Evaluating your game on the course

[amished]

tl; dr: How do you track your misses/swing flaws when on the course?

The course that I play the vast majority of my golf does not have a driving range.  Since the course is 4 blocks away from my house, and the nearest driving range is 20ish minutes away (not terrible, but it's a lot more than 4 blocks) I generally only play golf.  I do work on my short game at the practice green but all of my full swing "work" is on the course.  There are rounds where I'll work on a swing thought, or make a small adjustment to see how that feels for me but nothing slow, or specific to really get good practice time in to ingrain good habits.  Similarly, I can't think of a good way to video tape my swing while on the course and not taking forever to ensure proper camera position so I can't review myself that way either. 

What are your methods and/or strategies to track how your game struggles on a day to day/weekly/monthly basis?  There are several causes to any typical "miss" so how do you know which cause is the biggest contributor to your bad shots?

[mcanadiens]

I measure it by how much puke is on my shoes after the round.

[Patch]

I have been playing for so long, that when I hit something poorly, I know it not part of normal game. I can usually tell in the first two or three holes what kind of a round it's going to be. If I just don't have my game, or close to it, I just turn that round into a practice round. 

There is nothing wrong playing a practice round, especially if there no place convenient to practice. Obviously you don't want a practice round to hold others up with their found. If you know a club that is causing you grief, or common situation that is causing you problem, then on course practice in those areas is probably a must. 

I keep a note book with info on poor shots, and various reasons I am hitting those poor shots. My note book also contains other good I am.

A good example might be there was a time, I couldn't hit my PW to save myself. I spent the last 12 holes using nothing but my PW, and my putter. By the end of my round, I had my PW working well for me..

Perhaps there is a school, or park near you, that if legal, you can practice some short game stuff. I sometime utilize a dry lake bed to practice on. My point here is there are alot places to practice, that aren't part of a golf course. 

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Edited May 18, 2018 by Patch

[iacas]

4 hours ago, amished said:

tl; dr: How do you track your misses/swing flaws when on the course?

I just try to pay attention to the patterns. If my start lines are too far left, that's a pattern. Or whatever.

[amished]

On 5/18/2018 at 5:19 PM, iacas said:

I just try to pay attention to the patterns. If my start lines are too far left, that's a pattern. Or whatever.

I mean, I know a couple of my patterns but I'm not sure what's costing me more strokes or what I need to work on more.  Essentially, which of my swing flaws is more of a fluke than the next one...

If I shoot 85-90, let's say I chunk 5 shots a round, but then pull-hook 4.  In this hypothetical, let's say each miss cost a stroke and I make other mistakes to add up to whatever score I have over par.  Based on just that round, my low point control/head staying still needs more work than delivering the club face correctly on the path I'm swinging.  But one round is not always indicative of my overall game, so do you keep a notebook writing down how many shots did something that you didn't want them to do, or do you evaluate after every round?  Or some middle ground, or something else entirely?

Basically, I'm trying to figure out what part of my full swing I need to work on first because it's costing me more strokes than other parts of my full swing.  I don't know which key I'm failing at executing most often, and if that most often issue is still costing me the most strokes throughout a round.  Is this the wrong mindset?  

[Vinny Cap]

I mark my card with lil dots for each shot on the upper part of the score card that shows the hole layout and it makes it easier for me after the round to review what I did good and bad.  I also use one of the score sections for putts to keep track of that as well.

I am not too bad all around and usually one part of my game is off and it is easy to see on the card.  Like last weekend, my wedges did not show up at the course with the rest of my clubs.... sad.  Sometimes my driver doesn't show up or my mid or long irons.

[dennyjones]

2 hours ago, amished said:

I mean, I know a couple of my patterns but I'm not sure what's costing me more strokes or what I need to work on more.  Essentially, which of my swing flaws is more of a fluke than the next one...

If I shoot 85-90, let's say I chunk 5 shots a round, but then pull-hook 4.  In this hypothetical, let's say each miss cost a stroke and I make other mistakes to add up to whatever score I have over par.  Based on just that round, my low point control/head staying still needs more work than delivering the club face correctly on the path I'm swinging.  But one round is not always indicative of my overall game, so do you keep a notebook writing down how many shots did something that you didn't want them to do, or do you evaluate after every round?  Or some middle ground, or something else entirely?

Basically, I'm trying to figure out what part of my full swing I need to work on first because it's costing me more strokes than other parts of my full swing.  I don't know which key I'm failing at executing most often, and if that most often issue is still costing me the most strokes throughout a round.  Is this the wrong mindset?  

I realize you mentioned your full swing.   I see you've purchased "Lowest Score Wins".    If you go online to Accessing Your Separation Value @iacas has a pdf to help find your problem areas.   Print out the sheet and take it with you next time you golf.   If you fill out the sheet honestly as you play it will help you highlight where you need work.    

If it's all with the driver, head to a good teaching pro.   There is nothing more frustrating than playing a round and feel you have to cringe every time you pull out your driver.  

Good luck. 

[amished]

1 hour ago, dennyjones said:

I realize you mentioned your full swing.   I see you've purchased "Lowest Score Wins".    If you go online to Accessing Your Separation Value @iacas has a pdf to help find your problem areas.   Print out the sheet and take it with you next time you golf.   If you fill out the sheet honestly as you play it will help you highlight where you need work.    

If it's all with the driver, head to a good teaching pro.   There is nothing more frustrating than playing a round and feel you have to cringe every time you pull out your driver.  

Good luck. 

Ahh, something like this is more or less what I'm looking for, just forgot it existed.  Thank you, I'll be sure to print off 20 or so and keep them in my bag...