Followed my new coaches guidance and only hit 50 balls on the range yesterday, instead of my usual 200.
Hit the ball ok-ish. Wasn't quite striking the ball as crisply as I was on Monday. Still getting good distance and accuracy, felt I wasn't quite getting forward enough and compressing the ball. The bad shots were all slightly fat.
Back up again in a bit. Again only 50 balls.
WGC tomorrow, Blue Monster at Doral.
I might have a flutter on GMac and Kaymer. Both plenty long and accurate, which I think is a must round that place. Rory might be in with a shout if he can string 4 rounds together.
Not sure about Westwood our Poulter this week though. Westwood hasn't shown any consistency yet and I don't think Poulter is long enough for this place.
But we'll see.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Great Lesson Yesterday
Second lesson with Brian yesterday.
Slight correction in the grip needed, was a little to strong now, but easily sorted. And slightly less forward lean on the shaft.
We spent more time on getting the arms and hands out the swing as well as driving the right shoulder through on the down swing, this gets me in a much better impact position. My weight, and body, is much further forward now, hands aren't getting ahead of the body either.
I found to start I was trying to guide my right shoulder shoulder through, which didn't really get me forward, I found if I really drove the shoulder through it really got me forward and a more powerful hit as well.
The swing also feels a lot more natural now, before it felt like I was having to manipulate my hands, arms, body to get into the right positions. It now feels with the grip change, and taking my hands and arms out my swing, it just seems to flow.
Brian has actually told me to practice less. He said maybe hit 50 balls today, 50 tomorrow and none on Thursday. He just wants me getting the feeling of the swing, that's all.
And repeat the swing with a range of clubs, from wedges all the way to driver and keep swapping so I don't get settled.
Slight correction in the grip needed, was a little to strong now, but easily sorted. And slightly less forward lean on the shaft.
We spent more time on getting the arms and hands out the swing as well as driving the right shoulder through on the down swing, this gets me in a much better impact position. My weight, and body, is much further forward now, hands aren't getting ahead of the body either.
I found to start I was trying to guide my right shoulder shoulder through, which didn't really get me forward, I found if I really drove the shoulder through it really got me forward and a more powerful hit as well.
The swing also feels a lot more natural now, before it felt like I was having to manipulate my hands, arms, body to get into the right positions. It now feels with the grip change, and taking my hands and arms out my swing, it just seems to flow.
Brian has actually told me to practice less. He said maybe hit 50 balls today, 50 tomorrow and none on Thursday. He just wants me getting the feeling of the swing, that's all.
And repeat the swing with a range of clubs, from wedges all the way to driver and keep swapping so I don't get settled.
Monday, March 7, 2011
Signs of Improvement
Interesting round on Sunday. Shot 91, but that's with a 9 and an 8 on the card at 2 Par 4's.
Also made a Bridy for the first time in a month on the Par 5 14, into the wind as well. I was making 1 a round, or at least every other round, last year.
Still fighting to keep my hands and arms quiet, but it's comming.
My bad shots seem to be pushes and pulls rather than slices now, I seem to hit the ball more solidly now. Direction is ok, but the really destructive shots were costing me big.
The 9 was an OB on the 2nd when I pulled my teeshot. Then hit a good 3rd and 4th, thined a bunker shot alost OB again and left myself a horrible downhill chip from rough and left it short.
The 8 down to a thinned bunker shot again. Then again I shouldn't have been in the bunker because I duffed my chip over it. Dumb ass.
I'm going to see if i can get another lesson later. If I can't then I'll levae it until next week as I'm playing Woburn Friday and want to give it a few days to incorporate any chages.
At the moment I have a usable game that should get me round Woburn. I Hope.
Also made a Bridy for the first time in a month on the Par 5 14, into the wind as well. I was making 1 a round, or at least every other round, last year.
Still fighting to keep my hands and arms quiet, but it's comming.
My bad shots seem to be pushes and pulls rather than slices now, I seem to hit the ball more solidly now. Direction is ok, but the really destructive shots were costing me big.
The 9 was an OB on the 2nd when I pulled my teeshot. Then hit a good 3rd and 4th, thined a bunker shot alost OB again and left myself a horrible downhill chip from rough and left it short.
The 8 down to a thinned bunker shot again. Then again I shouldn't have been in the bunker because I duffed my chip over it. Dumb ass.
I'm going to see if i can get another lesson later. If I can't then I'll levae it until next week as I'm playing Woburn Friday and want to give it a few days to incorporate any chages.
At the moment I have a usable game that should get me round Woburn. I Hope.
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Range and a Round
Spending some time on the range the last few days trying to get my arms out of the swing.
Last night it seemed to click into place most of the time. Swing has gone a bit flat as I'm just concentrating on swinging around my spine, not trying to do anything with the arms.
As a result when I get it right I hit a nice draw :-) Feels a bit like my old swing last season.
Played Luton Hoo today. Quite a long course off the Whites, 6810, Par 73.
Played ok in spells. Had a good front 9, out in 42, but an awful back 9 of 50. The new swing seemed to be working well on the front, but for some reason just couldn't get it going on the back. Hands and arms started taking over and pushing and slicing everything right.
Loosing two balls on the back 9 from nowhere probably didn't help. And a couple of silly 3 putts.
But a step in the right direct,
Out again tomorrow at my track.
Last night it seemed to click into place most of the time. Swing has gone a bit flat as I'm just concentrating on swinging around my spine, not trying to do anything with the arms.
As a result when I get it right I hit a nice draw :-) Feels a bit like my old swing last season.
Played Luton Hoo today. Quite a long course off the Whites, 6810, Par 73.
Played ok in spells. Had a good front 9, out in 42, but an awful back 9 of 50. The new swing seemed to be working well on the front, but for some reason just couldn't get it going on the back. Hands and arms started taking over and pushing and slicing everything right.
Loosing two balls on the back 9 from nowhere probably didn't help. And a couple of silly 3 putts.
But a step in the right direct,
Out again tomorrow at my track.
| Luton Hoo Hotel Golf & Spa | |||||||||||||||||||||
| HOLE | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | OUT | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | IN | TOTAL |
| Default | 422 | 497 | 354 | 160 | 376 | 379 | 151 | 534 | 359 | 3,232 | 366 | 490 | 389 | 246 | 345 | 176 | 485 | 478 | 337 | 3,312 | 6,544 |
| Par | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 36 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 37 | 73 |
| Score | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 42 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 5 | 50 | 92 |
| Fairway |  |  | | | | | | 57.1% |  | | | | |  | | 57.1% | 57.1% | ||||
| Distance off Tee | 221 | 205 | 221 | 225 | 218 | 227 | 186 | 226 | 215 | 213.5 | 215.8 | ||||||||||
| Putts | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1.7 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2.3 | 2 |
| Total Putts | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 15 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 21 | 36 |
| GIR | | | | | | | | | | 22.2% | | | | | | | | | | 22.2% | 22.2% |
Albatross
Eagle
Birdie
Par
Bogey
Double Bogey
Other
Thursday, March 3, 2011
The Lesson with the New Coach.
Interesting to say the least.
Mix of good and Bad news.
Good news is all my problems emanate from a weak grip, which has resulted in me using my hands and arms to square the club face up in the downswing.
So, grip, easy fix. Yep. Now the big problem. I've got so used to using my hands and arms in the swing I can't stop using them with the new grip. Brian, my new coach, want's be to just swing with my body and let the hands and arms come along. I'm really struggling stopping my hands and arms getting involved too much. This then stops weight transfer and release as well. All the things I've been struggling with.
All of a sudden the light bulb has come on above my head.
I spent some time on the range after the lesson, and some more time today. Starting to come, but I have more swings with my hands and arms getting involved than without. So need to work on that over the next week.
One other good bit of news is he'd rather have someone like me who has got to a 13 handicap with poor technique than someone who had good technique. His point being is that if you'd got to 13 with good technique and can't progress any further then it's talent that limiting you. There's not much he can do.
Basically what he's said is, if I've managed to get to 13 with bad technique then I've obviously got talent and it's the talent that has compensated for bad technique. So if he sorts out the technique, and that combined with the talent, then we should see some real improvements.
So feeling kind of positive, although I know I've got some work to do.
Big question now is can I get a usable swing together for the Woburn trip next Friday ? Only time will tell.
Mix of good and Bad news.
Good news is all my problems emanate from a weak grip, which has resulted in me using my hands and arms to square the club face up in the downswing.
So, grip, easy fix. Yep. Now the big problem. I've got so used to using my hands and arms in the swing I can't stop using them with the new grip. Brian, my new coach, want's be to just swing with my body and let the hands and arms come along. I'm really struggling stopping my hands and arms getting involved too much. This then stops weight transfer and release as well. All the things I've been struggling with.
All of a sudden the light bulb has come on above my head.
I spent some time on the range after the lesson, and some more time today. Starting to come, but I have more swings with my hands and arms getting involved than without. So need to work on that over the next week.
One other good bit of news is he'd rather have someone like me who has got to a 13 handicap with poor technique than someone who had good technique. His point being is that if you'd got to 13 with good technique and can't progress any further then it's talent that limiting you. There's not much he can do.
Basically what he's said is, if I've managed to get to 13 with bad technique then I've obviously got talent and it's the talent that has compensated for bad technique. So if he sorts out the technique, and that combined with the talent, then we should see some real improvements.
So feeling kind of positive, although I know I've got some work to do.
Big question now is can I get a usable swing together for the Woburn trip next Friday ? Only time will tell.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Starting with a New Coach
I've decided to give a new coach a try. I've worked with my current pro for about 2 years now and he's done a great job in that time getting me from 24 down to 13.
I've been working hard for 4 months now with him over the winter, but it's just not happening. There are signs of improvement, when I say improvement I don't mean improvement beyond my 13 hcp, I'm probably playing to a 20 hcp at the moment !!!
That's the problem. I really should be at least back shooting around my handicap by now, and I'm not.
So after a lot of soul searching I've decided to try another coach. I've thought about it quite a bit for the last month and have decided enough is enough.
I don't know if it's him or me, probably me but I can't change me, but I can change him.
I feel quite guilty after all he's got me down to 13 and I do really get on with him.
The guy I'm going to is a bit further away down in Welwyn. Brian Lewis, my m8 Dave see's him and I've heard good things about him from other people.
His son Tom is apparently one of the UK's top raked amateurs and is near turning pro.
Not long until the start of the season (4-6 weeks), so I needed to make the decision now really if I stand any chance of implementing any changes in time.
I've been working hard for 4 months now with him over the winter, but it's just not happening. There are signs of improvement, when I say improvement I don't mean improvement beyond my 13 hcp, I'm probably playing to a 20 hcp at the moment !!!
That's the problem. I really should be at least back shooting around my handicap by now, and I'm not.
So after a lot of soul searching I've decided to try another coach. I've thought about it quite a bit for the last month and have decided enough is enough.
I don't know if it's him or me, probably me but I can't change me, but I can change him.
I feel quite guilty after all he's got me down to 13 and I do really get on with him.
The guy I'm going to is a bit further away down in Welwyn. Brian Lewis, my m8 Dave see's him and I've heard good things about him from other people.
His son Tom is apparently one of the UK's top raked amateurs and is near turning pro.
Not long until the start of the season (4-6 weeks), so I needed to make the decision now really if I stand any chance of implementing any changes in time.
Friday, February 25, 2011
Crappy Crappy Round
I've got today off so played this morning with my m8's Dave and Mark.
Started really well, swing feeling great. Smooth, good tempo and in balance. Striking the ball really nicely, driving straight, crisp wedges and putter working well.
by the time I walk off the 4th I'm 1 under my hcp, with the 5th, 6th and 7th being good par opportunities, 7th is a good birdy optionality really. But for some unknown reason my swing just deserts me. Pretty much for the rest of the round. I scramble it around, chipped ok, putted ok, but nothing would drop.
Out in 44, back in 49 for a shocking 93. tbh, it wasn't too bad, just nothing really happened. it was all fractions off.
So a little frustrated.
So this afternoon I'm going to go see Paul at the cinema. That should cheer me up.
Started really well, swing feeling great. Smooth, good tempo and in balance. Striking the ball really nicely, driving straight, crisp wedges and putter working well.
by the time I walk off the 4th I'm 1 under my hcp, with the 5th, 6th and 7th being good par opportunities, 7th is a good birdy optionality really. But for some unknown reason my swing just deserts me. Pretty much for the rest of the round. I scramble it around, chipped ok, putted ok, but nothing would drop.
Out in 44, back in 49 for a shocking 93. tbh, it wasn't too bad, just nothing really happened. it was all fractions off.
So a little frustrated.
So this afternoon I'm going to go see Paul at the cinema. That should cheer me up.
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