Fings Wat I Learned So Far

HomerJSimpson

HomerJSimpson

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Came 2nd yesterday without playing great and it got me thinking bout what I'm trying to achive this year. Wat I've gone and learned so far is:

1) However good or bad you are hitting on the range its what you do when you get on the course that counts. There are lots of scratch players on the range.

2) Keep your mind empty. I'm not sure if it was the fact that only had 4 points after four holes yesterday but I wasn't thinking about what I "need" to do on upcoming holes or having that annoying voice in my head chattering about differentswing thoughts. I literally took one shot at a time

3) Putting practice at home can help. My wife bought me the Pathfinder http://www.improvemygolf.co.uk/acatalog/Pathfinder_Putting_System.htmlfor Christmas and I've been doing a lot of work on my stroke especially from 6 feet and in. I only had 31 putts and didn't 3 putt once

4) Keep grinding. For those that have read my very first blog post, the aim this year is to be more competitive. No more giving up or watching on as someone snatches the prize. I feel that my approach has been vindicated, at least in part. After such a shabby start, I would normally bemoan my poor play, lose interest and fritter points away coming home with some embarrasing total. Yesterday I kept plugging away and it only took a great pitch at the sixth to act as a catalyst. I didn't even drive the ball that well on the back nine. However I did make some putts and kept it in play and came home in a respectable 20 points

5) Short game, short game, short game. Putting was A. Pitching was B-(hadn't practiced it much). Bunker Play was C (in two and got them out well to about ten feet but couldn't make the putt). Chipping D-. Very poor technically. What I've learned from my first point is that however many balls you hit working on the long swing, fundamentally its the shots from 100 yards and in that's going to get me to single figure utopia

6) There's still a long way to go!!!!!
 
What ive learned in the last 3 months of being on this forum is dont be afraid to ask however small a detail it seems.My post 3 ft putts has helped immensley and i thank all that gave advice even though in my head i thought i could deal with it myself.I also realised quite early in my golfing career chipping and putting is the key,and most importantly pracice and more practice especially on weak points of my game.Dont be afraid to make mistakes as long as you learn by them its the way to improve.Course management as also helped and saved a few shots[another post by someone].Dont be afraid to take out a club thats costing you shots,ive dropped my driver on my home course only because its tight and tree lined and was costing me.I have learnt to stay composed after a bad hole as my next could be the best of the round.And last but not least ive learnt to enjoy[happy golfing]
 
Homer, last year i suffered mentally in comps after bad holes, bad shots or thinking "this is a birdie hole" and ending up with a double bogey or worse.

Over xmas i downloaded a couple of Bob Rotella audiobooks on my ipod and regulary listen to it, and 1 of the things Dr Bob stipulates is to stay in the present.

Now i know how easy it is to let your mind stray especially when your having a bad hole etc, but now my game consists of this shot i'm taking and nothing else.

I also used to mentally " beat myself up" after a bad shot or hole etc, so now i forget it and when i finish i will recall all my bad shots and try to work on them on the range.

Hope you have a good season pal.
 
It's very early in the season Homer so a report card with an A, B, C & D isn't too shabby.

At least you are clear about where your game is and what you want to work on, better than walking off going, 'where did it all go wrong?'

Head up and keep plugging away, you know one day it's all going to click. It's the day we all live for :)
 
It's nice to see a realist on here Homer, you know the faults in your game and rather than hope they will go away and your scores will magically improve by themselves, you go out there and practice hard to get things better.All the guys we aspire to be have done the same, endless hours alone on the practice ground pounding ball after ball whilst their mates looked out of the clubhouse windows with a pint or cola in their hands. Keep it up mate, the rewards will come.
 
Well done Homer, good start to the year. I played my first round for 8 wks due to closed course on Sunday 30pts from 17 holes (one hole closed whilst drains are relaid).
I like your idea of grading the aspects of your game, will take that on board and have a practice tomorrow when i have some free time.
I also have decided to get more competitive this year. Last year was my first year of membership and playing regularly for 16yrs. Restarted off 10 - love to get back to 5 but by end of year will be delighted with 8. Need to make sure my short game is sharp again, if I can get up and down in 2 from 50yds on most holes will save a few shots a round.
Going to work on concentration as well, tend to be too chatty to people and lose focus a bit...not that I intend to become an insular misery to play with...hopefully not.
 
Having a sneaky peek at your numbers on howdidido there Homer. Pretty steady stuff but only one guy in your section got a cut I think?
If only you'd warmed up and not made an arse of holes 1 and 2! :o Bogey on 18 must've hurt too?
I think that bogey on 18 (a par 5 and all) was perhaps deliberate in an effort to not get cut ;). A birdie 4 there and you've have been under CSS nett and a step closer to your goal of category 1. C'mon it's only 531 yards! Drive and 4 iron for you to get home in 2! ;) :p
 
Birdieman,

Not an epic start. 30 yatrds short at the first. Hit what I thought was a decent chip and run onto a damp green and it kept on chugging off the back fringe. A clunky chip and a missed putt. On the second everything attacked the ball just not in any sequence. The hips were so fired through and open and the tempo was waaaaaay to quick. Cue a huge carve right with a bit or right and some right hand spin heading off towards Virginia Water and a lost ball. I hit my second left into clag. Chipped out and then hot my approach fat. On for six and two putts for an 8.

My excuse on eighteen was that I hit a huge skyed tee shot which only went about 150 yards. Hit a good recovery to around 200 and I thought I had taken the prudent strategy by not going for it and bringing the pond into play so laid up with a 6 iron and then pitched on (not well).

Not sure why the scores were so high as the course wasn't playing too hard apart from being long as it was really wet. Definitely not a handicap avoidance on my part!!!!
 
Great post Homer, agree with every point especially 2, 4 and 5.

There's not a lot you can do about keeping your mind empty, sometimes you just have things on your mind but at least recognise that this is just the same as playing with a bad back or some other injury i.e. you are not likely to play your best. The short game we all know is the real key to single figures but I think the most important is the ability to never give up and grind out a score even on a bad day. That attitude also makes you do a really good score on a good day because you get into the "one shot at a time" mindeset that's so important when under pressure.
 
Keep it going Homer, and I wish you luck with the rest of the season. If you keep the same level head and keep making sensible decisions then I'm sure you will get lower than 8 this season.
 
I don't hold with this 'the short game is the key to single figures) stuff. To me, the most important bit is the tee shot. Without that, the rest is irrelevant. If you loose balls, or have to chip out sideways, you are very rapidly going to run out of shots, regardless of how well you chip and putt.

First and foremost, find the fairway. Until you can do this, you are wasting your time.
 
I don't hold with this 'the short game is the key to single figures) stuff. To me, the most important bit is the tee shot. Without that, the rest is irrelevant. If you loose balls, or have to chip out sideways, you are very rapidly going to run out of shots, regardless of how well you chip and putt.

First and foremost, find the fairway. Until you can do this, you are wasting your time.
Click to expand...

Agreed,

Short game and putting may make the good rounds even better and save you a few shots but if you can't find the cut grass off the tee then it's hard to score and if you hit 3 or 4 really bad ones in a round it's pretty much impossible to come in with a respecable score.
 
Great post Homer. Interesting comments from murph as well. As far as my game goes I'm with Homer. If I'm not hitting my long irons well i can hit two mid irons stay on the short stuff and leave myself a wedge and two putt for bogey. If I hit a great long iron but my short game is toffee I'll miss my longer approach take two shots to get it on the green and then two or three putt. Minimum double bogey.

A lot depends on identifying your own weaknesses and the Pelz statistics back up the short game making the biggest difference. However everyone's game is different but as drawboy mentions knowing what is letting you down and being prepared to put the hard yards in is the only way to improve.
 
Thing is Tiger, you are not yet chasing single figures. Off a 20 something handicap, you can afford the odd oob, lost ball, or chip out. If you can only drop 9 shots, 2 oobs is 4 of your 9 shots. The rest of your golf is going to have to be pretty special if you want to come in under handicap.

I had 34 points on Sunday, with an out of bounds. The two shots lost from that cost me being on handicap. Off 9, they are 22% of my handicap. The easiest way for me to come in under is to finish with the same ball.
 
I don't hold with this 'the short game is the key to single figures) stuff. To me, the most important bit is the tee shot. Without that, the rest is irrelevant. If you loose balls, or have to chip out sideways, you are very rapidly going to run out of shots, regardless of how well you chip and putt.

First and foremost, find the fairway. Until you can do this, you are wasting your time.
Click to expand...

Yeah, see your point, you obviously can't afford to be that wild but most 10/11/12 handicappers I play with seem to be pretty steady off the tee. They don't often put it close from 100 or get down in 2 from 40/50 yards though and they 3 putt from distance too often. One shot better in each of these three areas per round and they'd be off 7/8/9. You are right though, a decent driving game is also pretty important.
 
An interesting question....I would say that to get to single figures you can get away with a ropey short game if you have a decent long game but to get to low low single digit you MUST have a good short game and by short game I mean all round from 80 yards and in.
 
Thing is though, a 2 handicappers view of a ropey short game is not the same as a mid handicappers ropey short game.

To truly see a ropey short game, you need to play with HTL.
 
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