The Julia Plan: A 5 Handicap in 5 Years

[chris3putt]

Set back. Internal Oblique injury. I have no idea how it happened. I was getting my clubs out of the car on Friday, and I noticed it hurt when I got into the house.

I'm done for three weeks. One week total rest on it. Then back to the gym to strengthen the muscles. Then we'll see how it goes in mid-Jan. I'll try to see if I can work into an easy small bucket then eventually work into a full practice session by mid-February. These injuries are nasty. I had one when I was 19 and it took three months.

My expectations for next year just dropped. I'm hoping to shave maybe 6 strokes off the HC next year now and play around 90.

What is going to keep me from success in the plan is injuries.

Utter bummer! Sorry to hear it.

[Lihu]

Set back. Internal Oblique injury. I have no idea how it happened. I was getting my clubs out of the car on Friday, and I noticed it hurt when I got into the house.

I'm done for three weeks. One week total rest on it. Then back to the gym to strengthen the muscles. Then we'll see how it goes in mid-Jan. I'll try to see if I can work into an easy small bucket then eventually work into a full practice session by mid-February. These injuries are nasty. I had one when I was 19 and it took three months.

My expectations for next year just dropped. I'm hoping to shave maybe 6 strokes off the HC next year now and play around 90.

What is going to keep me from success in the plan is injuries.

I just recovered from a bunch of pulled muscles in the shoulder, arm and forearm. It took 2 and a half months to really heal. I still played golf through it, though. Just really gentle swings.

At least it didn't happen in the spring.

Wish you well and treat it with RICE, and some Advil at night to help you sleep.

[No Mulligans]

Sorry to hear of your injury.  I hope you heal quick.

I'm 57 and have some health issues and flexibility issues.  I have a goal of having a smooth easy swing.  If I have to sacrifice some distance to stay injury free, that's fine with me.

[Lihu]

Sorry to hear of your injury.  I hope you heal quick.

I'm 57 and have some health issues and flexibility issues.  I have a goal of having a smooth easy swing.  If I have to sacrifice some distance to stay injury free, that's fine with me.

Ditto here.

Smooth and easy are relative terms, though. @iacas corrected me on another thread about the swing being an explosive movement, and it is. Just well within your limits I would think.

[No Mulligans]

Julia,

I haven't read all the posts to this thread so I apologize if this has been addressed.  If I was you I'd be working on Key #1, Steady Head (and this is something that I did work on).  It looks like you are moving your whole body back.

[boogielicious]

@DrvFrShow ,

I hope you recover soon.  I recommend ice and compression to help healing faster.

[DrvFrShow]

Thanks for the wishes. I'm wearing a back brace and it seems to help. My plan is to start cardio and light core work next week depending upon how it feels. No golf for at least two to three weeks. Given the amount of time off, and yet another injury to address means I'll schedule a lesson for start up day.

My 3baysGSA unit will be here today, and I'll see if I can figure out how to use the thing between now and then - just get it set up - Then when I take my lesson, I'll have the pro make the swing and set it for the " best swing. " Since he's about my height, still shoots in the 60s, this should work pretty well, in theory. I'll have his club path through his swing. The numbers on everything. Not that I'll hit the distance with the club, but that's not what I'm after. It's the plane, tempo, etc. Then at least I have something to compare what I'm doing to with it - and I'll know if I'm drifting away from that - and this is most important.

Video will still be important. I think there are a number of things to work on.

[Phil McGleno]

Julia perhaps in your downtime you can look over the posts starting at http://thesandtrap.com/t/77836/my-swing-drvfrshow/18#post_1084007 in your swing thread. I agree with what they were saying there about the compensations in your downswing and your swaying in your backswing. Constantly amazed at the amount of good quality FREE stuff given away here. Tough to accept for an old timer but very appreciated and I am learning to be more open too. Always strikes me as weird when good or great advice is largely ignored though.

[DrvFrShow]

That's what I meant about "a lot of stuff" to work on, Phil. I can keep a steady head - I think the movement of the head is due to not having a centered pivot. The centered pivot should take care of the steady head. I need to back up a bit and regroup. I'll look over the videos and the drills associated with them.

And really this is a good time for the injury.... The next week is forecast to be really cold anyway. I won't be hitting any balls. Time off.

[DrvFrShow]

Update: I've recovered from the injury and have started back to work on the plan. I gave the 3baysGSA Swing Analyzer a test run to see how accurate it was, and I have to say it is pretty darn accurate. The first thing I did was enter the length of each one of my clubs. They're +1" over factory standard length except for my driver and 5 wood. It mapped my swing path exactly like it shows in the videos. It gives me instant feedback on what I'm doing on every swing. I can just set my cellphone in my bucket and check each swing for consistency. I brought my Bushnell with me to measure the target distances of the flags on the "greens" at the range. The "greens" are marked out in a brighter green turf. The target for my 9 iron was 126 yds. I was landing the ball near the flag and one shot almost hit the flag. The 3baysGSA registered 126 yds carry.

So for my 9 iron it showed 122-126 yds. Pretty consistent, except for the few mis-hits and the one I thinned that went 133. But I know what is causing the mis-hits and I'll get to that.

My 7 iron showed 142-145 yds. which is consistent with that club as well.

Now my "range" driver is the Razr Fit which has a 3 wood shaft in it. This dropped the swing weight of this club from a D6 to a D1. It also changed it from 45.5" to 43.75". I entered this length. When I hit this club it showed that I carried it 205 yds. which is essentially a strong 3 wood, and I hit it dead straight. I tracked it for 5 shots and they were consistent. 89-90 mph SS. So today I decided to try an experiment. I put the old driver shaft in it - 45.5" making it a D6. With the longer shaft I should hit it further, right? Wrong. It's a heavier club now. My SS was about 88 mph top, and I was averaging 86 mph with it. I was actually hitting shorter with the driver because it was heavier, and my shot wasn't as accurate. I remember I had to swing out of my socks with the full length shaft. So I've got a funny looking 11.5 degree 3 wood now for tight fairways.

Alright, enough about the GSA. I give the device two thumbs up. I had no connection issues and the driving range has wi-fi.

What is causing the mis-hits? Is it my swing? No. I'm finding the slot. I have to do things this way because of some injuries, and it's fine because I can find the slot. Jim McLean describes my swing here at 8:20 in this video.

My left shoulder keeps me from taking the club straight back. It pops and hurts, so I take it back on the inside, and that sets the rest of the swing in motion. It's a compensation.

So I'm going to leave this as my natural swing. I'm going to focus on a centered pivot for the next three months. Every one of the players McLean mentions did not have lateral movement in the hips or in the body. So I'm going to work on staying centered. That should take care of the lateral head movement, too. I think this will take care of the consistency problems on the course. Then I have to learn how to play the game better - I guess LSW is on the "buy" list.

Here's how I can tell if I make a centered pivot - I make solid contact with the ball; and I finish in balance. I will not finish in balance if I do not make a centered pivot. There will be wobbling. I will not make solid contact if I do not make a centered pivot - it will be either thin or a little fat. I can tell.

I made 10 full shots in a row with solid contact and finished in balance. It's a start. Thursday I go for 11.

[boogielicious]

If you have time for golf specific fitness workouts.  I recommend:

This will help your shoulder strength and flexibility and your hip flexibility.  It will make the centered turn easier.  The workout really only takes 25 minutes.

[DrvFrShow]

If you have time for golf specific fitness workouts.  I recommend:

This will help your shoulder strength and flexibility and your hip flexibility.  It will make the centered turn easier.  The workout really only takes 25 minutes.

Currently unavailable. I just checked Amazon. Thanks anyway.

[DrvFrShow]

My range driver is a D6 SW. I decided to try and counterweight it to a D2 with some lead tape so I went to the golf store to buy some. As you know I've been working on centered pivot. I was going to take a video a couple days ago, but someone grabbed the stall next to me just when I was about to set up the camera. It was a busy day, so I didn't get one in. Anyway back to the lead tape. With a ton of lead tape we got it to D3. I still hate the club.

I have a driver lesson on Thursday, and my pro had been asking me "why the driver?" Well, it's the big dog. It's the big distance club, and I have trouble controlling it. It would be fine if I only hit 180 with it, and I'd be on the fairway with it all the time, but I'm not. I hit 230, and it's all over the place. I hit 4 FIRs per round with it. I'm in the first cut on 2 more. The rest of the time I'm making chip outs, taking a penalty stroke, hitting a provisional, dropping from a hazard, you get the picture -- it's costing me strokes, and then I make a bad decision to follow it which costs me another one or two strokes. But it always comes back with a good one to give me that taste again.

So since I don't have a 3 wood (I have a 5 wood), I thought I'd hit a 3W while I was in the store since the Cobra BioCells were on sale. Launch Monitor avg: 90 mph SS with the 3W; carry 205 - 210 yds; roll out to 235 yds. I don't hit a 3 wood off the deck. The face on this club is hot and I have it adjusted to 14.5 degrees. Hitting it this well it went home.

Now here's my theory. It's a shorter club, but the club head is more aerodynamic than the driver so I get the swing speed near my driver swing speed, better launch angle, and because it's a shorter shaft i have more control, so if I'm not hitting the driver 250 yds, and I'm hitting my 3W 235 yds, why do I even need a driver?

[CarlSpackler]

My range driver is a D6 SW. I decided to try and counterweight it to a D2 with some lead tape so I went to the golf store to buy some. As you know I've been working on centered pivot. I was going to take a video a couple days ago, but someone grabbed the stall next to me just when I was about to set up the camera. It was a busy day, so I didn't get one in. Anyway back to the lead tape. With a ton of lead tape we got it to D3. I still hate the club.

I have a driver lesson on Thursday, and my pro had been asking me "why the driver?" Well, it's the big dog. It's the big distance club, and I have trouble controlling it. It would be fine if I only hit 180 with it, and I'd be on the fairway with it all the time, but I'm not. I hit 230, and it's all over the place. I hit 4 FIRs per round with it. I'm in the first cut on 2 more. The rest of the time I'm making chip outs, taking a penalty stroke, hitting a provisional, dropping from a hazard, you get the picture -- it's costing me strokes, and then I make a bad decision to follow it which costs me another one or two strokes. But it always comes back with a good one to give me that taste again.

So since I don't have a 3 wood (I have a 5 wood), I thought I'd hit a 3W while I was in the store since the Cobra BioCells were on sale. Launch Monitor avg: 90 mph SS with the 3W; carry 205 - 210 yds; roll out to 235 yds. I don't hit a 3 wood off the deck. The face on this club is hot and I have it adjusted to 14.5 degrees. Hitting it this well it went home.

Now here's my theory. It's a shorter club, but the club head is more aerodynamic than the driver so I get the swing speed near my driver swing speed, better launch angle, and because it's a shorter shaft i have more control, so if I'm not hitting the driver 250 yds, and I'm hitting my 3W 235 yds, why do I even need a driver?

Have you tried the Biocell driver? You might get the same effect as the 3W but be even further down the fairway. Just a thought.

[GolfLug]

Now here's my theory. It's a shorter club, but the club head is more aerodynamic than the driver so I get the swing speed near my driver swing speed, better launch angle, and because it's a shorter shaft i have more control, so if I'm not hitting the driver 250 yds, and I'm hitting my 3W 235 yds, why do I even need a driver?

Because life's too short not to indulge in the mother of all guilty pleasures. But I guess with your site name seems like you already knew that. Don't give up on the big guy!!

Not sure if the aerodynamics can make that much difference but I would bet on the shorter shaft and overall club weight combination forcing a smoother impact., i.e. more your body/torso gets and stays involved, especially at impact. I think over time you will find it easier to swing a lighter club with more effect.

A lot of folks actually train with a super light driver club shaft (less than 50 gms.). In effect your reg. (heavier) driver can feel like your 3W and swing like one too.

But yea,h if you are 220+ off the tee with ANY club, 3W or otherwise - then certainly worth a lot even to anybody half your HCP.

Keep at it!!

[No Mulligans]

Might make sense at your handicap not to use a driver.

But given you're aspiring to be a 5 handicap it makes no sense to give up the driver.  You're going to need a really good swing, and if you have a really good swing the driver won't be hard to hit and it will go further than the 3w.

[DrvFrShow]

Well, my intent is to learn how to hit every club in the bag well, otherwise I will have one of those handicaps that doesn't carry from one course to another. The driver at this point is not ready for prime time.

I have a lesson Thursday about hitting the driver. On 5600 yd courses a 250 yd drive can bring a number of par 5s within reach in 2. Hitting the green in 2 means 2 putts for birdie. But on fairways with trouble on either side like water or OB, or with a narrow fairway I'll be hitting that 3W - Tiger would hit a 3W. I've seen him use a 3W a lot off the tee. If it's an open fairway that I don't have to worry about woods or trouble - hit the big dog.

I have a pretty good iron swing. It's getting a lot more consistent than it was at the start of practice season. I've cured my reverse pivot. I'm still working on my hip slide, but that seems to be much more under control. My head seems to be remaining over the ball.

Practice season allowed me to make a discovery as to why I was pulling everything left last year, and why it was a struggle and so uncomfortable to hit the ball straight. When I stand straight with my feet on a line and put a shaft on my hips, the shaft points on a line to the left. The same when I put the shaft on my shoulders. I remember a chiropractor mentioning this to me when I was 30. So essentially with my feet square, I had an open stance, and was swinging straight along my stance. If I drop my right foot back by the equivalent amount, my hips and shoulders become square to the target line, and I flare my right foot like Sam Snead did - this helps stabilize my right side so that I don't hip slide - I get a better shoulder turn, and the ball flies true more often.

Bottom line is that with my right foot dropped back, my hips and shoulders are finally square to the target line. You can call it a compensation, but sometimes there's no way around it. I can't help that my scoliosis was never treated when I was growing up. I'm also getting more center strikes on the golf club because I'm working with it instead of against it.

But I agree that I need to learn how to hit the driver. I have a Big Bertha. Of the drivers I tried last summer, I hit this one the best. It is something about getting the proper launch angle and all of that stuff with it to make it go straight and far.

Also with 15 clubs in my bag... now I have to figure out which one to leave home:

Driver, 3W, 5W (which I would adj to 7W), 3H, 4H, 5 - GW, 56, 60. Putter. I'm tempted to leave my 5 iron home, since I rarely hit it. Or I leave the 5W home since I hit my 3H further off the deck - don't ask - it's probably one of those spin things where I can get the ball in the air a little easier despite the 3H having more loft. Of course I'm going to have to recalibrate every single club since I've been practicing daily and my club head speed is increasing due to this.

[DrvFrShow]

Has been shelved. I'm done for a while. I may have a stress fracture in my left tibia. It's at the top of the bone. I need to see the doctor. I've been treating it as patellar tendonitis, but the pain is not going away after rest. This was a nice thought, but it's a good thing this happened now and not in June. Rehab is a #@!!!