On the back of the journey to scratch thread, this will be my blog which will end with me posting the score and stats that took me to that magical handicap.

To begin with I will post my current stats from 28 recorded rounds.

Exact Handicap – 2.7
Fairways hit – 34%
GIR – 47%
Putts per round – 29.25
Sand Saves – 49%
Birdie Conversion – 27%
Par Scrambles – 51%
Penalties per round – 0.18

Goddamn!!!

My driving is awful!!!! mind you the drives are rarely penal, I just don’t hit fairways, which as a persuader ties in exactly with what Carey says.

From 28 rounds worth of stats

18/12

What am I currently working on?

At the moment I am preparing a script for self hypnosis. I will record this in the next day or two and begin listening to it each night before I go to bed.

When am I next playing golf?

Christmas Eve I am heading to Ardglass GC for 18 holes. Its a superb links course with a load of memorable holes (check out the pictures on the link!).

How much am I practicing?

Ideally I am hitting balls 3 days a week but its hard to maintain that at this time of the year.

I’ll post again after Monday’s round.

If you hit more fairways, you’ll hit more greens. Maybe you don’t always need a driver.

Great short game. It will be hard to improve on those numbers.

Great post Styles, I will record those stats as i have only had the basic ones for now and post in the future.. Keep the thread going and i’ll be with you soon.
I got sick this year and to my frustration still tried to maintain a handicap with next to no practice my h/cap has gone all the way out to 9.9 a far way from my form where i knocked over a 3 and a 4 on my way to club championship where i lost by a couple holes to a guy who is a trainee now.
The club pro offered to take me on but things really didn’t work out as he was trying to make me swing like him which is completely against my style, i feel like I took a big backwards step nothing felt natural, i was focusing on the swing rather than where the ball was going and i guess the 10 handicap speaks for itself. It’s funny my stats put me near 80-85% up and down for par and average 26-28 pp round which is obviously low because of low GIR, I can hit 3 greens in a round and play to 5 or 6, increadibly frustrating but atleast i know what i need to work on.
I’ve met a new pro who is coaching me at the moment, similar build height and style which makes his teaching seem alot more natural, i’m in the process of rebuilding but everything is starting to click.. i’m playing my best golf but due to the time of year are caught up in ambrose pinehurst and christmas ham so i haven’t really affected the handicap.
Good luck fello members i look forward to hearing from you all soon.

Cheers guys.

In keeping with Strone posting his swing here is mine.

Styles at the 17th on the Old Course

A couple of things I’d like to say about that shot though:

1) The git that posted it was wrong, it didn’t hit the hotel, it actually finished left of the 2nd fairway!

2) This was taken in March after a horrendous night on the booze the day before.

3) You can actually see the fault in the backswing that I am correcting now – as I reach 3/4 of the way to the top, you will notice my right hip rise which means I have a vertical lift in my swing. Obviously this becomes a vertical drop in the downswing which gives me massive inconsistency. This has now been spotted in my swing and will hopefully change.

Finally, you can see (although well wrapped up – it was freezing!) that as I have said previously, I need to lose weight, I am doing pretty well at this now and aim to lose around 20 kilos by April.

Styles, I’ve been incubating the idea of a self-hypnosis tape for myself. Any info you would provide about what resources you have used, etc, would be appreciated.
Laney

Merry Christmas to all who celebrate it, and best wishes to all!

u mighnt be getting punished at your home course at moment 4 missing fairways but ur driving needs straightening or more 3woods/3irions off tee m8t…gud luck!!!!!!!!
i always find I got cut most on foreign courses as u stay more focused…....

Played Ardglass on Christmas Eve.

Played ok – one of those days whn it was just good to be out – the weather was crisp and clear and good company.

Anyway, shot about +7. Long game was ok but a few poor shots. Short game was awesome though. Bearing in mind I’m implementing a swing change, I actually hit it really well.

As I’ve said before, at this time of the year handicaps are frozen and its just about staying in touch and keeping the feeling going.

Hiya Styles,

I had the same problem. To fix it I focused on turning my left hand (a lot, extreme) in the backswing. This felt so flat I thought the shaft was laying horizontally! This turning of the left hand moved my right elbow more down and under..if you know what I mean. I felt as if I couldn’t turn my left hand enough or too much.

This was a huge change and took some real looking before I got it. Anyway, stay warm you lucky….baaastig! :)

Booking a lesson for the 21st – will hit balls a few times before it so I am ready for it.

Having read and watched the stack & tilt stuff, I think that if I concentrate on holding my left hip against an imaginary shaft it will stop my right hip from rising as it will naturally turn.

Going to go to the range now, will report back soon!

Hit 60 balls – don’t normally hit that many in a session but mheh

Had great results using my ‘turn inside a barrel’ swing thought. For the longest time I have been trying to create width by swaying to the right on the way back. By just turning I hit the ball really well – in fact, I hit it scary good! It was laso less painful on my left ankle on the way down and out.

In saying that, I did hit some loose ones. These were big hooks or very small blocks (there was a big right to left wind so the big hooks might have been only little hooks and the wee blocks might have been bigger lol!)

As far as the session was concerned I feel I achieved my goals. I stayed committed to my clear keys and also hit 90%+ with my right hip turning, not rising.

If I get the chance this week, I might video myself hitting a few balls and put it on utube so you can have a look and tell me what you think.

All being well I’m playing The European Club on Wednesday (I’m going as long as its not raining) This is one of the top 100 courses in the world : )

60 euro is a bargain!

Thats the 3rd at the european by the way ^{^}

Just got confirmed I’m going to Castlerock tomorrow.

Great links course in the North of Northern Ireland.

I’ll let you know how I get on!

Styles…that is grrrreat man!

The turning in the barrel was a Godsend when taught to me. One of the things that helps when doing that is forearm rotation.

I found that once the barrel turn is learned you can actually control it with the hands and forearm rotation. Which will feel really flat. But, when the right wrist is working correctly the rotation of the left hand and arm will move right onto the turned shoulder plane.

Thank youfor the pictures, too! Shivas Irons could call it home. You lucky Dawg!!!

Ok, played Castlerock today – got really lucky with the weather, it was only just above freezing but man it was glorious crisp clear winters day. Awesome!

Played good but not great – I lost balls on two holes (par fives too!) For the other 16 I was +1 so all in all it was pretty good. My irons were pretty awesome, the highlight was a 200 yard 5 iron to the par 3 14th follwed by a great 8 foot breaking putt for birdie. : )

In fact, I was -2 for the back nine, not including a lost ball on 15 – I only just missed the fairway with my second shot, didn’t look in any bother at all. 3 birdies on the back nine was very satisfactory.

Its fairly pouring down this evening so I don’t know about Wednesday at The European. The 5 day forecast says it will be very nice but we’ll see.

Todays stats were:

FW – 4/15 :(
GIR – 12/18
putts – 30 (for 16 holes)

Happy with that but know I can get better and better.

Confirmed that I’m playing the European Club tomorrow – should be a blast!

Playing with a couple of very good golfers as well!

Mheh!!!!!!!!!

80 mph winds last night so got a text this morning to say the other three had bailed on me. I phoned the European around 9.30 to be told it was a glorious day down there. I’m very unhappy :((((

Its a 2 1/2 hour drive to get down so if I’d gone on my own everyone else would have already played and I would literally be on my own. Have decided not to go at all and will hit balls later instead.

Will now go on one of the next 3 wednesdays instead – and I’m not going to make arrangements with anyone else!

Hi everyone.

I think I’m on the verge of a big breakthrough (largely down to a lot of the stuff I’ve found on here).

For a long time I’ve equated width with a big move away from the ball – in other words, thinking I was creating width, I was actually swaying away from the ball. This was what was giving me such inconsistency – I hit good shots only when my timing was good and my ‘eye’ was in. Blessed with excellent hand/eye coordination, I think its why I have been able to maintain a low single digit handicap.

After reading the “Stack & Tilt” articles and especially the Utube videos one of the guys posted (sorry can’t remember who) that he took at the Presidents Cup, I came to realise that I was not “swinging inside a barrel of cement” as Hogan would have said. In addition, Pauls articles on Freddy and especially the moment of contact/moment of seperation really helped.

At the range on Thursday night, I focused on ensuring I stayed inside my ‘lines’ and hit the ball fantastically well!

Its early days and of course it could be just a little flash but it definitely all makes sense. I’m not saying everything was perfect, I still hit bad ones, but there was a marked improvement.

I got a new video camera on thursday as well so hopefully I’ll get it charged and upload some swings showing what I was doing and what I am doing.

Cheers guys!

Styles, I’ve been incubating the idea of a self-hypnosis tape for myself. Any info you would provide about what resources you have used, etc, would be appreciated.
Laney

Merry Christmas to all who celebrate it, and best wishes to all!

Sorry Laney, I didn’t see this before now.

The book I used for scripts etc – in fact the book that introduced me to the idea is called:

Mental Management for great golf

Its worth getting a copy.

For the self hypnosis I wrote a script based on the templates in that book and changed it to suit my needs. I then recorded it to tape and listen to it. I am only listening to it once a week or so at the moment but will increase that once the season begins.

Got it for $4 used. Thanks, Styles!
Laney

Hi everyone.

I think I’m on the verge of a big breakthrough (largely down to a lot of the stuff I’ve found on here).

For a long time I’ve equated width with a big move away from the ball – in other words, thinking I was creating width, I was actually swaying away from the ball. This was what was giving me such inconsistency – I hit good shots only when my timing was good and my ‘eye’ was in. Blessed with excellent hand/eye coordination, I think its why I have been able to maintain a low single digit handicap.

After reading the “Stack & Tilt” articles and especially the Utube videos one of the guys posted (sorry can’t remember who) that he took at the Presidents Cup, I came to realise that I was not “swinging inside a barrel of cement” as Hogan would have said. In addition, Pauls articles on Freddy and especially the moment of contact/moment of seperation really helped.

At the range on Thursday night, I focused on ensuring I stayed inside my ‘lines’ and hit the ball fantastically well!

Its early days and of course it could be just a little flash but it definitely all makes sense. I’m not saying everything was perfect, I still hit bad ones, but there was a marked improvement.

I got a new video camera on thursday as well so hopefully I’ll get it charged and upload some swings showing what I was doing and what I am doing.

Cheers guys!

Your journey has jus taken a giant leap forward!

Has your hand and forearm rotation improved by making the barrel turn?

I think the hands and forearms always had a good motion – in fact, what I am seeing now is a big draw/hook. The great thing about this is it is repeating, which means that I can control and expect it.

I’m going to the range today and should post a couple of swing vids.

I think the hands and forearms always had a good motion – in fact, what I am seeing now is a big draw/hook. The great thing about this is it is repeating, which means that I can control and expect it.

I’m going to the range today and should post a couple of swing vids.

I hear ya. You’re doing great because you are looking. This kind of responsibility gives you the ability to participate fully.

The next step….now that I’m turning better…..what do I do with all that space?

My Styles,

Re: your vid at St Andrews,
1stly, you lucky chap,playing at the home of Golf….
I would certainly love to be in your shoes.

It definitely looks pretty frigid out there though especially with you all wrapped up.

2ndly, from the untrained eye, your full swing looks pretty solid, compact and simple (ie with not too much extraneous movements), good timing/rhythm and balance. In other words, couldn’t detect any major flaws, and with that, there are no reasons why you can not achieve your goal ?

and you seem to have struck a pretty solid shot too..if I may add.

Were you using a Callaway Ft-5 Driver ?

Hi KYC,

When that was taken, I’m pretty sure I was using aTitleist. I now have the Callawy.

I have been lucky enough to play at the Home of Golf every year for the last 6 (still only one par on 17!) and will be playing it once again on the 21st March this year :)

I didn’t hit it too good at all that time, it went very left :oops: However, it was the year I made par!