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Short Game Shape Up - JB Goes To Work

JB

JB

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Working on other parts of my life, it seemed natural that this would fall in line and it has. This thread will be my journey to go back to where I was as a player from 2 years ago as it relates to my short game and golf shots 100 yards and in.

I just got back from my maiden voyage I am calling JB Gets His Wow Back. I am going back to the basics of what made me a better player and that was my wedge game. Over the last 18 months and more specifically last year, with everything going on with THP, our lives and the inaugural Morgan Cup, I let my game slip to a point that I was not happy about. I was still getting out there and doing a decent job and competing, but the one thing that slipped was my short game. Gone were the days of feeling so confident that I could get up and down from anywhere. Gone were the days of being able to pull anything inside of 100 yards to where I wanted it to go. And more specifically, gone were the days of taking my game to the next level of picking apart golf courses.

It has little to do with competition or anything of the sort and more to do with timing not having that lust to continue to work at it. It used to be a must for me, as a guy that lacks a little distance off the tee, to compete on longer courses. Then it got tiresome and I assumed I was to a point that it would always be there. Fast forward to a rising handicap (I was a .9 three years ago) and the lost ability to do what I did before and it was time for a change. It was time to get back to my roots of what made me enjoy this game so much. It was time to go back to slaying courses through course management and better wedge play. And it was time to go back to enjoying the game I love, based on how I love playing it.

Today consisted of 30 minutes of range time with a flag stick 60 yards away (laser reading). I had 30 golf balls and the goal for me is to have 15 of them with in 10 feet. A real ten feet measured out for myself with tees in the ground to outline the area of which I had to be in. I chose a flat green for today as it is more about finding out where I am currently. The kicker here is that I have to do it 3 ways and use only ball position to maneuver the flight.

10 balls will be hit high
10 balls will be hit low
10 balls will be hit normal

I reached my goal today as 17 balls were with in 10 feet. 6 more were with in about 15 feet and 4 more were just outside of that. I did catch 3 balls thin and they are probably still going. Those 3 are just unacceptable. I found that with normal ball position I had the best success followed by hitting it high. That shows me that the lower trajectory is something I also have to continue to work on. I did today's work with Bridgestone B330-RX golf balls and the new Cleveland 588 wedge in 58 degrees.

This is only the first drill and tomorrow I have another test for myself coming up. I will continue to update this thread as if it were a journal and see how I progress with the goal in mind to be back at my starting point by the end of the year. From there I can decide where I want to take this and how far it will go. There will be successes and failures throughout this journey, but one thing I know for sure, I will come out the other side better than I am now and enjoying the game like I used to.
 
Good luck. This is defintiely good practice.
 
This is something I want to do so badly right now too. I'm running out of good weather, so it's not going to happen for awhile, but it's my first priority once Spring rolls around.
 
Good stuff JB and thanks for sharing exactly what you are using to measure yourself. Accountability yields results.
 
Good for you JB, and I really hope you get back to enjoying the game. After all, if you don't enjoy it, what is the point. I look forward to following this thread as I consider myself to have a pretty good short game, and may try some of your drills to get even better. Good luck buddy.
 
Good luck out there buddy, this will be great to follow along. I can relate to every bit of this as the biggest hole in my game this year has been that 30 out to 80 yard range which was once the best part of my game. Go get 'em JB!
 
Good luck JB, by what I could gather your wedge game was already stellar, good on ya not to rest on your laurels!
 
Nice, JB. Thanks for sharing this with us, looking forward to following your progress. One thing I keep hearing the MCers from last year say is spend more time working on 100 yards and in, I think often times this is practice that gets left out, especially when golf time is limited.
 
JB I'm curious what the purpose of practicing the different ball flights is for? For varying wind conditions?
 
the_paulo said:
Nice one. I'm interested to follow this thread, as I know my short game has suffered this year due to lack of practice.

JB, do you think using 3 different kinds of shot so early in the process is good practice, or would you be better trying to groove one kind of go-to shot? Does the variety help out in that you don't get bored just hitting the same kind of shot for the whole session?
Click to expand...

For me its kind of way of gauging what I need to work on. When I used to practice this all the time, I would use 3 shots a lot on my wedge game. Draw, fade, straight, high, low, etc...Most of my work will come down to my normal shot, but working with ball position lets me know where my weaknesses are in some cases. My normal shot will almost always be my go to shot if I can have that and the conditions work for it.

For me its about getting back to the basics and working on what gets me the best scores. Lots of practice does that and this was a nice beginning test to gauge that.
 
I am really looking forward to following this thread. While my short game is no where near what JB's is, I hope it will give me some drills to work on to start getting it to where it should be.
 
Perkins Rooster said:
JB I'm curious what the purpose of practicing the different ball flights is for? For varying wind conditions?
Click to expand...

Lots of reasons. Wind, green slope, up and down land variations, there are lots of reasons for me to work on different ball flights as I work to get my short game back to where it was. Also what hazards lie between my ball and the target. Its not something everybody needs to or even should do, but for me its crucial in identifying where I need the most work.
 
Looking forward to reading how the short game improves and the different drills you're using to get there. Good luck!
 
The area of my game that I have spent the most time on recently is the short game. It is fun to practice and really needed. I try to hit multiple shots with the same wedge, just to help foster my creativity. I am really interested to hear a good player's progress. Maybe give me some ideas.
 
But I already thought you had amazing short game play? I'm just assuming this is for reinforcement to get better?
Or is this something you have discovered has been holding your game back/lacking lately?

Looking forward to this though
 
Thechosen1 said:
But I already thought you had amazing short game play? I'm just assuming this is for reinforcement to get better?
Or is this something you have discovered has been holding your game back/lacking lately?

Looking forward to this though
Click to expand...

You had to have skimmed the 1st post.
 
good luck
 
Thanks for taking us on your journey. Your story alone gives us a little insight into how much hard work handling all of us is; as I believe it was about 3 years ago you adopted all of us.
 
Good luck JB. I think your determination to do this should inspire others to do so. Good luck!
 
Good luck I am sure things will get even better then they were. I might steal some of the drills from you :p
 
I can sympathize, JB. I once considered my wedge play to be the best part of my game but as of late with work taking priority over practice time my short game has suffered. I stand over a 80 yard lob wedge and expect results of two years ago but it just doesn't happen. I guess its true what they say, "the short game is the first thing to go." Goodluck with your journey, I'll be reading!

-HCL
 
It sounds like a great way to get the game back. After skulling a few wedge shots yesterday, hitting a few with nice loft but not enough distance, and few right where they needed to be, I can relate.

My question: how are you able to use the range with your own balls? Is there just no foot traffic on it, or is it a complex that has an area setup just for people to hit their own balls without anyone else using the same area?
 
fracisco said:
It sounds like a great way to get the game back. After skulling a few wedge shots yesterday, hitting a few with nice loft but not enough distance, and few right where they needed to be, I can relate.

My question: how are you able to use the range with your own balls? Is there just no foot traffic on it, or is it a complex that has an area setup just for people to hit their own balls without anyone else using the same area?
Click to expand...

We are fortunate enough to have a pretty decent short game area for stuff like this, however in this case, I asked the course if I could use one of their holes before traffic got to me. They were kind enough to let me do so since there were people on the practice area where I would normally do this.
 
This sounds like it is going to be interesting, I hope that a lot of members, especially those new to the game, will read this and see that even a person with a 4.4 handicap has to dedicate themselves to practice. I too rely on my short game a lot and I know how bad your round can get when you feel uncomfortable over shots you know you should be great at. Good Luck!
 
Tomorrow I will be headed to range to do more work on "finding where I am" as it relates to the short game. I have decided tomorrow will be spent with pitching/chipping the ball and we are going to do a little test involving 30 golf balls all hit the same way, however from 3 different spots towards the hole. The goal is to put 20 of 30 balls with in 6 feet of the hole to see where I stand. Here are the shots.

10 balls from in the light rough about 5 yards off the green with an uphill shot at the hole
10 balls from in the light rough from about 7 yards off the green that is a downhill lie and downhill shot at the hole
10 balls from about 10 yards off the green that is your standard "I came up short"

Playing each of these shots similarly, as in a pitch, should give me an idea of where I am with that stroke and what I need to work on throughout. I will have more details after the range session on how I did and what, if anything, I was able to pick up from this.
 
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