Blog archives for December, 2008

Newbie Golfer has heard that some pro golfers (Tiger included) do a 100 Ball Putting Drill: sink 100 consecutive putts from close distance (4-6 feet).  A flat, straight-in putt is used.  If a putt is missed, start over the count from zero!  The idea is to groove your stroke until it’s ingrained in muscle memory.
I’m [...]

Played the back nine at the local muni this morning. Shot 49, tying my personal best.  Feel really good about this  score, since it’s been months since I’ve played this well.  Changed a few things:

1) Played from the forward men’s tees.  This yardage is similar to the yardage at my “home” course’s middle tees.
2) Did [...]

Worked on my full swing today.  Hit all my irons solid, up to and including 5 iron.  Then my swing deteriorated, and I was suddenly slicing everthing.

I had been focusing on one swing thought, “open hips”, to make sure I get proper lower body rotation through impact.  Realized that I got sloppy and was coming over the [...]

Today, had a round in which most of my driver shots went straight right.  It felt as if they were coming off the toe of the club.
I’ve been teeing the ball just above the top of the driver head.  When the club is soled, the toe is just in line with the ball.  During address, [...]

In my last round of nine holes, I lost 3 strokes to pitch shots that I hit fat.  This was very disappointing, as I thought I had mastered this shot, with good trajectory and distance control.
I realized today that I right before the round, I was experimenting with a longer backswing for this shot, to [...]

-Long lag putts.  Look at the hole while putting.  This makes it much easier to gauge the speed and line.
-Better iron swings.  Start downswing with hip rotation towards the target.  Makes it easier to maintain lag, increases accuracy and length.
-To increase lag, remove the right finger and thumb from the the grip before swinging.

Just a note that I was chipping very accurately today.
Started off poorly and not getting good line or distance.  Then realized my lower body was frozen and I wasn’t shifting my weight.  After starting to shift my weight, accuracy became really good.  Had three chip-ins from 15-20 ft, off the fringe around the green, in about [...]