Backswing breakthrough.........I think !

[topgrape]

My handicap is officially 17 although people have always told me it should be better than that as I have a nice looking swing. However my handicap doesn't lie and I have been hovering around that level for a while, typically scoring 36 points + or - a couple when I play with my buddies on a Saturday.

A few weeks ago I had a thought to shorten my backswing. I now have the feel that I don't take my left arm back past horizontal when playing approach shots - I say 'feel' because I probably go a bit past that but that's the feel I'm going for.

My ball striking has improved a lot, hopefully as a result of this change, and it not being a coincidence, and I'm definitely not losing distance. My last 3 rounds have been 83, 83, 81 and I really should have broken 80 for the first time on that last round, but for a fluffed 3 wood on the par 5 16th that went into water. I had 9 pars and a birdie on that round and most of the pars were fairly regulation hit the green and 2 putt pars.

I'm certainly not a good enough player to give advice to anyone, but if you are struggling to hit your irons crisply I would say to give what I'm doing a try.

[saevel25]

A few weeks ago I had a thought to shorten my backswing. I now have the feel that I don't take my left arm back past horizontal when playing approach shots - I say 'feel' because I probably go a bit past that but that's the feel I'm going for.

Good advice as long as it is done correctly. Some people can get stuck just moving their arms and not turning. Sounds like you found something that helped out. A long swing can always take a good swing and make it go bad.

[topgrape]

80 today, and my putting wasn't great............getting close to the magic 70's !