The "Epic" lowering your handicap "mega" thread

Corkblowin · 03-10-2013 12:43pm

I see a lot of talk about drivers and wonder why we're all so obsessed. I've gone from hitting 14 drivers a round down to 9/10. A 3 wood is easier to hit straight, the poor shots are not as wide, and the difference in length often isn't worth talking about. Especially with the new ones where lofts can be tweaked.

I'd suggest in the next casual game that the driver is left in the boot and see the difference it makes to FIR and consequently scoring.

alxmorgan · 03-10-2013 1:04pm

Corkblowin wrote: »

I see a lot of talk about drivers and wonder why we're all so obsessed. I've gone from hitting 14 drivers a round down to 9/10. A 3 wood is easier to hit straight, the poor shots are not as wide, and the difference in length often isn't worth talking about. Especially with the new ones where lofts can be tweaked.

I'd suggest in the next casual game that the driver is left in the boot and see the difference it makes to FIR and consequently scoring.

Did this for a while and it helped but then lost confidence with it.
Went back to driver for the confidence boost of the bigger head

Am playing around with a 12 degree driver at the minute to try and find a happy medium

Wichita Lineman · 03-10-2013 1:25pm

It's like every other club, if you trust your driver go with it and if you dont, then dont use it.

GreeBo · 03-10-2013 1:30pm

Corkblowin wrote: »

I see a lot of talk about drivers and wonder why we're all so obsessed. I've gone from hitting 14 drivers a round down to 9/10. A 3 wood is easier to hit straight, the poor shots are not as wide, and the difference in length often isn't worth talking about. Especially with the new ones where lofts can be tweaked.

I'd suggest in the next casual game that the driver is left in the boot and see the difference it makes to FIR and consequently scoring.

100% agree.
I went from 12 to 5 or 6 depending on wind. Scores are deffo no worse and seem to be lower.
The stark reality is that the further the ball goes, the more trouble it can find, even for the same quality of strike.
Couple that with the fact that its one of the hardest clubs in the bag to hit....

Andy Dunne11 wrote: »

It's like every other club, if you trust your driver go with it and if you dont, then dont use it.

If you have proof that it does more good than bad on each hole, then use it, otherwise done!

ssbob · 03-10-2013 2:14pm

Corkblowin wrote: »

I see a lot of talk about drivers and wonder why we're all so obsessed. I've gone from hitting 14 drivers a round down to 9/10. A 3 wood is easier to hit straight, the poor shots are not as wide, and the difference in length often isn't worth talking about. Especially with the new ones where lofts can be tweaked.

I'd suggest in the next casual game that the driver is left in the boot and see the difference it makes to FIR and consequently scoring.

I kept the driver in the bag earlier in the year and started using 3 wood more, I definitely improved my accuracy but found instead of hitting 8/9 irons I was hitting 5/6 irons and fair enough maybe I should just have hit two full PW's I find this hard to do.

The course that made me hit driver again was Mount Juliet as I was miles back and struggling for some of the carry's off the tee.

Will prob revert back to 3wood/hybrid once winter tee's come into play.

GreeBo · 03-10-2013 2:17pm

ssbob wrote: »

I kept the driver in the bag earlier in the year and started using 3 wood more, I definitely improved my accuracy but found instead of hitting 8/9 irons I was hitting 5/6 irons and fair enough maybe I should just have hit two full PW's I find this hard to do.

The course that made me hit driver again was Mount Juliet as I was miles back and struggling for some of the carry's off the tee.

Will prob revert back to 3wood/hybrid once winter tee's come into play.

Assuming you have lots of shots, if hitting a 3w off the tee means you are now struggling with a long iron to the green, then dont hit the 3W, hit a 5iron and then a 7i and then your wedge.
If you cant comfortably make it in 2 there is no point in adding risk to the drive by hitting a 3w.

Obviously there is a balance to all of this, but you wont find your own balance unless you try the options.

ssbob · 03-10-2013 2:37pm

GreeBo wrote: »

Assuming you have lots of shots, if hitting a 3w off the tee means you are now struggling with a long iron to the green, then dont hit the 3W, hit a 5iron and then a 7i and then your wedge.

I totally get your point, the thing for me is I am just as likely to have a penalty shot off the 5/6 iron as I am with the driver, I could prob hit 7 iron but in a lot of places I may not even make the fairway with that!

My next round of golf will involve playing very conservative, I will report back!

alxmorgan · 03-10-2013 2:40pm

ssbob wrote: »

I totally get your point, the thing for me is I am just as likely to have a penalty shot off the 5/6 iron as I am with the driver, I could prob hit 7 iron but in a lot of places I may not even make the fairway with that!

My next round of golf will involve playing very conservative, I will report back!

I look forward to that. Some day over the winter I am going to take a bag out with 5 iron as my biggest club and see how I go.
We have one long par 3 over water but off winter tees it shouldn't be an issue

Another thing I might try is taking only 3/4 clubs and seeing how I go. Will test my shotmaking ability

Ah to be young and single and be able to play enough to try stuff out like this over multiple weekend rounds :rolleyes:

Corkblowin · 03-10-2013 2:51pm

ssbob wrote: »

The course that made me hit driver again was Mount Juliet as I was miles back and struggling for some of the carry's off the tee.

I can totally understand with Mount Juliet - can be a beast off some tees - esp when its wet. But thats where assessing your options comes in. Mount Juliet has plenty of holes where the fairways are wide and even if you miss its not too bad. It can be worth the calculated risk on those holes. Others (such as the 4th), possibly not.

On Sunday I hit driver on 2 holes near the end where I normally wouldn't (line off the tee is too risky). 4 pars to finish would have been 35 points so I decided to go for broke & try to birdie them. Ended up with 32 points. Took the gamble and paid the price - its how I saw it at the time.

Probably could do with some of Greebo's discipline (or stubborness!:D)

GreeBo wrote: »

I do grip it and rip it...its much easier to rip it when you are confident that you are hitting the right club and arent trying to steer it down the fairway

This is the most important thing - I can't count the number of times I've 'fallen asleep' on a lay-up. Its an 'easy' shot so the mind can wander & bang - you're in trouble. What ever you decide to do, be committed!

ssbob · 03-10-2013 2:55pm

Corkblowin wrote: »

I can totally understand with Mount Juliet - can be a beast off some tees - esp when its wet. But thats where assessing your options comes in. Mount Juliet has plenty of holes where the fairways are wide and even if you miss its not too bad. It can be worth the calculated risk on those holes. Others (such as the 4th), possibly not.

Well the fourth is a great hole but a beast of a drive(I played it twice in early April), I actually laid up both times I think even after getting drives away! What a hole?

Where are you a member Corkblowin? Trying to imagine the finishing stretch you talk about?

Corkblowin · 03-10-2013 2:56pm

alxmorgan wrote: »

I look forward to that. Some day over the winter I am going to take a bag out with 5 iron as my biggest club and see how I go.

Its definitely worth the experiment. I used to play out of a club with a short par 69 course. One evening we went out with nothing more than a 6 iron in the bag - I was level, my buddy off 2 was under par, and the other 2 guys (off 10 and 12) both broke 75.

But did we stick to it the next day out.......:o

Corkblowin · 03-10-2013 2:59pm

ssbob wrote: »

Where are you a member Corkblowin? Trying to imagine the finishing stretch you talk about?

Play out of Fota. The 15th is a sharp dogleg left and hitting driver off the whites means I need to hit a big draw or take on a carry over some trees to avoid running through the fairway & being blocked out. On 18 then hitting driver brings trees into play whereas a 3 wood is short of them but I can still have a crack if I feel like it.

It did not go well.........:)

ssbob · 03-10-2013 3:18pm

Corkblowin wrote: »

Play out of Fota. The 15th is a sharp dogleg left and hitting driver off the whites means I need to hit a big draw or take on a carry over some trees to avoid running through the fairway & being blocked out. On 18 then hitting driver brings trees into play whereas a 3 wood is short of them but I can still have a crack if I feel like it.

It did not go well.........:)

Shame on me, I live in Cork, and I have yet to play Fota.:(

Must get down there soon. 18th looks tremendous in photo's, kind of like the 18th in Congressional for the approach shot anyway!

paulos53 · 03-10-2013 3:27pm

ssbob wrote: »

Shame on me, I live in Cork, and I have yet to play Fota.:(

Must get down there soon. 18th looks tremendous in photo's, kind of like the 18th in Congressional for the approach shot anyway!

Open Singles there every Wednesday in October & November plus a few mid-week fourballs also. Don't know which course they have in play though.

I am happy to join you if you want a game there any week. Might even be ideal practice ahead of the Ryder Jug

ssbob · 03-10-2013 3:39pm

paulos53 wrote: »

Open Singles there every Wednesday in October & November plus a few mid-week fourballs also. Don't know which course they have in play though.

I am happy to join you if you want a game there any week. Might even be ideal practice ahead of the Ryder Jug

Hey Paul,

Cheers for the offer, unfortunately mid-week golf is out for me

Be great if I could get into the jug, except everyone who qualified seems to be playing:rolleyes:

Ilik Urgee · 03-10-2013 3:55pm

I recently purchased aGarmin s1 gps watch, has the basic front/middle/back yardages to the green on it.

Anything under 150 yards it sorts out the head as to the certainty of the club before taking the shot. I'd hazard it has saved me 2-3 shots a round.

Also put a super strike/stroke? grip on the putter, whether it's a confidence thing or less wrist breakdown I feel like I can 2 putt from anywhere on a green(not always the case).
Is it unfeasable to think a high handicapper wouldn't benefit from "technological advances" or is it all just marketing?

GreeBo · 03-10-2013 5:05pm

ssbob wrote: »

I totally get your point, the thing for me is I am just as likely to have a penalty shot off the 5/6 iron as I am with the driver, I could prob hit 7 iron but in a lot of places I may not even make the fairway with that!

My next round of golf will involve playing very conservative, I will report back!

You might think that, but the same swing with a 5i will never be as bad as with a driver.
Sure you might be in rough or even behind a tree if you are unlucky, but long term it wont be as bad.
15degrees left with a iron might put you just off the fairway,add another 100m to that (what you would get with a driver) and you are probably on someone elses land!

Report back with the results of your homework

But dont let bad sensible shots make you stop trying to hit sensible shots...

spacecoyote · 03-10-2013 5:11pm

GreeBo wrote: »

But dont let bad sensible shots make you stop trying to hit sensible shots...

I think that therein lies the issue for most people. They hit one bad shot trying to be sensible, it doesn't work out, so they switch back to driver thinking "Hey if I'm going to duff it anyway, may as well get the benefit of an extra 100 yards"

On a long run average though, they'd likely see the scoring come down with the percentage play

ssbob · 03-10-2013 5:12pm

GreeBo wrote: »

You might think that, but the same swing with a 5i will never be as bad as with a driver.

I can think of twice this year when I tried to play conservative(off the first anyway:D):

Playing in Monthly medal, hit 6 iron off the first, big push right into ditch, second shot shanked into ditch, hit driver down the fairway in anger:D Made a 9 in the end!
Playing in the heritage with BGS, hit 6 iron off the first, thought I was ok but was OB right again:rolleyes:.

I see what your saying in that 10 bad 6 irons will never be as bad as 10 bad drivers but you can still find trouble depending on the course!

GreeBo · 03-10-2013 5:13pm

ssbob wrote: »

I can think of twice this year when I tried to play conservative(off the first anyway:D):
Playing in Monthly medal, hit 6 iron off the first, big push right into ditch, second shot shanked into ditch, hit driver down the fairway in anger:D Made a 9 in the end!

Playing in the heritage with BGS, hit 6 iron off the first, thought I was ok but was OB right again:rolleyes:.

I see what your saying in that 10 bad 6 irons will never be as bad as 10 bad drivers but you can still find trouble depending on the course!

for sure you can, but you will find it less often and it wont be as bad. (it might only be a little bit OB sometimes

)

alxmorgan · 03-10-2013 5:19pm

GreeBo wrote: »

for sure you can, but you will find it less often and it wont be as bad. (it might only be a little bit OB sometimes )

Is there anything more heartbreaking than being an inch over the OB line :mad:
May as well be 50 yards over it

GreeBo · 03-10-2013 5:39pm

oh and another piece of advice (from my *vast* knowledgebase!)
if your plan calls for an iron/rescue off the tee or a layup on a par 3/4/5 *unless its stableford* if your first shot goes horribly wrong (OB, water, unplayable)*stick with the plan* for your provo/3rd shot.
If that plan is truly the best plan for the hole , then hitting a bad first shot doesnt change it in strokes.
Saying "screw it" and pulling out the driver after youve just knocked a 5i into Mrs Jones garden is what leaves you in the clubhouse afterwards saying "if I didnt have that 10 I Would have.....")

In stableford feel free to swing for the fences, IF you dont have a shot there...

alxmorgan · 03-10-2013 5:56pm

GreeBo wrote: »

oh and another piece of advice (from my *vast* knowledgebase!)
if your plan calls for an iron/rescue off the tee or a layup on a par 3/4/5 *unless its stableford* if your first shot goes horribly wrong (OB, water, unplayable)*stick with the plan* for your provo/3rd shot.
If that plan is truly the best plan for the hole , then hitting a bad first shot doesnt change it in strokes.
Saying "screw it" and pulling out the driver after youve just knocked a 5i into Mrs Jones garden is what leaves you in the clubhouse afterwards saying "if I didnt have that 10 I Would have.....")

In stableford feel free to swing for the fences, IF you dont have a shot there...

Now we are getting to the nub of some of my issues (there's many :rolleyes: )

I had a plan for a scratch cup this summer. Very tight course so it was 4/5 irons off first 6 or 7 holes until it opened up.

Hit a 4 iron off first. Pulled a little into light rough. 5 iron second shot to left of green. Shot onto green was poor and short and into bunker. Out and 2 putts for 6. Partner made a handy birdie after hitting driver.

So what did I do on 2 ? Give Mr Greebo a prize...I hit driver. Big push. Barely found it. And on and on for a truly terrible round.

What did I do wrong ?
1) I let playing partners score affect me.
2) I changed my plan for no good reason
3) The bad shots that lead me to change plan had nothing to do with irons off the tee. i.e. nothing to do with plan (so no good reason to change plan based on shots taken not to mind being so early)
4) I went from a not great 4 iron swing to a not great driver swing (what did I think was going to happen ?)

Dear Lord I need a caddie or a labotomy !!!!!!! :mad::rolleyes:

millerj · 03-10-2013 6:29pm

alxmorgan wrote: »

Now we are getting to the nub of some of my issues (there's many :rolleyes: )

I had a plan for a scratch cup this summer. Very tight course so it was 4/5 irons off first 6 or 7 holes until it opened up.

Hit a 4 iron off first. Pulled a little into light rough. 5 iron second shot to left of green. Shot onto green was poor and short and into bunker. Out and 2 putts for 6. Partner made a handy birdie after hitting driver.

So what did I do on 2 ? Give Mr Greebo a prize...I hit driver. Big push. Barely found it. And on and on for a truly terrible round.

What did I do wrong ?
1) I let playing partners score affect me.
2) I changed my plan for no good reason
3) The bad shots that lead me to change plan had nothing to do with irons off the tee. i.e. nothing to do with plan (so no good reason to change plan based on shots taken not to mind being so early)
4) I went from a not great 4 iron swing to a not great driver swing (what did I think was going to happen ?)

Dear Lord I need a caddie or a labotomy !!!!!!! :mad::rolleyes:

Out of curiosity - how did your playing partner finish?

alxmorgan · 03-10-2013 6:31pm

millerj wrote: »

Out of curiosity - how did your playing partner finish?

Ah Christ you had to go there didn't you ? :P

He blew up and barely bettered my fairly pathetic round. His driver got him into plenty of trouble on holes where based on any plan I could see he shouldn't have used it.

I'm hoping this is a watershed moment for me. The first stage is to admit you have a problem

spacecoyote · 03-10-2013 6:57pm

alxmorgan wrote: »

Now we are getting to the nub of some of my issues (there's many :rolleyes: )

I had a plan for a scratch cup this summer. Very tight course so it was 4/5 irons off first 6 or 7 holes until it opened up.

Hit a 4 iron off first. Pulled a little into light rough. 5 iron second shot to left of green. Shot onto green was poor and short and into bunker. Out and 2 putts for 6. Partner made a handy birdie after hitting driver.

So what did I do on 2 ? Give Mr Greebo a prize...I hit driver. Big push. Barely found it. And on and on for a truly terrible round.

What did I do wrong ?
1) I let playing partners score affect me.
2) I changed my plan for no good reason
3) The bad shots that lead me to change plan had nothing to do with irons off the tee. i.e. nothing to do with plan (so no good reason to change plan based on shots taken not to mind being so early)
4) I went from a not great 4 iron swing to a not great driver swing (what did I think was going to happen ?)

Dear Lord I need a caddie or a labotomy !!!!!!! :mad::rolleyes:

Had a similar idea about a tight course I played on a society outing. Rather than risk switching the plan & hitting driver, I just left it at home and stuck my 4 iron back into the bag instead.

Finished 2nd on the day in the end, so plan worked

alxmorgan · 03-10-2013 8:20pm

spacecoyote wrote: »

Had a similar idea about a tight course I played on a society outing. Rather than risk switching the plan & hitting driver, I just left it at home and stuck my 4 iron back into the bag instead.

Finished 2nd on the day in the end, so plan worked

Now that is an idea. If only I had thought of that

m r c · 03-10-2013 9:38pm

So I sat down today and as best as I could I did a statistical analysis as to where I'm losing shots.

The short story is that in all areas my game isn't holding up under pressure. Many cases if not most are inside 100 yards tbh so it really is a short game thing really.

So I've decided I need more of a fool proof swing and I'm going to spend the winter working in my impact position with all clubs.
I'm going for a more passive move through the ball with a bent left wrist at impact.
I went to the range today and mostly with irons but all clubs I tried it out and while I'm losing distance my misses were a lot tighter

This isn't a I can hit the ball 300 thread and I'm def not taking it there.

On a whole I'd say the whole swing feels quieter and once I had the feeling if the move it's a little but easier to just put the club on the back of the ball.

I'm going to drill the hell out of this all winter and give it at least one year before I'm going to say either way if it's working or not. But my current swing was too erratic and timing dependant on my off days.

A good example of oeople who hit the ball this way are Sergio or Gmac.

alxmorgan · 03-10-2013 9:49pm

m r c wrote: »

So I sat down today and as best as I could I did a statistical analysis as to where I'm losing shots.

The short story is that in all areas my game isn't holding up under pressure. Many cases if bit most are inside 100 yards tbh so it really is a short game thing really.

So I've decided I need more of a fool proof swing and I'm going to spend the winter working in my impact position with all clubs.
I'm going for a more passive move through the ball with a bent left wrist at impact.
I went to the range today and mostly with irons but all clubs I tried it out and while I'm losing distance my misses were a lot tighter

This isn't a I can hit the ball 300 thread and I'm def not taking it there.

On a whole I'd say the whole swing feels quieter and once I had the feeling if the move it's a little but easier to just put the club on the back of the ball.

I'm going to drill the hell out of this all winter and give it at least one year before I'm going to say either way if it's working or not. But my current swing was too erratic and timing dependant on my off days.

A good example of oeople who hit the ball this way are Sergio or Gmac.

When you say bent left wrist do you mean bowed or cupped ?
If you mean bowed ala Dustin Johnson for me that should mean more power as it should lower dynamic loft via shaft lean at impact

m r c · 03-10-2013 9:54pm

alxmorgan wrote: »

When you say bent left wrist do you mean bowed or cupped ?
If you mean bowed ala Dustin Johnson for me that should mean more power as it should lower dynamic loft via shaft lean at impact

Bowed ya definitely not cupped. I'll put up a video from a guy called Josh Zander showing what I was on about.

m r c · 03-10-2013 9:56pm

This guy is referring to it as the stable release.

http://youtu.be/xMjTOVv6e2A

alxmorgan · 03-10-2013 10:09pm

m r c wrote: »

This guy is referring to it as the stable release.

http://youtu.be/xMjTOVv6e2A

Good video. I played around with that earlier this year and had some success (and big distance gains) but I found trouble once I went past the short irons so I dropped it to not have different swings for different clubs.

Anyway it seems like it should be more reliable as relies less on timing. Best of luck with it and let us know how it goes

m r c · 03-10-2013 10:32pm

alxmorgan wrote: »

Good video. I played around with that earlier this year and had some success (and big distance gains) but I found trouble once I went past the short irons so I dropped it to not have different swings for different clubs.

Anyway it seems like it should be more reliable as relies less on timing. Best of luck with it and let us know how it goes

Thanks, there is another benefit as regards my poorer swings I was always in the habit of having forward shaft lean and sometimes this caused me to leave the face open through the strike. As in through impact sometimes the butt end of my club would be too far in front of my left thigh. Harder to explain in words than you'd imagine but you'd probably get my point but when you move through the ball this way the face is squarer longer and should serve to suit my miss better. Anyway I'm not expecting anything quick this is a slow burner.

Edit
And ya I'd like to take as much timing out of my swing as possible. And if as a consequence my longer game suffers in the short term that's not something I'm worried about.

Dbu · 04-10-2013 12:00pm

m r c wrote: »

So I sat down today and as best as I could I did a statistical analysis as to where I'm losing shots.

The short story is that in all areas my game isn't holding up under pressure. Many cases if not most are inside 100 yards tbh so it really is a short game thing really.

your statistical analysis is spot on,
As i said previously it doesnt matter if your off 24 or 4 its all about the short game.... and one other thing ..keep it simple...dont spend 3 minutes reading a putt line, get the pace right and aim for the hole,,youll be grand:D

Freemount09 · 04-10-2013 2:05pm

GreeBo wrote: »

Nicklaus had a saying that he would always make sure to not beat himself...if someone else played well and won, fair play to them, but dont ever beat yourself out there. This is basically my interpretation of that.

(my mother game similar advice, but I dont think she was talking about golf! :eek:)

Thats funny cause your mother gave me the exact oposite advice !! :P

OilBeefHooked2 · 04-10-2013 3:34pm

My sincere condolences mrc, you start a new thread to get away from the incessant preaching about "course management" and it follows.....

spacecoyote · 04-10-2013 4:27pm

Not really getting your point david-k.

Its a thread about tips to get your handicap lower. I would have thought..."improve your course management" is a valid Tip to get your handicap lower?

OilBeefHooked2 · 04-10-2013 6:28pm

spacecoyote wrote: »

Not really getting your point david-k.

Its a thread about tips to get your handicap lower. I would have thought..."improve your course management" is a valid Tip to get your handicap lower?

Yes of course it is part of reducing ones handicap and yes of course you can point it out to people and then let them learn in their own good time, but constantly ramming it down peoples throats in a throll like behaviour gets old and tiresome after about the thousand time, golfers are just like everyone else and there are as many wide and varied ways to put a score together as there are people on the planet, but apparently here on boards.ie we have a 9 handicapper who holds the exclusive rights on how to manage ones game around the course.
Well newsflash a "one size" fits all appraoch does not and can not ever work, and I for one welcome that, it makes golf more interesting when the fairways are not infested with Greebots.

dwd · 04-10-2013 7:08pm

I've been fairly fustrated this year with no progress in getting handicap going in the right direction, and have been stuck at 13 for the last year and half.

So I've 3 main aims for this winter:
1, Strength & conditioning, I've an old shoulder injury and I really need to strengthen up my back, chest & core. I've started working on this since August, hitting the gym about 3 times a week and I definitely think this is helping already with regards swing consistency and not walking of the course with an agonizingly stiff upper back.

2, is the mental side of things, I'm terrible for losing concentration for a few holes, making silly mistake and bad decisions of the back of mistakes. So, I'm planning to reread the Bob Rotella books again, haven't read them in years and maybe also go to a Karl Morris workshop if I can find one in early spring as most of what I've heard has been positive about him. I think a good pre shot routine would help here aswell.

3, practice, practice, practice, I want to keep working on the changes I've made with my coach during earlier in the year and try to get them to really bed in going to the range at least once or twice a week and then to work on my short game and putting on a Saturday before and after my once a week game.

not much to do so

but I think if I can do this over the winter I'll easily make it in to the single figures next year :cool:

m r c · 04-10-2013 9:47pm

dwd wrote: »

2, is the mental side of things, I'm terrible for losing concentration for a few holes, making silly mistake and bad decisions of the back of mistakes. So, I'm planning to reread the Bob Rotella books again, haven't read them in years and maybe also go to a Karl Morris workshop if I can find one in early spring as most of what I've heard has been positive about him. I think a good pre shot routine would help here

This bit in particular is massive, I've even noticed my concentration go at the range when I'd be working on something in particular which is mad. I've been beginning the swing changes I mentioned above and hit 200 balls today and yesterday and feck me if I didn't hit some really bad ones out of pure lack of application to what I was at.

Gin77 · 04-10-2013 9:50pm

Had a great game plan to score 42pts.
A low handicapper in our group hit his drive, no practice swing, chating during his back swing stuck the ball exactly where I wanted to go.
So I thought I'm going to out drive this guy. I had 11 on the front 9. I relaxed on the back and managed 20. Was that a mental error or an ego error? I'm guessing the latter, but its interesting how your partners can affect your play.

m r c · 04-10-2013 9:55pm

m r c wrote: »

This guy is referring to it as the stable release.

http://youtu.be/xMjTOVv6e2A

Only two days in but this works, it seems better from the mid irons up to driver which seems to be down to longer swings leaving longer to shut the face and turn through. Might just need more time with the wedges two days is a little early to be praising it yet

)

m r c · 04-10-2013 9:57pm

Gin77 wrote: »

Had a great game plan to score 42pts.
A low handicapper in our group hit his drive, no practice swing, chating during his back swing stuck the ball exactly where I wanted to go.
So I thought I'm going to out drive this guy. I had 11 on the front 9. I relaxed on the back and managed 20. Was that a mental error or an ego error? I'm guessing the latter, but its interesting how your partners can affect your play.

Funny that, I saw a video earlier with Sam Snead saying he never watched hogans swing because hogan had a faster tempo and it ruined Snead's tempo watching him. He'd just watch for the ball. Might have been a factor??

dwd · 04-10-2013 9:59pm

m r c wrote: »

dwd wrote: »

This bit in particular is massive, I've even noticed my concentration go at the range when I'd be working on something in particular which is mad. I've been beginning the swing changes I mentioned above and hit 200 balls today and yesterday and feck me if I didn't hit some really bad ones out of pure lack of application to what I was at.

200 balls, that a lot of balls to hit in one go, especially considering you only hit around 50 strokes in a full round. I'm trying to work on pre-routine and practice going through that before hitting each shot on the range, which means it usually take me about an hour to hit about 60 balls but I definitely think it help to keep the concentration keyed in and helps ingrain the habit so I remember to do it on the course too. I know a lot of good player who say that they use this as a trigger to turn there focus off and on during a round with does sound alot easier that trying to concentrate for 4 hours straight. I haven't got this working yet :rolleyes: but i'll keep pluging away.

Horrid Henry · 04-10-2013 10:03pm

It might sound ridiculously simple, but I think that playing three times a week is the best way to get down.

dwd · 04-10-2013 10:41pm

Horrid Henry wrote: »

It might sound ridiculously simple, but I think that playing three times a week is the best way to get down.

true, but I work 40+ hrs a week, have family, house etc, so practically it's just not possible for me to get out more than once a week, and I would say, it's the same for a lot of the lads on here, we just have to make the most of the time we have to spare,and hope to improve as much as is possible within those bounds,

spacecoyote · 04-10-2013 11:18pm

Horrid Henry wrote: »

It might sound ridiculously simple, but I think that playing three times a week is the best way to get down.

Did play recently with a guy playing off 5 who said as much.

His opinion was 1 a week go backwards, 2 a week stay static, 3 a week to get down.

He was talking about getting down at cat 1/low 2 levels, I don't think cat 3 & 4 need to necessarily be playing that much to get down though

GreeBo · 04-10-2013 11:31pm

Unless you are hitting 200 balls over the space of 4 hours then you arent doing anything for your swing.
You will go into subconscious mode and are just improving your hand eye coordination and timing *for that session*.

m r c · 04-10-2013 11:39pm

GreeBo wrote: »

Unless you are hitting 200 balls over the space of 4 hours then you arent doing anything for your swing.
You will go into subconscious mode and are just improving your hand eye coordination and timing *for that session*.

More or less that's all I'm working on tbh. Just getting used to the feeling of rolling the left wrist into a bowed position before and through impact. Very different to my previous method. Took me 2.5 hours. Just drill drill drill.

denishurley · 05-10-2013 11:51am

My scoring since the start of June:

A general improvement thanks to regular lessons, keeping the ball in play off the tee probably the main area followed by far more consistency with my irons

The "Epic" lowering your handicap "mega" thread

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