Trying to Break 100

I played again tonight in my work league and shot a 48.

The round started disastrously. The first 3 holes saw 4 tops and 1 thinned wedge OB. I was +8 after 3 holes and chances of breaking 50 appeared bleak.

#4 was a par 3 and I hit a good hybrid, putted off the fringe, and 2-putted for bogey. #5 was a par 5, I hit a monster drive by my standard, good 5 wood, pitch pulled left, chip, and 2-putt for another bogey. #6 hit a good drive, hit a good 8 iron but pulled the wrong club (short), chipped and 2-putt for bogey. #7 pulled my drive, hit a safe 7 iron from behind a tree, chipped, and 2-putt for bogey. #8 hit a bad 8 iron, excellent chip and par save. #9 good drive, 5 iron pulled left, excellent chip and par save. Ended up +12.

I'm not sure what my issues are with the tops, but I suspect it is not having my weight on my front foot at impact and not focusing on the front of the ball. The first top was a hybrid from a dreadful lie where I would have been better hacking it out and the last one from a fairway bunker with a dodgy stance. I have no excuses for the other two.

The other thing I need to practice is not pulling my irons/wedges.

I had 3 drives in excess of 220 yards which for me is bombing it.

Dave


I struggled with a few topped shots last weekend. For me, I focused on keeping my head down through the swing (resist the temptation to look up and track your ball flight) making sure my arms were relaxed at address, looking at the front edge of the ball through impact and trying to extend my left arm at impact. My thought on the downswing was "head down, swing down and through"

It worked a little too well as I flushed an 8-iron about 10 yards longer than normal a couple times.
 
I struggled with a few topped shots last weekend. For me, I focused on keeping my head down through the swing (resist the temptation to look up and track your ball flight) making sure my arms were relaxed at address, looking at the front edge of the ball through impact and trying to extend my left arm at impact. My thought on the downswing was "head down, swing down and through"

It worked a little too well as I flushed an 8-iron about 10 yards longer than normal a couple times.
I've been fighting my head coming up as well. Last round of 9, when I gathered myself and focused on keeping it down, I hit some more consistent shots (especially wedges). Sometimes what I'll do is cheat a little...I'll put a slight head tilt on so my front eye is looking at the ball a little more (maybe a terrible idea...but it helps me at times to force my head down) I'm right handed, so my left eye. Just the slightest angle so it feels like that eye is looking almost slightly "back" toward the ball (I think it feels more exaggerated than it is). But for me to turn my head up to the left/front from there would be even harder (or mentally, that's how it feels to me), and it helps me keep the head and body from flying up (and keep eyes on the ball).
 
More so than just the head I think it's the whole upper body that can come out. I don't get to play much these days and seems like I'm amped up when I do play!

Dave
 
More so than just the head I think it's the whole upper body that can come out. I don't get to play much these days and seems like I'm amped up when I do play!

Dave
For sure....the body can fly open on its own...I'm just going off the theory that the body follows the head...if your head comes up or moves, your body will likely go with it. Keeping the head down at least hopefully minimizes your body coming up/opening too early. It's a problem for me for sure, and I have to really make myself at times keep it down. The more I play, the easier that becomes with repetition...right now...its been a problem. My last round I did a little better being conscious of it, though.
 
For sure....the body can fly open on its own...I'm just going off the theory that the body follows the head...if your head comes up or moves, your body will likely go with it. Keeping the head down at least hopefully minimizes your body coming up/opening too early. It's a problem for me for sure, and I have to really make myself at times keep it down. The more I play, the easier that becomes with repetition...right now...its been a problem. My last round I did a little better being conscious of it, though.
You are still able to push your hips towards the ball while trying to keep your head down. And also break your neck and lower lumbar spine trying to keep head and lower body still. Instead, concentrate on getting your hips out of the way. Check few Mike Malaska videos re hip movement. Then you can forget the head and let it flow with upper body.
 
Good info. Part of my questioning from before was due to the fact that I'm not getting any younger (you guys mention elbow pain, for example). And already dealing with the shoulder and various other random aches and pains :) I'll be 45 this summer, so I'm not "old"...but I'm less limber, losing some athleticism - I coach high school age kids in soccer...and they were so excited when one kid overtook me in practice (finally...ha) so I'm like, well....it's happening - I'm slower, less agile, less flexible, and so on.

Anyway - point being...I'm sort of preemptively thinking if I go in for a fitting this year or next and have all the shaft options, etc, why not preemptively think about saving some wear an tear on my body? Main priority would just be getting properly fit and getting clubs that are set up for ME. But if I can shift to graphite and stop some aches/pains before they begin...might be worth getting into a setup I can play for the next however many years and not have to go back in 3-4 years and say "I'm thinking I want to re-shaft all these irons."

Anyway...sorry to make a short story long. :) But good info on graphite/recoil shafts there.

I swear with these Recoils I am also hitting the ball longer. Ask Snickerdog about them - they're his old clubs lol!
 
You are still able to push your hips towards the ball while trying to keep your head down. And also break your neck and lower lumbar spine trying to keep head and lower body still. Instead, concentrate on getting your hips out of the way. Check few Mike Malaska videos re hip movement. Then you can forget the head and let it flow with upper body.
A friend of mine who's just learning the game took the "keep your head down" way too literally, and was trying so hard to keep it down that he was severely limiting his follow through. His swing was all arms, no rotation. I tried to demonstrate to him what he was doing, and just about broke my freaking neck in the process. It hurt for three or four holes after that!
 
A friend of mine who's just learning the game took the "keep your head down" way too literally, and was trying so hard to keep it down that he was severely limiting his follow through. His swing was all arms, no rotation. I tried to demonstrate to him what he was doing, and just about broke my freaking neck in the process. It hurt for three or four holes after that!

Well I certainly don’t have that problem or go to that extreme! :)

Side note. I busted out the callaway irons and was hitting some foam balls out back. I don’t know what it is but they are so much more comfortable to me than the Rocketbladez. Think I’ll game them and just see how I play....also putting in some research on local fitters. If nothing else I’m super curious to see what feedback I get.


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A friend of mine who's just learning the game took the "keep your head down" way too literally, and was trying so hard to keep it down that he was severely limiting his follow through. His swing was all arms, no rotation. I tried to demonstrate to him what he was doing, and just about broke my freaking neck in the process. It hurt for three or four holes after that!

I tried to learn by that book as well. First symptoms were severe stiffness in all my upper body muscles and neck. During next weeks, as my upper body lost most of its flexibility, my lower back started to ache severely as it had to compensate. I urge every one to listen to their body and understand that golf swing is merely forward tilted baseball batting. Forget all the P1-Pn positions and movement restrictions and swing away rotating around your upper body axis. Your brain will take care of the rest.
 
A friend of mine who's just learning the game took the "keep your head down" way too literally, and was trying so hard to keep it down that he was severely limiting his follow through. His swing was all arms, no rotation. I tried to demonstrate to him what he was doing, and just about broke my freaking neck in the process. It hurt for three or four holes after that!
I play with a guy that moves his head too much and I am trying to get him to keep it still but not like his head is stuck in concrete and cannot move. He is extremely "armsy" right now and his game is truly suffering. He gets too many "tips" from others that are useless for his game.

I told him to get a mirror and use it at his net, yet I imagine he didn't, so not much I can do to help him. He is one of those guys that will listen to all the wrong advice and practice things that simply do not help him.

The last two times I played with him he shot about 20 and 10 higher than normal and mainly because he was forcing his swing with his arms and his head would move about 6-8 inches up and down during the swing - just destroyed his swing. It was not pretty.
 
Forget all the P1-Pn positions and movement restrictions and swing away rotating around your upper body axis. Your brain will take care of the rest.
This could make a thread of its own. I have learned to simply let my body respond and not force it to do things it was not designed to do. Maybe if I was younger I could do that, but as an older golfer, not gonna ruin myself. Golf can be tough on the body and especially the back.
 
This could make a thread of its own. I have learned to simply let my body respond and not force it to do things it was not designed to do. Maybe if I was younger I could do that, but as an older golfer, not gonna ruin myself. Golf can be tough on the body and especially the back.

I learned timing and sequencing only by holding a club and trying swing it with my legs pushing my hips back. Right hip back on backswing and left hip back on downswing. that on a continuous back and forth move like 20 reps. after you get that, add swing length with upper body and arms.
 
Definitely have to listen to your body. When I started playing again and took some lessons to get on track - I got lucky and found a guy who didn’t try to shove my swing into some some specific box he thought was correct. Swings are not one size fits all. He told me I had a solid natural swing plane and it was a matter of getting comfortable and making it work for me.

Regarding head movement - that’s always been a problem for me to want to fly open. This coach gave me a great quick way to check that as well. The easiest and quickest way on a sunny day to check your sway and head movement - turn to where youre shadow is casting straight out in front of you (like a mirror on the ground). Take some practice swings (your head is already looking down where the ball would be (at your shadow) and you can spot any egregious movements - especially good for exaggerated body sway back and forth (which will take your head out of position).


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I learned timing and sequencing only by holding a club and trying swing it with my legs pushing my hips back. Right hip back on backswing and left hip back on downswing. that on a continuous back and forth move like 20 reps. after you get that, add swing length with upper body and arms.

I’ve seen Greg Norman explain this in a way that made sense to me. Like your hips are pistons in a motor going up and down. Your right drives back/left up, then left back right up.


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I swear with these Recoils I am also hitting the ball longer. Ask Snickerdog about them - they're his old clubs lol!
Glad to hear those are working out well for you. My new set has Recoil 95's also.
 
Golf courses opening here now. (y)

Tried to get a tee time for Sunday morning at our normal shortlist of courses...

3 completely full - literally no tee times
1 earliest tee time was 14.35, 1 earliest tee time was 15.25, another earliest tee time was 15.45 :oops:

On all of the above, there is a membership quotient, and they will obviously get first dibs, and with it being 2 ball maximum these days, the number of tee times has telescoped a bit too.

Managed to get an 08.00 at the Linksy style 9-hole course, where we play whites on the front 9, yellows on the back.

Will no doubt post in here after the stink we're going to kick up after nearly 2 months of non-golfiness (y)
 
Golf courses opening here now. (y)

Tried to get a tee time for Sunday morning at our normal shortlist of courses...

3 completely full - literally no tee times
1 earliest tee time was 14.35, 1 earliest tee time was 15.25, another earliest tee time was 15.45 :oops:

On all of the above, there is a membership quotient, and they will obviously get first dibs, and with it being 2 ball maximum these days, the number of tee times has telescoped a bit too.

Managed to get an 08.00 at the Linksy style 9-hole course, where we play whites on the front 9, yellows on the back.

Will no doubt post in here after the stink we're going to kick up after nearly 2 months of non-golfiness (y)
Enjoy getting out there again

We (myself and Jen) played 9 last night, got another 9 tonight and then a tee time for Sunday to play 18, so I can't complain about availability of tee times at my home course
Last night was a bit of a swing disaster but still managed 5 pars (might have been 6 as I wasn't counting) and 1 lost ball when I pulled a tee shot into an area where they are still doing work and the rule was zero access even if you could see your ball so I didn't even look
One positive was the dry, firm ground meant for some long drives - I ended up in a few spots I didn't expect due to the conditions, yet still managed to come up short on a couple of approaches due to the wind being stronger than I realised

It is going to take a bit longer than normal to shake the rust unless ranges open up and I can get some practice in - hit a horrible slice on the 6th, but it doglegs right and my tee shot ended up on the 8th fairway with a clear shot to the green so I got lucky, wedge to about 15ft and 2 putt par
 
I’ve seen Greg Norman explain this in a way that made sense to me. Like your hips are pistons in a motor going up and down. Your right drives back/left up, then left back right up.


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Exactly. When I got the timing right, I was able add forces to moves and club to increase clubhead speed, gradually. This is so easy way to learn the swing, compared to positions and focus points. It's by no means the whole swing, but getting these basics right first, inclunding feel of impact, are good foundation for further improvement.
 
Exactly. When I got the timing right, I was able add forces to moves and club to increase clubhead speed, gradually. This is so easy way to learn the swing, compared to positions and focus points. It's by no means the whole swing, but getting these basics right first, inclunding feel of impact, are good foundation for further improvement.
I just saw that clip recently actually (of Norman) and it made so much sense to me I was like man...I wish I'd seen that a few years ago when I was starting to play again.
 
Played 18 this morning with the limited 6 club bag. Shot a 102 (HC Diff of 29.9). Mostly bogey golf with a couple very bad blow up holes. I'm usually not terribly happy with a score that high, but this round had some of the best ball striking I've had in a while. I know it's an unpopular opinion, but @DG_1234 might be right about smaller club head not being that much worse. I was hitting distances right at those of my old SGI set even though the Hogans haven an overall shorter length and have weaker lofts. Also, playing with less clubs makes this game more interesting when trying to hit those in-between distances. It was a fun round that included hitting a par 5 green in two using just the 3h. Of course I 3-putted for a par, but that was ok.

I'm never confident success will last, but it's enjoyable when happens.

A big thanks to @ORT, @MWard, and @ArmyGolf for the advice given in another thread about overcoming the shanks (specifically standing closer to the ball at address, creating a more vertical plane, and not allowing myself to shift weight on the toes during the downswing). I've been practicing that advice all week with success and it showed up on the course this morning. I can count on one hand the number of times I've been able to put good advice to use, so it's much appreciated.

When I got home my new irons were waiting for me. Can't wait to try those out.
 
Played 18 this morning with the limited 6 club bag. Shot a 102 (HC Diff of 29.9). Mostly bogey golf with a couple very bad blow up holes. I'm usually not terribly happy with a score that high, but this round had some of the best ball striking I've had in a while. I know it's an unpopular opinion, but @DG_1234 might be right about smaller club head not being that much worse. I was hitting distances right at those of my old SGI set even though the Hogans haven an overall shorter length and have weaker lofts. Also, playing with less clubs makes this game more interesting when trying to hit those in-between distances. It was a fun round that included hitting a par 5 green in two using just the 3h. Of course I 3-putted for a par, but that was ok.

I'm never confident success will last, but it's enjoyable when happens.

A big thanks to @ORT, @MWard, and @ArmyGolf for the advice given in another thread about overcoming the shanks (specifically standing closer to the ball at address, creating a more vertical plane, and not allowing myself to shift weight on the toes during the downswing). I've been practicing that advice all week with success and it showed up on the course this morning. I can count on one hand the number of times I've been able to put good advice to use, so it's much appreciated.

When I got home my new irons were waiting for me. Can't wait to try those out.
That's great man! Glad you're putting it back together.
 
Played 18 this morning with the limited 6 club bag. Shot a 102 (HC Diff of 29.9). Mostly bogey golf with a couple very bad blow up holes. I'm usually not terribly happy with a score that high, but this round had some of the best ball striking I've had in a while. I know it's an unpopular opinion, but @DG_1234 might be right about smaller club head not being that much worse. I was hitting distances right at those of my old SGI set even though the Hogans haven an overall shorter length and have weaker lofts. Also, playing with less clubs makes this game more interesting when trying to hit those in-between distances. It was a fun round that included hitting a par 5 green in two using just the 3h. Of course I 3-putted for a par, but that was ok.

I'm never confident success will last, but it's enjoyable when happens.

A big thanks to @ORT, @MWard, and @ArmyGolf for the advice given in another thread about overcoming the shanks (specifically standing closer to the ball at address, creating a more vertical plane, and not allowing myself to shift weight on the toes during the downswing). I've been practicing that advice all week with success and it showed up on the course this morning. I can count on one hand the number of times I've been able to put good advice to use, so it's much appreciated.

When I got home my new irons were waiting for me. Can't wait to try those out.

Keep plugging away. What were your 6 clubs?

Those of who post in breaking 100, breaking 90 threads can have a lot of fun, but truthfully the quality of the golf will be trying at times.

The coronavirus impact in Illinois is that it is illegal to practice golf at a golf course. All ranges, putting greens, short game areas, etc... are all closed. The only thing that is open is the course. I practice in the back yard chipping with real balls, full swings with wiffles, or full swings with real balls into a net. This makes it hard to score well. Consequently, I'm looking at golf as a way to get a little bit more normal back in my life. Score is certainly secondary. I feel like I'm knocking on the door of breaking 45, but we'll see on Monday.

Dave
 
Keep plugging away. What were your 6 clubs?

Those of who post in breaking 100, breaking 90 threads can have a lot of fun, but truthfully the quality of the golf will be trying at times.

The coronavirus impact in Illinois is that it is illegal to practice golf at a golf course. All ranges, putting greens, short game areas, etc... are all closed. The only thing that is open is the course. I practice in the back yard chipping with real balls, full swings with wiffles, or full swings with real balls into a net. This makes it hard to score well. Consequently, I'm looking at golf as a way to get a little bit more normal back in my life. Score is certainly secondary. I feel like I'm knocking on the door of breaking 45, but we'll see on Monday.

Dave
Similar here in KC...I can't find a driving range but some courses stayed open and now, this weekend, all the courses are reopening. Going to play 9 tomorrow. Just focusing right now on the swing and consistency. I'll keep score just because my brain says I have to...but I'm not sweating the scores too much right now....I'm feeling better and better, though, with my shoulder holding up well and this'll be the fifth time I've played nine this year now after having to stop last year with the bum shoulder.

Like you - I've been hitting in the back yard a bit with short irons and pitching wedge...I have a deep back yard, so I go towards the back and bang the foam balls back at the house. With wedges I try to send them up onto my deck. Short irons I just pick a spot on the house and knock 'em in that direction...I don't have a net...so this stops the ball flight and then I can go pick 'em up and do it again.
 
What were your 6 clubs?
They were....
Putter
Hogan 56/10 SW
Hogan 9i, 7i, and 5i
Maltby 3h

I've replaced the 9i, 7i, and 5i with the new Maltby 9i, 8i, and 6i, but haven't played a round with them yet.

If or when I make another purchase, I'll go with the Maltby 7i (currently out of stock), the KE4 5h and the STw2 driver. Not yet sure how to fill in the bottom of the bag.
 
So far I have stayed under 100 for the last four of five 18 hole rounds with two being 82 and 85. I hope I can continue and maintain this. I have worked about 5 hours a week on practice for quite a while now and I think it may be finally showing up in my game. One can hope as golf can sometimes be cruel :cautious:
 
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