Blog archives for December, 2007

Shot 43 at the nine hole course today.  Had one par, and one very close (left the ball overhanging the lip!).  Also had 5 bogeys. 
Chipping was good, speed better than line.  Putting good also.  Hit zero greens-in-regulation but was fairly close on 4 out of the nine.
Also hit a couple of good shots from a [...]

Practiced my iron shots again today.  I’ve noticed that with the eight iron and longer, it becomes more important to coil more fully, turn the hips through on the downswing, and extend the arms inside-to-out.  With the SW, PW and 9I, I can do this almost instinctively now, but 8I and longer require pre-swing thought [...]

Practiced the short irons today.  Sand Wedge through 8 Iron.  Focused on going slowly and in-control, the goal being solid contact.  Swing thoughts: coil (upper body), turn (lower body), extend (arms).  Some notes:

1) The sand wedge has a lot of bounce.  This makes it challenging to hit a solid shot from a tight lie such [...]

Played my favorite short course again.  Score improved, and got par on one hole (nine iron to 5 feet, missed the birdie putt by inches). 
Score would have been better if I had hit better tee shots: several of them were fat, probably poor weight transfer.   Hit one green-in-regulation, 4 fairways. 
My chipping and putting really helped, [...]

Been working on hitting those long clubs.  So far the 4 Hybrid is the longest that I can comfortably hit off the turf.  The 5- and 3-Wood seem a little intimidating, but I figure if I can learn to hit those, the shorter clubs will become easier.
 I found this great video showing a tour player [...]

Today on the range, ran into one of those angry golfers.  You know the kind, mad at himself for making bad shots.  Cursing just loudly enough to attract attention.
The thing is, most of the shots that he was hitting were really good, by my standards.  He hit a high fade 250 yds with his driver, [...]

Worked on getting my iron game back.  The keys for me seem to be:
1) Coil on the backswing, transferring weight to right leg and hip.  Be careful not to slide, sway, or reverse pivot.  The longer the club, the more full the backswing rotation needs to be. 
2) Rotate the hips to start the downswing.  Allow [...]

Today hit 50 at my favorite par 29 course (personal best is 38 here).  I wasn’t feeling my game at all.  During the warmup I was hitting really poorly from the mat.  Tee shots were high and long with a strong draw.
On the course, I didn’t shoot any pars or birdies.  Shot several bogeys that [...]

Practiced tee shots today.  Hit a bucket of balls with the 4 Hybrid, 5 Wood and Driver.
 I was feeling really comfortable hitting the 4H and 5W, nice straight shots or draws.  150yds for the 4H and 170 for the 5W.  Not hitting all the driver shots solid yet, but all straight.  Solid contact gets me [...]

Was working on my chip shots and got into a good groove, chipping several to less than a foot and sinking one from about 15 foot range.  Here is what’s working for me:
 0) Visualize the shot, how much air-time and how much roll will get you to the hole.  This will help develop your feel.  [...]