RFKFREAK's Journal About Golf Past, Present, and Future

[mailman]

Yes, along with pushed, and at times, shots I hook. ;-) But, to answer what I think you meant, moreso fat.  Topping usually only happens when hitting my woods.

In my case I was fatting shots because I lost height in the downswing which resulted in my club bottoming out several inches behind the ball. The other reason for my fat shots was I was flipping the club before the ball but I don't see that happening to you? I've got these two issues under control so that now if it happens in the course I know why and, importantly, know the fix. Regards Mailman

[mailman]

Christian,

Hows your golf going mate? Played any rounds lately? 

Regards

Mailman

[RFKFREAK]

So, back on September 19th I played an extremely frustrating round where I sprayed the ball all over the place and put up a wickedly bad 122 which included 0 GIRs, 0 FIRs, 0 Pars, and 8 penalty strokes all on the back nine.  As I believe I've posted in this thread before, I played a round on July 2nd and on the back nine of that round, I developed a hook and then went to the range to try and fix it, I started slicing the ball.  It was shortly thereafter that I decided to take some time away from the game, both playing and practice.  I had decided that I was done for the year and that the next time I'd pick up a club would be next year.  I think partly because of all this, I allowed myself to not make time to get to the gym and got off my diet.  I haven't weighed myself in a while but I would say I probably put up 10-15 pounds from my low weight of 222.  It really didn't seem to matter because I did this to improve my golf game and since my game went down in flames since July 2nd, the motivation wasn't there to either to go to the gym or eat healthy.  Plus, I really like ice cream, haha.

Then last week @colin007 pestered me about it being one of the last beautiful days of the year to play and wore me down and we played a round together.  After not picking up a club in about a month and a half (although it felt a lot longer), I put up a 106, with 1 GIR, 5 FIRs, 3 Pars, and only 5 penalty strokes where two came on the first hole.  I didn't slice anything and only hooked the ball a few times.  There were some holes I was severely disappointed in myself for not doing better (like the 15th hole, a Par 5 where I left myself less than 50 yards for my third shot and walked away with a bogey) and I certainly didn't make solid contact very often, but overall I wasn't unhappy with the way I played after the layoff. 

I'm not sure if I'm going to play again this year but it felt good to be out there and I feel a new motivation to get back into golf.  I'm not sure what I'll end up doing about the diet and gym.  The holiday season is coming up and maybe with new irons will come some new motivation but, to be honest, mentally, I'm not ready to commit to a protein heavy diet like I had been on and make time for the gym.

I will, however, try to update my thoughts more regularly.

[mcanadiens]

Funny thing about that. I find it easier to go to the gym and diet when my golf game is moving in a good direction as well. It always seems like a good idea to drown memories of terrible rounds with a half-case of lager.

Whether you get back in the gym or go on with golf, stay active. Find something you want to do and stay off the couch.

 

[RFKFREAK]

7 hours ago, mcanadiens said:

Funny thing about that. I find it easier to go to the gym and diet when my golf game is moving in a good direction as well. It always seems like a good idea to drown memories of terrible rounds with a half-case of lager.

Whether you get back in the gym or go on with golf, stay active. Find something you want to do and stay off the couch.

 

Does driving to the grocery store to get ice cream count as finding something I want to do as staying off the couch?  

[mcanadiens]

6 hours ago, RFKFREAK said:

Does driving to the grocery store to get ice cream count as finding something I want to do as staying off the couch?  

Not so much I'm afraid. 

Look, I struggle with the same sort of thing all the time. Beer is my version of your ice cream. Find something. Try something new (or old again). I think I'm going to dig my old hockey skates out, sharpen them up and see if I can skate my way back into rec hockey.

[RFKFREAK]

10 hours ago, mcanadiens said:

Not so much I'm afraid. 

Look, I struggle with the same sort of thing all the time. Beer is my version of your ice cream. Find something. Try something new (or old again). I think I'm going to dig my old hockey skates out, sharpen them up and see if I can skate my way back into rec hockey.

I kid.  That said, Saturday nights and football Sunday's find an alcoholic beverage or two finding its way into my system. haha.

I should probably try and keep in the back of mind that any "fun" i have now, will mean more work to do next year when I start preparing for next year's golf season.

[rkim291968]

Regardless of love/hate relationship you have golf, going to gym to lose weight is a noble hobby.  I now convinced myself that I work out for health, not necessarily to improve golf.

My instructor convinced me to do more forearm workouts to increase distance.  I've been doing windmills and wrist curl exercises for months now and it has added a few yards to my distance.  

[No Mulligans]

2 hours ago, rkim291968 said:

Regardless of love/hate relationship you have golf, going to gym to lose weight is a noble hobby.  I now convinced myself that I work out for health, not necessarily to improve golf.

My instructor convinced me to do more forearm workouts to increase distance.  I've been doing windmills and wrist curl exercises for months now and it has added a few yards to my distance.  

That's the first time I've heard about forearm workouts to increase distance.  Maybe it could but I bet there are a bunch or other areas that are more important, like your core, balance exercises, exercises that also develop hip and shoulder flexibility.

 

[RFKFREAK]

2 hours ago, rkim291968 said:

Regardless of love/hate relationship you have golf, going to gym to lose weight is a noble hobby.  I now convinced myself that I work out for health, not necessarily to improve golf.

My instructor convinced me to do more forearm workouts to increase distance.  I've been doing windmills and wrist curl exercises for months now and it has added a few yards to my distance.  

Yeah, but I don't really do things for "health" reasons.  I usually either do things because I enjoy them or because it'll help me reach some goal.  Since the season is almost over and I don't have a goal now for next season, motivation to go to the gym isn't there at the moment.

[DrvFrShow]

Rotator cuff exercises and shoulder exercises also work well. make sure your form is good - I'd use a cable machine at the gym. Start with 5 lbs and work up to 15 lbs. Also don't neglect your glutes and hip muscles.

[RFKFREAK]

So, I played a round Saturday afternoon.  I walked a very hilly course that I had never played before and when I reserved the tee time on Friday, I saw that the temperature was 40 degrees.  What I failed to notice was that it was hell-a-windy which, with the windchill I think made it high 20's/low 30's.

99 on Par 71

66.9/113

0/13 FIR (0%)

1/18 GIR (6%)

3 Penalty Strokes
37 Putts (2.1/hole)

• 4 - One putt
• 10 - Two putts
• 3 - Three putts
• 1 - Four putts

0 Birdies
4 Pars
4 Bogeys
7 Double Bogeys
3 More than Double Bogey

Game Golf

The Good

1) I was happy about getting 3 pars on the back nine and the 4 overall pars.

2) I only had three blowup holes (I define a blowup hole as anything more than a double bogey).

3) My tee shots with the driver, for the most part, were straight pushes rather than hooks or slices and except for one drive that I had to take a penalty stroke on, they were all manageable. 

• I tinkered around with my driver swing during the round and swung as though I were hitting to the right in an attempt to hit up on the ball which I think I did. 
• Not sure what happened on 16 that I just felt discombobulated with the swing and 17 & 18 as they went straight.  Maybe I got tired from walking a hilly course, not sure.

The Bad

1) I had no feel for my woods, hybrids, irons, and wedges. 

• I only had 1 GIR but felt that 6 out of 8 tee shots using my drivers were good enough to get a GIR.  The fact I only had 1 GIR really confirmed that my approach shots were very poor. 
• I felt like I was pulling my approach shots with my short irons and wedges so I tried to make an in round swing adjustment with how I was striking the ball by trying to get the face more open or perpendicular to the target line.  It really didn't help as I then began pushing the ball right. 
• With anything that wasn't a wedge, I had a dreadful time making solid contact.  On the 13th hole I had the following:

1. A drive of 42 yards with my 5W
2. A 12 yard approach shot with my hybrid,
3. A 137 yard hybrid

2) Putting was LOL, bad. 

• Outside of draining an 18 footer, I only made 2 other putt that I can think of that weren't tap ins.
• I had three 3 putts and one 4 putt.

Overall
I'm amazed that I shot a 99.  with 0 FIR's and 1 GIR, I guess the only thing that saved me was scrambling (thank you short game) and my driving.  I think I'm going to have to go to the range and take some video and see what's up.

[mcanadiens]

So was that your first round in two months?

If so, not too shabby. Especially in that weather.

 

Edited November 16, 2015 by mcanadiens

[RFKFREAK]

1 minute ago, mcanadiens said:

So was that your first round in two months?

If so, not too shabby. Especially in that weather.

 

No, I had played a round with @colin007 about 10 days earlier where I shot a 106.  I was generally happy about my driving but severely disappointed in my putting.  I had a 5/13 FIR.  From what I recall of that round, my driver shots were mostly pushes or straight.  So, I guess in a quest to hit up on the ball on Saturday, I also pushed it.  My approach shots that day were rather bland as I only had 1 GIR that day, and, IIRC, they went to the left.  Looking at the divots, it became readily apparent that I came across with a closed club face.

 

 

[DrvFrShow]

In those temperatures, it was a miracle you had and feeling for anything. It's in the upper 40s low 50s out here and it's too cold to play. Too wet, too! One of the pros at the range already dresses like Nanuk of the North!

[RFKFREAK]

38 minutes ago, DrvFrShow said:

In those temperatures, it was a miracle you had and feeling for anything. It's in the upper 40s low 50s out here and it's too cold to play. Too wet, too! One of the pros at the range already dresses like Nanuk of the North!

 

Haha, what can I say, I know there's going to be about 4 months where I won't play and I had a couple of hiatuses this season so, gotta get in as much as possible!

 

[DrvFrShow]

And they're expecting another 3-5" of rain here in the next three days. I think our drought is over. Unfortunately they're also expecting high winds with gusts to 60 mph. When we say "winter rules" we mean it. So if you dare play locally on Saturday, I'll look the other way if you pull the tree branch from the bunker you landed in before playing Call it helping the maintenance crew. - or even if you want to use your ball retriever and remove it from the standing water and play it behind the bunker. Season's over so it doesn't count anyway.

Also have fun on the third hole picking the debris off your putting line - you'll be able to create a trough for your ball in the cedar leaves leading to the hole. I'd also advise leaving the driver in the bag unless you can keep it on the fairway. Rough is long.... very long and wet. And casual water? What do you do when determining NPR no nearer the hole when that is back at the tee with a forced carry of 150 yds over the casual pond? It's good. You cleared it. That is if you can even find your embedded ball. This is the season for playing those $12/dozen Noodles. Basically throw the rule book out the window, find the nearest high spot that's not submerged and hit. Don't forget the muck boots.

I'm done until the mid-April when I'll start playing some practice rounds. Nothing serious until the last week of April when the courses are better drained.

[RFKFREAK]

6 minutes ago, DrvFrShow said:

And they're expecting another 3-5" of rain here in the next three days. I think our drought is over. Unfortunately they're also expecting high winds with gusts to 60 mph. When we say "winter rules" we mean it. So if you dare play locally on Saturday, I'll look the other way if you pull the tree branch from the bunker you landed in before playing Call it helping the maintenance crew. - or even if you want to use your ball retriever and remove it from the standing water and play it behind the bunker. Season's over so it doesn't count anyway.

Also have fun on the third hole picking the debris off your putting line - you'll be able to create a trough for your ball in the cedar leaves leading to the hole. I'd also advise leaving the driver in the bag unless you can keep it on the fairway. Rough is long.... very long and wet. And casual water? What do you do when determining NPR no nearer the hole when that is back at the tee with a forced carry of 150 yds over the casual pond? It's good. You cleared it. That is if you can even find your embedded ball. This is the season for playing those $12/dozen Noodles. Basically throw the rule book out the window, find the nearest high spot that's not submerged and hit. Don't forget the muck boots.

I'm done until the mid-April when I'll start playing some practice rounds. Nothing serious until the last week of April when the courses are better drained.

Well, I'm sure you'll gather that it's not that bad here as of now but, hey, when you can't play, that will just allow for more time for indoor practice!