My Swing (cipher)

[cipher]

Since I am pretty much done for the year for posting to handicap, I thought I would look at how I am improving.  The first thing is that I was 11% less accurate off the tee compared to last season.  I am not worried about this at all.  I literally was working on swing changes all season and it often resulted in not knowing what flight I was going to get with the driver on any given day.  I started the season with pushes and ended with my miss being pulls.  Most of the time the driver was fairly reliable and with 20-30 extra yards this year compared to last year I will take a little less accuracy.  I am hoping to get into the mid sixties next season though.  That would be nice.

GIR I was hoping to get above 50% this year, but again with the constant changes all the time I am happy with the improvement.  My ball striking is noticeably better this year.  And I am making more birdies when in the fairway that make up for some of the misses off the tee.

My up and downs around the green have improved slightly as well.  I essentially put no time into working on the short game other than when I was playing and just a slight technique adjustment after watching some videos from Erik, and Mike.  I need to put a little more time into it next year.

Putting has gotten worse and although it is not much worse statistically, I am closer to the hole more often on approaches and pitch shots so I actually see it as much worse than the stats show.  It is a good thing I am getting some help with this soon.  I need to figure out if I can learn to putt.

I am fairly happy with how my average score has progressed and with the index improvement even if I am a bit of a vanity capper.  I play the same course every morning in soft conditions and fairways that are very easy to hit out of.  I was hoping to get to a low three this year but again with so many changes it has been tough to always stay consistent and my goals are a bit ambitious.

Just as a reminder I had set out in in 2011 as about a 12-15 to start to become scratch in 5 years.  I have two years left.  At this rate I will not make it in that time, but you never know.  I am doing everything I can.  I will get there eventually but I am not sure about the time line.

YEAR	FIR	GIR	PPR	GSUD	AVG	END INDEX
2011	46%	33%	32	N/A	82.8	6.2
2012	70%	44%	31.1	44%	79.4	4.5
2013	59%	49%	31.8	47%	78.2	3.8

GSUD=Green Side Up and Downs(within' 20 yards of the green).

[Jakester23]

That is amazing improvement. I love that you have kept all your stats. I'm curious with your putting is it that you don't make as many putts as you would like or do you struggle with lag putting? What seems to be the consistent problem?

[cipher]

That is amazing improvement. I love that you have kept all your stats. I'm curious with your putting is it that you don't make as many putts as you would like or do you struggle with lag putting? What seems to be the consistent problem?

Lag putting is OK, not great.  I am just missing 3-5 foot putts that I was not as often before. I don't know what the problem is.

[iacas]

Lag putting is OK, not great.  I am just missing 3-5 foot putts that I was not as often before. I don't know what the problem is.

I have a good feeling about how this stuff will go for you in 2014. ;)

[Ernest Jones]

Right on Cipher. That is some solid improvement. You're starting to sniff scratch!

[Jakester23]

I'm by no means an expert but have you tried to go to the putting green and hit those short putts one handed? I like doing that almost every time I'm on the putting green. Just hit 4 balls left handed then 4 right handed. Do that for a while then go to 2 handed. Its a good drill to make sure your hands are working together.

[cipher]

I have a good feeling about how this stuff will go for you in 2014. ;)

Well, I am going to work with the right guru next week anyway. I think 2014 will be good all around.  I feel like in these last couple months I have seen some major improvements with what Brian and I have been working on, trickling down to results on the course.

Right on Cipher. That is some solid improvement. You're starting to sniff scratch!

Getting there, but it is getting so hard to improve now.  Just gotta keep at it.  The five years is just something to shoot for, if I feel it is more ambitious that what I am capable of the hope is that I will work harder to get there.  I am also staying committed through the winter for the first time with working on the swing.

[Ernest Jones]

I'm a better than average putter based on the various people I've been paired up with and my two maxims for putting are VISUALIZATION and BLANK MIND. Visualize the put until you can almost feel the distance and line it must travel then blank your mind and stroke it.

Best putting book I ever read was Extraordinary Putting by Fred Shoemaker. Totally changed the way I approach putts and I get a lot of tap-ins now just because my feel for speed and distance is usually pretty spot on. I also got lucky and found a putter that really suits my eye so I hit my lines FAR better than I did with my old putter.

Now if I could get more of those tap-ins to drop the first time I'll really be in business but for now I'm just happy to rarely blow it past the hole or stop 5' short.

[cipher]

I'm by no means an expert but have you tried to go to the putting green and hit those short putts one handed? I like doing that almost every time I'm on the putting green. Just hit 4 balls left handed then 4 right handed. Do that for a while then go to 2 handed. Its a good drill to make sure your hands are working together.

Utley talks about that I believe.  I have never tried it.  I might try that at some point.

[cipher]

I'm a better than average putter based on the various people I've been paired up with and my two maxims for putting are VISUALIZATION and BLANK MIND. Visualize the put until you can almost feel the distance and line it must travel then blank your mind and stroke it.

Best putting book I ever read was Extraordinary Putting by Fred Shoemaker. Totally changed the way I approach putts and I get a lot of tap-ins now just because my feel for speed and distance is usually pretty spot on. I also got lucky and found a putter that really suits my eye so I hit my lines FAR better than I did with my old putter.

I will have to pick this up at some point as well.  That sounds like a nice read when the snow starts falling.  I have a sketchy putting green in my basement that I can work on some of this stuff this winter as well.

[cipher]

Working on the swing in Erie. Erik made me post this... . Looking better!

[Jakester23]

I really hate you. ;) You are so smooth. Honestly its really cool to see how the work you've put in has made a big difference. The thing that I see right away is how perfect the tempo looks and how smooth the weight transfer is.

[mvmac]

Sexy A10

[cipher]

I really hate you. ;) You are so smooth. Honestly its really cool to see how the work you've put in has made a big difference. The thing that I see right away is how perfect the tempo looks and how smooth the weight transfer is.

Thanks...I think.

Sexy A10

Thanks Mike.  So happy to finally get the downswing piece starting to look how I have been trying to get it for so long now.  Erik and Dave have been great to work with, but I will get more into that later.

[Slice of Life]

Wow. That is sexy, man. Great work. Now prepare to play like shit for the next 2 weeks, and then start breaking off personal bests. That's how it went for me after my day with Erik. Haha.

[David in FL]

Working on the swing in Erie. Erik made me post this.... Looking better!

Wow.  Schweeeet!

[cipher]

Wow. That is sexy, man. Great work. Now prepare to play like shit for the next 2 weeks, and then start breaking off personal bests. That's how it went for me after my day with Erik. Haha.

Oh trust me I am playing like crap.  When I get it right, it is pretty awesome and the ball goes higher and farther than ever before.  When I get it wrong or do it to slow it is ugly.  It is not that it is hard to get, it is just going to take a lot of practice to get to the point where it is completely natural.  It is just a completely different feel over the one I have been feeling in the hips over the last year.  You know how it is...;)

Wow.  Schweeeet!

Thanks David!

[cipher]

Below is the main picture I like about what Erik and Dave worked on with me to change.  Before is on the left and after on the right.  My issue is pretty much all about what I am doing from A4.5 or so to A7.  The changes will help me a lot with keys 4 and 5 down the line. It will also help me with low point consistency and hitting the ball higher.  You can pretty much see this in the photos.  I have to fight a few bad habits but I will be able to correct them pretty quickly with some hard work and make it consistent.

A few notes about the trip.  I don't really want to get into to much of the back story of why I did this, but I will just say I felt this trip was necessary to take things to the next level.  After the trip is now over, what I learned is beyond what I had expected to be able to understand.  I spent two long days working with pretty much every area of instruction we could think of and also took an AimPoint class and did some Edel fittings.   I learned so much about the short game, putting and reading greens properly of which I had no clue about before.  I could not be happier with the improvements in the swing, although it is now all on me to put in the work to make it the new move.   So why did I drive almost 9 hours out to Erie to do this? Because if there was better instruction any closer I would not have had to.  These guys are so passionate about teaching and they know exactly what they are doing when it comes to getting you to improve and find the the piece that triggers the change.   The attention and effort given to what was going on and getting me to make the improvement was above and beyond the expectations I had.  Erik put in two extremely long days, working around the schedule of when I could be there.  I cannot say enough about that.  I am just extremely impressed with these guys.  I am sure anyone else who has personally worked with these guys feels the same.