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

[rkim291968]

What do you folks think about a good yardstick that you are about to exit bogey golfer status?   When I was carrying 13 - 14 handicap, I can shape shot from right to left in half way consistent manner.   I am thinking shot shaping comes after you have some semblance of consistent ball striking.   Any other thoughts, e.g. putting with 50% accuracy from 8 feet out, etc?

[Lihu]

What do you folks think about a good yardstick that you are about to exit bogey golfer status?   When I was carrying 13 - 14 handicap, I can shape shot from right to left in half way consistent manner.   I am thinking shot shaping comes after you have some semblance of consistent ball striking.   Any other thoughts, e.g. putting with 50% accuracy from 8 feet out, etc?

I would like to know too!

At this point, I know my priority pieces and need to practice and execute them. More keys is really the key. I feel on the verge of being able to hit good shots soon, and I think hard work is going to play a large part of it. This and getting on the course 4-5 days a week. I'll let you know in a couple months if I feel I can ever exit this thread. My only real goal is within one year to be able to shoot high 80's on a couple of these TST outings, crossing my fingers.

I just took an "Aimpoint expressly express class" at the Erie outing, and it really did improve my putting the next day. I plan to continue to practice this and likely pursue it further.

[rkim291968]

I would like to know too!

At this point, I know my priority pieces and need to practice and execute them. More keys is really the key. I feel on the verge of being able to hit good shots soon, and I think hard work is going to play a large part of it. This and getting on the course 4-5 days a week. I'll let you know in a couple months if I feel I can ever exit this thread. My only real goal is within one year to be able to shoot high 80's on a couple of these TST outings, crossing my fingers.

Looks like you are on your way to join a single digit HI crowd.   It's obvious that you put in a lot of hard work and have been making rapid progress.   You get what you put in.   I need to whine less and work harder but am just too lazy.   Two years ago, I'd hit the range for 2 hours every night.  These days, I find more reasons to stay home to skip the range practice.   My golf slump is probably not a coincidence if I am really honest about it.   I've lost quite a bit of motivation along the way.   Two years ago, if I had a bad round, I will play another 9 holes immediately after.   These days, I don't even hit free range balls to get warmed up prior to my round.   Ok, there's my confession!

[Lihu]

You get what you put in.   I need to whine less and work harder but am just too lazy.   Two years ago, I'd hit the range for 2 hours every night.  These days, I find more reasons to stay home to skip the range practice.   My golf slump is probably not a coincidence if I am really honest about it.   I've lost quite a bit of motivation along the way.   Two years ago, if I had a bad round, I will play another 9 holes immediately after.   These days, I don't even hit free range balls to get warmed up prior to my round.   Ok, there's my confession!

This makes a big difference, but I probably don't need to tell you that!

@billchao was practicing his swing in the hotel room (without a club of course), so it didn't really take any "extra" time or effort. He's a pretty good ball striker even with limited practice time, and it's definitely better than not doing anything.

[Divot Master]

These days, I don't even hit free range balls to get warmed up prior to my round.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lihu

This makes a big difference, but I probably don't need to tell you that!

About 10 years ago, the club I belonged to closed their (free) driving range for an entire season to rebuild it.  During the year it was closed, the average handicap of the entire membership went up over two strokes!  This difference would be even more significant if you could factor in the (unknown) percentage of members that never used the range at all.

Even a quick 5 minute warm-up of say a dozen balls can make a huge difference in how well you play the first few holes.

At a course I play frequently that does not have a range, I usually fire 3-4 old found balls from the side of the first tee into the woods, while I am waiting for the fairway to clear.

[dkolo]

About 10 years ago, the club I belonged to closed their (free) driving range for an entire season to rebuild it.  During the year it was closed, the average handicap of the entire membership went up over two strokes!  This difference would be even more significant if you could factor in the (unknown) percentage of members that never used the range at all.

Even a quick 5 minute warm-up of say a dozen balls can make a huge difference in how well you play the first few holes.

At a course I play frequently that does not have a range, I usually fire 3-4 old found balls from the side of the first tee into the woods, while I am waiting for the fairway to clear.

Honestly, as I've gotten better and played more often the past few weeks, I've started skipping the range before the round, whereas before I would never go play without hitting a bucket or two. I did it the first time about two weeks ago when I went to play twilight and the marshal offered to get me out right away. Played great. I wasn't opposed to it because I'd been fighting a weird feeling in my lower back and wanted to save the proverbial bullets anyway. A lot of it is that I finally feel somewhat comfortable with my swing. I think of my swing as a rhythm now, as opposed to something I need to dial in and find every time I go play. Way more into practicing putting on the practice green or throwing down a few balls at the tee box to get a feel for some chips than driving range.

[Divot Master]

I think of my swing as a rhythm now, as opposed to something I need to dial in and find every time I go play. Way more into practicing putting on the practice green or throwing down a few balls at the tee box to get a feel for some chips than driving range.

Agreed.  My 12 ball quick swing warm-up when I'm pressed for time is all about "calibrating" that rhythm for the day, 3-4 balls each with a PW, 6 iron, and driver, progressing from a 1/2 swing to a 3/4 swing to a full swing.  I'm not trying out any swing changes.  Its more about getting relaxed and comfortable, to eliminate the tendency to over-crank and smother the first couple real swings.

Of course, before I even get to the course, I will have done 10-15 minutes of range-of-motion and stretching exercises to try to counteract the arthritis stiffness in my back and hip.

[billchao]

@billchao was practicing his swing in the hotel room (without a club of course), so it didn't really take any "extra" time or effort. He's a pretty good ball striker even with limited practice time, and it's definitely better than not doing anything.

For the record, I would have done the same exact practice with a club, but they were in my car

There was plenty of room, and it was slow motion work, anyway. I do the same kind of practice at home. I'm actually about to work on something right now.

[rkim291968]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lihu

@billchao was practicing his swing in the hotel room (without a club of course), so it didn't really take any "extra" time or effort. He's a pretty good ball striker even with limited practice time, and it's definitely better than not doing anything.

For the record, I would have done the same exact practice with a club, but they were in my car

There was plenty of room, and it was slow motion work, anyway. I do the same kind of practice at home. I'm actually about to work on something right now.

I am back to practicing putting in my room: putting short ones on kitchen floor, and long ones across my living room.   Did 31 putts yesterday on a "away" course, 2 putts below my current average.

[FooFader]

I am back to practicing putting in my room: putting short ones on kitchen floor, and long ones across my living room.   Did 31 putts yesterday on a "away" course, 2 putts below my current average.

When you putt at home do you use and training aids or drills?

[rkim291968]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rkim291968

I am back to practicing putting in my room: putting short ones on kitchen floor, and long ones across my living room.   Did 31 putts yesterday on a "away" course, 2 putts below my current average.

When you putt at home do you use and training aids or drills?

I line up a laser level (bought from Home Depot) to point at a wine bottle 25 feet away.  I putt 35 balls along the light.  I used to hit the wine bottle about 62% of the time.  When I started practicing again last week, I was hitting only 43%.   It's no wonder I wasn't making medium to long putts lately.

In kitchen, I do a similar practice except my target is a flat block about hole wide.   I putt from about 7 feet.  If I hit it dead straight, the ball comes back to me.   I putt until I am getting the ball to come back to me about 10 in a row.

I had 30 putt round today, following a 31 putt round yesterday.   The putting practice seems to be working.

[FooFader]

I line up a laser level (bought from Home Depot) to point at a wine bottle 25 feet away.  I putt 35 balls along the light.  I used to hit the wine bottle about 62% of the time.  When I started practicing again last week, I was hitting only 43%.   It's no wonder I wasn't making medium to long putts lately.

In kitchen, I do a similar practice except my target is a flat block about hole wide.   I putt from about 7 feet.  If I hit it dead straight, the ball comes back to me.   I putt until I am getting the ball to come back to me about 10 in a row.

I had 30 putt round today, following a 31 putt round yesterday.   The putting practice seems to be working.

Sounds like a good idea! I will try those ideas next week when i won't be able to get to the course for a while. I will have to use string of something for the line though, don't have a laser level.

[chasm]

I've had an interesting time this past month. At the end of July I went to Scotland with some friends to play some great links courses, some of them famous, some less so. I played twelve straight days, did OK, felt by the end that I was in a pretty good rhythm. Came back to my home course and for a week or so I had never hit the ball better. In particular, I was driving the ball well. Then, for a fortnight, I simply couldn't hit the ball at all. I was standing over it asking myself "is this right?" becasue I had no feel for whether my posture was good, what my tempo should be, anything. Simply awful. Move on to this week. Played Tuesday, didn't pull up any trees but felt good, hit the ball straight, would have scored well but a few putts narrowly didn't drop. Today, our annual senior captain's competition at an away course (standard scratch 71) I hadn't played before. The bad news? A triple bogey and a double bogey at successive holes. The good news? A net 66. Never hit the ball so well in my whole life. Such a weird game, this. For a couple of weeks every bit of progress I thought I was making had deserted me. Then BANG, I feel right, my confidence is there, I can play.

[divot dave]

I've had an interesting time this past month.

At the end of July I went to Scotland with some friends to play some great links courses, some of them famous, some less so. I played twelve straight days, did OK, felt by the end that I was in a pretty good rhythm. Came back to my home course and for a week or so I had never hit the ball better. In particular, I was driving the ball well.

Then, for a fortnight, I simply couldn't hit the ball at all. I was standing over it asking myself "is this right?" becasue I had no feel for whether my posture was good, what my tempo should be, anything. Simply awful.

Move on to this week. Played Tuesday, didn't pull up any trees but felt good, hit the ball straight, would have scored well but a few putts narrowly didn't drop. Today, our annual senior captain's competition at an away course (standard scratch 71) I hadn't played before. The bad news? A triple bogey and a double bogey at successive holes. The good news? A net 66. Never hit the ball so well in my whole life.

Such a weird game, this. For a couple of weeks every bit of progress I thought I was making had deserted me. Then BANG, I feel right, my confidence is there, I can play.

Interesting to hear you say this... I go thru similar ups and downs. Every time its a "down", I feel as though my practice and trending is all for naught. Its as if some days I step out there and it feels no differently than if it were the first time I've ever played. I'm sure damn near everyone can relate, but regardless, its a very discouraging feeling. Having played for just over 2 years now, its easy to start thinking of the Q word whenever this happesn... but there's something encouraging about hearing others struggle similarly, especially from those who have played longer than I. I guess the low points are unavoidable, and not as defining or indicative of progress as it feels.

[Strandly]

This steeper swing really seems to be paying off.  I can swing hard as hell at the ball with a driver now and for the most part it goes where I'm aiming.  It is really, really, really nice to be able to swing this hard and know the ball isn't gonna fly off some random direction.

I'm trying to get better at irons at the moment, I think I'm flat footed too often and it's causing me to pull my shots left.  I've noticed when I do a better job of keeping my upper body (shoulders?) over my shoelaces I hit nice, straight iron shots.

I've been making a conscious effort to slow down my backswing and it seems to be helping, especially with irons.  I thought I was pretty slow already but when I tell myself to go even slower I seem to do a better job of not overswinging.

Putting is still probably one of my stronger areas.  I don't one putt a huge amount but it's fairly rare that I three putt.

[GangGreen]

I'M FINALLY IN!!! As of the last revision, my index had dropped to 21.5 so I can finally enter this thread. After a good number of lessons, I've slowly worked it down from a peak of 25 this year. Honestly, I had hoped to be much farther along at this point in the year when I started taking lessons, but still working on getting some fairly significant swing changes under my belt. Goal is to end the season under 20 so hopefully mother nature cooperates and I'm able to get a good number of rounds in before the clubs go in the closet for the winter. It's a long shot, I know, but it'll keep me motivated to keep the progress/practice going for the balance of the season.

[Lihu]

I'M FINALLY IN!!!

As of the last revision, my index had dropped to 21.5 so I can finally enter this thread. After a good number of lessons, I've slowly worked it down from a peak of 25 this year. Honestly, I had hoped to be much farther along at this point in the year when I started taking lessons, but still working on getting some fairly significant swing changes under my belt. Goal is to end the season under 20 so hopefully mother nature cooperates and I'm able to get a good number of rounds in before the clubs go in the closet for the winter. It's a long shot, I know, but it'll keep me motivated to keep the progress/practice going for the balance of the season.

Congratulations! Nice job on dropping your handicap. Best wishes on getting out the this thread from the other side!

[GangGreen]

Thanks, my biggest weakness these days continues to be off the tee. Although I've been able to keep the number of penalty strokes down (ie. out of bounds or lost balls), still too many of my second shots consist of me having to pitch back in play due to a wayward drive. Fortunately the irons have helped me keep the scores in the low 90s for the most part. The number of true blow-up holes are down, but my scorecard usually consists of a lot of bogey's with the occassional par and/or double bogey thrown in there. Not a lot of realistic looks at many pars since my shots into the green are usually my third shot. Needless to say I've been working more with the driver/3w at the range these days. At my last lesson, my instructor pointed out how open the club face was in my backswing so I've been working on keeping the club face a litte more closed on my takeaways so I don't have to work so hard to get it back square at impact. For whatever reason I don't seem to have the same problem with my irons (or at least not to the same degree). Feels very awkward, but the results (at least at the range) seem to be promissing so far.