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

[divot dave]

1 minute ago, newtogolf said:

Thanks, life and injury can definitely impact ones golf game.  I'm hoping to get the handicap below 15 but that's going to take a lot of improvement in all areas of my game.  If I can eliminate the pull hook I'll be better able to implement LSW concepts into my rounds.  

 

funny, the pull hook has been killing me too... what have you been trying to fix it? My temporary fix is always to open the club face incrementally at address each hole til the drives straighten out. Some days it works, others, not so much

1 minute ago, paininthenuts said:

Play in Lincolnshire UK. It's a 9 hole course, which obviously you have to go around twice. 2 x par 3, 4  x par 4, 3 x par 5.

ahh... sounds like a nice, challenging 9 holer. All the 9 hole courses I've played on have been really tiny. 

[paininthenuts]

4 minutes ago, divot dave said:

funny, the pull hook has been killing me too... what have you been trying to fix it? My temporary fix is always to open the club face incrementally at address each hole til the drives straighten out. Some days it works, others, not so much

ahh... sounds like a nice, challenging 9 holer. All the 9 hole courses I've played on have been really tiny. 

It is enormous, and if you do 18 holes you really know about it. The first hole is a 475 yard par four, and even the pro can't reach it in two during winter. The best thing is the price, £360 per year full 7 day membership. Pay and play is £10 for 18 holes 

[newtogolf]

1 minute ago, divot dave said:

funny, the pull hook has been killing me too... what have you been trying to fix it? My temporary fix is always to open the club face incrementally at address each hole til the drives straighten out. Some days it works, others, not so much

I'm sure there's multiple reasons for it but for me it was an "armsy" outside to inside swing path combined with an early release and not fully extending my arms through the swing.  The ball path started too far right and the amount of side spin I put on it due to swing path and release would result in a pull hook that was 20+ yards right of target.  

The work I did to fix it was to make sure my hips fired first on downswing, keep my left arm tight to my body through the downswing, maintain my spine angle and try to fully extend the arms after ball contact so the club head points to the target when it's parallel to the ground.  

[divot dave]

1 minute ago, paininthenuts said:

It is enormous, and if you do 18 holes you really know about it. The first hole is a 475 yard par four, and even the pro can't reach it in two during winter. The best thing is the price, £360 per year full 7 day membership. Pay and play is £10 for 18 holes 

that is glorious

[rkim291968]

Failed to break out of 16 HI for two GHIN reports in a row but my average scores have improved by 2 full points.   The most noticeable improvement is in approach shot accuracy.   GIR rate is up to 5.58 per round this month, a full 1.5 strokes better than my personal record.   Total putts per round went up a little, conversely.   Carded an 87 today which will lower my HI to 15.9.   If I keep this up, I can finally break out of being a bogey golfer.   

(Gee, when did I start this thread?)

[divot dave]

8 hours ago, rkim291968 said:

Failed to break out of 16 HI for two GHIN reports in a row but my average scores have improved by 2 full points.   The most noticeable improvement is in approach shot accuracy.   GIR rate is up to 5.58 per round this month, a full 1.5 strokes better than my personal record.   Total putts per round went up a little, conversely.   Carded an 87 today which will lower my HI to 15.9.   If I keep this up, I can finally break out of being a bogey golfer.   

(Gee, when did I start this thread?)

man on a mission!  don't forget to come back and visit every now and then

[newtogolf]

Played my second round of nine yesterday, shot a 45 which could have been my first round under 40 if not for a John Daly blowup hole where I put 2 balls into the water and walked away with a 10 on a par 5 I can usually birdie or par.  

My short game cost me a few strokes too, so I can see the potential is there to get the handicap down to where I want it but I need to be more mentally disciplined.  It's nice to get some rounds in before scores can be submitted for a change.  

[Lihu]

On 3/16/2016 at 8:48 PM, rkim291968 said:

Failed to break out of 16 HI for two GHIN reports in a row but my average scores have improved by 2 full points.   The most noticeable improvement is in approach shot accuracy.   GIR rate is up to 5.58 per round this month, a full 1.5 strokes better than my personal record.   Total putts per round went up a little, conversely.   Carded an 87 today which will lower my HI to 15.9.   If I keep this up, I can finally break out of being a bogey golfer.   

(Gee, when did I start this thread?)

Wow, we've been doing this thread for 2 and a half years now. It takes time to improve, and now that you are retired you have a lot of time to do things like start a swing thread (get thrashed by the low handicaps on this site, seek lessons and improve)., mostly if you get GG you can immediately look at strokes gained stats and it will more or less tell you where you need to improve your game. It's amazing what technology can do to help your game.

[rkim291968]

My swing broke down again and I had to resort back to mirror work for a week to get it back.   Playing a lot of rounds without a range ball striking session in between caused the swing regression:   incomplete back swing, and wrist break at the top.    Still, I have been chipping away at the HI.  My next official HI will be a sub-16 one for the 1st time.

[Lihu]

13 hours ago, rkim291968 said:

My swing broke down again and I had to resort back to mirror work for a week to get it back.   Playing a lot of rounds without a range ball striking session in between caused the swing regression:   incomplete back swing, and wrist break at the top.    Still, I have been chipping away at the HI.  My next official HI will be a sub-16 one for the 1st time.

Great you figured out what to do, because it's really easy to "forget" your swing because your feel drifts around a lot. Unless you "calibrate" yourself to a ground truth reference point on a regular basis, it will be difficult to feel that your swing is good or not.

[RandallT]

1 hour ago, Lihu said:

Great you figured out what to do, because it's really easy to "forget" your swing because your feel drifts around a lot. Unless you "calibrate" yourself to a ground truth reference point on a regular basis, it will be difficult to feel that your swing is good or not.

I can relate to the ideas of "swing drift" and the need for "calibration." I typically do a batch of Evolvr lessons within a couple months, then take time off to let it sink in and work on what I've learned. Even when I focus on the keys they've given me, other areas of my swing seem to drift, and the first lesson back is a recalibration just to get me back to some of the fundamentals I once did somewhat correctly! Argh.

I'm on vacation now in Hilton Head, spending time with extended family. Two rounds of golf this week, and I've learned I need a calibration badly to start the year! Shot a 89 on day 1, even with a couple blow up holes, so I was encouraged. A decent number of GIR/nGIR. I thought day 2 might be better, but instead, I shot 102! Blow up holes just kept a-comin' as I couldn't get off the tee.  I tried during the round to retreat to a safe, comfortable swing to keep the ball in play, but I never really found solid contact. Quite frustrating not to find a reference point, because I can't summon a "feel" that has worked for me in the past.

15 hours ago, rkim291968 said:

My next official HI will be a sub-16 one for the 1st time.

Congrats!!

[paininthenuts]

Great news, I have broken 90 for the first time. Unfortunately I only played the 9 holes 

[Lihu]

1 hour ago, RandallT said:

I can relate to the ideas of "swing drift" and the need for "calibration." I typically do a batch of Evolvr lessons within a couple months, then take time off to let it sink in and work on what I've learned. Even when I focus on the keys they've given me, other areas of my swing seem to drift, and the first lesson back is a recalibration just to get me back to some of the fundamentals I once did somewhat correctly! Argh.

I'm on vacation now in Hilton Head, spending time with extended family. Two rounds of golf this week, and I've learned I need a calibration badly to start the year! Shot a 89 on day 1, even with a couple blow up holes, so I was encouraged. A decent number of GIR/nGIR. I thought day 2 might be better, but instead, I shot 102! Blow up holes just kept a-comin' as I couldn't get off the tee.  I tried during the round to retreat to a safe, comfortable swing to keep the ball in play, but I never really found solid contact. Quite frustrating not to find a reference point, because I can't summon a "feel" that has worked for me in the past.

Congrats!!

I was just thinking about "bottling a swing" the other day.

If someone could do that, he would become instantly rich. . .

[rkim291968]

8 hours ago, Lihu said:

Unless you "calibrate" yourself to a ground truth reference point on a regular basis, it will be difficult to feel that your swing is good or not.

I think having a good swing base to go back to is one of the differences between playing bogey golf vs playing better.   Once I build a reliable, good swing, I should be able to make a run at 12 - 14 HI.   Hitting 20 - 30 yard more on drive will be needed to go further down to 10 - 12 HI.   For now, breaking below 16 HI and maintaining it is  my 2016 goal.   

[Lihu]

4 hours ago, rkim291968 said:

I think having a good swing base to go back to is one of the differences between playing bogey golf vs playing better.   Once I build a reliable, good swing, I should be able to make a run at 12 - 14 HI.   Hitting 20 - 30 yard more on drive will be needed to go further down to 10 - 12 HI.   For now, breaking below 16 HI and maintaining it is  my 2016 goal.   

You have the time, money and most important desire. I'm sure you'll get there.

[sirhacksalot]

On 3/10/2016 at 6:12 AM, RandallT said:

My latest theory is that we have 6 swings- each with a different tempo, feel, and swing path (in roughly best-to-worst order):

1. In our brains. That ideal we picture ourselves achieving when we watch instructional video. Near perfection.
2. Slow motion in the mirror. Pretty darn good still, but our bodies start to get in the way here.
3. Practice swing with no ball present. Easy, smooth flow without any objects to get in the way. More degradation though, because... well, just because.
4. Range swing, very similar to a simulator swing, most likely. Still not quite as good as your practice swing, but you're finding the ball ok, but the form degrades just because of that stupid white sphere in your swing path.
5. On the course. Not only is the ball staring at you from below, but the darn target makes you manipulate the club subconsciously in ways you cannot fathom, particularly when you think of the purity of swings 1 or 2.
6. That evil mess lurking in your brain from 5 swing changes ago. You think it's gone from the memory banks, but it jumps out of your memory banks in the #5 slow on the most critical shots. Maybe in a competition or when a crowd gathers at the first tee.

Agreed.  After performing to my usual best of  52-45 today, I am seeing this theory way to true in my swing as well. I  tempted just to blow it up and try something new again. Especially after watching Brittany Lang's swing today.  Maybe I'll try that for a while and see how that works out.  My biggest problem is not having consistent problems. If I always sliced, I would aim left, if I always fatted the ball I would move ball position, but with what I am doing now it could go either way.

[9wood]

Got out and played 9 holes yesterday. The fairways were very soft with quite a bit of standing water in low spots which meant that I could only get very little or no roll on my ball on my drives therefore it made for longer 2nd shots or approach shots. Nevertheless I still was able to reach a couple of the par 4 greens on my second shot but only because of the new Cobra bio cell hybrid club I added to my bag. This hybrid is going to make it easier for me to reach par 4 holes in 2, especially when the courses in my area dry out enough to get some decent ball roll. I honestly believe that this new addition of a hybrid club will help me knock a stroke or two off my game this year.

[ppine]

This reminds me of the old cartoon with two little kids playing golf.

 One kid says, "hey Billy I just shot a 42."

"That's good, but what did you shoot on the last hole?"