Brakkus

This is my ultimate goal I really believe in going to be a 70's golfer. Got 86 this week and was 1 over for the three par 5's and 6 over for the four par 3's and 8 over for the par 4's so the toughest parts of the course I played really well and the easiest holes I played badly. One of the par 3's I caught out of the toe of my 7 iron and lost a few yards ended up in the bunker got a bogey. The other missed the green chipped on 2 putted bogey. The other 2 one I striped a 4 iron and stubbed my chip,misread the putt and ended up 3 putting double bogey. The other wrong club choice bunker got out but had to chip from the top of the bunker and then 2 putted because I messed up the chip. Double again. Had I played those well 80 isn't far off. Did Ben Hogan say once that any reasonably coordinated person should score 80 in golf?

I said Freddie Couples for tempo but if I was pressed for someones mechanics then Hunter Mahan is the kind of one planer I want to be.

Quite interesting my friend who has shot sub 80 in the past has just gone through a period of shanking for the past 18 months. I haven't got close to beating him until now. I had read Rotella's book and really thought about strategy seriously and why I would even keep score. For 4 years I could not break 100, my scores would torture me 101,102,103 never over 105. Quit because I just couldn't see that I could put the time in to get better. Stopped for 2 years. Decided to give it another try and my improvements have been rapid because I thought differently and approached the course differently. I could already hit the ball well but I was taking on shots that I didn't need too and that I couldn't pull off consistently. Now with advice from Golf is not a game perfect I realise that pro golfers mostly play risk averse shots. How many golfers have won majors being outright reckless? I can think of 3 Ballesteros, Mickelson, and Daly. Point is my friend can hit it further than me and he thought he could tame the course with power. It didn't take him long to see what I was doing. Thing is he still thought he could beat me with birdies. He got more and more talkative about his swing trying to fix what was wrong etc... He lost it mentally but also didn't plan the holes well. I got par on a 499 yard hole by taking 6 iron off the tee. One of Rotella's statements has stuck with me Conservative approach but cocky swing. It works because you just get more and more confident. There were 4 holes where I thought going for the green in 2 was worth it and I hit driver twice. Its all about respecting the course and seeing it as a chess game manoeuvring your ball around and I think its the first time every club got used.

The average weekend golfer to me means I have friends who play a round once a week,don't ever try to find out why they make the mistakes they do. They put tees down in the fairway cheat on the rules use a putter from 50 yards out in the fairway and then have a beer afterwards. This scenario is TRUE by the way! Funny thing is having played along it was clear my more methodical and focused approach was embarrassing for them. All good guys and still my friends and I wasn't intense in anyway just committed to being better than a hacker. I would say a lot of guys fit this description and probably shoot between 100-120 depending on how much they know about rules and the like. However there are cases that don't follow this pattern,the most I have ever played is once a month. In the last year I have played 4 rounds and just scored 86 on a 6200 yard track. I practice nearly every day at home and I'm serious about my improvement. So maybe it should be what does the average weekend hacker score? Good golfers like people on this forum don't conform to the law of averages or fit into a demographic. They make there own destiny and work within whatever time and talent is available to them and become good despite the naysayers.

One regret I have is that I don't have the finances to take lessons, due to circumstances and time and such. Maybe I can in the future, so really I have improved through pure determination to succeed. Arming myself with knowledge and sorting through things. I'm with you that this is taking longer than if I had someone to observe my swing. I really think I would be shooting lower if I was coached. I'm still convinced I can shoot to a single digit handicap as a self taught golfer for me it's a few keys areas physical as in training the body, technical the mechanics of my swing, course strategy smart club choices, and mental approach to every shot. I'm working through this all by myself but thankfully the internet and books, and this forum are very helpful. The key part of this is taking information and implementing it into the swing. That's the part that decides whether you improve or not. I know there are other factors involved but getting the mind and body together and a lot of golfers could be single digit handicaps.

Wow just wow!!! Last three rounds 109,97, and now 86!! I put the work in especially wedges and putting,changed techniques and voila the scores reflect it. I have been playing for 6 years then all the progress happens in one year. Worked on the technical,mental, and course strategy and this is the result!! So stoked and the thing is I can still get better.

Scoring barriers are just that barriers that label. The difference between 90 and 89 is just one stroke but it becomes a hurdle to cross because we attach importance to it. When I went through the 100 barrier I actually shot 44 on the back nine and said to my playing partner afterward that I'm an 80's golfer because my front nine was average unusual because my rounds are very even. In fact we had no warm up apart from putting so we went out cold. The amount of articles that are entitled breaking 90 or 80. What are we breaking? We're only trying to drop a stroke it has no more significance than any other stroke,only the importance we give it.

I don't know about you guys but the longer the hole the more conservative club choice makes sense. Usually my problem is par 4's. Back nine of my last round was a 44. In that score I had two triples on the par 4's. So if a par 4 is on the long side out beyond 410 plus range I'm already needing two perfectly struck longish shots into the green. With irons it now becomes an easy par 5. O mean you can go with a 5 iron and still leave a short iron or a wedge. Anything under 400 you can weigh up the risk and where the trouble is on the hole and can go for the GIR. I really haven't been good at weighing up the hole before I hit. The times when I just pull out the same club regardless on the tee when I could go more conservative and other times I could go for more risk.

I would advise any of you who are struggling with woods or drivers to purchase a hybrid or rescue club. You'll get shaft benefit of a longer club with a compact head which can be struck like an iron. I have a 17&20 degree loft. I can easily hit both past 200 yards with a very straight ball flight. It gives you options for lay Ups of your choice because like someone mentioned earlier if you hit a 4&5 iron from the tee you will likely be leaving a longer third shot. With a hybrid on most par 4's I can chose 60-100 yards for a lay up where I can be accurate. I have had hybrids for a few years now and practice them religiously. Some prefer fairway woods but if you like the feel and profile of an iron then you will like hybrids.

Because I simply love to hit balls. Sampras played tennis because he enjoyed winning more than playing, whereas Federer simply loves tennis first. To me its unimportant to play lots of golf. I love hitting the ball first. Due to lots of commitment on my time I cannot justify a round of golf with any regularity and finances are a squeeze to consider a club membership at this point. However I am blesses to have a fair amount of land living in a rural farm area. I have a net for full swing and have enough room to chip and pitch of different lies. A small amount of practice each day twice a month at the range and I have steadily improved. Would love to play more golf but I view any time spent swinging a club now as the foundation for years of enjoyment.

I only just put a driver back in my bag. I haven't played one for several years. I very rarely lose a ball now. I have improved my striking immensely especially the last 10 months or so. This particular strategy also showed up how much work I needed to do with the short game. I believe you can pretty much play a stock shot with any club down a fairway if you have a consistent flight. The closer you get to the hole however the more creative it gets. You need variety with your wedge game. With a 5 iron distance I would struggle to get to a par 5 in three that was above 500 yards. Going round with just irons would be real test though but a lot of fun. It would breed massive confidence as I dont make many errors with an iron in my hand bar catching some irons a little heavy. Nailing your approach shots is the toughest part but that would all depend on how far out you would be for your third shot on longer par 4 or 5's.

When our range changed ownership they shifted the whole thing right,to make more room for the campsite that has caravan and tents. All the yardage markers were moved and the mats repositioned. Consequently all the straight lines in your peripheral vision from the Bay and the mat can mess your alignment so I understand. Its quite confusing to hit at an angle from the bay that doesn't even go straight down the range. I now use the back hedge to pick out a shot.. On the course tee boxes even if they align away from the fairway are big enough that once you pick your target when I look down I can only see the grass around the ball so that's not an issue so always be diligent at the range.

I remember Seve in his pomp as most Europeans would of middle age and older. I've watched some stuff he made on the short game and he talked about breaking the wrist back on chips. Phil does it and of course a method usually gets a moniker in this case H&H.; For me Seve&Phil; are the most creative short game players I have ever seen and they both use a break in the wrists. I was your typical high handicapper who would flub chips,blade them etc.. Since putting a natural wrist break in going back it transformed my feel for short shots. To me apart from putting everything feels like a swing. The weight of the club in your hands dictates a natural flow of movement that you can take advantage of. I personally don't change my grip on chips now either its the same grip as my full swing. The continuity breeds confidence. I almost become a bit nonchalant now when I approach a chip or a small pitch. To me all shots have this commonality that a backward hinge of the right wrist on the backswing exponentionally increases my chances of hitting a very good shot. On the full swing it happens more naturally because the club hinges naturally because of its weight at the top,but a shorter shot requires you to manually put it in because of backswing length. So personally I find Mickelson's short game techniques have been a revelation in my own progress

I'm sorry to get all holistic but I don't believe that any of us has weaknesses. It just that your strengths make it appear you have weak part to your game. If you believe that your putting or chipping is bad how will you perform when faced with a crucial chip or putt. You've already told yourself enough times that your a bad chipper, so you blow the ball 8 ft past. Wouldn't it be better to think that you are a great chipper and that you could unlock your hidden potential even more. I know it sounds simplistic but I have always been fantastic with a hybrid. Relative to the rest of my game putting would be at the bottom. Does that mean that putting is a weakness. Someone on the outside might even say your putting isn't as good as your ballstriking and now all of sudden I'm a bad putter. Why buy into that idea Im not a bad putter. It isn't at the level of my hybrid play but its relative. I think I will hole putts everytime at certain distances but my mental problem is long ones. I have the ability to be a great putter and know I can hole out from longer distances but if I start to think its a weakness I will forever be stuck in a perpetual myth that I somehow have an inherent weakness for long putting. Weakness I don't have any and neither do you here in this thread its just that you do other things very well relative to your skill level.

Well been keeping up my exercises with the tubing bands. My mid section is now visible after disappearing for a few years. Did fix some backswing issues with my swing too much arm lift but now I have my arms connected more to my body now seeing benefits of the workouts. Just an example before I started this I hit my hybrid around 165-170. Hit one into the wind 185 and with the trailing wind 230. At the range I couldn't carry the 200 marker with any club. I have carried that with all my longer clubs. Almost did it with the 4 iron a club I struggled to get past 150 some 10 months ago. Some of this is obvious swing work on my mechanics but the speed has increased. Even if the speed isn't massively increased my ability to hold my angles together is as it feels so much easier to produce my swing.

Tom Watson says you have to let good golf come to you and be patient. Also get rid of any expectations of what you should shoot. Really it's down to what mental attitude we have on every shot. Usually I hit a 7-8 because I made a mistake and then make another because I was not mentally able to cope with the situation. I think maybe that on reflection most of my mistakes are mental ones that follow a mechanical mistake. That's what leads to bad scores and a bad round. You start out relaxed make a swing error simply because you are not perfect. Then its compounds because if were being honest we would rather blame our faulty swing than our minds. We shouldn't ignore things that need work in our swings but our mind really should need just as much training.

Seriously I would keep my own I have worked too hard on it to give it up and I love the results of it. The shape the sound all of it. However the only thing with it is some distance and for that reason I would take whatever Freddie Couples is having for his easy power. Man that tempo with my mechanics. He's 53 and can hit 300 yard drives with a bad back and I'm 41 and fit and about 100 yards behind him. It's just mesmeric to watch him swing. I don't copy his moves but the overall speed of that swing is just perfect to behold.

Short game mostly I have really got a new understanding of what to do with bounce and leading edge depending on lie. Also my feel with a wedge is now very sensitive and judging distances and roll out has become much improved. Putting I have a forward press and this has transformed my putting. Again feel for speed and I'm not lifting the club with my right hand because the forward press has put the putter weight more in my left hand. Ballstriking well I have shifted my weight back towards the front of my arches so my leg muscles are engaged more power. My grip towards neutral and my swing plane had got too upright, all changes that I have made in the last 10 months. Playing better and better.

My guess is your short game is costing you strokes. I have been where you are. I was fortunate that I struck the ball very well almost from the start. Shot regularly in the low 100's for several years. I would regularly cover 400 yards in 2 shots then take another 4 with the last 20-30. Three putts, pitches that were too long or short, flubbed chips. I quit for two years because I wasn't enjoying it and couldn't put the time in on the course. Then came back already had a golf book for my swing model but really didn't have definite short game method until very recently. Went down the route of adopting Phil Mickelson's methods, not saying you should do the same. Learn to love the short game unlike I did. Also think about an instructor or make sure you learn a swing method and stick to it.

This is a seductive term especially for beginners because of its association with power and distance. Truth be told power and distance are not totally reliant on wrist cock or hingeing in your swing Its one part of a correct chain of movements. It happens because of other sequences in your swing. If you are tight or allow the right hand to dominate you can throw away lag actively. Also trying to create more lag can ruin your swing. I know I tried for a time trying to hold my lag. Not all of us are going to hit the ball 300 yards. Is it worth pursuing more lag for maybe a few extra yards even if its for another 10-15. If you concentrate on the swing as an overall package it will fall into place and distance will start to max out for you whatever talent you have will be revealed.

I would say learn the golf swing mechanically in a conceptual way absorbing the images and movements whether from an instructor or by self coaching, and then go out and feel the actual swing. I know certain players are lauded for there unorthodox approach to the swing but did they really have the most efficient swings? They made it work because of the bodies intuitive feel but maybe they could have been better. The danger now for an amateur golfer really is information overload. There's an awful temptation to go to mechanical. Use it to an advantage but trust your feel and your body to repeat the movements you want in your swing. A fine balance but the way to go. I would also agree with an earlier post that the long game can become mechanical by nature because its more structured and strategised particularly if you hitting certain yardages, but the short game needs more instinct and personal expression as the swing mechanics are less complicated

I didn't play the driver for several years due to the above reasons. Just got one and you really just have to trust the same tempo as your iron swing. One thing we have to accept is accuracy will not be the same as PGA pros the best ones are hitting 72% of fairways. If the flight is radically bad compared to the rest of the bag chances are you might be going at it too hard. If the flight is playable 10-15 yes either way than that's a good drive with a lower lofted club.

Loved this thread and the insight from Erik. Funny enough this is something I have been working on. It seems to go with a more neutral grip for me as before my clubface used to roll a lot more through my swing. I actually found that the main enemy in golf is your dominant hand. Putting,chipping,pitching, and full swings are all ruined by a strong right hand influence. With my right hand on full swings it was the tendency for it suck the club back and rotate open the face. Or for it to start bending backwards but laying back too far and twisting the face open in the last part of the swing. Its taken a full six months for me to get the muscle control into my left hand. The results are fantastic its more or less eliminated those awful shots in either direction.

Something which has helped me enormously was to feel the weight of the putter in my left hand with the right hand soft on the grip. It allows my shoulders to lead much like all other shots and stops the right hand taking over, I would lift the putter a bit and take it outside the line on the way back. It keeps me online and the putts roll better.

One thing to consider is that your body maybe is different over time. You may be tense with stress or tired and that tightness transmits to your swing. When we swing out of our minds its because were relaxed and happy and it just happens. In practice I would start missing the sweet spot and begin questioning my mechanics but now I don't. I just go back to my routine and can find my swing very quickly as long as I don't panic and clutter my mind up. Try to dismiss the thought that anythings wrong your best swings are a look into the kind of golf you are capable of all the time. A deep sense of belief can grow by resisting the need to change our swing.