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A breakthrough! Now ... how to keep it?

BuckeyeMark

BuckeyeMark

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Not sure what happened today. I'm a high handicapper - 120 - but more than that my last couple of rounds have seen more than my share of embarrassing mi****s, squibs and generally rotten shots. It's one thing to hit it over the green, or not drive as far as you'd like, it's another thing to top the ball off the tee and hit it six feet.

My last round was three weeks ago. And it wasn't a great one.

The last three weeks have been super busy so I didn't get out on the range. Somewheres I saw something about Stack and Tilt and read it. I liked what I read and thought "Maybe I'll try that." Warmed up with my Orange Whip at the office this afternoon trying the six fundamentals as found in an article on Golf Digest's site. Got to the range early and hit a half a bucket of balls trying some of it. Mainly I focused on turning the shoulder DOWN and keeping arms straight.

I then went out and had the best round of my life. We only got in 15 before sunset but I had a bogey, couple of two overs and three overs, which for me is great. But more than that I just hit the ball well. Great contact. Straight and pure. Ball flight was great. I hit the ball in the water once and I didn't care because I can't hit it that far and yet I did. I creamed some drives. And the ball mostly went where I wanted it to go (generally speaking). Sure still needed a mulligan here and there but it was actually like real golf today.

And it was fun. Really an enjoyable round of golf.

Now the question ... what do I do next to permanent-ize this? Should I buy the books on S & T and go whole hog or just leave it alone and keep doing what I did today? Ideas? Thoughts? I am kinda worried the clock will strike midnight and my game will go back to pumpkins. I made progress today and I want to HOLD ON TO IT!!!
 
I have a breakthrough every few rounds and think I am now going to be awesome. But it is golf and doesn't work that way.
 
BuckeyeMark said:
okay that's not encouraging! :banghead: I want this to STICK!
Click to expand...

Don't over think about the mechanics of the swing just try to remember how it felt, when you take your practice swings dont address the ball until you have felt right in the practice swing then just step up and hit it before that feeling goes away.
 
Just keep putting more rounds in the book the more you play the more constant you will be come
 
I struggled for awhile very similar to you ... I take a step forward, swear I had found the secret ... Only for the golf gods to humble me ... Finally found a GREAT instructor ... Now I hit good and know why ... So I am able repeat it ...

long way of saying if you want to permanent-ize your swing, your time and effort is best spent with a professional ... Otherwise your guessing ... Or self doctoring yourself ...
Just my opinion ... There is lot smarter golf golf on here than me
 
Bad news is that your game is going to turn back into a pumpkin more than likely. That's the way it works. Get a day of good timing or just have the stars align and there you go. It's not lasting improvement though. That will come with learning properly and practicing it and it will probably take a really really long time. Playing once every three weeks won't do it, unless you are putting in serious practice time in between.

For all you know, what you thought were fundamentals of S&T might not have even been fundamentals of S&T. Rarely is feel real in the golf swing.

The good news though is that at your level, small improvments can have big effects on your score. Learn good chipping techniques and you could easily drop a few strokes a round if not more. Learn to mostly eliminate the tops and you'll see the same.

It's a hard game! Luckily we have days like you did that keep us coming back for more.
 
I'd say just enjoy it while you can. Golf has a way of giving players a glimpse of what their game could be like, only to have some of the same old problems come creeping back into their game.

As Hawk mentioned, the only way to truly get better is learning the proper techniques and practicing them. Short-game can save you a lot of strokes, so practicing chipping and putting can have a drastic effect on your score.
 
I have found it helpful to make 2 or 3 bullet points of what was going through my mind when I've had 3 or 4 great rounds in row. Usually I will put them on a notecard and take a picture of the card so I have a record of it on my computer. I have about a dozen of these note cards from the last decade and they can be very helpful when my swing/game is not at it's best. All of us have tendencies that tend to creep back into our swings or set ups no matter how much we practice or try to fix them. Right now my thought is "left shoulder low" during the putting stroke. I have a tendency to get a little open with my shoulders when putting which causes a slight pull - just enough to miss the hole!
 
I've found that being diligent about practicing will really help it stick. If I had to put a percentage on what I feel has helped me improve the most over the last 18 months it would be 30% from lessons, 60% from practicing and 10% from having clubs that fit me.

Congrats on the breakthrough round though, those are always exciting!
 
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