Category: Techniques

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

Over the last few sessions, I’ve changed my driving range routine.
I usually don’t have time to warm up on the range before starting a round. I also don’t really want to hit a lot of balls, because then I start tinkering with the swing, and I’m not target focused when I hit the course. [...]

As regular readers of this blog know, I’ve been experimenting for the longest time to find a good way to chip out of rough near the green. Chipping from the fringe I’m really solid, with a good chance (5%?) of chipping in. However, from the deeper rough I’ve had issues with barely moving [...]

In my last few practice rounds, I’ve been very inconsistent with my iron shots. Shanks off the tee with 8- and 6-irons, fat and thin shots from the fairway, etc have been creating havoc on the course. This is especially galling since my putting / chipping / pitching have been begun to show [...]

Lately, I’ve been hitting wedges and hybrids well left of the target. Nice straight shots, just starting left and staying left.
Realized today that for these clubs I was setting up with a stance very open to the target. Now I setup square and the shots are on target.
For the wedge shots, I was [...]

Been working on my short game again in an effort to lower my scores.  Tried the “up-and-down game”, where the goal is to play 9 or 18 holes on the practice green with one ball dropped off the green: the goal is to have one chip and one putt (score 0).  Three strokes would be +1, [...]