This has been the summer of hitting off the tee.
I made the decision to devote the entire summer to hitting drives in the fairway.
Last year I was lucky to end up in the fairway once every nine holes, so a goal of hitting half the fairways seemed pretty optimistic.
This goal has also changed the way I've played golf this summer.
I've been hitting multiple balls off the tee. I've gotten to the point where I can re-load and hit 3 balls faster than most people can hit one.
Look, no one hates slow play more than me. I don't like waiting to hit, especially if I've just hit a bad shot, so I only hit multiple tee shots if:
a. there's no one behind us, or
b. the group in front of us is still too close for my boys to hit.
This strategy allows me to hit twice as many tee shots and work on my game while we're playing.
I've also changed the way I keep score.
Using the empty rows of the score card I put an "F" under each hole where I end up in the fairway along with the distance. Once I get on the green I write either "PFP" (Putting for Par) or "PFB" (Putting for birdie) or just "P" or "B". If I'm putting for bogey or worse I just leave the box blank.
I still write down the score, and I still get pissed off if I miss a par or birdie putt - but, I'm not working on my short game this summer so I don't get too worked up about it.
Now when I'm having a beer after the round I can see:
a. how many fairways I hit,
b. calculate the average length of my drives,
c. note my long and short drives.
I feel this method gives me a better indication of my progress.
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Some catching up
I've been thinking about golf a lot recently and recording my thoughts and insights, but not always on this blog.
After numerous dead ends I finally think I'm heading down the right path.
My intention from the beginning was to record everything I tried, good or bad, in this blog, so today I'm going to copy a bunch of stuff I had written elsewhere so that this will be a more complete record of my progress.
Here it is....
7-27-11:
Played twice last weekend, once at Prestwick Saturday morning and 9 holes at Dwan around noon on Sunday.
Only got in 13 holes at Prestwick because of the weather, but it was free because of Scott's connection to the Van Duesen guy (Matt Anderson?).
I have been hitting the ball well. My average drive at Dwan was 230. I hit it 250 twice and at least 200 every time. Only had 2 drives that didn't hit the fairway & immediately reloaded after those. Irons are also going straight - but not getting good distance.
All-in-all, my best summer of golf.
7-11-11:
Played twice over the holidays, once at Moss Ridge in Mich, and yesterday at Dawn - just nine holes as it was so god-dammed hot we about expired on the course.
I have been hitting the ball pretty straight, both off the tee and from the fairway.
Actually, now that I think of it, I should be pretty happy with the way I'm playing.
Most of my balls are going straight and landing in the fairway - playing very few from the right rough any more. I am now hitting multiple balls off the tee. If the first drive isn't to my liking I'll immediately re-load and hit another - so I usually have at least two shots to choose from.
I'd guess that 80% of my drives fall into the 190 to 210 range. If I can get the ball to draw just the tiniest bit I can get closer to 230.
Although I'm hitting my irons pretty straight off the fairway, they just don't seem to be going very far. I've gone up 2 clubs from what I used to hit, I'm hitting a 9-iron from 125 yds now, and can't seem to hit anything longer that about 150.
I've also adapted a new, improved chipping method. If I could eliminate the complete miss-hits, ie: chips that only go 2 yds, topped balls, etc, and putt better, I'd probably be pretty close to bogey golf.
My drives seem to work if I concentrate on keeping my arms relaxed, and I hit my irons straight if I rotate my hips. When I'm hitting my irons I don't try to snap my hips like I used to, but just try to start the swing with a smooth rotation - and I don't think I hit a single slice off the fairway yesterday.
There are a couple of things I want to try at my next range session:
1. working on just the release - letting my wrists turn over.
2. starting my drive with the same smooth turn that I'm using on the fairway. In fact, I want to just try and get my hips out of the way before I swing and see what happens.
6-27-11:
Played Bluff Creek w/ the boys on Sat.
First drive went about 200yds straight down the middle. Mixed results after that. Lots of drives fading to the right and short. Last drive of the day went about 250 and straight. Still trying to nail it down.
Scott & I went to the range yesterday afternoon. I hit some good drives when I stayed totally relaxed - sometimes I feel like I mastered the technique on my very first drive but I need to hit a bucket of balls to convince myself that it really works.
I'm still optimistic, hopefully I'm at a plateau that will eventually give way to more progress.
I'm still confident that I will be able to consistently drive the ball 230-250 and straight.
Right now I have the sense that I need to concentrate on a longer, down the line, follow through.
Also, at the range, I need to concentrate on hitting a target.
6-20-11:
Played Summit in Cannon Falls yesterday with Scott & Steven; Mary came along for the ride (literally). Two trips to the driving range had me convinced that I had grooved in the 220yd loose arm drive. I did hit just about every fairway - although I took many mulligans - but I was only hitting it about 185 yds. Got a new driver for Father's Day and immediately took it to the range to try it out. At the end of the bucket, after the boys kind of egged me on, I really tried to crank the last 4 balls. The first 2 sliced, but the last 2 went straight as an arrow - and long. So now I don't know. I would have been happy with 220 and straight, but not 185. I'm not sure if I can master the 260yd crank.
I am convinced of two things:
a. passive arms,
b. torso rotation.
Maybe I should add a third thing: stop thinking. As soon as I stand above the ball and start thinking about the process, all the gears in the machine start to grind to a halt. I need to keep loose and just hit the ball. The problem is that right now I'm kind of going back and forth between working on the mechanics and trying not to think about the process.
6-06-11:
Steven & I played 9 holes at hidden greens Saturday morning (Scott on call). Usual problems hitting the ball - however - I did hit a couple of 220 yd drives using Scott's driver. I reverted to my loose arm, relaxed wrists, abbreviated back swing method. I think that I end up getting at least 80% of the distance I might get on a full swing and am able to hit the ball pretty much dead straight. This method is worth perfecting at the driving range - both with the driver and my irons, kind of like a 2nd server in tennis, you want to have the confidence that it will always go in - or in this case, always land in the fairway.
5-23-11:
let me also write something about golf here.
Golf ball anxiety.
My swing is starting to feel natural, relaxed.
Put a golf ball in front of me and now all my attention is focused on hitting the golf ball.
Now I don't have a relaxed swing because I'm worried about whether I'm going to hit the ball.
I need to learn to set-up to the ball and then forget about the ball and let my swing happen.
I'm also starting to focus on letting my right arm relax and straighten during the downswing - this is what causes the wrists to un-hinge and release.
After numerous dead ends I finally think I'm heading down the right path.
My intention from the beginning was to record everything I tried, good or bad, in this blog, so today I'm going to copy a bunch of stuff I had written elsewhere so that this will be a more complete record of my progress.
Here it is....
7-27-11:
Played twice last weekend, once at Prestwick Saturday morning and 9 holes at Dwan around noon on Sunday.
Only got in 13 holes at Prestwick because of the weather, but it was free because of Scott's connection to the Van Duesen guy (Matt Anderson?).
I have been hitting the ball well. My average drive at Dwan was 230. I hit it 250 twice and at least 200 every time. Only had 2 drives that didn't hit the fairway & immediately reloaded after those. Irons are also going straight - but not getting good distance.
All-in-all, my best summer of golf.
7-11-11:
Played twice over the holidays, once at Moss Ridge in Mich, and yesterday at Dawn - just nine holes as it was so god-dammed hot we about expired on the course.
I have been hitting the ball pretty straight, both off the tee and from the fairway.
Actually, now that I think of it, I should be pretty happy with the way I'm playing.
Most of my balls are going straight and landing in the fairway - playing very few from the right rough any more. I am now hitting multiple balls off the tee. If the first drive isn't to my liking I'll immediately re-load and hit another - so I usually have at least two shots to choose from.
I'd guess that 80% of my drives fall into the 190 to 210 range. If I can get the ball to draw just the tiniest bit I can get closer to 230.
Although I'm hitting my irons pretty straight off the fairway, they just don't seem to be going very far. I've gone up 2 clubs from what I used to hit, I'm hitting a 9-iron from 125 yds now, and can't seem to hit anything longer that about 150.
I've also adapted a new, improved chipping method. If I could eliminate the complete miss-hits, ie: chips that only go 2 yds, topped balls, etc, and putt better, I'd probably be pretty close to bogey golf.
My drives seem to work if I concentrate on keeping my arms relaxed, and I hit my irons straight if I rotate my hips. When I'm hitting my irons I don't try to snap my hips like I used to, but just try to start the swing with a smooth rotation - and I don't think I hit a single slice off the fairway yesterday.
There are a couple of things I want to try at my next range session:
1. working on just the release - letting my wrists turn over.
2. starting my drive with the same smooth turn that I'm using on the fairway. In fact, I want to just try and get my hips out of the way before I swing and see what happens.
6-27-11:
Played Bluff Creek w/ the boys on Sat.
First drive went about 200yds straight down the middle. Mixed results after that. Lots of drives fading to the right and short. Last drive of the day went about 250 and straight. Still trying to nail it down.
Scott & I went to the range yesterday afternoon. I hit some good drives when I stayed totally relaxed - sometimes I feel like I mastered the technique on my very first drive but I need to hit a bucket of balls to convince myself that it really works.
I'm still optimistic, hopefully I'm at a plateau that will eventually give way to more progress.
I'm still confident that I will be able to consistently drive the ball 230-250 and straight.
Right now I have the sense that I need to concentrate on a longer, down the line, follow through.
Also, at the range, I need to concentrate on hitting a target.
6-20-11:
Played Summit in Cannon Falls yesterday with Scott & Steven; Mary came along for the ride (literally). Two trips to the driving range had me convinced that I had grooved in the 220yd loose arm drive. I did hit just about every fairway - although I took many mulligans - but I was only hitting it about 185 yds. Got a new driver for Father's Day and immediately took it to the range to try it out. At the end of the bucket, after the boys kind of egged me on, I really tried to crank the last 4 balls. The first 2 sliced, but the last 2 went straight as an arrow - and long. So now I don't know. I would have been happy with 220 and straight, but not 185. I'm not sure if I can master the 260yd crank.
I am convinced of two things:
a. passive arms,
b. torso rotation.
Maybe I should add a third thing: stop thinking. As soon as I stand above the ball and start thinking about the process, all the gears in the machine start to grind to a halt. I need to keep loose and just hit the ball. The problem is that right now I'm kind of going back and forth between working on the mechanics and trying not to think about the process.
6-06-11:
Steven & I played 9 holes at hidden greens Saturday morning (Scott on call). Usual problems hitting the ball - however - I did hit a couple of 220 yd drives using Scott's driver. I reverted to my loose arm, relaxed wrists, abbreviated back swing method. I think that I end up getting at least 80% of the distance I might get on a full swing and am able to hit the ball pretty much dead straight. This method is worth perfecting at the driving range - both with the driver and my irons, kind of like a 2nd server in tennis, you want to have the confidence that it will always go in - or in this case, always land in the fairway.
5-23-11:
let me also write something about golf here.
Golf ball anxiety.
My swing is starting to feel natural, relaxed.
Put a golf ball in front of me and now all my attention is focused on hitting the golf ball.
Now I don't have a relaxed swing because I'm worried about whether I'm going to hit the ball.
I need to learn to set-up to the ball and then forget about the ball and let my swing happen.
I'm also starting to focus on letting my right arm relax and straighten during the downswing - this is what causes the wrists to un-hinge and release.
Monday, July 25, 2011
The Road to Sucess
The road to success is long and fraught with peril - but for the first time in my golfing life I think I'm on it.
I've had three pretty decent rounds in a row, going back to Moss Ridge in Mich. over the 4th.
After playing nine at Emerald Green two weeks ago I realized that I'd played 27 holes without losing a ball.
Thirteen holes at Prestwick and nine at Dwan bring that total up to 49.
Last summer I would have lost at least 12 balls during that stretch, guaranteed.
In short, things are going well on the golf front.
Some details from yesterdays round at Dwan:
7/7 fairways hit - although I had to reload twice.
Average drive: 230 yds.
Long drive: 250 yds (twice, although one was downhill).
Short drive: 215
Pars: 3 (I parred both par 3's and one of the 4's)
I was putting for either par or birdie on all the other holes except one, the par 5 number 12, where it took three six foot chips to get on the green from 25 yards out.
Dwan is not a tought track, but, my goal this summer has been long and straight off the tee.
Well, straight off the tee anyway. By long I mean 240+, but I'm pretty happy with 230.
After 41 years of crappy golf, I think I might have it figured out.
I've had three pretty decent rounds in a row, going back to Moss Ridge in Mich. over the 4th.
After playing nine at Emerald Green two weeks ago I realized that I'd played 27 holes without losing a ball.
Thirteen holes at Prestwick and nine at Dwan bring that total up to 49.
Last summer I would have lost at least 12 balls during that stretch, guaranteed.
In short, things are going well on the golf front.
Some details from yesterdays round at Dwan:
7/7 fairways hit - although I had to reload twice.
Average drive: 230 yds.
Long drive: 250 yds (twice, although one was downhill).
Short drive: 215
Pars: 3 (I parred both par 3's and one of the 4's)
I was putting for either par or birdie on all the other holes except one, the par 5 number 12, where it took three six foot chips to get on the green from 25 yards out.
Dwan is not a tought track, but, my goal this summer has been long and straight off the tee.
Well, straight off the tee anyway. By long I mean 240+, but I'm pretty happy with 230.
After 41 years of crappy golf, I think I might have it figured out.
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