roamin

Thank you, Buckeye. I'm going to laminate this and carry it in my bag.

I've been Playing Golf for: Off and on since I was a kid. Seriously for the past 10 years or so, but took a few years off and started back late last year. My current handicap index or average score is: 17.9 trending upwards My typical ball flight is: Straight to a slight pull-fade or straight-fade, with a strong tendency push it way right at just the wrong time The shot I hate or the "miss" I'm trying to reduce/eliminate is: Push right and occasional slices and pull-hooks (Extended) Intro: Now a former Stack and Tilt-er. Somewhat lost and don't know where to start. Started using SnT in 2007, learning it from the original Golf Digest articles and loved it because it was the first time I was ever sure (from the sound and the divot) that I was striking the ball properly. SnT got me out of triple-digits and into the 90's. Took a few years off for who knows why. Late last year, I dusted off my old GD articles and began practicing. Played my first round after a few weeks of practice and shot a 104, then shot a 96 and a 98 the next two weeks. After a few months of playing and practicing, I settled into a nice rhythm of mid-90's scores and was feeling good about my return to golf. I found some new (well, new to me) SnT videos online and started practicing a few I found interesting. Noticed an improvement here or there, but it wasn't consistent. Over time, however, it seemed like I started to lose the feeling of my swing. As much as I was practicing, nothing felt right at all. Then one day I shot my absolute worst round ever. Who the hell knows what I scored or how many times my wife wished she hadn't come. I was hitting at least 1-2 inches behind the ball on some shots and couldn't figure out why. Spent the rest of the day wondering why I played golf. Then, because it's golf, I went out the next day and broke 90 for the first time with an 87. Then an 86 the next week, and then two more sub-90 rounds. But the streak ended and I started struggling to stay in the 90's more often than not. Fast-forward and some internet searching later and I've found this wonderful oasis of knowledge that destroyed, what faith, I had left in SnT, but, at the same time, reassured me that I could fix it all, and everything was okay. So here I am. Videos: These are from a few weeks ago, after a week or so of Key #1 practice. I wasn't sure where to start and after recording my swing I noticed that my head was moving forward a lot during the backswing (as mentioned in the faith-destroying links above), and it's Key #1, so I started there. (Had also added a touch of Key #2 by the end of the week, as once my head was still, I then noticed my hips sliding back. ) Ball-striking has already improved dramatically. My scores still suck, but the sound and feel is noticeably different. Note: All shots with plastic golf balls, they're all I have room for (and please excuse my Jon boat ).

Come on, now, let's turn the attitude train around here. Never gonna get away from 100 wallowing down in the dumps like that. Remember the good shots, and try to learn from the bad ones.

I like doglegs on short par 5's and long par 4's. I like the strategy of planning the correct angles and distances to not get stuck w/o a shot. I especially like holes where a good angle on the turn is out of reach after a bad tee shot or where hitting it the wrong direction can add an extra 50-100 yards to the hole. My accuracy off the tee is fairly consistent most days, but the guys I play with, well, not so much.

I sure hope it was, I loved it! Mister, "I'll bet you TWO-HUNDRED!", should've known the rules.

This. WTH, right?!

Played over the weekend at Indian Springs in Marianna, FL. Shot an even 100, with 1 double-, 3 triple-, and 2 quadruple-bogeys. I was in the woods a lot off the tee, but managed to recover well most of the day and had a nice string of bogeys going for a while, but then fell apart on the back nine. I'm going to blame at least part of it on the heat (106 heat index). Came back and found a par on the 18th with an amazing pitch-shot up and onto an elevated green that broke just below the hole and stopped on the edge of the cup. As crazy as it may sound, I had a great day. Temper and heat got the best of me for a bit, but ball striking with my irons was excellent and the most consistent it's been since I started playing golf again last October. I practiced mostly Key #1 drills all last week (and learned how to use my camera properly), and by Friday I could really see a difference on video. Was really anxious to play, however, I tried not to take any expectations to the course. But... I started well and after consistently hearing the sweet "crack" of ball-first contact for the first time in a long while, the expectations crept back in. At one point, after 2 bogeys and a par, I had my first quad and really, really, wanted to cry. On the next hole, I had a bad drive into the woods (one of several this day) and had to chip out to the fairway. Had a beautiful lie but duffed the 3-wood and could feel my temper boiling. Had a moment of clarity and decided to just grab my 5 iron even though I was still 250+ out. Hit a crisp, clean, and perfectly straight shot that dropped just in front of the 100 yd marker where I was aiming. Pin was 95 yards away on the left side. I aimed at the center of the green, and hit a beautiful, high shot with my wedge that pulled a little left and landed 10 feet from the hole. Drained the bogey putt and pumped my fist like it was an eagle. All in all, it was a weird day of getting into trouble but making great recoveries, except for a few (or 5) holes where the recovery never came. The one thing that was abundantly clear throughout the day, was that practice had actually helped for a change! Now to get some video posted and start a member swing thread... p.s. Sorry for the long post... first round I've posted and I'm just excited to be here!

WTG Hiway, nice turn-around! Bet that felt good.

The last several posts sum it nicely for me. Expectations, temper, blow-up holes, and then temper again. I've learned that, even with lots of bad shots, I can still shoot a decent score and stay far away from triple digits. I shot an 87 a few weeks ago with 3 double- and 2 triple-bogeys. I have to focus on each hole and shot separately, and make good decisions when something goes wrong. It sucks when a drive (especially a good looking drive) ends up directly behind a tree and you have to turn sideways and pitch out to the fairway. But, dammit... focus, make the shot count, and put it in the center of the fairway to give yourself a chance at recovering. I've also found I score best when I manage my risk taking properly (again, expectations, temper, blow-up holes, etc...). I try to look for trouble areas with lower chances of recovery and take extra care to stay away from them.

Hi Everybody! I work in web development and love it! Still a job, but I enjoy it. Have certainly had worse!

Welcome, Bay, from a fellow Florida newbie!

Thanks for the welcome and encouragement, and for the instructional content post... what a post! I'm glad I found this site!

Hello everybody! Glad to be here and meet you all. I'm a husband and father of two (that's the fam in the pic). They're not near as interested in golf as I am, but I'm working on it. I read a Golf Digest article back in 2007 and it changed my game for the better, immensely. I quit playing for a few years and recently picked the game up again, referring back to those original GD articles to help me dust off my swing. Started okay, but I wanted better so I went online looking for new information about my old swing, and (unfortunately, so I've now learned) found it. I practiced some of the new drills I found and got a little better for a while and then bad things started to happen. A lot. Found the shanks for the first time in my life on the practice range and it was bad. Shanked 20 in a row and had no idea what was wrong (still don't, really). I got it to stop, eventually, and it doesn't really happen on the course, but still crops up in practice once in a while. Referring back to the original GD articles seems to calm everything down and I've actually been playing better than ever, but bad shots (and a rare shank) still happen too often. It's a weird spot to be in. I'm a mid-90's golfer on a good day and despite everything I just told you, I've somehow managed 4 rounds in the 80's in the past 6 weeks, with a low of 86. (Full Disclosure: I finally started listening to my father and have been practicing my short game a lot, but still...) The problem is, I don't know what "my swing" feels like anymore or should feel like, or what to practice. After more searching online, I ended up on this thread started by @Phil McGleno and eventually, this one from @iacas, and my entire world came crashing down. I'm now certain that I have no idea what I'm actually doing, or what I'm supposed to do at all. So I'm here for help. I'll be jumping into the Instruction and Playing Tips forum soon. I'm playing Saturday and practice the past two days has gone pretty well. After a lot of reading on this site, I have a bit of a feeling and it's working for now. I'm still not sure what I'm going for, but due to the dismantling of SnT mentioned earlier, I have a much better understanding of what I'm not doing and don't want to do, which seems to have helped with consistency. Hopefully the forum that tore my world apart has the glue to help me piece it back together. Cheers!