13378 replies to this topic

[Weetbix]

Well I so like Style's and muntz' threads about their game that I thought I'd have a go. So current status is that my last two rounds were both 92, one on a par 72 course (St Lucia in Brisbane Australia) and one on a par 71 course (today at McLeod Golf Club also on Brisbane's south side). Today I hit 6 pars, 5 bogeys, 5 doubles and 2 triples. 11 of my 18 tee shots were ok (meaning on or near the fairway/green). with 7 of those being drives (5 with driver 2 with 5 wood) and the other 4 being into par 3's. I played the 5 par 3s 1 over, so I was very happy with my irons/woods into the par 3s. The 4 par 5s were 5 over, and the 4s were 15 over. Lost 2 balls. I hit 37 putts, with only a single 1 putt and 2 3putts. That's despite having 13 short shots - pitches, chips and sand. My major full shot theme today was pushes. I mostly hit my drives right. This is pretty much in line with what I've been doing at the range. Just not getting that face square. The other major theme was chipping. I'm just not getting them close so I can have a reasonable chance to putt out. This is the story of my golfing careers - my short game sucks! On a positive note today I hit the chips pretty well, it is my touch that has a long way to go. I have recently purchased a chipping mat and basket - Jack Newton's set - so I am hoping to see improvement. I am also using a grip whereby the handle in in teh palm of the left and right hands. I think this is really helping with getting good contact, so it is now about distance and trajectory control. As an aside I have been talking to Bio and am going to get an assessment and program done by him in a little while. I am NOT a natural sportsman, and I think that biomechanics is a real issue for me. So I expect that this will really help. And even if it doesn't it will be quite cool to have the testing done. But I really thiink it will help so I'll keep posting about that once I get myself organised to get the assessment done and to do the exercises. Anyway, that is where I'm starting from. My aim is to get to a point where I am regularly scoring around the low 80s, and even to break 80. My best to date is 87, which I've hit twice at two different courses. So we'll see how the stuff I'm learning at ISG and what I learn from Bio affects my scoring.

[OhNotThere]

good stuff mate. your going in the right direction.. i would focus on your chipping more so than your putting in the short term. sounds like you can putt, but your chipping is leaving you with long putts in. the way i hit a chip shot:. feet close together. maybe 8inches apart. weight slightly forward. ball 1inch behind middle of stance, grip down on club. grip on club same as full shot, but played like a putting stroke. short backswing and confident follow through. keep you hands ahead of the ball at all times. i like to chose 1 club to practice with, whether it be a 56 or 60degree for my chips.. the 56 is an easier to club to hit so i recommend you use that. mentally, when your out playing in a comp don't stress over the shot, just think to yourself "i'm on the practice green, i've hit this shot 100 times before". thinking of the shot like a putt helps with distance control and really, your only using a lofted club because you have long grass between you and the hole. the chip/pitch really is a must know shot as at your level of golf you would be hitting a lot of balls that just miss the green leaving you with a chip in. best of luck and keep us informed of your progress.

[Weetbix]

Thanks OhNo. I think I said your name a few times today on the course!

[Styles]

great stuff weetbix, I'll be looking forward to your posts each week! Have to admit that I had 80 in my sights today as well haha! Shame its 70 I'm looking to break though! I'll be especially interested in how much you feel Bio helps you. If you start cranking it, we'll all be beating a door to Bio! With the short game as long as your action is right, feel is gained by regular sessions. They don't have to be long, just regular. Don't pitch from the same spot each time, vary things up. Good luck.

[Weetbix]

Yeah, I'm really interested to see how Bio's training improves my golf. With the chipping I'm sort of trying two things at the moment. Lots of chips to teh same spot to try and get some consistency of action and contact. That's about working on my technique. And then I'm doing up and down competitions at the range to practice getting it close with some pressure (especially when I take my son and we compete). Hopefully we'll see the improvement starting soon. I only play irregularly - probably 8-10 times a year. But I try and get to the range most weeks.

[waffle_iron]

Gooday Weetbix, As a bloke that got from 27 - 9 before just playing socially ie not a great golfer, my thoughts on your post are: "Just not getting that face square" If your shots are going right without curving you are getting the face square and the problem may be either alignment- check feet/shoulders ball position - ? too far back inside out swing path - check divots "The other major theme was chipping." To me chipping is about risk reduction. I putt when I can, like to run a 7 or 9 to the hole, I don't practise enough to use the lob wedge regularly and only use it when I have to, pin behind bunker etc. Another factor is finding the right ball, I know for a fact that using a titleist pro V will cost me shots, especially on a course with lots of water, whereas using the untrendy optima TS I can play par bogey golf and generally keep the ball, watching an $8 ball sail into the water is not my idea of fun. Hope something there helps.

[Weetbix]

Thanks Waffle There's plenty of help there. I do have a bit of fade generally on my pushes, so I am reading that my path is getting pretty close (maybe a bit inside out at the moment but I am happy with that at the moment because I used to be big time over the top). With my irons today I really was happy. I could have been 1 under for the par 3s because I hit every green from the tee (or so close I was putting from the fringe). But the driver was definitely in push fade mode. I did hit 2 drives that went left but they were both very bad swings, not my normal swing. So I am thinking that next time at the range I'll take some Dart advice (and Lag as well) to roll those hands through - horizontal hinge style. See what happens. Thanks for the thoughts on the ball. I'm currently playing an unusally names Blue Bottle by Brosnan. They are marketed as soft cover for touch and dynamic core for slower swing speeds. But I was reading in the Product Review section about these Vision UV balls and I'm thinking of looking for them to try out. Sound like the ball for someone like me - especially given my poor eyesight! I putted from off the green a few times today, so I agree with your comment there. In fact I lipped out twice from those, so that was disappointing! :o) Thanks for your thoughts. I am very clear that the thing that will make the most impact is to get my chipping and pitching sorted. After that getting the driver consistent so at least I can set up for what will happen. Currently it is hard to assess how far right it will end up. And McLeod has some narrow landing places. And I don't want to be lining up so a straight shot ends up deep in trouble! But I'm getting there. And the journey is fun!

[waffle_iron]

Goodonya mate, good attitude, keep rolling the hands if slicing is an issue, it killed mine which was so bad I carried snake anti-venom in the bag. On the range keep sneaking the ball forward on your driver, think that may help. And those vision balls do sound the GO.

[TheDart]

I had a bright guy to day who said after my FLW spiel, 'You mean just twist the grip through the ball'. That is how stupid it feels at first. No more slice shots.

[Weetbix]

Stupid is what I need!

[muntz]

Sad to hear my meandering golfing exploits have inspired someone... ;0) My only advice would be to get a handful of lessons from a teacher who understands the whole FLW shebang to show you putting and chipping. Opened my eyes to the fundamental alignments that are now starting to get imbedded in the noggin. Benefit 1. Getting up and down a lot more often. Benefit 2. Giving you a platform to work up the power chain. I hit that perplexing pitch from 50m to 6 feet on Saturday, a sweet payoff for birdie. Now I am working up to full wedges. Works with rhythm, falls apart without. But even now I am hitting a lot more full shots and even driver with a FLW. Hammer time.

[Weetbix]

Hi muntz - what's the matter? can't handle being inspirational? :o) I remembered a couple of things from the round yesterday that people might have some thoughts on. One which I'm quite excited about is that I was getting divots with my irons. Unfortunately I was so overwhelmed that I was hitting the ground after the ball that I didn't spend much time look at them and analysing them. But here is what I do remember. The divots were deeper on the toe side. Pretty straight - not majorly pointing right or left (wishing I had have stood behind a couple to see where they pointed! my rangte has mats and no grass so don't get much of a read there - something to remember next time!). They were generally around 6 inches long, maybe a little longer. This was for shots with 6,7 and 8 irons, as best as I can remember. Don't think I took a divot with my 4 iron, just a shave. One divot I really remember well was from a full sand wedge shot. It was a perfect rectangle that ended up flying through the air for a few metres. When it happened I can remember thinking that it was just like you see the pros doing with their wedge shots. While the shot came up a few metres short just the pure feeling of the hit and seeing that divot fly through the air was cool. The divot went left too, which is what I see on the pga and reinforced that 'pro quality' feeling. I'll have to do a search on teh site and find out how to analyse divots. Anyone have any good links to sites with good info on this?

[Weetbix]

BTW I have a couple of swing videos on Youtube. One is at www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6CNJIhwWB8. The good quality ones are just practice swings in my back yard without a ball. So there's only so much you can get from them. There are a couple actually hitting balls at the range but they are really bad quality - on my phone camera with my 13yo who is not much of a cameraman! (Hope the link works)

[muntz]

> One which I’m quite excited about is that I was getting divots with my irons. Noice. I'm still a "shave the grass" kinda guy, rather than a pork chop maker, but I'm getting there. Hit a few balls yesterday afternoon (30 min was all I could fit in) and I spent the time hitting lofted wedges. Got a few chunkier divots when I focussed more on hitting down and out with a smooth rhythm, but direction was all over the shop. Pretty windy though, so I'll wait and see when things are calmer.

[Weetbix]

I realised I have the card from Sunday, so I thought I'd do a Styles and summarise my round. First hole 354m Par4 - hit my drive off the top of the driver, so a bit short and went a bit left. I hit my 4i so I would have had about 160 or so uphill to the green. Pushed it right (story of the round) behind a bunker. Chip fell a bit short and rolled back into the bunker. Out of the sand past the hole and 2 putts back for double. Second 186m par 3 pin. Took 7w and hit just off the back right of the the green. Just (and I mean JUST) slid the putt from off the green and sunk the par putt coming back. 460m par 5 third - pull hooked off the tee into the bush and lost the ball. Because the hole is a big dogleg right I also still almost had the whole hole to go! Punched a 4i out of the deep rough where I had to drop it. Pushed a 3w right but worked out alright because I was aiming to leave it left. So was basically on the cut stuff in front of the mouth of the green. It was actually a pretty good strike of the 3w just pushed. Left a chip which was a bit strong and which I pulled left (which was my chipping story of the day). Two putts back for another double. Fourth 352m par 4. Hit a great drive with a slight draw exactly how I wanted. Hit my 8i maybe a bit fat and came up a bit short. First putt I pulled way left (4 ft!) and missed the next putt for a 3 putt bogey. (As an aside I should mention that at the moment I am putting everything except short putts actually looking at the target - the straight line where the ball is to start rather than the hole. As someone mentioned this is the weirdest putting style they've ever seen but it is working for me in that I am getting the right distance. It has led me to hit a few pulled putts when they are very long. But I am going to stick with it for now because it is working - instead of averaging 40 putts I'm averaging 36). Okay, this is getting too long. Shorthand from here. 5-327mPar4-pushed drive straight into the trees, lost. Chipped out. 7i (with beautiful divot) really nice rolled past the flag. 2 putts back for double. 6-141mPar3-crushed a 7i too far!!! Middle of green but flag was at front. Just missed the putt for birdie. Par. 7-480mPar5-5w off tee short of water (too short, bit conservative not needed) but nice swing. Another 5w left me with 155m (playing into a pretty swift breeze). 4i was pushed right. Long chip which was again pulled left. 2 putt bogie. 8-372mPar4-index1-slightly pulled drive onto the fairway. Nice start. Thought I'd grabbed my 5i, actually 6i, from just over 150m (BTW we all think this hole is longer than the posted 372m, more like 395m, and that includes the member who we played with). Pushed the 6i right (again!) but actually almost had the distance. So that was a pretty good hit for me with a 6i. 150m used to be my longest, now it's the norm. Chipped left of the hole (again!). 2 putt bogie. 9-531mPar5-push sliced the drive onto the 8th fairway. 5w also push faded and left it on the bark (in retrospect I could have taken a free drop as it's GUR, but forgot). Smacked a 7w out to the right of the green to avoid the water (should have gone for the green I hit it so well! lol). Brain faded chip landed short. Another chip - too hard! 2 putts again. Double. Front 9 48 against par 37.