May Motivation

[dmecca2]

I enjoy this thread and my golf season has officially started, so I will continue this. If anyone is new please take a look back to the previous thread, April Motivation.

But in short, this thread is a place to talk about your golf goals for the month and what you are doing or could do to achieve them. Whether it's putting in the living room while home or getting lessons to fix that awful banana ball slice, we wanna hear about your journey!

[dmecca2]

I have some updates on my journey and unfortunately it's not a good one. I was able to finally get to a range on Friday and I hit the ball pretty good. First time out in over a month so there weren't any expectations, but I thought I did good. Sunday I got to play and the weather was gorgeous, but my game was not. I felt defeated after my round and my swing is not in a good place. Something in my swing is severely wrong that is causing my clubface to be wide open at impact. Im talking 3 irons that go 50 yards right. And when I do square the face, the straight shots are not solid and dont go very far. Additionally, I need to switch my wedge shaft to an x100 I have cause the wedge flex feels like a noodle, and lastly, the new putter I have is too long for me.

So my off the course plans for this month are:

Go get my lofts and lies checked on my irons. Needs to happen. Swap shafts in my wedge. Find a new putter that is fit for me. On the course my plans are:

Work on squaring the face at impact.Improve lag to get distance back. Hopefully I can fix whatever is wrong before it gets too bad and I'll be back on track to achieving my goals.

[Hawkeye77]

Elbow recovery currently allows me to play out to 60 yards with my 54 degree wedge and of course less than that with my 54 or my 58.

Hopefully by the end of May I've worked up to 75 yards with my 50 and 100 yards with 8-9 iron and that by the end of May the soreness is gone, or at least gone more.

While hitting these "small" shots working on:

Wrist action in transition and downHumerus forwardGetting things synced upGood balance

[bortass]

Edit - opps.

[dmecca2]

To start the year I play for fun, but as soon as I set up a tournament schedule I will start playing for the competition. Last I consistently played was last year and I had a little bit of the "rights" but its obviously gotten worse. I have some ideas for a fix, but I have a feeling this will take a bit longer than one session to fix

[bortass]

@dmecca2 I just saw you're a +3. My post is completely irrelevant since I'm looking at it as a more casual golfer. Sorry about that.

[dmecca2]

Got out again yesterday and after looking into some drills, decided to hit the range before my round. I took a video and noticed something that I believed to be true, my clubface was open at impact, and realized it was opening much earlier than I had thought. This video is after noticing the error.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfEuFWUbrcEI took this to the course and the front 9 was rough, as it was very windy. I did much better on the back 9 and ended up shooting 74. All in all, ok to start the year and while I still have so much to work on, I at least have a starting point for the year.

Positives:

Found a putter that is fit for me and it did well. Hitting my short irons and wedges well. Driver is still straight and solid. I hit 10/13 fairways. Last 3 iron of the day was hit very solid and DREW. I haven't been able to hit a draw with that club on the course. Things to work on:

Long irons, hybrid, and 3 wood need work. Having trouble staying on plane with the longer clubs. Need to practice short game work. Will come with time. Still need to get lofts and lies checked on my irons.

[Chappie]

I've been slowly correcting a bunch of issues that go back to an injury from about 9 years ago now, and were compounded by lesser strains subsequently.

Without getting into a long to-do, I haven't played a lot the last few years, worrying more about my career than anything else. In that time, along with some injuries I really have struggled to "feel" lag. I blamed this on a lot of factors, and dealt with everything from snap hooks to awkward fades and even big slices. Also saw distances that were all over the place, except my old length, and even on my best days the ball striking just didn't feel crisp or consistent. Now don't get me wrong, I've made it work and even strung together some decent rounds. But it's completely demoralizing to have a swing you felt confident hitting any club with at any time and now just be totally incapable of driving the ball with any sense of power.

So with our new found quarantine time I did 2 things: 1. went out and bought a net and practice balls for the backyard and 2. broke out my old copy of Hogan's 5 Lessons. In re-reading this book that helped me build what I considered to be an excellent swing some 10+ years ago now, I realized how far I had fallen. For one, my grip was entirely screwed. Two hands that just had no idea what the other was trying to accomplish and an ever uncomfortable feeling while standing over the ball. Beyond that, my stance was just so unhelpful in creating a repeatable motion, and the combo made it IMPOSSIBLE for me to feel lag, which caused me to compensate for this lack of feeling by throwing/sliding my hips.

While I'm not fully back in business, this is the best I've felt going into a season in a very long time. Now I have a consistent pre-shot routine and feel, and I can feel a proper lag in my backswing transition to downswing, which is intoxicating.

[TIM929]

I just saw this thread and really glad it's up!

 

Being a SoCal dude, we don't really understand the meaning of an off season. Only differences we face are the draining 95* heat waves for 4 weeks and the killer 50* ice winds for 6 weeks out of the year, rest of the year is a good 60*- 80*. This Covid-19 lock down really humbled me, not being able to see your ball flight in over a month was harsh. A few weeks ago, county's which were an hour away opened golf courses so I got a few rounds in. Embarrassing score wise, but a super fun experience on courses I never played.

 

anyways- since golf in all of LA just opened and my home range Monterey Park is accessible, got to finally pound the driver today and some what dialed in my flight. My home course is open as well so it's on starting this sat, Im back to my sat morning once a week golf, all good because im so happy to be back in action for my profession.

 

my only practice before today was hitting into a net with a 4 and 8i and putting practice on a trunk car carpet which I had to return to my wife's car yesterday lol. Believe it or not, during the last 2 rounds my putting was solid and iron play was pretty decent. My driver/woods and chipping were horrible.

 

for May:

 

I will focus on Driver/fairway on the range and pitching/chipping if I could find a practice green opened. I will also head to the back yard to pound some irons to maintain my contact.

 

Im trying to regain some arm/hand action after transition to gain more face control.

 

here we go!

[bortass]

I've done a bit of range time working on my short game. Chipping and putting, nothing exciting or sexy but it's a glaring hole in my game at the moment. Also finally got fed up with being a lard @ss and am starting to do something about it. I expect dropping weight will help my game somewhat. If nothing else it will be easier to walk the course.

[TIM929]

I played 9 this morning at our local course that just re-opened. The course is in unplayable shape, only thing cut/ maintained was the fairway and greens. 2nd cut / 3rd cut- forget about it. It was nice fairway to ankle high(wearing high tops) grass instantly, then knee high bush and cut grass every where. The bunkers had patches of grass/ weeds growing all over it as well... goodness gracious.

 

I had to really practice my accuracy because I was running low on biscuits, quick- I was not prepared for this. Till now, I swung for the fences every shot and just found my ball..

 

Due to the current "do or die-miss the fairway by a 1/4" and lose the ball" situation, I took an extra club(sometimes 2) and took a smoother(less violent) swing with a more controlled face and my accuracy became a lot stronger, it was amazing and I will start playing golf this way.

 

short game: the rough was way to high. my normal shot is a squared face chip or pitch, but the grass kept grabbing my face open sending the ball right. Inspired by James Oh's IG on spinners, I opened the face and opened my stance. I release my right hand/wrist hard and made sure my path was out to in and timed my face to be square at contact. The balls pops out of most any rough and stops fast on landing. really happy I got this one in the bag.

 

driver- still hooks way too hard with a normal swing, missed the fairway so the balls gone every time. I tried to turn my body harder with less of a release(open face at contact) and started to hit blocks.. I know its somewhere in the middle of this hook/ block.... I need to find it and own it.

[bortass]

@TIM929 Sounds like a challenging round that could help you in the long run. There's something to be said about challenging situations that help us improve. You couldn't get away with bomb and gouge and accuracy became a premium. There were a couple courses I have played just a couple times that would have improved my game in the long run( or make me quit). One was narrow and tree lined, miss a fairway and forget it. The other was a higher end private club that actually had bunkers you could hit an explosion shot out of. Most greens were elevated and surrounded with bunkers. That course would have forced me to learn how to hit greens and get good in the sand.
It's partly why I game a set of blades even though I have GI irons as well. I pay a steeper price on my mishits, normally in distance, but I also know my good shots were solid and not the product of my club compensating for a marginal strike.

[dmecca2]

Wow thats crazy. Reminds me of a time when I played a USGA fourball qualifier at a course that was being sold the next month. Greens were unplayable, bunkers had weeds, and had to pay for range balls before the round. All for a USGA qualifier.

[TIM929]

Yes, amen to that. I agree with you 100%, my approach to the swing on the course has changed. Playing a smooth and more accurate shot was really exciting. I'm really getting into this right now.

wow- they would hold a USGA qualifier in those conditions.. that is brutal!

 

Today: got out for a rushed solo 18 today so I had a lot of time to practice driver and tried the 95 yard challenge is Obee posted for 9 holes.

 

I got the driver some what down so I’m happy about that, but my 95 yard game sucks. I only hit 1 green out of the 9 holes I was tracking, time to grind the 95 and in.

[Myherobobhope]

Keep up the good work! Got a new gps watch, but lockdown life continues to destroy my dreams of playing golf... glad people are keeping this going! I’ll be back when I have time.

[dmecca2]

Had a range day yesterday and one of my focus points was my 3 iron and hybrid. I have been struggling with those clubs and they are costing me shots. This video is three 3 iron shots and the last one was my best. I'm working on keeping the club on plane in the downswing and clearing my hips. I'm also thinking about squaring the face at impact, watching my right elbow bend, and keeping my head steady, but if think of those over the ball I will never hit it. I try to limit myself to 2 swing thoughts in the preshot routine.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fx8J38h9_HMI sent these swings to my dad who helps me out from time to time and he agrees I should try to extend my right elbow a tiny bit more in the backswing to gain more width to my swing. This should help my slightly steep attack angle.

[Warrior42111]

After about 7 weeks without golf I am back out there again. Been playing two man scramble match play since we are all out of sorts with the lay off. Getting to the range is tough, reduced hours and only every other station is open, I drove 25 min there twice only for it to be slammed and not hit. Also, noticed I get muscle fatigue later in the round, all I've been able to do is run, well ok jog a few miles every other day, instead of my usual powerlifting.

I think the toughest part was I was in the middle of a series of lessons, and was really close to getting where I wanted to be ball striking wise. My teacher was great though, he uses a notebook with all his students and when this all started he sent me pictures of his notes and deciphered them for me so I can at least better self diagnose real time.

I think my goals this month will be to get the short game back to where it was, hoping it is just shaking off the rust. Also, I am really focusing on course management, and pressure shots. Playing in the two man format really helps with that. I'm usually the second hitter (75%) so I am learning when to go for it and when / where to play it safe better.

[Warrior42111]

So got to play yesterday. ME and a couple other work from home colleagues decided on making a move. Teed off around 4:15 and finished 18 in 3 hours. Shot a 97 in 15-25 mph winds, but was really happy with the back 9.... 53/ 44.

Wind really was brutal, one par 3 on the front was 175 into it, took my 200yd club to get it there...barely. Greens were aerated on Tuesday so it was hard to judge my putting 32 overall so I'll take it. Those notes I mentioned in an earlier post really helped, was struggling all front 9 until I took a look. I tend to hit the heel a lot when I don't get wide on my takeaway. The whole front I was playing around with ball position and closing the face, and the results where hit and miss. After remembering that one small thing the back 9 changed with 3 pars, and one stupid blow up hole. ( drove a par 4 distance wise, was off to the left maybe 50ft on a tight lie, skull into the sand, skull out, on the green, 2 putt 6)

 

[Chappie]

First round out this year was on a short but at times challenging course this past Wednesday. It plays 5,790 yards from the blues, which we played, and was in much better shape than I expected given some accounts I've been reading of other early season experiences on here. I got to the first tee box and didn't feel totally comfortable with my woods and it showed, didn't make good contact at all and pushed a thin shot right with my 3w, landing conveniently behind a tree. Luckily I was able to punch it close, then got up and down to save par. Next hole was a par 5, missed a long birdie putt and finished par. missed a longer birdie putt on the next par 3, and that was kind of my afternoon. Wound up with a 78 which was my best round in about 10 years, so I'll take it. I did notice however that I was about a club or two short on everything, and my drive was maxing 250-260 on well struck balls.

 

I had my buddy video me on a par 3 I birdied on the back 9 and while I hit it on the screws and landed it close, I felt very crowded and the video confirmed that. My next bit of work is getting myself set a bit earlier with my wrist hinge so I don't have to come up and "in" to myself, and hopefully that'll get my distance back. Otherwise, I'm very happy with my game right now.

[Myherobobhope]

Trying to get back into the positive mental place... so let me focus on what I can do (as I sit here at work instead of playing golf).

Improve my practice. I have limited time with golf, so I need to make it efficient. This can be a good thing as it forces me to do things I usually blow off, as I have limited time. I spent 2 days (probably 90 minutes) working on gate putting drills. Something I've never done before, but I think it helped my stroke. Planning on working on this more, especially as my practice green doesn't have cups cut into it right now... Positive on that is I've eliminated the random bit of feedback of getting away with a bad putt that drops, and focused on ROLLING the ball towards my target. Positivism, my friends. Lots of time thinking about my mental game. Refocused on slowing down my decision making process on the golf course, and envisioning the shots I want to hit. I've played many rounds in my head during lock down. I'm also working on changing my attitude about focal points on greens and moving to hitting to the middle and not at the flag. The few holes I have played have reinforced this.Focused on ball striking when on the range. My time on the course is now more valuable, so I'm trying to spend it more wisely. Less time banging drivers, more time focusing on the shot I want to hit and how to accomplish that. Hopefully I can translate that skillset to when I can spend more time on the course (and we are back on the grass and off the freaking mats, if you'll excuse my negativity)Blowing money on equipment. Bought an s62... I'm hoping it reinforces center green strategy... I bought a couple of driver shafts because I have a problem... but I'm hoping to get the equipment itch out while I'm not playing... Only real flyer purchase was on a RipX from a guy here with a tip for a driver I don't own... But it was Venmo money, so I can't spend it on anything else right now (usually it's my golf gambling fund)Course strategy. Just simply thinking about the holes on my home course. Where I want to be, what I want to hit and how to execute that. I'm looking forward to testing the theories I've built out in my head. I'm hoping to get some rounds in over the next few weeks... taking time off for a birthday and then Memorial day... we shall see...

Handicap is at a 6 right now.

[Myherobobhope]

So... I found the time to play a round of golf! I wasn't rushed, I didn't have anywhere to be... and I was rusty... The greens had also not been mowed and were fertilized... but still... GOLF GOLF GOLF.

First round I played with my S62 watch, and it's fantastic. I didn't have it setup up to track which clubs I hit, so I recorded putts, fairways hit, greens hit and penalty strokes... 11 fairways, 9 greens and 37 putts... Not a terrible round, but obviously plenty of room for improvement. 81... which basically tracks to my handicap.

Positive Takeways: I was driving the ball well. Had looks at the three par 5s I can reach in two in two... 0 run out, though. When I kept focused on what I was doing, I hit driver well... when I got distracted, I fell apart. I made a solid birdie on a hole from 100 yards out... That is a distance I've flagged to improve on, and have spent my limited practice time on. I was confident with my 54 in my hands, hit it pin high and made the putt. The next step is hitting the ball to 100 yards more often!

Despite my 37 putts, I was rolling the ball well. Just couldn't convince myself to hit it hard enough. I was rolling the ball well, and mostly reading the breaks right... I'm chalking it up to rust and slow greens.

I'm also REALLY enjoying the utility iron I bought. Sub70 4 iron with a graphite shaft... It does exactly what I need it to!

Stuff I need to work on: Staying focused... I lost my swing a couple of times because I wasn't paying attention. This is my big project this year. Standing over the ball with a mental picture and trying to execute on it. I did pretty well on this most of the day, but had some dumb misses...

Need to either bite the bullet and actually buy irons built to my specs or continue to tinker with my irons... My 9 iron was going further than my 8... there is clearly a loft issue I have yet to address. I was hitting my 6 around 200 yards, my 7 around 190... and then my 8 and 9 were both going about 160... That gap is problematic!

Last, biggest hurdle is to figure out the "smart golf" mentality better... I was playing better when aiming at center of greens, but I don't think it's a hard and fast rule I can follow at my course... I also need to embrace my cut swing and not try to get aggressive with left side pins. It ended poorly for me a few times.

 

Golf is awesome! Hoping to get in a competitive round on Memorial Day, but I'm not sure it will happen.

[Warrior42111]

played twice more from the last post (Friday / Sunday) so now I have a better post golf layoff data set.

The good: putting was still there averaged a hair above 32 on aerated greens. Due to being wilder than usual off the tee and playing a 2 man scramble match I had to a few 200 yard plus shots on a par 4 approach. Not something I practice often was was surprised with the results. My alcohol tolerance has only dropped slightly

The bad: Long and wild went to long and wilder. I can play out of the rough or trees just fine, but penalties kill the score. Short game is rusty especially when there's touch involved. It's getting hot in FL, the mid to late afternoon walking round opportunities are looking like cart time.

[Warrior42111]

For your irons are any shops open to do a loft lie check? I know here a few shops will do it with a drop off and pick up policy. Also it's pretty inexpensive, especially compared to buying a set.

[Myherobobhope]

Trying to figure out where I want to do it... home course is finishing a club house remodel and it’s not really in their wheelhouse... but it’d be free.

golf galaxy opens tomorrow, but it’s golf galaxy.

[dmecca2]

Sunday, I found a drill, or feeling rather, from a friend that has turned into an instructor on instagram. Swings_with_mo is his handle and I encourage everyone to check out his videos. They are extremely helpful for me and in one of his videos he uses a weight to show how to control the face angle at impact. for some reason this clicked with me and I took the feeling to the course yesterday for 9 holes and it went well. My irons feel good again. I can draw the ball and when I hit it solid I can keep the ball flight low. I made 2 birdies and an eagle coupled with a bogey on a hole that I haven't parred yet. This hole is tough... But it felt good to be confident and go under par again.

Positives:

Putting was great. Found an old scotty cameron from my high school days and it sets up and feels nice on the course. Drained a 30 foot slider for eagle so that always helps the confidence. Irons feel pure again. Hit a 9 iron from 150 out on a tough hole and almost made it. 2 foot tap in. Things I need to work on:

For some reason I have lost my driver swing. Always seems to happen this time of year and I dont know why. I'm currently hitting a little spinny cut and I can't stand that ball flight. Full swing wedges. I only carry 2 wedges right now. a 51 and a 58. So I need to hit my 58 up to 105 and my 51 up to 120. I'm about 3-5 yards short.

Side note: I tried out the TP5 yesterday because I saw the pros in the match all used it. It obviously performed well but I can't tell if it's too spinny off the driver cause of the ball or cause of my swing. I'm thinking it's the latter. My greens are quite firm right now so I'm thinking I need the spin with my irons and wedges.

[dmecca2]

Got out for another 9 holes and the results were similar. Birdied the last 2 for -1. The update I have is this... I have been keeping my stats on the USGA ghin app and out of the 3 rounds I have in there and 9 practice holes I do not have in there, I have yet to miss a fairway to the left. 68% of fairways hit, 30% miss right, and 2% long through the fairway. Weird.

[Warrior42111]

Man I'd kill for a one way miss. I usually have a good power fade. But every few drives I'll double cross and it's in the neighbors houses. Worst part is I can feel it when I start the downswing

[bortass]

I've gotten some range time in this week with mixed results. Also played a couple 9s and the first one I was hitting the ball very well and the next not so much. I'll just have to keep working on things. The one good thing, I decided to finally do something about my weight the other week and I'm making good progress there. Long ways to go but it's a start. It'll make summer golf easier.

[TIM929]

glad your getting out for golf and nice progress on the weight loss. One of the hardest changes to make since so many habits need to be changed to get results.
@dmecca2 thanks for posting your friend's handle, he is super easy to understand and really enjoy his post.

[TIM929]

I've been stuck on the 95 yard challenge:

I played 9- 4 times this week to do this. I drive it, then 2nd shot it to 100 yards from the pin, then play the game. I've noticed a lot of things while practicing:

 

1) Alignment and ball position- one of the most important things. If I am good with both at address, I can put a really athletic / balanced move on the ball.

 

2) take more club and swing to a yardage number under your max, better control/ balance.

 

3) how/where the club enters/ exits the grass.

 

4) square the face at ball contact

 

5) equipment- years ago, I got fit for wedges off a matt/ LM and was suggested to have a 3 wedge set up with evenly spread out lofts bent 2* flat to match my irons with a mix of high and low bounces.. sounds good on paper, but in real life my toe would contact the ground first and would flip my face to the right. I got a 54.14F grind with 2* upright(stock lie) from my irons and its been money!

 

Can wait to hit the course for a full 18 tomorrow. Let's get it.