Pete's Programme (Single Digit to Tour Player)

[Nosevi]

Well it's been a pretty productive couple of weeks, one way or another. Firstly Brian got through stage 1 of Q School with no real problems so good news there. Always things to work on though so will be meeting up with him this week for some time in the swing studio as well as a bit of time out on the course. The latter is always good for me as it allows me to assess how I'm doing as we always compete. Also had a bit of time practising short game with both Jess and Sam and although I'm still definitely the 'underdog' in our short game competitions I drew with Sam and Jess only beat me 1 up (I was catching having been 3 down but she had to go get her nails done - sounds like an excuse to me .......) so I am getting closer. Sam's coming over on Monday for a long game session and it'll be interesting to see how his ball flight data compares to mine as so far we've only practiced short game together. He's likely to be in the full England international squad next year so clearly he strikes the ball pretty well. I'm still grinding away and I think this autumn/winter is going to be all about trying to get different aspects of my game ready for the spring where I can (hopefully) put it all together on the course. Long game wise it's going well. I owe the guys who have contributed to the swing thread my thanks, particularly @iacas and @mvmac , I haven't nailed all the changes they had me down for but I've significantly improved in some of those areas and the results have been very good. Actually that's an understatement, they've been fantastic. Now I spoke to Randy about whether to post this or not. It's entirely possible that people will not believe it and frankly that's no snags but if I don't post when I make progress in an area (and perhaps more importantly to you guys how I made it) Then it makes this thread a tad pointless. Anyway, for any that want to be sceptical all I can say is my photoshop skills aren't up to faking this :-) Anyway, disclaimer aside, I have been working on grooving my swing with the changes now bedding in and got onto an area of LSW that I really want to incorporate and that's Shot Zones. Essentially what you're trying to do is assess what your dispersion pattern is and where the centre is. With this in mind you can ensure you 'scatter' is aimed at the best point on the green. The idea is you fire off a set of shots with a given club then draw an oval around either 80% or 90% of the shots, the smallest oval that takes in those shots, and this is your shot zone. You'll need to read this chapter of the book (or perhaps @iacas can give a way better explanation but that's essentially what you do. At the end nd of my long game practice I fired off a set of ten 8 iron shots then subtracted the outliner which was a pull 7 yards left of target and that left me with these shots. The shots are numbered on a GC2 so it's clear these are consecutive: That gave me an oval which is from short right of target to long left, pretty much what you could expect for a right hander. Why all the nonsense about whether you'll believe it or not? Basically this is how the shots fell - 9 shots all within 3.5 yards long or short of average and about 3 yards left or right. I'd argue that's pretty good from 156 yards out: Randy asked how am I getting my swing so consistent. It's basically all in the way I use the kit I have at my disposal, I try to use it inteligently. I'll try to describe how in this next post.

[Nosevi]

Ok, how am I using my kit to get a repeatable and consistent swing? Essentially I'm using the fact that on it I can hit shots where the kit knows where the ball is going but I don't. If I hit shots into a blank screen in the swing studio but with the launch monitor on and my ipad recording the shots I can swing completely naturally and just let the ball go where it goes. I'm not going to correct on the last swing as I have no idea if it was left or right (actually I can feel it quite a bit now but can simply ignore it). I simply swing naturally and let the kit record the shots with absolutely no attempt to steer the shots at all. At the end I have a grouping that may be left of target or may be right but generally it's a pretty tight grouping as I had no respason to alter my swing from one swing to the next. As well as letting the ipad record the shots I'm also videoing the swing so now I have a tight group and I can see how I was swinging to achieve that group. What I then do is decide what I need to change in my swing to move that group onto the target, let's say I was pulling the shots a bit due to being steep on the downswing but with a closed clubface. I then do some drills...... a lot of drills..... to correct that 'fault'. I check on video to see if I'm flattening out the downswing a tad and after some time I fire another set off blind into the screen. I swing totally naturally and see if the grouping has moved. I don't try not to pull the shots in fact I try to hit them exactly the same but if the drills have worked the grouping will have moved towards centre. I then reassess my swing and repeat the process. I'm not going to pretend it's not a really time intensive process, it is, but by taking the target out of the process of changing my swing and yet being able to monitor where the ball goes, I'm able to change where the ball goes 'naturally' ie if I just hit the thing it goes somewhere different rather than attempting to make a change and hit a target all at the same time. Could this approach be useful to others? I don't know but it's been an approach that's worked well for me and if you can have the discipline to swing naturally on a range regardless of whether the ball is hooking or slicing there's no real reason you couldn't use a similar approach if you wanted to. It's certainly working pretty well for me.

[ChrisWev]

Sounds like a good way to do it Pete. I do the opposite to that and you're right it does make me swing all over the place and try to correct each swing, which is unlikely to be consistent. I imagine this would not be possible on the range though, another good thing about having a launch monitor.

[Nosevi]

Sounds like a good way to do it Pete. I do the opposite to that and you're right it does make me swing all over the place and try to correct each swing, which is unlikely to be consistent. I imagine this would not be possible on the range though, another good thing about having a launch monitor.

You could be right. The trick is to swing absolutely naturally and see where the ball goes (or not see in my case) rather than try to hit it straight. If you can see it hooking on the range it'd take an iron will not to try to correct that with the next shot. One thing that guys can maybe take out of it is for your swing to feel natural and unforced. If you're trying not to hook it or trying not to slice it your swing will vary quite a bit whereas if you just swing through the ball you'll probably see that you do the same thing time and time again. The trick is to get that natural swing to result in a straight shot. I do concede that my setup gives me a serious edge when it come to this sort of thing which you could call deliberate practice I guess. It's almost like cheating really :-)

[ChrisWev]

Yeah I kind of went from what was/ felt natural (but was starting left and going further left), to altering something to hit centre and stay centre and then just do that over and over to make that natural .

I quite like a few things Mark Crossfield has been mentioning in recent videos, which is a bit like what you're saying, play naturally and know your miss, then over time your body can learn to correct this subconciously or you can do that with set up. Quite a lot to do with don't analyse body movements/ swing planes and positions too much (not  saying, not at all) as everyone is different. What works for Donald, Furyk, Rory, Spieth and Bubba are all very different.

[Nosevi]

Yeah I kind of went from what was/ felt natural (but was starting left and going further left), to altering something to hit centre and stay centre and then just do that over and over to make that natural :beer: . I quite like a few things Mark Crossfield has been mentioning in recent videos, which is a bit like what you're saying, play naturally and know your miss, then over time your body can learn to correct this subconciously or you can do that with set up. Quite a lot to do with don't analyse body movements/ swing planes and positions too much (not  saying, not at all) as everyone is different. What works for Donald, Furyk, Rory, Spieth and Bubba are all very different.

All makes sense. My 'miss' (or actually my natural shot if I didn't try not to do it) was a pull hook. I moved the ball back in my stance a tad. That's it, I just moved the ball back a bit and the ball goes straighter. Sometimes you'll obviously have to do more but in this case that sorted it. On a different note just spent a couple of hours in the sim with Sam Whitaker. Interesting session looking at what he was working on and talking golf. Have also got all his data which I'll look through later and compare mine to a bit - just interesting to see how he strikes the ball given his current level. Right, time I got some practice in. Tipping it down here so being a whimp and doing a sim session myself. Need to get a bit of time in in there so may as well be while it's raining :-)

[ChrisWev]

All makes sense. My 'miss' (or actually my natural shot if I didn't try not to do it) was a pull hook.

I moved the ball back in my stance a tad.

That's it, I just moved the ball back a bit and the ball goes straighter. Sometimes you'll obviously have to do more but in this case that sorted it.

On a different note just spent a couple of hours in the sim with Sam Whitaker. Interesting session looking at what he was working on and talking golf. Have also got all his data which I'll look through later and compare mine to a bit - just interesting to see how he strikes the ball given his current level.

Right, time I got some practice in. Tipping it down here so being a whimp and doing a sim session myself. Need to get a bit of time in in there so may as well be while it's raining

Yeah I've done the same too (among other things). Thinking was if it's further back then won't get chance to square the club face as much?

It's good that you can spend time with guys of a very good level, excellent live comparison so to speak. Cracking insight to what is needed and what to practice too.

Weather is crap up here too, Cold, Wet and Windy, looks like the UK "summer" is definitely over. Going to have to keep an eye on the weather more now, to get out on the grass when I can.

[Nosevi]

[QUOTE name="Nosevi" url="/t/80287/petes-programme-single-digit-to-tour-player/360#post_1202436"] All makes sense. My 'miss' (or actually my natural shot if I didn't try not to do it) was a pull hook. I moved the ball back in my stance a tad. That's it, I just moved the ball back a bit and the ball goes straighter. Sometimes you'll obviously have to do more but in this case that sorted it. On a different note just spent a couple of hours in the sim with Sam Whitaker. Interesting session looking at what he was working on and talking golf. Have also got all his data which I'll look through later and compare mine to a bit - just interesting to see how he strikes the ball given his current level. Right, time I got some practice in. Tipping it down here so being a whimp and doing a sim session myself. Need to get a bit of time in in there so may as well be while it's raining :-) [/QUOTE] It's good that you can spend time with guys of a very good level, excellent live comparison so to speak. Cracking insight to what is needed and what to practice too.

It really is useful to compare launch data etc. and see how I'm catching up to the better players I practice with. When I first started, the way in which these guys struck the ball was in a completely different ball park. Me tail end of last week to Sam today we both launch our irons on about the same trajectory (I used to hit it far higher) and carry for say an 8 iron I'm averaging 3 yards shorter. We're no longer on a completely different page and a lot of hard (and focused, hopefully intelligent) work is paying off. Anyway, I'm supposed to be practising (am in the swing studio now) rather than nattering on a forum. Best get to it :-)

[DeadMan]

Ok, how am I using my kit to get a repeatable and consistent swing? Essentially I'm using the fact that on it I can hit shots where the kit knows where the ball is going but I don't.

If I hit shots into a blank screen in the swing studio but with the launch monitor on and my ipad recording the shots I can swing completely naturally and just let the ball go where it goes. I'm not going to correct on the last swing as I have no idea if it was left or right (actually I can feel it quite a bit now but can simply ignore it). I simply swing naturally and let the kit record the shots with absolutely no attempt to steer the shots at all. At the end I have a grouping that may be left of target or may be right but generally it's a pretty tight grouping as I had no respason to alter my swing from one swing to the next.

As well as letting the ipad record the shots I'm also videoing the swing so now I have a tight group and I can see how I was swinging to achieve that group. What I then do is decide what I need to change in my swing to move that group onto the target, let's say I was pulling the shots a bit due to being steep on the downswing but with a closed clubface. I then do some drills...... a lot of drills..... to correct that 'fault'. I check on video to see if I'm flattening out the downswing a tad and after some time I fire another set off blind into the screen. I swing totally naturally and see if the grouping has moved. I don't try not to pull the shots in fact I try to hit them exactly the same but if the drills have worked the grouping will have moved towards centre. I then reassess my swing and repeat the process.

I'm not going to pretend it's not a really time intensive process, it is, but by taking the target out of the process of changing my swing and yet being able to monitor where the ball goes, I'm able to change where the ball goes 'naturally' ie if I just hit the thing it goes somewhere different rather than attempting to make a change and hit a target all at the same time.

Could this approach be useful to others? I don't know but it's been an approach that's worked well for me and if you can have the discipline to swing naturally on a range regardless of whether the ball is hooking or slicing there's no real reason you couldn't use a similar approach if you wanted to. It's certainly working pretty well for me.

Pete - I've been following along this thread, and it's really interesting. I enjoy the updates and seeing your progress a lot.

I have a question about the method you're using above. Isn't this a little too ad-hoc to have the progress you need? It seems, as an outside observer, to be more focused on fixing what your miss is that day instead of making progress towards an ultimate goal. Maybe I'm not quite understanding your process, though. Personally, when I'm working on improving my swing, I'm focusing on one small thing and not really paying attention to where the ball is going. I tend to think that misses are caused by really minute things, like the clubface being open or closed just a degree or two. Because they're so small, it's hard to see how fixing them really improves in your swing in the long run. I guess you could say, overall, that my point is you seem to be focused a lot on improving where your ball goes instead of improving your swing. In your position, I would be more focused on my swing, because the ultimate goal you have is to get better at golf in the long run as opposed to shooting as low of a score as you can right now. That's a really subtle distinction, and I could just be talking bollocks (I love English idioms/swear words like that, haha).

But all that said, it's hard to argue with the progress you're showing in this thread. Being pretty close to a touring professional in your long game numbers like you are is pretty impressive. It was just a thought I had.

[Nosevi]

[QUOTE name="Nosevi" url="/t/80287/petes-programme-single-digit-to-tour-player/350_50#post_1201893"] Ok, how am I using my kit to get a repeatable and consistent swing? Essentially I'm using the fact that on it I can hit shots where the kit knows where the ball is going but I don't. If I hit shots into a blank screen in the swing studio but with the launch monitor on and my ipad recording the shots I can swing completely naturally and just let the ball go where it goes. I'm not going to correct on the last swing as I have no idea if it was left or right (actually I can feel it quite a bit now but can simply ignore it). I simply swing naturally and let the kit record the shots with absolutely no attempt to steer the shots at all. At the end I have a grouping that may be left of target or may be right but generally it's a pretty tight grouping as I had no respason to alter my swing from one swing to the next. As well as letting the ipad record the shots I'm also videoing the swing so now I have a tight group and I can see how I was swinging to achieve that group. What I then do is decide what I need to change in my swing to move that group onto the target, let's say I was pulling the shots a bit due to being steep on the downswing but with a closed clubface. I then do some drills...... a lot of drills..... to correct that 'fault'. I check on video to see if I'm flattening out the downswing a tad and after some time I fire another set off blind into the screen. I swing totally naturally and see if the grouping has moved. I don't try not to pull the shots in fact I try to hit them exactly the same but if the drills have worked the grouping will have moved towards centre. I then reassess my swing and repeat the process. I'm not going to pretend it's not a really time intensive process, it is, but by taking the target out of the process of changing my swing and yet being able to monitor where the ball goes, I'm able to change where the ball goes 'naturally' ie if I just hit the thing it goes somewhere different rather than attempting to make a change and hit a target all at the same time. Could this approach be useful to others? I don't know but it's been an approach that's worked well for me and if you can have the discipline to swing naturally on a range regardless of whether the ball is hooking or slicing there's no real reason you couldn't use a similar approach if you wanted to. It's certainly working pretty well for me.[/QUOTE] Pete - I've been following along this thread, and it's really interesting. I enjoy the updates and seeing your progress a lot. I have a question about the method you're using above. Isn't this a little too ad-hoc to have the progress you need? It seems, as an outside observer, to be more focused on fixing what your miss is that day instead of making progress towards an ultimate goal. Maybe I'm not quite understanding your process, though. Personally, when I'm working on improving my swing, I'm focusing on one small thing and not really paying attention to where the ball is going. I tend to think that misses are caused by really minute things, like the clubface being open or closed just a degree or two. Because they're so small, it's hard to see how fixing them really improves in your swing in the long run. I guess you could say, overall, that my point is you seem to be focused a lot on improving where your ball goes instead of improving your swing. In your position, I would be more focused on my swing, because the ultimate goal you have is to get better at golf in the long run as opposed to shooting as low of a score as you can right now. That's a really subtle distinction, and I could just be talking bollocks (I love English idioms/swear words like that, haha). But all that said, it's hard to argue with the progress you're showing in this thread. Being pretty close to a touring professional in your long game numbers like you are is pretty impressive. It was just a thought I had.

Hi there. No, it's a fair comment, it is long term progress I'm trying to make rather than short term but here's a question back - when you say there's an argument for focusing on the swing itself rather than the result (where the ball goes) could it not be argued that the only purpose of the swing is in fact the result and nothing else really matters? I'm not saying you're wrong and many people focus almost entirely on getting the swing 'right' with very little focus on the result. I'm not saying you're wrong, it's just a matter for debate :-) Perhaps I didn't explain what I've been doing too well though (in fact I almost certainly didn't) What I'm trying to do each time is change something very specific a little like you said, but I'm trying to change something relevant to my swing rather than necessarily to a textbook ideal. The goal is to get the ball to go where I want it to go rather than to have a swing that looks great but doesn't perform well. It's not something different each day though, it's quite a long process to change just a small aspect and to get that change to feel natural. Here's an example from recently: I was finding I was coming from a little too far inside the ball and on looking on video my swing plane was a bit all over the place but particularly steep going back (something @iacas pointed out) My 'recovery' was to drop it excessively on the downswing and that was causing me to come from the inside too much. So I worked really hard on getting the club on plane but like you said I didn't want the ball flight to put me off so just hit into the blank screen. Every so often I checked the ball flight and it was coming more towards centre but I didn't want to see that as I was working on swing plane. What I also didn't want though was to ingrain the slightly different swing plane if it wasn't actually helping. By getting the kit to monitor where the ball was going but not actually see it I could make sure I was moving in the right direction without letting ball flight get in the way. This was the result: Backswing: Downswing: So I was changing something pretty specific and in this case it was something most instructors wouldn't argue with too much - getting the club on plane. But I was doing it for the purpose of getting the ball to go straighter rather than to try to fit into a given swing 'ideal' and by having the kit monitor my shots without them influencing my swing I could try to get to a point where the altered swing felt natural rather than trying to hit a target. Does that more or less make sense? I wasn't picking something different each day and doing what made the ball go straight. I was working on one thing for several hours each day until that alteration felt natural but if that alteration was making the ball go nowhere near the target then was it really something I wanted to pursue? I guess it's a question of whether a swing should be 'right' as in textbook perfect or 'right' as in right for you and result in the ball falling on target. My swing still has much further to go but I've got a basis for it that works relatively well for me. As I change one thing though there's a knock on effect and you need to alter other things to keep it going straight. An example is I used to hit the ball very high and lose all kinds of distance but hit it straight. If I just move the club handle forwards to present less loft to the ball and open my hips a bit it opens the club face, if I just close the club face but keep the same swing path it puts draw spin on the ball and so on, so my swing is constantly evolving and this is an ongoing process. Back to what you originally said - yes long term progress is all important rather than short term and all these changes are aimed at getting a swing that delivers the ball on target in the long term. I've not yet come across something that severly knocks me backwards in order to go forwards but I'm sure I will at some stage :-)

[DeadMan]

I was not expecting you to write a 5 page essay on my comments, haha. From that explanation, it sounds like you're doing what you should be doing. Just wanted to make sure you were focusing on your priority piece and not just trying to fix your swing from day to day. Keep it up! Can't wait to watch you play on the European Tour in a couple of years.

[Nosevi]

I was not expecting you to write a 5 page essay on my comments, haha. From that explanation, it sounds like you're doing what you should be doing. Just wanted to make sure you were focusing on your priority piece and not just trying to fix your swing from day to day. Keep it up! Can't wait to watch you play on the European Tour in a couple of years. :-)

Didn't want to 'short change' you - it was a good point. As for the European Tour we'll see where I am when the dust settles. The initial programme is aimed at a tour over here 2 steps down from the European Tour almost 4 years from now - I'm a little more realistic than some. At that point I'll be giving it a shot to see how far I can get or if I'm nowhere close my wife will be turfing me out the door to go and work for a living :-)

[Nosevi]

Just a quick update to say that short game is going ok. I've spent a lot of time over the last few weeks working on short game around the practice green - putting, chipping, pitching and flop shots from different lies to different flags on the green. I generally practice with a single ball and make every putt, chip or pitch a different shot. There's probably an argument for hitting consecutive balls at the same target if you're just working on technique but I feel I gain more if I mix it up a bit. Over the last few days I've practiced short game with Sam, Jess and today with Brian and one of the things we do is have short game competitions to keep life interesting. The standard one is a matchplay format where a player picks a lie and position to start from and a target flag and you each try to get up and down to that flag. If only 1 player does (or holes it) they're 1 up etc. We normally alternate who picks the position and target and try to make the shot challenging most of the time but with the odd straightforward chip thrown in. Anyway within the last week I narrowly lost to Jess (1 down but I still maintain I was catching her!) drew with Sam although my mutual consent heavy rain stopped play so it was a shorter than usual competition, and then today, probably much to his annoyance although he hid it well, beat Brian 1 up :-) Does this mean I'm now as sharp around the greens as Tour pros and top Amateurs? Um, no it doesn't. But what it does mean is I'm making progress and can at least compete in this area. When I first suggested to them we should compete like this and declined the offer of a 'head start' scoring wise I think they thought I was mad and to be fair I lost badly pretty much every time (although I did win a putting competition against one of them once). But I've narrowed the gap considerably to a point where if they're not quite on their game and I am I can beat them. Still a long way to go in this area but it's definitely progress.

[MacDutch]

Not posting that much here, but reading all of it. I think you like the debates in this thread, but as it comes to 'believe' don't try too hard. Some are non-believers, can't be persuaded. Keep up the good work, Pete. The thread is a good read and you are doing what you want to do with a lot of passion.

[Nosevi]

Not posting that much here, but reading all of it. I think you like the debates in this thread, but as it comes to 'believe' don't try too hard. Some are non-believers, can't be persuaded. Keep up the good work, Pete. The thread is a good read and you are doing what you want to do with a lot of passion.

Thanks and I will. It doesn't really matter all that much to me if people 'believe' or not but if they don't and think I'm making it all up it becomes a little pointless them reading it. Yesterday I did just get 1 up to Brian in a short game comp, the only reason for mentioning it is because a few months ago I wouldn't have had a chance of doing that. Today I've got a lesson down at the National Academy then it's long game practice with Brian tomorrow....... or I could just be making it all up - who knows :-)

[Nosevi]

Very quickly, Mac, and then I won't be doing this again, if people want to believe I'm doing what I say they'll believe it, if not they won't but this is Sam in the swing studio on Monday (not many studios with a car in them I'm guessing): And here he is picking up one of our top amateur trophies: http://www.gethampshire.co.uk/sport/other-sport/top-gun-sam-whitakers-hampshire-9102270 Here's Brian during a session: And here's an article about him: http://www.punditarena.com/uncategorized/ecas/brian-casey-chasing-birdies/ Like I said, I won't be bothering to supply 'evidence' every time I say I'm doing something, if people want to think I'm making it all up that's fine but I talk about these guys because practicing with very good players was a big part of the plan from the start. They are my benchmark and my goal so being coy about the fact they are there would seem a bit pointless. As I said, I'm not going to provide 'evidence' again, I'll leave it up to people to make their own minds up as to whether I'm being homest or not :-)

[ChrisWev]

I'm not sure what I want more, that swing studio setup or to be able to get in Sam or Brians back swing position and just stop there.

[Nosevi]

I'm not sure what I want more, that swing studio setup or to be able to get in Sam or Brians back swing position and just stop there.

Sadly I've only got the one, will have to keep working on the other :-) Well, I've posted quite a bit recently but it's been a fairly busy week - Monday morning was Sam Whitaker in the swing studio, Tuesday morning was short game with Brian, Wednesday morning I had an on course playing lesson with my coach then Thursday morning was a joint practice session with Brian in the swing studio. In the afternoons and today I did my own practice - out on the course, couple of long game sessions and lots of time around the practice green. The long game session with Brian was good fun. I often get drawn into hitting the same club repeatedly, grooving a swing, but Brian suggested we have a target shoot. Basically a player picks a target between 40 and 240 yards (about the limit of my 5 wood), say 176 yards, and he sets the sim so we're that distance from the flag. We both then fire 1 shot at that target and nearest to the pin wins and gets to pick the next target. We played that for about an hour and a half and it was a massively useful exercise. It kept us switching clubs, having to fire at targets between our stock yardages and the competition kept life interesting. Afterwards we did some technique work using the high speed camera but personally I think I got more our of the target shoot. The idea of firing at different targets rather than just at the same one over and over again is nothing really new to me - when I practice short game it's almost always with a single ball and every shot is at a new target. This morning was a good session. Just to give an idea this is our putting and chipping green, it's kept in very good condition but you can chip and do small pitches onto it. It's about 90 feet end to end: Around the edge is about a yard and a half of fringe then the semi-rough outside it. It's kept the same as the semi on the course and is just thick enough to ensure you have to commit to shots out of it, decel and you're in trouble. As well as some general practice I did one thing I do quite frequently which is an up and down 'test'. Basically I go to one end of the green and chip from the fringe then putt to a flag. Make the up and down to stay all square, miss and I'm 1 over. I chip then put to each flag from the same location, making sure I mix up the flags I go for between long and short chips. Scored 7 out of 9 today. I've done better but it's not too bad. Next up it's pitches out of that rough, all from the same end and try to get up and down. I couldn't quite match my chipping from the fringe but managed 6 from 9 up and downs. Lastly it's for if I've ignored LSW, shot zones, Erik and common sense, have fired at a pin and left myself short sided. For this test I'm going round the edge of the green until I'm opposite a pin and dropping a ball 2 yards into the rough, something like this (got a nice lie on this one :-) ) For pins towards the middle of the green it's not too bad but sadly you'll see from the first picture there aren't many of those. For the others it's a case of opening the club face and getting a bit of height on the ball and for some (especially a couple on a downslope) you're having to land it on that fringe. For these I scored 6 out of 9 again. All in all from this little test, which is basically out to 30 yards for the pins at the far end, I scored 7/9, 6/9 and 6/9 which I make to be about 70% . I obviously know the green pretty well (understatement, spend hours a week on the thing) but I still think it's a good exercise to do as it really mixes up distances and the fact you have to putt out each time and every chip, pitch or flop shot counts keeps you focused. Other than that exercise I was mostly practising putting and spent about 45 minutes in the bunker......... that's 45 minutes hitting lots of shots, not 45 minutes trying to get out before some smart arse says it. I'm going to be spending a bit more time on the course over the next few weeks and see if I can translate some of this work into an improvement in my game. We'll see :-)