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KellyBo & Gray -- Diary of taking Lessons

Last 4 scores 85, 89, 80, and now a 77! It takes determination and I've got it. Can't wait to see my coach Thursday and work on my short game.

Swing thoughts today for my diary.

Stronger grip keeps me straight

Proper setup/alignment routine EVERY time - tilt spine slightly right

Keep same routine on every putt. Take time to read the green from both sides and line your ball up to your line. TRUST your line once you take your stance. It looks different but TRUST IT. Take a practice stroke to get feel for speed of the putt.

Fairway woods...play ball a little back from left heel, take back and follow through lower, don't be afraid to take a divot. Swing easy!

Hybrid - hit just like you would your 7 iron. Same tempo, smooth swing, hit down!

Driver - stop swaying...keep eye focused on target on inside of ball and swing towards your target.
 
Lesson 7:

It's been about 6-7 weeks since I have had a lesson. Today I asked my coach to focus on my short game, specifically 40-50 yards out and sand trap. He took me to a practice hole that they have and made me hit balls from 40 yards out. I hit them all nice and high and landed them on the green but they all ended up about 20-25 feet left of the pin. He asked me if I usually hit them left and I told him that I did.

The problem he identified was that I am breaking my wrists on impact instead of turning the right hand over as if I am wiping the table across. After he reminded me of this problem (not the first time he has talked to me about this), I hit some beautiful shots close to the pin. Of course, I also kept breaking my wrists and hitting it back to the left some too.

Sand trap: they had really deep fine sand that has recently been added. He drew two lines about 10 inches apart in the sand and talked to me about making a divot from one line to the other. The swing is upright and it is very important that I not flip my wrist on the follow through. I had to practice hitting divots in the sand using the lines he had drawn. He told me to concentrate on just hitting a divot from those lines instead of hitting the ball. Once I got that going well, he allowed me to hit some balls. I struggled as usual with these shots but finally started getting them out pretty good. He took me back behind the trap in thick grass and worked with me on a similar stroke with the club laying wide open with emphasis on holding my follow through to a count of 3 so I could pay attention to my wrists. It was tough for me not to break them.

Coach was emphatic that I have to quit breaking my wrists if I want to seriously get better. He told me that my potential was limitless if I work hard and practice. I told him I will not be breaking my wrists the next time I see him (2 weeks). I will practice the drill he showed me every day until then. Short back swing and short follow through...hold to count of 3 and make sure my wrists are straight.

I was really frustrated because I couldn't get it right. :banghead: Lucky for me I have a great coach who believes in me and builds my confidence enough that I believe in myself.
 
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Nice work! KB that wrist breaking thing is killing me too! You will get past it though!
 
Good job KellyBo! This Lady is determined to get it done and I mean she will do it. I am very proud of her dedication and work attitude.
 
Heard you have been striking the ball extremely well lately! Good job to you too Gray!!
Gray Golf said:
Good job KellyBo! This Lady is determined to get it done and I mean she will do it. I am very proud of her dedication and work attitude.
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Yoccos1981 said:
Heard you have been striking the ball extremely well lately! Good job to you too Gray!!
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Thanks buddy! It's an on going process and some days are good and oh well,,, you know how golf is :eek:).... I can tell you one thing. It is a whole lot better than what I went through prior to where I'm at now.

Keep up the good work yourself :good:!
 
I'm trying lol. This kinda describes my play lately :banghead:
 
Wow, I am very late to this party. I have a lot of reading to catch up on.
 
Lesson #8

Two hour play lesson with my coach today. He shot -2 on 9 holes and I stunk it up really bad (didn't keep score). I was pushing my driver right off the tee almost every time. I topped two fairway wood shots. Was swinging too hard and not finishing my swings well at all. It was excruciating. Weird thing is that I played so good yesterday (79) and shot even par through 11 holes. I didn't have a single par today. I told coach that I can play so much better than what he saw today but that I was obviously pushing way too hard to impress him.

After the lesson he talked to me for a long time about things I was doing wrong and about focus. We went to the range and he got me turning my shoulders properly and I started hitting my driver really good again.

Things I will work on before another lesson in two weeks:

Back to basics - swing shoulders, not just arms
Shorten back swing
Follow through and turn!
Learn to be more focused and not let people intimidate me!

So discouraged...really wanted to make him proud of me today. Oh well, gotta keep that head up and learn from this. He will see improvement! Can't get much worse. Of course, I blamed my game on him since he is the one teaching it to me. He got a good chuckle out of that. I told him I might quit golf and he told me he would come kick my butt if I did. Of course, I'm too addicted to quit.
 
Welcome to my world sweet Lady :eek:)...... Golf can be so much fun and then be so cruel. We got to move on and it will all come out in the wash... KellyBo has been playing really good golf lately. You know when you try to impress someone how it backfires........ We put too much pressure on ourselves. If I don't learn another thing in golf, I will strive to build confidence however in the process not try to impress anyone,,, including myself. Heck no one remembers what you shot two weeks ago anyway huh????? So who gives a flip and why do we stress ourselves out? Play the game as a game.. Hard to do yes, necessary yes........
 
Well it's September and both of our handicaps are looking better. KellyBo went to Forsyth today to play at a really nice golf course called River Forest. Her and four of her Lady golfer buddies are putting their skills to the test on a tough track. It will be interesting to see what her results will be. She told me last night whe was thinking of hitting a seven iron off the tee on number one as it can be a very nasty hole if you pull it left. Then another seven iron should put her close enough to wedge it on the green for a par. The old Gal ( I gonna git my but whupped for calling her old ) is becoming a course manager. Not a bad idea and with that in mind comes lower scores. The bash & gorge tech only makes for a long day unless you hit a heap of fairways.

Now for ol gray. I am headed to the local course with knee sleeve on and practice my short game for a couple of hours. I was bending my knee last night and it made these grinding crunchy noises. I say Kelly, listen to this, sounds cool huh :D.. She said quit doing that you old fool, you are going to make it worse. My surgery is September 27th for a scope. Anyway back on topic. After working on the short stuff, I will go out and play some golf . I have a Tour Striker club that I work with that is a good tool in my opinion. It helps you think of striking down and through the ball. I've been a picker :guitar: most of my life, however I have gone to the digging form a time or two. I get more distance with the down through the ball motion but we shall see what I bring to Florida.
 
Thats awesome Gray. Sounds like both of your games are really coming to form!
 
Good stuff Gray. Sorry to hear the knee is still giving you so much trouble. Keep at it and good luck to both of you.
 
I just wanted to say how cool I think it is that you two are posting your experiences in the manner you are. I returned to the game late last year after a 10-year layoff and the improvements are slow in coming. I'm getting a lot of "attitude-adjustment" tips from you both -- I've always been too hard on myself, expecting too much, too soon, demanding more of myself than I can perform at any given time. I can hit the most spectacular good shots from time to time, but I just don't have the consistency to do it often enough to meet my impossible standards. So the approach you've taken about your games kind of allows me to back off a little and slow down the self-criticism. (I'll leave that to my pro.) You two are really inspirational, what with the way you've approached your game-improvement project and your attitude about it. So thanks!
 
gray, you're like a teenage boy! making kellybo listen to those old joints cringe and crack! i enjoy following the advancements that you two are making. have fun out there today.
 
Chorister said:
I just wanted to say how cool I think it is that you two are posting your experiences in the manner you are. I returned to the game late last year after a 10-year layoff and the improvements are slow in coming. I'm getting a lot of "attitude-adjustment" tips from you both -- I've always been too hard on myself, expecting too much, too soon, demanding more of myself than I can perform at any given time. I can hit the most spectacular good shots from time to time, but I just don't have the consistency to do it often enough to meet my impossible standards. So the approach you've taken about your games kind of allows me to back off a little and slow down the self-criticism. (I'll leave that to my pro.) You two are really inspirational, what with the way you've approached your game-improvement project and your attitude about it. So thanks!
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Thank you Chorister! We both appreciate your kind words. Golf is a hard game and it can get the best of all of us. I suppose those streaks of "spectacular shots" keep us in the ball game. I have no doubt you are headed in the right direction and good things will come to those who are patient. Best of luck to my new friend!

ol Gray
 
Last week I was really struggling with my driver. I went back to the basics and worked hard on my shoulder turn and follow through. I had started to swing with all arms again and missing right. When I tried to correct it, I started pulling. I did as instructed by my coach and played a lot of golf w/o worrying about score and practiced some on the range. Well today I played a very tough course and shot an 87 which when entered showed a 16 handicap rating. So I shot above my handicap but I was actually happy because I hit some of my best shots ever. Yep, I had some bad shots that really cost me, but overall I hit the ball awesome and I was very proud of myself. My driver was on fire today. I hit everything down the middle and longer than ever with no pulls or slices. I even had 3 birdies which was quite an accomplishment for me at this course. I wanted to go back and play again so bad because I know I will play some holes a lot smarter next time. Getting to know the course makes you wiser!

Mistakes I made today:

Too big a backswing results in pulls

Next time an ant is on your ball, get it off before hitting it :banghead: and maybe you won't be distracted and go in the water. The exact same shot from 160 out with no ant on the ball was 10 feet from the hole (haha).

Club selection for par 5s - less club means less likely to get into the hazards. If going for something, make sure you have a good stance and a good lie. Otherwise, just play a safe shot.
 
Yoccos1981 said:
Thats awesome Gray. Sounds like both of your games are really coming to form!
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thedue said:
Good stuff Gray. Sorry to hear the knee is still giving you so much trouble. Keep at it and good luck to both of you.
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Thanks guys! We appreciate the pat on the back and the good friends we have met on here..

tcalloway1 said:
gray, you're like a teenage boy! making kellybo listen to those old joints cringe and crack! i enjoy following the advancements that you two are making. have fun out there today.
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haha you know the old man don't ya big guy :D
 
KellyBo said:
Last week I was really struggling with my driver. I went back to the basics and worked hard on my shoulder turn and follow through. I had started to swing with all arms again and missing right. When I tried to correct it, I started pulling. I did as instructed by my coach and played a lot of golf w/o worrying about score and practiced some on the range. Well today I played a very tough course and shot an 87 which when entered showed a 16 handicap rating. So I shot above my handicap but I was actually happy because I hit some of my best shots ever. Yep, I had some bad shots that really cost me, but overall I hit the ball awesome and I was very proud of myself. My driver was on fire today. I hit everything down the middle and longer than ever with no pulls or slices. I even had 3 birdies which was quite an accomplishment for me at this course. I wanted to go back and play again so bad because I know I will play some holes a lot smarter next time. Getting to know the course makes you wiser!

Mistakes I made today:

Too big a backswing results in pulls

Next time an ant is on your ball, get it off before hitting it :banghead: and maybe you won't be distracted and go in the water. The exact same shot from 160 out with no ant on the ball was 10 feet from the hole (haha).

Club selection for par 5s - less club means less likely to get into the hazards. If going for something, make sure you have a good stance and a good lie. Otherwise, just play a safe shot.
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Isn't it amazing how much those ant's weigh, hehe
 
Heck yeah! That thing was just enough weight to keep it from flying and to make it land in the lake. Darn thing!

thedue said:
Isn't it amazing how much those ant's weigh, hehe
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KellyBo said:
Heck yeah! That thing was just enough weight to keep it from flying and to make it land in the lake. Darn thing!
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Yep, we have fat ants around here once in a while. I bet they have a bunch of them in Floriday in a couple weeks, lol.
 
I found some consistency watching Rocco Mediate at the tournament he is playing in this weekend. I noticed him giving some golf tips during one of the breaks in tournament action. He was talking about just swinging with the shoulders and letting the arms and hands go along for the ride. I have used this technique and hit the ball very consistant, especially with my irons when I just turn the shouders and let the arms and hands stay in front of my body. I have a swing aid I use called "The perfect connextion", It teaches this. I got it out before hitting balls today and just warmed up with it with out actually hitting balls. Thanks Rocco Mediate for refreshing my memory.... Great guy and I love to listen to him in interviews. Funny to say the least. I would love to play a round of golf with him!
 
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I wish I had recorded the NW tournament, because while watching the PGA recording I saw where they let Rocco direct part of their coverage telecast. Would have loved to have seen that part. Agree about playing golf with him.
 
Days like today make me realize I am no spring chicken and I have to be careful not to hurt myself playing too much. My back has been a mess lately but I keep on playing every day. Pop a couple Aleve, do stretch exercises and get right back out there. Today I had to take anti-inflammatories and a muscle relaxer. I tried to play 18 holes this morning but my body just refused to cooperate so I left after 9. I managed to shoot a 44 from the senior tees but I don't know how. I couldn't hardly make the turn with my driver.

I think I will dedicate tomorrow to just reading and taking it easy. I read an article today about how hard golf is on the back. It talked about how important it is to stretch and have strong core muscles. I am going to really concentrate on the stretching/walking more but I don't see sit ups in my near future.

My next lesson will be next week. Until then, YouTube is a great place to go and get tips. I made the mistake of telling my coach I watched Hank Haney videos one morning. Won't do that again. Hehe :D
 
My game is coming around better than I had expected at this point. I played nine holes with KellyBo this evening and was striking the ball as good as I can do it. The funny thing is my knee did not hurt one bit this evening. It was truly weird! I would pay big money for it to feel this good at the outing .... I am excited about next Friday and looking forward to meeting all our new friends on here that we have talked with.
 
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