Newbie Golfer

Shot a disappointing 51 today.  My ball striking has improved a lot recently, and it showed on the course.  Hit 4 out of 7 fairways, and no lost balls.

However, I lost easily 8 strokes due to poor chipping / pitching.  Will need to work on that in the weeks ahead…

Regards,

NG

On the range today, something strange happened.  I could only hit draws!  My “go-to” shot, the power fade, had gone away!  I could only hit slices when try to hit the power fade, yet the draw (which I rarely hit) was dead on!

At the end of the session, I realized what was happening: I was finishing the fade the same way as the draw, i.e. follow-through around the body, instead of finishing hands-high.  When combined with an open stance of the power fade, finishing around means cutting across the ball at impact.  However, swing steeper and fnishing hands-high means the clubhead has a more square path at impact.

Just focusing on the finish got me back to a great power fade, 180 yds with the 4 hybrid.

Best regards,

NG

Have been working on my putting again.  Most of what I’ve read suggests that distance control is the key to making fewer putts. 

So working on distance control on the practice green today, I realized that (a) my distance control is poor on the longer putts, and (b) on the longer putts I sometimes do not hit the ball solid.  I sometimes sway and then will hit the ball off center (especially on the toe).

So I started using the same swing thoughts I’m currently using for both full swing, and chipping: SMOOTH TEMPO, SOLID BASE.   And voila!  Suddenly I’m hitting the long putts (>15 feet) very solid, and very close (<1 foot). 

Can’t wait for my next round…

Best regards,

NG

During my last round, was not able to get many chips close to the hole.  I’ve been so focused on ball-striking improvement, that I hadn’t practiced chipping for several weeks, and it showed in my scoring.  So back to chipping practice…

I’ve decided to approach this like putting, in the sense of making distance control the number 1 priority.  Chipping to within 4 feet everytime will do wonders for my score.  My basic chipping setup is: 56 degree wedge, ball in center of stance, weight 60% on front foot.  After some practice, I’ve roughly calibrated chip distance to swing length.  For level terrain, and chipping from the fringe or light rough, the angle of the shaft in the backswing is:

7 yards, 15 degree backswing

15 yards, 45 degree backswing

20 yards, 90 degree backswing

My swing thoughts are: SMOOTH TEMPO, SOLID BASE.  These help me accelerate through impact and make solid contact. 

For deeper rough, I move the ball back, open the clubface, swing out to in, with longer swing angle.  E.g. for ball covered in rough:

15 yards, 90 degree backswing

Will put my calibrated chipping into play next round, wish me luck.

Best Regards,

NG

Just a note that I was hitting very solid wedges on the range today.  Crisp ball contact, great trajectory, and on-target.  Was able to hit knockdowns, draws and fades.

The only thing I did differently was to focus on not moving my head relative to the ball, until well after contact.  Neither raising nor dipping, not left to right sway.  My swing thought is “SOLID BASE”. 

This is also working well with my longer clubs (4H and 5W), especially combined with one other thought: “SMOOTH TEMPO”.   I’m hitting some very solid power fades off the turf, using just these two swing thoughts.

Can’t wait to put it in play…

Best Regards,

NG

In a previous post, I talked about my common miss.  This is a “blocked” shot, straight right, which I chalked up to fatigue and not rotating all the way to my left side after impact.

In a subsequent round, most of my shots were going straight right, despite not being tired, and focusing strongly on rotating all the way left!  Turns out that I was trying too hard…when rotating left too aggressively, my hands get trapped behind my body, and the shot can only go right!   After relaxing a bit on the back nine, my shots improved a lot. 

Worked on this on the range as well…with a good setup, I simply need to  turn back and through smoothly.  My main swing thought is to keep my head steady.  This keeps me coiling and not swaying, leading to very solid shots; and if I hit fat or thin, at least the ball goes straight.

The lesson here is that golf is a game of balance;  it’s easy to overdo something and get the opposite effect…

Best Regards,

NG

On the range today, hit a nice simulated round of 9 holes, mostly very solid and straight or slightly fading.

Afterwards, decided to hit several more balls with 4 hybrid and 5 wood to groove my swing. Towards the end of the bucket, mostly of the balls were going straight right or slicing a bit.

I realized that this was due to fatigue setting in. What happens is that I stop rotating all the way onto my left side, with belt buckle facing or left of the target. Instead when I’m tired, I tend to hang back a bit on my right side, and stop rotation with my buckle facing several degrees right of the target.

Just wanted to document that tendency so I can be more aware next time.

Best Regards,
NG

Was hitting 4 hybrids and 5 woods at the range today, quite solid. This was using my favorite power fade swing. The key to hitting it solid today was ball position.

The divot occurs directly beneath the hands at impact. With 4 hybrid, I’m trying to hit down on the ball and create a divot a few inches in front. With the ball position 1 to 1 1/2 balls forward of center, my hands are nicely forward of the ball.

With 5 wood, I’m trying to catch the ball right at the bottom of the swing arc. So I line my hands up with the ball, which puts the ball position about 2 balls forward of center.

Trying experimenting with ball position to see its effect on impact.

Best Regards,
NG

Was practicing the power fade at the range today. Just wanted to note a few things to work on:

1) Extend the club back along the foot line, then turn to the top. Stay relaxed while doing this.

2) Keep eyes on the ball during backswing and impact, making sure spine angle doesn’t change.

Also want to experiment with hitting the ball higher. To do this:

3) Tilt spine a little, away from the target.

Thinking of increased backswing width helps hit more solid shots with the longer clubs, six iron and longer.

Best Regards,
NG