My quest for a 10 handicap started today

[cody west]

to the op,

goodluck first of all. second you should be able to do this just fine, just work on your wedges and short irons. you cant expect to really hit greens with your long irons so focus more on the shorter clubs like 6i down. also practice putting because it can save you, last year in a match some kid shot 35 with 8 putts and one chip in and never hit one green

[i-Guy]

I'm working on ball-striking and my under 60 yard pitches to the green religiously. My chipping is surprisingly good, if I'm in a position to chip. Unfortunately, my poor ball-striking has me hitting up and downs from 30-40 yards out, which is also a problem for me. I think that if I can improve my ball-striking and short wedge shots, my game will improve greatly. Ball striking with my mid-irons would put me in much better position to make up and downs and hit more GIRs, and my short wedge game needs to be on in case I miss. I'm fairly happy with the rest of my game right now.

Sounds like a very good plan…like I said “Good Luck”

And not that an 8 handicap is good enough to question what you need to work on to achieve a 10 handicap but I would be interested in your stats as follows: GIR: Putts per round: Up and Down %: FIR: Penalty strokes per round: I think that these can tell a lot about what a golfer needs to work on to improve their overall game...not that I am referring to you " Bullitt5339 " but I cannot tell you how many times I have played with 25 handicappers who when they got done with the round and shot 110 they try to tell me that if they could have just hit their driver better they would have probably broken 90...what they failed to recognize (because they do not keep stats) is that even if it took them three strokes to get around the green it took them 4 more strokes from there to get into the hole...I have a few buddies who are in the 20 handicap range and I always preach the short game to them and they ignore me...expect for one because I convinced him to start keeping his stats and when he saw the numbers he could no longer argue the facts of what he needed to work on (short game stuff like putting and chipping)...recently he shot an 84 on a tough golf course and hit two drives out of bounds during the round… just my 2 cents.

[Bullitt5339]

Course was rained out today, so no range today for me. I did hit about 50 partial swing wedge shots in the yard this evening though, just so I wouldn't go a day without swinging a club.

[Bullitt5339]

Went out and played 9 in the rain this evening. Considering the conditions, it showed some promise. I felt pretty comfortable standing over my irons today, but the hard rain was a pain, so I didn't spend as much time as I should concentrating on my game. Putting with glasses on in the rain is also a pain, you can't really see very well.

Score: 45
Pars: 4 (3 in a row at one point)
Bogeys: 2
Double Bogeys: 3 (both par 5's and one par 3)
Fairways: 4 of 7 (missed the fairway on both par 5's, which hurt)
GIR's: 3 (one better than last time out)
Putts: 18 (had one 3 putt on a par 5)
Up and Downs: 1 of 4 attempts for par
Shots lost to penalties: 2 (hit OB on #9)

For the weather conditions, I'm not complaining, except for the fact that I drove OB on #9 and ended up with a double bogey because of it. My irons were definitely better, I just have to keep working on them.

[Bullitt5339]

Today during lunch, I hit the range and was working on my 7 iron, since I've been having a lot of trouble with 5-7 irons, they're the worst part of my game, to be honest. For the 1st 20 or so balls, I didn't hit a single shot that would have even been called decent. I went and took a break in the shade for a few minutes, kind of trying to figure things out and clear my head, and decided to go back to the 9 to 3 drills until I was making good contact. Every shot 9-3 was pretty darn good, so I went back a little further with my backswing, but nothing close to what I typically do and then followed all the way through, and what do you know, perfectly straight, low penetrating shots about 150 yards. I did this about 20 times in a row with good results every time. I'm happy with 150 yards from my 7 iron with the way I've been hitting it lately, that's for sure. I guess for now, until I have my next lesson on Saturday and can figure out why I'm losing it in my backswing somewhere, I'll be hitting 5-7's like a hard punch shot. It's better than low duck hooks, at least.

I'm going to try to sneak out and play 9 after work today, we'll see what happens on the course with this technique.

[PooN]

I had in my head that I was not going to get upset on the course...

This has taken at least 6 strokes off my card per round. It can make the difference between shooting in the 90's or managing an 80's round.

Only swing thought... Tempo, Tempo, TEMPO!

[Bullitt5339]

I went and played a hard course today with some friends. Par 71, 6500 yards, 70.7/126. Compare that to my typical 6300 yard, par 72, 69.5/115 that I typically play. My irons are really coming around nicely. My strong draw/hook is nearly gone completely, but I still find myself aligning for a strong draw, so I lost a lot of shots today because of that. Shot a 96 with 12 penalty strokes (ouch). This course had no wiggle room, it was either a great shot, or you were hunting for the ball.

The only problem I'm really having is since I've been spending so much time with my irons, my driving, which is typically pretty good has gone to nothing. So I need to get out and maintain my irons, but get my driver back into shape. We won't talk about my fairway woods yet, I haven't hit a fairway wood well in forever, so I don't pull them out very often, but they're next on the list of things to work on.

[Bullitt5339]

Another lesson this morning, and Wow, what a difference a week makes when you actually practice. The pro brought a 6 iron with him today, and wanted me to hit it a few times. Man, I was smacking the crap out of that club. It was a Bridgestone J33. I immediately thought that being an "near blade", I would hit horrible shots with it, but the exact opposite was true. He asked me if I liked that club, and I said "Hell Yes!!!!", and he said there was one main difference in it and mine. They were 1/2" short, 2 degrees flat, which is what he fit me for earlier in the week, so he shortened and bent a club to show me exactly how important club fitting is. My Mizunos are going in Monday to be changed to the same specs.

Irons are getting better, especially with the one that's actually fitted to me. I didn't hit a single bad shot with that Bridgestone J33 6 iron all day, but had a few with mine. Pitching over hazards was also on the list for today, and I actually did pretty well with that.

I'm walking 9 this evening, so we'll see how I do on the course on my typical course.

[Bullitt5339]

Well, I guess it's time for an update:

I've been hitting the range everyday during lunch, working on short irons one day, mid irons the next, fairway woods and hybrids next, and then driver and 4 wood off the tee on the 4th day. I've also walked a few rounds on the course, and a few 9's, but have not kept a scorecard, just practicing on the course and not worrying about the score, concentrating on the shots.

Today was fairway woods and hybrids day, and they were coming along nicely. Still a few stray shots with them, but overall they are getting better. I'm playing in the Fort Bragg Commanding General's scramble on Friday, and then I'll play on Saturday and actually keep score and stats, and gauge how things are going.