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Trying to Break 100

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Tadashi70 said:
If you had to point to one maybe two things that are holding you guys back, what would it be?
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Number one for me is confidence (mental aspects of the game).

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sudseh said:
Number one for me is confidence (mental aspects of the game).

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Not for nothing but those clubs you're playing are adding to your struggle
 
I know that my breakthrough to getting under 100 consistently happened from two things:

1. I stopped trying hero shots, meaning I quit trying silly stuff like fairway woods and long irons from bad lies, full-swing iron shots through trees instead of punching out, etc. It also means I quit hitting whatever club was the "right" distance to the pin no matter what--why I thought a 3W would stick to a green, I'll never know. Especially off of the aforementioned terrible lie (yes, I've swung a fairway wood at balls in the rough).

2. I worked on my short game, meaning chipping from around the green and putting on it. I miss a lot of greens, and it used to be that if I was 10 yards off the side of a green, especially on an uphill lie, I might be another 4-5 strokes from holing out. Now I'm confident that I'm 2 or 3 strokes from holing out no matter what--side hill, in a bunker, whatever. I can get on the green and usually close-ish with a wedge, and I can two-putt from anywhere on the green if I focus.

Those two things got me shooting in the 90s with zero additional improvement to my long game. I started shooting a 95-100 with the same full swing that was shooting 105-110 or worse.

Incidentally, I've been working on my full swing for the last couple months without playing any rounds. I'm now starting to groove a really nice fully swing. I'm looking forward to seeing what it does for my scores, combining what I learned before Legacy with a proper, repeatable swing.
 
Tadashi70 said:
So you can't string together consecutive swings?
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Yes, good example, played a course with back to back par 3s. Nice solid 8i on the first one pin high, next hole was a low pull hook with a 6i.
 
moosejaa said:
Yes, good example, played a course with back to back par 3s. Nice solid 8i on the first one pin high, next hole was a low pull hook with a 6i.
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What were your scores?
 
Tadashi70 said:
Not for nothing but those clubs you're playing are adding to your struggle
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Haha yeah, they have been shelved. I have a set of d100s that are in play now (picked them up after Savannah).

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Tadashi70 said:
Was that six with penalty strokes?
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Yeah, 1 penalty and then another poor shot to a really elevated green.

So here is one of my big problems, I seem to feel the unconscious need to swing harder as the club gets longer.
I can't seem to get myself to stop and this is where my issue with focus comes into play...I think.
 
moosejaa said:
Yeah, 1 penalty and then another poor shot to a really elevated green.

So here is one of my big problems, I seem to feel the unconscious need to swing harder as the club gets longer.
I can't seem to get myself to stop and this is where my issue with focus comes into play...I think.
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Swing smoother the longer the club. Also aim at the top of the flag when hitting to elevated greens.
 
Tadashi70 said:
If you had to point to one maybe two things that are holding you guys back, what would it be?
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For me it's primarily never being satisfied and always changing pieces of my swing. I recently got the driver under control but started hooking the irons. I realize now it was because I was experimenting with activating my right side/hand more and was causing me to flip the club. I spent four hours at the range Sunday working on getting it under control by going back to thinking about left side only and backhanding the ball and got the irons back under control. But my plane is a little too flat so it was easy to hit pushes with the driver again. I know that I need to get the club a little more upright, but it wont just happen overnight.

Outside of that it's a little bit of every thing. I'll straight up mis-hit an iron shot several times a round, I don't chip/pitch it close enough to the pin, and still have a few penalties and three putts. I've had plenty of rounds in the 90's and an 88. So I'm just not quite ready to move to the breaking 90 thread just yet.

ETA - I also would re-tee and hit for 3 all the time when I hit pushes right and later found out that they are all red staked areas at my club (marsh land). So when I was taking stroke plus distance I should have been dropping from where it last crossed and hit three from there. It's hard to quantify what would have happened to my scores if I would have done that, but I think a lot of my 102-107's would have been closer to 100 or less.
 
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-CRW- said:
For me it's primarily never being satisfied and always changing pieces of my swing. I recently got the driver under control but started hooking the irons. I realize now it was because I was experimenting with activating my right side/hand more and was causing me to flip the club. I spent four hours at the range Sunday working on getting it under control by going back to thinking about left side only and backhanding the ball and got the irons back under control. But my plane is a little too flat so it was easy to hit pushes with the driver again. I know that I need to get the club a little more upright, but it wont just happen overnight.

Outside of that it's a little bit of every thing. I'll straight up mis-hit an iron shot several times a round, I don't chip/pitch it close enough to the pin, and still have a few penalties and three putts. I've had plenty of rounds in the 90's and an 88. So I'm just not quite ready to move to the breaking 90 thread just yet.
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Are you taking lessons or trying to fix on your own?
 
Tadashi70 said:
Are you taking lessons or trying to fix on your own?
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Both. I haven't taken a lesson with my long time coach in a while to give myself time to work on everything he taught me. He was the one that almost instantly took me from an over the top swing to an in-to-out. I was hitting draws with irons for the first time at our fist lesson over a year ago. But I could never hit anything but pushes with my woods that either had a slight draw/fade to them depending on club face control from swing to swing. I did a lot to try and get consistent draws with the driver, but the only thing I've found that works with my current flat plane is unhinging early. I can try to manipulate the face by forcing a release/actively trying to turn the hands over, but it becomes a big timing issue and resulted in a lot of nasty smother hooks. So that took me from missing OB right to missing OB left about an equal number of times.

I decided to try out another coach a few weeks ago and he wanted me to strengthen my right/trailing hand so much that my right thumb was almost on the side of the grip. I hit draws with the driver but hooks with the irons. I haven't gone back to this guy yet though. I wanted to give it at least a month (~ 2 more weeks or so).
 
Tadashi70 said:
If you had to point to one maybe two things that are holding you guys back, what would it be?
Click to expand...

Consistency. I can par a hole and then make a snowman on the very next one, sometimes without penalty strokes. Nothing seems to be worse than hitting a good drive (I hit 3W on the box). If I crush one the next one is going to oblivion!

And the last couple of rounds have seen me go off great - like bogey, bogey, par and then have three or four holes where I couldn't hit anything. Was hitting way behind the ball - super fat. Really frustrating to have your game just walk out on you all of the sudden. Spend a few holes trying to find it/fix it. Finally get going again and finish bogey bogey bogey. Madness. Maddening.

PS Was hitting so far behind the ball ended up playing it even with my right foot ... and wham, great contact. What in the world?! Clearly moving the bottom of my swing back but not sure why. Worked on shoulder turn and suddenly started hitting it again from the "correct" ball position. Maddening.
 
-CRW- said:
Both. I haven't taken a lesson with my long time coach in a while to give myself time to work on everything he taught me. He was the one that almost instantly took me from an over the top swing to an in-to-out. I was hitting draws with irons for the first time at our fist lesson over a year ago. But I could never hit anything but pushes with my woods that either had a slight draw/fade to them depending on club face control from swing to swing. I did a lot to try and get consistent draws with the driver, but the only thing I've found that works with my current flat plane is unhinging early. I can try to manipulate the face by forcing a release/actively trying to turn the hands over, but it becomes a big timing issue and resulted in a lot of nasty smother hooks. So that took me from missing OB right to missing OB left about an equal number of times.

I decided to try out another coach a few weeks ago and he wanted me to strengthen my right/trailing hand so much that my right thumb was almost on the side of the grip. I hit draws with the driver but hooks with the irons. I haven't gone back to this guy yet though. I wanted to give it at least a month (~ 2 more weeks or so).
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Move the ball back in your stance and I think the hooks might go away. How far will have to trial and error.
 
Tadashi70 said:
If you had to point to one maybe two things that are holding you guys back, what would it be?
Click to expand...

I'm new to the game so I'm sure that's part of it, but I agree with moosejaa, my biggest issue is inconsistency in my swing. Whether that's due to changes in my posture, issues with my shoulder rotation, or whatever else, I'm not totally sure.

For me at least, this inconsistency is present at the driving range as well as while on the actual course. So while it's not a total surprise, it can definitely still be frustrating.

If I could get rid of all the various mis-hits I would probably get close to breaking that 100 barrier. I plan to take lessons next year though, so hopefully I can get over this hump fairly soon.


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tkpeterson12 said:
I'm new to the game so I'm sure that's part of it, but I agree with moosejaa, my biggest issue is inconsistency in my swing. Whether that's due to changes in my posture, issues with my shoulder rotation, or whatever else, I'm not totally sure.

For me at least, this inconsistency is present at the driving range as well as while on the actual course. So while it's not a total surprise, it can definitely still be frustrating.

If I could get rid of all the various mis-hits I would probably get close to breaking that 100 barrier. I plan to take lessons next year though, so hopefully I can get over this hump fairly soon.


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I mentioned something to Canadan this weekend who as a pretty solid swing and a game that travels tee to green. He mentioned that I really liked the way he lived and died by his draw. If he hit off the toe on one swing he went right back to that swing on the next shot. This line of thinking I am sure is what grooved his swing

So many golfers hit that same toes shot and go to a completely different swing and mind set. This aids in swing inconsistencies. I know you're a beginner but try to find that shot you want and play it no matter what. Accept that you're going to be a flawed golfer and accept your misses as just that, a miss. Learn to hut that go to shot before try to find three go to shots. Live and die with that shot on the course
 
Tadashi70 said:
If you had to point to one maybe two things that are holding you guys back, what would it be?
Click to expand...
My accuracy. When I'm 140 and in, I seem to get the distance correct, but I'm either left or right of the green. That makes me miss GIR and forces me to get up and down. That of course means my short game is suffering, despite my spending a fair portion of time in lessons devoted to this skill.

Which means what is holding me back in my failure to sufficiently practice.

That and a crappy tee game, but I pulled the driver and am hitting more FIR's with the 3H while only losing - on average - about 20 yards.
 
Tadashi70 said:
I mentioned something to Canadan this weekend who as a pretty solid swing and a game that travels tee to green. He mentioned that I really liked the way he lived and died by his draw. If he hit off the toe on one swing he went right back to that swing on the next shot. This line of thinking I am sure is what grooved his swing

So many golfers hit that same toes shot and go to a completely different swing and mind set. This aids in swing inconsistencies. I know you're a beginner but try to find that shot you want and play it no matter what. Accept that you're going to be a flawed golfer and accept your misses as just that, a miss. Learn to hut that go to shot before try to find three go to shots. Live and die with that shot on the course
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That's a really good lesson, thanks for posting that.
 
I waited about a half hour for the rain to let up and decided to only go 9 just in case. It was a good thing because it started back up on the 7th and really opened back up when I was loading my clubs into the car. The first tee had me hitting my longest drive on that hole ever. I even put a draw on the ball which is a rarity for me. I then proceeded to flub a 90 yard shot. The next one went to the high side fringe. A tricky putt on the two tiered green without having it run off and possibly going down the green side bunker with a 50 yard shot. I made it into a 3 putts and out routine. The next hole is a par 3 214 yards. I hit it straight but was about 30 yards short. I had some high grass between me and the green. I usually pitch in this instance but thought I'd try a 9 iron chip instead and hope to land just over the high grass and have it run. Wrong club as the ball landed on the fringe and went all the way to the top fringe. Two putts and I'm out of there. The 8th hole was just poor decision and shot making. I sliced my drive into the rough. I had 160 yards to the flag with a 30 foot window through the trees all the way to the green. The mind was begging me to try it and I did. The ball got swallowed up and spit back under the tree. The next window was even smaller for a punch out and the mind was egging me on to go for it. I punched it out and corked the same tree's trunk and leaned my head back as the ball went whizzing a lot farther back than were the pitiful drive landed. That was the only triple I threw up on the board. It was pretty much the same scenario with putting from the far fringe on any given hole. The also came up short most of the time. On 3 occasions, they were about 1/2 inch short to really turn the screws a bit. The only bright spots were a birdie on a 143 yard par 3. That one was from 8 feet with a foot of break. I had a double bogie on the par 5 9th after crushing a drive behind the treeline. After finally getting to the green and the ball sitting on the far away fringe, I drained a 25 foot putt. In the end, a 49. It could have easily been a 44 without the trees and putts sitting on the cup.

I hope to give it another go today and hopefully figure out how to putt in the wet.
 
Proficiency with my wedges and putter - In the last year I've almost exclusively played a par 3 course which forces me to pull anywhere from a 3h - PW from the tees. GIR's are still a problem but solid pitching , chipping, & putting helped me break 100 consistently. I also put a lot of effort on only 2 putting - when you can finish 9 holes in 40 minutes it's easy to dismiss the importance of putting - but when you're on a regular length course - the attention pays off...2 years ago the goal was breaking 100 consistently. This year 90's isn't a problem but the goal was one sub 80 round - i came close (91) but being this late in the year I'm not sure it's going to happen. A few other things - after playing 30 years i finally took my first beginners lesson - hang up your egos and take some lessons with a good instructor and manage each hole with thoughts of double bogey or less. It gives you a cushion and you'll be surprised at how managing for double's will push your score down (the real lesson has been no more hero shots - take your lumps and make sure that after that bad shot - play smart and set your next shot up to be better)
 
Short of playing a very tough course (Arcadia Bluffs), my last 7 rounds have been sub 100. I have made many dumb mistakes, and could have I felt shaved a good 7-8 strokes from my scores.

I am encouraged by my driver swing, and that used to be what I felt was really holding me back.
I have gained distance throughout the bag as well.

I am starting lessons back up Saturday, and cant wait to get back at it in 2016!
 
I played 36 holes today and I'm dumbfounded on the results. Talk about an up and down affair. The puzzling thing is I don't remember doing anything different in regards to the stance, alignment, swing, club selection, etc. Obviously, things were cooking on the last stint when I shaved off 27 strokes.

Round 1:

Hole #1 Par 4, Bogie (2 Putt)
Hole #2 Par 3, Double (2 Putt)
Hole #3 Par 4, Par (1 Putt)
Hole #4 Par 3, Bogie (2 Putt)
Hole #5 Par 4, Triple (4 Putt), Played through-Rushed myself
Hole #6 Par 4, Par (2 Putt)
Hole #7 Par 4, Bogie (1 Putt)
Hole #8 Par 4, Bogie (2 Putt)
Hole #9 Par 5, Quad (2 Putt), and so it begins
Hole #10 Par 4, Triple (3 Putt), Hooked up with a twosome
Hole #11 Par 4, Double (3 Putt)
Hole #12 Par 4, Triple (3 Putt)
Hole #13 Par 4, Triple (3 Putt)
Hole #14 Par 3, Par (2 Putt)
Hole #15 Par 5, Double (3 Putt)
Hole #16 Par 3, Triple (2 Putt)
Hole #17 Par 4, Double (2 Putt)
Hole #18 Par 5, Double (2 Putt), gave myself 2 penalty strokes because did not re-tee, group already on tee box
Total 47/56=103 41 Putts

Got a bite to eat and started playing again 1 hour later.

Hole #1 Par 4, 10 (4 Putts), beaver pelts for sale, wth is going on?
Hole #2 Par 3, Quad (2 Putts), bad tee shot rewarded with 3 run ins with tree limbs
Hole #3 Par 4, Double (3 Putts)
Hole #4 Par 3, Par (2 Putts), yeah baby, got the MOJO BACK!
Hole #5 Par 4, Quad (4 Putts), MOJO has left the building
Hole #6 Par 4, Double (2 Putts)
Hole #7 Par 4, 12 (2 Putts), lost balls, fat city and shank for good measure, damn - lost my Maxfli Tour ball
Hole #8 Par 4, Triple (2 Putts)
Hole #9 Par 5, Quad (2 Putts), good grief-make it stop
Total 68 23 Putts

Normally, this would have sent me packing after the 2 hole because I would give any 00 agent a license to kill. Oh well, might as well skip the back nine and see if I can knock 10 or 14 strokes off. All of the sand bunkers are filled with about a foot of water. It amazes me that I never did find any of them.

Hole #1 Par 4, Bogie (3 Putts), here we go again
Hole #2 Par 3, Bogie (2 Putts)
Hole #3 Par 4, Birdie (1 Putt), 15 ft putt never lost track the whole way and just barely dropped
Hole #4 Par 3, Bogie (2 Putt), really bad putt
Hole #5 Par 4, Bogie (2 Putt), weak slice off tee, 2nd shot fat as they come, smoked 4h from 175, missed easy 3ft putt
Hole #6 Par 4, Par (2 Putt), errant drive, 8i over tree and water bunker
Hole #7 Par 4, Par (2 Putt), blind approach shot from 170 yards to 6 ft., blew putt past
Hole #8 Par 4, Bogie (1 Putt), errant drive, 7i over tree for layup, skull over green to pine needle forest, lucky pw that did not roll off green
Hole #9 Par 5, Double (2 Putt), so so drive, so so 5w, topped 5w, nutted 3H, hot pitch past hole into rough, putted it to a foot
Total 41 17 putts

That was my best ever 9 holes.

I am almost afraid to go out again.
 
Practice in a pvc swing ring...before you hit balls...why grove bad habits that take years to remove...crazy.
My wife wanted to take up golf...she learn't this way...she has a lovely swing...actually better than most players at the club
 
srx700xxx said:
I played 36 holes today and I'm dumbfounded on the results. Talk about an up and down affair. The puzzling thing is I don't remember doing anything different in regards to the stance, alignment, swing, club selection, etc. Obviously, things were cooking on the last stint when I shaved off 27 strokes.
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It's hard to tell why you're scoring so high. It's not your putting, that's generally good.

For every hole I track:

FIR
GIR
SIH (shots inside 100 yards that aren't putts)
Putts
Penalties

If you start tracking those, it will be really obvious where you're losing the strokes.
 
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