KellyBo & Gray -- Diary of taking Lessons

[SprayTech]

Well not everyone bro

She'll be calling you Spankedopotamus before to long ..........:laughing:

 

[KellyBo]

She'll be calling you Spankedopotamus before to long ..........:laughing:

I have already called him that a time or two or three.

 

[Sean]

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.



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.

Our championship course if very tough too Kelly. Only 6000 yards from the back tees but the slope is 127. Keep up the good work...I'm sure Bill is sweating it out.

 

[Ole Gray]

Our championship course if very tough too Kelly. Only 6000 yards from the back tees but the slope is 127. Keep up the good work...I'm sure Bill is sweating it out.

I am proud of the old gal to say the least :thumb: She has a great coach and Kelly works really hard on her game. Her ball striking is heads above her scores right now. She is going to be scary good this summer.

 

[DawgDaddy]

I am proud of the old gal to say the least :thumb: She has a great coach and Kelly works really hard on her game. Her ball striking is heads above her scores right now. She is going to be scary good this summer.

I will attest to that too OG, she strikes the ball very well, I wish I had her game, she can play.

 

[KellyBo]

I will attest to that too OG, she strikes the ball very well, I wish I had her game, she can play.

You are way too kind. I just wish I knew how to keep it steady instead of up/down like a roller coaster. As for you wishing you had my game, haha! I can't hang with you Dawgdaddy! You've got plenty of game.

 

[Sean]

I am proud of the old gal to say the least :thumb: She has a great coach and Kelly works really hard on her game. Her ball striking is heads above her scores right now. She is going to be scary good this summer.

I think you will too...should make for some good golf!

 

[Tmex]

KB I know I've said this before but this thread is a gold mine for tips. I love seeing your progress and I hope you start tog et the scores you're lookin for again!

 

[KellyBo]

KB I know I've said this before but this thread is a gold mine for tips. I love seeing your progress and I hope you start tog et the scores you're lookin for again!

Thanks so much Yoccos. I enjoy reading your thread too because it gives me great tips too. Wonder how long before we conquer this game? LOL

 

[Tmex]

Lol. 6 weeks hahahaha.

Thanks so much Yoccos. I enjoy reading your thread too because it gives me great tips too. Wonder how long before we conquer this game? LOL

 

[KellyBo]

Met with my instructor yesterday as a follow-up to our play lesson earlier this week. He said he thinks I am doing well with my driver and my short game is looking much better but we need to work on my irons. The first thing he wanted to do was check the lie on all of my irons and they were fine. While we were checking the lie, he also had impact tape on the face of the irons. It was obvious that I was not striking them well at all by the marks on the tape. After some adjustments to my swing, things got much better.

Things to do:

Widen stance - inside of feet should be outside of hips
Stop rolling right hand open on take away which opens the club face
Shorten swing - immediate improvement!
Be aware of the occasional sway on back swing - very hazardous to my ball striking!
The transition of my swing can be really ugly. I'm swinging around too much instead of just swinging down at the ball. Ughhh!

I press a little on my setup and asked if it was okay to do that with my irons. He said my setup was fine and that I should try to return to that position on impact. I am losing so much distance because I can't get my hands in front as well as I need to. He will work with me on that more at the next lesson.

As usual, he had me hitting the ball much better before I left. I went out to our course when I returned and played a quick 9 by myself just hitting numerous balls on each hole. I stuck a couple balls really close to the pin but I have a lot of work to do to get consistent. It did feel good to hit some pure shots again. It's been a while.

My back is much better right now but I still need to be careful not to overdo it. Taking today off because I have a round tomorrow with the girls at that dang course that keeps whupping my butt.

p.s. I asked coach why I am worse with my irons than I was after the first few lessons and his response was that I tinker too much. Thus the new avatar of Tinkerbell.

 

[SprayTech]

Great read KellyBo,
Sounds like he's got you going in the right direction , and your swing changes are coming along nicely ! It will all click before you know it !!

 

[DawgDaddy]

Great report Tinkerbell sounds like a valuable followup to your lesson.

 

[KellyBo]

I had the best lesson today!

I have a tournament at Jekyll Island this Tues & Wed and I'm leaving with my partner (Jirapon) in the morning so we can get in a practice round on Sun & Mon. This is a big four-ball tournament with about 228 women competing. It should be a lot of fun. Bobby was extra generous with his time today and worked with me on several areas.

Putting (I'll never get enough training on this one):

Went to the par 3 course and worked on downhill and hard breaking putts. I told him I am hitting more GIRs but I am finding myself struggling on long downhill putts. Things I learned.

• Grip putter as lightly as possible when you have a really fast downhill putt - this will slow the ball down. He doesn't like using the toe of your putter to slow the ball down because it can flip the putter head.
• Walk the green paying special attention to the area around the cup and look for the slope/direction the ball will enter the cup. That's a good place to start to get your read.
• Remember that there is more break when the ball slows down than when you start off so figure that break as it slows down.
• Look at the grain of the green. If the grass is dark you are putting against the grain and it will be slower. If it is shiny green, then it will be faster.

He had me putting on two of the fastest and most difficult downhill greens today and placed balls in different locations. I was really doing well.

Driver:

I have been cutting across the ball a good bit which is causing me to lose a ton of distance. When I swing out properly, I get a considerable bit more.

Once again, he had me practice swinging the driver without turning until I had hit the ball. Swing, hit ball, then finish turn. It feels weird but he showed me my practice swing on his IPAD and it looked good. I have a bad habit of turning too soon and this drill really helps me stop doing it.

For the first time ever, he wanted me to turn as far as I could go back as long as I promised to swing first then turn. I swear I hit the ball at least 235 yards. It was the longest drive I have hit in a long time. My flexibility really stinks right now so I don't think I will be turning that much on a regular basis and I will keep my swing somewhat shortened for now but that was a great feeling. If I remember not to turn so fast and to swing out instead of across, I feel sure I can consistently get 210 yards. That would make me happy.

Anyway, my driver was awesome today. Hope it lasts!

Sand Shot:

This is where I ride the short bus for sure. I hate sand and I have zero confidence when I am in it unless it is a FW bunker. I try to avoid bunkers at all cost but unfortunately find them from time to time.

• I was standing too far away from ball
• I was not opening up my wedge enough - he had me lay it flat
• He had me take my swing more out and up instead of around
• I was to hit the sand behind the ball and be sure to follow through on my shot
• I was flipping my wrists

It took me a while and a lot of embarrassment but he finally got me hitting the nicest shots out of the sand. This is something I must practice when I get to Jekyll. We just don't have much sand at our course and I never practice it because I honestly didn't know how to practice.''

Can't wait to get on the road in the morning. I'm going to have a great time with the ladies this week. You guys make Ole Gray behave while I'm gone.......PLEASE.

 

[DawgDaddy]

Great write up KellyBo, lots of good things in that lesson. Best of luck at Jekyll, and no promises on Ole Gray.

 

[Sean]

Good luck KB! And, have fun.

 

[KellyBo]

Had a great play lesson today. Played 9 holes at Idle Hour 70.8/120 par 72 course and shot a 41. My coach worked with me on course management, reading greens, hitting particular shots that I had questions about, and just really makes me think on every single hole. He shows me how important it is to have a pre-shot routine. I goofed on one hole and missed an easy 3 foot putt. He was quick to point out that I did not use the same pre-shot routine and took the putt for granted. The reason I am having distance issues with my putting is not having a good pre-shot routine and not committing to the practice stroke I take before I make the putt.

I was so proud of my ball striking today. I don't know where it came from, but it has finally clicked with me and I am feeling confident with all my clubs right now. I even love hitting short pitch shots because I just have the feel for them. Weird.

My weak areas today were club selection, sand, and reading greens. The greens at this course are the hardest greens ever to read. Very deceiving!

Club selection: As my swing improves, I am gaining distance so I am going to have to dial in to my distances a little better. I have been flying over some of the greens with too much club.

Sand shots: I put on a display of one of my terrible sand shots today and coach told me my SW is wrong for packed sand. It is a 54* high bounce wedge which is fine for fluffy lies but he wants me to use a 60* low bounce wedge for those packed sand shots. I can find one around the shop and try it out. He wants me to bring one next lesson and he's going to work with me on it. I don't have to keep it in my bag all the time but it would be good to have when I am playing somewhere I know I will need it. You can carry 15 clubs on a practice round and then decide if you will need it in a tournament and rotate your clubs around as needed.

Reading greens: I got more great advice on reading greens today. After we finished 9 holes, he stopped at a very difficult green and we went through how he reads it. After questioning me extensively and taking me through all the steps he goes through, he set me up to putt from about 30 feet out. He told me to putt according to what I saw based on everything we just went through. I made the putt! He had a big smile on his face. Success! He told me to quit reading putts and read the green. I need to really soak these putting lessons up because this man can putt lights out.

 

[DawgDaddy]

Wow, what a great lesson today KB, it sounds like you are primed for the club championship, just get the sand game together and you are there. I know it tickled you and Bobby when that 30 footer went in.

 

[KellyBo]

Wow, what a great lesson today KB, it sounds like you are primed for the club championship, just get the sand game together and you are there. I know it tickled you and Bobby when that 30 footer went in.

Thanks DD. Funny thing is the more I think about it the more I think the putt was more like 20 feet but felt like 80 feet. Hehe.

 

[McRock]

That sounds like one fantastic lesson! Makes me want to sign up for an 'on the course' lesson. I also liked the part about reading greens, not putts. I may just have to switch my focus a little on that.

Keep up the great work, and keep posting the lessons you take. I really enjoy reading about them.

 

[KellyBo]

Thanks McRock! I appreciate your comments. I love writing about my lessons and then reading back through to refresh my memory of things I have been taught. I sometimes forget what I'm doing wrong and it's usually in here somewhere.

I told my boss about my sand wedge issue. He went to his locker and brought me back a Titleist Vokey 60* wedge and we went out to the 9th hole bunker and I practiced with it. He noticed I was trying to help the ball out of the sand and told me to hit down and through. Bingo! Right wedge for a packed bunker and right technique with a lot of practice and I might be able to do this well one day! He even gave me the wedge because he doesn't use it anymore. The joys of working at a course and for a great boss.

 

[DawgDaddy]

Merle is quite a guy and that was very nice of him. I know you will have that sand shot down pat and in you arsenal very soon. Keep up the good work KB.

 

[KellyBo]

I read today that my instructor's star student who is still an amateur, just qualified for the US Open again. He was top amateur at Pebble Beach last year. I was browsing around on Youtube and found a video of his swing in slow motion and compared it to mine. I have some work to do. LOL We went to the Nationwide event that he won last month and I studied his swing then. It actually helped my swing a bit to watch him so I'm happy to find this to study it some more.

 

[Shanked It]

yea I wish mine looked like that too.

 

[DawgDaddy]

Boy, he really clears his hips some kind of fast even in slow motion, I don't move this quick in real time. He is a great golfer for sure, and I wish him the best. Go Dawgs!!!