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

[Skenny]

Missed greens in regulation is killing me.  I think I hit more than half of my fairways off the tee and can 2 putt fairly reliably but my second shot on par 4s and third shot on par 5s kill me.  I'll bounce it off the apron or simply miss left or right by less than 20 feet.  I'm still getting used to taking a full swing with my irons though so hopefully this is something that will simply get better with practice.

I'm horrible at hitting fairway woods off the ground and I need to watch some videos of this.  I hit grounders or low line drives like it's nobodies business and I'm not sure why.  Well actually I know why, it's because I never practiced these clubs off the ground while at the range... ever.    But really, I hit a sweet 3 wood a couple weeks ago when I walked up to the ball and decided to try something different on a hunch.  I thought I swung a little steeper like I was using an iron but that hasn't worked for me in the handful of times I've tried it since so I'm still at a loss.

First, congrats Rkim and Isuk....... Low 90s is good. Strandly, do you have and are you using any hybrid clubs. I have been so impressed by them that I am loading up.... just got a 9 hybrid with 34* loft, and just came in from the range where it consistently went similar distance to my 8 iron. I already had 3 and 4 hybrid, that more than replaced my 3 and 4 irons. I think I'm going to invest in a 6 or 5 hybrid next. High ball flight, and soft landings that will hold the green are what the clubs are supposed to do. If you haven't, you might give it a try.

[Strandly]

First, congrats Rkim and Isuk....... Low 90s is good. Strandly, do you have and are you using any hybrid clubs. I have been so impressed by them that I am loading up.... just got a 9 hybrid with 34* loft, and just came in from the range where it consistently went similar distance to my 8 iron. I already had 3 and 4 hybrid, that more than replaced my 3 and 4 irons. I think I'm going to invest in a 6 or 5 hybrid next. High ball flight, and soft landings that will hold the green are what the clubs are supposed to do. If you haven't, you might give it a try.

Nah no hybrids, just a straight up 3 and 5 wood.  They are small though, they almost look like hybrids.  It's somewhat rare that I hit them actually since most par 4s are at least in 3 iron range and most par 5s I can't reach in 2 anyway so I just hit irons the whole way.  I still want to figure out how to hit them though.

[Skenny]

Check that loft on my 9 H, should have been 37*, the new 7 H I just bought is 34*..,.. doesn't look like I can squeeze an 8 H between them.........

[rkim291968]

Skenny,

Yeah, check those lofts, lie, shaft, etc if you are buying individual clubs to fill in the gap.  Better yet, it's better to buy an iron/hybrid "set" so that there is a uniform distance gap from club to club.  If you haven't done it yet, you may want to learn about custom club process.   You'd get a better idea on what kind of clubs you need to get even if you are not buying a custom set of clubs.

[HardRight]

I played 18 today... It was my 3rd time out in a row where I was really striking the ball well (my putting was horrible though). I ended up with a 96 My putting is usually around a 2.0...but the last month it's at about 2.25. Today almost a 2.5. I've been practicing my full swing and have totally neglected putting for months now.

[teamroper60]

38 on the back 9 today. 6 pars and a bird. First time I've been under 40 on 9 holes. Sadly, that was paired with a 48 on the front 9, so I ended up with an 86 on the day....

[Strandly]

I tinkered with the driver some today and think I may have found a better way to hit it.  Until now I was teeing it up with about half the ball above the top of the club, a slightly wider than shoulder width stance and a somewhat flat swing to sweep the ball off the tee.

I watched a little bit of the recent PGA championship and I saw a couple of Bubba Watson's drives.  It looked like he had a really steep swing and it got me thinking that maybe I was doing mine wrong.  A few holes into my round today I teed the ball up lower (1/8-1/4" above the top of club), narrowed my stance to shoulder width or less (I think), and swung steeper.

Much to my surprise I seemed to hit the ball 10-20 yards further than before.  I tried some other configurations too, widening my stance but ended up hitting the ground, teeing the ball higher but hit too many air balls that didn't go far.  Basically it seemed like the best setup was to have the widest stance possible without clipping the ground but not so wide that I was forced to swing flat.

I sprayed some drives left of the fairway doing this and at first it seemed like maybe it was a less accurate way of hitting the ball but I think that's probably not the case and I just need to get used to it.  I'm looking forward to playing tomorrow or the next day and testing it some more.

[luu5]

I watched a little bit of the recent PGA championship and I saw a couple of Bubba Watson's drives.  It looked like he had a really steep swing and it got me thinking that maybe I was doing mine wrong.  A few holes into my round today I teed the ball up lower (1/8-1/4" above the top of club), narrowed my stance to shoulder width or less (I think), and swung steeper.

Much to my surprise I seemed to hit the ball 10-20 yards further than before.  I tried some other configurations too, widening my stance but ended up hitting the ground, teeing the ball higher but hit too many air balls that didn't go far.  Basically it seemed like the best setup was to have the widest stance possible without clipping the ground but not so wide that I was forced to swing flat.

Interesting. I lost my driver swing during summer and went to pro. He said I need to steepen my swing, I could not get it work then though. A week later on the range I tried it again and something clicked. It feels very steep (comparing to old one), but I am not sure if it is that steep anyway. Now I can hit as hard as I want with "no" fear.

[Strandly]

Interesting. I lost my driver swing during summer and went to pro. He said I need to steepen my swing, I could not get it work then though. A week later on the range I tried it again and something clicked. It feels very steep (comparing to old one), but I am not sure if it is that steep anyway. Now I can hit as hard as I want with "no" fear.

Yep, same thing here.. it definitely feels different.  I really like the results though, I get the sharp rising ball flight instead of the high floater that I had before.

[dave s]

My swing (apparently) is just all over the place.  Here are some of the things I'm experiencing THIS season:

1. Iron shots.  Anything 8-iron and shorter USED to be good.  Put a ball on a tee and I was picking it clean with no pop or power.  I was hitting a 7-iron about 130 and always coming up short on a 140-ish yard shot.

This season, I've moved the ball to middle of stance, opened club face a bit and am now flushing irons from fairway, rough and off the tees on the shorter par-3s.  7-iron now goes 145-150, flies high and really straight.  The only thing that concerns me is that the club head path marks on the sole of the irons now looks like and outside to in path.  Before, they were straight through.  I guess the results are more important than the path through the hitting area although I know it's not right.

2.  Driver results.  Last year I was hitting a lot of toe shots that resulted in lower hooks that traveled about 175 off the tee.  They usually came to rest in trouble areas making for a recovery shot and a sure bogey or worse.

This year, I'm teeing the ball higher, play the ball at least on my left heel and really try to stay behind the ball at address and through impact so I'm hitting UP on the ball.  Early in the season I was making much better contact (middle of club face for a change) and hitting them solid, but pushing everything to the right.  Also employed the same 'slightly open' club face approach to hit the ball higher.

All of a sudden and with virtually the same setup, the slight draw has come back, distance is back and I'm putting the ball in the fairway.  I'd been aiming a bit left and playing a fade due to slightly open club face at address and to guard against the pushed right and into trouble tee ball.. Now, I'm keeping the ball on the left half the fairway with either a slight draw or the 'dreaded' straight ball, as we like to call it. HIt a few drives last Saturday in the 240 range which is a 'bomb' for me.

3.  My long-range game (6-iron to hybrids to fairway woods) has always been atrocious and continues as advertised this season.  Every once in awhile, I'll flush a 5-wood on a par 5, but the majority of the time, it's topped, rolled or hooked weakly.  More recently, this has come to affect my #4 and #5 hybrid as well.  This literally kills me on 160-180 yard par-3 holes.  The middle-stance, open club face does NOT seem to apply to these shots.

No idea how or what to adjust to get this part of the game on track.  Been to range and hit 20% good, 80% bad.  I have 2 more lessons scheduled for the end of the season.  Fixing the mid-range game will likely derail the driver and short-iron game which are both right now really working.  Short game is never an issue.  Chipping / Pitching / Putting is always the strongest part of my game.

Recent rounds:  Shot 90 even on my last two league 9-hole rounds.  40-50.  If I could play the much harder back nine directly AFTER the front nine, I wouldn't shoot a damn 50 because I'd be warmed up and in a good playing rhythm.  Last Saturday shot 84 and had only one bad hole.  Weekend before an 87 while carding triples on 2 of the 4 par-5 holes.  The mid-range game was in rare form and killing me as usual.

Thanks for reading, letting me vent and for allowing me to write and read for myself what is going on with my all over the place and never in the same place twice swing.

dave

[Uncle Peter]

I'm currently trying to work on making solid contact on every iron, hybrid, and wood shot. I've been in too many situations where I've blown a good drive by topping an iron or a wood.

I'm also working on making sure my feet and shoulders are aligned properly before I swing, as I normally slice or hook the ball badly when they're not aligned, and my aim is way off.

A little more distance on my shots wouldn't hurt too!

[rkim291968]

I'm also working on making sure my feet and shoulders are aligned properly before I swing, as I normally slice or hook the ball badly when they're not aligned, and my aim is way off.

This is the same problem I am fixing these days.   How many times have I noticed beginner or bogey golfers line up wrongly in the tee box and hit their shot to far right, or far left?  Too many.   How in the world I felt into the same trap is beyond me.  Worse yet, it took me so long to figure out I was making the same mistake.  But with this problem fixed, I am looking forward to reducing my HI back to where it was a year ago.  It will also give me time to practice on shot shaping, and hitting balls below/above feet, uphill/downhill shots.

[Braivo]

New to the forum, but this looks like I'll be working my way through this thread for a while.

I am in the midst of a major swing change that I started this Spring. I am 34, but back when I was 19 or 20 I was a single digit hdcp with what I'd call a modified baseball swing (weight on back foot all the time).  It wasn't pretty, but it worked enough to score well.

After a few years away from the game (young kids), I am hooked again, but this time trying to do it the "right" way.  It has been frustrating though.  I am a 22 hdcp right now trying the new swing.  A few rounds I have just said screw it and went back to my old ways and broke 90 each time.  I know the upside is greater if I stick with the swing changes but sometimes I am tempted to just go back to what I was doing.

I am sticking with it for now.  Off to the range to work on getting the weight forward at impact.

[rkim291968]

I am sticking with it for now.  Off to the range to work on getting the weight forward at impact.

I know what you mean.  You need to stick to a change long enough to benefit from it.  2 steps back for 3 steps forward.    Like you, proper weight transfer is something I don't do consistently.

[dkolo]

I would like to chime in quickly to say hello; I'd started keeping track of my handicap about a month ago (unofficially; through the Golf Digest tracker), and have gotten it down from 30 something to 22.0 yesterday. Didn't want to post in here until I had it down to 22.

I've been playing a ton lately, and have gotten down to what I consider respectable, repeatable numbers, shooting in the mid to low 90s consistently, which is a far cry from the 100s I was shooting even two months ago. To answer the conceit of the thread, here is what I'm working on:

1) Thinking about putting the driver back in the bag. I haven't hit a driver during a round in a year and a half, hitting 3 wood off of the tee almost exclusively on par-4s and 5s, unless a 5-wood or hybrid is called for because of a dogleg. With my own 3-wood, I get out to the 220-240 range pretty consistently, cranking it out to 250 on occasion. My brother has a Nike Covert Tour that we've set to 13° that I use whenever we're not playing one another. That one I can get out to 240 on most drives. I'm really, really happy with those distances, and I tend to hit most fairways now, leaving myself a short iron into the green (most courses here are 6000 - 6400 from the whites). The reasons I'm thinking about getting the driver back in are a) because I want to overcome that challenge of not being able to hit it and b) because being 20 yards closer would put me in range of being on in 2 on par 5s and give me better looks at birdie on 4s. Every club I hit is a light draw for the most part, but the driver is just totally erratic. Usually a very high slice. I'm working on something I've seen from a Mark Crossfield video of trying to "flip" at impact to get the club to catch up and close the face and stop the slice. But driver has been an afterthought, so it needs more attention now.

2) One of the biggest reasons I've been able to drop my scores quickly has been eliminating the right side miss. Knowing I can aim down the right side and either have it draw back or stay straight is such a confidence booster and it's so helpful for keeping me in play.

3) I'm working on my short irons and wedges for full shots. I've worked so much to get my long irons working well that, for some reason, I've been hitting my shorter clubs fat lately, losing 10-15 yards on occasion. It's erratic, so I've been playing to my strengths lately and avoiding that weakness. If I'm at 115 yards lately, instead of hitting the gap wedge which is right for that yardage, I hit a pitch / chip (I can never distinguish at that distance) with a 9 iron instead. I've gotten way more comfortable with this style of shot and I find I'm able to better control the yardage. Definitely takes the occasional thin shot out of play.

4) Putting can be a problem for me because green speeds here alternate between slow and glacial, and practice greens seem to play faster than on the course, so I've taken to consciously trying to get my putts to gimme range as opposed to making them, if a make isn't likely. That mindset shift has allowed me to get close by thinking more about distance control than line. When I focus on line too much, I get in trouble with distance, so it's a tradeoff I need to keep remembering to make

5) Less that I'm working on it and more that I have worked on it and now it's paying off: punch shots. Good lord, they're helpful. Having the confidence to advance the ball 150, 180 yard even when you're blocked by a tree is such a lifesaver. I had 10 punch outs the other day (lots of doglegs and overrun fairways) and I couldn't have shot anywhere near 92 without confidence in that shot.

[isukgolf]

@dkolo . Congrats on your 22 ... I know how hard it is to drop your HC ... Took me months and I am still struggling to keep it low ...

[robrey85]

I have been practicing twice a week and playing once a week for about a month now. I have been really frustrated with my lack of consistency. (82 this week, 99 the next week, 89 the following week, 107 the next week) it's pretty ridiculous. My main crux is just getting off the tee. Not only off the tee but off the tee to a position where I'm using a club I can hit solid and confidentially. I randomly came across a Shawn Clement video about him talking about the fishing pole cast and how your job isn't to hit the ball but to just swing through to the target and all this jazz. I have never heard it explained so simple in my life. I decided to try to feel what he was talking about and I made some practice swings and found some other videos of his drills and this past week I went to the practice range four days in a row to make some swing changes and wow, what a difference. I'm not hitting as far with this change but ball contact is much more consistent. I am fairly sure I'm not hitting the balls as far because I'm not delofting the club as much on my setup. After doing this I still couldn't get the feel of hitting my longer woods: Dr/3W. I googled, " Why can't I hit my driver?" Lol, what I found was shit I never thought about. I read a thread about one dude talking about swing weight, another talking length and shaft flex with some swing weight. I decided to try a test of length that I found one guy do with fantastic results. I taped the backside of my DR/3W grip and marked from the top, every quarter inch. I went to the range and did my warm ups and tested out the 3W from the normal position off the deck and every 5 balls I scooted down a quarter inch. After a half inch I was hitting the balls consistent and solid. I tee'd it up and went at it agressively and boom. Solid. I was stoked. I did my driver, same thing and had to choke down an inch and a quarter before I was getting consistent solid center strikes. With the other swing changes I made, my back doesn't kill me like it did before and I'm hoping that with the data I found about my woods plus swing changes that I can get to a 12 index before the end of the year. Would be nice! I'm 17.0 index right now after this last update.

[hacker101]

We played Riverview yesterday (small group of guys) not sure how the hell I shot a 40 on the front and a 46 on the back, funny part is I hate that course.

This has to be the best round I have had in 6 months. I think a lot has to do with my pitch shots and using different wedges, around the green saved my butt.

What ever the case I will go with it.