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Game plan

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holehigh

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Did my first practice session since 2011. Started with 46 yard pitches using the SW from the ruff. 4 within 1 putt, 30 on the green, 2 flubs. Chip from 3 feet off green using 6 iron 27 feet to flag. 15 out of 32 1 putt range.
Went to the full range hit off grass to 125 yard flag on elevated green. Hit pw, 9 & 8 using balls I had in garage for years. 120 on the pw, 128 9I, 140 8I. All carry distance, high ball flight. Went to the putting green. Very fast well kept, true roll. Using a new Calloway ball 1st putt 8 feet straight...holed it. 2nd putt 18 feet right to left break....holed it. 3rd putt 30 feet down hill left to right break.....holed it. Picked it up and headed home, I would only get worse if I continued to putt. After I practice more will go in and update all my sticks. All my shafts are stiff, irons are Steelheads pw to 2 iron, driver Big Bertha 460 Launcher with graphite shaft. I don't use 3-4-5 or hybrids woods. LW, SW are Ping Eye 2s square groove with Rifle shafts. I use the driver off the deck or 4 I to advance on par 5s. & long par 4's. A life long friend of mine owns a pro shop so I will hit on the machine and see what he thinks about shafts and driver loft. The big bertha is 9.5. It may be time for regular shafts. My hands only hurt a little from yesterdays practice. My goal is to shoot my age, I will be 70 in May. I mainly play my home course.
Cheers.
 
Wow 70 good for u man. Good practice day! I need those. And keep those Eye 2 wedges. Those are money
 
Practiced for the 2nd day in a row. Only using 30 balls for my practice sessions. Right hand a little sore from the two places that I broke it in 2011. Hit 120 chips using sw from 18 yards off the green, flag was 5 paces from the edge. Starting to get some rhythm in my swing, better balance, rotating the hips and better grip weld at the left thumb. Went to a different course to hit off grass. Mostly PW-9I then 8 with the driver. Better balance, fuller turn got me out to 235 yards on 4 of the 8 drives. My goal with the driver is about 245 yards after getting a newer driver and using a new ball. Sight picture looking at the ball is improving, not lifting my head so much. Short frequent practices hopefully will get me back to making full swings without to much soreness. May be a couple of more weeks before I play. Cheers.
 
Well, reality is a b****, my overweight old damaged body is just not doing what I want it to do. Only hit 8 quality shots out of 80 on the range. Kept hitting out on the toe, coming over the top. Finally hit some proper 9 irons 135 yards with a slight draw off the sweet spot. This is going to be harder than I thought.
 
Started doing some of my own custom swing exercises that grooved my swing plane, got me into the slot, quit coming over the top. Won't get to the range until Thursday. Could not do as many as I wanted as my hands and fingers started to ache where I broke/dislocated them. My swing speed is still ok for stiff shafts however if I digress one more club it may be time to switch to regular shafts. Getting my timing and sight of the golf ball back. Going to hit a least 400 to 600 more balls before I play the next round.
 
Also will be 70 later this year so I'm very happy to be able to play three to four times a week. Good luck with the comeback. Have found that if I try to play stiff shafts my back kills me after a few rounds.
 
Good luck with your journey. It will be fun to follow.
 
Good luck! Shooting your age is something most of us will only ever dream of doing. Looking forward to seeing your post the day you hit it!
 
Good for you OP!
 
hole high you are really practicing the right part of the game to shoot 70. Keep up the work and Im sure you will find success.
 
GG194 said:
Also will be 70 later this year so I'm very happy to be able to play three to four times a week. Good luck with the comeback. Have found that if I try to play stiff shafts my back kills me after a few rounds.
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Glad you posted. I was thinking about starting a thread for us "Seasoned", "Aged", Ol'Goats that haunt the links for trading any tips that may or may not help us to gain distance and or better scoring. I will search to see if anyone else has done this before me. Playing that much must keep you in shape.
 
Hit 120 30 yard pitch shots at a tree in the practice area today. First and foremost was my routine. After not playing for so long it sort wasted away. I did sort it out and started to pepper the trunk or stopping the shots at the base. There were a few skulls at first as I worked on just how I was going to set up to the ball. I am sort of anal about this. Which hand to hold the club as I line up the shot behind the ball, how far back to start setting up to the ball. For me it's 1 1/2 steps behind the ball.
I used to be about 7 or 8 paces behind the ball but when I had on the course playing lessons with a pro he suggested I try cutting it down to this distance. At first it felt weird however I started to hit more online shots off the sweet spot, I mean a lot more, it was amazing. This happened a long time ago. After 40 to 50 shots it started to come back to what I used to do. I won't bore you with the exact sequence but it felt good, like a old pair of slippers. I would hit a shot, place the ball on a good lie, walk in big circle around the ball 3 times about 40 steps each circle then do my routine and hit the pitch shot for each of the next 70 shots. After doing this I walked over to the range and hit 30 PW's to the small mound with the flag at 116 yards. We had to hit of the eagle mats. I put 25 out of 30 shots on the mound. finished up with 15 balls with the 9 iron. My grip is starting to feel more natural again, hands feeing alive. Getting my routine down again was a big step for me. Cheers.
 
This last weekend I did nothing but my routine, getting the grip welds correct, while watching TV. I would do this at every commercial. Took practice swings with full finishes. Today had a chance to get to the range. The house practice paid off, especially with my grip. Had much better control of the club, hitting much more on the sweet spot. Hit 80 38 yard pitches, again at a tree, doing the setup, proper grip, balance and proper weight shift. Felt in control of the club with no looseness at all. Went over to the full range and hit 60 shots off the eagle matts, all with the pitching wedge. With my grip more secure I was able to start getting a slight draw. Hitting it straight then at the apex it would start to fall(draw) to the left. With the better contact was getting some out to 125 but most at 116 to 120 carry. I have decided to play a draw instead of the fade because of my loss of distance. Instead of the neutral grip I now setup with a bit stronger grip. I have been squeezing a nerf type ball with my damaged fingers to build up some strength. I still can not close fully my last three fingers on my left hand. All in all had a great day at the range, 69 degrees, slight breeze, bright blue sky here in SoCal. Cheers.
 
Really enjoying following along.
 
Thanks for the interest JB, I am just happy to be able to play again. Starting to get that old excitement back to get out and play. I have a couple of goals, one is to get a hole in one. I have been close but no cigar. I can look out my dining room window at the 14th par 3 green, fountain from the water hazard, trees and mountains in the background. In these past years I had no excitement to go out and play then I had the crash in 2011 and I wondered would I ever be able to play again?
Thankfully I will be able to play. I used to walk all the time but now I have to take a cart because my neck and upper middle back can not take the pressure of a bag. Still better than not playing. Cheers.
 
Goal for today was to hit with more power. Started with 45 50 pitches but had no touch, kind of ugly. Then did 90 chips with the 6-7-8-9-pw until I holed out on the 88th chip at 17 yards on the practice green. Went over to the range and again hit off the eagle matts. 7 iron 150 to 155 carry, 6 iron 158 to 165 carry all straight shots, did not fade or draw. Then hit some pitching wedges which were going 120, straight shots. All of the 90 irons shots were very high straight shots. 225 golf shots sort of wore me out. Neck, hands, fore arms are sore. Tomorrow is off grass at the range so up next is the 5 wood and Driver if I feel up to it, if not then Saturday. 80 degrees, no wind to speak of. Took some meds when I got home. Visualization was starting to come back towards the end of the session. Things are looking up. Cheers.
 
Had to make this a recovery day. Did go for a 2 mile walk however, nice day, clear, sunny, 72 degrees at 10 am. I did lose a pound after yesterdays practice. Cheers.
 
Threw the clubs into my Twin Turbo 1997 3000GT VR-4 for its weekend exercise. Went down to PCH in Seal Beach, Huntington Beach then went to El Dorado Golf Course to practice. 45 chips (holed the 3rd one at 17 yards) all with the 6 iron.
Went to the main range and hit the well used range balls with the 9 & 8 Irons. Forgot to put the 5 wood in the bag so started to hit the better range balls with the driver. After a few toe shots had to recall how I set up to the ball with the driver.
Put my feet together with the ball lined up with my left instep, place my right foot to the right and back, shift to the right then flare the left foot out slightly then back in balance, look at target, back to the ball and start the action. After recalling this started to make good contact and hitting some good drives. Hit some out to 220, 225 range. Used up all the range balls but I brought 25 more that I picked up around my house. With these made some really good contact, some went out to 235.
One Maxfli went to 240 but I hit it dead solid perfect. I started to see the club hit the ball like I used to back in the day. Some of them fell to the left like I want them to do. I may try to play a round in about two weeks or less to see where I am at.
I will put together a plan for that day. I break it down for the par 5s, 4s, 3s. Cheers.
 
Finally went to the range today. Big change for me was to start to use the interlocking grip instead of the overlapping grip that I have used for many, many years. The results were very good, with much better contact on the sweet spot for all my irons. I also measured my pw up to my 2 iron and they were all 1/2 inch over standard, so I just gripped down a shade. Started with 60 chip shots then 30 25 yard pitch shots. Went to the main range and hit 110 full shots, most with the pitching wedge. Hard swing--116 yards, harder swing---121 yards, hardest swing---126 yards. All shots were high without any draw or fade, just straight. Hit some 5 woods that went 190 to 200 yards, all high shots with a slight fade. Then hit 5 iron that carried 170 yards. Finished up with a few 8 irons, 9 irons then pw. Last 5 balls I use a 7 iron to hit 116 yard shots, had good control, they hit the 116 yard practice green but rolled off the back. Next week I will visit the shop and see what my swing speed is so I can dial in what ball I am going to use and if I need to update the driver. My guess would be that I will be between 94 to 98 mph with the driver. 84 degrees, sunny for a very good practice. Cheers
 
Fantastic! congrats on getting back into the "swing" of things
 
Today went to my home course to roll some putts to see which of five balls would be the best. Calloway Supersoft, Soft, Titleist ProV, Maxfli Rev Solid, Bridgestone Tour B330-rx. Both Calloways did the best for me. Test distance was 24 feet, uphill, left to right break. Came up short or high right and long with the ProV, Maxfli, B330. Holed out with the first putt with the Supersoft, then 2 inches behind the hole with the Soft. Just for giggles I dug out my Ping-eye 2 putter with the orange eye because it felt good at set up, it was ok but it's going back into the no-go bag again. I went into the Pro shop and set up an appointment with a pro I have known for 25 years to check out my swing, it's for next Tuesday. Always good to have someone check out your swing, unless your name is Bubba Watson. Going to hit off of grass tomorrow, mainly 6-PW. Then a few 5 woods. Cheers.
 
Went to my friends golf shop and hit on the machine. Sadly my swing speed with the driver is between 87 to 95 mph. Most of them were 88 to 90. Worse, I was dragging my hands back to the outside a little and was cutting across the line with an open face. He set the machine up with 20 yards of roll so when it said 230 I was only had 210 yards of carry. The harder I tried the worse it got. Some of the hits did register to 260. After I thanked him I went to the range to see if I could at least hit some shots without cutting across the line. Started with the pitching wedge at the 100 yard flag, just trying to get to the inside and set my hands where they should be. Made some progress so after 30 shots got the 7 iron out to hit at the 145 yard flag. When I got it right it carried 155 yards, wrong it went 140 yards. Then tried the driver, still cutting across the line. Started to come from the inside on a few shots, hit my last with a 245 yard carrier that almost hit the 245 yard flag. One quality shot with the driver so I put it away and finished out with easy pitching wedges from the inside. Hit a total of 110 shots. Going to see the pro on Tuesday so now I have something to go on when he looks at my swing. Cheers.
 
Reviewed my setup and stance in front of the mirror. Dang, I had been setting up like I used to when I was a 14, almost a reverse pivot with to much on the left side with the ball to far forward. No wonder I was cutting across the line, only way I could hit the ball. Made the corrections, put the ball back in the stance. Went to the range, 1) flex in the knees 2) stuck my butt out more 3) set up with the club in the left hand 4) came from underneath the left hand with the right hand so as not to reach from over the top 5) played the ball back where it should be 6) now was able to start back without getting in my own way. Much better results as dug out 75 shots with the pitching wedge, then the driver. It's a never ending battle. Cheers.
 
Finally got my grip correct, well mostly correct. Hitting 8 iron 155, 7 iron 155, 6 iron 170, 5 iron 180, 5 wood 200. Hit 85 balls. For some reason I am hitting the 8 iron the same distance as the 7 iron. I went to the pro shop after the session and had them both checked for loft. Both lofts were exactly as they should be. I am having a pro look at my swing tomorrow, will see if I can get this sorted out. It appears that I have a big gap from 135 to 150 that has to be addressed.
 
The good- stance, tempo, position at the top of the back swing. The bad-the start back to the ball by me pushing my hands out of the plane, dropping my head and staying on my right side to long, crouching on the follow through because not getting my right side under and around. The fix-from the top of the backswing hold the position and then pump/drop the arms only into the correct position to the inside by trying to hit between 1st and 2nd base. Fix #2- make a back swing with the right hand on the club, left hand mirror/shadow off the club, at the top of the swing hold with the right, drop the left back to the ball then swing the club down and through until I make contract with the left arm then turn fully to the follow through.
Fix number one I picked up quickly, fix number two is going to take awhile. My lower back is to stiff so I slide a little, he twisted me into the correct position so I felt what it should feel like. Looks like some sessions with the chiropractor is on the schedule as well. I can do both easily in my back yard then go to the range to see how its going. I will go back in about 3 to 4 weeks. Onward and upward.
 
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