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JollyGreenBucket and the road to improvement

JollyGrnBucket

JollyGrnBucket

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Joined
Feb 14, 2014
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Location
Scott AFB, IL
Handicap
25
Freddie et al,

I need some serious help. I'm frustrated with myself and my game. My frustrations stem from the fact that I can hit any shot, and I know I can. I've done it! The problem is I also can just as easily chunk it, or hook it, or push it, or get stuck, etc... Basically, I have no idea what the ball will do.

I shoot right around 100, plus or minus 5. No better, no worse. I know my ball striking is seriously keeping me back. I've only ever taken one lesson in my life, an internet lesson where he identified that I come OTT and cast. Since then I've worked on using the lower body to trigger the downswing more, but the cast is my arch nemesis.

As I said to Freddie on Twitter, I feel like a single handicapper in a hackers body. I know what to do, I just can't make my body do it. Maybe that's part of my problem, I'm just not being honest with where I am in my game and I need to be more real of where I'm at?

i look forward to everyone's thoughts.

-JGB

 
So I'll give this the couple day bump. No thoughts? Not even a "quit while you're ahead"?


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It's hard dude, especially the part about making your body cooperate. For golf, I find that repetition on the smaller level is what helps me. For example, I was yanking the club inside on the takeaway so I worked on that for weeks. It just takes time, unless you're naturally gifted.
 
Be patient my friend. This is something that wont happen overnight but every day try to get better than you were the day before. Reps are your friend and realize that whatever the fix is it takes at least 21 days of constant movement in that position for your body to start working in that manner
 
Thanks guys, I really appreciate the posts. I bought Rotella's Golf is Not A Game of Perfect, so I think I need to start reading it and working on a bit of self-forgiveness. Here is one question: how should I release the club? I really struggle with a hit impulse, so how can I work to eliminate that? Any ideas?
 
Are lessons not an option? The best advice anybody can give you is to get some lessons and then consciously work on the items he/she gives you. You'll read a whole bunch of terrible advice from people to try and do it on your own, buy books or dvd's, etc, but that's really only good advice if you want to make your journey a lot longer and more frustrating. What you think is your problem may not even be the problem, or it may be an effect of the problem. Plus, without feedback how do you know you're even doing your fixes correctly (not to mention the right fixes). Get lessons and devote more time to practicing is my advice. There's no quick answers with the golf swing.
 
Hawk said:
Are lessons not an option? The best advice anybody can give you is to get some lessons and then consciously work on the items he/she gives you. You'll read a whole bunch of terrible advice from people to try and do it on your own, buy books or dvd's, etc, but that's really only good advice if you want to make your journey a lot longer and more frustrating. What you think is your problem may not even be the problem, or it may be an effect of the problem. Plus, without feedback how do you know you're even doing your fixes correctly (not to mention the right fixes). Get lessons and devote more time to practicing is my advice. There's no quick answers with the golf swing.
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That's totally fair. At this point in our life, we're working very hard to pay off debt, so it's between playing rounds and practicing. Having said that, I think I'm at the point where I'm going to devote my time/money to practicing, because I'm just getting too frustrated. Lessons are an option, but it will be difficult for me to do them in the near future. The other issue I have is one of trust: how do I know the teacher I'm going to see is a good one? I feel like I'm willing to put in the work, I just want to make sure it will pay off if that makes sense.
 
Money is definitely an issue. Sucks I know!

Here's my thought on trusting a professional. No matter what, he knows more than you and 95% of the guys on this and every other golf forum out there, though many will mistakenly disagree with that. Too often people don't really put in the work or find ways to disagree with experts (and not commit to the lesson) and then blame it on the guy 'not knowing what he's doing'. See it all the time.

Obviously some are better than others, but that's just going to be trial and error I guess. I'd look for somebody with a good setup - video, etc. After that, look for somebody you can communicate with. For me, I learn through feeling and repetition, so I have to really dig into my instructor. What should I be feeling? Is this right? Sometimes I have to ask a couple different ways. Others are different, so figure out how you learn and try to get together with somebody that can give that to you.

Hopefully none of that sounded harsh. I just see a bunch of bad advice come in these kinds of threads. It just takes time and working smarter. Each year I've done lessons I've come out better than the year before, but it's slow because we only have so much time and money to invest in the game. Because of that I am trying to really maximize my time.
 
No, that's completely solid advice. I also recognize that when you remove emotion and nuance from a conversation via the Internet, it can make something sound unintentionally harsh. I haven't taken anything that way. Besides, it takes a lot more to offend me than that!

You've helped a lot in my decision on who to seek instruction from, that's for sure. There are a number of instructors in the area, but only a few use video, so I think that's a key differentiator. I know that helps me enormously in telling what is ACTUALLY happening when I swing rather than what I THINK is happening.

I think you bring up a great point, and one I really didn't think a lot about: what the ratio of good advice to bad advice would be in the thread. If I can't tell what is going on with my swing, how will I be able to tell what good advice is going to be for my swing (with the exception of a vetted expert like FK)? Ultimately though, this conversation we're having has helped in a totally different way. Instead of working on my swing, we're working on my expectations for improvement, which probably needed to be managed first.
 
That's my thought on it too. I'd trust very few people, but FK is one of them.

I think expectations are a great topic too. A tough one as well! Golf is sort of unique in what we expect from ourselves. I wouldn't expect to hit a 90mph fastball out of Busch stadium, yet there's a little part of me that thinks I can do things on the golf course that are highly unlikely lol. I've tempered that in the last year as much as I can, understanding that as you get better, you get better slower. As a 30 hcp I could see drastic changes from just a couple minor things I learned in lessons. As time goes on, the changes are more difficult and the results less drastic.

The good thing about golf is that you can manage your game though. I'm not long or a good ball striker, but making good decisions and using my strengths (putting/wedges) can give me decent scores and the occasional good one. My long term goal is to take pressure off that part of my game by improving the first two things, but it's a lot of work.
 
Sorry for the delay in responding. I watched you video and it's actually a pretty solid swing. Before we get started, because I seriously think you can manage solid scores with your swing.

where do you loose most of shots. If you shoot 100, how many putts do you have. What's your average score per hole. How many does it take for you to get the ball in the hole from rand the green. How many penalty shots do you have per round?
 
This isn't golf swing related, but something that sounds familiar to me. I struggled a lot though most of my golf career with having a good swing and shot making ability while not having the results to match. The harder I tried to improve, often the worse I got. My tension and stress always seemed to hold me back. I think that you may struggle with something similar. If I'm off base, then I apologize. I really took a step forward when I found a way to relax and let loose on the course. Find a happy place and make a good swing from start to finish. Contact with the ball is just a small part of the process.

I apologize again if this is off base.
 
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Tadashi70 said:
Sorry for the delay in responding. I watched you video and it's actually a pretty solid swing. Before we get started, because I seriously think you can manage solid scores with your swing.

where do you loose most of shots. If you shoot 100, how many putts do you have. What's your average score per hole. How many does it take for you to get the ball in the hole from rand the green. How many penalty shots do you have per round?
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Thanks for getting back with me! No worries about the delay.

I think I probably lose part of my shots in putting and part from after tee to green, meaning the approach shots/short games. I took a look back at my stats for last season. A quick background on me: I just started playing again after taking a several year lay off due to military service/back issues from that military service.

9 holes- 23 putts/1 penalty/0 fairways/1 GIR/55
18 holes- 40 putts/3 penalties/8 fairways/4 GIR/97
18 holes- 38 putts/12 penalties/5 fairways/5 GIR/102 (new/extremely tight course)
18 holes- 34 putts/4 penalties/0 fairways/2 GIR/103
18 holes- 36 putts/1 penalty/4 fairways/2 GIR/97
9 holes- 19 putts/0 penalties/2 fairways/1 GIR/50
18 holes- 40 putts/9 penalties/8 fairways/4 GIR/106 (new course)
9 holes- 19 putts/2 penalties/2 fairways/1 GIR/49
9 holes- 21 putts/0 penalties/1 fairway/2 GIR/53

So there it is. I think it's clear I need to improve my putting. I feel like my iron/wedge work is a real problem also. I feel like I just don't understand it from a basic level. I get the concept of hitting driver, but on other clubs I feel like I have to hit down on them very hard. I end up with a lot of spin as a result.

Anyway, that's my own assessment. I'm sure I've missed the mark to some degree, I am interested in how much. Looking forward to more thoughts!
 
EaglevsFalcon said:
This isn't golf swing related, but something that sounds familiar to me. I struggled a lot though most of my golf career with having a good swing and shot making ability while not having the results to match. The harder I tried to improve, often the worse I got. My tension and stress always seemed to hold me back. I think that you may struggle with something similar. If I'm off base, then I apologize. I really took a step forward when I found a way to relax and let loose on the course. Find a happy place and make a good swing from start to finish. Contact with the ball is just a small part of the process.

I apologize again if this is off base.
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No, that is exactly on target. I feel like I SHOULD be able to do everything I've previously done. The fact is, I can't. Perhaps if I relax more, I can score more? That is the concept? It's totally counter-intuitive, but at this point I'll try anything.
 
JollyGrnBucket said:
No, that is exactly on target. I feel like I SHOULD be able to do everything I've previously done. The fact is, I can't. Perhaps if I relax more, I can score more? That is the concept? It's totally counter-intuitive, but at this point I'll try anything.
Click to expand...

Relaxing just frees up your muscles to perform more natually. Tense, tight muscles are slow muscles and that does nothing to help a golf swing. There is a difference between trying too hard and having relaxed, focused intent. Once you can differentiate between the two, you ll be able to control your negative emotions better. Everyone needs some help with the physical act of the golf swing and lessons are definitely the ticket there, but developing a solid mental approach can help a great deal as well. Our biggest obstacle to accomplishment is often ourselves.
 
So I had a chance to practice just short game and putting today. I think I need a lot more work on that than I realized. Two great things I took away though:
1. I holed out a downhill lie pitch from about 30 yards out, which was pretty awesome. I've never done that!
2. Time limited/drill focused practice really helps. I gave myself 1 hour and set the timer on my phone, and did 10 minutes of uphill pitches, then 10 minutes of downhill pitches, then 7 minutes (ended up needing to make up a bit of time) for sand shots, but that worked out fine because it was very wet and hard. Then on the putting green I did 15 minutes of ladder drills for speed both up and down hill and 9 minutes of around the world 5 footers.

It worked a lot better for me because I stayed focused on the task at hand, knowing I was time limited, instead of getting frustrated over how poorly I was doing and ending up with no time left at the end for putting or around the worlds or whatever. I left the practice session feeling like I actually learned something about my game (I need to focus on acceleration in both the short game and putting) instead of leaving defeated.


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Update time. Played a quick 9 holes (trying to beat a storm) and came away with a few thoughts.

The good: my short game is much improved. It became a source of confidence for me through the whole round. I knew how to set up and how far to hit the ball, where to envision my "LZ", etc... I've coupled practice at the course with chipping in the back yard. Second good? I listened to EaglevsFalcon and just relaxed, and when I was able to do so hit some outstanding drives. I went from weak fades of 230 yards on average to hitting drives that were (GPS verified) 280 and 270 yards. Sequencing just came naturally, the things I have been working on actually happened instead of thinking about making it happen, etc...

The bad: my irons are a work in progress. I lose power when I go to hit them as I try to become more accurate. I wonder how I can find a balance of power through relaxing and accuracy?

The ugly: I dead pulled a ball into the water on 18, then nearly hit a ball into the water again from the drop area. When I went to hit that one, a goose damn near charged me. Hissed and everything. That's just how I want to end a round, by killing a goose with a sand wedge.

Thoughts anyone?


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Getting the short game in shape is a good thing.

Amazing how smooth power works ain't it. Congrats on the huge gain in yardage now keep making that same swing.

You want power through relaxing and you want accuracy? Make a 3/4 swing with a nice smooth tempo back to where your shoulder turn stops(hands stop as well) and use that same tempo through the down swing to the finish let the ball get in the way.
 
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