it.

[Gerald]

Yep GIR is the "easiest" way to make par or better, whenever you miss it even close, you'll have to work hard to save par.