Travtex

Yep. Consistency and long clubs kill me. I'm working on putting together a lesson sometime over the next month or so -- Doesn't make sense that I can count on 135/145 from my 9 and 8 irons... then can't count on getting past 200 yards with ANY club. Some weird swing hitch I need to track down, no doubt. Also, just plain old consistent contact. I get the pull hooks and the blocks something fierce.

I had an eagle putt a little over a year ago or so. Was a crazy long putt, probably in the 40-foot range or thereabouts. Lagged it to a few feet, then mucked up the three-footer. 3-putt Par is painful.

Unfortunately not that time (Which would have driven me crazy for a looooooooong time if it'd actually gone in, heh). I went out with my eldest the trip before to our Super Precision Par 3 and we lost almost twenty balls into the lake (Water danger on every hole). Never would have believed me if I tried to say I'd gone out a couple days later and sunk an ace, heh.

Took about two years of on-again off-again beginning hacker golf, but it's a promising milestone for the second round of the season. I'd been overcooking all of my approach shots for the first six holes -- Perils of inconsistent golf noob contact, can just randomly lose or gain 10-15 yards and not be entirely sure why. Instead of being stubborn and insisting 'No, damnit, it's 135 yards and that is Without Fail my 9 iron', I clubbed downed and choked up... Hole 7: Par Hole 8: Birdie Hole 9: Par Well, ain't THAT a morale-boosting way to end the nine. I damn near had a coronary event right there on the course with the bird. My tee shot (140 yard Par 3) ended up about two feet from the hole... So there was the whole, "Holy crap is that actually going in?!" moment of adrenaline. That was followed by the long stroll to the green... It's a REAL short putt. I can miss short putts. First -great- chance at a birdie, but I can certainly flub a two foot putt like nobody's business, etc. Distracted myself by watching the fish down in the lake as I got over there. Slightly puckered, I did manage to sink that horrifying two-foot putt and card a -1. The other two holes went pretty well, actually... On the hole before I smoked my approach and ended up in the bunker behind the green. Managed an up-and-down from the sand for par. Last hole was a downright dull GIR and two-putt, but considering I'm usually ahead of my game with bogey, it's still a solid score. Yeehaw.

I just had a heartbreaker round with my career. I haven't had any problem whatsoever with the putting -- Are ya'll talking about PS3 move, or Wii? I'm just thumbstickin' it on my non-move-enabled PS3. I'm sitting at around 1.8 putts average, thanks to a couple late-round chokes, but overall have been shockingly competent, there. *heh* So, my career started off with an Am Tour win at even par. My first Nationwide Tour event was a win at 1 under par. My second Nationwide involved a bit of a choke job on the 9th hole that I couldn't completely recover from -- Finished 3rd with a +1. And then, it was on to Q-school. I was feeling like The Cocky Guy after my early career accomplishments. +7. Freakin' +7. Finished outside of the top 25, and it was back to the Nationwide for me. Auuuuugh! I felt like I was out of the running by about the twelth hole, and of course my confidence went downhill and I started spraying the ball all OVER the stupid course, yelling at my caddy, etc. Solid game.

Finally got my first round of the year in the other day. It had been about six months since I'd hit a ball, and it looked like it had been about six years, heh. Toward the end of last season, I managed to break my lead hand. By the time I'd recovered enough to even grip a club, it was getting into winter-time. (I'm no longer in San Antonio. We had a two-foot snowstorm in my new locale. What the hell?) On the upside, I chipped, pitched, and putted better than I ever have. Not in any shock-the-world sort of way, of course, but it did at least appear that the ball had some idea of what I wanted it to do. Full swings, though? Whoo, what a nightmare. I think I had three shots for the day: 1.) Straight Push into the Lake. 2.) Blade it into the Lake. 3.) Sh*#k it into the Lake. Might be a long rehab year of hacking and swearing, hah.

Hell, my local Par 3 is by far a more difficult course than many of the regulation courses I play. Most holes are in the 110-130 range, there's a couple holes under 100, a couple over 130. Water is in play on all of them. Elevation changes galore. Nasty bunkers on every hole. I've lost more balls on that nine hole Par 3 than I have on multiple 18-hole walks on other courses. I'm thinking an ace out there counts. I'd love to ace the 7th, there. 135 yards over water for about 120 of it to about a fifteen foot wide landing area of green. Bunkers at the front, bunkers at the back. Too short you're in the lake, too long you're in the forest. Go left and you're hitting the side of a hill and shooting back into the lake. Go right and you're in a ravine. It's akin to playing the 17th at Sawgrass over and over and over, and I think the exaggeration is only minor.

Apparently making myself take a few weeks off taught me how to play golf a little bit. So, having carded back-to-back +15 and +17 9-hole rounds I said 'Screw This' and spent the next few weeks fishing. No swing practice, no range, no books, no golf. Pbbt. Up yours, golf! When I went back to the range last week, I went in with basically a 'Reboot' mentality, rebuilding the swing from scratch. First range session was promising. Second range session even more so... Hadn't had back-to-back solid sessions, before. Was this a bit of consistency? By the third range session this morning, I was getting downright cocky about it... (It did NOT at all help that I ended up with a small group of appreciative spectators. I hit a couple of 240-250 carry drives (downhill, *laugh*) that convinced a couple people I was the left-handed John Daly... "Oh, that's three hundred, EASY." Forgive me for not correcting him.) Anyway, that got me feeling froggy, so all hot and tired and worn out AND sleep-deprived, I decided it'd be a GREAT time to get back on the course. And... it actually went better than ever before. I ended up +9 for 9, my best to date... That included leaving some shots on the course -- I found the water twice, lipped out a three-footer, and zoomed past a five-footer. I -hit- four greens and actually held two of them. One of which stopped dead in its tracks from 135 (Leaving a shocking crater of a ball mark). I had three pitch shots from 30-40 yards that ended up 6', 3', and 1' from the cup. Still chasing bogey as the Season Goal, but for me that was a great score that could have very easily been three or four strokes better. Shot of the day had to be the one-footer. It was a 30 yard pitch uphill to a pin placed on the far side of a two-tiered green. Couldn't actually see the cup from where I was, and when I saw it rolling over the slope I sprinted over there like a crazy person thinking it was going to go in for birdie. *heh* Awesome day! Woot.

Sign me up for this one.

Well holy crap Thank You, Bagger Vance. Hit another hundred rocks this morning... and it was even better. One good session can be a range day fluke. Session two with same ball flight and increased consistency, I think I -might- have made an improvement. We'll have to see how it translates to the course. Feels a bit awkward, but when I do stop to analyze WHY it feels awkward I realize that I'm just being a moron. My brain thinks I'm not doing an athletic maneuver properly because "I'm not moving enough". By THAT, I mean I'm keeping my head dead still and restricting my hip turn (The hip turn is just a feeling. Like noted, I'm definitely gyrating around playing Elvis Golf, but to ME it's restricted). Got a bit of a twinge in my trailing shoulder and elbow, though. I could feel that extra coil on the backswing, wonder if the angry elbow is indicating a problem or just new muscles getting involved in the motion. Awesome sessions, though. Probably the only two trips to the range where I hit more good solid shots in the general direction of my intent than 'What the Hell?' shots by a wide margin. Notice I need to get my hands deeper on the longer clubs, though, otherwise I get back to balloon-pushing the driver/woods. (I'm not sure WHY this would be... anyone?)

Don't chip off tees, but... I do chip a lot of tees. (Broken tees make good tiny target while standing around waiting for the green to clear practice at Par 3's.)

Gave myself a few weeks off golf after the last couple of Horrible Death Rounds. No tips, no drills, no range rocks, no happy affirming swing thoughts. Spent my time fishing, instead. Went out and pounded a hundred balls at the range, yesterday, after... oh, two or three weeks of not touching a club. Golf being the insidious kind of evil that it is, it was an excellent session overall. My swing drastically improved over three weeks of not jacking with it. I had a pretty narrow focus for the session, focusing on a few minor things that were sorta counterintuitive to my Usual Swing (And some that weren't). 1.) Head centered over the ball. No movement. Head stay still. Period. This was a usual thing, but more focused by... 2.) "Quiet Lower Body". I've built my swing from the ground up, very hip-driven. Restricting my lower body was VERY much counter to my normal 'Feel'. I was trying to feel as though I wasn't moving my lower body at ALL. This felt, obviously, very bizarre. However -- I had some very good results, AND when I looked to see what I was doing, I still had a pretty active lower body. Just didn't "feel" like it. (Though now I feel a bit of a stretch/tension in my back shoulder at the top of the backswing. Is that a good or a bad thing?) 3.) Flaring the rear foot. Before, I had back foot 90* to the target line, and the front foot flared slightly. This session I experimented with both feet flared out a bit. This seemed to help me balance my weight... Probably because it felt a bit awkward. (I'm a lifelong martial arts/baseball guy... A regular 'athletic stance' feels very natural, BUT... I tend to shift my weight around and back and forth. Tweaking the feet made me stay more still, for WHATEVER reason.) Little to no loss in distance, drastic improvement in accuracy for First Day with it all. Was targeting the little postage stamp practice greens at my local range at 170 and 195 and while not lawn-darting it, I actually hit them a handful of times, and even banged the marker with a few. Band-Aids or Positive Steps? Can never tell, heh.

One of the rare shots I'm actually somewhat decent at (Lot of practice hitting out of the forest, haha). I take my 5 iron (22* loft... it's more like a 3.5 iron), put it back in my stance a bit, and do sort of a short-swing punch. I'm not sticking any greens with it, but it's not usually a shot where that's an option, anyway.

Hah. My more serious internal debates revolve more around the expense than the sucking, but enjoy reading the thoughts. The only thing I didn't like about the move was losing access to my practice facility... Sixty bucks a month and all you can hit on the range, all you can play on the par 3, a gigantic putting green, a bunkers and short-game pitching green, and a chipping green on the other side. I'd spend two or three hours a day there in the 100 degree San Antonio sun and in a few months scrabbled from raw beginner to the occasional sniff at bogey for nine. (+10, +12, etc.) Then I move, and I'm lucky to get a day a week where I can either hit the range or play nine. It costs the same, either way... And there's no every day with practice facility options nearby under 150-200/month. Well, I could get a Par 3 membership for 30 or so a month up-front for the year... but that's the aforementioned ANY miss is out of play or in the water course that just makes me want to drink heavily. I do wish hard work was the only obstacle to getting better. Like in Coyne's Paper Tiger -- The first thing he put on the list for becoming a Great Golfer: #1. Be born rich.

Between the interminable pushes and the consideration of what I could be doing with my limited budget rather than cursing at the stubborn insubordination of a little white ball, I have sworn off the game forever a couple of times in my short golfing career. Hell, just this week I decided to pack it in. I put a half-dozen balls in the water (In my feeble defense, there's tight water in play on EVERY HOLE). Two days later, my friend wanted to play a round and I was all fired up and ready to suck. Is there golf rehab?

I've noticed some elbow soreness on my trailing arm... Also, a couple of different feels with swings. Can definitely feel the hinge in my wrist at times, and other times, I'm restricting the backswing further up with my trailing index finger. Not sure which is "right".

It's a trajectory issue most of the time. I -have- wandered through the 260 range, but most of the time I'm carry+roll closer to 240 because it gets up too far too fast. I've been keeping a suspicious eye on my shaft, but the equipment budget is zero 'til I get my pushes straightened out. What good is another twenty yards into the woods?

We're pretty close on the irons (Though my 3 and 4 are hybrids). Just out of curiosity, where's your 3w/Driver hovering? Just curious because I regularly feel like a schmuck busting out a 150 yard nine iron approach to follow up my 220 yard drive, lol.

I have a weird iron set, loft-wise. These are all give-or-take for high-capper inconsistency. (5 longer some days, 5 shorter some days... Dialing in is a nightmare.) 58* SW: 85 52* GW: 110 48* PW: 125 44* 10i: 135 39* 9i: 148 34* 8i: 160 30* 7i: 170 26* 6i: 180 Pulled the 22* 5 iron, already having 23 and 21* hybrids.

Aside: Nine this afternoon. First six, I'm fighting with fat/thin/pull/push crap. +4 through 4, then I put three in the lake and give the hell up on keeping score. Anyway, at a point of great aggravation I say 'Screw It' and aim into the push. Hell with the scared of this left side crap! Perfect draw, sticks the green. Huh? Next two greens I'm aiming 'Into the Push'... at this point the thought is more aiming to compensate for my draw. Stick two more greens... I finish the last three holes Par, Bogey, Par. Could the push problems being my brain trying to hold off because I'm not aimed correctly to allow for a draw into the target? Can that cause THAT much chaos in a swing? Or did I have a lucky stretch to close out the day?

Heh. Well, after the last few range sessions and my last nine, I can say with a bit of confidence that I'm developing more consistency. Now, this isn't necessarily a great thing -- I adjusted to my Drastic Grip Overhaul (From STRONG to neutral), though I've been having some better results backing off the change a bit -- I'm keeping my lead hand neutral, but drifted back about a half inch strong on my trailing hand. This resulted in what so far seems to be more consistency... and I'm hitting the ball higher. Must be hitting it more solidly, too, as it's higher without any real distance loss. This is a Happy Thing, and can only help me with my holding greens problem. Now, on to The Issue. It's starting to seem like my brain and body are dead set on pushing the ball. Now, I think I'm happy with the swing path... grooving a nice little in-to-out thing, there... but I just refuse to close the club face. The completely bizarre (To me, at least, probably because I'm ignorant) thing is I did all sorts of fiddling with the grip... and kept having the same push. Just with varying degrees of fade-to-slice. Since the ball is starting out pretty much the same angle on these mishits (It's a pretty nasty 15-20 degree push) regardless of grip adjustments... Am I just making adjustments to keep MIShitting the same way? If so, why would I do this to myself? (Ha ha.) Trying to consciously square up usually results in the low snap hook of death, so I'm wide open to suggestions. Chronic Push Syndrome. What're some cures?

I tee pretty low, and I've managed this marvelous display of physical impossibility, haha. Only thing I can figure is hands out in front of the club too far and the club face coming in at a sharp angle that catches the top of the club. That's, of course, I guess I pulled entirely out of my arschloch. I skyballed a three-wood today. Not quite sure how I managed that one... I tee my 3w almost like an iron.

So... Revenge of the Hacker. Went back after work this morning (That's probably not the -best- time to golf, staggering onto the grass at seven in the morning after a twelve hour work shift... but damnit, you take what you can get, right?)... 1: Hey, not bad. Twenty feet off the green rather than pull-hooked into the practice area. However, the short game translates a makeable par into a +2. 2: Decent drive on the Par 5. Tails off a bit and ends up about 240 in the left rough. Second shot is the Enforced Layup (I'm not trying to clear the pond at 220 off a sidehill lie. I suck, I'm not stupid). Meh, a bit thin, but I'm just getting into position for a short iron or wedge into the green so I don't really care. Then I skull one into the pond. Going on tilt, I Tin Cup the hole, sending another ball into the water to save the first. I limp away with a 9. +6 through two. Looks like another one of those days. 3: Lovely 3 wood off the tee (235... why do I even BOTHER with that stupid driver?). Hit the green with the wedge... the damn thing rolls off again. Chip and three-putt like a moron. +8 through three. 4: I hit a horrific push off the tee. Hit a provisional horrific push off the tee. When I find them, it's not quite as horrific as I'd originally thought (What's that thing about your horrible misses getting less -actually- horrible?)... but here's the stupid thing. I top the wedge. As the other ball is right there, and I'm owning an empty course... I top IT to within a foot of the first one. Jeez. +10 through four. Anyway, just when it looked like I was planning to out-do my previous +20... I bogey out. +1, +1, +1, +1, +1. +15... nowhere near what I'm capable of, but certainly feels like another step in the right direction. Eliminate some of the stupidity (Jeez, just those first three should have been Par, Bogey, Par rather than +2, +4, +2. Came within inches of a couple pars on the last five.) and I really don't think bogey's an unrealistic season goal.

Part of that reminded me -- Tempo. I'm always hearing about swinging nice and easy to get/keep things under control, but my experience has been Nice and Easy = Death. (For me, slowing down makes me get my arms much more involved than I want them. My usual feel is more of just driving the hips and the clubhead weight whips itself through. When I try to back off, I end up just letting my arms get ahead and everything goes to crap as would be expected. The old adirondack chair golf swing, hah.) I'm definitely overthinking it, but that's the goal at the moment. Once I know what particular thing I'm going for, position or form-wise, it's a simple thing to replicate the feel... figuring out WHAT I'm trying to do is always harder than doing it.

Probably have better feedback over the long haul with Specific Threads, but don't want to go on a New Topic spamming binge and in all probability I'd forget what I'm thinking about if I tried to space it out over a week or so, heh. (Matter of fact, I've already forgotten a couple questions in the process of typing this out. This is probably good, as I'm only planning on working on ONE thing next practice session, anyway.) Some stuff I've noticed, plan on working on, or have wondered about with regards to my swing tweaks this season. 1.) Elbows Close Together. I've noticed that when I really -remember- to work at keeping my elbows as close as possible together, good things happen. Straighter farther, etc. One problem/concern/curiosity about this is that it tends to create a bit of tension in the arms. Is one more important than the other? Am I overemphasizing one or the other (Tension versus Close Elbows)? -- One related thing I've noticed is that my trailing elbow can tend to get stuck back by my hip on the transition/downswing. I'm guessing this shortens things, and am wondering if that's a culprit with my recurrent thin/top problems. 2.) Wrist Hinge. Which way do YOU hinge? "Up" or "Back" from address? Harder than I expected to describe, but by an 'Up' hinge, think of swinging a hammer. Now, that requires some forearm rotation... (Then I start to wonder about tying it into "1" above.) A straight 'back' hinge feels awkward, but doesn't seem to require as much arm manipulation. I don't think about either when I swing, currently, and when slowing down to see what's actually going on... I'm thinking about it too MUCH. Which is -correct-?