How's your game!

Arsenium · 15-06-2013 10:47pm

This is a great thread. Almost like therapy...getting it down on paper

Game is reasonable at the moment. Started the year leaking everything to the right. Went for a lesson and firstly understood why I was doing it and then got enough explanation of the golf swing to understand what to do to fix it.
Driving became very dependable, iron play was the biggest improvement but putting was awful. Got a putting lesson recently and I have to say it has made a huge difference. Ball is now rolling correctly and after making a few mid length putts, the confidence is back.

And of course now another problem has crept in. Concentration. For some reason I am having a lot of trouble concentrating, resulting in potentially great cards turning into mediocre / disappointing cards. And even worse, resulting in me resorting to the bad habits with driving / irons that my original lesson had addressed. And that drives me nuts !!

Instead of an empty mind while playing shots, its more like I am fighting against a multitude of thoughts to stop them getting in there.

Bit of concentration, and a bit of additional practice to remove those bad habits for once and for all. Hopefully.

Dolph Starbeam · 15-06-2013 11:35pm

Very happy, but I still no there is more to come, have gone from a 10 handicap to 7 in about a month, and I haven't been driving the ball well at all. Could not be hitting my irons any better, hitting a lot of greens. Short game has been good too. I was struggling with the putter lately but changed to a Super Stroke grip and its working great, obviously put in a lot of practice when I changed it so a combination of practice and the grip has me high on confidence. Lastly, back to the only part that I have been struggling with, driving, have spent about a week at the range trying to sort out my slice, 1 in 3 would normally cut way right. Seem to have it under control a bit more now. Playing tomorrow and Monday so lets hope it goes well.

Wombatman · 16-06-2013 2:37pm

Playing much better this year. Got lessons and put in a lot of work at the range in the early part of the year. Averaging 32 with some mid twenties and high thirties thrown on.
I score well when I drive well and vice versa. Problem is I never know when I'm going to drive well. It will be my main area of focus for the next few weeks. Never know where the ball will end up. Used to slice. Cured that. But starting to hook it now.
Putting needs work but is improving. Topping 3 wood too often so avoiding it by using hybrids. Plan to give it some time when driving is in a happy place.

ankles · 16-06-2013 2:52pm

Huge struggle. Swing went to pot over past three years and spent ages tinkering to try and figure out what went wrong. Pitching putting good. Have got my driving back to something reasonable, though not consistent enough direction-wise. ATM irons still terrible. They had kept me going in the bad times but have disappeared without trace this year.

TheDoc · 16-06-2013 4:04pm

Good idea for a thread

I'm hitting a rich vein of form at the moment. The work I put in last year, and refining some parts last month are paying dividends.

I won an event with 42 points last week, and today had another good round. Five birdies in the first twelve. Three in a row ( 2,3,4) and finished a sweet front nine of 23 points. (level par)

Back nine I let it slide, and finish with 16 points, including a three put on the last. I'm removed the aggression and rage from my game the last while which is great. I'm striking the ball lovely, putting well, and my scoring irons are deadly at the moment.

Still struggling to close rounds of on the last three holes. It's become infamous with me as a golfer, I'm throwing event victories in the last three hgoles way too often, its actually scary

PARlance · 17-06-2013 10:45am

ajcurry123 wrote: »

Putting is killing me at the moment. Have been doing a lot of tinkering with it.
Managed to get out of the habit of leaving them short, replaced it with the habit of leaving myself with an even longer second putt as a result of over hitting it.
Cost us (a fellow boardsie) 2 holes last night in a foursomes Matchplay.

Still have the odd horror shot when I get ahead of myself but that's improving.

Apart from that, things are going along ok.

I need:
* A few lessons
* A load of practice
* A shrink

Loire · 17-06-2013 1:04pm

Playing very consistent at the moment...

The usual run of 1 pointers at the turn has come back to my game, helped in no little way by the return of my hook and further helped by the topping of my woods off the grass. Having the time of my life out there....so much so I think a new sports beckons.

:(:D

spacecoyote · 17-06-2013 1:37pm

Seems like you fix one thing, then something else goes with golf. 2 months ago I would have said driving was one of by best parts of my game. Now my game looks a little more like this:

Practice/Gym-work: Poor, have family home through to the end of June & plenty of socialising going on at the mo, so getting in time is a problem. The missus is away to the Gaeltacht for most of the month of July, so plan to get stuck into a proper fitness & practice regime!

Driving: Erratic, seems to take me a few holes to get going these days. Main issue is tempo, when I get too fast drives turn into a push-fade/slice, so main focus at the moment is on getting my rhythm right, and swinging through to a nice finish.

Fairway Woods/Hybrids: This is probably the best part of my game at the moment, getting me out of trouble after a poor drive & giving me good opportunities to score well on long par 4s & par 5s.

Irons: Fairly solid, couple of slight pulls but not so far that its putting me into any major trouble. Feeling confident with them and hitting longer of late.

Short Game: 80-30yrds really happy with at the moment. inside 30 yrds some inconsistency creeping in, but working on technique at the moment so its probably excusable.

Putting: Not good enough, but getting closer to where I want to be. Occasionally a little heavy handed with Lag putt attempts, but hitting a much more confident stroke over the shorter putts.

Overall, pretty happy with my game. Having some drops in standard around the middle of my rounds, maybe down to dehydration, hunger, slip in concentration?

razorblunt · 17-06-2013 3:45pm

GreeBo wrote: »

A bit inconsistent at the moment as I get to grip with a new swing.
Hitting it very well last night but have lost about 2 clubs in distance, hopefully that comes back as I get used to the changes

The same as this, with added work on chipping, end up miles away from the hole with the remotest chance of making birdie/par. Have fixed a wayward draw I had with driving and getting happier with my putting but a long way to go yet. Mind you I'll have a handicap somewhere in the low 20s so I'm not getting too carried away.

PARlance · 17-06-2013 3:48pm

spacecoyote wrote: »

Seems like you fix one thing, then something else goes with golf. 2 months ago I would have said driving was one of by best parts of my game. Now my game looks a little more like this:

Practice/Gym-work: Poor, have family home through to the end of June & plenty of socialising going on at the mo, so getting in time is a problem. The missus is away to the Gaeltacht for most of the month of July, so plan to get stuck into a proper fitness & practice regime!

Driving: Erratic, seems to take me a few holes to get going these days. Main issue is tempo, when I get too fast drives turn into a push-fade/slice, so main focus at the moment is on getting my rhythm right, and swinging through to a nice finish.

Fairway Woods/Hybrids: This is probably the best part of my game at the moment, getting me out of trouble after a poor drive & giving me good opportunities to score well on long par 4s & par 5s.

Irons: Fairly solid, couple of slight pulls but not so far that its putting me into any major trouble. Feeling confident with them and hitting longer of late.

Short Game: 80-30yrds really happy with at the moment. inside 30 yrds some inconsistency creeping in, but working on technique at the moment so its probably excusable.

Putting: Not good enough, but getting closer to where I want to be. Occasionally a little heavy handed with Lag putt attempts, but hitting a much more confident stroke over the shorter putts.

Overall, pretty happy with my game. Having some drops in standard around the middle of my rounds, maybe down to dehydration, hunger, slip in concentration?

Avoid me on the timesheet for a few weeks Space!

You might clarify that your missus is teaching at, or attending the Gaeltacht due to work reasons??
I might be avoiding you if she's down there to help her get an A in the junior cert

alxmorgan · 17-06-2013 4:29pm

alxmorgan wrote: »

Frustrating. Feel like I'm hitting the ball better than last year but not scoring.
I'm a 0.1 machine after a good year of cuts for the last two years.

Driving is generally ok to good
Irons have come on well but I have a tendency to pull them
Pitching around 100 into 60 I'm much happier with
Chipping is solid
Putting is hit and miss

Reading that I start to wonder why I can't score as it doesn't read too bad

Other night I had 27 pts. 14 of them in 5 holes which came in a 6 hole stretch so it is in there. Just have to get it out.

I hate/love this game

It may be in there but it's burying itself deeper and deeper under an avalanche of 0.1s :eek:

Yesterday was pathetic in terms of mental fortitude. Went out with a plan which went out the window after one hole :rolleyes:
Worst thing was every time I went back to original plan it worked.

Idiot :mad:

FixdePitchmark · 17-06-2013 4:31pm

ajcurry123 wrote: »

Avoid me on the timesheet for a few weeks Space!

You might clarify that your missus is teaching at, or attending the Gaeltacht due to work reasons??
I might be avoiding you if she's down there to help her get an A in the junior cert

lol,

Ok after the ups and downs and emotional roller coaster of father's day and US open, I have that major feeling of wanting to get out and think the pros have made me improve by watching.
Real issue with work getting in the way of golf right now.
Unreal amount of practice putting on my Dad's carpet over the weekend and his grass is destroyed from my 56 deg. We had a good laugh gambling and joking about my golf and Padraig and wishing him up every place up the leaderboard. My Dad won on Rose, he hit him again on Sunday (lol), now that is a gambler.
Wife on hen.
So my Father's day today.
Hard work on game in am.
But sometimes time away from the game is the best drive and practice you can get.

spacecoyote · 17-06-2013 4:49pm

ajcurry123 wrote: »

Avoid me on the timesheet for a few weeks Space!

You might clarify that your missus is teaching at, or attending the Gaeltacht due to work reasons??
I might be avoiding you if she's down there to help her get an A in the junior cert

Haha...yes, she is going down as a mature student studying to be a Primary Teacher.

No need to be re-christened "Space'll Fix It"

PARlance · 17-06-2013 4:50pm

spacecoyote wrote: »

Haha...yes, she is going down as a mature student studying to be a Primary Teacher.

No need to be re-christened "Space'll Fix It"

Unless you're talking about your driving, which you will fix sooner rather than later.

Keano · 19-06-2013 8:39pm

Had another lesson this evening, not much progress on the OTT

Not much point working on anything else until that is fixed!

Anyone here manage to correct OTT and how long did it take?

Ilik Urgee · 19-06-2013 9:21pm

Just back from the range. One thing I never do is take anything from the range, not the same as the real thing. That's my excuse:pac:
Brutal would be kind.

PARlance · 19-06-2013 9:46pm

Keano A Legend wrote: »

Had another lesson this evening, not much progress on the OTT

Not much point working on anything else until that is fixed!

Anyone here manage to correct OTT and how long did it take?

Whats causing the OTT and what drills has he got you doing Keano?

Took me a good 2 months range work last winter to start drawing the ball. Didn't play much Jan-March and it had crept back in a bit on my return. Not as severe, no slice thankfully.
I'm not working on it at present, just embracing the Fade/Agressive Fade/Power Fade with the big stick

Keano · 19-06-2013 10:13pm

Throwing my right shoulder on my down swing.

Have nearly ever drill under the sun but the minute a ball is put in front of me I go back the old habits!

bluebottle102 · 19-06-2013 10:37pm

My game is a tale of two 9's!! Can be going great for front 9 and then fall apart on the 10th on. Last week I had 21 after 9 and finished with 30. A month ago in the scratch cup was 8 over after 9, finished 9 over (madness) I don't know if it's concentration or what.

spacecoyote · 19-06-2013 11:36pm

Keano A Legend wrote: »

Had another lesson this evening, not much progress on the OTT

Not much point working on anything else until that is fixed!

Anyone here manage to correct OTT and how long did it take?

Took me quite a while to get rid of it, and still wouldn't say its 100% gone from my game, but I am in a position now of being able to move the ball either direction by shifting my plane from steeper to flatter.

The thing that clicked it for me was finding a stance at address that forced me to swing a certain way. For me its to stand with both feet tight together. If I try to swing the club & keep my balance it forces me to swing in a more in to out plane. If I was to swing ott standing like that I'd fall.

Don't get me wrong I'd had a few lessons which got me going the right direction it was just that one final thing that helped me to really feel how the swing should be going.

It's the one thing I struggle with with lessons. I can understand what the pro is showing me & what I should be doing, but until I get that feeling in my body of what should he happening it just doesn't stick.

Took a lot of range time & prob 6 months persistence to get to that place

realgolfgeek · 19-06-2013 11:46pm

Keano A Legend wrote: »

Throwing my right shoulder on my down swing.

Have nearly ever drill under the sun but the minute a ball is put in front of me I go back the old habits!

OTT is a pain in the assss !
However ... the main points which helped me dramatically!!!

Grip... I had a very weak grip, have a much stronger grip now, and that alone made a huge difference.
If you're doing what the instructor tells you to do, and it feels TOTALLY alien, you're probably doing it right :-)
Backswing, make sure you're not opening up the club face on the start of the backswing.

You need to start taking half swings and working from there, and ONLY work on 1, max 2 things at a time until you feel comfortable and natural.

Imagine trying to swing a club when you're thinking of

1) make sure my grip is not weak
2) make sure my club face is not open on the backswing.
3) don't overswing on the backswing
4) start downswing with hips
5) tuck right elbow in
6) nice in to out pathway
7) release that club
8) extend follow through.

You'd go insane, put it that way..

have I f8cked with your head now

Grip, posture, and alignment .... these are CRUCIAL !!!!

PARlance · 20-06-2013 12:04am

spacecoyote wrote: »

It's the one thing I struggle with with lessons. I can understand what the pro is showing me & what I should be doing, but until I get that feeling in my body of what should he happening it just doesn't stick.

I'd flip it around and say it's the one things a lot of Pros struggle with... That being, the failure to show someone the problem instead just skipping to the solution.

I was in the middle of doing 3-4 months of range work/lessons last winter, making some progress, putting in a lot of work that resulted in me getting to "feel/know" my swing better.
The main progress happened when I stumbled upon a Trackman video explaining in detail and with a pupil, WHY he was slicing... It clicked.

I then went and practiced exaggerating my mistake in practice swings for a month or so, still do it the odd time now, a bit odd I know, but it helped/continued to reinforce the feeling that I shouldn't be having.
Once you know this feeling inside out, that's when you can move on IMO.

I don't think enough Pros take this approach... Maybe it's due them dealing with a lot of guys just looking for a quick fix

(Still crap btw

but I can't remember my last slice and I couldn't not hit one before)

Ben1977 · 20-06-2013 12:18pm

More and more steady, had a problem over the last 2 years of trying to kill the ball. Found if I swing at a better tempo its going just as far if not further.

Short game is improving slowly. If I could sort this out and the silly mistakes it would make the world of difference.

TheDoc · 20-06-2013 1:54pm

Keano A Legend wrote: »

Had another lesson this evening, not much progress on the OTT

Not much point working on anything else until that is fixed!

Anyone here manage to correct OTT and how long did it take?

Assume this is Over The Top ?

I had this which created a fade in my swing. But more damaging was how steep I came in on impact, meaning I lost alot of distance.

My remedy was a simple drill I picked up on youtube (ill find link) and going to the driving range 3 nights a week for two hour sessions.

If your around North Dublin, Portmarnock is ideal with their €10 for 2 hours. Someone mentioned another place doing that now aswell. But I think it's ideal in that you can take your time, don't worry about rationing balls and you can sort it out.

The drill was placing two rubber tees to direct the plane I wanted at impact. This promoted a draw. I've actually tweaked it "ever" so slightly recently, due to me getting slingshot drives, and I've got a pretty sweet plane now that is getting crisp irons with a slight draw.

The benefits are the excellent ballstrike, but it feels so weird when you first do it. I think it's important to repeat it as often as possible for a period of time before it becomes nature. I made my changes in about April last year, started seeing the effects from about August onward. So took a good few months before I got results.

If you want to drop me a PM and if you are around the North Dublin area can organise a meetup at one of the ranges. I'm no pro or anything, but it was such a dramatic change for me, and I feel a lot better for it. Always helps to have a second pair of eyes on a swing change

Ben1977 wrote: »

More and more steady, had a problem over the last 2 years of trying to kill the ball. Found if I swing at a better tempo its going just as far if not further.

Short game is improving slowly. If I could sort this out and the silly mistakes it would make the world of difference.

This is something I spent two weeks on back in May. Found I was getting faster and faster. Have reduced my tempo down to a controllable speed and I'm getting consistent ball striking, and as you say, it's funny how you keep the same distance, if not even that little bit further.

* I wonder as this thread grows, and people are giving tips and advice on stuff, would it lead to people getting in touch and organising meet ups at ranges to help each other out in person on various things?

FixdePitchmark · 20-06-2013 3:17pm

^^^^
Great post - like meet up in the real world that would be odd.

Out yesterday for 9 - had to pick up kids. Driving and putting still weak. Long putts good but 6 foot in - i'm a bag of nerves.

My drive can be a large hook, a large slice a slight fade. A pro is trying to keep me on a single plain , was more of a 2 plain swing. So will take time to learn new swing.

The funny thing is I'm scoring well and with 3 3 putts was 4 over for the 9. 5 GIR. But got away with 3 bad drives.

shamrock2004 · 20-06-2013 6:28pm

Haven't played in just under a year due to a bad back injury. Can't wait to get back into it though. Make sure you warm up the lower back very well before picking up the club!

Really enjoy this clip of Sergio:

millerj · 20-06-2013 8:11pm

Ilik Urgee wrote: »

Just back from the range. One thing I never do is take anything from the range, not the same as the real thing. That's my excuse:pac:
Brutal would be kind.

Perhaps truer words were never said following today's performance. Better to leave all the rubbish at the range

ankles · 22-06-2013 8:25pm

so just had 29 points around Tulfarris, which is probably my best round in...oh... two years. 4 scratches and a rake of three putts caused by the dead slow greens. Finally brought what I have been practicing to a game, clearing hips to eliminate killer hook. I know doesn't seem great, but when you've been struggling to break 20 points for a couple of years you'll take anything. Roll on the next game (hopefully), as I left at least four points out there excluding the scratches

LightningBolt · 23-06-2013 12:42am

Just started off playing and have yet to get a handicap. Got a set of fitted irons (5-SW) which have made a difference in only my third round with them (I played with a set about 1.5 inches to short before).

5-9 I'm happy with at the moment as I'm getting the ball to go relatively straight, a good bit of distance and nice height on it.

SW-PW I'm not happy with. Prior to change in irons I could hit these clubs and failed misreably with the longer irons I had (3-9). Pitching I'm okay with but I've no control with chipping say 5-10 ft from the green.

Putting is okayish for a beginner I think.

redzerdrog · 24-06-2013 1:23pm

I dont have an official hcap yet but was playing off 18 in a society and with friends last year and could regularly break 30 points after not playing for much of the winter I started back and was playing ok but have got gradually worse with everything leaking right which I could deal with until coming up against a left to right wind so I bit the bullet last week and got a lesson.

The pro showed me exactly what I was doing wrong and why it was happening. He changed my grip which still feels awkward and made some changes to my set up and swing and gave me some drills to work on to help with the changes. So after working at home and on the range everyday last week I was still very hit and miss but when I did get the shot right I could see what he is trying to get me to do.

So then I played yesterday for the first time since the lesson. I played Headfort New so it wasn't the easiest course to be playing while going thru changes to the game. I scratched the 3 of the first 4 holes and lost about 6 balls in the process and I was ready to just say **** it and change back to my usual grip but I stuck with it and started to see some decent strikes. I ended up scoring 28 points with 19 points on the back 9 so now I am delighted with myself and although the new grip feels awkward I am starting to get used to it and can see signs of improvement.

One problem is I didnt use the new grip for pitching/chipping I just didnt feel comfortable doing it so kept with my old grip for that.
Just wondering does anyone use a different grip for that part of the game?

How's your game!

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