BugDude

Sometimes you have to do something radically different to get new results. I had hit a plateau and didn't break through until I started playing once every other week for a couple months. No range or practice in between. That cleared my mind and allowed me to forget the technical junk. Paralysis by analysis. I got my head out of the way and just went out and enjoyed playing golf. Getting creative, focusing more on smart course management and less on technique. It has been fun.

A life of golf is all about "adapt and overcome" as we get older. I don't blast long drives anymore, or hit towering iron shots...but my short game has sure improved. I also don't take foolish risks on the course anymore. Playing smarter instead of harder since I can't overpower golf courses anymore.

For me, especially as I have gotten older, had a couple knee surgeries, back issues, a broken foot, etc. I have transitioned to less balls per session and more short sessions. I like my 15 ball session. Something like this 2 balls PW, half punch feel shots 2 balls PW, full shots 2 balls 7i, full shots 2 balls 5i, full shots 2 balls 3w, 1 from deck, 1 from tee 5 balls Driver If I got through all 15 balls with the various clubs with solid contact and results, why beat me brains out any more. Go to the practice green for 10 minutes and go home feeling great about it. A day or two later I would do the same thing but switch up the clubs (SW, 8, 6, 4, 3w, D). If I had a difficult time with anything, I might focus another 5 balls or so on that at the end of the session and call it done. The key for me was to go through the shots like I really would on the course. Taking my time, lining up, picking a target, thinking about trajectory or shot shape (imagine a shot on the course you face with that club). I have found that less volume and more frequency works better for me than more volume of balls or hits less frequently. More productive use of my time and effort. Another drill I like is to get a small bucket of balls and choose a six hole stretch on the course to imagine that I am playing and go through the shots on the range as if I am playing the holes. Visualize, target, shape shots, just like you were playing the holes. That's practicing like you play. You don't go out on the course and hit 20 drivers in a row...I hope...so why not practice like you play. Things to make practice more interesting, more productive, and less easier on your feet, back, or whatever else ails you.

I'm somewhat of a dinasaur I guess. Hitting long irons is becoming a lost art for weekend warriors. I was playing with a couple guys I was paired up with a few weeks ago and pulled out my 1 iron on a 350 yard par 4. Water left, trees right, and the hole curved around to the right. I laced a perfect low fade down the center of the fairway that ended up exactly 100 yards out. They both said if they could hit an iron like that, they'd never hit a wood. I used that club 4 times that day, and each time I could not have hit the shot with any other club in my bag with that degree of accuracy or confidence. I have a natural tendancy to hook, but the 1 iron I can work either direction. Don't know why.

I carry an old Ping Eye2 1 iron and I love that club. I tee off with it several times a round and hit low punch shots with it when I get in trouble. I hit mine about 245 off the tee with a low boring trajectory and am able to work a slight fade or slight draw. Dedicating a club to your bag for a few shots a round is something that may or may not be worth it to you, but in my case this one is worth it to me. I love hitting long irons too....one of the few people left who still hits them. For me, a hybrid is good for digging out of rough, but from a tee or clean lie, I prefer a long iron.

Me and a golf buddy of mine had been talking about "The elusive bogey free round" for 15 years. We had both shot some under par rounds and even par rounds and had shot many of those together, but they all had at least 1 bogey. I had my lowest round, a -3 69 that had ONE stinking bogey on a par 3. Well, one day I finally did it. I achieved the elusive bogey free round. Ironically, it wasn't my lowest round. It was a -2 70 and I shot it using nothing but irons. I didn't even have a wood or hybrid in my bag that day. That is one round in my mind that I felt I hit every shot crisp, made all of the makable putts, and didn't leave anything out there. The only round of my life I feel I could say that. My buddy has still never had one. I live 700+ miles from him now, but we e-mail several times a week. I have that card under glass in my office along with my two -3 rounds. All of those rounds were in 2005.

The last time I had this shot I did not have much of a lip I had to get up over. So I ended up using a pitching wedge with a half swing punch shot hitting the ball first. It came out low trajectory, hit the green, and stopped. It wasn't a pin seeking tight approach, but it was on the green. I'm in love with the half wedge punch shot and use it from clean lies inside 100 yards...not much different with a clean lie in the bunker from that distance.

Sometimes how I feel about a round seems to revolve around whether or not I feel like I saved a bunch of shots and it could have been a lot worse or I left a lot of shots out there because of stupid mistakes. I've had an 80 that I felt really good about because it could have easily been an 85 if not for the chip in and several 12 foot par saving putts. I've also had a 78 before that I didn't feel good about because it "should have been" a 73 and I wasted 5 shots on stupid mistakes (flubbed chip, missed short putt, bad lag putt leading to a 3 jack, etc.). Feel of a round and actual score don't necessarily coincide. I played Saturday and shot even par 71 and the round felt mediocre. I had 2 3-putts, a ball in the water, and one hozel rocket chip. I only missed 2 fairways all day (distance was mediocre), missed 5 greens. Wasn't doing anything great, but nothing terrible. I felt like I gave away 4 strokes that round, but I easily saved that many on other shots too. Sort of evened out.

Think simple, low-tech solution. Take an empty cardboard box to the range with you and set it down in the teeing area. Now tee a golf ball up beside the box just far enough away from it that when you set up your driver behind the ball the toe of the club is a little less than 1 inch from the box. Now hit the ball. Keep doing this. This forces you to approach the ball from the inside not the outside. Sometimes, I do the same thing at the range with the range basket just scooted back a little bit (since it is rounded) to keep me from coming into the ball from the outside. Give it a try. It may or may not fix your particular issue, but given what you paid for the advice it can't hurt.

24 years and it still happens...just not as often and not as severe.

Yes. And I've also had rounds that felt very mediocre but I had great scores. Scrambling sometimes feels chaotic but a good chip and a put can save a lot of pars when you are not otherwise making good contact and are missing fairways and greens. You can also be pounding the ball off the tee and hitting some really nice approach shots but it your short game is toast your score won't reflect it. Many times how we feel about how we played comes down to ball striking, but that doesn't necessarily translate into score. Short game plays more into score. A good drive can't make up for a bad putt, but you can hit 3 bad shots on a hole in a row and sink a putt for par. You can also pound a 300 yard drive and lace a beautiful wedge shot that spins back and 3 putt for a bogey. Those two holes would feel different from their scores.

Since I moved to FL, I play a lot of different courses. There are 20 courses within 20 minutes of my house. If a play a course more often, I mix up the tees I play. Variety of courses seemed to help me break through a plateau I had. When I lived in the mountains of VA, there were not many courses close by and the course I was a member of there was short by most standards. To compensate and make for variety, I often played there with nothing but irons for practice. This made me hit a lot of different clubs I did not normally hit. It also taught me better ways to play some holes. As a result, I now hit long irons from a lot of par 4 tees where position is more of a key than distance or par 5s that I am playing as 3 shot holes from the get go.

1) Rotating hips and really clearing them out of the way. 2) Ball striking. I'm trying my best to go an entire 18 hole round without hitting a shot fat, thin, or on the toe with any club. It has really caused me to slow down, get tight, and focus. I have yet to be successful in my quest of 18 holes without a contact hiccup, but my scores are better. My misses are not as far off.

Early this summer I hit a double cross slice and busted a window of a house. The guy was waiting for me in his back yard. He asked if I hit a ball over there and I replied that I did. He informed me it broke his window. I gave him my name and cell number and told him to let me know how much it cost and I'd cover it. A couple days later he called and I drove back over to his house and wrote him a check for $150. He told me I was so good about it to not worry about it, but I insisted. I told him I hit it and I'm responsible for it. In the end, we exchanged info and played a round of golf together a few weeks later. Cool guy. The first window I've broken in 24 years.

I've lost a lot of distance in the last 4 years, but I quit playing for 2 years 2009 and 2010 (new kid, new job, knee surgery, and a broken foot). When I came back to the game, I had gained a lot of weight and just have not been able to get my distance back. None the less, my distances are consistent and my scores are getting better than ever. I'm using clubs from about 3 different sets I have, so why not hit the ones from each set you hit the best? Driver 265 System Q component r flex graffaloy blue pro launch 3w 225 Cobra SZ hyper steel r flex graphite 4h 200 Cobra 4 hybrid r flex graphite 1i 245 off tee Ping Eye 2 zzlite steel shaft 3i 190 Ping Eye 2 zzlite steel shaft 4i 180 Ping Eye 2 zzlite steel shaft 5i 170 Ram FX Pro Set r flex graphite 6i 160 Ram FX Pro Set r flex graphite 7i 150 Ram FX Pro Set r flex graphite 8i 140 Ram FX Pro Set r flex graphite 9i 130 Ram FX Pro Set r flex graphite pw 115 Golden Ram Tour Grind s flex 6.5 steel shaft sw 54* 90 Titleist Vokey steel shaft I did a demo with a new set of Cobra S3 Max irons with r flex graphite low kick point and I was hitting the 7 iron 165. Some of my distance comprimise is in my choice of older clubs, but I prefer the trajectory control and ability to shape shots over ram distance.

I played with a buddy yesterday on a course I've played 3 times and shot even par 71. +3 on the first nine (started us on the back) and -3 on the second nine (actually the front). The round included two 3 putts, one ball in the water (2nd shot on par 5), one hozel rocket on a chip (still made par on the par 5), a sand save from a greenside bunker, and an 80 yard sand shot. It was a scrambling round with a little bit of everything. Last Friday I shot -1 on another course. A lot of hard work over the summer is starting to pay off in scores.

I actually listen to the John Boy and Billy Show 89.3% of the time.

That's the whole point. He was not infringing upon anyone else's right or priviledge. He didn't just arbitrarily jump in front of someone, he was authorized to play alone and start on 10 (by the private property owner). He was within their rules, so he was within his rights to play alone. He had no obligation to wait for the guy to complete #9 (when they were both on the tee box) in order to allow him to join in with him. Based on course load, he had the right to decline his request. If the course told him he had to join in with a group, if they told him to wait for that group to make the turn, or if he was holding up play then he would not have the right or authorization (whatever you want to call it).

I don't know...it would actually be fairly interesting to see Stevie Wonder play in the Masters. I had to play the back 9 Saturday without my glasses and I did better than on the front. It was an eye-opening experience, pardon the pun.

76.4% of all statistics are made up on the spot.

When you go to a practice green, go to an area without a hole and place a tee straight up out of the green and practice trying to hit it. Imagining the tee being the center of the cup, if your ball touches it at all it would go in unless it was hit so hard it would rin out. I try to hit the tee dead center. Practicing to a smaller target helps. I was playing in a tournament in Chicago and the hotel room carpet was perfect for putting on. I spent time in the evenings putting to a golf tee that was standing upside down on the carpet. Same concept, just able to do it inside. I set up a whole row of tees and tried to knock them over.

The Masters is a private tournament. They can make whatever criteria they want, change it whenever they want, and invite whomever they want and as many of them for whatever or no reason. It is not like an Open that has to be qualified for in order to get it. They can invite Stevie Wonder to play in it if they want to.

He has the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. If happiness to him is to play by himself and the course affords him the opportunity to do so, then he has every right and permission to proceed.

Go to a bunker, stick the head all the way down into the sand and waller it around in it for a minute or two...the rust is gone.

I practice 5 footers on a matt with a hole that is only 2 balls wide and not 3. When I get to the course, the hole looks huge.