My Road to Improvement - 7/9/25 new swing video

[bortass]

Round continued, last 6 holes...

 

#13

 

Hole is back right and about 130 yards. Long can be very tricky, so I always hit my 9i since it's about 120 to center. It's a weak high toe push into the front right trap and my ball rolls all the way down and out of it. My pitch is weak and I end up in the bunker. The bunkers are played as optional. They have not been maintained in months and there's runoff damage, an exposed drain pipe, along with a bunch of rocks and a puddle. So take your pick of what could be wrong with a bunker and it's probably in this one. I drop outside the bunker and blade my chip through the green. I use my putter and get it to 5 feet and somehow sink the putt to 'save' a double bogey...

 

 

#14

My first tee shot is a solid pull hook into the houses on the left. My provisional is a high push down the right side. I don't find the first ball, as expected. I'm in the rough with a decent lie and hit a fairly solid 4w a touch more left than I want. The ball is below my feet and it's 150ish to center. The hole is at the back right of the green, near the pond. I hit a 6i into the left fringe. I decide to chip with my putter and leave it 43 feet short.... I lag it to a foot and end up with a triple bogey.

 

 

#15

I aim a bit to the right of the front right corner of the green. I have come very close to driving this green a few times, so I tend to aim at those right most bunkers. I hit a very solid baby draw down my line. I carry the rightmost fairway bunker and end up in the strip of fairway that leads to the green. It's a front right hole and i chip with my SW. It's a bit of a weak chip but i get on and am 12 feet short. I drain the birdie putt!

 

#16

The hole is all the way on the right side. I always hit a push fade on this hole it seems. I aim between the two bunker behind the green with my 7i and hit a typical high push fade that lands to the right of the green. I still do not understand why I always seem to hit that shot on this hole but i do. At least it wasn't a thin push slice into the left trees on my side of the stream for a change... My chip is too firm and I go 27 past the hole and up the tier... I get my first putt to 4 feet and miss again, for a double bogey.

 

 

#17

I aim down the middle and hit a very solid pull into the trees on the left. We don't hear the ball hit anything, so I may have gotten through. Sure enough i find my ball in the left rough. A great result that was pure luck. The hole is back right and this green has a severe left to right slope. It's about 100 yards and I aim closer to the middle of the green to let the slope bring my ball back down. I hit a partial PW and it's a great looking shot. A high draw that lands near the back of the green and ends up in the back fringe near the hole. I chip with my putter to 2 feet and come away with my par!

 

 

#18

I hit an extemely high draw down the right side and I got very little roll. I'm in a good spot and my 4w will clear the stream but can't reach the furthest fairway bunker unless I some how nuke it 210+ yards. A normal 4w shot and I top it. Luckily it doesn't run into the stream but I'm in some rough in an area that's covered in sand/silt from when the stream floods during heavy rains. I'm in range of the green with an iron but not from this lie. I layup with a nice PW that gets me within about 50 yards of the hole. I use my SW and take some off and it's a decent shot to 9 feet. I miss the par putt but come away with a bogey.

 

(to be continued)

[bortass]

To wrap up the round recap:

 

A 49/47, 96. At least I finished every hole for a change. I felt my course management was fine but I didn't execute well. I didn't try anything foolish and I was happy with what I did on #9. That's a bogey hole with the lucky par if things go well with both the drive and approach. I hit some good tee shots but lost 5 strokes off the tee. 4 penalties and the recovery shot on #5. All of them were to the left. I'm hesitant to aim right since the miss that has plagued me the most the last few years is the high push fade that goes way right. I'm not sure what do do about it outidie of 'git gud' which isn't exactly easy, lol.

 

My irons suck and all that saved me was my wedges when it came to approaches. Short game wasn't good and putting while better still had some major issues. It looks like rain almost every day this week, so not sure when I'll get out to work on things..

 

birdies: 1

pars: 2

bogeys: 7

double bogeys: 6

triple+: 2

 

 

Some stats:

Avg drive: 200 yards

Longest drive: 248 yards

Fairways: 6/14

GIR: 2/18

Avg Approach: 107 yards

Up & down: 1/13

Putts: 35

 

Strokes gained compared to a 12 HCP. 

Overall: -11.4 strokes

driving: -4.9

Approach: -4.3

Short game: -0.1

Putting: -2.0

[bortass]

I finished part 2 'Strategy' in The Four Foundations of Golf. It was a good read. A lot of it was things I already had read in Every Shot Counts or DECADE. It was good to have a refresher though. Perhaps it will help reinforce some of the concepts and I'll do better with it. Some of which I started to use on the course a month ago but I'm not seeing the results yet. One item that I have been trying to get better at is going for the middle of the green more often. I still have to account for some of the specifics of the actual green complex but I understand the logic and it makes sense. Too bad my execution has been real poor lately, lol.

 

The topics in that section of book cover everything from knowing your distances and dispersion; The SG data around tee shots, closer is always better unless a hazard comes into play; Increasing GIR is what really helps your scoring; Putt distance has the biggest impact, not whether it's uphill or downhill, so get it on the green even if that means having a short game target be closer to the flag to try to avoid being short of the green.

 

He talks a little about analysis but it's just high level and doesn't get into any real detail. basically track things to figure out where your problems are, so you can figure out how to fix it. It could be course management or swing related.

 

Overall, I still would recommend this book after reading the first two parts, even if you know DECADE/Every Shot Counts. I have already found a couple things that I've worked on changing and so far it's been a positive result. It's also an easy read. I'll probable post more about the book as i finish the last two parts.

[ericg33]

Hi Bortass.  Just curious if you have found an instructor to work with? That seemed really helpful on your last journey. If not I do think online is a very good option. All you need is a mat and some foam balls and you can practice at home. A better swing will save you more strokes at this point and then you can add in the course management stuff later on. Course management is still important but I think you can simplify your approach to it without getting too much into the weeds. 

[bortass]

14 hours ago, ericg33 said:

Hi Bortass.  Just curious if you have found an instructor to work with? That seemed really helpful on your last journey. If not I do think online is a very good option. All you need is a mat and some foam balls and you can practice at home. A better swing will save you more strokes at this point and then you can add in the course management stuff later on. Course management is still important but I think you can simplify your approach to it without getting too much into the weeds. 

Not really. I was very lucky with my prior instructor. He was the only pro at my old club. He was always there and took an active interest in how his students were doing. He loved to talk shop as well, so we spent many more hours over the years talking about golf and other things than we did in lessons. So I had a real good relationship with him.

 

My current club isn't that way unfortunately. I've gotten lessons from two people and the lessons were helpful but it's not the same. This is 'my problem' though. I had a great situation before and it's probably a rare one. I shouldn't expect to find something similar but once you have something real good, it can be difficult to 'settle' even if the reality is what you'd be settling for is the norm, lol. This is all on me. I don't want to give the impression that my lessons were bad or I didn't like the instructors.

 

I probably should just pick one and try to get a regular cadence of lessons going but my inertia is strong. I also have the Monte clinic in the mix which adds to my reluctance to do much right now with regard to formal instruction for a couple of different reasons. That clinic is probably the most excited I've been about golf in my life, lol.

[bortass]

I just read the chapter on ball flight in Four Foundations of Golf. I've read them before in The Practice Manual and seen Monte explain them in some of his videos. Maybe it's because I read it right before bed last night but it really hit home and a tiny light bulb went off in my head.

 

If I take a selection of shots that I can remember from my two rounds over the weekend that I can remember. This won't be all shots since some I can't recall what the ball did or the mishit was a top.

 

Face angle at impact/relationship to path...

 

Driver: left/closed (pull hook) - 9 times

Right/closed (draw) - 3 times

Right/open(push slice) - 3 times

left/square(pull) - 2 times

left/open(fade) - 1 time

Right/square (push) - 1 time

 

irons: right/open(push slice) - 12 times

right/closed(draw) - 1 time.

 

There's a couple interesting(to me) things about this.

 

My predominant miss with driver used to be a push slice, face pointed to the right and open to the path. I'd almost never hit the pull hook. Now I hit the pull hook much more often and the push slices I do hit haven't been as bad, they mostly stay in play. 

 

Irons have almost always been a push slice miss for the last few years. It feels like I'm not seeing as many draws/fades in my recent rounds though. 

 

So I've found a way to change my driver miss to the polar opposite but it's not impacting my irons. My irons don't seem as good as in the past. It may be I'm hitting the same number of push slices but instead of hitting semi solid fades/draws, I'm topping it instead, lol.

 

Hopefully knowing the face dynamics that are causing the ball flight I see will help me sort things out a bit. if nothing else, at least that chapter has forced me to think out it.

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

Are you trying to do something different in your swing hitting driver vs irons? 

 

IMHO it can be common to have a little different flight between the two based upon ball position and D-plane, since you're trying to hit irons with descending AoA but driver with ascending.

 

But the swing should be the same. 

[bortass]

14 minutes ago, betarhoalphadelta said:

Are you trying to do something different in your swing hitting driver vs irons? 

 

IMHO it can be common to have a little different flight between the two based upon ball position and D-plane, since you're trying to hit irons with descending AoA but driver with ascending.

 

But the swing should be the same. 

I'm not doing anything different on purpose. The obvious differences would be tee height, ball position, and the physical differences between driver and iron. Ball position may be part of what's going on with my driver.  I would not be surprised if my ball position with driver has more variation than it does with my irons.

[ericg33]

5 hours ago, bortass said:

Not really. I was very lucky with my prior instructor. He was the only pro at my old club. He was always there and took an active interest in how his students were doing. He loved to talk shop as well, so we spent many more hours over the years talking about golf and other things than we did in lessons. So I had a real good relationship with him.

 

My current club isn't that way unfortunately. I've gotten lessons from two people and the lessons were helpful but it's not the same. This is 'my problem' though. I had a great situation before and it's probably a rare one. I shouldn't expect to find something similar but once you have something real good, it can be difficult to 'settle' even if the reality is what you'd be settling for is the norm, lol. This is all on me. I don't want to give the impression that my lessons were bad or I didn't like the instructors.

 

I probably should just pick one and try to get a regular cadence of lessons going but my inertia is strong. I also have the Monte clinic in the mix which adds to my reluctance to do much right now with regard to formal instruction for a couple of different reasons. That clinic is probably the most excited I've been about golf in my life, lol.

Enjoy the clinic. Let us know how it goes.   If you click with Monte would suggest staying with him or seeing if he knows someone in your area. The temptation to consume lots of golf info to try to find a fix is strong but the most improvement comes from working one or two items consistently until you are ready to advance to the next one.

[SNIPERBBB]

17 hours ago, bortass said:

I just read the chapter on ball flight in Four Foundations of Golf. I've read them before in The Practice Manual and seen Monte explain them in some of his videos. Maybe it's because I read it right before bed last night but it really hit home and a tiny light bulb went off in my head.

 

If I take a selection of shots that I can remember from my two rounds over the weekend that I can remember. This won't be all shots since some I can't recall what the ball did or the mishit was a top.

 

Face angle at impact/relationship to path...

 

Driver: left/closed (pull hook) - 9 times

Right/closed (draw) - 3 times

Right/open(push slice) - 3 times

left/square(pull) - 2 times

left/open(fade) - 1 time

Right/square (push) - 1 time

 

irons: right/open(push slice) - 12 times

right/closed(draw) - 1 time.

 

There's a couple interesting(to me) things about this.

 

My predominant miss with driver used to be a push slice, face pointed to the right and open to the path. I'd almost never hit the pull hook. Now I hit the pull hook much more often and the push slices I do hit haven't been as bad, they mostly stay in play. 

 

Irons have almost always been a push slice miss for the last few years. It feels like I'm not seeing as many draws/fades in my recent rounds though. 

 

So I've found a way to change my driver miss to the polar opposite but it's not impacting my irons. My irons don't seem as good as in the past. It may be I'm hitting the same number of push slices but instead of hitting semi solid fades/draws, I'm topping it instead, lol.

 

Hopefully knowing the face dynamics that are causing the ball flight I see will help me sort things out a bit. if nothing else, at least that chapter has forced me to think out it.

 

Common thing seen with an OTT move with driver is that if you open the shoulders hard too early on the downswing because you're trying to really crush the ball, you break your wrists early forcing the path out and slam the face closed. The push fade/slices are basically the opposite but with the shoulders still opening early, you drag the club inside and hold off the release so the face is wide open. 

Edited February 1, 2023 by SNIPERBBB

[bortass]

4 hours ago, SNIPERBBB said:

Common thing seen with an OTT move with driver is that if you open the shoulders hard too early on the downswing because you're trying to really crush the ball, you break your wrists early forcing the path out and slam the face closed. The push fade/slices are basically the opposite but with the shoulders still opening early, you drag the club inside and hold off the release so the face is wide open. 

Wouldn't be surprised about this at all. My historical swing is OTT and I also have been known to hold off the release.

 

 

17 hours ago, ericg33 said:

Enjoy the clinic. Let us know how it goes.   If you click with Monte would suggest staying with him or seeing if he knows someone in your area. The temptation to consume lots of golf info to try to find a fix is strong but the most improvement comes from working one or two items consistently until you are ready to advance to the next one.

I plan to!

 

I agree with working on one or two things when it comes to technical changes. There is so much information out there that it's easy to try to go down 20 different rabbit holes. Nothing good will come from that IMO. My belief is it's okay to get information from different sources and patterns IF one can be fairly objective about it. By that I mean, not taking everything you come across as the new magic bullet fix. For example, when I was working with Rick, my pro in Maine, what I worked on came from his lessons. I still would sometimes read stuff online, books, or even watch a Monte cargo shorts in the mist video. I'd then talk to Rick about it to see how it fit into the bigger picture of what we were working on. I was trying to get a better understanding of the various concepts that go into a swing. Right now I've kept my technical learning to be mostly Monte based via his video series. I don't plan to change that. I'm also not too hot and heavy in that area right now. I think the clinic will change that because I'll come away with some specifics from the man himself.

 

There's also a lot of non technical information out there. Course management, mental side of the game, how to practice, physics(aka ball flight, how the ball reacts when it lands -see Short Game Bible), etc. This is an area where I don't think there's a need to be as limiting. It's not about how to swing the club, but about processes and playing the game itself. Right now I'm starting to get more into this side of things. Try to improve my processes since I'm not doing a heck of a lot with the technical side. There's gains to be made here, they may be small but small things add up over time.

 

I finished part 3 Practice in Four Foundations and expect I'll finish the book inside of a day. This section of the book covers some stuff from Adam Young's Practice Manual, namely block, random, and experimental practice. What I like about the presentation of it in Four Foundations is that's it's pretty much the concepts of the practice types and some basic examples of how to use them, along with which parts of the game tend to benefit by which types of practice. Young's Practice Manual is much more in-depth and not as quick of a read, it's loaded with science etc.

 

This section has the chapter on ball flight laws, along with the importance of face control and impact dynamics. He also gets into his thoughts on speed training, how to practice driver, approaches, wedges, and putting, what to expect if you make an actual swing change. None of this is technical, which is something I like about the book overall. I think the info in this section would probably help most people get more out of their practice sessions and it's a pretty quick and easy read.

[bortass]

Made it to the range yesterday, though that's not the main reason for this post. I followed a similar pattern as my last range season which was over a month ago I think. I warmed up with pitches and partial wedges. I then set a timer for 15 minutes and worked on some drills from Strike Plan. I did the face contact drill, toe, center, heel, using foot spray. It's a challenge and didn't work as well as last time. I was hitting some balls real thin, but I'll stick with it. Also it's pretty wet, so the foot spray had some issues with grass removing it, lol.

 

I also did the towel drill and that went much better. It completely changes my ball flight when I get a divot in front of the ball. The nice high shot appears, though it was mostly a fade. I have a feeling I may need to actually try to take the same focus onto the course for my iron shots that I have when I do this drill.  It really feels like I'm telling myself to throw the clubhead at the ground when I do this drill. This would be an external focus, for those that are familiar with the concept, since I'm not thinking about what my body is doing, which would be internal. I figure it can't hurt any.

 

I tried a 15 minute segment with my 5i with the idea of curving the ball right, fairly straight, then left. I need to revisit what this drill should really be. I struggled to do anything except send the ball to the right, lol. I also noticed I was tired.  I was going through balls at a decent clip since I had 15 minutes per drill. I think I need to slow down and I have an idea on a way to do that and still feel like I'm devoting that 15 minute segment to practice. I know 15 minutes is arbitrary but it puts a firm framework in place for me, which is why I like it.

 

I finished up with chips of range balls. That was my cool down and I may have stumbled on two things. I changed the feel in my wrists to be much softer. What that does is I can feel the shaft of the club pressing into my hands on the way down. The chips got much crisper. This is nothing new and I've noticed this pattern off and on over the years. I just never stick with it for some reason. I also started to count a 1 - 2 cadence and that seemed to help as well. 

 

Well, for not being the main reason for this post I wrote a lot about my practice, lol.

 

I finished The Four Foundations of Golf. Part 4 is The Mental Game. It's a fairly short section, I think the smallest in the book. It covers things such as how consistent routines, pre and post shot help; Accepting the results of shots; Finding the balance between caring too much and too little when playing, etc.  I noticed I already do some of the things that he talks about. An example would be acknowledging your good shots, I am finding that when I hit a good shot I stay in my finish a little longer and do a little club twirl as I watch the ball go on it's way as I'm telling myself that was a good/great shot. The twirl is odd, I don't know why I do it/where I picked it up, but it's a signal that I did good!

 

Now my overall review of the book.

 

I really liked it. It is an easy read. There are no deep concepts, outside of the ball flight laws. The book provides what I'd call food for thought for how to improve your golf game in a non technical manner. That's what the book has done for me. Made me think/consider a number of things. Some of it I've read before in Every Shot Counts or The Practice Manual or DECADE. Jon references these sources and others throughout the book. He provides enough detail to understand a concept such as Strokes Gained to make his points w/o bogging down in all the detail that's in Every Shot Counts. That allows someone to get the idea and since Jon references his sources, where to go for more detail if you want.

 

I stand by my opinion that I think this book would be useful for most recreational golfers, assuming the reader has an open mind. It covers a good range of non technical stuff that does impact how well we do on the course and how to give ourselves a better chance at improving. It has enough detail to support what he writes and gives an idea where you can get more detail if you want. The book doesn't prescribe. There is no 'you must do this'. It reads more like 'here's something that can help you; Here's why; Here's how'. 

 

For me, it was well worth the read and I have already made one change that was worth the price of the book, which isn't that much. The first section on Managing Expectations was the lightbulb moment that got me to not focus on the results but the process when I play. This has radically changed how I feel when I play. It's obvious from my posts over the last few months that I'm not playing that well but now I'm enjoying myself on the course. My frustration levels are much lower after I FUBAR a shot or hole. I seem to be able to move on w/o as much carry over into the rest of my round. This is very freeing. The world is not going to end because I card an 8 on a par 4 after going OOB and then into a hazard with my S&D shot. Sure I wish I performed better but it's all good at the end of the day. That's a big win for me.

 

Have a good one!

[bortass]

Happy Monday!

 

I have started reading Every Shot Must Have a Purpose. It's not as easy a read as Four Foundations, nor is as difficult as Every Shot Counts or The Practice Manual, which are kinda like textbooks.  The concepts in Every Shot aren't deep, it's more the writing style and how I read, that sometimes me re-read a section. I'm just part way through and don't have much to say about it outside of one thing.

 

They mention how shifting focus from the task at hand can have a negative impact. For us as golfers, the task at hand is the shot in front of you, I actually think it's your process of playing but can't recall. Anyhow, when we start to think 'If I bogey the next three holes, I'll break 80" is when we lose focus and increase the odds of letting bad swings happen. I saw this happen in my round Friday.

 

I'm getting to the tee box of #12. Up to this point my focus had been on the round itself. Playing one hole at a time, not thinking about prior holes. Not thinking about the future. Just following my process of playing golf.  I'm walking onto the tee box and think " I haven't lost a ball. Maybe I'll finish the round with the same ball".  I hit a 'great' toe shank with my 4w. I make a divot, completely inside my tee. It's a bit heavy and the tee itself is still sitting in the ground untouched. I barely got the tip of the toe of my 4w on the ball. My ball went into the right trees about 30 yards off the tee and was lost.

 

As for my round on Friday. I played 18 holes, forward tees, in just under 2.5 hours. I was alone and no one was in front of me. Temps in the mid 40s, windy, and cart path only. I had a number of balls plug, lol. The round itself was enjoyable but I didn't score well. I shot a 93 through 17 holes. I picked up on 18 after losing my tee shot and then topping my first approach shot. I was laying 5 and my approach to the green would have been over the stream and pond. It didn't really matter if I finished and preferred to not risk losing another ball for no real reason.

 

My putting was horrible with 6 three putts. The best was three putting from 4 feet on #5 for a triple bogey, 8. 

 

I was okay off the tee except on #12 and then #18, which I didn't finish and thus deleted the shots I did make from Arccos.

 

Approaches were a mixed bag. I had some real good shots and even hit some solid irons. I did top my 4w a couple of times though.

 

Short game was worse than usual and I had a couple holes with two chips.

 

birdies: 0

pars: 1

bogeys: 8

double bogeys: 6

triple+: 2(not including the likely triple+ on 18)

 

 

Some stats:

Avg drive: 179 yards ( I have to use irons off the tee on three holes, including one hole that was a 7i)

Longest drive: 227 yards

Fairways: 6/13

GIR: 3/17

Avg Approach: 102 yards

Up & down: 1/13

Putts: 37(for 17 holes, sigh)

 

Strokes gained compared to a 12 HCP. 

Overall: -16.0 strokes

driving: -4.2

Approach: -5.2

Short game: -0.5

Putting: -6.0

[bortass]

Saturday's 18. Another frost delay with a shotgun start this time. My group started on #3. It was in the high 30s at tee off. Cart path only, no idea when the course will dry out, lol. It was nice by the end of the round, Sunny and probably close to 60 something.

 

3 – par 5, 458 yards, dogleg right, #9 HCP, couple of fairway bunkers on the left at the corner. It's a high drive down the right edge and past the corner, only 196 yards. The soft conditions probably cost me distance. I'm in a good spot and feel fine with a 4w approach towards the green. I hit a terrible pull, 166 yards, and almost into the brush on the left side. My ball is in dormant Bermuda rough and I have a line at the green with some bushes on my left in my sight line. Noting significant though. I aim more for the middle of the green with my 9i, since it's about 120ish, and I think I caught it a bit heavy. The ball comes out very low and only goes about 43 yards, lol. That leaves me with a partial LW in and I hit that fat... Still short of the green and I chip with my putter to 5 feet and two putt for an opening double bogey, 7.

 

4 – par 4, 293 yards, straight, #15 HCP, water left and OoB right. Right side has a slope. There's a fairway bunker on the right. I hit a decent drive, baby draw, down the right side and end up in the fairway near the right edge. The hole is near the front left and it's about 100 yards to middle. I decide to take a club that will reach the center of the green, partial PW. It's a good looking shot that goes 99 yards and lands on the green. I'm on the right side 42 feet above the hole. I hit the birdie putt and it stops within a foot of the cup. I have the first par of the day, 4!

 

5- par 5, 501 yards, dogleg right, #5 HCP, hazard down the left side. There's a slope on the right side which makes the fairway narrow in the landing spot. A stream runs down the right side from the corner to near the green. My drive is a bit of a low pull but not too bad. The ball went 198 yards and is in the left rough near the brush of the hazard that's down that entire side.

 

Nothing is in the way of my swing and I have a fine angle to hit my 4w past the corner and down the fairway. The turf is a bid odd. The grass is frozen but the ground isn't, so it's like a crust. It feels odd when I address the ball with my 4w and I shank it off the toe and into the hazard on the right by the corner...

 

I drop and now it's a 5i which I top down the right side and almost into the hazard again.... I still have no shot at the green and I punch a 9i to give myself a line in. The hole is front left and 70ish yards or so. I hit a nice looking partial LW, 74 yards, to get on the green about 15 feet past the cup. I get the double bogey putt to a foot. So it's a triple, 8.

 

Blah.

 

6 – par 4, 367 yards, slight dogleg left, #7 HCP. Medium width landing area with a bunker on the left. Houses are on the right and there's a sharp slope into the left trees if you end up too far into the left rough. This hole I hit a push fade into a tree on the right side and see my ball drop, 182 yard shot. I'm in the rough and don't have a legit shot at the green because of trees. I'm looking to get on in three now. I punch my 7i, 137 yards, into the left rough closer to the green. The hole is back right and I hit a partial LW, 62 yards, to 7 feet. I can't get the par putt to drop but I have a foot or so left and get my bogey, 5.

 

That's a perfectly fine outcome and what I was playing for after that tee shot.

 

7 – par 4, 351 yards, slight dogleg right, #11 HCP, elevated tee shot to a wide open fairway that slopes down right to left all the way to about the 100 yard marker. Bunkers on the left marking the corner and a slope on the right. I rip a baby draw, 265 yards, into the fairway on the left side. It's a front right hole location and about 80 yards to middle right, which is what I go with. I hit my normal partial SW and chunk it 38 yards... From there I pitch it on, 39 yards and 18 feet short and left of the hole. I lag the par putt to a foot and get another bogey, 5.

 

A bogey is an okay score but I'm bummed because my drive set me up for a simple wedge on and a realistic shot at par. Oh well...

 

8 – par 3, 160 yards, elevated tee shot, #13 HCP, bunker on the right side of the green. Slope to the right of this hole that is weed whacked. So it's long stuff and wild. Balls can get lost here. The hole is back right, so I decide on my 7i. I aim more for the back left and hit a push that lands in the right fringe and rolls on, 150 yards thanks to the elevation. I'm 44 feet short of the hole. My birdie putt sucks and I leave it 6 feet short and low... I miss the par putt and come away with a bogey, 4.

 

I'm a bit bummed by the bogey but at least I finally hit this green. It's been a long time since I last did.

 

9 – par 4, 357 yards, straight hole, #3 HCP, water on the left as you approach the green. The pond fronts this green. I hit an okay draw down the left side, 219 yards. The hole is back right, upper tier, and in 7i range. I hit a bit of a low pull, 145 yards, onto the green and my ball stops on the upper tier on the left side. I'm 45 feet left of the hole and hit the birdie putt. I get it to a foot and come away with a par, 4.

 

Overall, I'm feeling good. I'm sticking with my new process. Just enjoying the round and not thinking about what's been happening. I've also been using more positive self talk,. Telling myself it's a good shot when I do that, along with telling myself that I'm playing well as I go between shots and holes.

 

10 – par 4, 342 yards, dogleg left, #10 HCP hole. Elevated tee shot to a lower fairway. Green is elevated with a bunker front right. I tee off with my normal 4w and it's a pull draw down the left side which isn't good... Sure enough no ball, it went into the left hazard. I drop. The hole is front left but it's 100 yards to center and an elevated green. I decide to go for center and hit a partial PW. It's a good looking shot, a bit right of the flag, but on. Sure enough it's a 98 yard shot and I'm near the center, about 32 feet right of the cup.I hit the par putt and it's bad... Rolls 6 feet long. It turns into a three putt double bogey, 6.

 

11 – par 4, 329 yards, 90* dogleg left, #12 HCP. Fairway eventually slopes down to a stream short of the green, forced carry. I hit my normal 7w and never see the ball. It felt and sounded okay and the guys tell me it went down the middle. I find my ball 171 off the tee in the fairway on the left side. The flag is all the way back about 160 yards. I'm above the green and it's 150 to center. I decide to hit my 6i. Contact is good and my ball is near the back of the green, I just can't tell where. I get closer and I'm in the back right fringe. 163 yard shot and I missed long for a change. I chip with my putter and mess it up and end up 6 feet out... It's a two putt bogey, 5.

 

Not thrilled with the result but I focused on the positives as I head to 12. I didn't lose a ball in the stream, and my 6i went the correct distance for a change.

 

12 – par 4, 315 yards, 90* dogleg left, #14 HCP, green is elevated. Narrow tee shot that opens as you reach the corner. I hit a high draw with my 4w, 209 yards, down the middle. The hole is front right, behind the bunker. It's a simple partial PW to get on the elevated green. I catch it t touch thin. The ball comes out low and is a bit of a pull. It hits the face of the bunker maybe a foot below the lip... I drop behind the bunker ( bunkers are optional because of their condition and this one has mud and some large stones, tennis ball sized in it). I hit a decent pitch over the bunker and up onto the green. I'm 18 feet past the hole and get my par putt to a foot. So another bogey, 5.

 

13 – par 3, 123 yards, #18 HCP, green is elevated with bunkers short right and left and long left. Tiered green as well. The hole is front right. I almost always hit my 9i at the middle unless I have a good reason not to on this hole. It's a terrible mishit, push slice off the toe. I find it in leaves to the right of the cart path, 100 yard shot and I'm in trouble. I have to find a way to chip the ball over a bunker from wet leaves. I also am worried about having my club head dig and possibly hit cart path, the grass grows over the cart path edges in a number of spots and this is one of them. Relief would have me being in wet leaves on a steep slope, so I leave my ball where it is. I confirm there's cart path under the grass with a tee.

 

All these conditions make me aim at the right fringe. That way I'm more in line with the slopes, and unlikely to bottom out on cart path. It also takes the bunker out of play. Well, I blade it over the back of the green... I'm going to chip with my putter now. I'm going down slope and have to go down a tier. I hit the ball and it rolls towards the tier and stops right where the tier starts... 27 feet above the hole and it turns into a 2 putt double bogey, 5.

 

14 – par 5, 543, straight hole, #4 HCP. Elevated teeshot to wide open fairway. Fairway slopes down left to right, water on the right closer to the green and fronting the entire green. My drive is a bit meh. A low pull into the left slope that only goes 201 yards. I'm in the fairway but it's a down slope here. I do not feel good about hitting my 4w, so I punch a 5i. It's a decent shot, 157 yards, and down the fairway towards the right side. It's 200 or so yards to the green. So maybe a 4w would reach but there's a large pond on the right. I decide to layup with a 7i instead towards the left side of the fairway near thew green. I somehow hit a great shot that goes 168 yards, 7i is my 140 club...

 

My ball is in the rough to the left of the green and my chip is weak. I advance the ball 22 yards but it stays in the fringe. I chip with my putter and somehow hit the ground first... I leave it 9 feet short...

 

It's a two putt double bogey, 7.

 

Wasn't thrilled with this result. I got myself in position with some decent shots and messed up my chips.

 

15 – par 4, 264 yards, straight, #16 HCP. Elevated tee shot to a fairway that is always soft abd cart path only year round. Fairway bunkers on left side in line with the green. Bunker surround this green except for the left side. I aim for the right corner of the green with my driver and hit a push, 207 yards, into the left rough. It's a front right flag and about 50 yards away. I play a touch shot with my SW and hit it nicely. My ball lands in the front fringe to the left of the hole and rolls on. I'm 9 feet left of the cup and my birdie putt stops less than 6 inches short... Par, 4.

 

16 – par 3, 147 yards, #8 HCP. Elevated green with a forced stream carry. Bunkers short right and long left and middle. Tiered green with a strong back left to front right slope. The hole is middle back. I always mishit my 7i and hit a push slice that misses right, even when I aim for center.

 

I stick with my 7i and I aim for the back left bunker. I make contact and it's a great looking high draw down my target line for a change. My ball lands in the back rough, left of the hole, 147 yard shot.

 

I could have ended my round right there and been extremely happy. That was the shot of the day. I hit a decent tee shot on this hole for the first time in months. An actual draw even. I didn't stop though, so my round continued, lol.

 

I chip with my putter and nearly sink it for birdie. I have a tap in from a few inches for par, 3.

 

This is such an awesome result for me. I think I'm averaging closer to double bogey because of my push slices off the tee.

 

17 – par 4, 363 yards, dogleg left, #6 HCP. Fairly open fairway with bunkers on the right at the corner. Green has a tier and heavily slopes left to right, can putt off this green... Bunkers short of the green as well. I leave my driver open and hit a push slice over the first fairway bunker that marks the outside of the corner. I somehow get lucky and my ball doesn't go into the trees. It was a 224 yard shot and I'm in the rough. I can't see the green and decide to lay up. I punch a nice 8i, 116 yards, into the fairway. The hole is front middle and inside 50 yards. I hit another touch shot with my SW. it's a decent shot that goes 45 yards and ends up on the green about 15 feet to the left of the hole. I hit my par putt to a foot and come away with bogey, 5.

 

Another hole where I was out of position off the tee and playing for bogey. I nearly got the par but didn't, which is fine.

 

18 – par 5, 504 yards, straightish, #2 HCP. There is a stream carry on either the second or third shot. There is also a pond fronting the green... My drive is a low pull, 209 yards, onto the left slope. The ball doesn't make it down to the fairway. In the rough, ball below my feet, and I do not like the idea of trying to clear the stream. I decide to lay up with a partial PW towards the right side of the fairway, short of the stream. I can reach the green from there if the lie and distances work out.

 

I hit a nice shot, 100 yards, and keep it in the fairway, short of the stream by probably 20 yards. The hole is front right. I have a stream in front of me and then pond carry short of the green. It's about 180 yards off the middle back of the green. My 7w can reach easily and likely will be on the back of the green.

 

This means I can swing freely. No need to swing hard or question anything. My stock 7w gets my near the back. I swing and hit a very solid, high draw a bit left of my line. 175 yard shot that carries the left side of the green and ends up in the back rough.

 

I have a long chip and need to go down a tier. There's too much rough to sue my putter. I hit a nice chip with my SW that lands on the green, reaches the tier and rolls at the hole. I can't tell how close I got but I think my ball was within a foot when it rolled past the back of the hole. Anyhow it's a 32 yard chip to 3 feet!

 

I actually make the putt! Par, 5.

 

I'm feeling great as I head to #1. My tee shot put in position to play for bogey and maybe get a lucky par. I followed my plan and got the par. Even a bogey would have been great.

 

1 – par 4, 404 yards, straight, #1 HCP, bunker front right. I hit a decent draw down the right side, 217 yards, and in the fairway near the right edge. I have a clear shot at the green and it's 190ish to the back. The hole is front left and I aim towards the left side with my 4w. Ball position feels too far forward but I swing anyways and it's a bad pull hook way left. The ball hits a small mound that on the left side of the fairway, next to the cart path, about 50 yards from center. I find my ball in the rough and I'm on the back side of the mound with a clear shot at the green. I Pitch with my SW and hit it too firm. A 51 yard shot that goes 42 feet long. My first putt is terrible and I leave myself 6 feet past the hole. It's a three putt double bogey.

 

2 – par 3, 142 yards, #17 HCP, bunkers short left and right, and long left. The hole is back left and it's about 130 to center. I hit my 8i and it's a disaster. A push slice that misses the green by over 50 yards right... Yep, pure talent. My ball is in a puddle and I take relief which moves me a few yards even further right of the green. I'm pitching with my SW from the rough and the soil is muddy. My club digs and I come up well short of the green... I stub the next one and get the 4^th shot onto the green but 27 feet past the hole. It's a two putt triple bogey, 6 to end my round.

 

It's a 49/45, 94 in the end. I am quite happy with this round. I followed my mental process to be positive and enjoy playing. I didn't get caught up on what was, could have been, nor the future. This round is good enough to drop my index a tiny bit. It felt good to be able to post a score that actually counts for a change.

 

I also didn't have a single unplayable ball with my driver! I didn't always hit it great but I didn't cost myself with it for a change. My only tee shot penalty was with the 4w on 10.

 

My irons were better, though still having issues. That tee shot on #16 though was mint. My wood were a mixed bag. I didn't do so hot with the 4w but I felt confident with the 7w on #18 and my confidence was rewarded.

 

Even though my putting wasn't great, 37 putts. I still performed better than usual based on SG.

 

The strategy to play for bogey when I'm out of position worked out quite well too. I've been trying to play that way for a while now but execution hasn't been good enough. This round it was. Still a lot of room to improve but I am feeling good about how things are starting to shape up.

 

birdies: 0

pars: 5

bogeys: 6

double bogeys: 5

triple+: 2

 

 

Some stats:

Avg drive: 208 yards

Longest drive: 265 yards

Fairways: 9/14

GIR: 4/18

Avg Approach: 109 yards

Up & down: 2/11

Putts: 37

 

Strokes gained compared to a 12 HCP. 

Overall: -9.4 strokes

driving: -0.4

Approach: -5.6

Short game: -1.2

Putting: -2.1

 

[bortass]

Just finished a round. It was supposed to rain, so all the guys bailed. I played a solo 18 from the forward tees. Cart path only, a number of shots ended up within a yard of the pitch mark. 50* and some wind. Not great conditions but it was fun.

 

I’ll probably write more Monday, however I made a change that may help me long term. My coach in Maine had me stand behind my ball when putting, look at the hole, and take some practice swings. The goal is to get a feel for the speed. I putted that way for years and was decent. I stopped doing it at some point after I came back to the game in 2019. I don’t know why I stopped doing it.

 

I started doing it again this round and saw some improvement. I actually sunk a 12 footer for par. I also had a 21 foot lag to about 3 inches. Overall my speed felt better but overall putting was still bad. I have a feeling that it’ll improve if I stick with it though.

 

Big thing was I never lost a ball. Played all 18 with the same one. I did hit a couple tee shots into the trees but was able to recover my ball. Also only one penalty since I was able to hit out of the trees on 10.

 

 

Have a good weekend.

[bortass]

Book review time! Let me know if you have any questions and I'll do my best to answer them.

 

I'm pretty much done with Every Shot Must Have a Purpose. It was worth the read and I picked up some stuff that may help in the long run. I'm slightly torn about how I feel about the book. It wasn't as good as I thought it would be. I think I created some expectations based on what I have read about the book that were too high and/or my expectations of the content was wrong. This is all just my personal opinion and your mileage may vary.

 

I wasn't a fan of the writing style. I had to reread some sections because I was reordering the words in some of the sentences. It was weird, the meaning was the same and the words were the same, but my brain was flipping around the order they were written in. Basically, I was rearranging the words in way that sounded natural to me. I'd then have to go reread the section to make sure I didn't mess up the meaning. I don't recall ever having this happen before and I've read quite a lot over the years.  It was just weird and maybe I have done this before but it really stood out while reading this book.

 

As for the content, there were some chapters and stuff in the book that was a head scratcher for me. I didn't see the point to it. It's not a dense book like The Practice Manual or Every Shot Counts where I had to reread sections because it was complex and I wanted to understand. Every Shot is pretty easy to understand. It's not dense at all, unless you start rearranging the words, lol.  

 

What did I get from the book? A few things.

 

I had read about the Think Box and Play Box on these forums, Amazon reviews, and elsewhere. It's pretty simple. Do all the thinking and decision making, Think Box, before you cross the line into the Play Box. I'm going to not use their wording and give my simple explanation of it. The process of a  golf shot is made up of two main components, deciding what to do, the plan, and execution, making the plan happen. Execution should pretty much be autopilot. Do your preshot routine and swing. You need to be committed to your plan or you run the risk of a poor shot because you doubt what you are about to do. So once you start execution, all thinking stops. You made the decision, now go!

 

I was expecting more about Think Box and Play Box in the book. That's probably an area my expectations were set too high. The concept is pretty straight forward and they explain it in a few pages. I thought there would be more about it than there was, so that's probably why my expectations were off a bit.

 

They talk about a preshot routine and this helped my in my round Saturday. The key part was don't do something, just to do something. Have a reason. For me, this was mostly about practice swings, which I don't do. They wrote that practice swings are worthwhile if you are doing it for a specific reason. They also mentioned them with putting. I used to take practice strokes as part of my putting p[reshot routine to get a mental feel for speed. I stopped doing it, as mentioned in the prior post. The book got me thinking about it. It didn't take long and i had a reason for it. It wasn't just filler or because that's how so and so does it. I started my putting practice strokes again and I think it helped.

 

They also talked about a post shot routine. It important we remember the good to great shots we hit. Fill our memories with these to draw on. I've been starting to do this for a while now and I can't prove it really helps but it conceptually makes sense. This is also a way to built confidence in ourselves, people tend to remember the bad stuff, so break that pattern.

 

Overall, I'm glad I read the book. It does have some valuable information in it and it was worth reading. It's also not expensive nor a long read. Don't overhype it in your own mind though, or you may feel like I do at the moment, and that's probably not fair to the book itself.

Edited February 13, 2023 by bortass

[umamimami]

Bob Rotella talks about how every golf shot must end with acceptance if you want to play your best. Only begin working on the next shot once you've made total peace with the result of your current one. 

 

In a way, your current shot doesn't end until you've accepted the result and it will pollute your next shot(s) until you've dealt with it.

 

But we also have free will. We can choose to be selective with our memories. Choose to take the good ones with you. Choose to accept and forget the bad ones. Bob says great athletes have a particular mindset. Short-term memory for failure and long-term memory for success.

 

If you're going to think about golf at all, you'd be best served by only thinking about your good golf.

 

I'd love to see a post from you where you give us only a replay of your best shot with each club and your best hole from the front and back 9.

 

 

Sigmund Freud, “Unexpressed emotions will never die. They are buried alive and will come forth later in uglier ways.”

[betarhoalphadelta]

2 hours ago, bortass said:

 

They talk about a preshot routine and this helped my in my round Saturday. The key part was don't do something, just to do something. Have a reason. For me, this was mostly about practice swings, which I don't do. They wrote that practice swings are worthwhile if you are doing it for a specific reason. They also mentioned them with putting. I used to take practice strokes as part of my putting p[reshot routine to get a mental feel for speed. I stopped doing it, as mentioned in the prior post. The book got me thinking about it. It didn't take long and i had a reason for it. It wasn't just filler or because that's how so and so does it. I started my putting practice strokes again and I think it helped.

 

 

Yeah, my preshot routine on any standard full swing club is "one practice swing". For me, it's about feeling the stance, about "finding the ground" (i.e. kind of getting a sense of making sure I know where the swing arc should bottom out), and simply a mental "I'm here and I'm going to hit the ball now" sort of centering on the task. 

 

For partial swings, for chipping/pitching, and for putting, on the other hand, it's about reaching a "feel" for length of stroke and speed. It's much more of a rehearsal. Sometimes it's one, but sometimes in these cases I may take a few until it feels "right". Then the goal is simply to reproduce that same swing into the ball. 

[bortass]

31 minutes ago, umamimami said:

-snip-

I'd love to see a post from you where you give us only a replay of your best shot with each club and your best hole from the front and back 9.

-snip-

 

 

You're on! Let's see how this goes.

 

Driver - Tee shot on #18. It sounded weird off the clubface with a sharp crack sound. A high draw down the middle, only 209 yards, ball stopped two feet from it's pitch mark. This wasn't the longest drive of the day but it went where I was aimed and had a great ball flight. I was surprised to see Arccos said it only went 209 yards because it sure looked better than that at the time, lol

 

4w - tee shot on #12. This is a dogleg left. I use 4w off the tee regardless of which tee box I'm playing. I can hit driver through the fairway and possibly all the way into the hazard. I hit a great looking mid height draw down the middle, 206 yards, and into the fairway. I'm past the corner and have a great angle into the green.

 

7w - did not use

 

5h - did not use

 

5i -Tee shot on #5. The forward tees make it where a 5i will be at or past where driver would be from the whites. I hit a nice mid height draw, 155 yards, down my line and into the fairway. 5i is my 160 club and I got no roll and had to take relief from casual water. Drier conditions and it's probably 170+ yards, lol

 

6i - approach into #14. 150 yards from center and the pin is back left based on the angles. Pond down the entire right side and behind the green. I decide to not hit a layup and to go for the green. My irons have been okay this round. I aim left of the flag. A miss left is in a bunker and dry. A miss long, down my line is in a bunker and dry. A miss short, will be in the fairway/fringe. A normal miss right will be on the green. I hit the ball a touch thin and it's a low fade that starts left  and curves back to the right. My ball lands on the green, near the middle, and rolls 12 feet past the flag. 162 yard shot.

 

7i - recovery shot on #10. Put my 4w tee shot into the right trees but I find my ball. It's marked as a hazard, so I can drop if I want. My ball is sitting on leaves and there's nothing interfering with a backswing. In front of me is just small brush growing under the mature pines. No significant branches. I decide I can punch a shot out and get the ball further than if I were to drop. This did not seem like a hero shot at all since a fast moving ball would over power said brush. I take a partial backswing and hit a punch. It sounds good and I can't see the ball because of the brush. I find my ball down the fairway, 110 yards. This set me up with a SW approach to the green.

 

8i - This one is hard because there were two shots I was very happy with, albeit neither was perfect. I'll go with my approach on #17 from the fairway bunker. It's about 120ish for my target that's left of the flag since this hole has a steep left to right slope. I take 8i since I'm in a fairway bunker and need to grip down some( aka the standard one more club and grip down technique). I hit a high draw, a bit left of my target, 118 yards and into the fringe.  I would have been on if my ball had been more along my target line.

 

My second place shot was tee shot on #16. I always miss right with a push fade/slice. I aimed towards the left side and while extremely fat, hit a draw down my line and just short of the green. Lost about 30 yards distance but I was extremely happy to of hit a draw. My line was to compensate for the push fade/slice I normally hit and I would have been in the back left bunker had I hit he ball solidly.

 

9i - Tee shot on #8, par 3. Flag is middle right and I always miss right with a push fade on this hole it seems. Elevated tee box and it's about 130ish to center, so I decide on 9i. I tee up on the right side of the tee box and aim at a tree that's past the back left corner of the green. I then hit a high draw down my line and onto the green, 129 yards, and 20 feet right of the cup. I actually hit the ball on my line with an iron!

 

PW - Approach on #18. Ball is in the fairway but it's muddy. Almost casual water but not quite and no place to take relief regardless. The hole is back left and a bit less than 90 yards. I decide to hit PW, my 100 yard club. I assume the very soft conditions will make the shot come up short. I make good contact and it's a high draw that lands near the flag and rolls off the back of the green, 89 yard shot.

 

AW - Recovery shot on #9. Terrible mishit off the tee with 5i put my ball in a puddle in the rough of #1. I take a little off my normal partial AW and hit a nice shot, 73 yards, back into #9. I had two approaches with the AW that were in the running but this recovery shot was the best as far as plan and result go.

 

SW - #4 greenside bunker shot. Yes, I actually played from a bunker. This bunker was in good condition. I hit a nice shot out, 16 yards, and 12 feet past the hole. I haven't played from a bunker in a long time, so it stands out.

 

LW - did not use

 

Putter - I have two, sorry. #6, bogey putt( tee shot led to a drop)  and I'm 27 feet from the hole. I do the my new putting routine( the old one from years ago) and I hit the putt and it stops 3 inches short of the cup. A double bogey but a great putt.

 

#4, par putt from 12 feet. Down hill, I do the practice strokes and drain it for a sandy par!

 

Best hole on the front 9 - #2, par 3. Flag is middle front. It's about 125 yards to center, so I go with my 120 club, 9i. I hit a thin bullet at the middle of the green, 129 yards, and i'm on the back of the green. I'm 39 feet past the hole, putting down hill with a right to left break. I take my practice strokes with my putter and then hit the putt. My speed was near perfect. The ball rolls at the hole and stops about 6 inches from the cup on the low side... I make the easy par putt.

 

The first putt almost made my list of best putts but that bogey putt on #6 was right at the cup, so line was there, just a few inches short.

 

Best hole on the back 9: Man, it's a battle between the par 5s, but #18 wins. It starts off with a 209 yard drive into the middle of the fairway, aka the best drive listed above. I have a good lie and can hit 4w across the stream. I aim at the bunker that's on the left side of the fairway at the corner. Contact is good and it's a high push fade heading towards the pond... Crap... I can't see the ball come down and no obvious splash. I find my ball in the fairway near the pond, 169 yard shot. The wind was blowing right to left and I think it helped keep my ball dry. The hole is back left and I hit the partial PW mentioned above. It goes 89 yards into the back left fringe. I hit a 5 yard chip with my putter to 2 feet and sink the par putt.

 

#14 was also a par, probably more impressive since it was a mishit drive, 175 yards, almost OOB left. A punched 5i recovery. My best 6i shot above, 162 yards, to 12 feet past the hole. Birdie putt was a foot long, and then a an easy par putt. I didn't chose this hole because of the bad drive. Also two of the 5 strokes on #18 made my best shot list.

[umamimami]

Thanks for sharing that report. I could feel your happiness through the screen! 

 

Do you think you'd have a better mental game if you kept these memories and discarded the bad ones?

 

Imagine grabbing a club and recalling the best shots you've made with it. Stepping up to each hole filled with only recollections of your prior success. Would that be setting yourself up for success?

 

I've really enjoyed reading your posts but this was one of the first ones I read where it seemed like you enjoyed writing the whole thing. Even getting torn between two killer shots you made with the same club!

 

We can choose what memories we take forward with us. To paraphrase another old psychologist (and to borrow from Bob Rotella) : People buy and large, become what they think of themselves.

 

You can make great shots. You do make great shots. You have the skills and you're clearly capable of putting them to use. Pardon the pun.  

[Bob M]

On 2/13/2023 at 10:53 AM, bortass said:

Overall, I'm glad I read the book. It does have some valuable information in it and it was worth reading. It's also not expensive nor a long read. Don't overhype it in your own mind though, or you may feel like I do at the moment, and that's probably not fair to the book itself.

 

@bortass - I'm in the process of reading "Every shot must have a purpose" (I took a break to read Dan Grieve's "3 Releases" short game book, which is terrific) and have to say that I'm in the same place you are. Fairly easy read with some good ideas, but not earth shattering. 

[bortass]

On 2/14/2023 at 11:42 AM, Bob M said:

 

@bortass - I'm in the process of reading "Every shot must have a purpose" (I took a break to read Dan Grieve's "3 Releases" short game book, which is terrific) and have to say that I'm in the same place you are. Fairly easy read with some good ideas, but not earth shattering. 

 Yeah, I'm glad I read it but it's not all I was hoping for. It could also be that their ideas have trickled into other stuff I've read, so it wasn't new or didn't have enough extra depth to explain it better. 

 

I'll eventually have to find a new golf book but gotta finish some other non golf books I already have first. I've liked the non-technical books I've read over the years a lot. Hopefully I can find another good one out there.

 

Weather deep sixed golf. It's not surprising but kinda amusing. Weather is good all week with temps in the 60s. Heavy rains dump 2 inches late Thursday night and stops before dawn Friday. Temps drop into the high 20s overnight Friday into Saturday, so all the standing water has frozen So the round was cancelled and I didn't try to play as a single. Fast forward to yesterday and it's in the low 70s... lol. The bad weather seems to be targeting Saturdays. Hopefully the fairways start to wake up soon which will help dry things out.

[bortass]

Hello rabbit meet hole....

 

So I happened to see a thread the other day that Monte has a new video series. It's about the shift and has some stuff about using the ground. Being a fan boy of Monte's videos, I snagged it. 

 

I think it's great. 

 

Learning to swing a club, there have been two things that I have not been able to grok very well, the release and the shift. I just never naturally understood either of those even with all the lessons I had. I'm a bit better these days with both but this series is all about what I consider to be a major gap in my understanding, the shift. I have seen Monte discuss the shift in his other series but it's just a short segment. This time he's discussing it and various drills for probably 45 minutes. Then there are 4 short lesson segments with various golfers. I think it's the longer discussion about various aspects of the shift, along with the drills, that makes me love Power Shift so much. Getting the same concepts repeated in different ways shed more light on it.

 

I am convinced that I have actually shifted more correctly than normal while playing at times. It's when I have felt my right hip go back and my left shoulder gets under my chin. It's a feel I've mentioned it a few times in some of the round recaps here. When I have that feel, I hit the ball much better than normal. It's erratic though, lol. I also would bet that even then I'm still not doing it completely correctly. I'd rather hedge my bets on the side of caution.

 

Something I thought was interesting about the four lesson segments is a half of them were higher HCP players. I think two of the four guys were in the 18 - 20 range.  Monte said something that resonated with me, paraphrase time, 'your swing is better than your HCP'.  I would hypothesize this isn't uncommon in that HCP range. I know I've been told that a few times over the years.

 

I think I have a functional swing but I'm not getting the most out of what I already have. In theory, if I took what I got and sequenced it better and shifted correctly, I'd hit the ball closer to the limits of what my swing can support. I'd be leaving less on the table than I do now.

 

I think it's a great video and was worth the price for me. It helped shed light on something I've never felt i had a good grasp of. Would recommend it if this is an area that you think would help you out.

 

My new plan for improvement is to stick with the Strike Plan drills and add in some of the drills from Power Shift. A couple Power Shift drills can be done inside at home without a ball which is nice, so I've been doing the wall drill when I take a quick break during the day, as an example.

 

Let me know if you have any questions and I'll do my best to answer them.

 

Have a good one!

[betarhoalphadelta]

7 hours ago, bortass said:

 

I am convinced that I have actually shifted more correctly than normal while playing at times. It's when I have felt my right hip go back and my left shoulder gets under my chin. It's a feel I've mentioned it a few times in some of the round recaps here. When I have that feel, I hit the ball much better than normal. It's erratic though, lol. I also would bet that even then I'm still not doing it completely correctly. I'd rather hedge my bets on the side of caution.

 

 

IMHO this is a completely different thing than what Monte's talking about in Power Shift. I actually decided to buy that, and it was the impetus to finally watch NTC and actually then turn around and watch Power Shift. 

 

Getting the right hip back and the left shoulder under the chin is more of a core tenet for being able to swing on plane. All sorts of bad things happen when you don't do that. Once you allow the shoulder up where it displaces the chin you're swinging your shoulders on too level of a plane. From there you have to figure out how to get back down to the ball. For many players that introduces an OTT move, and weak wipey fades. I see it all the time from my fellow high-cap playing partners 😉 

 

Your recent improvement where you've been able to make this movement properly is a HUGE improvement and something that is one of the biggest core swing tenets to learn. It's one of the ways that you've started hitting draws. But it's different than what Monte is talking about IMHO. 

 

I'm living proof of someone who can make that perfect move of right hip back, left shoulder under the chin, and still hang back on the right side too late and then that turns into a lateral shift towards the target on the downswing, leading to an EE/stall/flip because there's no way I can rotate from there. Rather than getting to the left side early enough, so that I can push off that left heel and open up and rotate through the ball. I don't have video of it yet, but I suspect that my recent "feel" I described in my own thread is getting me there. And I think Power Shift is validating why that feel is helping. 

 

The truth is that "right hip go back and my left shoulder gets under my chin" should be there ALL the time. It's a basic fundamental for swinging on plane. But it's still possible to have an improper shift while still doing that. Because I've done it for a LONG time. And an improper shift leads to bad things on the downswing, as I've also experienced. Dumping the hands inside, huge in->out swing path, giant hooks, etc. 

 

But Power Shift covers a completely different sort of problems. All good things, of course, but not the "shoulder under the chin" problem. 

[bortass]

14 hours ago, betarhoalphadelta said:

 

IMHO this is a completely different thing than what Monte's talking about in Power Shift. I actually decided to buy that, and it was the impetus to finally watch NTC and actually then turn around and watch Power Shift. 

 

Getting the right hip back and the left shoulder under the chin is more of a core tenet for being able to swing on plane. All sorts of bad things happen when you don't do that. Once you allow the shoulder up where it displaces the chin you're swinging your shoulders on too level of a plane. From there you have to figure out how to get back down to the ball. For many players that introduces an OTT move, and weak wipey fades. I see it all the time from my fellow high-cap playing partners 😉 

 

Your recent improvement where you've been able to make this movement properly is a HUGE improvement and something that is one of the biggest core swing tenets to learn. It's one of the ways that you've started hitting draws. But it's different than what Monte is talking about IMHO. 

 

I'm living proof of someone who can make that perfect move of right hip back, left shoulder under the chin, and still hang back on the right side too late and then that turns into a lateral shift towards the target on the downswing, leading to an EE/stall/flip because there's no way I can rotate from there. Rather than getting to the left side early enough, so that I can push off that left heel and open up and rotate through the ball. I don't have video of it yet, but I suspect that my recent "feel" I described in my own thread is getting me there. And I think Power Shift is validating why that feel is helping. 

 

The truth is that "right hip go back and my left shoulder gets under my chin" should be there ALL the time. It's a basic fundamental for swinging on plane. But it's still possible to have an improper shift while still doing that. Because I've done it for a LONG time. And an improper shift leads to bad things on the downswing, as I've also experienced. Dumping the hands inside, huge in->out swing path, giant hooks, etc. 

 

But Power Shift covers a completely different sort of problems. All good things, of course, but not the "shoulder under the chin" problem. 

  That's the feel I get when my right hip rotates back though.  I notice my left knee flex forward and my left shoulder is under my chin. I've been doing the wall drill and it's the same.  All I was trying to say is when I have that feel, I've rotated better versus a slide etc. Do I do the rest of it correctly? Doubt it. baby steps, lol.

 

Granted, I also will not say that I'm not conflating things. After watching Power Shift I was sitting here going 'wait a minute. I'm pretty sure I did that on the swings where I felt the right hip go back and my left shoulder was under my chin.' Could be very wrong, it's just the linkage my mind made between what Monte was showing/saying and my own experience on the course.

 

How did you like Power Shift? So far I think I like it the best out of all of his full swing videos.

[betarhoalphadelta]

38 minutes ago, bortass said:

  That's the feel I get when my right hip rotates back though.  I notice my left knee flex forward and my left shoulder is under my chin. I've been doing the wall drill and it's the same.  All I was trying to say is when I have that feel, I've rotated better versus a slide etc. Do I do the rest of it correctly? Doubt it. baby steps, lol.

 

Granted, I also will not say that I'm not conflating things. After watching Power Shift I was sitting here going 'wait a minute. I'm pretty sure I did that on the swings where I felt the right hip go back and my left shoulder was under my chin.' Could be very wrong, it's just the linkage my mind made between what Monte was showing/saying and my own experience on the course.

 

How did you like Power Shift? So far I think I like it the best out of all of his full swing videos.

 

Ahh got it. I was saying that they're two separate moves, but I could entirely see how trying to do one could get you subconsciously doing the other, so that makes sense. 

 

So far I like it, but I've only watched NTC and Power Shift. I still have to get through Efficient Swing and Broom Force. I think Power Shift has a much more narrow focus than NTC, but the shift is something a lot of people do badly so it makes sense to focus on it. 

[bortass]

2 hours ago, betarhoalphadelta said:

 

Ahh got it. I was saying that they're two separate moves, but I could entirely see how trying to do one could get you subconsciously doing the other, so that makes sense. 

 

So far I like it, but I've only watched NTC and Power Shift. I still have to get through Efficient Swing and Broom Force. I think Power Shift has a much more narrow focus than NTC, but the shift is something a lot of people do badly so it makes sense to focus on it. 

It does have a much more narrow focus which is why I like it so much. Monte has touched on the shift in NTC and Efficient Swing but it was never quite enough to get me to grasp it. I think I needed to have the same thing hammered in repeatedly, lol.

[mshills]

Couple observations…..I can’t equate my game to yours as I’m working my way back (I got hurt a few years back and I play golf with one arm…) so this is based only on your write ups.

 

First, can you talk about your setup? You do **not** need a lengthy pre-shot routine, but your ball striking inconsistency makes me think you may not be setting up to the ball consistently. 
 

Next, I would put that LW up and leave it there. No good comes with 3/4 or full swing attempts with the LW. The highest loft club I’d put in your bag is a 54* SW. 

[bortass]

1 hour ago, mshills said:

Couple observations…..I can’t equate my game to yours as I’m working my way back (I got hurt a few years back and I play golf with one arm…) so this is based only on your write ups.

 

First, can you talk about your setup? You do **not** need a lengthy pre-shot routine, but your ball striking inconsistency makes me think you may not be setting up to the ball consistently. 
 

Next, I would put that LW up and leave it there. No good comes with 3/4 or full swing attempts with the LW. The highest loft club I’d put in your bag is a 54* SW. 

Good luck with your recovery and game. I've seen your thread on it and can't even imagine what you've been going through. All I can say is if anything like that were to happen to me, I hope I'd be as strong as you in dealing with it.

 

I'll get the easy one out of the way. The LW. I use it for one shot, a 70 yard partial wedge. My wedge swing is somewhere between shaft parallel and a bit past that. I never get to  a 3/4 swing with them. My SW is 80 yards, AW 90, and PW 100. I don't use full swings with any of them. My partial wedge swing is a bit off lately. I'm not spending time on the range and it's showing. I think I know the issue but it's really a question of practice.

 

My preshot routine is fairly quick, IMO.

 

I almost always know what club I'm hitting before it's my turn. I work out my target and club selection while the other guys are doing their thing or hitting. Tee box is an exception but I almost always hit the same clubs on each tee.

 

I hold the club out in front of me to align the face( I'm trying to make sure it's not slightly open) while pointing at my target.

 

I look at my target and address the ball. I'm trying to get my body aligned. The ball position changes depending on the club but I do not have a set rule, as in it's not always under a certain part of my upper body. The relationship between the ball and my club head varies. Driver is probably 3 inches behind the ball. Woods are normally closer to 2 inches behind the ball. Some irons are 1 inch behind the ball. Wedges tend to be almost right behind the ball. the more forward a ball position the further back I setup the club.

 

I then have an odd mental timer in my head. I'm kinda flexing and relaxing my leg muscles, this is my version of a waggle, and once it feels right I count 4, 5 , 6. I start my swing on 6. I mention the leg thing more to be clear I'm not frozen over the ball. I also have a very constant pattern with it.

 

I do know it could be improved. My ball position does get me in trouble at times. I can notice it looks to far forward or back when I'm using a wood and I never seem to be able to step back and start over. That's one thing. The other is, I'm sure there's a better ball position and setup for me. Nothing specific has really come up about it in the few lessons I've had the last couple of years but the Monte clinic may clear that up. I have a feeling if I'm way off base, I'll hear about it. If I'm feeling bold, I may even ask Monte to take a look and what he recommends.

[mshills]

Thanks!

 

On setup, I'd recommend focus on four primary things.  Grip.  Alignment.  Posture.  Ball position.  Sounds simple, only four things, but what you are after is repeatability.  From your write-ups it sounds like you hit plenty of good shots with plenty of foul balls (what I call the "WTF?" shot).  I suspect that one of the above four setup items tends to be inconsistent, as your actual move shouldn't produce that amount of variability between the good shots and the WTFs.

 

My wild-azz guess is grip and posture.....but if you are going to see Monte, he will set you straight and get you on the right path!