So I took a lesson today from my local PGA professional, and boy was it worth it...
I have been pushing slicing or fading most of my shots recently and I really wanted more accuracy with my irons...
He watched me hit three balls, and knew exactly what would help me right of the bat... after some practice with it I can honestly say I am hitting it straighter just after a few buckets of focusing on the idea... I can't wait to see what the future will hold with this simple idea.
Ok so basically he was saying I was leaving my club face open too long, which I knew, but he made me focus on the contact of the ball making sure I was rotating and using my hands properly. Making it possible for someone standing in front of me to see the back of my left hand then straight on and then the back of my right hand. Now it was tremendously uncomfortable at first, and timing it with my arm speed was even more hectic. If my arms were fast and my hands couldn't catch up I would fade a bit, and if my rotation too fast for my arms I would pull or draw, it was amazing. Basically he said that the three things that control distance and control, are your hands, arms and legs. Hands.. the rotation we talked about, the arms which he only briefly mentioned because he said I seemed ok with that, and the legs being the shift of weight from back to front.
We also went over some chipping and bunkers but they were pretty simple things like for chipping less hands and more arms, and the bunkers were to follow through more hitting behind the ball. All really exciting and fun things to think about and work on.
I'm excited to see how the next week or so of practicing this muscle memory will play out for the rounds I intend to play in August.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Sunday, July 12, 2009
How my short game became my long game...
Ok so today I shot a 101... that hurt... after playing so well for a few weeks, I managed to have the best driving game I've ever played with the worst short game I've played since early june... 11 extra chips and putts from yesterday with 6 three-putts, ouch...
I hit 6 fairways, and I felt like I was truly improving my drive swing from my last posts remarks. It was an easy and comfortable fix that has added yards (hit several 300 yard balls) and consistent accuracy (obviously not perfect but that would inevitably have to do with my lack of consistency in other minor details). I didn't practice my short game as well as I would have liked today, but I was banking on repeating how well I played yesterday on my short game. I did get pretty shaken up after playing poorly and had trouble rebounding mentally which will be important to overcome in the future for long term success. I think the most important thing I got out of today however, was the acquaintances made with Kip Hunter his Father (a District Attorney of Boulder for 28 years) and their friend Phil. Kip and I seemed to hit it off as he went to school at UVA and I happened to be wearing my UVA hockey shirt. I am really looking forward to playing golf with him again in the future.
Two major things that were brought up in our 19th hole discussion that I have considered in the past but never pursued, were firstly, the importance of fitting my clubs (and potentially getting a nicer set), and secondly the value of proper training via lessons from a PGA Professional Teacher. Kip's father Alex could not say enough good things about what our local pro, Dan. I think the lessons cost about $40 and I'm looking forward to possibly investigating this idea further.
The outdoor movie last night didn't pan out due to weather, but tomorrow Alexa's sister comes into town so I better go clean/watch Law & Order and fall asleep.
I hit 6 fairways, and I felt like I was truly improving my drive swing from my last posts remarks. It was an easy and comfortable fix that has added yards (hit several 300 yard balls) and consistent accuracy (obviously not perfect but that would inevitably have to do with my lack of consistency in other minor details). I didn't practice my short game as well as I would have liked today, but I was banking on repeating how well I played yesterday on my short game. I did get pretty shaken up after playing poorly and had trouble rebounding mentally which will be important to overcome in the future for long term success. I think the most important thing I got out of today however, was the acquaintances made with Kip Hunter his Father (a District Attorney of Boulder for 28 years) and their friend Phil. Kip and I seemed to hit it off as he went to school at UVA and I happened to be wearing my UVA hockey shirt. I am really looking forward to playing golf with him again in the future.
Two major things that were brought up in our 19th hole discussion that I have considered in the past but never pursued, were firstly, the importance of fitting my clubs (and potentially getting a nicer set), and secondly the value of proper training via lessons from a PGA Professional Teacher. Kip's father Alex could not say enough good things about what our local pro, Dan. I think the lessons cost about $40 and I'm looking forward to possibly investigating this idea further.
The outdoor movie last night didn't pan out due to weather, but tomorrow Alexa's sister comes into town so I better go clean/watch Law & Order and fall asleep.
Saturday, July 11, 2009
90 the hard way...
Wow, I played REALLY poorly from outside 100 yards today... I made sure I was striking down on the ball to make those divots and get that smash factor everyone is raving about. However, it's not easy to see results when I hit 5 or 6 trees lose 5 balls, and barely got 1 fairway. It didn't help that I had 3 three-putts, because the only thing that was working for me was my chips and putts. I made some really great par putts, but they were lost on a lot of safety shots to get out from the trees. I still shot a 90 though for 18, which I can barely believe. It makes me wonder if it's my short game saving face of poor accuracy on drives, or if I am getting more accurate with my irons to help put me in position for easy chips and pitch. I can't tell yet, but hopefully I'll start seeing results from better ball striking in the next few rounds I play.
I did notice that I was not focusing on making proper wrist-cock on the back swing, so I'm surely losing power but I'm hoping I can slowly introduce that into the swing. The key however to a lot of saved shots has been the lift, clean, align and place routine for my putts. I've been getting a lot closer to the pin on each attempt. That coupled with my peripheral vision and overall feel of "on-lineness" has really helped me feel comfortable on putts. My hybrid punch shots have really been great for getting me out from the trees, and I'm starting to get the feel for how far it goes on easier swings. I've also gotten a lot more comfortable with my 60 degree wedge, and it has helped eliminate a lot of roll on the green if I can now just hone in on the flag with better accuracy it will be a great tool from 60 yards or so out. I did notice that keeping the ball a little further back in my stance and utilizing the wrist-cock somewhat on chips and close pitch shots was really beneficial. I do however need to work on watching my ball and where it lands. I am so sick of losing balls and more importantly strokes due to penalties from not being able to find my ball in the rough. I'm fine (for the most part) with a lost stroke to a hazard, but come on, watching the ball land and then not finding it is silly.
I was really struggling with the last two rounds of 9 being 55 and 56, I had gained ten strokes on 9-holes just from trying to introduce better swing components but it was making me super frustrated. I'm glad it has started to get me back down to where I want to be. Even though (again) it may have just been my short game compensating for lack of solid iron play.
At any rate my goal next round is to play safe and smart onto the fairways so I can set up some solid iron attempts at least. We'll see how that goes. I'm off to see Pineapple Express at an outdoor cinema with some friends from work... I wonder if I'll try and play tomorrow even though I shouldn't for money reasons.
I did notice that I was not focusing on making proper wrist-cock on the back swing, so I'm surely losing power but I'm hoping I can slowly introduce that into the swing. The key however to a lot of saved shots has been the lift, clean, align and place routine for my putts. I've been getting a lot closer to the pin on each attempt. That coupled with my peripheral vision and overall feel of "on-lineness" has really helped me feel comfortable on putts. My hybrid punch shots have really been great for getting me out from the trees, and I'm starting to get the feel for how far it goes on easier swings. I've also gotten a lot more comfortable with my 60 degree wedge, and it has helped eliminate a lot of roll on the green if I can now just hone in on the flag with better accuracy it will be a great tool from 60 yards or so out. I did notice that keeping the ball a little further back in my stance and utilizing the wrist-cock somewhat on chips and close pitch shots was really beneficial. I do however need to work on watching my ball and where it lands. I am so sick of losing balls and more importantly strokes due to penalties from not being able to find my ball in the rough. I'm fine (for the most part) with a lost stroke to a hazard, but come on, watching the ball land and then not finding it is silly.
I was really struggling with the last two rounds of 9 being 55 and 56, I had gained ten strokes on 9-holes just from trying to introduce better swing components but it was making me super frustrated. I'm glad it has started to get me back down to where I want to be. Even though (again) it may have just been my short game compensating for lack of solid iron play.
At any rate my goal next round is to play safe and smart onto the fairways so I can set up some solid iron attempts at least. We'll see how that goes. I'm off to see Pineapple Express at an outdoor cinema with some friends from work... I wonder if I'll try and play tomorrow even though I shouldn't for money reasons.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
55 for 9 or Beginning the era of the downswing...
Ok, so I couldn't wait until the weekend to try out this new concept... Swinging down on the ball or hitting the ball first. The idea of hitting a divot has changed a number of things with my swing... attempting the wrist-cock, weight shift, and shaft position in relation to my wrist and the ball. It feels weird, but I think Im getting the hang of it. I didn't get a warm-up as I hustled out on the course attempting to play as many holes as I could on twilight however I managed to catch the tail of league play meaning I would barely get through 9 holes. I went 3 for 7 on fairways which felt great (and I attribute to keeping my hands closer to my waist than before, thanks to my swing video), I was having trouble gauging my distances for my clubs as they appear to be hitting it further with the new swing. This didn't help as I ended up having to pitch or chip a LOT more than usual and without a warm-up this did not help my score. I also need to remember that my chips shouldn't change their swing pattern (not the way my iron swings have). Well I have a good feeling about the new found accuracy with this new swing, I tend to hit it within 15 yards of my target line, and that is 100x better than before. I'm going to play a few more times this weekend I think, so we'll see how quickly I get the hang of it, but I have a feeling it might take a while.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
On the downswing...
Ok, so I focused a little bit on making divots today on the range... I started developing a blister on my right thumb so I took it easy and I have a feeling I might have to rethink my grip for this new line of attack on the ball. I discovered on a good solid hit (utilizing the downswing) I hit my 7-iron a good 30-40 yards further than before... Not to mention the ball was much more predictable to my target line, MUCH MORE!!!
It was incredible... and now I can't wait to try it out this weekend, I have a feeling I will be redefining each club's average distance, but I'm hoping I will be hitting more greens in regulation.
I took these videos while I was there after a wild hair, and a few minutes cleaning the dust out of my old miniDV camera to get it to work. I was looking into golfTec and the likes, which gave me the idea to explore what my swing looks like from a third person, or at least a camera so I can see myself as a third person. I'm already noticing little things I can work on, the gap between my waist and the club handle on my driver, my finish needs to hold longer, and my swing plane may be slightly off.
Well I also found with the video that unfortunately the range only fires from the grass on Thursdays-Sundays (weather permitting) as the guy yelled at me not two swings into filming my side views. I had to get on the grass because of the green barriers between tee pads blocking the view of the camera which you can see on the driver video. Anyways, I'll be looking forward to filming again once I work on some of the things I see so far, and hopefully after a game this weekend that might put me into the lower 80's?
It was incredible... and now I can't wait to try it out this weekend, I have a feeling I will be redefining each club's average distance, but I'm hoping I will be hitting more greens in regulation.
I took these videos while I was there after a wild hair, and a few minutes cleaning the dust out of my old miniDV camera to get it to work. I was looking into golfTec and the likes, which gave me the idea to explore what my swing looks like from a third person, or at least a camera so I can see myself as a third person. I'm already noticing little things I can work on, the gap between my waist and the club handle on my driver, my finish needs to hold longer, and my swing plane may be slightly off.
Well I also found with the video that unfortunately the range only fires from the grass on Thursdays-Sundays (weather permitting) as the guy yelled at me not two swings into filming my side views. I had to get on the grass because of the green barriers between tee pads blocking the view of the camera which you can see on the driver video. Anyways, I'll be looking forward to filming again once I work on some of the things I see so far, and hopefully after a game this weekend that might put me into the lower 80's?
Sunday, July 5, 2009
89
I'm telling you the video below helped me again twice today... so easy and surprisingly effective...
ok anyway, I shot 89, but I felt like I missed a lot of easy putts, and again I really want to work on my iron play. I don't make divots and I don't want that to set me back later on... I found a video last night that I'm excited about trying out...
Now I'm shooting for 80...
ok anyway, I shot 89, but I felt like I missed a lot of easy putts, and again I really want to work on my iron play. I don't make divots and I don't want that to set me back later on... I found a video last night that I'm excited about trying out...
Now I'm shooting for 80...
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Oh, another video that helped me today for one shot in particular...
http://www.truveo.com/A-Game-Golf-Instruction-Easy-Howto-Hit-the-Draw/id/242183612
Helped me get on the green (would have been green in regulation had I not hit a water hazard just before it) from around a tree about 30 yards ahead with 140 to the green. I somehow got the ball to gently curve around (not a hook but whatever the more slight version of that is...) the tree and onto the green curving from right to left.
Helped me get on the green (would have been green in regulation had I not hit a water hazard just before it) from around a tree about 30 yards ahead with 140 to the green. I somehow got the ball to gently curve around (not a hook but whatever the more slight version of that is...) the tree and onto the green curving from right to left.
90
OK, so I hit a 90 today... and it felt really good... No huge mistakes, nothing over double bogey, only a couple 3 putts... and I'm convinced I would have broke 90 had it not started pouring down raining on the 18th. I thought I could beat the rain and finish out when it started drizzling on the 17th, and I didn't want to leave without finishing if it didn't stop raining... needless to say the rain made a huge difference as I was only able to hit my drive 150 or so yards, and each iron about 20-30 yards shorter than I expected. I was looking to par or at worst bogey, but nothing I can do now.
I've been looking at my stats and the one thing I think I really need to work on can't be seen statistically but I know after thinking about my play today that I need to work on my irons. Anything between 7i-Pw I can usually get within 100 ft. of where I want it, but anything from 6i-woods I don't always know what's going to happen. I don't know how far I can hit them, and I don't know if I'm going to slice or not. I'd like to really hone in on hitting my irons straight maybe sacrifice distance for awhile until I can piece it together. but right now I'm turning my club face considerably to the left each shot to counteract a push/slice, and it still doesn't seem to consistently cover the problem. I've been feeling much more comfortable only swinging at 75% on drives, I didn't hit as many fairways today as I would have liked to but there was at least 4 or 5 holes where I was within a yard or so of the fairway so I wasn't too far off. My pitching was perfect today, and my putts were getting me close, so I couldn't complain. However, what good is a long drive to the fairway if my next show is going to put me 30 yards from the green.
I'll be studying up on Irons tonight to possibly play tomorrow (pending on the weather) but I have a good feeling it will take me a week or so of hitting the range (and not just reading something or watching an on-line video).
Another thing I'm nervous about in my swing is that I don't divot... like at all. I watch the pros and while they may be trying to get backspin on the ball, they leave a divot pretty much every time they're not on the green or teeing off. I just try to barely scrape the ground each time. I have a feeling that has to do with a lot of my mishits and potentially my inconsistencies with my irons. I'll have to continue researching the topic.
I guess my next goal is to break 80... I'm starting to wonder if I could hit par by the end of the summer?
I'd have to change the web address for this blog...
I've been looking at my stats and the one thing I think I really need to work on can't be seen statistically but I know after thinking about my play today that I need to work on my irons. Anything between 7i-Pw I can usually get within 100 ft. of where I want it, but anything from 6i-woods I don't always know what's going to happen. I don't know how far I can hit them, and I don't know if I'm going to slice or not. I'd like to really hone in on hitting my irons straight maybe sacrifice distance for awhile until I can piece it together. but right now I'm turning my club face considerably to the left each shot to counteract a push/slice, and it still doesn't seem to consistently cover the problem. I've been feeling much more comfortable only swinging at 75% on drives, I didn't hit as many fairways today as I would have liked to but there was at least 4 or 5 holes where I was within a yard or so of the fairway so I wasn't too far off. My pitching was perfect today, and my putts were getting me close, so I couldn't complain. However, what good is a long drive to the fairway if my next show is going to put me 30 yards from the green.
I'll be studying up on Irons tonight to possibly play tomorrow (pending on the weather) but I have a good feeling it will take me a week or so of hitting the range (and not just reading something or watching an on-line video).
Another thing I'm nervous about in my swing is that I don't divot... like at all. I watch the pros and while they may be trying to get backspin on the ball, they leave a divot pretty much every time they're not on the green or teeing off. I just try to barely scrape the ground each time. I have a feeling that has to do with a lot of my mishits and potentially my inconsistencies with my irons. I'll have to continue researching the topic.
I guess my next goal is to break 80... I'm starting to wonder if I could hit par by the end of the summer?
I'd have to change the web address for this blog...
Sunday, June 28, 2009
100
Ok so today felt much better, I was comfortable on the range, but hit half as many balls to warm-up... I wish I had hit more on the putting green however, because today was the first day in many weeks where it hadn't rained the day before. This is very important apparently (which I didn't know before today) because the greens move FAST!!! I had twice as many three putts as usual, and I just could not get anything to hole out. I had a lot of fun though, didn't lose as many balls, and my drive seemed to be more straight than usual although my fairway percentage may not be a good indicator. I did finish out strong with a goof 40ft. putt on the 17th to stay close to my goal of 100.
I had a horrible melt down about midway through the back nine when I started passing a group of four guys who were moving kind of slow. I was again by myself, as no one seems to play 18 holes at Flatirons, everyone plays 9 and stops. I was by myself and just got super depressed (I've had a lot on my mind with school, work, money, my girlfriend being in another state, just over-all lonely and stressed out which is difficult as one may have guessed) and shot a 9 and an 8 back to back which was the first two scores above 7 the whole round, which is typically a good indicator for me on how well I'm doing (fairway percentage being the second).
Anyways, I think I'm going to have to take a break this week for an exam and paper that's due on Thursday, but I'm looking forward to playing again next weekend, SHOOTING FOR 90!
I had a horrible melt down about midway through the back nine when I started passing a group of four guys who were moving kind of slow. I was again by myself, as no one seems to play 18 holes at Flatirons, everyone plays 9 and stops. I was by myself and just got super depressed (I've had a lot on my mind with school, work, money, my girlfriend being in another state, just over-all lonely and stressed out which is difficult as one may have guessed) and shot a 9 and an 8 back to back which was the first two scores above 7 the whole round, which is typically a good indicator for me on how well I'm doing (fairway percentage being the second).
Anyways, I think I'm going to have to take a break this week for an exam and paper that's due on Thursday, but I'm looking forward to playing again next weekend, SHOOTING FOR 90!
Saturday, June 27, 2009
115
Ok, so today didn't look so well for me...
I got there early, putted, chipped (which by the way helped tremendously I had a 1.72 putt avg. and 2.61 putt & chipp ag. for the day), looked at the hole instead of the ball on putts (which helped a great deal for longer putts but I can't decide for anything closer than 4 or 5 yards), and tried the bump & run approach on maybe 5 shots (which I ended up either over shooting or undershooting considerably despite practically perfecting it in practice).
I also bought a hybrid and a 60 degree wedge yesterday and I was a little too excited to use. I tried some shots I might not have otherwise that may have given me some unneeded mis-hits. However I may have learned a few valuable lessons from my fellow golfers. Oh did I mention that there was a tournament going on today as well and I over heard that someone shot a 66 this morning... need I say something to shoot for?
[I played with a guy who had a push cart for his bag, with an umbrella holder so he could stay in the shade while walking the course, a claw ball grabber for the butt end of his three ball Odyssey putter, an executive ball grabber thingie (for retrieving balls that land in the water), and any other bells and whistles one can imagine to be found on the golf course or on a golf bag, short of a pin-wheel and streamers. He seemed like a nice guy, but again no one believes me that I've only been playing for a few weeks, so kind of a compliment but also disconcerting because I hate it when people don't believe me.
As learned from the quintessential golf gadget guru today on the course...
1. If you take the game serious and not yourself, you'll be alright...
2. Line up behind the ball aiming at your target and pick a spot 6 in. in front of the ball to aim once lining up for address. This will help give you a much more realistic aim point to get the ball where you want to go.
and 3. (which isn't necessarily from the gadget guru but I still learned it today) I need to work on my iron play.
I had 7 mis-hits (where the ball only went like ten feet in front of me when I meant to hit it like 100+ yards. and 5 penalty strokes/lost balls to water hazards or couldn't find my ball. To sum up my play three quarters of the holes I shot were double bogeys or worse. Tomorrow will be a better day.
I got there early, putted, chipped (which by the way helped tremendously I had a 1.72 putt avg. and 2.61 putt & chipp ag. for the day), looked at the hole instead of the ball on putts (which helped a great deal for longer putts but I can't decide for anything closer than 4 or 5 yards), and tried the bump & run approach on maybe 5 shots (which I ended up either over shooting or undershooting considerably despite practically perfecting it in practice).
I also bought a hybrid and a 60 degree wedge yesterday and I was a little too excited to use. I tried some shots I might not have otherwise that may have given me some unneeded mis-hits. However I may have learned a few valuable lessons from my fellow golfers. Oh did I mention that there was a tournament going on today as well and I over heard that someone shot a 66 this morning... need I say something to shoot for?
[I played with a guy who had a push cart for his bag, with an umbrella holder so he could stay in the shade while walking the course, a claw ball grabber for the butt end of his three ball Odyssey putter, an executive ball grabber thingie (for retrieving balls that land in the water), and any other bells and whistles one can imagine to be found on the golf course or on a golf bag, short of a pin-wheel and streamers. He seemed like a nice guy, but again no one believes me that I've only been playing for a few weeks, so kind of a compliment but also disconcerting because I hate it when people don't believe me.
As learned from the quintessential golf gadget guru today on the course...
1. If you take the game serious and not yourself, you'll be alright...
2. Line up behind the ball aiming at your target and pick a spot 6 in. in front of the ball to aim once lining up for address. This will help give you a much more realistic aim point to get the ball where you want to go.
and 3. (which isn't necessarily from the gadget guru but I still learned it today) I need to work on my iron play.
I had 7 mis-hits (where the ball only went like ten feet in front of me when I meant to hit it like 100+ yards. and 5 penalty strokes/lost balls to water hazards or couldn't find my ball. To sum up my play three quarters of the holes I shot were double bogeys or worse. Tomorrow will be a better day.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
99
Well I broke 100, in just over three weeks... it definitely felt pretty good playing with three guys today from University of Iowa, and they thought I was hustling them (because they couldn't believe I'd only been playing for three weeks). I guess it's kind of a compliment.
Last night while watching the rained out coverage of the U.S. Open I was watching a video help site called Video Jug, they had a few videos that really clicked for me and made sense why I was slicing, so I immediately jumped in my car and drove over to the range 30 minutes before they closed. I tried out the new idea which I think is called a strong grip? I could be wrong, but essentially the person in the video said your left hand should impact the ball at the same angle as when your hand is hanging at rest by your side. I now walk up behind the ball lining up where I intend to drive the ball, then while the club is in my right hand I leave my left arm at rest by my side. I lift my left hand and mimic the left hands grip around the handle (even though the handle is only in my right hand. I then slip the handle into my hand (making sure the club face is lined up perpendicular to my intended line of travel) then place my right hand on the handle properly. It makes my left arm feel like it's on the right side of the club more (the "v" created by my thumb and index finger for my left hand points upwards to the right of my face more than I was before). It seems to limit my range of rotation for my left arm (which may or may not have been causing the slice but it seems to be working). Anyways I was super excited last night after I tried out the new technique so I went to be early to wake up and play... well it paid off, I broke 100 in way less time than I expected. My goal was to break a hundred by the end of the summer, but since I have so much time left in the summer, I'm so excited about the sport, and I don't want to end this blog on two posts, I'm going to create a new goal of trying to break 90 and truly become a bogey golfer (with a 20 or so handicap average) and I'm going to play on at least three other courses than the one I always play on.
We'll see how it goes...
I'm planning on playing again Wednesday, and the next thing I'm going to work on is putting& chipping. Right now I'm averaging about 2.222 per hold putting with about a 3.074 per hole chip & putt. The two techniques I'm going to be trying on Wednesday will be...
1. Looking at the hole instead of the ball on putts - Apparently this has been proven to get the ball closer on putts than just looking at the ball, I think it has to do with distance and being able to better anticipate how hard to hit the ball. I practiced it a little bit today when I got done with eighteen holes (mainly because I played so well, and I was so excited I didn't want to go home yet) and it definitely got me closer. (Example: I would be shooting a say... forty foot putt, when looking at the ball I would end up three putting 4 out of 5 times, where as when looking at the hole I would two putt 2 or 3 times out of five. I was getting much closer each time. Granted I only really feel comfortable making six foot putts about 95% of the time.)
2. Bump & Run - instead of always trying to use a pitching wedge to drop the ball in front of the hole within 20 yards of the pin. I'm going to try a 5 iron or so, and bump it onto the green to roll towards the pin. I tried it once today and over shot the pin, but I was definitely feeling more confident about the trajectory than a say five foot pitching wedge shot where I may blade it, or do something else to screw up the flight path.
3. ACTUALLY practice before the round - Pretty much every time I've gone to sign up to play, I've had at most 20 minutes of warm-up time. As a single golfer it's much easier to fit in on the reservation schedule so they slide me in as soon as possible. On Wednesday I'm going to hit the range first, then go in and sign-up, so the 20 minutes or so I might have will be on the putting green instead of hustling through a small bucket of balls because they just called my name. Hopefully this will get me warmed up more and I will feel more comfortable with my line of sight for putting.
Looking forward to Wednesday!
Last night while watching the rained out coverage of the U.S. Open I was watching a video help site called Video Jug, they had a few videos that really clicked for me and made sense why I was slicing, so I immediately jumped in my car and drove over to the range 30 minutes before they closed. I tried out the new idea which I think is called a strong grip? I could be wrong, but essentially the person in the video said your left hand should impact the ball at the same angle as when your hand is hanging at rest by your side. I now walk up behind the ball lining up where I intend to drive the ball, then while the club is in my right hand I leave my left arm at rest by my side. I lift my left hand and mimic the left hands grip around the handle (even though the handle is only in my right hand. I then slip the handle into my hand (making sure the club face is lined up perpendicular to my intended line of travel) then place my right hand on the handle properly. It makes my left arm feel like it's on the right side of the club more (the "v" created by my thumb and index finger for my left hand points upwards to the right of my face more than I was before). It seems to limit my range of rotation for my left arm (which may or may not have been causing the slice but it seems to be working). Anyways I was super excited last night after I tried out the new technique so I went to be early to wake up and play... well it paid off, I broke 100 in way less time than I expected. My goal was to break a hundred by the end of the summer, but since I have so much time left in the summer, I'm so excited about the sport, and I don't want to end this blog on two posts, I'm going to create a new goal of trying to break 90 and truly become a bogey golfer (with a 20 or so handicap average) and I'm going to play on at least three other courses than the one I always play on.
We'll see how it goes...
I'm planning on playing again Wednesday, and the next thing I'm going to work on is putting& chipping. Right now I'm averaging about 2.222 per hold putting with about a 3.074 per hole chip & putt. The two techniques I'm going to be trying on Wednesday will be...
1. Looking at the hole instead of the ball on putts - Apparently this has been proven to get the ball closer on putts than just looking at the ball, I think it has to do with distance and being able to better anticipate how hard to hit the ball. I practiced it a little bit today when I got done with eighteen holes (mainly because I played so well, and I was so excited I didn't want to go home yet) and it definitely got me closer. (Example: I would be shooting a say... forty foot putt, when looking at the ball I would end up three putting 4 out of 5 times, where as when looking at the hole I would two putt 2 or 3 times out of five. I was getting much closer each time. Granted I only really feel comfortable making six foot putts about 95% of the time.)
2. Bump & Run - instead of always trying to use a pitching wedge to drop the ball in front of the hole within 20 yards of the pin. I'm going to try a 5 iron or so, and bump it onto the green to roll towards the pin. I tried it once today and over shot the pin, but I was definitely feeling more confident about the trajectory than a say five foot pitching wedge shot where I may blade it, or do something else to screw up the flight path.
3. ACTUALLY practice before the round - Pretty much every time I've gone to sign up to play, I've had at most 20 minutes of warm-up time. As a single golfer it's much easier to fit in on the reservation schedule so they slide me in as soon as possible. On Wednesday I'm going to hit the range first, then go in and sign-up, so the 20 minutes or so I might have will be on the putting green instead of hustling through a small bucket of balls because they just called my name. Hopefully this will get me warmed up more and I will feel more comfortable with my line of sight for putting.
Looking forward to Wednesday!
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
108
Well, I wish I had thought of this sooner, but I just stumbled across the idea to blog my progress on the golf course. It all started recently on a trip to Indianapolis with my girlfriend, who landed a job with the NCAA for the summer. In helping her make the move from Boulder we stayed with her family (in Indianapolis) for several days where I was indirectly introduced to the sport, nay the WORLD of Golf...
It all started when Dan, her step-father, needed an extra person for their tee time on the day I was leaving to fly back to Colorado (to start a new job myself). I was dreadfully nervous and the being the realist I am, knew that I would not only embarrass myself terribly, but would impede the game play of Dan's party and likely the entire course. I really wanted to go, as I love spending time with her family and find Dan to be quite an interesting guy, so I made a point to let him know that I would love to another time.
Well the following weekend I came back in town for the Indy 500 (this is another long story that may warrant further blogging in the future but for now my return can best be summed up in the words, "200+ mph"). Anyway, Dan and I tried to somehow get on a course one way or another, but Mother Nature was not about to let this happen so soon, after all I have still never picked up a golf club in my life. In all honesty not two weeks earlier I was telling Alexa (my girlfriend) how I by chance flipped on a golf tournament and never realized how peaceful it was, this was to be prefaced with me wiping sleep out of my eyes, as I had slept through its entirety. However, I was hooked. I may have mentioned before I consider myself a realist but, I also consider myself somewhat of a hobbyist. Alexa can vouch for me, I will try anything once and many times I will focus much of my time and energy into "mastering" this new activity, before finding something else. Now for anyone about to argue that this shows a lack of "stick-to-itiveness" on my part, Alexa can also vouch that I am a "creature of habit" and maintain a strict routine that I seldom stray from on any given day. I digress. Dan and I were unable to put something together on this trip, so I flew back home with an agenda. I was going to figure this thing called golf out.
I'm currently in my third week of playing golf, and today I shot a 108 on 18 holes at Flatirons golf course. It's a public course on Arapahoe Ave in Boulder. Simple course but affordable. I've come a long way, but my goal is to by the end of the summer be able to break 100, and ultimately be a bogey golfer (which is said to be at or around a +20 handicap). 108 for Flatirons is my best and is about +38 (par for this course is 70 from the blue tee boxes). I plan on giving the "low-down" of what I learn each week and things I notice in my gameplay as I progress. Seeing as how I have missed a few important weeks I will try to skim over some key points that may be of interest to someone somewhere.
a few days before May 27th, 2009 - I check out craig's list to see if there are any cheap sets of clubs and what the price range might be. My goal was to not spend more than a hundred bucks on everything I need to learn. Upon finding some potential sets, I decided in my impatience I would check out play-it-again sports. Who I must say has a great selection and price range of used and new clubs. Now keep in mind at any given point on this blog until stated otherwise, I only know what I can find on the internet be it youTube, google, whatever (and I will try and post some of the better articles or sites as I find them). At this point however, I knew nothing. I wanted the most bang for my buck, and stumbled across a set of wilson clubs and bag for I think $75. It had 1,3, and 5 metal woods, 2-9 irons and a pitching wedge. I bought a separate putter. The best thing I bought and it was totally by accident, because I was not consciously looking for this feature but the bag had a stand built-in and in retrospect I believe this to be one of the top five things to have when starting out for any serious player. I will eventually make a top five as I get a chance.
Anyways, I'm all squared away with clubs and everything, bought a hand-full of tees for like $2 I think and out the door the proud new owner of some swingy-whacky thingies...
a day or so before May 27th and the day after I bought the bag of clubs - I went to the driving range, I being the deal-finder I pretend to be, had been reading up on all of the locations around town with driving ranges and deals. Flatirons had a magnetic key deal that gives you a discount on each bucket of balls, so I, knowing I would be trying to learn the sport at least for the summer, took them up on the deal and purchased the magnetic key and quickly went out to get the biggest, baddest bucket of balls I could find. Assuming I would be able to practice as long, and hard as I possibly could. Keep in mind I've seen this sport on TV how hard could it be. Well let's just say I shouldn't have slept through the first tournament I ever watched on TV, because 130 some odd balls later, and my hands are bleeding from blisters. These are lessons 1-5 in Cecil's As-You're-Learning-How-to-Golf guidebook.
#1 - Don't hit 100+ balls on the first day, build up to it (which may or may not be explained in further depth later depending on a book deal)...
#2 - That's why THEY where gloves (THEY being the all-inclusive world of professional anything... in this case golfers)...
#3 - [Which I will probably move to #1 for the book deal we mentioned] If it hurts, stop doing it... (simple I know but, I did not just spend all that money to just give up on a bucket of balls... and besides my mother always told me to clean my plate, and I guess that just carried over to other aspects of my life)
#4 - [I can't take credit for this one, I found in an on-line article] Take time in between swings on the range, you play golf for over four hours hitting almost a hundred balls for eighteen holes, so why go on the range and belt a hundred in fifteen minutes?
#5 -Don't grip the clubs so tight... (again something I learned in an article but only after this painful experience)
Funny thing about this whole situation, the night before I went to the range I googled everything I could on proper stance, technique, grip, everything I could on learning to play golf, nothing spectacular. However, after the blisters and pain, I searched for different criteria, (ie: blisters+golf swing) and found everything I needed to know on golf grips...
I then switched from the baseball grip to the two finger interlock one (with right pinky and left index fingers interlocking) and loosened my grip considerably. I also should probably mention on a side-note that my new job works with kids, which requires fingerprinting to prove I'm not a child offender. Of course needed to be done the week of Blisterfest and they turned out lovely. My thumbprints looked like they were made with Swiss Cheese.
Anyways, needless to say I took a break for a day or so before going back out on the course.
May 27th, 2009 - I must have eaten my Wheaties this day because for some reason I wasn't satiated by just practicing on the range so I went over and signed up for nine holes of golf... boy what a disaster that would turn out to be.
As a single player (meaning alone on the course not in terms of marital-status Lexie, I PROMISE!) I was placed with two gentlemen who had clearly been playing their entire lives. In fact I'm pretty sure it was Jack Nicklaus and Ben Hogan, because I just looked silly. 16 stokes later, and they were politely asking if they could play ahead on the second hole. I mean it took me three strokes to get from the advanced tee box to the beginner, which was maybe 30 yards. I was so embarrassed. I finished out with an 83. Now in case anyone has already forgotten, I was only playing nine holes, which means I was about 48 over par. My score would have been great for 18 holes, that's how poorly I did.
Three days later I tried it again with much more confidence, and with blisters beginning to heal, and I shot a 74 on the same nine holes.
I'm getting tired, and it's rather late, so I'm going to clock out for now, but I'll be back to talk about changes I've made and other little tips I've learned in learning how to play golf.
It all started when Dan, her step-father, needed an extra person for their tee time on the day I was leaving to fly back to Colorado (to start a new job myself). I was dreadfully nervous and the being the realist I am, knew that I would not only embarrass myself terribly, but would impede the game play of Dan's party and likely the entire course. I really wanted to go, as I love spending time with her family and find Dan to be quite an interesting guy, so I made a point to let him know that I would love to another time.
Well the following weekend I came back in town for the Indy 500 (this is another long story that may warrant further blogging in the future but for now my return can best be summed up in the words, "200+ mph"). Anyway, Dan and I tried to somehow get on a course one way or another, but Mother Nature was not about to let this happen so soon, after all I have still never picked up a golf club in my life. In all honesty not two weeks earlier I was telling Alexa (my girlfriend) how I by chance flipped on a golf tournament and never realized how peaceful it was, this was to be prefaced with me wiping sleep out of my eyes, as I had slept through its entirety. However, I was hooked. I may have mentioned before I consider myself a realist but, I also consider myself somewhat of a hobbyist. Alexa can vouch for me, I will try anything once and many times I will focus much of my time and energy into "mastering" this new activity, before finding something else. Now for anyone about to argue that this shows a lack of "stick-to-itiveness" on my part, Alexa can also vouch that I am a "creature of habit" and maintain a strict routine that I seldom stray from on any given day. I digress. Dan and I were unable to put something together on this trip, so I flew back home with an agenda. I was going to figure this thing called golf out.
I'm currently in my third week of playing golf, and today I shot a 108 on 18 holes at Flatirons golf course. It's a public course on Arapahoe Ave in Boulder. Simple course but affordable. I've come a long way, but my goal is to by the end of the summer be able to break 100, and ultimately be a bogey golfer (which is said to be at or around a +20 handicap). 108 for Flatirons is my best and is about +38 (par for this course is 70 from the blue tee boxes). I plan on giving the "low-down" of what I learn each week and things I notice in my gameplay as I progress. Seeing as how I have missed a few important weeks I will try to skim over some key points that may be of interest to someone somewhere.
a few days before May 27th, 2009 - I check out craig's list to see if there are any cheap sets of clubs and what the price range might be. My goal was to not spend more than a hundred bucks on everything I need to learn. Upon finding some potential sets, I decided in my impatience I would check out play-it-again sports. Who I must say has a great selection and price range of used and new clubs. Now keep in mind at any given point on this blog until stated otherwise, I only know what I can find on the internet be it youTube, google, whatever (and I will try and post some of the better articles or sites as I find them). At this point however, I knew nothing. I wanted the most bang for my buck, and stumbled across a set of wilson clubs and bag for I think $75. It had 1,3, and 5 metal woods, 2-9 irons and a pitching wedge. I bought a separate putter. The best thing I bought and it was totally by accident, because I was not consciously looking for this feature but the bag had a stand built-in and in retrospect I believe this to be one of the top five things to have when starting out for any serious player. I will eventually make a top five as I get a chance.
Anyways, I'm all squared away with clubs and everything, bought a hand-full of tees for like $2 I think and out the door the proud new owner of some swingy-whacky thingies...
a day or so before May 27th and the day after I bought the bag of clubs - I went to the driving range, I being the deal-finder I pretend to be, had been reading up on all of the locations around town with driving ranges and deals. Flatirons had a magnetic key deal that gives you a discount on each bucket of balls, so I, knowing I would be trying to learn the sport at least for the summer, took them up on the deal and purchased the magnetic key and quickly went out to get the biggest, baddest bucket of balls I could find. Assuming I would be able to practice as long, and hard as I possibly could. Keep in mind I've seen this sport on TV how hard could it be. Well let's just say I shouldn't have slept through the first tournament I ever watched on TV, because 130 some odd balls later, and my hands are bleeding from blisters. These are lessons 1-5 in Cecil's As-You're-Learning-How-to-Golf guidebook.
#1 - Don't hit 100+ balls on the first day, build up to it (which may or may not be explained in further depth later depending on a book deal)...
#2 - That's why THEY where gloves (THEY being the all-inclusive world of professional anything... in this case golfers)...
#3 - [Which I will probably move to #1 for the book deal we mentioned] If it hurts, stop doing it... (simple I know but, I did not just spend all that money to just give up on a bucket of balls... and besides my mother always told me to clean my plate, and I guess that just carried over to other aspects of my life)
#4 - [I can't take credit for this one, I found in an on-line article] Take time in between swings on the range, you play golf for over four hours hitting almost a hundred balls for eighteen holes, so why go on the range and belt a hundred in fifteen minutes?
#5 -Don't grip the clubs so tight... (again something I learned in an article but only after this painful experience)
Funny thing about this whole situation, the night before I went to the range I googled everything I could on proper stance, technique, grip, everything I could on learning to play golf, nothing spectacular. However, after the blisters and pain, I searched for different criteria, (ie: blisters+golf swing) and found everything I needed to know on golf grips...
I then switched from the baseball grip to the two finger interlock one (with right pinky and left index fingers interlocking) and loosened my grip considerably. I also should probably mention on a side-note that my new job works with kids, which requires fingerprinting to prove I'm not a child offender. Of course needed to be done the week of Blisterfest and they turned out lovely. My thumbprints looked like they were made with Swiss Cheese.
Anyways, needless to say I took a break for a day or so before going back out on the course.
May 27th, 2009 - I must have eaten my Wheaties this day because for some reason I wasn't satiated by just practicing on the range so I went over and signed up for nine holes of golf... boy what a disaster that would turn out to be.
As a single player (meaning alone on the course not in terms of marital-status Lexie, I PROMISE!) I was placed with two gentlemen who had clearly been playing their entire lives. In fact I'm pretty sure it was Jack Nicklaus and Ben Hogan, because I just looked silly. 16 stokes later, and they were politely asking if they could play ahead on the second hole. I mean it took me three strokes to get from the advanced tee box to the beginner, which was maybe 30 yards. I was so embarrassed. I finished out with an 83. Now in case anyone has already forgotten, I was only playing nine holes, which means I was about 48 over par. My score would have been great for 18 holes, that's how poorly I did.
Three days later I tried it again with much more confidence, and with blisters beginning to heal, and I shot a 74 on the same nine holes.
I'm getting tired, and it's rather late, so I'm going to clock out for now, but I'll be back to talk about changes I've made and other little tips I've learned in learning how to play golf.
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