Lazarus

It's interesting. There are a few ways to score in golf but across a spectrum certain truths apply to most but not all. My long game and distance is better than my short game, according to me, my coach and game golf and other stats. Gotta keep your strengths while improving your all round game. can't imagine with golf that this ever changes!

Goal was to play more and reach single figures. Mini goal was to break 80 and increase my driver swing speed. >> I did play more but only for a 2 month period. Got my HC down from 16 to 11.5. Missed my goal but its a decent shift and my goal was very ambitious. Broke 80 once (78) and hit 80 twice in a row. Driver SS up from 100 to 107 average. - Very eager to reset for 2017!

There's certainly an issue with that. What you as a player think is the problem/priority piece for you is quite possibly not but the coach needs to be on to that. I've had the "okay we can take a look at that but let's just hit a few balls" so he can see whats happening with my swing. However if something bugs a player (like getting whooped by his mates due to terrible chipping or weak driving) they want to come out of it with some answers to work on. I think a coach can find the priorities up to a low hcap level player, when scoring and course management data is more helpful.

You seem to be doing everything else to help yourself but obviously getting a reliable repeatable swing is and will always remain the main thing. If you can get off the tee into playable positions a majority of the time all the other things will help further. Maybe a lesson a week is too many. Others will probably mention that. A priority piece is probably one that gets you playing straighter and more consistently and it can take more than a few reps to get that working in game conditions, so maybe cut back, work on your big miss and then you move to the next one.

Keep your head down!

I managed to break it this year for the first time. I knew I was going round well but I'd never check my score! Stay in the current shot mode, play smart, hit it and move on.

All my very best rounds are solo so it would currently be about 3 points difference (11.5 vs 14.5). With mates I find I play 12 holes really well but cough up more shots on the other holes than I would by myself. Largely its adjusting to the differences, helping mates look for balls, tending flags etc and then having to hurry your own shots a bit. It's improving though.

I've got a combo set of MP-25s (PW to 5) and MP-H5s (4-3) and love them. I haven't been through dozens of the newer sets to compare but during fitting I tried a few others in the Mizuno range and the AP1s and couple of Callaways. A combination of being properly fitted and having a nice looking soft iron set as well made as the Mizunos has done the trick for me. The feel is great, the softer feel of the scoring irons progressing to the more solid feel of the longer irons works really well I think and the H5s at the bottom keep that going smoothly. When I first got them I had a distance gap between my 7 iron and my 6 that felt too large but I think that was a swing issue mainly and now its more normal.

Dropped 1.6 as a result of the last round.

My favourite is probably a sawn off lower 52, but might use a 56 or a PW depending on slope, wind and landing spot/roll conditions.

Broke 80 for the first time at the weekend and had no doubles. I can definitely play more holes better than I did but the most surprising part of it for me was no doubles. Even on my bad holes I managed to recover and 2 putt even from 45 ft or so a few times. So I'd say no DB is harder, even on a good round me and most I imagine usually have a few loose holes that cost more than a stroke.

After a hot round I sometimes feel a different pressure when starting the next round, as if I'm suddenly aiming to par/birdie each hole, when for me a great round results from mitigating my bad shots, making good decisions, getting solid contact, missing in the right spot. Particularly notice I'll aim for the flag more when being short on a tricky uphill green is the safer play etc and then curse myself when facing a 35ft downhill putt.

Used it for two rounds now. I keep my putting distances manually so I can adjust the flag position better. I find the stokes gained stats more useful than the ones I get from golfshake, particularly FIR, GIR etc. GG takes into account how much you miss by so you just miss a fairway, it can still show up in your strokes gained, as opposed to just being a miss. Really handy to know where your misses are at the approach distances as well. Find it a breeze to use and enjoy the output.

https://www.gamegolf.com/player/lazarus/round/1114495 After a fair bit of practice since January and a bunch of 88s lately, I hit an 82 yesterday. Driving was a big influence, straight and a fair few long ones by hitting the right spots in the sloping fairways. Putting is okay at 31 PPR, although didn't hole anything except a 35 ft monster. Chipping from the greenside rough is costing me from going really low, so hopefully a few nights in the grass this week and weekend can tidy that up! Hcap down to 13.7 now, single figures by end of Sept is still the target but hopefully I can give that a real crack.

Surely you just wait? Hitting into the vicinity of people isn't cool. When you're chipping from around the green or putting and you hear a shot from the fairway coming your way everyone angrily stops until either all that group has finished hitting or you know that they've seen you and no-one else is hitting in.

And it explains the tie-up between Aimpoint and Blast Golf - putting tempo measurement.

I went to the new Aimpoint speed control sessions the other day. Has helped me immensely in what was occasionally a costly weakness for me. Three putted once in my two rounds since and has given me more confidence in my putting generally.

In all honesty the best tip I've ever had was "keep your head down", from dozens of well-meaning people when I started out. A short trial and error and a bit of proper research showed me how wrong most "tips" are for one individual. It was then that I decided to listen to more helpful people, otherwise I'd still be trying to improve -tip of the month-style.

lack of grass driving ranges (in the UK).

Played with two pros last week. What was most noticeable was (i) the speed at which they played, straight over the ball and gone (ii) distance wise they weren't amazing but hitting fairways and into greens, chipping close etc seemed second nature. One was more aggressive in terms of tactics, one was completely risk averse.

Is there also an element of amateurs being able to put a band aid on certain issues to minimise the damage until we improve our swing (e.g. short left thumb, grip or stance alignment etc.); whereas a top tour pro wants to regain his best swing and so is more inclined to battle through until he finds it again than apply a quick fix. When I play and I lose my usual shot shape I want to commit and keep playing it and trying to fix the cause, when perhaps from a scoring point of view I should shut down the big miss and battle with what I have. I should add that Jordan did actually club down and was battling a two-way miss at times so even toning it down wasn't working supremely well.

An example is the guys running the rule over Jordan's swing yesterday. If it was really a simple matter of getting his weight less off his heels, then I am sure he'd have tried that or focused on his form and posture on the range and seen some improvement. I have a inbuilt suspicion now of random golf advice/tips unless you have time to discuss and think about it or you know the author somewhat or can see how it applies to your swing.

I'm better in that I am more capable of hitting the ball better, further and both ways with more regularity but my score has yet to really reflect the strides I have made. The endless search for improvement makes me wonder if I shouldn't just try and play from where I am at for three months and enjoy more consistency and make my HC move quicker but I know I have important things to work on. I'm probably trying to progress like a 15 year old who wants to turn pro instead of a 44 year old with limited time to play and practice.

Just upgraded my irons from RBZ Tours and now have:- Callaway DBD Driver Titleist 915F 4wood Titleist 913 19 Deg Hybrid Mizuno MP-H5 3-4 irons Mizuno MP-25 5-PW Cleveland 52, 56, 60 Scotty Cameron Monterey

It's probably not helped by the fact they film the leaders a lot more exclusively on the live feed. I barely saw Langer hit a ball on Sunday. I'm a bit torn between the annoying jumping around from one putt going in to another going in every 10 seconds, and the desire to see how the best players strategise a shot. TV wants the drama and pressure of Sunday at the top. If they miked up Jordan and Streller so we could get inside the deliberations it may be more interesting (or agonising if he was just faffing around). I don't notice it especially on tv and Spieth generally seems to be trying to get the right picture and making the best decision.