Latest Update

Played final comp of the year. Got another .1 back so finished the year of 12.6. Not the best of years after last year.

Work continues for next year.

Screenshots below are my swing in June and my swing last week..

As you can see I'm getting my hands much higher, above my shoulders, and the club is much steeper on the back swing.

Glen want's me taking the club up on a much steeper angle so it almost points inside the ball on the way back and then outside on the way down. Apparently that will stop me coming over the top. But all it's doing right now is making me come in steep and chopping the ball.

So at the moment everything is starting right and going right most of the time. So more work to do there.

However my short game is shit hot right now. Put a wedge in my hands from anywhere within 100 yards and I'm sticking it into 1 putt range. It's the only thing that is keeping my scores reasonable.

Last two Sundays shot 83 and 82 respectively. That's with driving the ball all over the place and my way wood irons. I think both Sundays I only hit about 16% GIR !!! But still put a score together.

Drove the ball better this Sunday when I reverted to my older, flatter driver swing. Hit every fairway on the back 9!!

So I'm going to get this swing working with my irons first, then try and transition my driver.

My last lesson was about 3 weeks ago now and I think I probably need another week on the range with this change before I go for another. My backswing is now looking much better, but I can't seem to get the club on the right plane on the downswing. So I think the next lesson will need to look at the transition.

Finally Happened

After fighting it for the past 3 months it finally happened.

Got that .1 back to take me to 12.5, playing off 13 now. Back where I started at the beginning of the year.

Scored a pitiful 27 points in the October Trophy a week back.

To be honest I'd decided not to play any more comps and start working on my swing for next year. I'd had a couple of lessons with Glen and made some changes, things felt OK, put in a good amount of practice in the week so I decided to play in the comp.

It was just shockingly bad.

Everything started right and carried on going right with a push slice. Good chipping and putting kept me in it for a bit but the inevitable happened and I just put too much pressure on my short game and started to miss a few putts.

So I'm now playing off 13.

There's another comp this weekend. Last one of the year and I'm going to play. Worst that can happen is I get another .1 back and am still playing off 13, best, I might put a round together and get myself cut back down to playing off 12.

Started the year playing off 13 (13.4) might finish the year off 13 as well. Bit depressing even though my exact is 0.9 lower.

I'll cover the recent changes in my next post so you can see what's going on.

100th Post

Couple of practice sessions this week just concentrating on keeping my legs quiet.

Help the Hero's Charity comp today at the club.

Team event. Shotgun start off the yellows. 4 players a team, best 2 stableford scores a hole score. But we only had 3 players which makes it a bit tough :-(

We put together a pretty good score of 80 considering we only had 3 players. I think the winning score was something like 91.

I played pretty good. I was the lowest hcp in the team off 12. The other two were off 24 and 28 and we dovetailed our score pretty well. I kept my score rolling along and when one of the other guys didn't score, the other did.

Individually I shot and 81 which is 2 under net, with two birdies on the drivable par 4 Th and the long par 3 Th. 17 was pleasing as it's a tough hole, even off the yellows. Still 175 yards !!!

Drove the ball OK. Had a few thinned iron shots, but in general they were ok. And again neat and tidy on and around the greens with no 3 putts.

So pretty pleased. Plenty of work still to do. But feel it's going in the right direction.

Bit of practice this week and I might play the comp next Saturday if I can get a pass from the girlfriend. If not then it's be a round with Dave on Sunday.

Bit of Practice and a Round

Hadn't had much time to practice the new change to keep my feet planted on the floor this week. Managed to get up the range Friday afternoon for 45 mins and hit 50 balls, just focussing on keeping my feet firmly planted to the floor in my back swing and maintaining my knee angle.

It still feels a bit odd as it restricts my backswing and feels like I get no turn, but I know there is more turn there than I can feel.

Started just hitting a few wedges then started to jump around the clubs to see how the change feels.

My shot shape seems to have changed, my bad ones are all going left now. I'm either drawing it, or the bad on is a pull.

Played Sunday and hit 25 on the range beforehand to warm up. All of a sudden my old shot shape is back, fade, or slice. But I'm still keeping my feet down. Odd.

During the round the only swing though I had was keeping my legs in control. tbh, I didn't strike the ball that well. Sliced a lot of drives and irons.

Thank got my scrambling and short game was spot on.

Had a pretty good front 9 up until the 8th. Was only 1 over gross. Hit straight drive right up the middle. 8i into the green and pulled it slightly, hit the side of the bank next to the green and shot sideways like a bullet into some knee high rough. Searched but couldn't find it. Took stroke and distance and ended up with a 7 (triple Bogey). Bogeyed the last and ended up 5 over gross 40, 1 under nett.

Back 9 was a horror show. With a 10 and an 8 on my card I came back in 50 for a 90. Just a combination of 2-3 bad shots that I got heavily punished for and my short game wasn't quite as sharp.

tbh, after the score started to leak away I don't think I concentrated as much around the greens and that probably cost me 3-4 shots.

I managed to just focus on the change during the round and not let other swing thoughts come in. I suppose it's not a bad round with a new change after probably hitting less that 100 balls with it.

I'll probably try and get a couple more range sessions in this week to try and bed it in, then go back and see Glen maybe next week to work out what to work on next.

New Coach

Made the change covered in a previous post.

Bumped into Glen up the range on Monday and had a good chat with him about what was going on and what we could do and got a good feeling that we could work together.

It's a shame as I liked working with Bryan, but it's just to much of a problem getting to see him given the distance and diaries.

I had my first lesson with Glen today with him and went really well.

Went though a bit of my golfing background and what I was looking to do. Then done the usual video swing anaylsis. Usual stuff for a first lesson.

He confirmed my setup was pretty good. Good grip, posture, ball postion  etc.

He then started to look at the swing and spotted something he had never seen before in 20 years of coaching.

What I'm doing is as soon as I take the club away both my heals come off the floor and I'm on my toes, this continues and my right leg straightens, which allows my hips to turn to far back and also allows me to rotate my upper body too far. In my backswing I develop a huge turn, but no real resistance between my upper and lower body.

We worked on keeping my feet planted and keeping flex in my right leg. Now when I take the club away I can really feel the resistance beetween my upper and lower body. It feels like I get no turn at all, but I am getting a full 90 degrees.

After a few swings, although it felt odd, Glen got me just shiifting my weight right in my backswing slightly, so I was turned behind the ball as well.

From a shot point of view everything was pretty much down the middle with a touch of draw. Ball flight was a bit lower than usuall as well. Very Nice.

I'm going to just practice this and nothing else until I've got this embedded before I change anything else. hopefully a couple of weeks will do it.

Next Year - Planning Already Started

As mentioned in the last post my attention has already turned to next year.

This year hasn't really panned out the way I envisaged.

I need to learn from this year. Over the winter I'm going to have more lessons but not change so much in as short a space of time. Wait for the changes to bed in before I change something else.

I've also been thinking about the coaching situation. I should have probably had more lessons through the summer with Bryan rather than wait for things to start going wrong. But the problem is as he's 30 mins away, getting to see him can be tough and he has quite a full diary, as do I. So it's hard to get a lesson in when I really want one.

I don't really want to go back to Keith as I had similar problems, Keith doesn't teach everyday, so it's hard to get a lesson when I want. But my club's facilites are close by and some of the best in the area.

I don't really want to swap from Bryan as I really like him as a coach (and he's Tom Lewis's Dad :-) ),  but he's just that little bit too far away.

I'm thinking about giving Glen at go at Chesfield, he's one of the other pro's up there. I chat to him quite a bit and we get on pretty well so I might book a lesson and see how it goes. If it's ok I'll book up a course of lessons and see what we can acheive over the winter.

5 Days Running

Got back from a week in Turkey sitting by the pool and managed to play 5 days running when I got back.

Mixture of mainly bad, but put together an 80 on Saturday morning over at Whitehills.

Started Birdy, Bogey, Birdy, Par. Then OB'd the 5th and double bogeyed. Still finished the front on 38 shots, 2 over gross. Solid back 9 as well, double bogey on the par 3 11th, and 3 putt the last 2 greens for an 80. Best I've played in ages. Just seemed so easy.

Played yesteday at Chesfield and I was truly shocking again. Shot 94. Drove ok. But everything else was off. No real big scores apart from 16 when I took and 8 on a par 5. Just bogey after bogey and only a couple of pars.

I'm probably only going to play 1 more comp this year, last comp of the season at the end of Oct. We have 2 comps this and next Saturday and I'm probably going to skip them and call this year a bust.

I guess planning starts for next year now.

News just in

Comp results just posted. Somehow I managed to avoid a .1 to take me to 12.5.

CSS was 72 (Par is 71), and as 18 gets cut to a net double bogey I just about hit the buffer zone.

So I guess that's lucky.

How to Destroy a Round in 3 Easy Holes

I think the title says it all. Medal Comp today in dry but windy conditions.

Got off to a steady start. and was net level after 3. Dropped a shot on 4. Still 1 down after 5 then run off 4 par's to finish the front 9 2 under with a total of 40.

Solid back 9. Got myself to 3 under standing on 16th. Wind howling left to right and OOB all down the right and I have a habit of sticking it OOB here.

Not this time though. Started the teeshot way left and let the wind bring it back to the middle of the fairway.

Then my round went downhill rapidly.

16 is a long uphill par 5. So took out my favourite 3w to knock it up to about the 140-150 yard mark. Struck it well enough but it started to drift right, the wind hit it as well, but it looked to be safe. Got up top of the hill and couldn't see it. After a bit of a search i found it about sitting about 2 inches OOB. So a march back down the fairway to play another.

Hit this one ok. Thought I hit a good 5i at the green from 160 but the wind hit it hard and pushed it to the right of the green. Chip and 2 putts and I've got an 8.

Still 1 under at this point.

17th. long Par 3. 215 yards, Wind behind. Struck a good 5i but it just stayed right of the green. Easy 15 yard chip shot, well it should have been, but shanked it. i just don;t know how. Duffed second chip then 2 putts and I card a 5 and chucked another shot away.

Now Net Level Par.

18th. Par 4 SI 18. Right into the wind. Hit an ok drive but finds the bunker on the right leaving about 180.

The ball was far enough back in the bunker so decide to give it a go with the 5w. Probably a mistake given what happened on the last 2 holes, but I fancied it as the ball was sitting clean.

Caught the ball cleanly enough but push sliced it right, OOB. Argh. Reloaded. Tried again and just got enough of it to advance it 100 yards. 9i to the middle of the green. Then somehow managed to 4 putt. First putt was about 30 ft and hit the ground before the putt and left it 15ft short. Ran the next 3ft past then didn't really think about the next and just putted it in disgust and missed. Took a 9.

40 out, 49 back for a 89 net 77.

Just picked my ball out the hole and launched it onto the driving range.

Walked off in complete shock at what had happened. I didn't feel under any pressure. 1 Bad shot on 16. 1 Bad shot on 17 and 1 bad shot selection on 18. Amazing how quickly a round can go south.

Drove the ball pretty well all round. Didn't hit that many fairways, but was only just off most of the time.

Hit my irons really well. Chipped and putted well also.

Just 3 insane holes.

oh well. Got 2 weeks off now. Going to play tomorrow, maybe twice. Going to play Whitehills in the morning and maybe go play Chesfield in the afternoon if I feel like it.

Hit a few and 9 Holes

Gave the golf a rest for a few days after the club champs. Didn't pick up a club until Thursday when i went up the range and just hit a few balls to see what was going on.

In the main struck the ball ok.

Played 9 on Friday after work just to get some course time in. Played pretty steady. Shot 41 with a 7 on the par 5 5th after a good drive and good layup.

Highlight. Hit the pin on the par 3 9th with my tee shot and finished the 4 foot putt it left me for a nice Birdy finish. 140 Yards, Wind a bit from behind, hit an easy 9i to a front pin location. Started right and started to draw. Was still about 4 yards right and caught the bank which kicked it left a bit into the pin :-)

Comp on Sunday. Medal 7:44 start.

Might be able to get in 18 later today.

Club Champs Roundup

So Gary Wing won the Scratch and Nigel Jones won the Handicap.

We had an interesting discussion in the bar afterwards why we have a scratch and a handicap champ. The scratch champ being considered the 'Club Champ'. Surely the best net score should be the champ ?

Or why don't we have a champ for each Catagory of Golfer ?

Anyway. I'm neither so doesn't matter.

Well refecting back on the weekend I can't be too unhappy.

My driving on Saturday killed me. Yes I hit just about every bunker on the course over the two days, but on 3-4 occasions it took me more than one shot to get out. I recon I must have lost at least 6 shots due to not getting out first time.

Putted pretty well overall. I think 31 and 33 putts. I think only 1 or 2 3-putts. Missed a few short ones as well. One on the 18th on the last round which would have got me a little handicap cut to award my efforts.

Hot some great irons shots and some really good 3w,5w and hydrids.. Couple of bad wedge shots. But nothing major and in general my wedges from inside 100 were ok.

Around the greens I was pretty solid which pitches and chip and runs. All giving me good 1 putt changes and many leaving tap ins.

Not sure where I came overall. I know I finished 9th on Sundays score. But was 70th on Saturdays. Might find out later if I get time to go up the club..

Next Comp is a Medal on Sunday. Out early, 7:44, again.

I'm going to have to re-think my goals for this year as the qualifying comps are running out. I think 10 is going to be a stretch.

Club Champs Day 2

Much better.

Still hit a ton of sand and took a couple of shots to get out a few times but put a half decent score together.

Went out in 44, with a double on the 9th, AGAIN, from the same bunker. But came back in 39, should have been 38 but missed a3ft putt on the last for Par which would have got me a .2 cut.

83, So shot to my handicap, so can't be too unhappy about that after yesterday.

in reality I could (should) have shot a level par back 9. Bogeyed 10, 13 and 18.

10 I was just off the back of the green after 2 and about 10ft from the pin and missed a 4ft putt for par.

13 I was middle of the green for 2 and 3 putted, again missed a shortish putt for par. And the 3ft putt on 18.

So all in all pretty happy with the last round. Just a shame I couldn't have got a little cut out of this weekends exploits.

That round should shift me up the quite a way. Doubt it will get me any OOM points though. Top 20 would be nice, but a stretch.

Club Champs Day 1

Well that didn't go as planned.

Driving was absolutely dreadful. Loads of huge slices right.

Started badly. Took a triple bogey 7 on the 1st, and missed an 18 inch putt. Double bogeyed the 2nd after another teeshot right.

Then got a good par on the par 3 3rd.

lost a ball with a way right tee-shot on the 4th. But managed to get away with a double bogey 6.

Then strung a few holes together to get me back into it. Par, Birdy, Par, Par. Then Double bogeyed the par 3 9th. To go out in 42. So could have been better. Could also have been a lot worse !!!!

Back 9 started ok. Great drive down the 10th then shanked an easy 8i. Chip and a couple of putts and get away with a bogey.

Another double bogey on the 12 after hitting sand off the tee, then again on my approach shot to the green.

Then came the par 3 12th. This hole is going to stick in my memory for a long time. Hit an ok teeshot into the left hand bunker. Then flew the green into the bunker on the other side. No sand under the ball and the club just bounced into the ball. Then take 3 to get out. And carded a 7.

That's it my round was over. No coming back from that.

Bogeyed 13, double bogey 14 after having to hit balls from the tee after slicing my first two into the deep rough. But found them. So could have been even worse.

Par, Par then double,double. For a 48 back 9. 90 net 78. 7 shots over par and 13 shots off the lead when I left the club.

I think the thing that really pissed me off is that I really fought hard to get myself back into it and then just threw it away on the 12th.

My driving was probably the worse it's been in a long long time. Again after driving really well for the past couple of weeks.

Oh well. I'll be out early-ish tomorrow I guess with the other high scores. At least that will give me an afternoon to do other stuff.

This is why God Hates Golfers !!! He giveth and he taketh away.

Club Champs Prep is Complete

Just got back from playing 9.

Pretty happy with how I played.

Drove the ball really well. Hit my irons well, except the 7i into the par 3 3rd which I thinned a little and dumped into the water.

Chipping was ok, although didn't need to much as I hit the greens in reg quite a bit.

And putted ok. 1 stupid 3 putt.

So I'm about as ready as I can be for tomorrow.

Mentally I feel good and confident in my game. Which is half the battle won.

Club Champ Prep

Well didn't get to practice Tuesday. But got up the range yesterday and spent some time hitting irons and drivers.

Irons good as usual and quite pleased with how I was hitting my driver. Mainly starting straight but with a touch of draw.

Went to spend a bit of time on the putting green but it was packed, so I gave it a miss.

Went up again this afternoon. Spent some time just doing a few putting drills and some chipping. Putting seemed pretty good. Chipping was awful. I had to stop as I was loosing my temper with myself. So went and hit a few on the range.

Few Irons and some more drivers. Hit the ball ok but was really stiff. I think my muscles in my back from Tuesdays weights session have started to tighten up. So I'll stretch out a bit tomorrow.

9-12 holes practice tomorrow afternoon and maybe some range or pitching\putting depending on how the 9 holes go.

Then champs on Sat.

Club Champs Prep

So, this weekend, 3rd and 4th September is our club championships.

2 day, 2 round event. Go out in handicap order on day 1 and then score order on day 2 with the best scores going out last. just like a real tournament !!

Last year I was in 2nd after day 1 so went out late on day 2:-)

So prep for this year.

It's fair to say that this year hasn't really gone how I would have liked. I've struggled all year long with the driver and lateley the putter and consistency has been a big problem.

I've played some of my best golf and some of my worst.

So I've got a week to work on a few things to try and find a little something.

So the plan for the week.

Monday (yesterday) - 9-12 Holes practice - Complete
Tuesday (Today) - Chipping and Putting (If I have time and it doesn't rain)
Wednesday - Driver
Thursday - Irons and full Wedges. (plus maybe some putting and driving if I feel i need some extra)
Friday - 9-12 Holes and then some practice depending on the results of the 9 holes.

Yesterday, was good. Not a bad front 9, 1 undert my handicap and made a couple of silly mistakes that could have easily taken 2-3 extra shots off. Swing felt great, smooth and flowing. Even with the driver. Putting was ok, just ok. But better than it has been.

I need to do some stuff at home after work so might not have much time to practice. So I'll try and get 30 mins on the putting green. Just concentrating on technique more than anything.

For the weekend I want to get myself to the point where I'm not thinking about anything swing related when i'm playing. Maybe one swing thought at most.

I play my best golf when I don't think. odd to say, but it's true. I just see the shot I want to hit and then just hit the ball. The problem this year is I've changed so much I've had some many swing thoughts to deal with I've not been able to do that.

It feels like most of the stuff I've been working on is now bedding in. So time to let the reines off.

Played 12 Today

Had a bit of spare time this afternoon so went out for a few holes. Was going to try to fit in 18 but it was a bit slow, so just 12.

Steady I think describes it. New putting stroke is fine, driving ok to. Hit some lovely drives with a touch of draw.

Went out in 41 with a birdy on 7. Had a makable eagle putt but started the putt to far right and it never came back.

Gave myself a lot of good chances too. 4 Pars and a Birdy in 12 holes. But chucked in a couple of doubles as well.

Plus the bogeys should really have been pars.

So signs of improvement.

Completely Re-Vamped my Putting

Took a close hard look at my putting over the past few days and come to the conclusion that my technique needed sharpening up.

Watched some good todays golfer putting videos and incorporated those changes.

Grip - Have the back of my left hand pointing at the target. And the back of my right pointing in the opposite direction so my palms are facing each other. This helps keep the putter blade at right angles to the target line.

Arms - Moved them into my sides rather than hanging down. This locks them in so prevents the arms getting involved in the swing. So as you rock you're shoulders back and forth it's just that turn that swings the putter.


Also, by getting my arms into my sides it's got my eyes over the target line, so a much better aim.

Ball position - Moved it more forward towards my left foot. This gets the putter just hitting the ball as it rises so gets a better role.

And finally, changed the length of my stroke, at least on the shorter putts. Shorter takeaway which promotes a better follow through after the strike. This gets around any deceleration in the down-swing and gives a much better roll.

So not much changed then !!!

Tried all this on the putting green before yesterdays round for about 15 mins. Felt weird but much more consistent strike and much more confident on shorter putts.

Brocket Hall

Managed to get a half day yesterday and went and played Brocket Palmerstone course with 3 m8's.

Putted like an absolute prat. 4 3-putts !!! And wait for it, 2 4-putts. Ended up with 40 putts !!!!!!!!!

Greens weren't that fast at all, I just couldn't seem to hit the ball out the middle of the putter. Long putts were a mile short. Missed a ton of 3 footers. just when I thought I had turned the corner with my putter.

Rest of my game ?

Drove the ball well on the back 9, which we played first. Then my driving just deserted me for no reason, weas getting stuck on my back foot again and slicing everything off right and couldn't stop doing it. Ended up dropping to my 3w or a few holes.

irons were pretty good. Couple of stupid shots, but in general pretty good.

Wedges, really good still. Greens were receptive and was spinning them nicely.

So more work needed on the usual suspects still. Driver and Putter.

Will this ever end ?

Average

Praciced a bit last week. Mainly Irons and Driver. Bit of my new 5w and bit of chipping and putting.

didn't manage to get any rounds in until today's comp.

Stableford off full handicap.

Played ok. That's about it really.

Drove the ball ok. Didn't hit that many fairways, but didn't miss them by much.

Hit my irons ok.Hit a good amount of GIR.

Chipped ok. Probably didn't chip it close enough often enough really if anything.

Again, putted ok. Got the ball rolling at the hole and was striking the putts well. Just nothing dropped from beyond 6ft.

Couple of silly mistakes here and there which cost me a few shots.

Ended up shooting 32 points. So that's another .1 onto the handicap. Now 12.3.

Next comp in 2 weeks. Club championships on the 3rd & 4th Sept.