Mekat

You need to clear your mind and forget the bad stuff that has gone on recently.

The golf ball does not know your handicap has blown out.

You appear fixated with your handicap, your play and attitude at the moment reflects in this blow out.

You need to return to what you did to get your handicap down in the playing department and your confidence will return.

Slumps happen to everybody, the mark of a good golfer is how they respond to them.

Good luck!

Thanks Shanks, it is good to have someone point something that I can’t see, but is probably obvious….

So this is a slump… it sucks big time

I think it may well be a sign for me to just try and enjoy playing the game and look for the raw feel of the shots.

I am told that there is nothing wrong with my swing or technique… So I think I will just try and enjoy playing and focus on feel over July – August toward the Club Foursomes championship.

Helping a collingwod supporter, what am I thinking!

No Shanks, you are helping a fellow golfer, and THAT is what this site is about…. thanks.

No problem mekat just remember your mantra, you relax to play golf, try that in your next round, play with no expectations, just play conservatively and put your best swing on each shot. The results will come again.

I’ll remember that… thanks again Shanks.

Pennant round 5
Personally lost 3 & 1
A wet but, surprisingly not a boggy track, and the greens were fast. On at least four occasions my putt to win the hole lipped out, leading to a loss or square… that ultimately was the difference. A tight game, we both would be satisfied with general ball-striking… a couple of mistakes each, so that balanced out… the ball just didn’t drop for me.

Team lost 2 – 3

This ends the pennant season. We started on the bottom and didn’t move. Did not win a match, and we won just 5.5 games out of the 25 contested.

Personally, of the four games I contested I won only one, my worst Pennant season… as I said last week, it was a pennant season best forgotten.

Next games,
tomorrow – Stroke
Friday – Stroke

First full (non match-play) round since June 1.

There is a kind of mental come-down between playing Pennant competition and a usual club comp game. The mind seems to let things go in the club comp, rather than look to maintain focus or intensity that might have been present in the Pennant game the day before. This manifests as a tiredness or a feeling of mental lethargy, leading to rushing shots and lack of attention to putting.

Signs of the ongoing slump? rather obvious in the front nine, three fairways and two GIR

Front nine – 48 off stick
1 Pars (8)
6 Bogies (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 9)
1 Double Bogey (6)
1 Triple Bogey (7)
Fairways (3/7)
2 GIR (2, 8)
1 Three putts (2)
1 One putts (9)

A very disappointing front nine.

My ball striking, which had not been bad on the front nine, felt a bit better on the back nine. The result of this was seen through hitting every fairway, but still not converting the drives into GIR. Chips got into position and putts dropped more readily that earlier.

A sub-40 back nine, only the second since mid March… it is a ray of sunshine in a bleak season.

Back nine – 39 off stick
1 Birdie (15)
5 Pars (10, 14, 16, 17, 18)
3 Bogeys (11, 12, 13)
Fairways (7/7)
3 GIR (10, 15, 17)
0 Three putts ()
5 One putts (11, 14, 15, 16, 18)

Tuesday, Stroke, standard course, result: 87 off stick
Differential 13
1 Birdie
6 pars
9 bogeys
1 Double Bogey
1 Triple Bogey
FIR – 71%
GIR – 28%
1 Three putts
6 One putts
Putts – 31 – 18 & 13

Won daily comp
Best off stick
Best putting
Handicap remains on 9.6

Next round – Friday, stroke.

Focus on what you did well on the back 9, it will turn around as your confidence grows.

GPJ_Longdriver suggested to me on another thread, that rather than focusing on splitting rounds into 2×9’s or 3×6’s, just look to the first couple of holes and really try to nail those ones, and the rest should look after itself.

I have looked at the stats of my last 20 completed rounds on my home course, to see how my starts on the first three holes (instead of GPJ’s suggestion of two) has affected my results.

Collectively the first three holes total par 11. individually the first is a long par 4, the second is a par 3, and the third is a reasonable par 4 – all with Kikuyu fairways.

My last 20 completed rounds at home date back to March 9, when the weather was warm, the ground still firm, and I was in some semblance of form.

I will divide these stats into two sections by time, and each section I will divide by course rating (71 or 74).

Over the 20 rounds, I am averaging 11.7 over for the round, 7 over for the front nine, and 2.6 over for the first three..

Of the 20 rounds:
11 were rated 71, averaging 9.9 over for the round, 5.8 over for the front nine, and 2.5 over for the first three
9 were rated 74, averaging 13.9 over for the round, 8.4 over for the front nine, and 2.7 over for the first three.
Seven starts have yielded pars of 13 or better (4 on rounds rated 71, and 3 rated 74). The best score off the stick (79) was a 13 start.

March was early Autumn, but early Autumn passes into late Autumn, and into winter, with rain, wind, and cold. The firm dry ground in March became a soft wet mass in May, and the rain and cold remains, So how do things stand in more rounds?

I have played eight completed rounds at my home course since the Club Championship final on May1. May 8, 15, 18, 22, 25, 29, June 1, and 26.

Over the 8 rounds, I am averaging 14.3 over for the round, 8.9 over for the front nine, and 2.9 over for the first three..

Of the 8 rounds:
4 were rated 71, averaging 11.5 over for the round, 7 over for the front nine, and 2.3 over for the first three
4 were rated 74, averaging 17 over for the round, 10.8 over for the front nine, and 3.5 over for the first three.
The best start was even par 11, the next six scores were 14, and the other a 16. The equal best scores off the stick (83) was the 11 and a 14, both rated 71.

... and the moral of the story is???
A good start helps… but if you are in a slump, nothing helps.

Mekat

I will help you out, do you remember the beginning of your good form?

I remember very well telling you to club up 1 club.

This advice is especially more important with no run and less carry because of atmospheric conditions.

You need to return to the regime of recording how you miss greens and make sure that it is not short unless it was mishit.

I will keep that in mind. My next full round will probably be on Friday, a stableford round, then Monthly Medal next Tuesday.

Comp times were all booked out, and it was too cold this morning anyway…. next game Tuesday – Monthly Medal.

Good luck Mekat at getting into that good mind set. Hopefully this will translate into improved scoring or if not, at least into you feeling better about your game.

It has been a couple of months since you got the new driver fitted – are you feeling more confident with it now or do you otherwise find that having a new club in the bag has altered the way that you play?

I don’t think the Driver and 3-wood has made THAT much of a difference.

I first played with the new driver and 3 wood on January 10 this year (JANUARY? has time flown that quickly?)
In the six months before… 10 July 2011 – 9 January 2012
Rounds – 38
Fairways: 68.2% (best 93% 11July, and 4 August 2011)
GIR: 44.7% (best 75% 9 March 2012)
Putting: 2 per hole, 2.2 per GIR
Scoring: Average 11.9 over (best 4 over 22 November 2011)

In the six months Since… 10 January 2012 – 9 July 2012
Rounds – 34
Fairways: 66.2% (best 93% 31January, and 1 June 2012)
GIR: 45% (best 72% 7 January 2012)
Putting: 1.9 per hole, 2.1 per GIR
Scoring: Average 10.2 over (best 3 over 31 January and 7 February 2012)

Your scoring average is 1.7 lower so they have made a difference.

July monthly Medal, supposedly played in grades, but the group I was in contained two B graders, and a player close to the limit of A grade (we go up to 23 in A grade). I really need to get those kind of thoughts out of my head when I play such games.

Focussed on knee position and bracing in the swing, seemed to work quite well when I didn’t let my mind drift. Some shots off the ground are not getting much into the air but still staying quite straight,

Missed some GIR by less than a metre on the 1st (front), 2rd (front), 5th (right), 9th (front), 10th (front), 11th (front), and 12th (front),

Front nine – 41 off stick
5 Pars (1, 5, 6, 8, 9)
4 Bogies (2, 3, 4, 7)
Fairways (6/7)
1 GIR (8)
0 Three putts ()
4 One putts (1, 5, 6, 9)

A satisfying front nine, considering just the one GIR, but disappointing not getting close to the pin on those holes I narrowly missed the green. Leaving shots outside one putt territory, wasting scoring opportunities that bled into the back nine. Holes I would have expected to reach in reg, not carrying to the green. the highlight there though, was that I didn’t three putt all day.

A spate of GIR in the middle of the back nine (13, 14, and 15) saw an unfortunate par, followed by back to back birdies. The approach to the 13th, unexpectedly drew to the left side of the green, pin-high, but a long first putt that just narrowly passed the hole by two metres. Comfortable approach on the 14th saw me in the one putt region, and a sweet connection put me in place for a virtual tap-in for back to back birdies… but then…

Clubbed up for the 16th green, but under-played it into a bunker short, then got too much of it from the bunker over the green, the pitch back would not bite and just ran long, and a two putt double… Inside 50m from the 17th green for two, chunked the approach, tapped on, two putts bogey. Good drive on the 18th, but someone spoke while playing my approach, distracting me, sprayed into bunker, good recovery, first putt lipped out, bogey.

I threw away at least four shots in those last three holes. Those holes were the difference between my score and a sub 80 round.

Back nine – 42 off stick
2 Birdies (14, 15)
1 Par (13)
5 Bogeys (10, 11, 12, 17, 18)
1 Double Bogey (16)
Fairways (6/7)
3 GIR (13, 14, 15)
0 Three putts ()
2 One putts (14, 15)

Tuesday, Stroke, standard course, result: 83 off stick
Differential 9
2 Birdies
6 pars
9 bogeys
1 Double Bogey
FIR – 79%
GIR – 22%
0 Three putts
6 One putts
Putts – 30 – 14 & 16

Won my second Monthly Medal
Best off stick

Handicap blows out .1 to 9.7

Next round – Friday, Par.

Ordinarily I do not talk about practice sessions, but sometimes there is a session where something clicks into place, or clicks BACK into place. This afternoon’s session was such a time.

I have found that sometimes when you are working on a specific action (or correction) in one part of the body, there is a change (if only of awareness) to an action in another part of the body.

Today I wanted to focus on my knees at address, their bracing and maintaining spine tilt. My attention to this has been brought to me through a video on stance by Peter Croker. My knees have been a rubbery issue for me for a long time, so it needed attention.

Today I had a nine hole practice session, playing two balls. Setting my knees properly, and the spine tilt, went into my back swing, transferred weight to my left setting my knee and bracing my left side. I noticed on old feeling as my right shoulder dropped into what I think is the slot. I felt as though my right elbow was leading my shoulder down the target line (or parallel to it ), as though it were tracing a line to the point of release. the release was smooth, the connection sweet, and the ball finished up on the left side of the fairway. I repeated with the second ball which finished in the middle of the fairway.

Two balls, nine holes… I did not miss a fairway, though the second drive on the seventh, might have rolled off , but it was difficult to judge.
GIR, one ball on the 1st, and second, both on the 3rd (a birdie), and 4th, one ball on the 7th, both on the 8th, and 9th. 11/18 GIR.

Practice is one thing, and comp is another… let’s see if it works tomorrow… Par.

While I understand how necessary and important it is in the larger scheme of things, I am over Winter… I am OVER it.

It was COLD and windy this morning. People bailed out of the round as if it was a bad investment. So no sooner had I arrived at the pro-shop, that I was sent straight to the tee. No warm up, sitting on my gopher – so not getting physically warm in a hurry, and hoping to capture the feeling from yesterday’s practice session. Not a good way to start a round of par.

I was largely happy with my ball striking, but it was missing something from yesterday. It took me until half way down the seventh to realise what it was… I was not setting my right elbow in my back-swing as I had yesterday, once I began looking at that, my connection felt so much more solid. Suffice to say my first GIR was on the eighth., then the 9th, 10th – into a bunker on the 11th, a too soft pitch stopped short on the 13th, GIR 14th, the ball dropped and stopped just short of the 15th green, found water off the 17th tee, and found sand approaching the 18th green.

Sitting -3 after five holes, I should have been square at the turn, but missed a short putt on the 9th green for a 3-putt bogey square.

Front nine – 44 off stick (-1)
2 Pars (6, 8)
7 Bogies (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9)
Fairways (6/7)
1 GIR (8)
1 Three putts (9)
1 One putts (6)

Recognised that I had thrown away a great opportunity to square the round on the 9th, I remedied the situation with a regulation par on the 10th. Finding sand off the tee on 11 and 12 undid that good work. Hit the middle of the 13th fairway, cleared the fairway bunker with the second shot, leaving the ball just 20m off the green with no trouble between the ball and the pin… no trouble except a lackadaisical attitude to the pitch shot, which was still short of the green, got on and then one putt to scramble a par – back to square. Another regulation par on the 14th, then after another accurate drive, the approach to the 15th hit the fringe and stayed there, leading to a one putt par. Then on 16 hit my first par-3 green all day. I had finished just off the back on 2, long off the back on 5, found sand on 12, and now in the green at 16. A two-putt par saw me sitting square with two holes to play, but this meant little as I was fishing my drive off the 17th out of the pond to the right. Sweet connections still saw me on the green for four. The par putt just missed, but so too did the bogey putt… Butchering the last saw me finish -2.

While it is a poor result, I am happy with my processes, so -2 is no biggie.

Back nine – 42 off stick (-1)
5 Pars (10, 13, 14, 15, 16)
3 Bogeys (11, 12, 18)
1 Double Bogey (17)
Fairways (5/7)
3 GIR (10, 14, 16)
1 Three putts (17)
2 One putts (13, 15)

Friday, Par, standard course, result: 86 off stick (-2)
Differential 12
7 pars
10 bogeys
1 Double Bogey
FIR – 79%
GIR – 28%
2 Three putts
3 One putts
Putts – 35 – 18 & 17

My putting clearly did not help today.

Handicap drops .1 back to 9.6
If today was a bad investment, I feel .1 off my handicap could be seen as a modest return.

Next round – Tuesday, Stableford.

The slump is officially over.

Focus on what you are doing well and I expect the handicap will begin to tumble.

Another play with my stats this morning was a real eye opener.

Again based on my last 20 completed rounds at my home course, looking at average shots to the green, and their relation to regulation and handicap regulation.

I will explain it like this…
I currently average 5.2 shots and 2.2 putts on the first. Which means I am averaging 3 shots to the green. Green in reg for the par 4 first is 2, so I am averaging 1 over GIR for the first, but as it is index 4, and my handicap is 10, I am achieving the green exactly in my handicap reg. It is my putting that is hurting me mostly on this green rather than the 5% GIR result.

I have long thought the first being my worst hole as my GIR stats for the first are the worst. But I need not worry too much about that, and perhaps not even try for the green on the first, but look for position to attack the pin from just short of the green, helping the putting.

Here are the stats, hole, green in relation to reg, and in relation to handicap reg.
My current handicap is 10, but the average handicap for the 20 rounds is 8, so the 8th and 10th stats (index 10 and 9 respectively) will be bold).
1st, 1, 0
2nd, .5, .5
3rd, .95, .95
4th, 1.2, .2
5th, .9, .9
6th, .95, – .05
7th, 1.25, .25
8th, .05, – .95
9th, 1, 0
10th, .75, – .25
11th, 1, 0
12th, .6, .6
13th, .7, -.3
14th, .05, .05
15th, .5, .5
16th, .5, .5
17th, .45, – .55
18, .95, .95

It seems to me that the lower the number, the greater harm my putting is doing to those holes, and the higher the number, the greater the need to attack the pin.

In essence, while I will try to, I should not make GIR a priority on the 1st (ave 2.2 putts), 4th, 6th, 7th (2.15 putts), 9th, 11th, 13th (1.9 putts), 17th (1.85 putts) or perhaps the 18th (1.9 putts).

I know that is a list of nine holes (half the course), and it contains five par 4s (1st, 6th, 9th, 11th, and 18th). This may be another reminder that GIR is not the be all and end all. That greens in relation to handicap regulation should be the greater focus… and by extension, improved course management skills, rather than just blasting for the green and/or regretting low GIR stats….

Any thoughts?

Pro-shop Sunday comp
A cold windy day, but thankfully not a drop of rain.

A kind of wind where you were not sure how many clubs to go up or down, so sometimes I put the approach shot long or short… the ones I did not miss-hit by looking up too soon.

I am not taking too much notice of the GIR stats for the remainder of the Winter season. There is little run on the fairways, and even less when pitching on the fringe. Instead I will look to greens in handicap regulation, and putting until the weather improves after September.

Happy with putting in the front nine, could have been better had a couple of close ones dropped, but that is golf.

Speed of play was not bad until the sixth, when the pair that was behind us on the fourth, skipped the fifth while we were playing it, and hit off the sixth… play then slowed down considerably from then on… so frustrating.

Front nine – 44 off stick (17 points)
3 Pars (3, 5, 8)
5 Bogies (1, 2, 4, 7, 9)
Double Bogey (6)
Fairways (6/7)
1 GIR (8)
0 Three putts ()
4 One putts (2, 3, 5, 9)

Frustration at the slow play, or at least my inability to disengage from thinking about it, lead to some waywardness off the tee, and approach shots in the back nine.

I feel my ball striking and putting is improving, though the results are not yet coming.

In a windy day, I am not overly concerned with this result. there are good signs with my swing, and improved putting.

Back nine – 43 off stick (16 pts)
4 Pars (12, 14, 15, 16)
4 Bogeys (10, 11, 13, 17)
1 Double Bogey (18) pick up
Fairways (4/7)
2 GIR (14, 16)
1 Three putts (18)
2 One putts (12, 15)

Sunday, Stableford, standard course, result: 87 off stick (33 pts)
Differential 13
7 pars
9 bogeys
2 Double Bogey
FIR – 71%
GIR – 17%
1 Three putts
6 One putts
Putts – 31 – 14 & 17

Better putting, but perhaps wind affected elsewhere.

Handicap blows out .2 to 9.8. My handicap has not been this high since mid November last year. I would not yet say the slump is over… but it is receding.

Next round – Tuesday, Stableford.

A sunny day, with a stiff and icy northerly wind. A northerly of this strength in six months time, would bring on a total fire ban with the risk of bushfire… the risk today was frostbite.

Yeaterday I did some gardening that left my arms sore, I followed that with six holes of practice which left my legs sore… Arms are sore, legs are sore, dinosaur – that was me today.

Was not really on with ball striking early on, missing three fairways on the front nine – they were woeful shots. The 40- 50 kmh winds possible helped me to get four GIR in the front nine, but also might have contributed to the succession of lipped putts throughout the round… anything up to nine lip-outs.

Front nine – 43 off stick (18 points)
3 Pars (2, 7, 8)
6 Bogies (1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9)
Fairways (4/7)
4 GIR (2, 3, 5, 7)
2 Three putts (3, 5)
2 One putts (4, 8)

Results were probably better than performance at this point, missing fairways, just missing putts, but still 18 points is a nice place to be at the turn.

I find that being in a strong breeze or wind for long periods of time tends to make me tired. This may explain the ending of the round. Missing only one fairway, but two three-putts… most greens on the back nine had lipped putts, they just didn’t drop.

Back nine – 44 off stick (15 pts)
2 Pars (14, 15)
7 Bogeys (10, 11, 12, 13, 16, 17, 18)
Fairways (6/7)
4 GIR (11, 12, 14, 15)
2 Three putts (11, 12)
0 One putts ()

Tuesday, Stableford, standard course, result: 87 off stick (33 pts)
Differential 13
5 pars
13 bogeys
FIR – 71%
GIR – 44%
4 Three putts
2 One putts
Putts – 38 – 18 & 20

Signs relating to my process are still positive, but the score is not yet to appear on the cards…

I am SO over Winter!

Handicap remains on 9.8.
The next score to drop from my record, is the March 27 round on the par 60 course, where I scored a differential 5. Another round like today and I will blow out a full stroke… ouch!

Next round – Friday, Stableford, my 500th handicapped round since getting my handicap at the end of 2005.

Mekat

I would be very careful about straightening the left leg.

Tiger Woods used to snap his left leg straight thus his injuries.

If you do this in moderation it is ok but the left leg “straightens” or I would say moves toward the target as a result of the push from the right foot and thus push from the right leg at the transition to the downswing.

Action and reaction.

Any snapping or explosive action heightens the risk of injury, thus is a silly idea to go down that road.

I asked a local pro about what I was thinking about doing, and about clearing the left hip, and he said it is not a ‘straight’ leg that clears the hip, but a ‘straightening’ one that clears the left hip. He went on to say that the hip cannot clear with a ‘soft’ knee.

As I said in the post you obviously read, I thought the left hip cleared as a result of the rotational movement of the hips (turning in a barrel), but that would mean that the right hip would be going forward as the left hip cleared back.

I think it is worth investigating… I’ll keep you posted, and thanks for the concern.