Do you feel like you are on the verge of a breakthrough?

[Fat Slice]

I do. I have been playing more holes very well, including dropping birdies here and there. I still blow up and that is keeping my overall score high, but the number of good holes per round is going up.

Yesterday is a good example of why I feel I am close to a breakthrough:

Front 9: bogey bogey par par quad par par par par

Started off with a 41, feeling good for a 20.3 handicapper!

Back 9: double double triple double double quad double bogey

55, and not a single par on the back 9 (after 6 on the front).

I can't say what happened on the back but I figure one of these days I will start putting together two good 9s and then I'll be at the next level.

Anyone else feel like they are on the verge???

[acegolfer]

Yes. I felt that way when I was 25, 20, 15 and even now at 11.

IMHO, breakthrough is not a one and done deal.

[alf174]

Re: Do you feel like you are on the verge of a breakthrough?

Every Round lol

[ajschn06]

I do. My scores have been much more consistent this year. I am making some birdies, and dropping a lot of mid range par putts as well, which hasn't happened in the past. I had always played with off-set irons, and I finally got some players irons. I'm not one to work the ball or anything, but they feel so much better and more accurate, I always had to worry about a nasty-hook with my old ones. On top of that, my driver has become more of a weapon this year. I used to pull it out ONLY on par 5's or when I really needed a drive. Part of the reason was that I have always hit my 3-wood very well, but it's nice to be able to rely on the big stick...I think if I'd have recorded my scores this year I'd be dangerously close to a single digit handicap...

[steelernation]

I do. My scores have been much more consistent this year. I am making some birdies, and dropping a lot of mid range par putts as well, which hasn't happened in the past. I had always played with off-set irons, and I finally got some players irons. I'm not one to work the ball or anything, but they feel so much better and more accurate, I always had to worry about a nasty-hook with my old ones. On top of that, my driver has become more of a weapon this year. I used to pull it out ONLY on par 5's or when I really needed a drive. Part of the reason was that I have always hit my 3-wood very well, but it's nice to be able to rely on the big stick...I think if I'd have recorded my scores this year I'd be dangerously close to a single digit handicap...

Just curious, regarding your nasty hook and the old iron you played. Im playing with crap irons at present and I hook pretty bad. What exact irons did you switch too? what was their shaft flex etc? I want to buy one quality iron just to see the difference in ball striking...I have a couple cleveland wedges and they dont hook at all, so Im beginning to think Im due for a small change.

[steelernation]

As far as breakthrough, Im going through my third one and Ive played about 110 rounds in 3 years. My putting isnt stellar, but I very rarely 3 putt. LAg putts have been very good lately, started a pre putt routine and it seems to work well for me. My biggest problems are par 3's over 180 yards, I hook them, but the last round resulted in 15 strokes for four par 3's so its not "terrble" (C Barkley). The other culprit is the driver, any hole which I drive poorly, I double to quad. A poor drive to me is anything hitting a hazard, when I drive well I usually par or bogey or birdie in that order....Yesterday I missed a 10 ft putt for eagle on a par 5/ Made the bird...just need to keep the blowout holes to a min.

[ajschn06]

Just curious, regarding your nasty hook and the old iron you played. Im playing with crap irons at present and I hook pretty bad. What exact irons did you switch too? what was their shaft flex etc? I want to buy one quality iron just to see the difference in ball striking...I have a couple cleveland wedges and they dont hook at all, so Im beginning to think Im due for a small change.

It wasn't the quality of the irons that caused the hook, but they were heavily offset. I used to have xpc3000 irons from golfsmith and I switched to the new snake eyes 685x forged. It was quite a difference going from oversized, offset, thick soled irons to pretty much the exact opposite, but it only took a couple of range sessions to figure them out. I am hitting my new ones better than my old ones, and iron play has always been a strength of mine. The old irons were had true temper dynalite shafts, stiff flex. On the new ones I went with TT Dynalite Gold SL, stiff flex. Let me know if you have any other questions.

[bplewis24]

As somebody mentioned before, "every round" for me. I'm somewhat delusional that way, and I'm content with it.

To be fair to myself, I have made some swing changes this week which have me excited for a potential breakthrough to single-digits if I can execute the changes properly.

Brandon

[steelernation]

It wasn't the quality of the irons that caused the hook, but they were heavily offset. I used to have xpc3000 irons from golfsmith and I switched to the new snake eyes 685x forged. It was quite a difference going from oversized, offset, thick soled irons to pretty much the exact opposite, but it only took a couple of range sessions to figure them out. I am hitting my new ones better than my old ones, and iron play has always been a strength of mine. The old irons were had true temper dynalite shafts, stiff flex. On the new ones I went with TT Dynalite Gold SL, stiff flex. Let me know if you have any other questions.

It may be that my SS is well too much for my irons. I swing driver 120, never gauged my irons, but their probably fast.

[zeg]

I believe so, although I think it'll be a breakthrough in score not so much in technique. I've been shooting between 51 and 56 on a 9-hole courses with (18-hole) rating/slope of about 67/114 or lower. In the last couple months, I've had a 46 and 47 on those courses, plus 98s for 18-hole rounds on a 70/122 and a 70/130 course. The latter included 14 holes of better-than-bogey golf and 4 8s (wtf!?). My handicap has been steadily falling, and based on my recent rounds I think it'll probably settle at 25 or 26 if I keep at it. To get there, I just need to work on consistency, and that'll be my first breakthrough (agreeing with acegolfer that there'll be a series of breakthroughs in my "career").

I think that'll be about as far as I can get without making some more technique improvements. I've improved my ball striking and course management quite a bit. I think the next breakthrough will come from losing my over-the-top tendency (which makes it hard to aim since I either fade hard or straight pull without much predictability) and improving my chipping/pitching. Chipping/pitching was part of what got me to this breakthrough---I can now almost always get on the green from within 30-50 yards, but I can see that to turn my bogeys/doubles into pars/bogeys, I need to not just be on, but be in the range where I can often 1-putt. That'll take some work...

[Dave H]

Yes, I feel like I'm on the verge of a break through, although that can be deceiving I think. At the end of last season, I felt like I was making progress and would naturally get my hdcp into the teens - which is still my goal for this year. However, despite practicing all winter, I went up from a 21 to 23. After today I am heading towards 22. It's now July and I'm finally feeling like I'm making progress. My last 4 rounds have all shown real improvement although my scores haven't shown it until today. Today I hit solid shots with only a few exceptions, the driver was finally working and short game was good enough. So, right now, I feel like I'm on the verge of a real break through.

[Valleygolfer]

I feel that way right before I play. I have been on the range, got things figured out. Then I play. Shortly thereafter I don't feel that way anymore. :P

[sean_miller]

Anyone else feel like they are on the verge???

I do too.

After a seriously disappointing front 9 at a local course (44 with decent GIR stats) I played a little smarter on the back nine for a 39. My last 4 rounds have been below my season average (79, 80, 78, 79) and based on the lesson I had yesterday, I'm really looking forward to the rest of the season!

[holeinon3]

I feel like I'm getting better everyday, and soon I'll be shooting consistently in the 70's.

[max power]

It may be that my SS is well too much for my irons. I swing driver 120, never gauged my irons, but their probably fast.

I'd say the next step in "breaking through" will be to slow down your swing slightly!

[James_Black]

I only need to get more accurate with my irons.
I'm at 60% GIR but I'm far from the pin. If I get a bit closer I'll do a lot better

[FenderStrat62]

I feel that way, the last couple of weeks. I've been playing on harder courses, so my scores don't show it, but I've been hitting the ball a lot better and putting a lot better. And sometimes I'll hit my tee shots great all day, but my short game goes to crap. Other days will be exactly the opposite. If I can ever put it all together, I'll be golden. :P

[lhshurdl3r]

For once.. I feel like I'm just about ready to break 80. The past couple months I"ve really been struggling with my swing. I made a few fixes at the range early last week, took it out on the course a couple days later and shot an 82. If it weren't for a few early 3 putts it could have been an entirely different round. The last 12 holes were played at +4 and my back 9 was a +3(38). It was an unfamiliar course with a couple really dumb holes (you would tee off with 5 or 6 iron to the corner, but then have about 190-200yds to the green).