garch

Having broken 100 in May I have really started to get my game together. Consistently in the 90s, with 94 my previous best. Today found myself on the par 4 18th tee with 84 shots having played pretty steadily for most of the round. Pushed my drive into a collection of trees and had to play out. PW to green, pin high but just to the left of the green, 20 feet from the flag. So, up and down to break 90. I think I experienced my first ever proper choke - nerves got to me, snatch at the chip and hit it thin, 20 feet past the hole! A decent putt was 6 inches past, but had to settle for my best ever score of 90 dead, with plenty of confidence to know the 80s aren't far away..

Please don't make me to go the gym.. I think overswinging is a good tip though, I know I can be guilty of that. Especially when you watch a pro and see quite how short their swing is, with their irons at least. So you're saying it could be over extending the swing that brings me forward a bit.. I will check it out at next range session - thanks!

Can anyone recommend a good drill for retaining a good spine angle. The only thing stopping me having a solid contact is that I tend to dip a bit in the backswing, then compensate coming back, resulting in weak shots or even worse the occasional thin. When I nail it though it's all about the lovely thunk of a perfect contact. Thanks very much in advance!

This is a really great tip - as all the others on this thread have been. I tried this and can't believe how lightly this has me holding the club compared to what I thought was quite a light grip before. Not tried it in anger yet but will be on the course at 5.30 tomorrow morning giving it a go!

I would really appreciate any advice anyone can give on this. I have identified that the biggest issue I have that costs me the most shots is tension in my swing. Even after recognising this I still can't get the right relaxed feel in my shoulders and hands all the time. When I nail it my ball striking is great, and I feel so much more comfortable swinging through the ball. I was wondering if anyone had any good exercises or techniques that could help. I've tried all the waggling etc, and nothing seems to work. Many thanks in advance.

What do you do when you hit the shot of your life and nearly kill the players in front of you??? 460 yard par 5 - course backed up a bit, waited what I thought was a comfortable distance from the players in front before I hit my drive. Hit it better than I thought I could and it seemed to stay in the sky for hours - all the while getting closer to the two guys in front. In the end it carried just before them, and rolled well after them - ended up 290 yards - and that's not exaggerated internet yards! When passing the guys in front as they came from the next tee I of course apologised, and they were very nice about it - just saying that they thought there must have been a pro behind them! After that hit a decent 6 iron to the back of the green, giving me my first ever eagle putt - and of course I three putted! Funniest shot of the day had to be my playing partner - he was teeing off at a short par 3 where you climb some stairs to tee off over water to a small green (It's a lovely hole..). The tee box was behind where the stairs were. He thinned his tee shot, and somehow managed to hit the top step, with the ball bouncing 180* back towards him, ending up about 10cm from where he teed off!

On a long 420 yard par 4, slight dog-leg left, I push my drive over to the next fairway, leaving me about 250 to the flag - although I had a decent line straight in, and the green sits in a bowl giving me some insurance. Grabbed my 3 wood and hit it as sweet as I can off the deck - flew like a beauty and came to land 5 yards from the green. A safe chip and two putt remained for a satisfying bogey on a hole I normally do a lot worse on..

Just wanted to thank everyone for their advice. It's true to say that once the fault was ironed out I understood my swing more, and have played my best ever golf in the 2 weeks since my worst ever! BUT this time I know how to deal with it if the same fault creeps back. Next on my agenda - working on my weight transition and more power with my driver..

Me again (but I figure it's a new week, so..), dog leg right 350 yard par 4, with water in the leg. Pulled my drive left onto a bank between two fairway bunkers. 130 to hole, but lying well below my feet and with a left to right lie. Choked down, aimed left side of the green and let the slope do it's thing. Hit it perfectly - six feet to the flag and a made putt for a very satisfying 4.

Played in my first club comp yesterday - off the back tees. Apart from atrocious (2.2 average) putting I held a decent account of myself, especially as it was very windy, up to 20mph at times. My best shot of the day - 150 yards straight into the wind, bit of a left to right to it. Normally would take a 7 iron, but took a 5 iron, back of the stance, choken down, held the follow through, and it stayed beautiful and low, died slightly to the right and 6 feet from the flag. Followed by a 3 putt..

Ok, so I went back to the range and managed to grab my pro for 5 minutes. His advice was invaluable. It was a combination of standing too close to the ball, rolling the wrists and dipping the left shoulder that was causing me to severly cut across the ball. Also I was getting much too shallow. After standing further away, hooding my clubface a bit in take away and trying to retain my spine angle better I seem to be getting my ball striking back. The funny thing is that my swing was starting to get good, but clearly this was just by papering over the cracks of a swing fault. I'm hopeful though that this will be another big step in the direction of a swing which will get me playing bogey golf before too long. Thanks again to everyone for their advice.

Thanks to everyone for their advice. I'm going back to the range today, and will also hopefully get 5 mins with my pro. I just wish I could break the link between my swing and my mood.. call it mood swings!

I went to the range today, full of confidence after breaking 100 for the first time on Sunday, and starting to really feel like I am grooving a consistent swing. What happened was a complete nightmare. Pretty much every single ball I hit was either thin, or massively sliced/pushed, or more often both. On the odd time I managed to successfully hit down on the ball I pulled the shot right about 50 yards. Obviously the anxiety of this made the situation worse, tempo went out of the window, hit far too many balls etc. Can anyone help? It must be something so fundamental but I had a mental block on how to fix it. I suspect I'm not transitioning my weight but I couldn't fix it. As some additional, and probably key information, I have had a bit of pain in my upper back for the last couple of days but didn't feel like it was actively restricting my movements. Any advice greatfully received! Michael

On the second hole at my club, I hit a hook onto the next door fairway. When getting to the ball one of the four ball coming towards me commented 'I won't ask where you were aiming for', or something similar. They all then stood within about 10 feet of me whilst I played off of their fairway. With about 200 yards to the flag, a tree line to negotiate and plenty of pressure on, I took my go-to 3 hybrid and absolutely crushed it to 6 feet. The same guy just murmerred 'wow, good shot'. I just smiled, took my putter out and walked on by..

I couldn't agree with you more. In fact the hardest element to keep in check is your own temper. Noone wants to play with someone who is constantly angry or making excuses. On this occasion I did feel I had to offer the odd apology for playing so badly, but even then the 'honestly, don't worry about it' response just cranks that anxiety up a notch further.

I thought I would update this thread with a little story about my recent day in the very depths of golfing hell. Mid-October and an invite to a golf society day at the Belfry, Brabazon course. I am an improving duffer, playing off 28 and would hope to score 30-35 points on a good day. I made the mistake of having a golf lesson two days before the meet. A couple of swing changes, and initially the improvement was drastic. My ball striking was excellent, line decent etc. I arrived at the golf course, one of the finest in the UK I might add, to hit a few balls at the range. Hmm. Duff, duff, top, thin, duck hook.. the most terrible warm up I could imagine. Then the anxiety hits in and the feeling that this is unlikely to improve on the course. 18 holes followed in a four ball made up of a 3, 6 and 15 handicapper - and me, Crappy Gilmore. My mental side was completely shot, and I quite literally could not hit a ball the entire day. On a course where I should have just been enjoying the privelige of being there, I did not get to the green in the points for pretty much every hole. My playing partners were very understanding, although comments such as 'is this your first time on a proper course' were not helping. The most gut wrenching, pride-killing element of the whole day was that I knew how much better I could be if I just relaxed and swung like I knew I could. The end result? 1 point. And that was for 8 shots on a par 5. I was awarded the wooden spoon trophy, which of course I had to take in the jovial spirit it was offered, even though I was mentally shattered after the horrific day I had just had. I couldn't face looking at my clubs for about two weeks, and then I eventually went back to the range. And exactly like someone previous in the thread had mentioned, I took my 7-iron, and made a 1/2 swing shot, just trying to perfect my contact. Just the snap of that very first shot brought it all back to me. That is now my drill every time I go to the range, and every time I make a bad contact. I still have the painful memories, not particularly helped by the fact that every time I play pretty well at the moment I think of what could have been. I keep that trophy on my desk though, just to remind me that I could only improve from that moment! Bring on the spring, and the next event of this golf society.

I too must join this Cleveland appreciation thread. As you'll see from my sig, it's pretty much all Cleveland in the bag. I am nowhere near good enough to know why I prefer Cleveland clubs to any other, but when I bought my CG7 irons (which I started my revamped bag with) i kind of blind tested them against TM and Pings GI irons, and they just felt better, plus got me at least 10 yards more per club. I will admit to something which others rarely do - I buy into the brand, and how it makes me feel to play a particular brand. I like Clevelands branding, I like that they aren't used by everyone (although Vijay is one of my favourite players), and I like the consistency that playing one brand gives me - mentally. I've even got a Cleveland towel and cap. Sad ain't it. I just tell people that they're my sponsor. The illusion last at least until my first duff..

I am like the OP - playing once a week, plus 2-4 range/short game practise sessions a week. Relating to comments made previously in my thread, my question is - what is the best use of time spent at home? Especially when limited to indoor practise like we in the UK currently are, what methods would help the overall game when we do get the opportunity to play again?

My goals: 1. Understand the difference between my good swings and my bad swings. That should quickly bring me down to under 20. 2. Break 100. 3. Break 90. I am confident I can do that this year.

I'm a director of an IT company.

Hi, I'm new to this forum, and back playing golf after about 5 years, and back then I never really 'got it'. Now, I'm starting to groove a decent swing, and am feeling increasingly confident. Today on a course near me called Aldenham I nailed a 5 wood 6 feet stiff on a 208 yard par 3. The flight and penetration of it will push me on for a long time! You can't beat that feeling can you. I stroked in the second for a birdie, and a smile for the rest of day.