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KellyBo & Gray -- Diary of taking Lessons

SprayTech said:
Sounds like you'll be Scratch by the outing and its great that your able to have the opportunity to work on your game !
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:laughing:
 
Great write up KellyBo, glad to see you working on the flatstick, sounds like you will be sinking more putts soon.
 
Glad you got that ball flight down Ole Gray! It is hard seeing a friend struggle, but great to see them succeed!

Awesome lesson KB! That makes me want to go talk to your guy about putting. I have never had a putting lesson in my life, but I did watch Pat O'Brien give SMG a mini lesson at the PGA show and that helped me out tremendously.
 
KellyBo said:
I had a lesson in putting today after complaining that I am really struggling in that area. Coach put some kind of gadget on my putter and had some type of monitor to analyze my putting stroke. He had me hit some putts and then went over the analysis with me on the computer. My numbers were compared to a tour pro's average numbers. I was good at squaring my putter (thanks Seemore) but my path was inconsistent which really screwed up all the other stuff. The computer program he had was really neat for seeing all the variances and showing me specifically what I need to work on the most. It was really obvious which numbers were a result of a good swing path and which weren't.

Although I wasn't fitted for my Seemore, coach felt like the putter was fine since I have no trouble squaring it to the target.

We went out to the putting green and he put up large nails with string and had me putting with my putter against a board and in line with the string. It became obvious that one of my problems was that I was guiding a bit with a finger that I had lying down on the shaft. We changed my grip so that no fingers are pointing downwards. By putting against the board he used and changing my grip, I had a very consistent straight back and through stroke. Once we practiced for a while, we went out to their par 3 course to putt without any aids.

He talked to me about the importance of a routine on each putt. Once I decide the line of my putt and aim my ball using the line on my ball, I should then concentrate on the speed of the putt. I should take the time to really think about the speed by imagining that I am rolling/throwing the ball and/or taking practice swings while looking at the hole. Once I decide the speed of my putt, I should square myself and the putter to the line on the ball and not hesitate for long before putting. Do not try to reassess the line or speed once I set up as it will be distorted from this angle, especially since I am right eye dominant. He got onto me a couple times for looking at the hole once I set up to the ball. He said make your decision on speed with your practice putt, step up and square to the ball and make that same stroke. Looking at the hole again after setting up only adds new thoughts to what you've already determined in your practice swing.

He worked with me for a long time on several things but emphasis was on a proper path of putter, not looking up, having a routine, and MOST importantly, learning distance control. He had me stroking the putts pretty darn good before I left. Practice! Practice! Practice!
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Sounds like exactly what I need KB. I might have to bite the bullet and go see David Orr. I am enjoying reading your progress and can't wait to see your game up close and personal.
 
KellyBo said:
:laughing:
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Whats all the laughing about ??? Your game sounds like its coming around fine , and with all the playing and practice and new Cleveland weapons , Scratch doesnt sound far off .
You got poor OleGray shaking in his bib's , thats why he's wanting to unload his Cobras for Clevelands :D
I need to find another good teaching Pro , mine died several years back , I have been going with what I remember form his lessons of years ago .
My driving and putting need alot of help !
 
SprayTech said:
Whats all the laughing about ??? Your game sounds like its coming around fine , and with all the playing and practice and new Cleveland weapons , Scratch doesnt sound far off .
You got poor OleGray shaking in his bib's , thats why he's wanting to unload his Cobras for Clevelands :D
I need to find another good teaching Pro , mine died several years back , I have been going with what I remember form his lessons of years ago .
My driving and putting need alot of help !
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I always joke and say even Hank Haney couldn't help Charles Barkley. Bobby has his hands full with me. I tease him and tell him I ride the short bus and am one of his special students because I always tend to revert back to my 25 year old habits. I do see progress but I see a lot of struggle too. It's much easier to come down from a 24 handicap to where I am now than it is to go from where I am down to a single digit. That's a fact. I don't know if I will ever get there but it won't be because I didn't try.

As for my handicap, it's climbing. All my good scores from last year are falling off and my bad scores from recent months are going to start counting. I actually think I will be more relaxed with a higher handicap for now since I haven't been playing to the lower one in a while.

I do feel my game is taking a turn for the better though. I just hope my back will hold out because it has definitely been hindering me lately.
 
This space being rented by Cleveland Golf! Grays Poem!

You have me on the inside, so give me those clubs and whoop my hide.
It matters little if they perform for me, as long as I get the scoop on that rascally TC.
Cleveland golf is replacing a snake, so no performance issues for goodness sake.


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You are so bad JB. But you're so GOOD at it! :alien:
 
OleGray may put a mortgage on the house for those Williams F1 racing engineers $50,000 set of golf clubs & surprise everyone .
Take his swing into the 18,000 rpm range ............... :D

KellyBo , we all have confidence in you . Before to long it will get to where its automatic and the handicap it will come down !
 
KB you make me want to get a putting lesson. I think I need to just do it. I need to eliminate stroke where ever I can and the flat stick is the most obvious culprit. Good luck going forward with your lessons, it sounds like you are going to take our lunches at the outing.


I Tapped, I Talked
 
JB that was great, made me spit some coffee on the computer.
 
Thought some of you might be interested to see how my handicap originally improved drastically when I first started taking lessons. This was copied from the GHIN website last year and covers April 15 - November 15.


This was copied this month. My handicap went down fast in the beginning but now it is creeping back up. I will attest to the fact that dropping from a 24 to a 15 was a piece of cake but going any further is VERY difficult.
 
KellyBo , I wouldn't worry about it to much , as I think when your swing becomes automatic you'll see the results !
I remember years ago when I was taking lessons it was horrendous for several months , then after pounding balls every night at a range and playing every weekend it clicked and things were good .
I need to find another good Pro as I struggle on my own , especially with my driver and putting !
 
SprayTech said:
KellyBo , I wouldn't worry about it to much , as I think when your swing becomes automatic you'll see the results !
I remember years ago when I was taking lessons it was horrendous for several months , then after pounding balls every night at a range and playing every weekend it clicked and things were good .
I need to find another good Pro as I struggle on my own , especially with my driver and putting !
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Yeah SprayTech, I know what you mean. I am not really worried about it. I do my best and that's all I can do. I just want to share my experience and let people know that the hard part is here! It will be quite the challenge to get back down but I love it so much and I will keep at it. I expect my handicap will be back up to an 18 before long unless I turn things around. I shot 93 yesterday but I am chaulking it up to a terrible back and lack of play for the last few weeks.
 
Take easy good buddy. Changing equipment, cold winter months, and that muscle pull does not contribute much for consistent golf. I am just about to bite the bullet and sign up for lessons for my annual spring tune-up. My bag will also look completely different by outing time in May so I have some bonding to do with my new sticks. It sucks having to wait for the local demo club day as I am ready to get fit and order! My bag setup will change for the first time ever. I'm going to try dropping the 4-iron and replace it with a hybrid club. It may work pretty good as the 4 hybrid I am currently using, is working better than expected.
 
I think that is a good move on the hybrid OG, I am a little older and I have even dropped the 5i from the bag too. Hope to see you soon buddy.
 
Had a play lesson with my coach yesterday on the short par 3 course next to the Learning Center. The holes vary from as close as 45-130 yards. It is a beautiful little practice course that is great for the members/students to practice their short game. Here are a couple pictures that I found online.



I was allowed to bring 3 clubs and my putter so I brought my SW, PW, and 9i (we played front and middle tees). I've really been trying to get better at judging short distances by feel, swing, etc. and boy did it get tested on this course. Try hitting a downhill shot off a tee with only 45 yards to the green and stopping the ball on a downhill sloped green. That's intimidating. These greens are really fast and hard to read so I knew my putting would be key too.

I'm happy to report that most of my tee shots were decent. Even my putting has improved but is still nothing to write home about. My coach really talked me through course management, reading greens, different types of shots to hit in certain situations.

Next we went to the range for about 15 minutes so he could help me with my driver woes. He said I was turning my hips back to the target too soon. He showed me how I should be making the turn and follow through and then gave me a drill to do on the range. I worked on it today and WOW did it work. I was hitting the best shots I've hit in a while and right down the middle.

Drill to do on range:

Plastic range ball basket (place upside down)
Tee (about 1 1/2 feet in front of basket)
Another tee with ball set up about 3 feet in front of that tee

Take 4 practice swings as follows: Set up as if there is a ball on the tee in front of the basket. Place head of driver on top of basket and then swing back and take full swing to tee in front of basket without hitting the basket. Be sure you swing out to right field when you take the practice swing (baseball drill). This promotes an in/out swing path.

Step up to ball that is on the tee and hit this shot just like the 4 practice swings. Repeat process for at least 20 balls.
 
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The par 3 course looks great. There is one about 45 miles from me and the wife and I enjoy playing it every now and then. These course's do make for good fun and let you work on shots through the round with shorter clubs than a regular round.
I'm also a huge fan of playing lessons. My pro does that as well and I have had many playing lessons over the years and they no doubt help with course management. Good stuff!
 
Had a play lesson on 9 holes today. Bobby wanted to see me in action on the course since I've been struggling lately. I actually played pretty decent but a few things came to light that he was able to help me with.

I had a bit of a fade on some shots which I haven't been having until recently. He thinks some of it is me protecting my back but my biggest problem is that I am turning too soon on my downswing which may be causing some of my back problems.

I hit my irons really well today but I had a problem missing to the right on a few shots. He told me it is probably from having an open clubface at impact. I know what to do to fix that. I just have to remember to do it when I take the club back.

I had a chip in birdie on a par 3 today. I hit the green on my tee shot but it rolled just onto the back fringe. I had about a 30' chip across fringe most of the way since they had the flag tucked away in back. I only had about 6' of green to work with so I played my chip across the fringe and it landed perfectly to break left into the cup. I was so proud of myself.

Bobby said he feels I am actually improving a good bit although my scores don't reflect it. He sees improvement in areas such as judging my wedge shot distances, chipping, and he really liked my putting stroke today. I make little errors that are costing me strokes but they are easy fixes with lots of practice. For example, leaving long putts and chips too short. He really worked with me on a routine for long putts today. He reminded me to look at the hole and take practice strokes until I get a feel for the speed. Then step up to the ball and hit it with the same stroke w/o looking back at the hole.

I talked to coach about my struggles with the Mashie 3. I told him I think I am more suited for a 7 wood for that distance. He said some people are just better with woods. I asked him if he had any 7 woods I could demo. He got a Tour Edge 7 wood out for me to try and then used his IPad to video tape my swing. He emailed the video to me. Here's setup and impact.



I hit that 7 wood really well but he told me he wanted me to try a drill to stop me from releasing my hips so soon. He had me swing the club and then turn. Just stand there and swing and then make a full turn. It's pretty simple and it worked! I started smoking the ball down the center of the fairway with a little draw. The fade was gone.

In reviewing the video that coach sent me, I can see that I am taking my swing too far back again. I liked a lot of what I saw with my swing but there is definite room for improvement. I'm glad he now has a way to interact with me with the IPad. He said I can send him a video of my swing anytime and he will analyze it on the program he has loaded.

Note: I watched Tom Watson's Lessons of A Lifetime videos this week and practiced with the Vision Track. Great stuff that I believe has really helped me get things back on track.
 
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Nice update KB! Sounds like you are having a good time. It is also big that you get on so well with your instructor. Having the trust to buy into what they say one hundred percent is so important. Nice report!
 
HoosierGolfer said:
Nice update KB! Sounds like you are having a good time. It is also big that you get on so well with your instructor. Having the trust to buy into what they say one hundred percent is so important. Nice report!
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Thanks Hoosier! I really respect him and his knowledge of the game. He loves the fact that I listen to him and actually go back and practice what he teaches. It's so much fun to get out on the course and show him things that I can do now. I can't wait to beat him. LOL We joke about that all the time. Match play today was closer than he would like but he still beat me. I made him work hard for that win though. :D
 
I sure like reading about your journey to a better game KellyBo .
Sounds like your getting to know your swing and before to long you will be beating everyone at your course !
 
Good stuff KB! We have a nine hole short course with similar yardages. Great place to practice. :)
 
SprayTech said:
I sure like reading about your journey to a better game KellyBo .
Sounds like your getting to know your swing and before to long you will be beating everyone at your course !
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Well not everyone bro :D
 
SprayTech said:
I sure like reading about your journey to a better game KellyBo .
Sounds like your getting to know your swing and before to long you will be beating everyone at your course !
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Thanks SprayTech. I'm glad you enjoy reading. Sometimes I feel kind of stupid for typing all this stuff but it's fun to keep a diary and it is also helpful for me to remember what I've been taught and how I've progressed or slipped.

Sean said:
Good stuff KB! We have a nine hole short course with similar yardages. Great place to practice. :)
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Thanks Sean! We played the big course today. It is a tough one! It is private and I absolutely love every chance I can get to be out there on it.
 
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