The Julia Plan: A 5 Handicap in 5 Years

[Lihu]

Its been my experience with flightscope  launch monitor......Most men, a vast majority in their late 50s with a low to mid handicap  also 92-95 mile per hour swing speed don't even drive the ball 210 yards ( not carry , drive the ball)  let alone 240....just saying

This is probably an average including duffs, tops, cold weather, etc. Yeah, 210 average is already pretty good even for a man.

[Spitfisher]

This is probably an average including duffs, tops, cold weather, etc. Yeah, 210 average is already pretty good even for a man.

its not at all...summer weather, decent drives...its my experience most males at any age think they hit the ball 30 yards further than they actually do.... They certainly don't hit it high enough.

[Spitfisher]

Its been my experience with flightscope  launch monitor......Most men, a vast majority in their late 50s with a low to mid handicap  also 92-95 mile per hour swing speed don't even drive the ball 210 yards ( not carry , drive the ball)  let alone 240....just saying

its not at all...summer weather, decent drives...its my experience most males at any age think they hit the ball 30 yards further than they actually do.... They certainly don't hit it high enough. and think they have a higher swing speed.

look at the chart though 93 miles per hour for a LPGA player, young, athletic hitting it square, straight, great launch and low spin. average 246, now take a 10-12 handicap 57 year old male, with a tiny bit of side spin he'll likely be 30 yards shorter (10-15% less than the pro and Im being generous)

[No Mulligans]

This is probably an average including duffs, tops, cold weather, etc. Yeah, 210 average is already pretty good even for a man.

I'm kind of an old man, 56 years old but I have a lot of mileage (leukemia, chemo, bone marrow transplant & lost a ton of weight for my trouble).  That chart doesn't work for me.

I hit my 7 iron 145 yards but only hit my driver about 200 yards, not an mean average more like a mode in that I think maybe 50% of my shots are 190 to 210 and the other 50% are shorter.

My 3 wood goes almost as far as my driver.

I wonder what's up with that?

[Lihu]

I'm kind of an old man, 56 years old but I have a lot of mileage (leukemia, chemo, bone marrow transplant & lost a ton of weight for my trouble).  That chart doesn't work for me.  I hit my 7 iron 145 yards but only hit my driver 205 yards.  I wonder what's up with that?

It just means you can hit most greens in regulation with driver iron? Seriously though, the lofts on the irons are probably one club up from the ones we use. The reference 7i is 34.3 degrees most of the new irons have 30 degree lofts and much hotter faces than those people use on tour.

[Phil McGleno]

http://thesandtrap.com/t/32498/trackman-data-pga-tour-vs-lpga/72#post_890442 Your swing speed is about the same as LPGA players-Color me skeptical. Lets see some proof, new videos, etc. You are 62 years old or something are you? [quote name="DrvFrShow" url="/t/77978/the-julia-plan-a-5-handicap-in-5-years-lol/18#post_1075032"]BTW I'm familiar with that chart, and have a copy of it. I do have a driver SS over 90 mph. That was determined during driver fitting. But distance doesn't mean consistency does it? No, it does not.[/quote]

[Spitfisher]

I'm kind of an old man, 56 years old but I have a lot of mileage (leukemia, chemo, bone marrow transplant & lost a ton of weight for my trouble).  That chart doesn't work for me.

I hit my 7 iron 145 yards but only hit my driver about 200 yards, not an mean average more like a mode in that I think maybe 50% of my shots are 190 to 210 and the other 50% are shorter.

My 3 wood goes almost as far as my driver.

I wonder what's up with that?

It means with a slower club head speed, <90MPH you can definitely benefit from a higher lofted driver such as 14 degree. Your 3 wood is 15 degrees and 2.0 inches shorter, easier to make solid, square contact and less distance killing side spin.

But this is digressing into another subject than the original post

[DrvFrShow]

Phil, I don't have to prove anything. If you don't want to take my word for it, that's not my problem. I use an 11.5 degree driver with an Aldila RIP'd NV shaft R. Check Aldila's shaft fitting guide. Now if you want to pay me to drive 100 miles RT and get put on a Trackman and get a HD video, I'll do it. That's including the time for the Trackman and video. Otherwise we'll let this part of the discussion die. This is not part of the thread topic nor does it have anything to do with my goal.

[Phil McGleno]

It has everything to do with your goal and I do not believe you-Your swing speed is average of the LPGA Tour and youre 62 and have a laundry list of ailments?-Highly highly unlikely. Speed isa HUGE advantage in golf and I think youre kidding yourself-And us-if you swing 90 MPH + with a driver.-Im not paying you anything as ultimately I do not care and you are only kidding yourself but I do not believe you.[quote name="DrvFrShow" url="/t/77978/the-julia-plan-a-5-handicap-in-5-years-lol/36#post_1075311"]Phil, I don't have to prove anything. If you don't want to take my word for it, that's not my problem. I use an 11.5 degree driver with an Aldila RIP'd NV shaft R. Check Aldila's shaft fitting guide. Now if you want to pay me to drive 100 miles RT and get put on a Trackman and get a HD video, I'll do it. That's including the time for the Trackman and video. Otherwise we'll let this part of the discussion die. This is not part of the thread topic nor does it have anything to do with my goal. [/quote] More power to you if you can but dont tell me this has nothing to do with the topic or your goal-Speed is a big help in shooting good golf rounds/scores

[DrvFrShow]

Do not underestimate my intelligence. Of course speed is an ingredient in shooting low scores, but what is not part of this thread is the pissing contest that seems to have started. What I'm saying is that if you do not believe me about my SS that your problem not mine.

[Phil McGleno]

This isnt a pissing contest-Youre only hurting yourself if you lie to yourself about being >90 at 62 with all of your physical issues. I didnt challenge your intelligence or estimate it at all but I question your swing speed-THought that was clear.[quote name="DrvFrShow" url="/t/77978/the-julia-plan-a-5-handicap-in-5-years-lol/36#post_1075328"]Do not underestimate my intelligence. Of course speed is an ingredient in shooting low scores, but what is not part of this thread is the pissing contest that seems to have started. What I'm saying is that if you do not believe me about my SS that your problem not mine.[/quote] Im done now-Youre only kidding yourself

[Abu3baid]

WOW this thread took a nose dive quickly.. let's get back to topic, because honestly it doesn't matter how long she can drive the ball.. anyway... @DrvFrShow I want to get back to the issue of your priority piece with your coach, because I think that this is relevant to achieving your goal! I think others would agree that working on contact is too vague and general, you need to get more specific with your coach. Does he use high speed camera? Find the biggest flaw that is making you have inconsistent contact and just work on that.. doing anything else is only going to delay your progress imo!

[Spitfisher]

In my opinion if you wish to reach your goal of a 5 handicap, we already discussed the driver, but you'll have to consistently learn how to hit both straight and move the ball with some consisitency. The next step is the irons, same as the driver, consistency and being able to change ball flights, however 3 more things are now added for irons that I have found to be critical. 1) Engage spin on the higher lofted irons. To spin or not to spin will come from experience and the type of shot you desire. How do you want the ball to react on the green, where do you want to putt from? Many times the best shot is actually behind the pin. Can you target a larger area of the green with the use of spin that will not be detrimental to your approach shot? What will the ball do when a purposly hit cut (fade) or draw shot is made? Working the ball against or with the wind. All of these examples will benefit you to become a better golfer, especially on the all important 2nd shot on a par four. 2) iron play control distance. Quite simply you need to dial in distances accurately. Based on your swing speed there is about 12 yards of distance from one iron to the next and even less with your wedges. You should be comfortable making swings with your irons 1/2, 3/4, and full swing, this will also benefit your spin (above). These 3 swing speeds can also benefit you for not only tucked in back pins, front pins but also allows you the confidence of distance. Knowing your distances down to a couple of yards is critical. For example on a 140 yard shot, I can reach and dial in accurately that distance with 4 of my irons, 9,8,7 and 6. Seriously with choking down, full and 1/2 swings I can drop that ball within 5 yards of 140 confidently. To summarize you need to develop an acute awareness of feel with your irons 3) have an absolute go to shot shot with a single specific iron in your bag, mine is 115 yards.PW. For par fives and tough long par fours if I get in trouble, as long as I can get to 115 I can get it tight and often save par. Lastly I have when on the tee box,right before teeing off. Pretend you are at the pin looking back, getting a lay of the land. Where should the 2nd shot come from...Next before you tee off ask yourself where do you want to miss? There are good misses where it won't cost you a stroke. Those are my 3 suggestions to work on and develop consistency on, if you can do those you'll be down in the single digits. Good luck

[14ledo81]

I'm with @Abu3baid . Ask your instructor to identify your priority piece. Working on contact is way to general in my book. Aren't we all working on contact?

[boogielicious]

WOW this thread took a nose dive quickly.. let's get back to topic, because honestly it doesn't matter how long she can drive the ball.. anyway...

@DrvFrShow I want to get back to the issue of your priority piece with your coach, because I think that this is relevant to achieving your goal! I think others would agree that working on contact is too vague and general, you need to get more specific with your coach. Does he use high speed camera? Find the biggest flaw that is making you have inconsistent contact and just work on that.. doing anything else is only going to delay your progress imo!

@DrvFrShow ,

I agree with @Abu3baid .  "Contact" is too general.  "Improve Key 2, Weight Forward at Impact" is more specific and easier to measure progress.  This  is where posting video in the Member Swings section can help.  Also practicing as indicated below is a better approach.  You appear to like your coach, but I would push him to narrow the focus down and go step by step.

[Ernest Jones]

@DrvFrShow ,

I agree with @Abu3baid .  "Contact" is too general.  "Improve Key 2, Weight Forward at Impact" is more specific and easier to measure progress.  This  is where posting video in the Member Swings section can help.  Also practicing as indicated below is a better approach.  You appear to like your coach, but I would push him to narrow the focus down and go step by step.

And even the bolded is probably still too vague. You really need to be very specific. Something like, "Improve key 2, weight forward at impact by making sure that I bank my trail foot instead of spinning out onto my toes right away." Or something like that. You need to be able to monitor something really specific or you can be all over the place with your practice and still tell yourself, "well, I am working on key 2 with this whole mish-mash of things so it was a good practice" but it wasn't because you were all over the place with both your in tention and your att ention .

[iacas]

WOW this thread took a nose dive quickly.. let's get back to topic, because honestly it doesn't matter how long she can drive the ball.. anyway...

Gonna play devil's advocate for a minute.

@david_wedzik and I are often asked by students how good we think they can become. A big part of that is their natural ability to generate speed. If some 35-year-old guy can only swing his driver 90 MPH with decent mechanics (i.e. not a lot of gains to be had), he's probably not gonna be a scratch golfer.

It absolutely matters how far she can drive the golf ball. Your statement, @Abu3baid , is so far out of whack that it's almost like you haven't been on this site reading all you've read for the past however long. Distance is a HUGE part of scoring in golf.

Count me among the skeptical that Julia swings over 90 MPH with the driver. Sorry, I just am. Does it matter to me if I'm wrong? Not in the least. I hope for Julia's sake she's right - it's a HUGE advantage and if she does swing 93 MPH or whatever right now, a 5 handicap is well within her reach (at any age).

And this isn't about treating a woman badly. If we had a 62-year-old dude with physical issues on here claiming to be swinging 115 MPH or so, everyone would be skeptical. So that makes this, what, political correctness in not treating a woman the same way?

I also don't think it's off topic. I'll admit to not reading this thread very much, but by the title, it seems very much on topic to be realistic and to discuss things like driver swing speed.

Does it need to be a whole big thing, a big deal? No. I'm done talking about it if y'all are. But let's not do ourselves the misjustice of lying by saying "it doesn't matter." It absolutely matters.

I'm with @Abu3baid. Ask your instructor to identify your priority piece.

Working on contact is way to general in my book. Aren't we all working on contact?

I'm working on flight/curve. :)

But… I agree: find your priority piece, work on that one thing (good thread here: ), and document your progress, including the feels you use to achieve it, etc.

Julia, who's your instructor, and where do you practice?

[newtogolf]

Gonna play devil's advocate for a minute.

@david_wedzik and I are often asked by students how good we think they can become. A big part of that is their natural ability to generate speed. If some 35-year-old guy can only swing his driver 90 MPH with decent mechanics (i.e. not a lot of gains to be had), he's probably not gonna be a scratch golfer.

It absolutely matters how far she can drive the golf ball. Your statement, @Abu3baid, is so far out of whack that it's almost like you haven't been on this site reading all you've read for the past however long. Distance is a HUGE part of scoring in golf.

Count me among the skeptical that Julia swings over 90 MPH with the driver. Sorry, I just am. Does it matter to me if I'm wrong? Not in the least. I hope for Julia's sake she's right - it's a HUGE advantage and if she does swing 93 MPH or whatever right now, a 5 handicap is well within her reach (at any age).

And this isn't about treating a woman badly. If we had a 62-year-old dude with physical issues on here claiming to be swinging 115 MPH or so, everyone would be skeptical. So that makes this, what, political correctness in not treating a woman the same way?

I also don't think it's off topic. I'll admit to not reading this thread very much, but by the title, it seems very much on topic to be realistic and to discuss things like driver swing speed.

Does it need to be a whole big thing, a big deal? No. I'm done talking about it if y'all are. But let's not do ourselves the misjustice of lying by saying "it doesn't matter." It absolutely matters.

I'm working on flight/curve. :)

But… I agree: find your priority piece, work on that one thing (good thread here: ​ ), and document your progress, including the feels you use to achieve it, etc.

Julia, who's your instructor, and where do you practice?

I didn't want to derail the thread earlier but I did vote up @Phil McGleno because I thought his question about swing speed was pertinent to the discussion and agreed with his conclusion.  It's not a matter of @DrvFrShow lying, it's that maybe she may have been given incorrect information.  I have had numerous driver fittings and the numbers vary.

My SkyGolf tells me I sometimes swing 105mph, I've had Golfsmith tell me my swing speed was over 100 but when I was fit from a friend in a store I was planning to purchase an interest in, my swing speed topped out at 95 (swinging out of my shoes) and averaged around 91 which is more in line with my driver distances on the course.

As to the relevance of SS to the OP, @iacas said it best, distance matters.  Goals have to be in line with ones physical ability unless there is reasonable belief that ones physical ability will change significantly for the better.

I'd have liked to believe the Golfsmith fitting numbers were right, but unfortunately they don't line up with how far I actually drive the ball.