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Trying to Break 100

bobellis75 said:
Update. Again...because....damn my sore hands....I went to the range tonight as I'd had a little positive results yesterday with driver. I got a medium bucket with the intent of hitting about 40 with driver, and 40 with 3W.

Driver started off rough. I was tinkering to get it figured out. And then.....:cool:

I figured out where to play it in the stance...ball needs to be about the width of the clubhead inside my front foot. I also figured out I was too "wristy" in my swing, and tried to keep the wrists a little more "locked" to a degree and make sure the head was coming thru square. I lost my way on that front...and I changed my grip to interlock, just to see if it'd help me stabilize. I have small hands and it's uncomfortable as hell...but it worked. THen I flipped back to overlap, keeping every other bit of the swing intact, and bang. Several in a row rolling out to 250-260. And it continued that way. Loving it.....knock on wood.

Also got in the groove with the 3W. Playing the ball about where the breast pocket would be on a shirt, so slightly more back than driver. And...bang. rolling out to 200ish.

Keeping same swing thoughts in mind with wrist, etc. Also read something about hitting fairway woods from Annika today...where she was talking about people trying to swing too hard with FW's....and that she swings about 60 percent. So I was kind of doing that with Driver and FW both...and I'll be damned. That Rogue is pretty forgiving and playing at 11.5 is fantastic for me...great trajectory and gets out there. Tomorrow will be an off day. May hit the range Friday. But I'm liking where things are going......
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As a quick piggyback to my own comments here...something else I really worked on is I was kind of opening up, or leaning into, the tee shots, I think. Proably trying to generate speed/loft and so on....as a tip for me or anyone - when keeping my front side more stable - staying back on the ball (your body is going to be forced to release with momentum...stay back as long as you can) that was a big game changer for me as well. I think that plus ball position plus keeping the wrists/hands a little more "still" are the trick for me...again...knocking on wood. Hopefully any of these ramblings aren't just me running my mouth and can help someone else struggling along the way.... :)
 
well the rain cleared out so I said screw it and went back to the range as my hands have been feeling better and better. Worked the driver/3W again mostly...more mostly good work with driver. A little erratic at times but seems like a bad shot is 200 and a great one is 255...I'll take the average there and be happy with a 225 on most holes....

3W I had a little trouble with. started out hot and mashed one that carried 200ish and rolled out to probably 225. Whoa. Average on that club still looks to be more like 185-195ish...fell apart at one point and kept topping, etc. Maybe just tired, hot, and lost concentration. Found the swing again and hit a couple nice ones in a row and quit.

Took myself to the chipping green and hit probably 80 shots there, all with the 58. I'd say I had a good session there...only about 5% of the shots were awful/would have killed me on the course. Mostly really good to decent to shots....had a handful hit the pin (close range shots...nothing too crazy).

Hoping I can fire on all cylinders next time I play....but we all know how that goes.....
 
Two rounds to log:

1) 9 holes yesterday
- 45, easy peasy stress free golf
- little bit of luck, but all in all steady bogey golf

2) 18 holes today
- 52/52: 104, tough course
- parred or bogeyd the low hcp holes and made stupid mistakes on the easy ones :cautious:

On both rounds, my driver was on fire, most of the mistakes happened on approach shots or near green. Still I had a lot of fun, had great company and the weather was perfect for golf. waddalife!
 
Dave and Bob, great stuff.
 
jlaakso said:
Two rounds to log:

1) 9 holes yesterday
- 45, easy peasy stress free golf
- little bit of luck, but all in all steady bogey golf

2) 18 holes today
- 52/52: 104, tough course
- parred or bogeyd the low hcp holes and made stupid mistakes on the easy ones :cautious:

On both rounds, my driver was on fire, most of the mistakes happened on approach shots or near green. Still I had a lot of fun, had great company and the weather was perfect for golf. waddalife!
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Waddaplaya!!
 
dthrog00 said:
@bobellis75

With your level of dedication you will absolutely get there. Just don't hurt yourself on the way :)

Dave
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that's the trick! Keeping my body intact. I just turned 45 so I don't consider myself old by any means...but I definitely notice my body hurts a lot easier than it did even 3 years ago. I seem to have dealt with a variety of injuries the past year from my shoulder (last year) to a strained pec (not too long ago) to the hands, etc. I just need to do a better job of taking care of my body...it has been harder with isolation due to covid, the gym being closed, etc. Need to work on stretching more and just doing what I can more consistently around the house as far as strength, etc (pushups, core work, etc). Pushups aren't easy with protecting the shoulder...I am too afraid to mess with that right now, so I do the "cheater" pushups (with knees on the ground) to take some stress off the shoulder joints...but it's still not a bad workout if you do enough of 'em…. :) My daughter likes to fun of me but I can deal with that....
 
I had a lesson yesterday morning, just a starter lesson to give me something of a swing that works for a big tournament coming up next week. Made what I felt was some pretty good progress during the lesson, our new head pro seems to be a good teacher, and I hear really good things about our assistant pro as well, so I hope to continue with more lessons once the tournament is over, he seemed pretty confident that we can make some solid strides forward.

I went back out last evening to play 18 and work on the new swing. I can confidently say that it's going to take some work and practice but I think we're on to something. It feels really weird on chips and sand shots, honestly it's a little weird all around, but it did mostly keep me out of trouble with the added bonus of really making punch shots come out hot. I didn't figure up my front 9 score, but I shot a 52 on the back while trying my best to incorporate the new swing, and really that's not bad with all those thoughts in my head.

Primarily what I learned was that I was trying too hard to manipulate the club by rolling my arms over on takeaway. So he's got me trying to keep my wrists in the same position all through the swing (think Bryson) and use weight shift and body twist to complete the swing rather than getting all armsy. On the range it was working well, club face square at impact and when I did shift my weight I hit some pretty nice shots. If I can get into a groove with this I think improvement is on the horizon. We'll see what else he wants to work on going forward but for now I'm optimistic that we're on the right track.
 
Hoosiermess said:
I had a lesson yesterday morning, just a starter lesson to give me something of a swing that works for a big tournament coming up next week. Made what I felt was some pretty good progress during the lesson, our new head pro seems to be a good teacher, and I hear really good things about our assistant pro as well, so I hope to continue with more lessons once the tournament is over, he seemed pretty confident that we can make some solid strides forward.

I went back out last evening to play 18 and work on the new swing. I can confidently say that it's going to take some work and practice but I think we're on to something. It feels really weird on chips and sand shots, honestly it's a little weird all around, but it did mostly keep me out of trouble with the added bonus of really making punch shots come out hot. I didn't figure up my front 9 score, but I shot a 52 on the back while trying my best to incorporate the new swing, and really that's not bad with all those thoughts in my head.

Primarily what I learned was that I was trying too hard to manipulate the club by rolling my arms over on takeaway. So he's got me trying to keep my wrists in the same position all through the swing (think Bryson) and use weight shift and body twist to complete the swing rather than getting all armsy. On the range it was working well, club face square at impact and when I did shift my weight I hit some pretty nice shots. If I can get into a groove with this I think improvement is on the horizon. We'll see what else he wants to work on going forward but for now I'm optimistic that we're on the right track.
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This is something I started trying a couple nights ago (see bolded part of your message) to keep my impact more consistent off the tee. Trying to keep my hands/wrists from doing too much. I can tell you it's working for me pretty well. I think there will be some ups and downs working on any new techniques...but stick with it. I went from wanting to break this new driver over my knee to loving it in the last 2 days.
 
bobellis75 said:
This is something I started trying a couple nights ago (see bolded part of your message) to keep my impact more consistent off the tee. Trying to keep my hands/wrists from doing too much. I can tell you it's working for me pretty well. I think there will be some ups and downs working on any new techniques...but stick with it. I went from wanting to break this new driver over my knee to loving it in the last 2 days.
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The bold portion is exactly what I am prepared for but honestly it can't get much worse than what I was doing before, it's just a matter of putting in the time and effort to groove those swing motions to see what they can do. I was really impressed with how much better my contact was during the lesson once I started doing what he was asking me to do. When it feels more natural I think I'm going to be in a much better place. I'm already in a better space mentally now that I have a direction and a goal to work on rather than spray and pray.

I can only hope to be as happy with my driver as your are pretty soon, I'm no long hitter but to get back to my 220-240ish driver carry will be a huge improvement over where I am now.
 
bobellis75 said:
that's the trick! Keeping my body intact. I just turned 45 so I don't consider myself old by any means...but I definitely notice my body hurts a lot easier than it did even 3 years ago. I seem to have dealt with a variety of injuries the past year from my shoulder (last year) to a strained pec (not too long ago) to the hands, etc. I just need to do a better job of taking care of my body...it has been harder with isolation due to covid, the gym being closed, etc. Need to work on stretching more and just doing what I can more consistently around the house as far as strength, etc (pushups, core work, etc). Pushups aren't easy with protecting the shoulder...I am too afraid to mess with that right now, so I do the "cheater" pushups (with knees on the ground) to take some stress off the shoulder joints...but it's still not a bad workout if you do enough of 'em…. :) My daughter likes to fun of me but I can deal with that....
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To protect your body, but some rubber bands and exercise your upper back muscles. That will pay dividends in the long run. Those muscles keep your shoulders in place in pushups, bench etc moves. All my shoulder problems including rotator cuff issues have diminished after starting rubber band training. Tie it to a fence etc and start pulling exercises. You can also train your core and do swing training with bands.
 
Hoosiermess said:
The bold portion is exactly what I am prepared for but honestly it can't get much worse than what I was doing before, it's just a matter of putting in the time and effort to groove those swing motions to see what they can do. I was really impressed with how much better my contact was during the lesson once I started doing what he was asking me to do. When it feels more natural I think I'm going to be in a much better place. I'm already in a better space mentally now that I have a direction and a goal to work on rather than spray and pray.

I can only hope to be as happy with my driver as your are pretty soon, I'm no long hitter but to get back to my 220-240ish driver carry will be a huge improvement over where I am now.
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You'll get there...I got really quick results with this swing change. Now the second range session was hit or miss, but like I said, the bad shots were better, the good shots were better....all around I think you'll be able to square up the clubface better when swinging this way. More practice is key.....(for me as well - I have a ways to go before this is totally comfortable/second nature to me).
 
jlaakso said:
To protect your body, but some rubber bands and exercise your upper back muscles. That will pay dividends in the long run. Those muscles keep your shoulders in place in pushups, bench etc moves. All my shoulder problems including rotator cuff issues have diminished after starting rubber band training. Tie it to a fence etc and start pulling exercises. You can also train your core and do swing training with bands.
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I used to have some resistance bands and was just thinking I should pick some up...like I said with the gym closed down I need to find ways to keep working the body. These bands are super handy for around the house workouts, for sure!
 
bobellis75 said:
You'll get there...I got really quick results with this swing change. Now the second range session was hit or miss, but like I said, the bad shots were better, the good shots were better....all around I think you'll be able to square up the clubface better when swinging this way. More practice is key.....(for me as well - I have a ways to go before this is totally comfortable/second nature to me).
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Hearing about your success doing this, and very quickly too, makes me feel like it may not be as long a process for the first stage as I had a first thought. Thanks for that and keep it up!

Keep at it, I'll see you on tour when I catch up:ROFLMAO:

Jokes aside, I'm excited to start chasing a better swing and better contact again.
 
Hoosiermess said:
Primarily what I learned was that I was trying too hard to manipulate the club by rolling my arms over on takeaway. So he's got me trying to keep my wrists in the same position all through the swing (think Bryson) and use weight shift and body twist to complete the swing rather than getting all armsy. On the range it was working well, club face square at impact and when I did shift my weight I hit some pretty nice shots. If I can get into a groove with this I think improvement is on the horizon. We'll see what else he wants to work on going forward but for now I'm optimistic that we're on the right track.
Click to expand...

Fanning the club face open on the takeaway has been a flaw in my swing most of my life. As your pro probably explained, doing so results in your club face being wide open at the top. (Or, off-the-planet open, as my pro described it). From that position, the only thing you can do to square the club face is to either early extend and try to flip at it, or throw your upper body at it and come massively over-the-top.

I've most corrected that flaw now, and it's so much easier to hit good shots with the club face staying (mostly) square throughout the swing.
 
wadesworld said:
Fanning the club face open on the takeaway has been a flaw in my swing most of my life. As your pro probably explained, doing so results in your club face being wide open at the top. (Or, off-the-planet open, as my pro described it). From that position, the only thing you can do to square the club face is to either early extend and try to flip at it, or throw your upper body at it and come massively over-the-top.

I've most corrected that flaw now, and it's so much easier to hit good shots with the club face staying (mostly) square throughout the swing.
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That is exactly what I was doing and what he's helping me correct and that was his message as well. The second thing was taking out unnecessary movements that require a good bit more coordination and timing. He said that with the old persimmon woods that type of action (more wrist movement) was more necessary but with modern equipment we don't need it. Basically in addition to keeping the face square he's simplifying my swing. I really like the idea and just need to put in the work now.
 
Its been hot this week. Temps between 102 and 105. Had to go out early yesterday to beat the heat. I think the extra range time if nothing else is making me stronger. I was hitting everything a little longer yesterday morning. Problem was, I over shot a few greens. Ended up with a respectable 94 again. Talk about consistency. Did that the previous round.

Bogey golf is just out of reach. I wish I could pinpoint the problem. It seems to change with every round. My driver is fine. My putting isn't terrible. My chipping is up and down still. But it wasn't terrible yesterday. Did make a couple mistakes though. Again, not enough pars to offset the doubles. Only 2 pars. One triple. The rest bogeys and double bogeys.

My typical problem is too many times the first putt is for bogey and most times its in two putt range, not one putt. Sometimes I hit close to the green. Decent lie hitting my 3rd shot. Then I shank the chip. My 4th shot is on the green. Two putts for a double. Another time I hit a poor second shot from a good lie on the fairway. End up behind a tree with no shot to the green. A couple shots later, again on the green two putting for another double.

Those things are happening way too often. I either need to make more pars to offset them. Or stop making the mistakes that put me in that position. The life of a high handicapper I suppose.
 
charley48 said:
Its been hot this week. Temps between 102 and 105. Had to go out early yesterday to beat the heat. I think the extra range time if nothing else is making me stronger. I was hitting everything a little longer yesterday morning. Problem was, I over shot a few greens. Ended up with a respectable 94 again. Talk about consistency. Did that the previous round.

Bogey golf is just out of reach. I wish I could pinpoint the problem. It seems to change with every round. My driver is fine. My putting isn't terrible. My chipping is up and down still. But it wasn't terrible yesterday. Did make a couple mistakes though. Again, not enough pars to offset the doubles. Only 2 pars. One triple. The rest bogeys and double bogeys.

My typical problem is too many times the first putt is for bogey and most times its in two putt range, not one putt. Sometimes I hit close to the green. Decent lie hitting my 3rd shot. Then I shank the chip. My 4th shot is on the green. Two putts for a double. Another time I hit a poor second shot from a good lie on the fairway. End up behind a tree with no shot to the green. A couple shots later, again on the green two putting for another double.

Those things are happening way too often. I either need to make more pars to offset them. Or stop making the mistakes that put me in that position. The life of a high handicapper I suppose.
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You are pretty much describing my game.


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Shot a 98 this morning/afternoon. Not good, not bad and only one snowman. Everything was pretty good except my iron work today. I can't wait for the day when everything clicks at the same time.
 
Interesting development in my game.
The lesson I took a few weeks ago has settled and it's paying off.
Iron ball-striking was the issue and I've nearly eliminated the shanks and hooks from my game.
The past two rounds have been sub-100 and featured exactly one shank per round. A few fatted shots are the new hindrance, but I'll take that trade.

If I can reconcile my longer clubs with this new steeper swing plane a bit more, I'll feel confident about taking on longer (blue) tee boxes at some of the shorter courses. For instance I shot a 91 this week from white tees that were only 5650 yards. The blue tees there are only 6100. May play those next time.
 
charley48 said:
Its been hot this week. Temps between 102 and 105. Had to go out early yesterday to beat the heat. I think the extra range time if nothing else is making me stronger. I was hitting everything a little longer yesterday morning. Problem was, I over shot a few greens. Ended up with a respectable 94 again. Talk about consistency. Did that the previous round.

Bogey golf is just out of reach. I wish I could pinpoint the problem. It seems to change with every round. My driver is fine. My putting isn't terrible. My chipping is up and down still. But it wasn't terrible yesterday. Did make a couple mistakes though. Again, not enough pars to offset the doubles. Only 2 pars. One triple. The rest bogeys and double bogeys.

My typical problem is too many times the first putt is for bogey and most times its in two putt range, not one putt. Sometimes I hit close to the green. Decent lie hitting my 3rd shot. Then I shank the chip. My 4th shot is on the green. Two putts for a double. Another time I hit a poor second shot from a good lie on the fairway. End up behind a tree with no shot to the green. A couple shots later, again on the green two putting for another double.

Those things are happening way too often. I either need to make more pars to offset them. Or stop making the mistakes that put me in that position. The life of a high handicapper I suppose.
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While I’ve given up on ever having a low hc, I still believe incremental improvements will come. As you mentioned, there are so many little things to overcome that putting together 3 or 4 or 5 decent shots in a row doesn’t come easy. So offsetting the blow up holes just doesn’t happen enough to shoot low.
Keep at it and your game will improve.
 
Went to the range last night. It was hot and wasn’t feeling motivated to go play nine. Feel like I forgot how to swing for a minute. Got it under control. Hit irons for the first time all week and making a conscious effort to try and log and note my average distances with the irons. Hit the hybrids a little. Hit the 3 and 5 woods a little. Gave the driver a day off.

Just trying to make sure I don’t practice too hard in one direction to the detriment of other clubs.

One thing I noticed is when dialing in my swing this spring. I made a more conscious effort to keep my hands/wrists a little less active. That also helped me iron out the new driver this week quite a bit.

It seems to be working for me to almost go to the Bryson “one swing” concept. I feel like I keep my arms more locked in during the backswing and am able to square up the club a lot more on contact by keeping certain thoughts and routines locked in. I do get a little more aggressive with driver - but finding that by dialing the swing back and not going for it - I’m getting more consistent distance and control with driver.

Anyway. Just working away......


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Reading through these last couple pages, I have to tip my hat to you guys!! Lot of hard work going on. Keep it up!!

Im in no position to give advice or tips, just know that you will get there. Nice work guys!!
 
I've posted previously about my driver woes. I'll be honest and admit I've been tempted to replace it (ST190) as the F9/G400 are both still $249 and are this close to becoming unavailable, but I'm getting outstanding ball speed on good hits with the ST190 and it looks/feels fantastic.

I had my wife help me tonight review my setup and I think the real issue is that I can't line the darn ball up correctly. See the image below from Golfalot for reference.

reviewaddress.jpg


I think it is an optical issue, but at address the running bird LOOKS to be located towards the heel. I have a fader's swing anyway so when I line it up biased towards the heel and hit it in the heel, it is a big problem. I found during my last range session that if I line up toe side I hit the ball much more centrally. What appears to work for me is to line up the running bird head with the inside 1/4 or so of the golf ball.

Ideal solution? No. Workable solution? Maybe.

3balls was running a big sale on this during the winter and I got it brand new for $165 worth of trade ins. If I do eventually have to give up on it, I won't be losing my backside or anything, but I'm tired of musical golf equipment.

Dave
 
dthrog00 said:
I've posted previously about my driver woes. I'll be honest and admit I've been tempted to replace it (ST190) as the F9/G400 are both still $249 and are this close to becoming unavailable, but I'm getting outstanding ball speed on good hits with the ST190 and it looks/feels fantastic.

I had my wife help me tonight review my setup and I think the real issue is that I can't line the darn ball up correctly. See the image below from Golfalot for reference.

reviewaddress.jpg


I think it is an optical issue, but at address the running bird LOOKS to be located towards the heel. I have a fader's swing anyway so when I line it up biased towards the heel and hit it in the heel, it is a big problem. I found during my last range session that if I line up toe side I hit the ball much more centrally. What appears to work for me is to line up the running bird head with the inside 1/4 or so of the golf ball.

Ideal solution? No. Workable solution? Maybe.

3balls was running a big sale on this during the winter and I got it brand new for $165 worth of trade ins. If I do eventually have to give up on it, I won't be losing my backside or anything, but I'm tired of musical golf equipment.

Dave
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A lot of that is optical, I've found the same thing on other drivers. If you look straight down like in the photo it will be heel side, looking down at address, if you put the bird in the middle, the ball will be centered due to the viewing angle.
 
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