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Dornenglanz

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About Dornenglanz

  • Rank
    Member
  • Birthday 12/24/1975

Personal Information

  • Your Location
    Hampshire, UK

Your Golf Game

  • Handicap Index
    None
  • Handedness
    Righty

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  1. Three firsts for me today! Played one of the local 9 hole courses. Went round in 48! First time below 50. Also, birdied the second par 3. Also... first time I've ever played and not lost a ball! Putting was terrible today - missed 3 or 4 really easy putts that I'd normally get with my eyes closed, so could even have been ~45!
  2. Called away on business - so failed to practice yesterday, and can't see myself getting any in today or tomorrow. Unless someone can recommend some "mental" or "visualisation" drills that will keep me in the game, I'm stuck!
  3. Day 8: Played for about an hour on a par 3 pitch/putt course. Putting was pretty good, despite poor greens, and pitching was not bad either. Mostly used PW and SW, but also experimented with more lofted wedges to see the effect of higher trajectories and more spin/bounce.
  4. Day 7: 10 mins putting practice indoors. Started aim through two tees, slightly wider than a ball. The carpeted area is obviously not quite flat, but hard to read. However, once I worked out the slope, I did reasonably well. Next I found a metal egg cup - also slightly larger than a ball. I aimed at this from various distances on two different surfaces - one much faster than the other. Reasonable accuracy. Then I remembered a drill where you have to put over the centre of a 2p coin from no more than 12 inches, 10/10 times. I managed this, so doubled the distance. Managed 10/10, so added another 12 inches, and was getting about 6/10, mostly undone by variations in the carpet. Worthwhile, I felt.
  5. Day 6 (not backdating, just had internet issues last night / this morning): 5 mins indoor putting practice from about 3 feet, aiming to roll over a 1 pence coin. Started very well, but actually found my accuracy was way worse than usual on average, Will try again today, I think.
  6. Day 5: 5 mins working on drill my pro asked me to do: club upside down, half swing, bring arms down quickly and stop and feel the club whip forwards as the wrists hinge. Also did some continual swings, feeling weight change.
  7. Dornenglanz changed their profile photo
  8. Day 4: Lesson with pro. He's concerned that my swing is too steep and closes the club face, so we worked on a number of drills to encourage me to allow the club to drop and come through rather than be brought down with the action of my arms. I'm going to try to work on some of these drills at home, or maybe in the garden. He says I should practice with short swings and a 6I to get the sequence of events right.
  9. Day 3: 15 mins at the range, with wedges, working on understading how far I hit each club with a full swing. I learned that my swing is not really consistent enough to give me a reliable answer. However, I hit about balls and most of them were clean hits, which felt encouraging.
  10. Day 2: Spent about 30 mins working on chipping with my 5H, on the tiny par 3 academy course. I'm sure the answer is "it depends" but I've not yet settled on what my go-to club is for this kind of shot. I started with an 8I, but my teacher suggested moving to something with more loft to generate more spin. He uses a 52 degree wedge. I have a 50, and I've used that a bit. But I'd seen some players successfully using their rescue club, so I thought I'd try it. It's better for direction, but much harder to judge distance. Then went and played with my son at one of the local courses. Played absolutely terribly. Literally the worst I have played since I started this summer! Got pretty angry with myself, but calmed down, and decided to call it a day afer 5 holes, as we were both tired and hungry, and the car park is right by the 5th green.
  11. Dornenglanz started following "5 Minutes Daily" Practice Challenge September 2016 and "5 Minutes Daily" Practice Challenge October 2016
  12. Massively failed at this last month, so going to try much harder this month! Day 1: Played 9 holes, on a course that I happened to be driving past. Wasn't scoring - just trying to play shots in real life, with real conditions. Played some really pretty good shots, and only had two poor holes. Wasn't focussed on anything in particular.
  13. I'm in. I intended to reply to this yesterday (the 1st) and to do my 5 mins, but yesterday was my mother-in-law's birthday, and my day was somewhat taken up! So, notwithstanding day one, I shall update this daily with my practice.
  14. Had my best ever round last week. I've not yet played 18 holes yet - still focussing on 9 holes and par 3 courses, but progress is progress. So, on the nearby par 3 links, previously I'd shot 49, 51, that sort of score, which, for a 27 par course is not great. I've been working with my teacher on hitting the ball straight, with good alignment, and rotation so as to bring the club face through square. Turns out the work has paid off.... I hit a total of 38, which was 3 shots ahead of my target. I hit pretty much all of my shots straight. A few green misreads and a few bad puts added 4, and one chip that was too hard added another, but I was delighted with how I played. I also managed my first ever "green in regulation". Now, to reality: this is a one-off, on a par 3 course, but: it represents real and measurable improvement, and given that I had never played before June, I'm pleased!
  15. Played 9 holes (18 hole course with 2 tee positions, only had time for 9) at a course local to where I am on holiday. Mixture of very good and very bad. It's a short course (1883 yards, one par 5, 3 par 4s, for a total par of 32), but demands accuracy. I managed 2 pars (including the 5), 2 bogies, and 1 double bogies, but runied it with a few absolute shockers (lost 3 balls, went OOB twice on the last hole). 52 in total. Still, notwithstanding the shockers, one of the best rounds I've played since I started, only back in June.
  16. On the hole my putting is reasonable. It's rare, once I am actually on the green, for me to put in 3. If my shot onto the green is really great, I might put in 1, but it's usually 2, with the occasional 3. Once I am within 100 yards of the green, I stand a fair chance of getting onto the green. So that's 3 shots. 4 if I screw up my short shot, or put in 3. Most of the points, for me, are lost in getting to being within 100 yards of the green. I'll hit the ball into rough, or out of bounds, or top it, or whiff it, or slice it or hook it wildly. If I hit a good one or two iron/hybrid shots to get me to where short game and putting takes over, I'll be in with a chance of a bogie, double bogie, or even sometimes a par. But my inconsistent swing, and lack of confidence off the tee, is what causes me to turn in the horrible scores... 7, 8, 9 on a hole.
  17. I've noticed that if I mishit one, I often mishit the next two or three. I agree that this is partly mental. Today I traced it to tension in my hands. Having hit a bad one, and moved a few feet down, I found that I was gripping the club very tightly. Consciously relaxing that grip made a big difference... the image I have is that of holding a small animal: you want to be holding it firmly enough that it won't escape, but not so firmly that you squash it.