My Swing (Lihu)

[chris3putt]

All the best with the swing changes. It sure sounds like you are putting the work in

[Lihu]

Brookside Course 1 Blues (6800): IDK if I can score it, not declared a practice round, but played all over the place?

Hole 10: Hit a drive deep into the right, rolled on the cart path to the wood chipped area. 7i hit the tree blocking the green going back into the ditch, put my cart in front of the green and chipped out of the wood chip area. The DG (delusional golfer), hit three balls towards the green immediately after I walk down the ditch to hit out. I make my bogey.

Hole 11: Drive into the protection fence guarding the green on 8. Hit a PW into the fence again, hit a tree with same club. DG decides to drive. Luckily he drives only 200 yards or so. I finally hit one near the electrical box. DG in the meantime hit another ball towards me, but short of my initial drive and even the most backwards bounced shot I made. 4th shot 7i onto the green. 2 putt for double.

Hole 12: Hit deep to the bump on the right. waited for some ladies on the approach to the green. The took about 4 shots each to reach these greens. DG gets a little antsy on the tee box. I think he hit a drive or two? I pick up my ball and walk to the tee box on 14.

Hole 14: Drive almost to the left bunker over the hump on the left. Wait for some golfers who look a little concerned. So, I loop back to 12 again.

Hole 12 second time Hit 4 drives roughly the same distance (10-15 yards shorter than my previous time on the hole), hit a 3W to try to reach the green. I hit a pole on the fence on the left. PW to the green. 3 putts for a "double". I have no idea which ball I used as my first and fourth ones were right next to each other.

Hole 13: Shank my 5i just short of the bunker, chipped on and put for par.

Hole 14: Hooked my drive low (10 yard flight) about 30 yards past the 150 line. PW to the front fringe. Chipped and 2 putt bogey.

Hole 15: Hooked my drive low, but higher than the last one past the street intersection on the right. (First time ins a while I didn't hit that pine tree on the left). 3W turns out to be too much club, but luckily I hit on the heel. Ended up next to the tee box on 9, near the distance of the green. PW to the Oak tree. Chipped and putt par.

Hole 16: Saw DG 30 yards past the left bunker. Drive just short of the bunker on the left in some GUR junk. It saved me from going in. Hit my 8i near the green. Chipped high, 2 putt bogey. I talked to one of the groundsmen who said I need to hit it as if it were a $1000 shot. Tried the same putt that I missed for par, and on the second try lipped out. That was really good advice.

Hole 17: Met up with DG, and I shank my 6i just short of the green on the right. He says that the best drive he had today was 325 yards. He also said he hit his 7i past the bunker on the fringe. I'm walking up and I notice him dropping a ball on the fringe. I chip just past the hole leaving a 5 footer. He putts near the hole just missing his ""birdie"".

Hole 18: DG parts ways with me stating he doesn't have time to finish the round. I drive one up the middle. It was a "fade/low burner" drive. It only went 230-240? 3i shanked onto a pebble bag on the right. Takes me 5 minutes to find it. Hit my 8i off the bag dinging up my 8i. 60 degree up the green just past the pin. Chip back on and 2 putt for my triple.

So, I learned two things from today's round. Don't play with a delusional golfer behind you. The second is to take my time with every putt as if it were the most important shot of my life.

I also have no idea hot to enter this round into my HC calculation?

Any ideas?

In any case, I will be taking off the rest of this month.

[DrvFrShow]

Just call it a practice round and forget it. You're not playing the rest of the month anyway.

[Lihu]

Just call it a practice round and forget it. You're not playing the rest of the month anyway.

Thanks, Julia.

I was thinking of just chalking this off to a lesson well learned.

[Abu3baid]

Just a quick comment. I know you have been playing a lot of "practice" rounds since your last lesson with Mike. However, I haven't really seen you talk at all about how practice is going (on the range or at home), which might not be the best way of going about changing the picture don't you think? When is the last time you video taped your self to see if the picture is heading in the direction you want it to go? Are you back to doing some of your old habits (what ever they are)? Obviously there needs to be some sort of balance between range time and playing time, but trying to change your swing on the course is going to be tough, and not allocating enough range time is delaying improvement. The big goal now should be changing that picture so that you can start working on your next priority piece what ever it is right? Good scores will eventually come when you are ready!

[Lihu]

Just a quick comment. I know you have been playing a lot of "practice" rounds since your last lesson with Mike. However, I haven't really seen you talk at all about how practice is going (on the range or at home), which might not be the best way of going about changing the picture don't you think?

When is the last time you video taped your self to see if the picture is heading in the direction you want it to go? Are you back to doing some of your old habits (what ever they are)?

Obviously there needs to be some sort of balance between range time and playing time, but trying to change your swing on the course is going to be tough, and not allocating enough range time is delaying improvement.

The big goal now should be changing that picture so that you can start working on your next priority piece what ever it is right? Good scores will eventually come when you are ready!

I was pretty explicit in my descriptions of my practice rounds I have posted?

The main thing is that my swing is completely different, and I have already described exactly what is changing. I am not used to the new body positions yet, and it will take some time before I can start working on my priorities again (if they are even the same). The main reason why I think it is worthwhile dismantling my swing is that the new one is so much more powerful.

The last time I had any time to video was already posted. . . here . The main difference is my lead arm is higher than what you see in the video.

I don't use the range all that much anymore, so I use the course for my range practice and also my net when I have some time. So, I replaced any range time with course time.

[Lihu]

Doing drills while in China. . . The good news is they have a golf channel here in mandarin.

[Lihu]

Well, I hit the range with mixed results. I still swing okay, and did not lose any speed. If anything resting my muscles has helped me hit even farther. The bad news is I can't hit anything above my 5i, and i tend to thin or shank too many shots. All the shots are centered on the third groove from the bottom and near the heel. Got some video work to do. . .

[Lihu]

Back on the course again. I played 14 holes this morning. I can only think of two words for this debacle "embarrassing" and "omnidirectional". Yes, I got a few good shots out there, but the damage to the course is irreversible.

In any case, my long game is still kind of working, but my short game has completely disappeared. Sigh, I hope a few more rounds and I can get back what little game I had. . .

[Lihu]

Not as embarrassing, and I didn't break anything today.

My drives were a bit disappointing at about 250 yards when I didn't hit any trees. They were all low flying bullets. The highlight of the day was hitting my MP-32 7i a lifetime distance of 188-190 yards (google earth verified) with a nice high and true flight and virtually no roll. It was a perfect shot. I think my standard 6i distance is 180 yards. I thinned and toed one to 183, and over hit a few approaches because I estimated 170-175 yards for my distance. So, my irons are gaining distance while my driver (Ping G15 10.5 with a Dynamic Gold X100) only goes around 250 total distance. I nutted one drive into a light breeze with a higher flight thinking it was going 270 only to find it right on top of the 200 marker with a rated hole distance of 449 yards. My 5i took me the rest of the way on this short par 5 with a front pin placement. I noted that 4 months earlier I needed the Cobra driver and a driving iron to reach this hole in 2.

I also noted that making my way out of a fairway bunker with my 7i only went about 160 yards (it still made pin high). I think I lost half a club to a full club getting out of the sand. Not exactly sure why. I'll need to experiment with this a bit.

So, I need to make sure my hands are above my shoulders at the top of my swing. This is the main thing I am working on until I start swinging more consistently, then on to my actual priority pieces.

[Lihu]

Finally getting some of my game back. . .

Played several holes today with mostly tap in bogeys. I got into every bunker on every hole that had one, the good news is I got out in one shot every time. Missed two 4 foot sand saves and one chip in that hit the flag. Making mostly near greens even from other fairways. One par for the day, offset by a triple.

Putting and chipping need work sometime.

[Lihu]

Brookside Course 2:

Played a bunch of holes late yesterday evening, and did okay. Drove past 1 green, and pin high on another. My driver was on fire.

This morning my driver was not on fire. More of a fizzle.

Of the 7 holes I played this morning, I got 1 GIR and 4 near greens. I hit a tree in the other fairway on one drive, then hit another tree on the approach missing short by 30 yards. The other missed near green I hit a bunker dead on. It was a low boring flight, and bored its way into the bunker. Hit a 9i and it bounced off the trailing edge and out of the bunker missing the green opportunity. 3/4 swing 60 degree from 85 yards overshot the flag by 5 yards just on the opposite fringe.

The only GIR I made was from a sliced drive ending under a tree, then a 9i to the green from 145 yards to the back of the green about 155 yards away (landed about 150 by the pin). The 9i took a nice triangular flight just like those GI clubs. Shot of the day.

I feel like I can get more out my swing. My divots are too deep with the irons. If I can gauge it just right, maybe I could skim the ground instead and gain a bit more distance? In any case, the shots from my irons sound pretty solid, just not where I want to hit them on the face.

[Lihu]

Brookside Course 1 Blues (6800 yards): 45 (on 10 holes), 42 (back 9) plus a birdie on the 1st hole.

Hole 10: Skyed a drive to the cart path just past the bunker, 6i to right fringe, chip 2 putt, Bogey

Hole 11: Drove straight does the middle past the green on 8. Topped my 3W to the 100 marker, 60 to the right fringe, chip, 2 putts. Bogey

Hole 12: Drove to the hump (pull/fade), 3H to the left fringe pin high, chip, 2 putt, Bogey

Hole 13: 6i off the tee 5 yards short of the front pin. chip and putt. Par

Hole 14: Drove over the right trees just short of the right fairway bunker. 3/4 swing 60 to the green, 2 putts, Par

Hole 15: Drove past the large pine tree on the left. (pull fade), 3W to the tee box on 11, chip on 2 putt, Par

Hole 16: Sliced into the fairway on 17, 7i to the bunker "through" an elm tree, chip out, chip to the pin, putt, Bogey

Hole 17: 8i to a "front" (155 yards) pin high right of the bunker. chip on, putt, Par.

Hole 18: Sliced into 10 just past the left bunker facing the pin of 10. 3i to the right bunker, 2 shots out, 2 putts, Double (not happy with this)

So, I played Hole 1 in hopes to end with a nice day. Pulled my drive right, 3/4 swing 60 to within 6 feet, putt. Birdie.

First time I got a birdie since coming back from China!

I didn't want to end my day with a double on 18, so I grouped with threesome. I said I wanted to play a couple holes to erase the double from my mind, and birdied the first hole. I promptly left saying my thanks to the group I joined.

I had a decent scoring round this morning. At first, I wasn't sure if I wanted to score or not, but I had a decent driving range session Saturday. I was nailing my drives on the range. I was a little disappointed with my drives today, but they went far enough even though I sliced and pulled most of them. My distances are growing, and with it my slices and pulls are going farther offline. My 3 good drives were really good, though. It was the longest I've ever hit in 50F weather. I've pretty much established that my 60 is almost my 100 yard club, and my 6i is my 185 yard club (with some roll). 3i was pretty good on my one shot. I decided to commit to the body turn and the ball went 206 (google earth) into the right bunker of my hole the next fairway over. This is the first time I've carried an MP-32 (or any iron) over 200 yards. I hope I can hit balls like this more often.

The differential for my 42 is about a 9HC. If I can keep up this kind of scoring and get rid of the doubles, I think I have a decent chance to get in the 10 range. I think 10 HC is realistic and birdies are possible on a 6800 yard course.

[Lihu]

Brookside Course 1 "Blues 72.9/129" (approximately 6880 yards?): 83 (43/40)

According to my handicap spreadsheet, the HC differential is 8! Too bad this was a very unorthodox round!

Well, actually I played the first 2 holes on course 2. There were a lot of people there and I wanted to play some turbo golf, and I played a few holes on the back 9 out of order:

5 GIR, 30 putts. I will say that I was disappointed that I didn't make any of the par 5 in 2 shots due to hitting the 3W fat.

Hole1 C2 (4-380): par, Drive hit the tree on the right and bounce off into the fairway, 7i to the green missed a 4 foot birdie, 2 putts

Hole2 C2 (4-392): bogey, Drive into the cart path past the right bunker, second shot hit the tree in front of me, third went far fringe to 6 feet, 2 putts.

Hole3 C1 (4-443): bogey (rushed this one to jump a foursome), Drive to left bunker, hybrid to left trap, chip out, 2 putts.

Hole4 C1 (4-402): par, Perfect drive right over the big hump past the pine tree within 100 yards (it's a big downhill downwind hole), 60 to the right fringe, chip, putt.

Hole5 C1 (4-304): par, Drive past the sprinkler box almost pin high, chip just past the green from the side, chip back on and 1 putt.

Hole6 C1 (5-508): bogey, Drove to the middle of the fairway, fatted a 3W to right of the bunker, 60 to the right fringe, chip and 2 putt.

Hole7 C1 (4-408): double, Drove into the bunker, chip out, 6i to the right fringe, chip and 2 putt.

Hole8 C1 (3-184): double, Tried to play it safe with a 6i and it went right into the water where the ground narrows up again. 8i second time right to the fat part of the land (this is going to be my strategy on this hole from now on), chip and putt.

Hole9 C1 (4-337): par, Drove into the bunker and the ball bounced out and landed about 35 yards short of the green, chip, 2 putts.

Hole10 C1 (4-408): bogey, Skyed a drive over the left bunker into a grove of trees. 6i punch out to the far fringe of the green. chipped past the hole! 2 putts

Hole11 C1 (5-503): par, Drove past the green on 8 (pretty decent breeze assisted drive). chunked the 3W about 90 yards, 7i from the rough to 6 feet, missed the birdie putt! putt.

Hole12 C1 (4-468): bogey, Drove to the hump (breeze assisted), 3H to the left fringe/rough area, chip and 2 putt.

Hole13 C1 (3-182): par, a nice 6i shot hit the left tree, and bounced to within 10 yards of the pin, 2 putts.

Hole14 C1 (4-355): par against a 20mph breeze, drive just past the grove of trees on the right, 9i against a stiff breeze 130 yards to the green

Hole15 C1 (5-495): par against a 20mph breeze, drive into the pine tree on the left (what else is new?), 3W fatted to the burned pine tree. 9i against a really stiff breeze barely making the green. 2 putts.

Hole16 C1 (4-403): bogey against a 20mph breeze; hooked a drive into a big tree against the fence, 4i punch out to within 40 yards, chipped and 2 putt. Just missed the par.

Hole17 C1 (3-169): bogey with a 20mph breeze; 8i hit a tree and bounced for a few moments in the tree and a squirrel kicked the ball out into the middle of the fairway, 20 yard chip to the pin past it. 2 putts, tap in bogey

Hole18 C1 (4-443): Par, Hooked into the protective fence, 4i punch out to about 100 yards, 60 degree to within 5 feet. putt.

I really need to eliminate the doubles , but I am still surprised and happy that with such terrible ball striking that I am able to shoot this low!

My GolfLogix Handicap is now sitting at 10.5, but that includes a couple really good "practice" rounds which I am hesitant to delete from the database.

[Lihu]

I was feeling kind of sore from doing too many swings last night with my "wind resistance club", so I decided to do a practice round on the shorter (6000 yards) course. Good thing too. 9 holes 3 GIR, 3 near greens (less than 5 yards), 1 that I hit 15 yards past, one that I got into a trap, and one in the water. A 4 putt, three 3 putts, no one putts (23 putts on 9 holes).

Proud of my abbreviated finish punch shot out of some muck with my 3i, under a 10 foot opening 30 yards away with trees all around. It carried about 180-190 yards and rolled to 218 yards to the far left side of the green (google earth verified??). Iron game was not too bad compared to the rest of my game. I need a lot more drill work this weekend.

[Lihu]

Brookside Course 1 Blues (72.9/129) back 9: 43

Pretty sore. My chest and back feel "rubbery" from too much golf and the "wind resistance club" training.

Hole 10: Drove into the right tree taking a large branch out of it, and ending up on the hump 20 yards short of the right bunker. 6i chunked into the ditch, 1 penalty. 60 degree to the pin from the drop point. putt. Double.

Hole 11: Sliced into the 15th fairway about pin high to the green on 8. My longest slice ever ~260 yards or more if you follow the path it took! Chunked my 3W to about 150 away from center still in the wrong fairway. 7i over some small trees to the far pin. The greens man moved the pin to the front about 25 yards or more while I was walking towards the hole and put it up front! Grrrr. 3 putts. Bogey.

Hole 12: Drove short of the hump, 3H to the fairway on 13. 60 hit off the tree on the street back onto the green about 10 feet from the pin. 2 putts Bogey.

Hole 13: Shanked my 6i. 60 to the pin. putt Par.

Hole 14: Sliced deep into the fairway on 2. 8i to a near green on the 11th (I completely misjudged the distance to the pin and overshot by 25 yards).  Chipped back onto my green 3 putts. Double.

Hole 15: Sliced deep into the fairway on the 11th. 3H hit the tree on the way back to my fairway knocking it off line towards the street. 8i from the last grove of trees before the green. 60 to the pin, putt. Par.

Finally figured out that I was following an outside in path. So, I exaggerated my inside out movement.

Hole 16: Nailed one into the wind just short of the left bunker. 8i to the green but far away from the pin. 3 putts. Bogey.

Hole 17: 7i 163 carry dropped on the fringe and stuck. Just missed my birdie chip in. putt. Par.

Hole 18: Nailed a drive into a light breeze past the 200 marker. Still kind of far. 4i just short of the green. PW to a tap in par putt. Not my longest drive on this hole, but it was definitely one of the easiest pars I ever made on it.

All in all, I'm exhausted after 4 days of golf and having done strength training in the evenings. I think I deserve a rest for the weekend. This was going to be a practice round, but I wanted to avoid more complaints from the peanut gallery.

Yesterday's score for the record was 44 on something like a 68.9/122 rated course with 23 putts. I think the longer course has easier putting, but it could just be completely mental.

Rest for the weekend. My arms and upper body feel like rubber, and have no real power left in them. . .

Note to study this thread, and get more serious about putting.

http://thesandtrap.com/t/74295/putting-do-not-accelerate-through-the-ball

[Lihu]

Okay, my putting has reached critical mass, not to mention the fact that I need to focus more on hitting straighter to avoid other peoples fairways a bit better. I'm going to take off a month from daily play, and take up the "player's club" offer from the course. I get 2 large buckets a day, and unlimited access to all the facilities in the hopes that I can start shooting straight(er) and chip/putt better.

Hit a worm burning line drive drive on 18th again. It barely rolled to 250 yards from about 460 yards. My 3i was short of the green by 25 yards and my pitch shot overshot the hole and my putt back rolled 6 feet past the hole for a double, and these last three holes were the best ones today. . .Tried to make play a par 5 (short 474 yard) as a par 4 and ended up with a 5. Hit a decent drive, then I shank my 4i into a tree left of the green short. Chipped past the green, chipped back and putt. I still consider this a bogey since I usually play back 80 to 120 yards. The rest of the round went pretty bad. I even played the 8th par 3 hole with 8i-60wedge past the green. Hit the fence, took two shots to get away from the fence and under a bush and back on the green again putt in for a double. Kind of proud of the first extraction shot if it only went another 2 feet onto the green. I hooked (massive hook) a shot onto a bunker away from the water hazard (like 120 yards of hook). 6i to an elm tree pin high. Hit the elm tree bouncing back to where I started. Two golfers on the hole from which I was playing gave me a pretty stern look. . . Needlessly stated this was not a good round and will end up in the "bad" bucket list. . .

What a really crappy game today, but it serves me right for doing too much resistance training yesterday evening. My muscles were sore and rubbery before I started playing. 3 greens, 3 pars (including the 5 "par"), 3 putt on one of the GIR, for a grand total of +8 on 8 holes.

[DrvFrShow]

Okay, my putting has reached critical mass, not to mention the fact that I need to focus more on hitting straighter to avoid other peoples fairways a bit better. I'm going to take off a month from daily play, and take up the "player's club" offer from the course. I get 2 large buckets a day, and unlimited access to all the facilities in the hopes that I can start shooting straight(er) and chip/putt better.

Hit a worm burning line drive drive on 18th again. It barely rolled to 250 yards from about 460 yards. My 3i was short of the green by 25 yards and my pitch shot overshot the hole and my putt back rolled 6 feet past the hole for a double, and these last three holes were the best ones today. . .Tried to make play a par 5 (short 474 yard) as a par 4 and ended up with a 5. Hit a decent drive, then I shank my 4i into a tree left of the green short. Chipped past the green, chipped back and putt. I still consider this a bogey since I usually play back 80 to 120 yards. The rest of the round went pretty bad. I even played the 8th par 3 hole with 8i-60wedge past the green. Hit the fence, took two shots to get away from the fence and under a bush and back on the green again putt in for a double. Kind of proud of the first extraction shot if it only went another 2 feet onto the green. I hooked (massive hook) a shot onto a bunker away from the water hazard (like 120 yards of hook). 6i to an elm tree pin high. Hit the elm tree bouncing back to where I started. Two golfers on the hole from which I was playing gave me a pretty stern look. . . Needlessly stated this was not a good round and will end up in the "bad" bucket list. . .

What a really crappy game today, but it serves me right for doing too much resistance training yesterday evening. My muscles were sore and rubbery before I started playing. 3 greens, 3 pars (including the 5 "par"), 3 putt on one of the GIR, for a grand total of +8 on 8 holes.

You and I should play a round. We'd have fun. I know... not what you wanted to hear.