muttbag

Shot a 100 at Oak Hollow Golf Course in Mckinney, TX. Didn't do myself any favors by doing a P90X 'Chest & Back' workout the day before, I was very sore and tight. Had trouble on the range finishing shots, so I really had to stretch before the round. Played decent off the tee box and never got into any trouble I couldn't get myself out of. Tried to play smarter golf today, took a 4i off the tee instead of my usual driver to play a layup shot on a hole that has a massive oak tree blocking most tee shots. Layed a 200 yard shot right up the middle, so it worked out well, and was also a good exercise in restraint for me. Shanked a few iron shots in the beginning as a result of being sore and not finishing properly, but I eventually got that worked out. I seem to be pulling alot of iron shots to the left, so I intend on putting in some quality range time to knock off the rust. Putting killed me, of course.

That's highly possible! I've never really focused on it until recently. I went to New Mexico on business and played golf every afternoon for 4 days straight, trying to break in some new irons I had just bought. I shanked probably 9 out of 10 iron shots every day and could NOT hit the ball, my head was a mess. Finally on the last day I played, one of the older guys I played with told me that I was keeping my weight on my left foot during my swing, and that I should keep my weight on my back foot instead. I instantly started hitting crisp, clean iron shots, so I have focused on that one thing since then and it has really helped me be consistent. I do make a conscious effort to transition my weight from back to front during impact, but I keep my legs almost motionless during chip shots under 25 yards and let my club and upper body do the work. Any longer than that and I have to get my legs involved to get it there.

I've never used that method, but I'm starting to realize I don't have an orthodox chipping style. A good buddy of mine has tried to get me to position my hands forward when chipping, so that my club is at an angle, to get more roll out of my shots. They may not make sense the way I described it, but the point is, I don't think I'm necessarily doing it the 'right' way. That said, chipping is one of the best areas of my game.

I hit the range yesterday for the first time in a month. I had an excellent range session, they were flying long and straight (with the occasional diff). I started getting tired when I got to the bottom of that huge bucket of balls, and I began making mistakes and either topping or shanking the ball. I finally found an exercise that helped me recover from this. After the 2nd or 3rd straight mishit, I will pull out my A or P wedge, take a group of balls, and start out with my 20-yard chip swing, while focusing on keeping my weight on the back foot. As I start to chip straight and accurately again, I will gradually increase my swing (50 yd, 75 yd, etc) until I am hitting the ball appropriately at full-swing. Then I will graduate to my 8i, then 5i, etc. This helps me mentally build my confidence because I know that I have the ability to hit accurate shots, I just fail to execute at times. I also repeated another driver exercise that I've done in the past. I stood with my feet about 6 inches apart, focused on keeping my weight on my back (right) foot during the backswing, and hit about 5 drives with a very, very easy swing. 4 out 5 went straight and maybe 220 yards. I then took a few more balls out, gripped it and ripped it... not paying attention to form or proper mechanics, only focusing on keeping my weight distributed properly and swinging almost as hard as I can. Naturally, about 2 out of 5 went straight, one of those being a laser.. but the rest were sprayed right. After swinging out of my shoes, I took another group of balls and began swinging with my normal stance and normal swing speed. I was able to control my drives and keep them within a 20-yard wide radius with an average distance of 250. Getting it out of my system on the range and purposely trying to kill the ball seems to calm me down and help manage my driver. I'm going to use this gameplan next time I hit the range and also begin splitting range and putting green practice more evenly. After a few recent disparaging range trips, I'm hoping this is the key to bouncing back from a bad session.

Played 9 holes last week and shot a 43. I had a streak of (3) pars in a row, my remaining totals were (3) bogeys, (1) double, (1) triple. Overall, my ball striking was solid, with the exception of two shots that were badly mishit. My putting failed me and my score shows it, but I finally consistently hit my driver and irons. I averaged 280 off the tee, but my irons were longer than usual on almost every shot. I was hitting my pitching wedge between 135-140, which is unheard of for me. I adjusted and started pulling one less club for every shot and started hitting greens on most of my approach shots that were 150 yards and closer (although two of these approaches yielded a shot that was literally on the green by one inch... almost touching fringe). I'm going to try and fit more of these 9-hole rounds into my schedule during the week to see if I can start doing a better job of executing on the green. My putting has improved, I only three-putted a couple of times, but I'd like to work on capping my green game to two putts or less consistently. Last week was a great start to this goal.

I enjoy playing alone, occasionally. I usually will catch up to a group of 3 or 4, but I stay back, pull more balls from my bag and hit extra shots until they advance. I enjoy working on my game on the actual course (provided that there's no one behind me that I hold up) instead of relying on practicing at the driving range only. Also, even if the pace of play is normal, I still enjoy leaving the office and getting at least 9 holes in about once a week. I'll either play alone or I will wait on the 1st teebox until a small party approaches if I feel like playing in a group setting. My mom passed away less than a month ago (I actually got the news when I was on the golf course) and after a few days of grieving and trying to make all of her arrangements, I went and played 18 holes by myself. It was relaxing, enjoyable and better than any type of therapy I could imagine. I purposely played alone because I didn't feel like making conversation, not to mention, I didn't want to get paired with some hot head who would peg the negativity meter out before the back 9 and ruin the round for me.

Why discuss distance on any clubs then? There was much ado about driver distance perception vs reality in the forum, so I thought it would be a nice exercise. Many people take exception to the fact that driver distances are discussed in detail, for whatever reason. Seems simple to me. If you're not interested in the exercise or discussion, move on to another thread. There are plenty.

Interesting field test. I've finally managed to drive the fairway somewhat consistently with a few changes to my swing. I wanted to compare my new swing to the balls out, swing out of your shoes, clubhead speed demon Bubba Watson swing. I was stuck behind a group and hit an extra ball off the tee. New and improved swing: Bubba Watson grip and rip swing: I felt both were crushed. My normal swing carried further. The 'big swing' had the classic long ball lift, where it seemed to slowly elevate. Granted, this hole is slightly uphill, but the ground was pretty dry so I got some roll. I certainly don't average 280 off the tee, but most of the drives I keep in the fairway are 260+. My game off the tee is getting much better, my irons are coming along, and my chipping is excellent as usual.. but my putting is way below average. I'm going to continue spending time at the range to keep my swing consistent, but the putting green is where I'll be spending my time until I can break 80.

I've been tracking my drives and also irons to gauge accurate distance. Lately I've been averaging 270 yards off the tee. I've had some in the 280's and two in the 290's, but I was swinging at the top of my register there. The majority of my drives are either staying in the fairway or going slightly in the rough on either side, but toning my swing down and keeping my left arm straight has yielded excellent results. I can hit the ball 300 yards, but I have to really go for it. My form suffers and I hit unpredictable drives. I've been working on my irons, so I don't mind leaving 20-30 yards on the table to have a second shot from the fairway since I'm trusting myself more and more with an iron in my hand. I play with some real monsters at my home course who can absolutely crush the ball, but they all go through long slumps where they can't stay in the fairway (I'm talking about these guys driving TWO fairways over on some occasions). The kid in me wants to be a big hitter. But the real 31 year old me is tired of scoring poorly because of poor shot choices.

Clubs made all the difference in the world to me. I upgraded from a set of cheap irons to TaylorMade Burner Plus 4 - Gap, and I'm hitting every iron shot 15 - 20 yards further. I've also seen a couple of people comment on here that the lofts are a little more generous on these particular irons, which would make sense. In all reality, my 5i is probably equal to someone else's 4i. Nonetheless, I still play with guys that are a club ahead of me. I pull a 5i, they pull a 6i. But these are big, consistent hitters (with low handicaps). I try not to compete on distance because I don't consider myself a long ball hitter, but it does give me motivation to keep working on my stroke and accuracy. Seeing as how I was shanking half of my iron shots about 50 yards to the right last week, I need to work on consistency, not distance.

Yeah. Although the driver is a key part of the golf game, it apparently indicates a testosterone inbalance for those who want to discuss it. Next time someone talks about sinking a 25 ft putt... blatant bragging. Or that comment about hitting your 7 iron 180 yards and sticking it a foot from the hole... that's clearly someone with short-man syndrome. Right? The stigma attached to driver discussion on this forum is getting weird.

I took one for the team today. I took several actually, most on the front nine. My longest drive out of 18 was 253. I worked on the weight shift during my swing, both on the tee box as well as iron shots. I swung the club a little easier and hit almost every drive straight on the back 9, with the exception of two pulls, both of which weren't too far off the fairway. I'd like to bomb them out there with the rest of 'em, but if the shot is ill-directed more times than not, what good does it really do? Back in town the 26th, so I can resume my every-other-day morning range sessions. I'm going to put this new theory to task and see what kind of results I get. If I can really settle in and swing a little harder through the ball, I'm hoping to be consistently around 270 with a much greater accuracy, as opposed to occasionally smoking one that goes where it's supposed to.

You've probably already made the purchase, but I just bought a set of Burner Plus irons a month or so ago. I hit the 2.0's and was not a fan. The Burner Plus have larger heads and in my opinion are much easier to hit. Perhaps a more skilled player would see the value in the 2.0 line, but for my money, Burner Plus is as good as it gets. They've added yardage to each of my iron shots, which was consistent with all the reviews I read. Best of luck mate.

Wish I knew what I shot. My scorecard flew off the cart at some point in time, the clip was loose so I kept having to reposition it. Had a horrible front nine that was mostly doubles and triples. One of the guys I was playing with told me he could see that I wasn't putting my weight on my back leg, but on my front leg instead. I made the adjustment and began hitting my iron shots and tee shots much better. Scored a little better on the back 9, but I still had to be in the mid to high 90s again.

'A' wedge. I guess that's short for approach wedge. Maybe it's considered a gap wedge. No idea. But full swing, I hit it almost exactly 100 yards. A dialed back PW gives me mixed results.

Played the scramble and we went -5. Enough to win 3rd in our flight. Used the clubhouse credit for new balls and stocked up. I hit some good shots, and some bad shots. Had one excellent drive. The rest ranged from mediocre to decent. My putter was on today, but we literally had about 8 putts that didn't go down but were SO close. Playing at the local course again tomorrow. My schedule is clear and I'm ready to get back out there.

Sorry guys. I need to find a way to make my screenshots smaller if I'm going to continue to post them. They are annoyingly big.

Much better round today. I was a little timid on the driver the first few holes because I was so wild with it yesterday. I took some slower than average swings and was able to keep it straight on a couple. Then I settled in and began taking chances by bringing my swing speed back up to what it normally is. On the drives where I properly involved my hips, the results were excellent. Others, I allowed my arms to get too far ahead of my hips and pulled the drive off the tee. I also had a chance to really dig in and work with my irons using the distance measurements, I'm getting a better idea of my actual distances now. Here's a good mix of today's tee shots. The distances are on the bottom right of the screen in the circle/bubble that says "D1". Nice and easy even though it was a par 5 and I don't have a long fairway club. Right down the middle. I settled in and got aggressive with this one. I pulled it, but it was a straight pull. Got caught up in some rough. This was a slight fade. My confidence was coming back and I was swinging through the ball without trying to kill it. I decided to play aggressive on this one and cut the dogleg. I knew it was crushed from the instant I hit it. This one felt amazing. I attempted to cut the dogleg again, but I went too far left. I thought I was over the tree but heard it hit a couple of leaves on the way over, then it caught rough. Oddly enough, I knew it was struck well but this one did not feel crushed.

I played Ocotillo Golf Course in Hobbs, NM again this afternoon/evening. Shot a 46 (+10) on the front nine which is a large improvement for me over yesterday. I finally got the feel of my irons back and hit a lot of well struck balls, with the occasional diff. Lots of future range time will bring my consistency up, as I know what a good swing feels like. It's a complete training of the body, muscles and mind, and I need more practice to be able to perform consistently and avoid hitting a 180 yard ball 50 yards. The back 9 was so backed up it was unreal. I got stuck behind a group of 2 couples who were spraying it everywhere, and they were stuck behind a slow party as well, so no sense in letting me play through. I had so much time, I took 4 - 5 balls with me to each tee box and played best ball by myself. I really wanted to get some work in on an actual course for the tournament tomorrow, so I hit a wide variety of shots. Of course I didn't keep score since I was going so far off the grid, but it was very relaxing and I feel I got a lot done. I took several drops in random spots and forced myself to make several 'golf' shots instead of taking the easy route from the middle of the fairway. All I want right now is to strike the ball well. If I get off-target, my chipping is almost always ON and I can rescue myself from any right or left misses when hitting approach shots. Tonight was a good mental comeback, which I desperately needed after hacking it up on the same course yesterday.

Good thing a single game won't drastically alter it. Otherwise, I'd be a 20+ after yesterday.

After reading this thread, I'm removing my handicap index that I self-estimated. I have no clue. I've never turned scorecards in to my home course, but I'm going to start. Would be nice to have a real number assigned the proper way. The more I read about handicap indexes, the more that I feel mine makes me appear to be a much better golfer than I currently am.

Hmmm. After watching this, I think my simple instructions may come off as convoluted. But this seems to explain it quite simply with an easy visual: I don't see myself taking the time to do this on every shot unless play is slow. But it would be cool to have a visual after the round if you could keep up with it without slowing play for the people behind you.

I would laugh, but I literally drove a ball 350 feet today. Golf kicked my ass and stole my lunch money.

Nah, you're not missing it. I couldn't figure out how to use the feature that actually tracks your shot distances for you, I just upgraded to the Premium version today and didn't have time to navigate it before I got to the course. I had to use screenshots from the tee markers vs. the landing spot of the ball. I'll have it figured out by tomorrow.