The Drive for 5...

[Salte]

Great job getting the cap down. Once you get your driver in line you should be able to hit your goal. Post a swing vid if you get a chance.

Thanks! I've been considering posting a swing video, but currently it's too embarrasing (and I know my swing is OTT causing a slice, so I'll fix that first at least). My biggest challenge is finding the time to actually pratice the stuff I konw I need to work on.

[Lihu]

[QUOTE name="layup" url="/t/82815/the-drive-for-5/108#post_1174772"] Great job getting the cap down. Once you get your driver in line you should be able to hit your goal. Post a swing vid if you get a chance.[/QUOTE] Thanks! I've been considering posting a swing video, but currently it's too embarrasing (and I know my swing is OTT causing a slice, so I'll fix that first at least). My biggest challenge is finding the time to actually pratice the stuff I konw I need to work on.

It's up to you, really. I post mainly as progress placeholders. I use my swing thread more of as a diary. I learned the hard way to just take everything from everyone with a grain of salt. In short, it's for me. Your swing thread would be for you. If people make constructive comments in yours, great. If they don't, like in mine, so what? The main thing is it really helps you to progress.

[DrvFrShow]

Official handicap is 21.7. My goal is to have fun playing the game, and not get re-injured.

2. Update your progress and tough slugging in the thread.

I've had a couple of tough rounds this past week. I took some lessons back in April, and they really helped me with my long game. I'm hitting my mid-irons and driver a ton better. My last two lessons focused on the driver which was my glaring weakness and the club I was replacing with my 3W. I still couldn't hit it well at my last lesson. Last Tuesday, with my score shot to hell by the third hole, I pulled out my driver and let it rip. I have Game Golf. 233, followed by 237, 240, 243, and finally 249. All playable. Yes, I pushed one into the water. Yes, I chickened out with the OB on the right and hit my hybrid into the FW bunker on the right even shorter than I hit my 5 iron. And yes, I did push another one into the trees, but the lie was playable. Averaging 237 with my driver. Longest drive is 256 on a bullet into the breeze - stopped in the rough on the left - a little dicey, but I've been in worse spots still very playable with a clear shot at the green - I messed up my wedge shot and I have no excuse.

My mid-game? It's fine. If I'm hitting a 5-7 iron onto the green I can at least hit the general vicinity of the green and end up pin high.

Hybrids? get that thing out of my bag!

With hitting the driver like this I find playing the "ladies tees" a bit constricting so I'm moving back to the senior tees at 5600 - 5800 yds. It's fun to let it rip.

Strategy to improve scores right now is to work on my short game. It has gone bye bye. I is real frustrating to get pin high in regulation or under regulation and waste any strokes gained around the green with poor chipping or poor pitching. The greens have been really bad at a few courses due to the heat, but this problem has magnified it by leaving me with long putts resulting in the dreaded 3 putt. If I leave myself a decent length putt (< 30 feet) with my approach shot I'm fine. I can two putt or even one putt if the approach shot was close enough (< 8 feet) depending upon conditions.

* So work on my pitching from about 115 yds and in.

* Work on chipping

* Work on putting.

[Faksakes]

It's up to you, really. I post mainly as progress placeholders. I use my swing thread more of as a diary. I learned the hard way to just take everything from everyone with a grain of salt. In short, it's for me. Your swing thread would be for you.

If people make constructive comments in yours, great. If they don't, like in mine, so what?

The main thing is it really helps you to progress.

People in this thread have been very cool. Nobody has blasted my swing too much if at all. Post away fella's, I'm feeling lonely in here!

[rkim291968]

Started with 17.5 HI at the start of this thread and it has been going up.   I've made a few panic adjustments to stop the breeding - introducing new drills, changing practice routine, reading LSW.  It has not worked so far.  I feel my game has gotten better but not the scores.  Distance has increased.  Ball striking is getting better.  OB, lost ball, and ball in hazard numbers have gone down a bit.  Short game and course management?  Not so much.  I use to be able to tell my score by number of OB's I had in a round.  Today, I started and ended with a same ball but carded a 104.  It should have been close to 90 or 91.  Where did I lose all the strokes?  Took 3 times to get out a bunker.  Another 3 times to get out of tall brush.  Kept missing pitch shots to way left.  Missed whole bunch of short putts.

Afternoon round was better with a score of 97.  It was the exact opposite of the morning round.   Putting was great - 30 putts this time.  Short game was back on track.   3 snowmen that started with OB or ball in junk which I could not recover from.  All other holes were bogey or par.

Next GHIN is going to be in 19 - 20 range.   It's gonna be really hard to get it down to 12.5 by the year's end.

[Lihu]

Started with 17.5 HI at the start of this thread and it has been going up.   I've made a few panic adjustments to stop the breeding - introducing new drills, changing practice routine, reading LSW.  It has not worked so far.  I feel my game has gotten better but not the scores.  Distance has increased.  Ball striking is getting better.  OB, lost ball, and ball in hazard numbers have gone down a bit.  Short game and course management?  Not so much.  I use to be able to tell my score by number of OB's I had in a round.  Today, I started and ended with a same ball but carded a 104.  It should have been close to 90 or 91.  Where did I lose all the strokes?  Took 3 times to get out a bunker.  Another 3 times to get out of tall brush.  Kept missing pitch shots to way left.  Missed whole bunch of short putts.    Afternoon round was better with a score of 97.  It was the exact opposite of the morning round.   Putting was great - 30 putts this time.  Short game was back on track.   3 snowmen that started with OB or ball in junk which I could not recover from.  All other holes were bogey or par.  Next GHIN is going to be in 19 - 20 range.   It's gonna be really hard to get it down to 12.5 by the year's end.

The difference I felt between 17.6 and 12.5 are the.muscles active in the swing. My swing might look the same but it originates from totally different muscle groups. My large muscles are being used to swing, and it is much more powerful. I don't get as tired and my swing does not lose "gas" through the round while my misses are not that penal. I think that if you use larger muscle groups, you will hit farther and with less effort and your handicap will naturally drop. If I could putt 30 with my current game, I could be comfortably in the single digits.

[jetsknicks1]

Starting HI of 21.1 down to 19.0 :-). Five of my last six rounds have been in the 80'S, with a nice fat 101 thrown in there. The biggest reason for the drop is leaving that driver in the bag. I hit the 3W just about as far and I don't get into near as much trouble with it.

[Faksakes]

Starting HI of 21.1 down to 19.0 . Five of my last six rounds have been in the 80'S, with a nice fat 101 thrown in there. The biggest reason for the drop is leaving that driver in the bag. I hit the 3W just about as far and I don't get into near as much trouble with it.

Nicely done, grats

[dfreuter415]

Started with 17.5 HI at the start of this thread and it has been going up.   I've made a few panic adjustments to stop the breeding - introducing new drills, changing practice routine, reading LSW.  It has not worked so far.

Today, I started and ended with a same ball but carded a 104.  It should have been close to 90 or 91.  Where did I lose all the strokes?

Afternoon round was better with a score of 97.  It was the exact opposite of the morning round.   Putting was great - 30 putts this time.  Short game was back on track.

Next GHIN is going to be in 19 - 20 range.   It's gonna be really hard to get it down to 12.5 by the year's end.

Ups and downs are part of the game. Perseverance is the key. I've followed your diary closely in another thread and saw how excited you became when your HI came down very quickly after acquiring a new set of golf clubs. After 55+ years of golfing, I feel that there are two truisms when it comes a HI.

#1) A good few rounds in a short period of can actually give you a HI that is somewhat lower than it should be. Example: At the end of the last golf season I had a 74, 76, and 77 in a two week period. My index went from the low 9's to 7.8. Recently, those scores are no longer one of my last 20 rounds, and my HI is back to 9.3. In your case, when you bought the new clubs, you had some very good rounds which helped to lower you HI.

#2) When going though a period of transition, where you are trying to work on various aspects of your swing, will usually inflate your HI, until you are comfortable with the changes. Once the changes are ingrained and you have 20 rounds in the system, then, and only then, will you have a true HI. After following your postings where you got new clubs and then began working on the different parts of your game, I feel that this is just the start to what lies at the end of the rainbow. Patience is a virtue.

[Abu3baid]

My HC is 26 right now.. Before the end of the year I am hoping it is below 18 :) I will talk about how later but I'm in.

[rkim291968]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rkim291968

Started with 17.5 HI at the start of this thread and it has been going up.   I've made a few panic adjustments to stop the breeding - introducing new drills, changing practice routine, reading LSW.  It has not worked so far.

Today, I started and ended with a same ball but carded a 104.  It should have been close to 90 or 91.  Where did I lose all the strokes?

Afternoon round was better with a score of 97.  It was the exact opposite of the morning round.   Putting was great - 30 putts this time.  Short game was back on track.

Next GHIN is going to be in 19 - 20 range.   It's gonna be really hard to get it down to 12.5 by the year's end.

Ups and downs are part of the game. Perseverance is the key. I've followed your diary closely in another thread and saw how excited you became when your HI came down very quickly after acquiring a new set of golf clubs. After 55+ years of golfing, I feel that there are two truisms when it comes a HI.

#1) A good few rounds in a short period of can actually give you a HI that is somewhat lower than it should be. Example: At the end of the last golf season I had a 74, 76, and 77 in a two week period. My index went from the low 9's to 7.8. Recently, those scores are no longer one of my last 20 rounds, and my HI is back to 9.3. In your case, when you bought the new clubs, you had some very good rounds which helped to lower you HI.

#2) When going though a period of transition, where you are trying to work on various aspects of your swing, will usually inflate your HI, until you are comfortable with the changes. Once the changes are ingrained and you have 20 rounds in the system, then, and only then, will you have a true HI. After following your postings where you got new clubs and then began working on the different parts of your game, I feel that this is just the start to what lies at the end of the rainbow. Patience is a virtue.

I believe I am going through #2) again.   I went through this earlier this year when I started working on various things.  For a month or two, HI jumped up to 23 before it came down rapidly to stay in high teens.    HI went as low as 16.6 and it is now up to 19+ (on next GHIN report).   The good news is that after today's round, I have mostly soft scores to beat and HI is likely to go down again, back to 16 - 17 range.  Today, I had an excellent round of 91.  No penalty shots, and no scores worse than double bogey.   The ball striking accuracy has gone up.   In the last 3 rounds, I only lost 2 balls.   There are several things I can attribute this improvement: anti-chicken wing drill, mirror work, etc..

Quote:

Originally Posted by rkim291968

Started with 17.5 HI at the start of this thread and it has been going up.   I've made a few panic adjustments to stop the breeding - introducing new drills, changing practice routine, reading LSW.  It has not worked so far.  I feel my game has gotten better but not the scores.  Distance has increased.  Ball striking is getting better.  OB, lost ball, and ball in hazard numbers have gone down a bit.  Short game and course management?  Not so much.  I use to be able to tell my score by number of OB's I had in a round.  Today, I started and ended with a same ball but carded a 104.  It should have been close to 90 or 91.  Where did I lose all the strokes?  Took 3 times to get out a bunker.  Another 3 times to get out of tall brush.  Kept missing pitch shots to way left.  Missed whole bunch of short putts.

Afternoon round was better with a score of 97.  It was the exact opposite of the morning round.   Putting was great - 30 putts this time.  Short game was back on track.   3 snowmen that started with OB or ball in junk which I could not recover from.  All other holes were bogey or par.

Next GHIN is going to be in 19 - 20 range.   It's gonna be really hard to get it down to 12.5 by the year's end.

The difference I felt between 17.6 and 12.5 are the.muscles active in the swing. My swing might look the same but it originates from totally different muscle groups. My large muscles are being used to swing, and it is much more powerful. I don't get as tired and my swing does not lose "gas" through the round while my misses are not that penal.

I think that if you use larger muscle groups, you will hit farther and with less effort and your handicap will naturally drop.View our Sponsors Showcase

I don't fully understand how to do this yet.  I am routinely hitting range balls about 200+ carry.  With real balls & rolls off carry, I should be averaging 240+ yards in field.   That is not happening.  Something is blocking me from hitting my drives as I do at range.   It may be the fear of hitting OBs.   It may be winds.   Whatever it is, I need to figure this out quickly.   Otherwise, it will be hard to lower HI below 16.

[Lihu]

Originally Posted by rkim291968

I don't fully understand how to do this yet.  I am routinely hitting range balls about 200+ carry.  With real balls & rolls off carry, I should be averaging 240+ yards in field.   That is not happening.  Something is blocking me from hitting my drives as I do at range.   It may be the fear of hitting OBs.   It may be winds.   Whatever it is, I need to figure this out quickly.   Otherwise, it will be hard to lower HI below 16.

You're not alone. . .

That's why I mentioned a few times in the past that it seems like range distances and course distances are almost the same. It seems like when you're all warmed up you hit farther, but the range balls go up to 10% shorter. So, it seemed to even out?

[dfreuter415]

I believe I am going through #2) again.   I went through this earlier this year when I started working on various things.  For a month or two, HI jumped up to 23 before it came down rapidly to stay in high teens.    HI went as low as 16.6 and it is now up to 19+ (on next GHIN report).   The good news is that after today's round, I have mostly soft scores to beat and HI is likely to go down again, back to 16 - 17 range.  Today, I had an excellent round of 91.  No penalty shots, and no scores worse than double bogey.   The ball striking accuracy has gone up.   In the last 3 rounds, I only lost 2 balls.   There are several things I can attribute this improvement: anti-chicken wing drill, mirror work, etc..

Congrats on the 91. I know how hard you are working to improve your game. Another 2 or 3 good rounds will get you back in the right direction.

I, like you, have been going through a time when my handicap has been steadily going up. But, I have to stay the course, and trust that what I am doing will keep my game competitive. Right now my putting and short game need tweeked a little. I've had several 3 putts recently that were not normal for my regular game, so this morning I'm using a different putter.  I tee it up at 8:45 with an optimistic attitude.

[pecos24]

My HCI is trending up.   I played a round when I was in Washington over the weekend.  Over the first 9 I was on track to have a career round.  I shot a 44 which is one of my best 9 hole rounds ever. Then over the next 9 I just completely lost it...61, for a total of 105, 103(ESC).  My 28.1 differential drops off to be replaced with a 32 diff.

[Fairway_CY]

I played 2 tournament rounds this weekend... and earlier in the week, I got in 14 holes at a local course.  That was the first time I touched a club since Father's Day.

Needless to say... I'm trending up... big time.

It's certainly no fun to be playing how I played this weekend.

Day 1... I posted a 97.  I had 41 putts.  The greens were MUCH slower than I had anticipated, and I had spent a majority of the week putting on my carpet at home, which was much faster than what I played on during my round Saturday.  I had 4 three-putts and 2 four-putts.  Sadly... I didn't strike the ball horribly that day, I just couldn't putt once I found the greens.

Day 2... I posted a 96.  My putting was not much better (39 putts)... but I lost a TON of strokes with irons in my hand.  5 penalty shots with irons from tees, the fairway or just off the fairways.  I felt like I hadn't touched an iron in years.  Big time fat shots off of par 3 tees and from the rough... and then a 30+ yard slice from fairway lies with a 7 iron... topped off with a fat-pulled 4 iron from the middle of the fairway on a par 5 that led to a double bogey after a perfect drive.

I'm putting the clubs away for at least 2 weeks now as I'm getting ready to go away for a week, but when I get back... I need to work on my iron game.  I'm in jeopardy of not qualifying for the year end championship at this point, and I've only got 3 tournaments to make the points I need to make up to earn my way in.

Ugh.

CY

[Faksakes]

I believe I am going through #2) again.   I went through this earlier this year when I started working on various things.  For a month or two, HI jumped up to 23 before it came down rapidly to stay in high teens.    HI went as low as 16.6 and it is now up to 19+ (on next GHIN report).   The good news is that after today's round, I have mostly soft scores to beat and HI is likely to go down again, back to 16 - 17 range.  Today, I had an excellent round of 91.  No penalty shots, and no scores worse than double bogey.   The ball striking accuracy has gone up.   In the last 3 rounds, I only lost 2 balls.   There are several things I can attribute this improvement: anti-chicken wing drill, mirror work, etc..

I don't fully understand how to do this yet.  I am routinely hitting range balls about 200+ carry.  With real balls & rolls off carry, I should be averaging 240+ yards in field.   That is not happening.  Something is blocking me from hitting my drives as I do at range.   It may be the fear of hitting OBs.   It may be winds.   Whatever it is, I need to figure this out quickly.   Otherwise, it will be hard to lower HI below 16.

Range balls are not always shorter than real balls fyi. Are you sure they're limited distance?

[Faksakes]

Seems like we're all struggling right now. I was at the practice course today and my swing was off and on. No consistency at all. Very close to not one but two hole in ones which I'm glad didn't go in as it would have vexed me on a practice facility...

Took some video of the swing so if I get time I'll upload.

[rkim291968]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rkim291968

I don't fully understand how to do this yet.  I am routinely hitting range balls about 200+ carry.  With real balls & rolls off carry, I should be averaging 240+ yards in field.   That is not happening.  Something is blocking me from hitting my drives as I do at range.   It may be the fear of hitting OBs.   It may be winds.   Whatever it is, I need to figure this out quickly.   Otherwise, it will be hard to lower HI below 16.

Range balls are not always shorter than real balls fyi. Are you sure they're limited distance?

I use distance balls and they consistently go further.   The thing is, when I hit solid in field, I will hit 240.   But those solid shots are rare for my drives.   For shorter clubs, I do much better in terms of out hitting my range shots.    I think I don't let it loose my drives in fear of hitting them into OB areas.