Mugs050

Yesterday early in my season I shot a 79. I barely got off the tee, I recapped my tee shots and probably only hit 3 good ones and 2 ok. The rest seriously handicapped me and I was able to make things happen with great ball striking, scrambling and putting. Over the last 3 years I have struggled with A consistency with my driver and B power. I would say I am a long ball hitter or at least was. For instance yesterday's round instead of driving it on the par 5 last hole I played it like a three shot hole and hit 5 iron off the tee (about 220), 6 Iron (about 200) and wedged it on the green. I still have plenty of distance with my irons. Now here's the problem, I use to hit my driver 290 to 310 now I am more of a 250-270 which I can more or less hit with my 3 wood. My driver ball flight use to be high and long with a draw, now it's low to mid with a hook like flight. Even the odd one I push or hit straight seriously lacks the fire power I use to have. Physically I am in the same shape (29 years old) if not better then 3 years ago and still have maintained my distance with my irons. My question is what gives? Anyone else have a similar problem?

I think this is extreme. I lost two balls on the golf course my last round. One I punched through the fairway into some wild grass watched it barely go in and could not find my ball. The second was even worse. I hit a layup on a par 5 that landed in the rough just right of the 150 and could not find my ball. Right or wrong I look at it like this. If this was the tour with all the cameras around and spectators those balls would of been found for sure. So why kill my round over those unlucky breaks? I take my +2 and carry on. If anything because of the distance factor it should be a +2.5 but you can't count half strokes haha.

Sometimes you lose the ball that should be found. So instead of playing the proper rules and re teeing or re hitting your previous shot I just take a +2 drop. This keeps the pace of play which I think is one of the most important aspects of recreational golf. I have had friends who play +1 and it can be frustrating when your playing for money. When in these matches I fight that moral battle of wanting to play by the rules but also not short shifting myself on the match. Usually I just call them out on it and try to get them to play as honest as possible. At the end of the day if you want to sand bag yourself by taking a one stroke penalty instead of two it will show up when playing in tournaments or against players who play by the rules.

I can go from 79-96. Good round high 70's to low 80's. Normal mid 80's. Bad 90-95. Occasionally I blow up to a 95+.

I can hit my driver 300 yards but usually between 275-290. However it's quite inconsistent and from time to time causes me penalties. I am working on developing a go to tee shot of about 240-260. Is there any techniques are approaches to this? I have a 5 wood but I find it can be inconsistent as well. I am thinking along the lines of a Tiger stinger. Thoughts?

You know what I haven't maybe its high time I did. Strategy I believe is important but my theory on the way I am trying to play is more based on getting over mental hurdles then planning my way to attack the course. However they can work hand in hand.

I should add that the idea is not to be reckless as well. For instance in recent years I might have a tight 430 yard par 4. I would proceed to take a 4 to 6 iron and hit the fairway between 200-220 yards. This would then leave me with another 200+ yard shot. I would then from there hit the green maybe 2 out of 10 times but be around the green another 7 times and have 1 time where I would really miss hit the shot. I would then leave my self a chip in which I would say I would get up and down for par 1 out 5 times. I would of protected bogey but virtually eliminated birdie and gave my self a very poor chance at par. Now I am thinking of playing the same hole with let's say a 5 wood which I hit 250-270 and am probably 50% more accurate with then my driver. This would leave me now a 170ish yard shot which I could hit the green probably closer to 4-5 times out of 10. Now I am putting birdie back into play and greatly increasing my odds at par.

I feel you still could stand a touch closer and a touch taller. I am not a teacher and relatively the same level of golfer as you but that's just my feeling. I am not sure the effects of different body types have on that though, like how long ones arms are compared to body etc.

Posture defiantly looks better. Have your clubs been fitted? How tall are you?

Background: I have been thinking about this more and more this year. The last few years I have grinded and strategist my self down to a mid 8 factor. What I have found is that with this way of grinding out holes, it has made my golf play much more conservative. A lot of people are probably saying good, that's course management that's how you shoot lower scores and become a better golfer. But is it really? Sure your right course management will help minimize mistakes and turn triples and doubles into bogeys but does it also cap how low you can truly score? I have been playing for 10 years my best golf round is 77 and my best 9 holes is even par. I feel like when I am on a hot streak that I try to protect my score instead of concentrating on how I got there. This happens to PGA pro's as well so it's quite common. What I really should be doing is finding ways to break out of my plateau and feel comfortable scoring low. Theory: The theory I am trying to implement this year is to approach each round more like a stableford where I am trying accumulate more points or more pars/birdies then worry about my overall score. I feel by playing like this even though it could raise my average score will help me break through my plateau. I will be more comfortable getting double digit pars in a round or having 2-3 birdies, instead of playing scared golfing and protecting a score. As far as my handicap is concern, all things equal I think I would rather be a really good 13-14 handicap then an average 9-10. Once its time for me to move up a weight class I would have dominated my class already. This reinforces not all feeling more comfortable scoring but also more comfortable winning. Thoughts?

Thanks for the response. My shoulder and hip rotation is far past the tour players numbers. They want me to dial it back a little. Also I tend to sway a little with my lower body on the back swing and jump forward onto the ball on my front swing. These faults I am working on as well. Thanks for the reply. Thats impressive for that age. What does he hit the driver? Yes I realize that now at my golf tec lesson I was hitting my 7iron 180ish at the beginning of the session with a super long swing. At the end I was hitting them 190ish with a slightly more abbreviated swing.I think its just ingrained into my swing. I honestly don't even realize that my swing is that long. First time I seen a picture of my back swing I was floored.

Its hard to say maximum distance obviously you can really juice it up if you want to but I feel comfortable hitting my 7 Iron from 170-180 or gearing it down to 165. It just depends on the shot you want to play. As for shortening my swing I don't see much of a difference in distance. I had it tracked at golftec and at the end of my session with a shorter swing I was hitting it on there simulator around 190ish. Lets put it this way if I had to clear water with my 7 Iron the longest I would want to have to it would be 180. Tell you the truth part of the reason I want to change my swing is because of distance control. My swing is so long when I really connect on one I can fly greens pretty easily. This makes it hard to judge distances depending how I am hitting it that day.

Haven't been hit yet but one I first play with someone new its usual a topic of discussion for the first few holes.

The article has very little other information in it besides correlating tigers fairways hit with his posture when working with butch but read it if your still looking for more confirmation. Yes you could start thinning your shots or not hitting them as consistently but sometimes you need to take two steps back to go three steps forward. It will take time for your body to make the adjustments. Its all about your goals, do you want to get better (which I suspect you do as you have posted on this site) or are you happy with your current handicap and level of play?

The swing technically looks quite nice. The posture is defiantly the issue. If you want to become more consistent I suspect this could be a missing part of your game. Read the below article on Tiger Woods posture when he was working with Butch. This is arguable the greatest swing off all time. Notice how upright he stands. http://www.golfswingprescription.com/tigers-winning-posture/ This is a quick comparison of your position at address.

Actually both those swings are shorten. Here is my usual turn.

* Update on my swing as of 04.26.2016. Trying to shorten it but have noticed a few other little things as well. Wow this shot was hit well and far. I would say I am an above average distance player. I can hit my 7 iron 165-175 and my 5 wood which I have another video of that I didn't post yet about 250-270 off the deck. But a major fault I noticed in these videos is I am scooping the ball are not hitting with a lot of lag. Is this just me? How can I hit the ball as far as I do without producing sufficient lag?

Wow this shot was hit well and far. I would say I am an above average distance player. I can hit my 7 iron 165-175 and my 5 wood which I have another video of that I didn't post yet about 250-270 off the deck. But a major fault I noticed in these videos is I am scooping the ball are not hitting with a lot of lag. Is this just me? How can I hit the ball as far as I do without producing sufficient lag? Sorry I will move this information there.

I started an earlier thread about a week ago on shortening my back swing. I have been working on it for a week. It's not perfect and there are other little things that I could critique but its shorter then its ever been. Below is my video let me know what you think? https://youtu.be/n6DwI75jtbc

Check out this article by golf digest...Its about the real measure of driving accuracy and talks about how to score each tee shot and how much it hurts your overall score. For instance in the OP case he would according to this way of scoring have a lot of 2 pointers off the tee. Meaning he would be in the fairway/light rough but would not be able to reach the green in two. So this would help you better understand how by shorting yourself off the tee your really hurting your overall scoring potential. http://www.golfdigest.com/story/sanders_gd0809 My suggestion would be to start trying to incorporate the the longer clubs off the tee into your game. Your next step would be that 4H that club should yield some 20 yards longer then your 6 iron. Start your round off using that club and when/if you go crooked then lean back on the trusty 6i. Repeat this process with range practice until you can move up to the next level. Then when your at the next level let's say your 3W do the same until you have to lean on your 4H, then if that falters back to old trusty 6i. Eventually you should be able to start hitting driving and working your way down if you have too.

I have been looking deep into my swing this year and looking at some stills of my swing I noticed that my club position at the top is quite upright. I tend to hook the ball quite a lot and miss left. I know typically this is not a cause of an upright swing but I am thinking of flattening it anyway. What swing do you have? What are your misses?

You will reach a point of diminishing returns. Sure you will minimize mistakes and shoot lower scores but it will come to a point where you won't be able to shoot any lower. I however don't mind what your doing, just slowly start building confidence with your longer clubs. I suggest you work on incorporating that 4H next into your game plan, then the 3W, then finally the driver. If it gets to a point where you just can't hit your driver there is no problem using a trusty wood. I would suggest even trying to pick up a 5 wood as an in between the hybrid and driver.

Had another solo practice session. My first test of mental fortitude. I must of thinned more shots then I hit pure. At the end of the session I striped 5 straight 5 woods high and straight but before that it was a grind. On a positive note I didn't hit really any hooks. One thing that worried me was I felt the looser I got towards the end of my bucket it was hard for me to shorten my swing. My body really wanted to keep going. Oh well early in the change, bad weather up here for the next few days so I will have to wait until about Tuesday for my next practice session.

I just finished a lunch time session. I practiced the straight right arm and only hitting what I perceived as half shots. A few observations: -In order for me to stop half way or not go past parallel I had to both slow down my backswing and have a slight pause at the top. -I felt way more in control. Was able to hit cuts a lot easier and it didn't seem like I lost any distance. -If I got lazy with my lower body I would hit hooks. It was imperative that I kept the lower body moving. Overall I hit probably 2 hooks that would of cost me on the course. -I was prone to topping the ball, well I topped two drives. I think this has to with timing because now I am lifting up or quicker on the downswing. Overall I really liked the feeling. I practiced solo and did not camera myself so I am going by feel more then anything that I was shorter. Next session I will hopefully have a golfing buddy and have him video a few shots for me. Once I get video of noticeable improvements I will update all.

I like the stop when the right arm breaks idea. I find I need a trigger for my swing so this seems beneficial. I also like the half swing idea. I remember a drill my dad told me about I forgot who he told me used it I think Sam Snead but it was hitting your driver 150 yards, then 200 yards, then 225, then 250 then 275 etc until you ramped up to full speed. Some food for thought. I'm actually excited to start this process. I am worried about my timing but again this year I don't care if I creep up to an 18 handicapper as long as I fix my major flaws. Time to go two steps back and three steps forward. I asked my main golf buddy to let me know every time my swing is to long either on the practice range or on the golf course.