My journey from 120+ to low-mid 80's in a year.

[TheCaliGorilla]

So I’m new to the forum and was asked to post a thread about my journey from shooting over 120 to a consistent 85 in one year.  So I’ll start from the beginning and hope this can be of help to somebody.  Going into golf, I was a thrower (discus and hammer) and had played sports all my life.  I had good upper body flexibility and was very strong, but knew nothing about golf.  I’m also incredibly competitive and want to be my best in whatever I do.  Last summer, two friends and I started a business and decided that if we were going to be businessmen, we needed to learn how to golf.  I know, fairly stereotypical and somewhat humorous, but we’re college kids paying our way through school and found something to occupy our time outside of school and work.  I bought my first set of clubs, a 20 piece Maxfli Black set, as well as a lesson from a PGA pro to teach me the basic grip and what simply not to do in the swing.  I went to the driving range twice and then headed to the course with two other friends who are both solid golfers.  Needless to say, four hours, twenty balls, 30 bucks, and lots of frustration later, I ended my round with a score of 124....but I was hooked.

I went to the range every night, hit thousands of golf balls all summer and took another two lessons from the PGA professional, but still struggled to understand what I needed to do to improve.  As with every high level of sport, there is a purpose to each practice, and if I hoped to golf at a high level, I figured I needed to follow that.  So, I developed my own practice routine and stuck to it for every range session.  I’ll go into detail about that below.  School began in the fall and I went to the range every day and continued to gradually improve (key word...gradually).  I’d play a round at a run down muni at least once a week and while I began to shoot in the 100-110 range, I still knew I was missing something.  In the harsh Kansas winter, I focused on putting in my bedroom and slowly swinging my club inside.  When Spring finally came, I hit the range again and began videoing my practice sessions....HOLY COW.  This made all the difference for me.  When I used to throw discus, I’d video all my practices and could visually learn how to improve.  When I started videoing my golf swing I noticed a nasty overswing, horrible flipping, horrendous lower body action, and the list goes on and on.  I realized that my swing was impossible to repeat and that’s why I didn’t know where my shot would go.  I utilized Shawn Clement’s golf swing videos on YouTube to re-establish the fundamentals.  The score began to drop around 95.

This summer, I came out to California to be with my family.  I found an instructor and took one lesson which helped tremendously and taught me the proper impact position and and downswing motion.  This made the single biggest impact in my swing and effectiveness to control where the ball was headed.  My best score when I left Kansas on May 18th was a 91.  After this lesson and about 5 range sessions, I went to the course and shot an 87.  I was pumped to finally break 90.  To reward myself, I got fitted with a whole new bag of clubs...which included the Nike VR ProCombo Irons and demanded I continue to improve.  After a month with the new clubs, I went to the course three times and shot an 84,83,85.  In my next post, I’ll detail my practice routine, gym workout, and overall course stuff that helped me dramatically.

[TheCaliGorilla]

Practice Routine

Monday/Thursday- Short Game (Wedges through 8i)

I’d practice hitting shots as if I was out on the course, aiming for different targets or trying to repeat the ball flight in the same spot.  Many times I’d manipulate the ball flight and try to keep the distance the same.  This really helped with allowing me the chance for a birdie or par.

Tuesday/Friday- Mid Game (7 iron-4 iron)

I’m not a very long driver as I prefer to be in the fairway, so having a good mid-game is important as these were the clubs I was using on longer par 4’s and longer par 3’s.  I’d use the 110 yard drill working on solid impact and controlling my distance.

Wednesday/Saturday- Long Game (3i, 3W, Driver)

This is easily the most improved part of my game.  When I started, I couldn’t hit the ocean if I was teeing off of the pier.  Now, in my most recent round, I hit all but 2 fairways (maybe a better percentage than the pros, but every pro is bombing it past my 240-250 and I’m not playing real skinny fairways).  I’d work on not overswinging and dropping the hands into the power position.  My lower body needed a lot of work especially with these clubs because I felt the need to crush the ball every swing.  Then I realized that a controlled, long swing through the ball and not at the ball was key.

Putting-Everyday for at least 45min. to an hour

I’d do the simple drill of 4 three foot putts in a circle around the hole, then 4 six foot putts, and then 4 eight foot putts.  After that, I worked on lag putts and moved around the green a lot to try my best at reading the breaks.

Gym Routine

While I realize this is highly a personal aspect of the game, here’s what I did.

Monday/Thursday

Dumbbell Lunge, Leg Curls, Leg Extensions, Butt Lift Bridge, Calf Raises, Hyperextensions, Seated Rows, Lat Pulldown combined with a series of stretches for each body part.  All exercises done lightweight 3 x 15 reps.

Tuesday/Friday

Chest Press, Dumbbell Flys, Dumbbell Raises, Lateral Raises, Tricep Extensions, Dumbbell Curls, Shrugs combined with a series of stretches for each body part.  All exercises done lightweight 3 x 15 reps.

Wednesday/Satuday

Core workout with alternate heel touches, crunch machine, stability ball turns, and medicine ball turns with lots of stretching.

This gave me increased strength, while allowing me to lose weight and improve flexibility.

[TheCaliGorilla]

Today's round (best I've done score wise and overall, much improved)

Score: 81 (+9)

FIR: 9/14 (I lost my confidence halfway through, but finished the last two holes with 265 yard and 255 yard drives so that's good for me)

GIR: 12/18 (big improvement especially in the overall distance left to the hole)

Putts: 31 (18 on front 9 and only 13 on the back 9)

Shots of the day:

1. Pothole greenside bunker and got up and down for par thanks to Mickelson's book (really).

2. Awful lie in rough left of the green w/ball below feet. Pitched and lipped out. Tap in par.

3. Last but not least, a 30 foot putt for birdie which left me on cloud 9...so awesome.

Days like today are why I love golf.  I went into the round completely focused and playing for the first time in front of my mom who was riding with me.  Began hitting 7 straight greens.  Then I lost confidence in my tee shot only to find it on the 12th in the form of a 270 yard drive. Got on another par streak.  Hit some more great drives.  Made the best putt in my life and gave me the chance to break 80 except for choking on 18, but realize that in my first year...I shaved 46 strokes off of my game thanks to practice, learning, and genuine love of the game.

The takeaway:

1.  Finish reading "Secrets of the short game." I got up and down a ton and was leaving the ball close to the hole, which makes putting a lot easier.

2.  Learn self-discipline when contemplating a shot decision, and once I make the decision, believe 100% that it will turn out how I pictured it.

3.  Practice iron shots on "above and below the feet" lies, if not for anything else but confidence.