Bogey Golfers Only (Index 16-22) / Breaking 90 Topic

[PingLuvR]

3 minutes ago, Lihu said:

Why bother with lessons if all you do is ignore what the instructor tells you to do then watch YouTube videos and try out different things that seem to "work"?

Huh?  I'm doing exactly what he said.  I was the idiot who suddenly started dropping my club head below plane on Saturday.  That's not what we were working on.  

[Blackjack Don]

39 minutes ago, Lihu said:

Why bother with lessons if all you do is ignore what the instructor tells you to do then watch YouTube videos and try out different things that seem to "work"?

I don't always agree with you, but this time I am completely in agreement. That may come as a surprise to a few people, but I have seen the light! (praise the <insert word here>). I have been diligently practicing the fifteen things my instructor has told me, and after much practice, realize that if I fix the one thing he told me to fix when he first saw me at the range, I might even be farther ahead than I am. I have to concentrate on a centered hip turn.

We'll see next week when I go see him if I've managed to improve. Not saying it would work for everyone, but if one is ignoring the person he's employed, then he needs to find someone else. Otherwise, do what you're told. Be a kid, not an adult who has seen it all. Be curious.

 

40 minutes ago, PingLuvR said:

Huh?  I'm doing exactly what he said.  I was the idiot who suddenly started dropping my club head below plane on Saturday.  That's not what we were working on.  

I guess I'm lost, too.

[Fairway_CY]

I kinda disappeared for the last week due to work.  I ended up way busier in Nashville than I thought I'd be... but mostly because of the after-hours events.  I got home on Wednesday night and the slept off a 4 day hangover on Thursday.  

I did manage to get out to the range Thursday afternoon to hit some balls... but that was more just swinging the club and trying not to hurt myself than anything.  

I played at the club on Friday where I shot a 42 - 47 = 89 that day.  Most of the day, ball striking was okay.  I had a poor stretch from 9 through 11 that included a ball lost to the creek on #10 again... but my big issue was putting.  It was awful.  

After a drink in the 19th hole, I went out and play an 'emergency nine' with a few guys.  I shouldn't have.  I shot a 49 where nothing was right.  I was hammering drives, but then I couldn't hit approach shots... and putting was still ugly.  

On Saturday, I played a tournament round for the Golfweek Amateur Tour.  With a shotgun start and me beginning on a 211 yard par 3 hole, things got ugly fast.  I opened triple - bogey - par - triple.  I settled down though and posted 42 - 45 = 87 for a 2nd place finish.  

On my opening holes, putting was a big factor in how poorly I played.  I four-putted #15... I missed a 6 footer for par on #16... I pushed a 5 footer for birdie on #17... and then I three-putted #18.  The practice green was so slow but the greens on the course were ridiculously quick.  

I'm going to try and play tomorrow after some practice and then I've got a club match on Wednesday afternoon.  Following that, I may put the clubs away for a week or so to rest a bit before getting back into a practice routine.  I'm hoping that March doesn't see me going anywhere until vacation on the 24th, so... it should be a solid month for practice and playing.

CY

[808hacker]

The problem (for me) that I see is that there are so many "ways to swing" and they all seem to contradict each other. It's truly amazing. But I fully agree on the ball flight laws so I think for the "average golfer" to enjoy golf, he needs a swing he can repeat and that keeps the ball in play. What you don't want is the uncontrollable swing that sends your ball OB.

YES, short game, putting can kill you and make you a bogey golfer or worse, but nothing slows play and makes you feel lousy like sending a ball OB. 

So find a repeatable swing through lessons and if you can't do that, then pick ONE type of swing and see if it works for you. WRITE STUFF DOWN on the range - yes, hit the range. Write detailed notes on what and what is not working. Go back the next time, read your notes and try again. When you think you might have something going - then hit the course and read your notes and see if it works. If you get something going that is repeatable, you will get to the point where you can start forgetting everything and just play. If you start screwing up, check your notes.

Now if you want to go beyond casual play - then I would take lessons at the earliest opportunity from the best teacher you can find. They tend to be very accommodating for juniors that want to be really great.

All that being said, I found lessons to be really affordable and quite fun. I think that for better or worse, the same thoughts that make golfers buy a new driver and putter etc... especially when the putter is totally different are maybe the same type of thoughts that try different swings and "tricks" and thus starts the cycle of decay  

Most of the good retired guys I play with have a repeatable swing and old clubs. They have fun.

[Shark9]

Not had a lesson in 3 months now but my game is getting better.

Been practising a lot less and playing more.

Big change I have discovered is staying really connected on back swing, keeping my right arm tucked in, then on downswing letting my left arm leave the chest while right arm stays tucked in. Gives me club such a neutral path, I have not hit a ball OOB in my last 3 rounds, when I used to lose 2 on average a round.

Shot 88, 84 (new record) and 89 all in comp rounds. Handicap down from 23 to 20 this year. UK system is so slow for getting cut.

The 89 was 9 green in regs, my best ball striking ever, but I have 41 putts, including 5 3 putts and a 4 putt.

Thinking about paying good money and going to the best putting coach in the area.

[Kalnoky]

Have a lesson tomorrow afternoon. I did my homework and grooved the drill I was given, so we'll see what happens. 

I'm also guilty of getting ahead of my lessons, although I don't watch YouTube. My sin is I will marry up things that worked before to what I am currently learning. 

Perhaps counter-intuitive, but I think I might just start practicing less in between lessons. Just keep the focus of golf practice very simple.

Fortunately I have many other hobbies to occupy my free time. 

 

Edited February 20, 2017 by Kalnoky

[Lihu]

6 hours ago, PingLuvR said:

Huh?  I'm doing exactly what he said.  I was the idiot who suddenly started dropping my club head below plane on Saturday.  That's not what we were working on.  

Ah, I must have misunderstood the situation, sorry about that.

What caught me off was that you seemed to be doing research and acting upon that research rather than just focusing on the specific things, but again, it could have just been the way I misinterpreted the situation.

[PingLuvR]

Its all good.  I knew right away what I was doing wrong after 5 mins of research.  I wasn't doing it at the lesson,  it was just something I picked up on Saturday.  After realizing it,  I was hitting it really well on Sunday. He wants to spend 3-4 lessons on fixing the over the top swing, my take away and swing plane.  After that,  its going to be release, follow through and hip rotation.  I signed up for 10,  but I'll do as many as it takes to get it all right.  

[Lihu]

2 hours ago, PingLuvR said:

Its all good.  I knew right away what I was doing wrong after 5 mins of research.  I wasn't doing it at the lesson,  it was just something I picked up on Saturday.  After realizing it,  I was hitting it really well on Sunday. He wants to spend 3-4 lessons on fixing the over the top swing, my take away and swing plane.  After that,  its going to be release, follow through and hip rotation.  I signed up for 10,  but I'll do as many as it takes to get it all right.  

Sure, I signed up for 10 lessons at a time three times many years ago. The problem I felt was that I couldn't make the changes needed before each lesson and the lessons were all becoming the same. I was frustrated like all high bogey golfers, because it seemed like I should have been making much more progress with so many lessons. Now, my expectations for change are much more conservative. If someone tells me to do something, I expect it to take a long time even with focused practice. For that matter, even figuring out how to do the drills effectively is yet another step I have to conquer every time. Nothing is fast and easy. It's all hard. I even have a son that learned through evolvr like lessons to watch what I'm doing now.

I'm actually thinking about joining evolvr with my daughter after he leaves for college next year.

Just don't expect fast miracles, unless you happen to be extremely talented...

[sirhacksalot]

41 minutes ago, Lihu said:

Sure, I signed up for 10 lessons at a time three times many years ago. The problem I felt was that I couldn't make the changes needed before each lesson and the lessons were all becoming the same. I was frustrated like all high bogey golfers, because it seemed like I should have been making much more progress with so many lessons. Now, my expectations for change are much more conservative. If someone tells me to do something, I expect it to take a long time even with focused practice. For that matter, even figuring out how to do the drills effectively is yet another step I have to conquer every time. Nothing is fast and easy. It's all hard. 

This was me , had about  10 lessons in a couple of months , hit good balls off mats in lessons.  Instructor was basically reading a cue card.  I was just lost why I seemed to hit good balls in lessons but not on the course.  I think alot if it was due to mats and the fact that I was more relaxed.  I don't know what my expectations are anymore,  I do alot of swing change  you tubing myself but i wouldn't say it's from trying to find quick fixes but more so something a lil more repeatable for me and a lil more painless. 

Edited February 21, 2017 by sirhacksalot

[PingLuvR]

I hear ya.  I'm just trying to get a swing that is on plane, not over the top,  and square at contact.  I just want to hit the ball straight as much as possible.  

[Lihu]

3 hours ago, sirhacksalot said:

This was me , had about  10 lessons in a couple of months , hit good balls off mats in lessons.  Instructor was basically reading a cue card.  I was just lost why I seemed to hit good balls in lessons but not on the course.  I think alot if it was due to mats and the fact that I was more relaxed.  I don't know what my expectations are anymore,  I do alot of swing change  you tubing myself but i wouldn't say it's from trying to find quick fixes but more so something a lil more repeatable for me and a lil more painless. 

Yeah, if we were exactly the same then the cue card instruction might work. Also, if you hit off a mat, fat shots are not punished as much. That's like boiler plate ski instruction on groomed terrain, and expecting to be able to ski double blacks and moguls immediately thereafter.

So, don't give up on making good expectations, it takes a lot of effort working on priorities one at a time. 

 

2 hours ago, PingLuvR said:

I hear ya.  I'm just trying to get a swing that is on plane, not over the top,  and square at contact.  I just want to hit the ball straight as much as possible.  

That's reasonable, but hard.

[808hacker]

>Big change I have discovered is staying really connected on back swing, keeping my right arm tucked in

I think you might have found what works for you which is just great. As long as you can repeat it and it doesn't hurt you - enjoy being consistent!

I've been keeping notes for years and I noticed that the same "fixes" can apply over the years. The advantage of being older and stiffer is that there's only so much movement you can do with the body. I've been working on squaring the club face over above all else and along with wrists - turning over correctly, I have seen really good results. I'm not close to bogey golf right now - doing much better - but I know it can all change quickly.

I used to really make mistakes when pitching but now I value club face (and path) over everything and even mistakes turn out pretty darn good. Before I was worried about weight on left, turn etc... and there would always be a big mistake somewhere. But if you value the club face over everything - ball flight laws - usually good stuff happens - well at least for me.

When you hit the green, even putting starts getting better  - so weird.

-----------------------

> I'm just trying to get a swing that is on plane, not over the top,  and square at contact.  I just want to hit the ball straight as much as possible.  

Well, if you look around - lots of players play great that are not "on plane". Yes, you don't want to swing "way over the top" - your instructor will hopefully fix that. But I think that the "straight ball" is something all people think they want, but the truth is that it's almost impossible to do - especially for a beginner. Most people play a curve -and it's more doable. Some people play a fade and others play a draw - but rarely do they hit dead straight. Well at least that's what I see. I know there are some that hit a 1 or 2 yard draw from a far distance, but that's really hard. You are not talking about normal players.

 

 

Edited February 21, 2017 by 808hacker

[PingLuvR]

Played again today.  I feel like I'm really starting to get things figured out.  It was all in my release and follow through.  Just really finishing the swing.  Today I was long and straight.  Felt so good.  Only shot a 90,  but I was really happy with the way I was striking it.  The "meanandmygolf" videos are so helpful.  Lesson #2 is tomorrow night.  Looking forward to seeing what improvements he notices.  

[proto]

the key i found out how to break 100 or 90 and even 80s is to play smart golf. sometimes on a 140y-150y 2nd shot instead of hitting my 9i and trying to get aggressive with it. i'll club up one and hit my 8i with a smooth easy swing. and the more calm i am with a bad hole the better i play. once you start to think about how bad your round is going, it won't get better. jus stay positive and try and not to rush your self around the course. if your wanting to stop making triple and double bogeys. you need to work on your putting and short game. spend 30mins to an hour or more on your putting and learning how to read your putts. learn how to make a smooth putting stroke and learn how to putt good lag putts on long putts. try and not hit those fancy shots that you have never worked on because it will jus hurt your scores. and if you really want to drop your scores, you need to start going to the range more and walk the course and play 130y-100y in and work on those second shot attempts. bunker game is very key also, learning how to hit the ball out of the bunker with spin also helps. if you can get your short game on point the long game is a whole lot easier to learn. and don't worry what the people behind you or the people your playing with are doing. you play on how you know how to play and don't let people tell you try something out new on the course. take their advice and try it on the range some other time. 

[klineka]

2 minutes ago, proto said:

 bunker game is very key also, learning how to hit the ball out of the bunker with spin also helps. if you can get your short game on point the long game is a whole lot easier to learn. and don't worry what the people behind you or the people your playing with are doing. you play on how you know how to play and don't let people tell you try something out new on the course. take their advice and try it on the range some other time. 

I kind of disagree with these, I think someone trying to break 100, or even 90, the last thing they need to be worrying about is trying to get spin out of a bunker. I disagree that if the short game is on point then the long game is easier to learn. How good someone can chip or putt has very little to do with how easy it will be for that person to learn how to hit a driver or 3 iron. There have been tons of posts on this site showing how important tee/long shots are for high handicap golfers. Yes approach shots and short game are important, but they mean very little if the golfer has already put one tee shot in the water and one in the woods.

[Lihu]

I'd like to have a "killer" short game.

If I could just somehow know that inside of 100 yards that I could make it in 2.5 strokes and 150 inside of 3 or something like that, it'd be like super "good golf" to me. Alas, . . .

 

[klineka]

33 minutes ago, Lihu said:

I'd like to have a "killer" short game.

If I could just somehow know that inside of 100 yards that I could make it in 2.5 strokes and 150 inside of 3 or something like that, it'd be like super "good golf" to me. Alas, . . .

 

Pretty interesting stat about this, the top two current FedEx Points players, Hideki Matsuyama and Justin Thomas rank 201 and 199, respectively, in GIR % from 100-125 yds, with both of them being around 62-63%.I would have guess those would have been much much higher. Interesting.

 

Although their GIR % inside 100 yds jumps up to 94% for Justin Thomas and 89% for Matsuyama.

 

http://www.pgatour.com/stats/stat.077.html

Edited February 23, 2017 by klineka