What a Difference Month Makes

[User 105]

After a almost a year of swing changes and not shooting anywhere near my handicap a month ago I came to accept that I'd never get back to where once was and I'd be stuck shooting high 80's low 90's rounds rather than the high 70's low 80's I had been shooting.

The a few weeks ago i had a small breakthrough and started hitting my irons well again.

As a result I shot my first round in the buffer zone last weekend. First in over a year. Well happy.

Went out yesterday in the wind and rain. Missed a 4ft putt on the 18th to shoot to my handicap. Again lowest score I have had in eons.

Now to this afternoon.

Out in 36 shots. 1 over par, 5 shots under my handicap. And missed a tricky 3ft downhill putt on the 8th that would have given me an even par front 9. Anyway lowest ever 9 I've shot before anyway.

Back 9 wasn't so good, 45 for an 81. But still shot 3 under my handicap. Something I thought I'd never do again. And missed another putt on 18 for the 80. argh.

I only made a mess of 2 holes on the back 9 with a triple and quadruple bogey. If only

So I'm now sitting here with the biggest grin my face.

 

[G1BB0]

nice one Westy, good to see you now have a big grin back

question, what do you think has been the main reason for you now playing more consistantly? The reason I ask is that beforehand you put in loads of practice and effort yet couldnt reap the rewards with your scores.

 

[User 105]

I think the start of it was when my pro realised I was left hand dominant in my swing. I'd take the club to the top and my left hand would just pull the club through and I'd come straight over the top. Focusing on taking my left hand out of my down swing has actually allowed me to start my down swing from the ground up which has got the club on a much better path. More from the inside, and allowed me time to shift my weight forward.

The other thing has been at the top of my back swing. I think this was a flexibility thing more than anything. To get the club in a good position at the top I really had to force it there, it felt really unnatural, really tight and forced. It now gets set at the top much easier and because I'm getting it in a good position at the top it's giving more room to drop the club down more on the inside as well.

And I guess the final thing is once I started hitting my irons half decent my confidence has started to come back. Don't ever underestimate the power of feeling confident over a shot.

I need to do a bit of work on my driver still, even though I'm hitting it better already. I know if I get the drive away, with the way I'm hitting my irons again, I will be hitting a lot of greens in reg.

AND, the other bonus is now I'm getting the club into better positions and the strike is much better so I'm not only more accurate I reckon I'm 2 clubs longer on average. I wasn't short before, 7i used to be 160-170 !!

 

[Evesdad]

Confidence def helps! My game is slowly clicking and confidence def helps! I know I can hit the damn thing now and so can let my body take over without thinking as much! Like you I don't think I've ever hit the ball so far and so accurate! Added a good 10-20 yards onto some clubs esp the 7i! Used to hit it about 140 but it now 150-160 depending on the weather! Wet=150 dry 160! Messed me up for a couple of rounds getting used to new distances!

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Having gone from 14 to very close to 10 since going to the new teaching pro in December I can say that sometimes you just need a fresh approach and someone to blow the fog away. I can see in my mind what I'm trying to achieve, can practice better and have an abundance of confidence on the course and can usually find a way to tough it out when it isn't quite on song