woody69
Journeyman Pro
Although I am getting to practice a little more these days thanks to getting a new job right next to a course with a range, I still struggle to consistently execute the simple shots. I'm not talking the tough uphill lies with your ball deep down in the undergrowth, but your standard run of the mill 130 - 160 yard (9 - 6 iron) shots off the fairway, or 2nd cut. My last round I "duffed" somewhere between 5 and 10 shots.
In an effort to focus more about course management, I'm no longer just going for the club I think to get me onto the green in as few shots as possible irrespective of the lie etc. I'm thinking about things and breaking down the yardages, so if I have 180 - 200 to to the green after my tee shot, I'm getting anything from my 6 to my 9 iron out in the hope of sending the ball around 130 - 160 leaving me with a short pitch / wedge to the green and a chance of par or bogey perhaps.
I have recently adjusted my swing quite a bit with more emphasis on cocking the wrists (if that is the correct term) at the 9 o'clock position and it has helped quite a bit, particularly with distance, but all of a sudden out of no where the number of fats (mainly) / thins (rarely) I'm hitting has increased massively. It's really getting me down because when I was going for the 1 in 100 shot with the 3 wood out the rough, over the bunker etc it was expected, but these are shots I would / should execute 9 times out of 10 and it's ruining my card as I invariably end up in a terrible position or I'm forced to take a drop. As an example our 6th is a par 5. I was about 160 yards to the centre of the green after 2, middle of the fairway. I take out my 6 iron, set up as I normally would and end up hitting it massively fat and sending it into the water 30 yards in front of me. Or fat my 8 iron off and into the heavy rough on the right, forced to take 2 to get out still leaving me with 130 yards to the green. It's so annoying.
I can also usually diagnose (or at least think I can) the "why" it has happened straight away thanks to a number of lessons that has pointed out my usual faults. My biggest fault is probably when my head moves off plane.
I'm hoping it is just a phase I am going through thanks to the swing changes, but it's getting me down because I don't feel like I am progressing at all and if anything it seems like I hit more of these "duffs" now than I ever did.
In an effort to focus more about course management, I'm no longer just going for the club I think to get me onto the green in as few shots as possible irrespective of the lie etc. I'm thinking about things and breaking down the yardages, so if I have 180 - 200 to to the green after my tee shot, I'm getting anything from my 6 to my 9 iron out in the hope of sending the ball around 130 - 160 leaving me with a short pitch / wedge to the green and a chance of par or bogey perhaps.
I have recently adjusted my swing quite a bit with more emphasis on cocking the wrists (if that is the correct term) at the 9 o'clock position and it has helped quite a bit, particularly with distance, but all of a sudden out of no where the number of fats (mainly) / thins (rarely) I'm hitting has increased massively. It's really getting me down because when I was going for the 1 in 100 shot with the 3 wood out the rough, over the bunker etc it was expected, but these are shots I would / should execute 9 times out of 10 and it's ruining my card as I invariably end up in a terrible position or I'm forced to take a drop. As an example our 6th is a par 5. I was about 160 yards to the centre of the green after 2, middle of the fairway. I take out my 6 iron, set up as I normally would and end up hitting it massively fat and sending it into the water 30 yards in front of me. Or fat my 8 iron off and into the heavy rough on the right, forced to take 2 to get out still leaving me with 130 yards to the green. It's so annoying.
I can also usually diagnose (or at least think I can) the "why" it has happened straight away thanks to a number of lessons that has pointed out my usual faults. My biggest fault is probably when my head moves off plane.
I'm hoping it is just a phase I am going through thanks to the swing changes, but it's getting me down because I don't feel like I am progressing at all and if anything it seems like I hit more of these "duffs" now than I ever did.
