How's your game!

Keano

We have an off topic thread and the how did you score but we don't have a thread where we can discuss what we are working on or the general state of your game.

For me I'm working on fixing my OTT - bloody well hard work but I've sort of written off this year in terms of getting the handicap down. I've had 2 lessons so far and my ball striking has improved an awful lot but a long way to go!! :pac:

redzerdrog

I am playing the worst golf I have played in 5 years. But it is something different every time I play. One day its the putter next the driving and then the irons or wedges. It is at least 1 bad shot on pretty much every hole.

But on the brightside it has giving me a kick in the backside and I have finally booked a lesson, which was scheduled for today but cancelled due to the weather and it is now fixed for monday.

blockic

My game is shocking at the moment, extremely inconsistent. I'd hit 35 pts one day and 15 pts the next.

I guess you only get out of it what you put into it and at the moment for me, it's a lack of practice and time on the course. Hoping to rectify this in the next couple of months...

GreeBo

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

Keano

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

I'm the opposite. Hitting the ball a lot longer, making club selection even harder!

mike12

My short game is still not up to scratch but improving. My best score of the year came on a links where I didn't have to chip as I could putt everything.
Driving was a bit iffy, I had a stiff back and the timing was a bit off when I got back to full fitness but drove it great around the European the other day, lost 1 ball but hit off the fairway every other hole.

Do we obsess a bit with trying to hit the ball straight, Tiger can only manage to hit a fairway by playing a 30 year Fade(which to us would be a huge slice), if the No. 1 golfer can't hit it straight then what hope is there for us. Or should we learn a lesson from it and embrace out natural shot shape and use it to get us where we need to go even if it's not pretty.

Mike

Anto12

Great thread ... At the moment my Driver is killing me - some straight- some blocked way right and some just awful .. finally gave up on trying to sort it myself - have a lesson booked for next week - had thought about a new purchase but that could leave to more trounle so gave my local pro a bell and hope to god he can find out what i cant !!!!

levitronix

My scoring is very consistent
Putting is streaky but i feel im putting well some days they drop some they dont, good day 28-30 putts, not so good 34 putts +
Driving with all my driving clubs is inconsistent
Iron play im happy where im at right now
80 yards and under approach shots not so happy, distance judgement is bad
Chipping im happy with but that goes hand in hand with putting sometimes i get the up and downs

I need to be able to transfere my range practice with the long clubs onto the course, i dont seem to hit the same bad shots on the range, well not as many

DuckSlice

I'm pretty happy with my game at the moment, the last 5 competitions i entered i have placed in the top 4 in 4 of them and tenth in the other one, 1/3/4/10/4 is my form also came fourth in a fourball betterball comp.

i've mainly been working on my game from 100 yards in because this is where most of the round is played, 70% i think is the stat on that. i get the drive away pretty good all the time averaging probably just over 200 yrds, would like to hit it further off the tee tho. think i might have a lesson just to take the next step, im currently playing off 14 but want to lower it!

@levitronix the trouble is with the range the mats are so forgiving, well i find anyway, your probably better goign for a round and just using your long irons instead of the driver if your driver is doing you good!

charlieIRL

My game is dead & gone. Just can't get time to get out for a round for the last few months. Have only played about 6 rounds this year and its depressing.

bustercherry

Surprisingly great... Haven't the time to practice as much, this year, so focusing mainly of short game and putting (after some serious changes). The fact I made a conscious decision to stop working on swing changes/perceived faults has made my long game very consistent. Expected to go out a little bit and not feature in comps; but the opposite has occurred.

alxmorgan

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

Dr_Colossus

Having a poor year so far, eight 0.1s received to date with as much more in the buffer (mainly with the help of clause 19 adjustments) and not a single cut. Despite all my efforts and expectations can't seem to lower the handicap at all this year but I'm still holding out.

Playing more than ever this year after changing clubs at the start of the year to reduce the commute. 6 miles from the club now so often get out for 9 holes or a practice session mid week after work along with a competition or occasionally two over the weekend.

Changed irons at the end of last year and added wedges I didn't have previously so there's been a lot of changes and adjustments this year so far. Took a while to break in the irons/wedges but was striking the ball beautifully with them over the winter.

Since the start of the golfing season however my swing has gone to bits with the main result either a pull or hook left with everything from driver to wedge. Not striking the ball at all and often coming up thin with the occasional dreaded shank. Earlier in the year I'd lost two full club lengths in distance with the irons and driver was very inconsistent with the occasional push shot for good measure.

I got a lesson at the start of April which revealed problems with my take away and a closed club face and further issues with lack of hip rotation on the follow through. Spent a good while working on that but after seeing little improvement went back for another lesson last week which reveled my swing to have gotten frightfully flat together with a bowed wrist on the backswing. Had other smaller issues regarding posture and grip also so a lot to work on.

I don't seem to have the ability to incorporate a natural fluid swing without close monitoring and refinement of the situation. I suppose golf and the underlying swing ebbs and flows but I always seem to pick up bad habits unknown to myself which then take time and effort to revoke. It's often a case of one step forward and two steps back before leaping to the next phase. There have been a lot of steps backward this year so I'm hoping the next leap forward is just around the corner.

The one positive I can take from the year so far is that due to all the missed fairways and greens in regulation my scrambling has improved no end and it's been the result of any of my scores within the buffer zone this year.

Russman

Struggling to score well myself this year as opposed to playing "badly" as such. After a few years of playing utter sh1te and going from 3 to 8 handicap, its finally turning round. Went to a different pro for a few lessons in the last 12 months and its been good to de-clutter the brain !

Pretty comfortable where the game is at right now and playing very well in practice but REALLY struggling to do a decent score at the weekend, keep doing stupid things like starting with 3 double bogeys or something. A few weeks ago I was flying, level par after five and then had four 6s in a row :eek:, stupid stuff like that is whats killing me at the moment, especially starting bad, can't seem to get past the first 4 holes without a few disasters.

On the upside, even with all the train wrecks on my card, I've been in the buffer on all my rounds this year except for two and got rid of that 0.2 last week anyway, so hopefully when I do start to score well the handicap will come back down.

PARlance

Putting is killing me at the moment. Have been doing a lot of thinkering 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.

EvanCornwallis

Well, that was a depressing read. God help us all !

zl1whqvjs75cdy

Blocking hard right with the driver, always in trouble off the tee . Also got new irons and the distances are all over the shop for me, hitting these much further than my old ones. The wedges especially are a disaster, burying chips over the green repeatedly.

FixdePitchmark

Great thread Keano.

All in the head with me, I'm fully mental.

Can do everything well, but not on same day - I guess that is the story for so many. Short putting my main problem.

I've given up the driving range.

I feel i could shoot mid 70s one day when something happens, or the putter gets hot. A good thing is that I mostly am under 85 on bad days these days. My course mgmt is way better than a year ago.

the lawman

Good thread Keano.

Started the year very consistent and shooting 36-38 most weeks. Shot a 77 gross in a comp and things were going great. Made a big call to change the Hurley grip to normal grip. Just felt I needed to get to the next level and hands were stopping me.

Just as I started on the change I got injured and was out of 3 months. Finally got back a month ago and started shooting 23/24 points. Slowly that's getting better and ball striking is improving. Grip is pretty much my own grip now. Scores getting better.

Right now working on a better weight transfer which is a new swing. As Keano mentioned in OP I'm just taking this whole year to improve and next year is an assault on single figures.

Keano

After today...a shambles

Ilik Urgee

I'm playing some of my best golf at the minute, literally can't wait for the next round. Put a round together yesterday where I actually used the ceann and my HC to score well enough.
Had 3 lessons in the last 6 months where the pro has sorted out a bad fade/slice on my long game(mainly woods).What was once my strong point,120yds in, is my achilles heel now with so much concentration on the long irons. Only difference now is I'm still in the hole when I get that far.
This game is either euphoria or hell,and extremes of both!

Mr Guinness.

Golf what a waste of good farm land

scrubber72

Always thought farms were a good waste of golf land myself. But what would i know being a townie.
Oh and my game is like something used to fertilize the land

ForeRight

charlieIRL wrote: »

My game is dead & gone. Just can't get time to get out for a round for the last few months. Have only played about 6 rounds this year and its depressing.

Same for me.

When I do get out I'm lucky to hit 30 points then.

Senna

Off the tee = Good, normally on the fairway, might not be the longest, but usually short grass.
Irons = Changed from my usual draw (closed stance) after hooking a few shots left, irons when to hell this last few months. Last week I decided on the 10th hole to just go back to a closed stance and hit them brilliant, like night and day.
Cant wait to get out on Sunday and just go back to natural stance.
Chipping = A lot more confident in last few rounds, new to links greens and had been hesitant over pitch and chips in case the ball would just roll off the green. But confident strikes will normal work out well, soft half heart'ed chips go no-where.
Putting = Very inconsistent green speeds lately, hard to get used to them, especially since the clubs putting green is closed for remodeling. Putted well this last two rounds, again confident putting is needed.

I really feel like I could shoot 40 points this Sunday

expect the "how did i score" thread to show 26 points:o

Rikand

frustrating.

After all the swing changes I have gone through, I am hitting the ball better than I was last year, but last year I was so consistent. pars all day long, maybe 1 or 2 birdies, maybe 1 or 2 bogeys. but the rest all guaranteed pars.

Now, I could hit 3 or 4 birdies in a round, but I cant resist throwing in 2 or 3 double bogeys. I made a change to my putting about a month ago and I'm putting brilliantly, especially from 8 feet and in. But at random times during the round, my brain gets in the way of me having a good game and I try to perform absolutely ridiculous shots.

I was 1 under after 9 last week and from nowhere standing on the 10th tee(par 3) decided I was going to try and play a 40 yard draw with a 7 iron into a left to right wind. - what on earth was I thinking???? - cost me a double bogey and I'm doing silly stuff like that all the time, for no reason whatsoever .

my goal was to get down to 3, with an ultimate goal of 2.4, but unless I get my head sorted out, I'll be back out to 6 for the first time in over 12 months after tomorrow's round

slave1

Dedicating this year to hitting fairways from the tee and turning/releasing my hands through my swing, don't care about the scores so they're variable at the minute.

Luke's swing is just pure golf, what a release at the end, 1.2m views says it all

Golfgraffix

Having a really consistent year so far, I think I have only been outside the buffer 3 times in the last 22 games.

Not making much headway on my target of 9 but that is more down to being a little too aggressive and going flag hunting.

Since I changed to the fitted clubs I seem to have lost the big big miss. Once I get the 80 and in shot nailed I think I will be banging on the door of a big score, maybe captains day next week!!

J

Danny dyers double

Well into my 2nd year of Golf now . And as iv obviously gotten better since last year iv still along way to go .

Had my first lesson a few weeks back and what I was shown was definitly was a help its just the discipline to stick with it is the hard part .

I think my biggest problem is lack of concentration at times . For instance played 9 holes yesterday evening and say one hole I'd be putting for birdie and walk off with bogie . Next hole drive would be terrible but play the rest of the hole well for bogie .

I suppose I'm the same as all high handicap players that I can play every shot in the game reasonably well but doing it all together or consistently is the problem.

Benicetomonty

I've made some progress this year so far. The last few have seen a worrying trend handicap wise, so any reversal of that was probably going to be acceptable. I've been driving the ball pretty well of late, still the odd wild one in there but a lot of good one otherwise. Iron game has been a little better, but still the weakest part of my game I feel. Chipping and pitching has been much better following the bit of growth we've had, nice to see the ball sitting up on the fairways the last few weeks. Putting has been very average. The couple of cuts I've had have seen me break 30 putts but I haven't really had a hot streak on the greens, and my poor rounds have been horror shows with the wand. Mental game has been better overall, really trying to score as low as I can every round regardless of how well or badly it's going. Easier said than done

Nuri Sahin

Mostly happy with my game at the moment, driving aside which has always been quite inconsistent namely with the driver. If I could sort this part of my game out, I'd drop a couple of shots at least.

Overall ball striking is grand with the irons however, and my short game is in great nick, but that's always been the biggest strength to my game.

Main thing that's improved for me over the past month or two is my putting. Done a lot of extended sessions on the practice putting greens for around an hour or so a couple of times a week which has helped. Quite simply, I'm draining more putts from the 10-20ft range since switching putter, that being an Odyssey Metal X 8 putter. In turn with my confidence up, I feel like I can be more aggressive on putts where in the past for the most part I've been quite well, tentative at times. More lagging my putts up for a short tap in mindset. So yeah, the best I've putted in the since I taken up the game

Arsenium

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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