Close season approaching

[timd77]

Well, it is for me anyway as I can only play in a handful of the remaining ‘proper’ comps and so I’m already thinking about what to work on over winter.

My handicap has gone from 15.7 to 16.9 this year, really frustrating as I feel like I’m playing better than I did last year (when I dropped down from 18.9 to 15.7). I’m driving the ball better, I’m putting better and my short game seems to be half decent. I had hoped that this year would see me drop down below 14 but it hasn’t happened.

Looking back over some of my worst rounds, it’s been 3-4 holes which have cost me. Saturday for example, I was 9 over for 13 of the holes, but was 12 over for the other 5! Pretty much all of those started with a poor iron and then a poor decision to try and save a par rather than being sensible. Or anger.

So my focus for the winter (I’ll still be playing every weekend) are:

Some lessons purely focused on my grip, which is strong, and striking my irons better, and then work on those November to April without thinking about my card too much. Idea being that if my irons travel better and in the right direction ish, I’ll miss left and right a bit less.

Set up routine. I have this thing I’ve done since I was a kid, drop the handle to the top of my knee to work out how far to stand in relation to the ball. I want to stop it because it looks daft but mainly because when I don’t do it I often hit the ball better, possibly because I’m a bit closer. PPs have said before that I look like I’m reaching for the ball. It’s a comfort thing more than anything I think.

Finally, take a practice swing before my shot. I don’t do this at all apart from on the first tee. And then when I make a horrendous ‘where did that come from’ type swing, hopefully it’s the practice swing rather than the actual!

 

[Backsticks]

Do you do any shots gained analysis ? If not, try to get some data in the remaining rounds.
Rising hi indicates the mistake may be in :

" I feel like I’m playing better than I did last year (when I dropped down from 18.9 to 15.7). I’m driving the ball better, I’m putting better and my short game seems to be half decent."

And strokes gained might highlight that your impression of you game isnt quite the reality. Would show you where to focus any winter efforts.

Arcos, Shotscope, or just a bit of Excel if you are prepared to put in the time.

 

[Orikoru]

'Close season is approaching'? I'm still waiting for summer to arrive.

Been a frustrating year for me as well. It's the first year since becoming a club golfer that I've not really markedly improved. I've sort of plateaued, and even lost some of the consistency I used to have. The dispersion of my best scores to worst scores has got bigger I think. I guess the answer to the question, 'what level can you realistically get to without lessons or much practise' is 13-14 for me.

What I'll probably do is buy a new driver.

 

[timd77]

Do you do any shots gained analysis ? If not, try to get some data in the remaining rounds.
Rising hi indicates the mistake may be in :

" I feel like I’m playing better than I did last year (when I dropped down from 18.9 to 15.7). I’m driving the ball better, I’m putting better and my short game seems to be half decent."

And strokes gained might highlight that your impression of you game isnt quite the reality. Would show you where to focus any winter efforts.

Arcos, Shotscope, or just a bit of Excel if you are prepared to put in the time.

I don’t but I should. I use hole19 for scoring, stupidly never record the stats from it. I will starting from tomorrow night. You’re definitely right, my perception of what’s going well or not might be totally wrong. However, I know I don’t hit my irons well because when I flush one I’m surprised!

 

[timd77]

'Close season is approaching'? I'm still waiting for summer to arrive.

Been a frustrating year for me as well. It's the first year since become a club golfer that I've not really markedly improved. I've sort of plateaued, and even lost some of the consistency I used to have. The dispersion of my best scores to worst scores has got bigger I think. I guess the answer to the question, 'what level can you realistically get to without lessons or much practise' is 13-14 for me.

What I'll probably do is buy a new driver.

Sounds sensible! Although that’s what I did and it sorted my driving out instantly, though that was more luck than judgement as it’s second hand and not fitted.

Like you, I don’t practice enough and assumed I’d hit a wall rather than go up. Looks like I need to practice!

Maybe the fact you haven’t got going is weather related? Conditions at my course are different every week at the moment, usually we’re still in the ‘firm and fast’ conditions spell for a few months and get into a rhythm. As it is, it’s fast one week, soft and slow the next. Probably just an excuse.

 

[Orikoru]

Sounds sensible! Although that’s what I did and it sorted my driving out instantly, though that was more luck than judgement as it’s second hand and not fitted.

Like you, I don’t practice enough and assumed I’d hit a wall rather than go up. Looks like I need to practice!

Maybe the fact you haven’t got going is weather related? Conditions at my course are different every week at the moment, usually we’re still in the ‘firm and fast’ conditions spell for a few months and get into a rhythm. As it is, it’s fast one week, soft and slow the next. Probably just an excuse.

Some truth in that actually. Most years my best scores come around July when the course is baked hard with plenty of roll - meaning all greens are easily reachable, shorter clubs can be used, etc. This year July was a write-off with rain practically every day - 20 mph winds for a lot of it as well. Changeable weather makes the green speed and rough length less consistent too. Definitely must have been a factor in my scoring.

 

[Backache]

Well, it is for me anyway as I can only play in a handful of the remaining ‘proper’ comps and so I’m already thinking about what to work on over winter.

My handicap has gone from 15.7 to 16.9 this year, really frustrating as I feel like I’m playing better than I did last year (when I dropped down from 18.9 to 15.7). I’m driving the ball better, I’m putting better and my short game seems to be half decent. I had hoped that this year would see me drop down below 14 but it hasn’t happened.

Looking back over some of my worst rounds, it’s been 3-4 holes which have cost me. Saturday for example, I was 9 over for 13 of the holes, but was 12 over for the other 5! Pretty much all of those started with a poor iron and then a poor decision to try and save a par rather than being sensible. Or anger.

So my focus for the winter (I’ll still be playing every weekend) are:
.......

From your description it sounds like a lot of your dropped shots are due to bad decisions .
But the focus of your work is on technical improvements.
I am not suggesting that you should not work on technical improvements if their is a problem there but everyone hits bad shots and will continue to hit them though you may reduce them.
It does sound as if you should work on your decision making/psychology so you stop compounding the affect of a poor shot.

 

[bobmac]

Grip all day, every day and twice on Sundays.
You say you have a strong grip, is that both hands?

 

[timd77]

From your description it sounds like a lot of your dropped shots are due to bad decisions .
But the focus of your work is on technical improvements.
I am not suggesting that you should not work on technical improvements if their is a problem there but everyone hits bad shots and will continue to hit them though you may reduce them.
It does sound as if you should work on your decision making/psychology so you stop compounding the affect of a poor shot.

I definitely need to work on decision making but that’s not really something I can practice, I just need to start doing it! And then mentally sometimes giving up after a couple of bad breaks until I’ve snapped myself out of it is another. I’m generally pretty level headed but if I get frustrated it can affect me.

 

[timd77]

Grip all day, every day and twice on Sundays.
You say you have a strong grip, is that both hands?

Right hand (I’m right handed), left is definitely 2-3 knuckles, but my right is strong. The v points outside of my right shoulder if I don’t force myself to bring my hand over a bit, but neutral feels very strange to me, so I know I need to keep practicing it.

 

[pendodave]

I definitely need to work on decision making but that’s not really something I can practice, I just need to start doing it! And then mentally sometimes giving up after a couple of bad breaks until I’ve snapped myself out of it is another. I’m generally pretty level headed but if I get frustrated it can affect me.

It might be useful to get some more data (Not your own) to facilitate better choices.
Lou stagner (arcos) publishes loads of info on various social platforms which give a much more solid basis than the usual platitudes. His discussions with crossfield on the hack it out podcast are surprisingly insightful.

One specific thing - it's not a disaster to not flush your irons (most people don't), but it is if you are using flushed numbers to calculate your yardages and strategy. Golf really is a game of "a bit rubbish", rather than perfect.

 

[bobmac]

Right hand (I’m right handed), left is definitely 2-3 knuckles, but my right is strong. The v points outside of my right shoulder if I don’t force myself to bring my hand over a bit, but neutral feels very strange to me, so I know I need to keep practicing it.

That would explain your 2 way misses, and you don't know where to aim.
You've got to fix that right hand as that will eliminate the bad shot left.
There's nothing worse than aiming left for the expected fade and suddenly your right hand fires and you hook/pull it.

 

[timd77]

It might be useful to get some more data (Not your own) to facilitate better choices.
Lou stagner (arcos) publishes loads of info on various social platforms which give a much more solid basis than the usual platitudes. His discussions with crossfield on the hack it out podcast are surprisingly insightful.

One specific thing - it's not a disaster to not flush your irons (most people don't), but it is if you are using flushed numbers to calculate your yardages and strategy. Golf really is a game of "a bit rubbish", rather than perfect.

It’s always that thing of ‘well if I do club up and flush it, this is going oob’! You are right though, and I’m usually pretty good at accepting ‘good bad uns’ as being part of the game and moving onto the next shot.

 

[timd77]

That would explain your 2 way misses, and you don't know where to aim.
You've got to fix that right hand as that will eliminate the bad shot left.
There's nothing worse than aiming left for the expected fade and suddenly your right hand fires and you hook/pull it.

Yep, you read my mind! I’ve been trying to sort the right hand out for a month or so now, at the range mainly, but when I get to the course it still feels weird and so I’m reverting back to strong for a confidence thing. I know I’ve got to sort it though.

Do those grip training aid things work?

 

[chrisd]

Grip all day, every day and twice on Sundays.
You say you have a strong grip, is that both hands?

I had a couple of lessons recently and number one change was "the grip" right hand too strong and left hand not bad. It still feels in a strange place now at the top but I have hit some beauties in amongst the dross with a more neutral grip. I spend an extra few seconds each shot just making sure that my grip is spot on.

 

[Backache]

I definitely need to work on decision making but that’s not really something I can practice, I just need to start doing it! And then mentally sometimes giving up after a couple of bad breaks until I’ve snapped myself out of it is another. I’m generally pretty level headed but if I get frustrated it can affect me.

Over winter it might be difficult, but it is certainly something you can practice on a course.
If your poor decisions are after poor shots the chances are the thing you are doing least well is assessing your lie.
Going out and sticking your balls into different bad lies and seeing what shots you can make on a regular basis means that you will start to assess the shot on the basis of the lie rather than the score you feel you need.

 

[bobmac]

Do those grip training aid things work?

Depends on your hand size.
When I last looked, they only came in one size so useless if your hands are big or small.
What will help is try and feel the grip is lying more across the bottom of the fingers rather than the palm of the hand.
Check your grip in a mirror, it should look like this...

 

[sunshine]

I’m already thinking about what to work on over winter.

What country are you in? It's still August, which is the height of summer in England. I finished my round at 8:20pm yesterday and it was still 24 degrees. September and October are some of the best golfing months of the year where I live.

 

[timd77]

Depends on your hand size.
When I last looked, they only came in one size so useless if your hands are big or small.
What will help is try and feel the grip is lying more across the bottom of the fingers rather than the palm of the hand.
Check your grip in a mirror, it should look like this...

View attachment 49111

Thanks for the advice and info.

 

[timd77]

What country are you in? It's still August, which is the height of summer in England. I finished my round at 8:20pm yesterday and it was still 24 degrees. September and October are some of the best golfing months of the year where I live.

Ha, I’m in England. However, I’m away for most weekends in the next 6 weeks or so, meaning I’ll miss all but a couple of singles comps. Like I say, I play throughout the year, but the usual advice is to only make big changes when it doesn’t matter (ie, non qualifiers or whatever they’re called now).