The struggles of this game never cease to amaze me. Yet, I see some light at the other end of a long, long tunnel.
I’ve been working with my pro regularly since early in the spring. We’ve identified a number of things for me to work on, most of which I’ve mentioned previously. When I say, “we’ve” identified, I mean he’s identified and I’ve responded with “ahh” or “hmm”.
Here are the things I’m working on:
- Improved takeaway. This is my number one problem. A poor takeaway puts me in poor position at the top and causes some big problems. My pro gave me the imagery of starting the back swing by moving the back of my right hand straight back away from the target. That’s really been helping me feel the correct move.
- Better tempo. In general, my tempo is pretty good, but sometimes I get a little adrenaline and get a little quick at the top of the back swing.
- Solid weight transfer during the back swing. I tend to keep my weight too centered sometimes which makes me steepen my down swing and causes poor contact. This has happened for a variety of reasons. The two biggest are: 1) my experimentation with the Stack and Tilt and One Plane swings, both of which encourage the weight to stay centered during the back swing, and 2) a defense mechanism to keep me from shifting too far to the right, a problem I had years ago. When I get a proper shift (for a conventional-type swing) during the back swing, my contact is improved immensely.
- Keeping my left foot more square at address. For a long time, I’ve addressed the ball with my left foot flared out a little bit, to help me get through the ball quicker. Unfortunately, it seems like that might have been causing me to not quite get enough turn in my hips on the back swing. Then they outrace the rest of my body on the down swing. As an experiment, we tried having me hit some shots with my left foot about square and I feel like it improved my contact.
- Weakening my right hand grip. My grip is fairly strong, but over time, my right had has actually gotten turned a little more to the right (stronger) than my left. I’ve been working on getting that right hand turned a little more left. This change is more difficult than some of the others because it feels strange and thus, uncomfortable. It’s very, very difficult to do anything positive with a golf club while feeling uncomfortable.
Sometimes it’s frustrating because at my lessons, the constant supervision has me hitting shots that are quite good. But, on my own, I find it much more difficult to get in the zone and find those great shots. On the plus side, though, each time, I make fewer big mistakes. It sometimes takes me a lot of shots before I start hitting solid ones repeatedly. Each successive range session seems to take me less time to get in that zone. It still takes me way too long. Today, it was 50-75 balls before I started to feel comfortable.
I’ve noticed that my bad tendencies are starting to level out some. For a while now, when I make poor contact, it’s on the toe of the club face. And obviously, because of that, my miss is a hook. It becomes magnified when I fight the tendency to also come slightly over the top. For many people, that produces a slice, but for me, it’s a pull hook.
Now, I notice that my worst shots are not quite as bad as they were. My hooks are not hooking as much and are more playable than they were. It’s a frustratingly slow process, but it is a process. I’m getting there a little at a time.
I haven’t gotten out on the course much in the past month because of poorly timed rain and a couple of other obligations, but I’ve been practicing like a mad man. At this point, my calluses have calluses.
I have a tee time tomorrow at 1:30, so I’ll get a chance to see where I’m at. I don’t expect a good score based on how I’ve been performing at the range but that’s OK. What I’m really looking for is improvement, as well as an evaluation of how I can take the various things I’m working on to the course. As long as I continue to move in a positive direction, that’s all I’m looking for.
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DE
If I was updating a golf blog, 90% of what you wrote today is what I would be writing as well. Good luck and keep at it buddy–we will make it!!!!
bobby
Thanks, Bobby. We’ll get there.
I performed about as expected at the course today, mid-90′s. I’m having trouble taking my range game to the course, but there was definite improvement, and that’s all I’m looking for. My bad shots aren’t as bad as they have been, and most of the problems occurred on two blow-up holes (+10 on those two – two topped tee shots with my brand new, unfamiliar hybrid put me in the deep, deep rough and I couldn’t get out – I wish I’d thought to take a photo of some of the lies I had). The rest of the card wasn’t too bad.
Now, all I’m looking for is to practice this week and improve a little more next weekend. And on and on until I’m where I want to be.
Hey i’m not an avid golfer but i’m trying to play alot more often. I have a really bad problem with shanking the woods. Any ideas?
Hey DE –
The weight transfer is something that has SO many people vexed. The dreaded reverse pivot. I still have some trouble with this. Popping drives straight up in the air…idiot marks on TOP of the driver head – you name it, I’ve been there. My fix was to shift my spine angle at address – slightly to the right. Flattened out my swing a lot, but feels (and looks) unconventional.
Ever experimented with spine angle at address for the transfer problems??
Harry
Harry, I haven’t really experimented with spine angle much, except a little with the driver to increase my launch angle slightly. In this case, I think it’s a matter of just being more focused on the takeaway, which is really the larger problem. When I get that grooved correctly, I’ll be able to focus more on the weight transfer.
“Now, I notice that my worst shots are not quite as bad as they were.”
Be interesting to see if improvements in your bad shots helped reduce your score. In my opinion that is why people take lessons to reduce their margin of error. For the majority of us we hit more bad shots than good shots. Even Ben Hogan stated he hit only a handful of shots how he wanted in any round.
I’d say yes. In this case, it doesn’t seem like it, but in reality, I threw away ten strokes on two topped drives with a brand new club. At my course, the primary rough is a few inches high, but beyond that (in front of the tees), it’s a foot and a half tall, or higher, and clumpy. I got in that stuff twice and literally couldn’t get out. If I was thinking clearly, I would have just declared unplayable lies both times.
If I had managed to put those tee shots in decent position, I believe I would have done no worse than bogey on those two holes, saving me about 8 strokes, putting me solidly in the 80s. Now, the score is what it is. I deserved what I carded. But strictly for the purpose of evaluating my progress, I think I can look at 16 holes and see that I’ve taken a small step forward. I also putted the lights out, which helped a lot, but I wasn’t in serious trouble nearly as much.
I suspect the more you work with your pro the faster your progress will be, although cost is a factor.
Pros in the midst of a funk, probably have multiple sessions a day with their pro or pros.
Looking forward to getting out there with you. I can imagine some of lies on your course with all the rain we have been getting.
Maintaining the balance with different stances was always a problem for me. Is there any way to develop such balance?
Brendon: practice.
Chief: Here’s some info on the shanks
Loving your posts. I have been playing for seven years with a HCP 2 right now. Good luck with you swing!
hmm… I think my post was lost. I had a question about this ‘stack’ swing and any additional stresses it may have on the hands. As a dentist, I have to be cautious to things that could impact my career.
Thanks!
Dr. Roy, I can’t imagine any different stresses on the hands.