Post-mortem: 130 to 88 in 6 months... what worked, what did not.

[lonewolf]

Best post I've read here.

Now the fun / harder part comes.  Getting from a 16 to a single digit.  I'm pulling for you.  A lot to be said for not letting ego dictate your golf game.

Two items that help me from fairway bunkers if I may:  1.)  find one to three clubs you are comfy with out of fairway bunkers depending on lips-distances  personally, I'm very comfy with a 140yd. 8 iron; comfy with a 160 yd. 6iron  and reasonaly comfy with 170yd 5 iron---all are 10 yds. shorter then normal distances  2.) quiet your lower half - 3/4 quarter swing

Think I'll go drop a few hundred on a new driver now.  Interested in buying a 9.5 degree Clev. Launcher (est. 2002)?

Best of luck

[yatzr]

Originally Posted by djackson89

Up and down in 3.

He said it was how many shots to get within 100 yards, not what happens after you're within 100 yards.  If I had to guess, I'd say it means within 100 yards after 2 shots on a par 4 and within 100 yards after 3 shots on a par 5.

[inthehole]

great post - I'm in about the same boat.    Started playing last September & now I'm down to a 93 avg (played 18 times already this year).       Driver is killing me - some days its on, other days atrocious - no consistency.     PUtting & irons are my strong suit, chipping & driver are my nemesis.     This week, I've played twice with my wife's driver, which is 2" shorter & backing off on my swing to about 3/4 strength - so far, it's been working out really well actually - it's a much more fun game when hitting your second shot from the fairway, even if it's 20 yards shorter...

The secret to my success & eliminating my slice entirely was reading the Stack & Tilt book & watching the online video's - really worked for me.

[indykappa]

Awesome post! I started golfing 2 months ago, and shot a 111 on my 2nd trip to the course. Noticed lots of improvement from my first time out (60 thru 9). I have a similar pregame routine where I dont move until I complete a task/challenge Im wishing you the very best. I plan on doing a similar post at the end of the summer

[tristanhilton85]

To start, very cool post... I really liked reading the step by step on how you improved and what worked for you... it seems like much of what you are doing is the same as what I do... things like making sure you practice with purpose, making 10 3 footers in a row before moving on, etc.

I also found Secrets of the Short Game to be a very good video... pitching/chipping were always my weakest points and even though I wouldn't call them the strongest now they are much better and and a lot of that has to do with that video.

You may want to check out the Stack and Tilt stuff again also.  I remember the first time I tried it was when the article in Golf Digest came out and I didn't really understand what I was doing, which I find to be the case with many people who say that they try S&T.;  That was quite a while ago and I abandoned it for a "traditional" (if you can call it that) method and just got worse.  I had a hernia surgery last August and to fulfill my need for golf I watched the S&T; dvds and read the book.  It was a lot clearer (at least to me) after the book and DVDs... the GD article really don't explain things too well.  Once I could play again I started working on the stuff in that book and my scores have fallen with it.  If you decide to try S&T; again you may also want to check out some of the Golf Evolution stuff... very good info there.

As you mentioned earlier, video is a great thing... even if it is just for the audio.  I would also recommend getting some high speed video or your swing... you will see things you didn't before with the video going that slow.  If you do go this way, I would highly recommend Analyzr if you're on a Mac or if you do use Windows you could check out V1Home.

I don't own but have tried a Tour Striker, and I personally like it.  All it does is help you hit down into the ball more and keep you from flipping/casting.

Overall, I really liked what you said and look forward to hearing how you get from the high 80s to scratch; with your dedication you can get there.

[FlyingKiwi]

Great post. I've recently gone from high 90s to low 80s (was one over after 9 today but those 9 where in the middle of a round bookended with doubles), and can definitely agree with the disciplined practice on where you are deficient. Liked your perspective about how hitting long and short is still a miss.

What worked for me though, ironically, was giving up on lessons. I tried Golftec ($2500 down the drain) and other instructions. What helped me was reading the Stack and Tilt book. It gave me a much better understanding of ball flight laws, and this has saved me many shots. To each their own, but if it is not a S&T; instructor, I am not using them. Unfortunately the instructor we have around here charges $250 an hour which is just too much for me. Just tinkering by myself and reading iacas' posts (thanks for those!) really helps as well though.

I also used the Tourstriker and loved it. Great tool and my distance increased substantially. I know some people said the distances you listed sounded more realistic, and that's about where I was hitting before the Tourstriker. Here's a list of my iron distances before and after the TS (not that the distances are that great with the longer irons).

Before - After

SW: 90 - 115

PW: 110 - 130

9i: 120 - 145

8i: 135 - 160

7i: 145 - 170

6i: 155 - 180

5: 165 - 190

4: 175 - 200

3: 185 - 215

My ball flight is straighter and compresses better.

For putting Phil's book helped, and for everything I loved Stan Utley's books. The best putting tip was from this forum: the balls breaks on the way to the apex so add a little more break. Has made a big difference.

Anyway, thanks again for your post and good luck breaking 80! Still trying to do that myself! Soon hopefully :)

[B-Con]

Terrific post. :-) [quote name="johnclayton1982" url="/forum/thread/49746/post-mortem-130-to-88-in-6-months-what-worked-what-did-not#post_625673"] Made sure I missed thin, and never missed fat [/quote] This is a key for the duffer. I used to hit fat chronically, and fixing that gave me at least three, if not six or seven, strokes a game back. For mid irons, thin shots usually go roughly the same distance as a good shot anyway. For other shots, you still make good progress toward the hole and carry whatever necessary hazards if you hit thin. It's surprising the difference in results for a crappy thin vs a crappy fat shot. [quote name="johnclayton1982" url="/forum/thread/49746/post-mortem-130-to-88-in-6-months-what-worked-what-did-not#post_625673"] Started tracking my rounds beyond just the score, figured out where the most strokes were lost, and practiced those skills relentlessly. [/quote] I also really like this bit. I recently started tracking every hole where I scored over a bogey to see where I wasted full strokes. It's very telling. [quote name="johnclayton1982" url="/forum/thread/49746/post-mortem-130-to-88-in-6-months-what-worked-what-did-not#post_625673"] Aim the clubface before you step up to the ball [/quote] Yep! I found a lot of my misses were caused because I actually hit the ball the direction my body was aimed -- and I wasn't aimed correctly with my body. So simple and obvious, but so useful and often neglected. [quote name="johnclayton1982" url="/forum/thread/49746/post-mortem-130-to-88-in-6-months-what-worked-what-did-not#post_625673"] stack and tilt [/quote] Did you only try S&T; for that one day? That's not really a lot of time to get used to [i]any[/i] swing change, let alone an entire swing philosophy. If it was your first lesson back, is it possible you were still just feeling awkward with a club in general? [edit] Typos

[motteler621]

Originally Posted by B-Con

Did you only try S&T; for that one day? That's not really a lot of time to get used to any swing change, let alone an entire swing philosophy. If it was your first lesson back, is it possible you were still just feeling awkward with a club in general?

Sometimes it only takes one day to realize its not for you, better than getting 5 months into it and realizing its not for you,lol

[sean_miller]

I find it strange yet completely unsurprising how many people read his post and think he should give S&T; another shot. He's making progress his own way and using S&T; didn't feel right to him. Should have been the end of that part of the story, since it's not in any way a condemnation of the method for everyone. How about giving it a rest, guys?!?

[billk86]

Terrific post.  Congratulations.

I decided to take golf more seriously this year and have been working very hard to improve.  We have had some similar experiences (lessons, Phil dvd, studying course management etc...)

For me the biggest thing has been developing a practice regiment and sticking to it.  I took some very productive lessons at the outset of the season which gave me a new grip and a better understanding of my swing and the confidence to improve.  Since then I have been practicing a lot, playing a lot, and thinking about the game a lot; and I am starting to see some great results!  At the outset of the season, I couldn't break 100 at my go-to course.  I was between 105 and 117, but last week I shot 93 and then a few days later 87.  Wow what a fantastic feeling!

Best of luck the rest of the season!

[tws1098]

I find it strange yet completely unsurprising how many people read his post and think he should give S&T; another shot. He's making progress his own way and using S&T; didn't feel right to him. Should have been the end of that part of the story, since it's not in any way a condemnation of the method for everyone. How about giving it a rest, guys?!?

Thank you. I was thinking the same thing. Anyway, to the OP this was a great read. I was thinking about detailing my 2 year journey from 100+ to 79 (which just happened last week...woo). But yours seems more impressive having done what you did in 6 months.

[baseballfrk8998]

Great post.. I really enjoyed reading about your progression. I'm currently in the 90's and would love to get down into the low 80's and possibly 70's. I'll definitely consider some of the same things you've talked about in your post.

[B-Con]

I find it strange yet completely unsurprising how many people read his post and think he should give S&T; another shot. He's making progress his own way and using S&T; didn't feel right to him. Should have been the end of that part of the story, since it's not in any way a condemnation of the method for everyone. How about giving it a rest, guys?!?

None of the thing he talked about are swing specific -- it's more about the mental game, being a student of your mistakes, and practice strategies. It's not like it's a choice between "his way" and S&T;, the two are unrelated. I think the comments are primarily motivated by the fact that he only tried it for one lesson. Sometimes a simple grip change takes more than that to get comfortable with. Given the S&T; enthusiasm on the board, that's low hanging fruit.

[mattttt25]

Great post, thanks.

[iacas]

I saw the S&T; comment. I ignored it and gave his original post a thumbs up. You can't "try S&T.;" It's not something you can go to the range and "try" and it's not something you can "do" in a lesson.

Knowing that, I didn't see the point in commenting on 1% of his incredibly good post. :-)

[sean_miller]

Originally Posted by iacas

I saw the S&T; comment. I ignored it and gave his original post a thumbs up. You can't "try S&T.;" It's not something you can go to the range and "try" and it's not something you can "do" in a lesson.

Knowing that, I didn't see the point in commenting on 1% of his incredibly good post. :-)

I knew you'd read it and skipped over that part, because you got really good before even hearing about S&T; and know it can be done. If he decides at some point to go down that path again, there's plenty of opportunity to do it later. I incorporated some aspects of the method last year, mostly because they're consistent with what my instructor was teaching. He's old school - like 40 years of teaching kind of old school - and even though he's seen it all, he was very interested in S&T.; He doesn't teach the method, but he gets it and for what it's worth (not much to those who don't know him), he approves of it.

Anyway, the OP seems to be on the right track, for him. He may get to a point where he's hitting the ball where he wants more often that not, but wants to tighten up his driving or long irons or wedges (whatever) then he'll see S&T; in a different light. I know I did. But still - it's not the only game in town, and if the books and/or DVDs aren't ever going to be enough material to give the method an honest shot, then I'd have to say other books and DVDs are superior, because often times they are enough.

[Spooner]

Incredible post.  I just got into the game with my wife who used to play a lot about 10 years ago. And I have to ask, are you an engineer?

I will definitely sa ve this post to refer back to as we battle through lowering our scores.

[jacksparrow]

Great post, and congratulations on your post. Like an earlier poster said, I was particularly interested in your comments after reading your yardages, because it means you are a lot like me.

Just out of curiousty, what tees do you typically play from? I'm a big fan of the new Tee It Forward approach, and feel much less guilty playing from the tees closest to 6,000 yards instead of trying to macho up and play back around 6,400-6,500. How about you?