Breaking Bad Club - A Thread for Golfers Trying to Break 100

[bweiss711]

Well, I did it!  Been taking hacks at golf courses for 20 years, started actually practicing 7 weeks ago, and I finally mother-effing broke 100 yesterday.  Shot 96 at a course I had only played one time before about 8 years ago.

This was easily the most consistent I've ever hit the ball into the greens (8 GIRs) and my driving was as good as it has been all season.  The biggest thing with the driver was deciding to stop trying to be perfect on the tee.  Meaning, I wasn't concerning myself with how I thought I should be ideally hitting the club, instead, I just hit it the way I naturally hit it right now, played the "power fade" aimed out over the left side of the fairway, and mostly kept it in play.  I was still inconsistent off the tee with a few pop ups and pulled shots, but for the most part, I stayed out of trouble.

The even better news is that I shot 96 and my short game was terrible. I had a couple duffs in sand traps and from the rough around the greens.  Plus, of my 8 GIRs, I 3-putted 5 of them and it wasn't always the lag putt that was the problem.  I missed a few 3 footers that you just can't miss.  So, I've still got plenty of strokes to remove from my score once I actually start to work on shots around the green.  To this point, all of my practice has focused full swings with the irons and driver. 

So, needless to say, I'm really excited about this.  I think i'm just going to play the rest of the season with the same practice focus.  Might be time to start a "member swing" thread for my driver.  And in the off-season, the focus will shift to the short game.

Unfortunately, it might be a few weeks before I'm able to get out for 18 again, but I can't wait to get out there and try to do this again.

[Brad W]

good job.  keep it up!!

[Hiway1tele]

Well spent most of the day practicing swinging....No surprise I sucked worse than usual...I was at least consistant...as many right pulls as left....Bob Costas remark in his Feherty interview fits me perfectly I guess...I sucked before lessons, and now I suck a diff way after lessons...probably time to donate the clubs to 1st Tee...

[bweiss711]

1 hour ago, Hiway1tele said:

Well spent most of the day practicing swinging....No surprise I sucked worse than usual...I was at least consistant...as many right pulls as left....Bob Costas remark in his Feherty interview fits me perfectly I guess...I sucked before lessons, and now I suck a diff way after lessons...probably time to donate the clubs to 1st Tee...

When I have a bad day on the range, I've now found the best thing to do is stop swinging.  I think there is a natural tendency to go the other way and swing, curse, tee it up again, swing, curse, tee it up again, and repeat.  

Instead, I'll walk away for a moment, take a drink of something cold, and then get to back to basics. I don't just start swinging full again.  I go slow.  Like, really, really slow.  Maybe for about 10 minutes, go over each part of the swing in super slow mo.  Then, once I feel like all the parts are where they should be, I'll hit a ball in super slow mo.  The first time i did this, I was shocked at how far I hit it swinging that slowly.  

Then, I'll slowly take swings getting a little faster each time until I feel my mechanics get out of whack again.  Then, I treat that as my new swing speed and resume my "range session". But I don't swing in rapid fire.  I'll walk around the mat after each shot and address each new ball as if I were walking up to address it on the golf course.  I feel like this process really ingrained my proper swing into muscle memory and is most responsible for the improvement in my swing over the last several weeks.

And now I realize, if you go to the range the way I used to, and just hit 100 balls in 40 minutes and go home, I'm not really trying to get better.  Instead, that's just hoping to get better.

[Hiway1tele]

Glad something worked for you....and that you are better than before...Lessons, practice, whatever, nothing seems to overcome the lack of ability...I have come to the realization that people with zero ability to swing a club will never get any better...you will play +30 scores a different way...but it will still be +30...and it will still be no fun hitting lousy shots one after the other...I'll leave the rest of this year to those of you that enjoy the game...at this point I am fed up with it and consider the lessons and the time a waste..

[Brad W]

if there is some physical issue preventing you from swinging the club, I suppose there isn't much that can be done about that.  Perhaps seeing a physical therapist or something like that.  I don't know.

For me, I think it is mostly mental.  As a newb I'm clearly not at a skill level anywhere near most out there.  My swing is slow and if I try to apply a full swing VS a 1/2 or 3/4 swing, I almost always shank it.  That said, if I keep it under control, I can hit the ball pretty decent... albeit not as far as the club should send the ball.

At the range I do great.  I almost always walk away feeling pumped - "hell yeah, I can play this game".  Not every ball is awesome, but most for sure.

when I'm on the course, the whole thing is out the door.  Where at the range 90% of my shots are solid, when at the course I'd say 90% of my shots are complete disaster.

Its mental I know.  I just need to figure out how to turn it around when I'm playing.  I know I'm leaving a lot out there and can easily break 100 if I can get my mind figured out.

 

[bweiss711]

12 hours ago, Hiway1tele said:

I have come to the realization that people with zero ability to swing a club will never get any better...

 

16 minutes ago, Brad W said:

At the range I do great.  I almost always walk away feeling pumped - "hell yeah, I can play this game".  Not every ball is awesome, but most for sure.

when I'm on the course, the whole thing is out the door.  Where at the range 90% of my shots are solid, when at the course I'd say 90% of my shots are complete disaster.

Its mental I know.  I just need to figure out how to turn it around when I'm playing.  I know I'm leaving a lot out there and can easily break 100 if I can get my mind figured out.

 

 

The book I'm reading and re-reading and re-reading, Ben Hogan's Five Lessons, addresses these specific concerns from average golfers.  

(And yes, you guys are average golfers if you're posting here in this thread.  A large majority of golfers don't break 100.  Think about that the next time you are on course full of golfers.  Most of the golfers out there are duffing, slicing, pulling, and hooking it around the course, just like us.)

But, I highly recommend that book for not only teaching the proper fundamentals of a golf swing, but also empowering the average golfer to believe that they are capable of learning the golf swing.

I do believe there is a mental aspect to this game in terms of course strategy, and being able to put both good and bad shots behind you.  But it is not a mental issue when you get out on the course and "its just not there".  Its still a physical issue.  The problem is that at the range, after a bunch of swings, we're able to feel our way to a swing that produces consistent, acceptable results.  But when we get out on the course, the "feeling" is lost because we don't have the 20 consecutive swings to get it back.  And then, we chalk it up to not mentally being able to play golf, because we aren't able to think our way back to those acceptable results.  If you can take the time to break down each part of the swing and learn the proper fundamentals, they will be with you on every first tee with minimal thought required.

[Brad W]

6 minutes ago, bweiss711 said:

The book I'm reading and re-reading and re-reading, Ben Hogan's Five Lessons, addresses these specific concerns from average golfers.  

I keep hearing about this book.... Just to make sure, is it this one Amazon Link

[bweiss711]

2 minutes ago, Brad W said:

I keep hearing about this book.... Just to make sure, is it this one Amazon Link

Yep!  That's the one!

Kind of funny that its subtitle is "The Modern Fundamentals of Golf" and the book is 70+ years old.  But that's the brilliance of it.  Even after all this time, the lessons are still relevant. 

[Brad W]

cool.  Its cheap enough too.  I'll pick up a copy and give it a go.

Thanks

 

[krupa]

Even though I told myself I wasn't going to keep score anymore, I've been keeping score.  

Last night I played 9 and shot a 52.  3 pars (!) 3 doubles and 3 blow-ups.  One of those blow-ups may have been better if I had either kept my driver in the bag or adjusted the ball on the tee when I saw it wasn't in a position I liked.  I don't know why I don't fix the ball on the tee every time... such a simple thing to avoid.  Another blow-up was bad chipping around the green on the last hole of the day.  The other was a bad tee shot on a tough hole: narrow fairway and lots of trees make it tough if your tee shot isn't close to the middle.

http://www.gamegolf.com/player/krupa/round/1150362

 

 

[DrvFrShow]

I haven't played much this summer due to weather. It's been too hot on the days I'd be playing with my playing partner, and I haven't felt like practicing much. My game has fallen off. Golf is a perishable skill. Nonetheless the heat broke, and I played with my playing partner last week on a course I've never broke 100 on. It's a par 74 for us and it's long. There are no "ladies" tees on the course. So the par 4s are 330 - 380 yds. Now this 70 yr old woman I play with is no slouch off the tee. She keeps commenting on my power off the tee - its that my cut looks like it's powerful but it's about 230 - 240 yds., but she's only about 10 - 15 yds short of me. 

Still I'm not leaving myself in great shape for approach shots, or when I do, I've been hitting a little fat. This is due to lack of practice. On the front 9 my short game bailed me out. I was landing flop shots, but three jacked a couple of holes I should have parred misreading the green. I was also getting used to a different putter.

My SeeMore had been a garage queen so I traded it to my neighbor for his 1984 Karsten Co. Ping Echo which is in near new condition and $100. Since I wasn't using the SeeMore, it was a waste of money. I tried the Ping for this round and it's pretty nice. I gotta admit. 

Shot a 47 on the par 38 front 9. Then the back 9... I started playing defensive and had a blow up on the 10th with a triple. Hit my only draw of the entire round on the 11th hole and put it out into the junk on the left, but still had a shot on this short par 5 over some trees with my 9 iron cutting the dogleg onto the green for eagle possibilities, but hit it fat and ended up with a bogey. I had one par on the back 9 and ended up with a 53. My short game deserted me I wasn't playing it aggressively like I was on the front 9. It cost me about 6 strokes. Too many double bogeys in the round. Three pars and a birdie overall. 

One thing since I started playing a cut on my drives as opposed to a draw is that I have one miss to worry about. When I was trying to play a draw I had two - a duck hook and a slice. 

[Brad W]

Played a decent round yesterday. Second time playing this nine hole par 34 course. 

I managed to shave five strokes off compared to first time for a 51. 

I started with a par, then shake my drive and had to take a penalty. That hole ended in a 7, but then came back with another par. 

I walked off the course feeling like I did better than a five stroke improvement. Had some holes that really gave me trouble but still got a good number of really good golf shots. I think the mental feeling of the game is actually more important than the strokes.... Else I'll start "I hate golf" thread :)

this Friday I play in my first tournament. It's being held at an 18 hole par 3 course. I'm looking forward to that as it will be my first 18 hole game. The following Saturday I play in a tournament at a full par 72 course. Excited but kinda bummed I won't be able to track my score 

[Hiway1tele]

If anyone is interested, a well known Instructor, Shawn Clements, will be doing a group clinic in Dallas and San Antonio in October...he ask me if I was interested, but I am not playing any longer, so i thought I'd let people in this thread know...for the People that can improve that are +30 golfers, he probably can help you...he is a good teacher....if this violates any rules for this forum, My apologies in advance...

[grantisadrummer]

Well I finally did it. 

I've just played 3 days in a row, working on playing a smarter game, and it paid off.

Monday: 100. Tuesday: 102. Today: 97. 

Even within my game today I had a few blow up holes, and a lost ball, so I feel like 90 isn't too far off now. Gonna keep pushing for it because it feels great seeing my numbers dropping so drastically.

[Brad W]

Nice job grant. 

The season is quickly ending here in my area. I doubt I'll have many more chances out there 

[bweiss711]

On 9/13/2016 at 11:41 PM, grantisadrummer said:

Well I finally did it. 

 

Congrats @grantisadrummer! Well done!

[bweiss711]

Since I last posted here that I finally broke 100, I have a played a few more rounds.  None of them were particularly great.  Its almost like I said to myself, "Well you broke 100! You're good at golf now!"  And I stopped practicing so diligently.

I first played my local 9 hole course, which isn't particularly difficult, and couldn't hit the ball cleanly.  Scored a 51, which is actually my worst score there this summer.  The good news was that it was my first scorecard all summer which didn't have an 8 or worse on it.

The next round was 18 holes, and the first nine we played was much of the same and not hitting the ball clean, getting myself in some trouble.  Luckily, I parred the 2 par-3s to keep the score on the first nine holes at 52 and a shot to break 100.

The second nine holes were much better, even though I only scored a 48 for an even 100 on the day.  I actually met my intended goal as an improving golfer to have at least as many pars or better as doubles or worse.  I had my first birdie of the year, 2 pars, 3 bogeys, 2 doubles, and an 11.  The 11 was a freak hole where a wicked slice came out of nowhere and I hit 2 tee shots OB, and put my 6th stroke in the water after hitting a fat wedge out of the rough.

My last round was another 9 holes at a course by work.  I was cruising along with 3 pars through 7 holes.  But then that wicked slice appeared again on the 8th and 9th holes and I finished with two 8s and a 53.

So, after that slice appeared again, I've gotten back to solid practice this week, and had a great range session yesterday.  I focused on making sure my feet and shoulders were square to my line with the ball in the middle of my stance, and the slice was nowhere to be found.  

I plan to play my local 9 hole again tomorrow morning, and then play 18 on Sunday at a course where I had my worst round of the summer.  I'm really hoping that next week I'm posting about having my best score ever at the 9 hole course, and scoring another round under 100 on Sunday.