My Swing (b101)

[b101]

Ok, scratch the last post - played even better today and shot a level par 71 at the home course with FIVE (!) birdies...

https://www.gamegolf.com/player/benpage101/round/2278664

I didn't play anywhere like lights out but everything was just solid and I had a few breaks along the way. Took 10% off the driver on pretty much every hole and then played for the middle of the green each time, erring either front or back depending on where the trouble was. Kind of gutted I didn't make par on the easy 16th, which would have seen me in at -1 but I played a poor wedge shot and left myself the wrong side of the ridge, meaning I was never leaving my first putt close to the hole. Thrilled to make some excellent pars on the back nine and the five birdies is a lifetime best that I don't see myself beating in a long while.

1st - having run out of the car to get the early tee slot without a warm up (it was raining, so I didn't fancy it and jumped on an hour before I would have done otherwise), I hit an awful 4 iron. Good hack out, overdid the wedge, decent two putt. +1

2nd - sensible drive, well-judged approach in terms of line (have to trust aiming it between the flag and left edge) that rolled up to 3 foot. Par

3rd - average drive, but loads of space right. Great wedge that I pushed a little bit (but that's why I aim between flag and left of green). Rolled in the 4 foot putt. -1

4th - good drive, ball slightly below my feet on the approach so took a 6 iron rather than a 5 as I felt more comfortable. Struck it nicely and it rolled up to just off the green. Standard two putt. -2

5th - struck the wedge nicely but just pulled it. Could have played the wedge better (I was on top of a dune on a downslope and thinned it a little. Nearly made the par putt. -1

6th - horrible hybrid off the tee (low and thin) that rolled nicely up the fairway. Great six iron to the middle of the green, good two putt on a tough breaking putt. -1

7th - decent tee shot, horrible approach as I didn't really commit to the shot (the 'weak flail' right where I don't really engage my core). Poor attempt at the chip and run and bogey was always the outcome. Par

8th - Ok tee shot, another slightly low hybrid that found the middle of the green. Nearly made the eagle putt. -1

9th - Happy with this. Played for middle of the green and totally ignored the flag. Good comeback putt for par after a downhill 30 foot putt slid a little past. -1

10th - Good drive (blind tee shot over a huge dune, so you just want something in the air and straight) then overcooked the wedge I wanted to hit the middle of the green. Poor chip and par putt slid just past. Came off the green and realised I'd made the wrong length swing for that yardage... Really need to tape those to the clubs again. Par

11th - Awful flail drive right, but it was lying ok. Took one more club than I thought I needed and hit a 6 iron hack out that I thought I'd caught heavy - rolled up to half a foot. Get out of jail free card used! -1

12th - Another flailed tee shot as I tried to adjust what I was doing. 8 iron hack out. Putt up a massive slope in front of the green broke hugely left to right, leaving me at 20ft. Holed that putt for a huge par save. -1

13th - This is my bogey hole (rare for a par five). Nailed the drive over the path, played a scabby six iron up the left that faded badly, but with enough space. Weird wedge shot from above my feet and I just pulled it horribly, bouncing over a dune on the left of the green. Actually caught the next wedge slightly heavy, but it all rolls down toward the green. Tap in for par. Bar the approach to the green, I played that hole as well as I've ever done and took a lot of danger out of play. -1

14th - Slightly pulled a 7 iron, but had taken one more club, so it was safe. Two putts. -1

15th - Really tough hole. Damn good drive to find a tight fairway and had 180 to the front of the green with ball above my feet. Aimed at the middle, thinking the fade would counteract the lie, which it did and I got the bounce I played for onto the middle of the green. Birdie putt just didn't quite break, but you take a 4 and run here. -1

16th - Easiest hole on the course. Slight flail on the drive, but had a tiny wedge in, which I over-hit and left the wrong side of the tier. Never two-putting, but it came close. Fuming. Again, I hit the wrong wedge shot as I'd forgotten my yardage... Par

17th - long par three - really nice tee shot, two putt par. Par

18th - Another toughie that I rarely par. Hit driver down the left and slightly pulled it into a little ravine. 8 iron was the most I could get over the top and landed 35 yards or so short of the green. With people on the first tee watching, I played a nice pitch to a foot and got a round of applause. Par

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So, definitely not my best round in terms of how I was swinging, but by far my best in terms of course management. Very little happened that I didn't plan for or predict and the fact that I've got a predictable ball flight (albeit one I'm trying to improve) is certainly helping! I avoided pretty much all of the no-go zones and my approach play was really good for the most part. 

To do:

• Keep working on driver and that flail shot (same is true with irons)
• Develop that non-driver tee shot, as that was crap today (#1 and #6 - after those, I just went with a tappy driver swing)
• Short game - could have definitely got up and down on 10 and had an outside chance on 7. Keep working on the partial wedges.

[b101]

First time I've felt happy enough with my swing to post it in a while. Lots of things to work on,but it's looking better than it did! A few thoughts:

• A4 is looking better than it has in a long time. Still focusing on loading into the right leg during the backswing and added the feel of a DJ-like bowed wrist at the top to clean up some of the angles. 
• Still need to engage the core more in the downswing, but without crunching downwards - bit tricky, but I am getting there with it. Leads to that annoying flip through impact that I think I can tidy up.
• Still working on shallowing the club path (hence the alignment stick as a drill), but we're getting there.

[b101]

If ever there were proof of why I need to use a camera constantly... First swing didn't feel that bad, but looked abysmal and I am so far off hitting the positions I need to be. Good by the end of the session, but I have to keep putting in the time and effort to work those feels into a normal swing. I am happy that I can tidy up A4 relatively easily, but shallowing the downswing is a whole different matter... I ended up going with a feel of driving the flat left wrist through and almost trying to hit a cover drive (cricket shot) out right. It's getting there, but I still dislike the 'crunched' look at impact.

 

[b101]

A little more work today, this time focusing on trying to keep the left arm tight to my chest up to about A5, almost to A6. Resulted in a bit of a weird backswing in terms of turning rates, but that'll sync back up at full speed. There's definitely progress there:

 

[b101]

Long time, not a lot of golf. We had our first child at the start of September, which has definitely limited the amount of golf! I've managed to have three rounds since early August, all of which were competitive and have done surprisingly well, considering! One was a staff tournament at a local course which isn't massively long and suits my eye quite nicely. Ended up shooting a net -3 to win and was just really pleased with the way I played off the tee and also how I minimised the impact of the really poor shots (there were a few of seriously rusty swings)...

https://www.gamegolf.com/player/benpage101/round/2394110

Then, last week, I had two rounds at a links track - Rye - which is very, very tough. Again, off no practice, I played ok - I'm tending to pull my irons slightly and don't really have a feel that I can go to. The fact that we were playing foursomes both days didn't help my rhythm either. Drove pretty well when I didn't go at it, but it did prove that my short game is way off. I didn't really hole anything and my partial wedge distances (or memory of) were not even close to where they were a couple of months ago. I'm going to try to make time to get to the range more in the next few months and will be hoping to video my swing for the first time in ages this morning. Not massively looking forward to what I'm likely to see...

[b101]

Took some video just at the range the other day - I'm now working on getting my hips a bit more open through impact to allow me to create a bit more space in transition (I think that's the terminology - I know what I mean in any case!). Finding it hard to commit to this with the driver as I have to feel like I'm sending it out way high right, which I'm just not comfortable with. 

Today, I played 9, spent a ton of time pitching to get my feel back and did a bit more range work. There's definitely more to come, but hopefully I can start getting rid of the rust that's come with six-eight weeks off. The nine holes was pretty good and, to be honest, as expected. Didn't hit many greens, but scrambling was good and my putting was good enough to give me chances. Annoyed about the bogey on 4 as I just pulled the 5 iron hit back to the fairway, meaning it went long left and found a red-staked bush. It's the sort of mental error I don't normally make and will clean up with practice. Great birdie on the next to bounce back, before another sloppy dropped shot due to a thinned wedge approach. Had a near-impossible up and down on the 8th and almost made it, then another poor wedge controlled shot on 9.

http://www.gamegolf.com/player/benpage101/round/2432894

After that 9, I went back to the range a bit more for some Mevo work. Based on this, my partial wedges look as follows:

LW:

1/2 feel = 43 yards
3/4 feel = 51 yards
Full = 62 yards

SW: 

1/2 feel = 50 yards
3/4 feel = 67 yards
Full = 76 yards

Didn't have enough balls left to play around with my other wedges, but will try to do that later in the week. The shots themselves are fairly consistent, but my recollection of what swing hits what yardage is hazy at best. 

https://myflightscope.com/app/mevo/1866854/

[b101]

Finally had a day where I wasn't hitting into early morning sun and it wasn't too cold to grab footage. The usual things with getting back into the groove, working on the load into my right leg in the backswing and shallowing in the downswing by thinking of the hands' exit points. It does get better quickly, thank goodness, even if I'm not hitting all the positions. Then again, I have been working on these pieces for a long time now...

Back to working on the swing tomorrow. I'm slowly finding the time to work on it again and looking forward to the grind to get back where I want to be.

@iacas - I wonder whether there's something I'm missing with the last two swings. I really struggle to keep my hybrid from flailing right and it looks to my eye like I just can't shallow it on the downswing, whilst I seem to manage it better with my 3 wood. I know the swing is far from perfect, but is there anything obvious that leaps out? It's a custom fit club from a top fitter (Precision Golf) with a fairly bespoke shaft - can't remember it offhand, but I'm not sure it would have this much effect? Many thanks for any help you can provide.

[b101]

Still struggling to get much proper practice done at the moment - little one is now 7 months old, so things are calming down a little, but I feel I'm doing well if I can get out once a fortnight, which is making progress hard. So, I took video for the first time in months today. No surprises that the same old things are what I need to work on: club across the line at the top of the backswing, limiting left knee flex in backswing and then leading with the hips to start the downswing, which helps clear them and get the clubpath more in to out. Contact was excellent with the irons and whilst I've ended up pushing them, I'm pleased with that as the pattern I'd like to see more of is a push-draw, which is what I've always hit when playing my best.

I'm hoping I can commit more time to regular practice over the summer and get back to a more comfortable feel. I can get the ball around, but GIR isn't happening and I know my driving is way off where I want it to be.

[b101]

Hi all,

Bringing this thread back from the dead somewhat! Since our two kids were born, coupled with stopping being a member due to moving to a different area of the country, I've barely played golf at all in the last three and a half years. The good news is that my son (now 5) is showing an interest, so I figured I'd revive this thread, more to keep myself accountable than anything.

I played a couple of nice courses recently and after a few range sessions, contact was surprisingly good and I could get the ball around alright. There's clearly a lot to work on and it'll be all the same pieces as with the evolvr lessons, and I'm really excited about getting back into it. What's great is that I still have this thread as a log of exactly what I need to do and how to fix those problems when they occur. Have to say, it was pretty cool on the first round being able to quickly self-diagnose the problem pieces (steady head being the very first) and see noticeable differences in my game as a result. 

Anyway, keeping myself accountable here and will try to update again with some progress relatively soon. Toying with getting a new membership in the area as well, which would certainly help for practice and incentive.

Two videos below for my own reference and for a comparison later down the line - both shots ended up really well (the punch went to 6 feet and the 9 iron to 15-20), but there's soooo many pieces I want to clean up.

 

 

[saevel25]

On 8/14/2024 at 10:35 AM, b101 said:

Bringing this thread back from the dead somewhat! Since our two kids were born, coupled with stopping being a member due to moving to a different area of the country, I've barely played golf at all in the last three and a half years. The good news is that my son (now 5) is showing an interest, so I figured I'd revive this thread, more to keep myself accountable than anything.

Welcome back!!