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jclenden


USA
206 Posts

Posted - March 27 2008 :  12:44:22 PM  Show Profile Send jclenden a Private Message  Reply with Quote
I'm one of those players who loves the game but has no extended time to practice, so I practice regularly but for very short periods of time. Over the course of the year I try to hit 36 ball buckets a few times a week and a 72 ball bucket once every 2-3 weeks. I’ve found that if I hit more than that I get tired and begin to ingrain bad habits.

Because of my time limitations, I must remain focused and intentional during my practice time. Therefore, I never go to the range without something specific in mind. I have 5 kinds of practice sessions:
1) A “discovery” session is where I don’t like something about my ball flight and I want to figure out what is causing it. I will hit balls, think about what might cause that type of flight, focus closely on what my body is doing during the swing until I can identify a probable cause.
2) A “club” session is where I want to practice a specific club. Occasionally I will do this with a driver or a hybrid, but most of the time it is a wedge. You need to be confident with your wedge distances so I’ll take time to try to ingrain the swing for a 50 yd shot, an 80 yd shot, a 100 yd shot, and so forth. I don’t do this often enough.
3) A “mechanics” session is where I practice swing mechanics. Most of my practices take this form because I’ve transitioned to Simple Swing in the past year and I’m still learning the nuances and retraining my muscles and my thoughts. A mechanics session is always focused on one or two swing issues, such as “keep head still during transition to downswing” or “keep wrists passive on downswing.” During a mechanics session I always use 3 clubs: a wedge, a 7 or 8 iron, and a driver. I figure that the mechanical change must work with all types of clubs so I practice it with each club. I usually practice each club independently and then at the end I will switch back and forth between clubs after every shot in order to simulate what happens on the course.
4) A “simulated round” is where I practice as if I were playing a specific course. I play each hole in my mind and I choose my next club and type of shot based on where the previous one went. For example, my first shot will be a driver on a par 4 dogleg left with lots of trees on the left. If I pull or hook my drive, my 2nd shot will be some sort of recovery shot. If I hit a nice drive then my 2nd shot will be a full 9 iron into the green. If I mis-hit the 9 iron then I’ll hit a chip or pitch shot. Once I think I’ve reached the green I move on to the next hole. I’ll play an entire “round” this way. It makes me practice recovery shots and it forces me to make decisions in practice. It also reminds me of how I want to play a hole. For example, what would I do if I had 200 yards to a green but there was a creek in front? What would I hit with a stiff cross-wind or head wind? By practicing these real-life scenarios I have become a much better decision maker on the course. I have also become very good at recovery shots from underneath trees! I no longer waste several shots a round by making bad decisions when the pressure is on.
5) A “putting and chipping” session is where I practice putting and chipping only. During the summer I will go to a nearby municipal golf course and use their practice greens once a week for about an hour. And yes, I spoke with the club pro to verify that I can do this! I work on specific shots so that I’m practicing distance control with different clubs, as well as overall ball striking from different types of lies. I am amazed at how long it takes to become really good at even the easiest chip shots! I need to devote more time to this, but there is no time!

Well, that pretty much covers the way I practice. I’ll try to provide some subsequent posts on specific things I’m working on in case that helps any of you. I’ll explain the symptoms of the problem, how I diagnosed the problem, and what changes I’m making to solve the problem.

jclenden



USA
206 Posts

Posted - March 27 2008 :  10:44:12 PM  Show Profile Send jclenden a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Here are some notes from today's practice. Maybe something here will help someone.

Background: This past week I bought some face tape to see where I was hitting the ball on the clubface. It was very helpful in adjusting my initial setup. I found that my driver setup and swing was pretty good but that I was a little too close to the ball with my shorter irons and was striking the ball too close to the heel. I use blades so off-center hits make a big difference. After a slight setup adjustment I was consistently hitting centered shots.

Today's Practice Objective: Apply what I learned while using the face tape to hit centered shots w/o the assistance of face tape.
Clubs: 4h, 7i, 60W

Results: Started with wedge and hit poorly. Every shot was flying low or right and I was hitting fat. I normally hit my wedge really well, so this was quite a shock. I monitored my hip position, head movement, and swing plane. Backswing seemed good but I noticed that I was crossing swing plane on down swing and possibly moving left hip a little too much. I may have been breaking L wrist near impact, but wasn't sure. I will focus my next practice on my L wrist action through impact and head movement at the beginning of my downswing.

To correct the problem I went back to swoosh drill with a long club because it helps me get back on plane. When I get off plane with swoosh drill I lose speed and I can hear the difference.
Results: Got back on plane and hit several good shots with each club. It was a satisfactory finish after a poor start.

NOTE: Since I started doing the swoosh drill I've noticed that when I start my practice with the swoosh drill with a driver that I'm much more likely to have a good practice than if I start with a wedge. I know this is contrary to most teacher recommendations but it's just the way things work for me. I guess I need a strong reminder at the beginning of each practice on how to stay on plane. Henceforward I will always begin my practice with the swoosh drill using a long club, and then repeat the drill several times throughout my practice. On the course I intend to swoosh 2-3 times before each shot and see what happens.
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jclenden



USA
206 Posts

Posted - March 31 2008 :  9:03:00 PM  Show Profile Send jclenden a Private Message  Reply with Quote
As I mentioned in my last practice, I was hitting some fat shots. I went back to my focus on the stability of my leading leg and head, swoosh motion, and keep club in front of body. I observed myself in a mirror w/o a club and saw that my head usually shifted slightly toward the target on the backswing and slightly away on the downswing. I repeated my motion until I could zero in on the cause. My right shoulder was lifting up instead of remaining relatively level on the backswing which caused a little bit of a reverse pivot, which in turn moved my head and caused me to hit some fat shots.

So my focus at the range was to level my right shoulder during the backswing so that I could keep my head still. Today at the range I kept the shoulder pretty level and didn't hit a fat shot the entire time. In fact, it was almost a flawless practice with driver, 7i, and 60W. I was very pleased! I can't wait for the ground to dry up a bit so we can play a few rounds. Here in central Ohio the rain and snow keep coming and the ground is so wet the water will stand for days, it seems. SS sure makes practice more fun because you can self-diagnose so much easier. Thanks guys!
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bikemotorman



98 Posts

Posted - March 31 2008 :  9:50:25 PM  Show Profile Send bikemotorman a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Hey that is great that you found out what was causing the fat shots.
I at times will be hitting the ball great then all of a sudden I get the fat shot from hell, and I hit the ground
three inches behind the ball.
I will work on keeping my head still.

Stuart Brandt
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jclenden



USA
206 Posts

Posted - April 26 2008 :  1:22:07 PM  Show Profile Send jclenden a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Well, as with most good things something bad creeps in. In my case, I started to hit some push-fades. In fact, the past 2 times on the course about half my shots were push-fades. I haven't had trouble with fades for several years. I figured it out, though. With the flatter swing I am tempted to turn my wrists over on the backswing, more like CG, instead of keeping them flat with the clubface square to the plane. When you cock your wrists you open the clubface, and when you open the clubface in SS you tend to get a push-fade.

To try to prevent this little quirk the next time out, I'll check my wrist position as I do my swoosh routine before I hit each shot. I'm trying to build a 3 swing pre-shot routine that focuses on the most important fundamentals (shoulder turn, head still, keep club in front of body, especially at impact) and checks my most frequent flaws (e.g. wrist cock). We'll see if it works over the course of the summer.

Jeff
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jclenden



USA
206 Posts

Posted - April 29 2008 :  6:21:30 PM  Show Profile Send jclenden a Private Message  Reply with Quote
I had the chance to play 9 yesterday in the cold. The 3 swing routine where I checked my hand position and swing plane solved the push-fade problem; I didn't hit any fades although I did push one drive. I had a couple of mis-hits but all in all it was a very sound ball-striking day.
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jclenden



USA
206 Posts

Posted - May 07 2008 :  1:01:34 PM  Show Profile Send jclenden a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Ok, I'm 72 holes into the season and my stats look like this:
Clear 2nd shot after tee shot: 77% (NOTE: my goal is to make my tee shot playable, not always fairway hit)
GIR: 32%
Avg putts when GIR: 2.0
Avg putts other: 1.8
Median distance from flag GIR: 24ft
Median distance from flag other: 15ft
Avg lag putt from 0- 6 ft: 0.2 ft (I have made 83% of these putts)
from 7-15 ft: 0.9 ft (I have made only 19% of these putts! I inevitably miss the ones that break.)
from 16-30 ft: 3 ft (I have 3 putted 17% of the time from this distance)
from 31-45 ft: 2.7 ft (I have 3 putted 18% of the time from this distance)
from 46+ ft: 4.2 ft (I have 3 putted 20% of the time from this distance)

I also keep ball flight stats by club. To summarize the major ones: 50% straight, 18% fade, 11% pull, 7% push.

So, my renewed goals are:
1) Increase GIR to 50%
2) Reduce average lag putt from 16-30 ft to 2 ft.
3) Make 40% of my 7-15 ft putts
4) Reduce my distance from the cup when I miss the green from an average of 15ft down to <10ft.

New practice plan:
1) Practice short irons extensively. I'm hitting the ball fat or thin too often, and my straight shots are off target just enough to miss the green. Hit shots from thicker grass, too. This should increase my GIR.
2) Practice 15 ft breaking putts with intent to make 40%
3) Practice 30 ft putts with intent to lag within 2 ft
4) Practice short (10 yd) pitch shots from thicker grass and uphill lies, since these have given me trouble.
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simpleswing



951 Posts

Posted - May 07 2008 :  7:37:01 PM  Show Profile  Visit simpleswing's Homepage Send simpleswing a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Hi jclenden,

I really like your practice regimens.

Going to the range without a practice plan is a recipe for trouble.

I really enjoyed your posts. Keep up the good work.

Joe Davidson
Simple Golf
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jclenden



USA
206 Posts

Posted - May 14 2008 :  09:36:00 AM  Show Profile Send jclenden a Private Message  Reply with Quote
This past week I was able to practice 3 things on my list: lag putting from 16-30 feet, 15 ft breaking putts, and increasing my GIR primarily through short iron shots. The results were as follows:
1) The lag putting is simply a matter of practice until I feel more confident with my stroke. This will be an ongoing exercise, but the practice this week paid off as I had several opportunities from that distance and I left all 3ft or closer, including 1 made.
2) The 15ft putts is a matter of pace and direction. My execution was excellent this week - almost every putt went where I aimed. Where I struggle is choosing the correct combination of line/speed!
3) The iron play took some serious reflection. I read a post by Joe on the forum about hips and this time I was able to envision how to apply it to myself. Specifically, I needed to work on the concept of using my front hip as the hinge and allow my back hip to open up on the backswing. The swing modification was very effective.

The proof of all practice lies in the results on the course. So, to summarize my 9 hole round yesterday:
+ I hit a couple marvelous approach shots within 3 feet
+ I left myself a 15 ft eagle opportunity after hitting a 5 wood 205 from the rough
+ I hit 5/6 drives exactly where I wanted them
+ I hit every putt where I aimed
+ I had 5 straight GIR
+ I had 4 birdie opportunities inside 18 feet
BUT
-- missed 3 putts from 3ft (they were all broke about 4")
-- bladed 2 irons, (although both recovery shots gave me makeable par putts)
-- 3 putted from 12 ft
FINAL RESULT: an eventful but disappointing +4

So, there will be no change in practice routine this week. I will continue to work on short iron play, lag putting, and 15ft breaking putts. I think I especially need help with choosing the correct combination of line and speed on breaking putts. I can make the straight putts. It's the ones that break that give me fits. Sometimes I'll hit 3ft past and miss on the high side. Sometimes I'll hit 1ft past and miss on the low side. Because I'm hitting the ball where I aim, I suspect I just need lots of practice on these in order to improve. Perhaps the clinic this weekend will give me some insights on how to practice more effectively on these kinds of putts.
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jclenden



USA
206 Posts

Posted - May 28 2008 :  12:34:36 PM  Show Profile Send jclenden a Private Message  Reply with Quote
I've had a few weeks to practice the things I identified above. I also had the opportunity to attend a clinic with Chuck in the meantime, which was very helpful.
* The chipping/pitching practice, and one particular pointer from Chuck, has paid off. I am hitting the ball an average of 5 ft closer to the pin when I miss the green. I've been especially pleased with shots in the 30-50yd range. I've left myself inside 5ft several times.
* The short iron practice has helped, too. I'm hitting my approach shots an average of 4ft closer to the pin when I hit the GIR. I am now averaging inside 20ft from the pin, which exceeds my goal, so I'm very happy with that.
* The putting is my main disappointment right now. My lag putting from 15+ feet is very close to my goal, but I'm missing too many putts under 6ft. They are all breaking putts on slow greens. I haven't found a practice green that runs slow, so it's been hard to practice these. Instead I've picked the most severely breaking putts I can find and practiced those from 2-6ft. It's helped a little but not enough. I'll continue to work on it.

I will continue my previous practice plan until I reach my current goals. My practice routine will continue to focus on: short irons to improve GIR to 50%, chipping/pitching until I average inside 7ft, putts under 6ft until I make 80%, and longer putts until I lag inside 3ft.

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jclenden



USA
206 Posts

Posted - June 06 2008 :  6:34:08 PM  Show Profile Send jclenden a Private Message  Reply with Quote
I've been working on the short irons (8-SW) this week. The one thing I wanted to pass along is the importance of CONCENTRATION. I have found that I must focus intently on what I want to do with the swing in order to improve it. I cannot simply drop balls and swing away, even with SS. Golf is a target game, which means that PRECISION is the key, and precision requires a carefully controlled but relaxed swing.

At the range I am narrowing my target windows which is forcing me to focus on a highly controlled, repeatable swing. in order to gain better control I am trying to "feel" my head position during the swing. I am "feeling" what my left side is doing. I am stopping my backswing at precisely the same point every time. I am swinging at the same tempo every time. I try to "feel" my shoulders relax on the downswing. I am learning how to be aware of the key muscles involved in the swing so that I can be more precise. Now I'm not thinking all these things when I hit the ball; I think through them with my practice swings. But I am concentrating on swinging under control when I hit the ball, which doesn't come natural for me. But, it is paying dividends.

As I have become more controlled with my swing, I am hitting more consistent shots and it is causing me to hit the ball farther, too. Today I was carrying my 8 iron 155 yards. Three weeks ago my normal 8 iron carry was around 135 yards. Now it is around 150 with some going 155. It is amazing how my swing is transforming through careful, controlled practices like today.

By the way, I'm practicing control with both full and partial shots, primarily with PW and 8 iron. Next week I'm going to expand to include some longer clubs and see if I can build on this success.
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mikeoleary



535 Posts

Posted - June 07 2008 :  11:29:23 AM  Show Profile  Visit mikeoleary's Homepage Send mikeoleary a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Jeff
I am in awe/ great system / fantastic plan and implementation/ do you want to teach SPS?? lol/ seriously congrats on practice plan working with under par round/ keep it up/ call me anytime with questions or latest 'conquest' /
good luck and thanks for all the great posts and practice regimens - I'm envious but proud of your results
take care
Mike O
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jclenden



USA
206 Posts

Posted - June 12 2008 :  1:31:24 PM  Show Profile Send jclenden a Private Message  Reply with Quote
"Necessity is the mother of invention." It is also the mother of revised practice habits. : )

Last week I reported my best 9 holes ever. Merely 5 days later I had a rather poor 9 hole score. The difference?
A few feet here and a few feet there. Golf is a precision game, I keep telling myself. However, I don't practice with enough precision to ensure more precise shots when it matters. I need to practice more precisely - not just trying to be precise with the swing but actually measuring the precision of my shots. So I began today.

I decided to hit 3 clubs: PW, 7i, and driver. I chose 3 targets that represented the average distance I want for the club. For the irons I tried to hit within a circle around that target and I measured how many shots were left, right, short, and in the circle. The circle for the PW was smaller than the circle for the 7i because I want to hit close enough to make birdies. For the driver I simply chose a corridor between which I wanted to hit the ball, simulating the width of the fairway. I tracked all shots.

This routine forced me to focus more on what causes me to pull or push the ball than on how far and 'relatively' straight that I was hitting the ball. The results from the first practice were very encouraging.

My PW was within the circle 95% of the time. My 7i was within the circle 60% of the time, and my driver was within the corridor 90% of the time. My 7i was long and left when I missed the circle, which tells me that I'm overswinging with it. I will continue this type of practice the next few times and we'll see how it transfers to the course.
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jclenden



USA
206 Posts

Posted - June 14 2008 :  5:25:18 PM  Show Profile Send jclenden a Private Message  Reply with Quote
I went to the range with my son today and had another good session. I improved my 7i by focusing on turning the torso with minimal lower body movement. As I pondered my last outing I realized I was trying to add power to the shot by pulling hard with my L shoulder. A renewed focus on simply turning the torso smoothly restored my accuracy. The driver and PW remained strong. I had some extra balls so I mixed in some 4i and 60W shots and hit all of those well. I think I'm ready to take it back to the course.
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jclenden



USA
206 Posts

Posted - June 29 2008 :  08:38:44 AM  Show Profile Send jclenden a Private Message  Reply with Quote
A week ago I played a round with a buddy of mine. About 6 holes in he drubbed his tee shot while I hit a 250yd drive that split the fairway. As I assessed my next shot, 100 yards uphill to a small green, I was talking to myself about what kind of shot to hit and settled on a 3/4 pitching wedge from the pitching stance. He laughed and said, "golf would be so much more fun if all I had to worry about was which TYPE of shot to hit each time." He was right: golf is so much funner now that I'm not worried about whether or not I can hit a straight, solid shot!

It's time for a stat update and to reassess my practice goals. My stats now look something like this:
- 52% Fairways hit but 75% tee shots where I wanted to hit them (I don't always aim for the fairway) I'm content with the 75%.
- 35% GIR. My goal remains around 60%.
- Avg 18 ft from pin when I hit GIR. This is under my goal, so I'm content.
- Avg 8 ft from pin when I miss GIR. This is slightly above my goal so needs work.
- Avg 2.1 putts when I hit GIR. This is slightly above my goal, so needs work.
- Avg 1.5 putts when I miss GIR. This is slightly above my goal, so needs work.
- 60% putts made under 6 ft. This is woefully short of my 80% goal and continues to need work.

My GIR is still my biggest problem but now the problem is distance control. My direction has straightened out considerably with every club. My iron shots are straight but I'm under or over clubbing now. Several factors contribute to this, not the least of which is that I know how to generate more power when I want it and I'm still experimenting a bit.

My range time will continue to be spent on accuracy with more of a focus on distance control. I want to choose a level of power and stick to it until I feel I've mastered it on the course. I'll intersperse that with chipping/pitching because my goal is to average inside 7 ft when I miss the GIR. Better chipping will also reduce my average # putts.
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jclenden



USA
206 Posts

Posted - August 13 2008 :  11:26:51 AM  Show Profile Send jclenden a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Over the past several weeks I’ve devoted my practice to two things: putting and accuracy. My putting is showing marginal improvement – I’m making a few more long putts – but I still miss too many 4’-6’ putts (I only make 60% of them).

The biggest area of improvement has been my accuracy. Over my past 10 rounds played, my fairways hit (FH) has gone from 50% to 61% (my goal is 65%) while my greens in regulation (GIR) has gone from 31% to 47% (my goal is 60%). This is a clear, measurable improvement in my game and can be attributed directly to my ongoing focus on accuracy (i.e. direction and distance control) while at the range. When I practice I concentrate most about those things that seem to have the greatest impact on my accuracy. They include:
+ Keep head still during swing
+ Keep head high during swing – no hunchback position
+ Shoulder-initiated downswing, which also results in a smooth transition
+ Keep lead elbow pointing at target until after impact
+ Keep clubface square to target line all the way through (I have a tendency to cock my wrist in such a way that I open the clubface during the backswing).
+ Make sure shoulders are parallel to target line at impact (i.e. don’t let the lead shoulder open towards the target)

It’s great to see results on the course, which translates into lower scores. But perhaps the most important lesson I’m seeing is that these improvements didn’t appear suddenly, at least not for me. By monitoring my stats I can see a clear trend line upward – perhaps a 4-5% improvement every 4 rounds. That’s only about 1/18 holes, but after a few months that’s 4/18 holes and that’s a big improvement. In other words, persistent structured practice is the key to improvement. SS simply makes improvement POSSIBLE because the swing is easier to master, but it doesn’t guarantee mastery unless I PRACTICE. So to all SSers, I encourage you to set SPECIFIC, MEASURABLE, ACHIEVABLE goals and then practice until you reach them. Even short 30 minute practice sessions (which is about all I can get) can make a difference as long as you have a clear goal and a clear plan for achieving it. In just a few months I am over halfway to my goal of 60% GIR. I now feel confident that I’ll get there by the end of the summer, and that’s exciting because my scores are showing it!
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SATTHMNS



121 Posts

Posted - August 14 2008 :  1:33:46 PM  Show Profile Send SATTHMNS a Private Message  Reply with Quote
jclenden

Great job,it sounds like you really have a plan. i need to do that. Way too often i just go bash balls and get frustrated. I do seem to be hitting them on the range better than at the course. Hit way too many Fatt shots last night at our league. Some pulled Drive also. I don't seem to hit the Fatt shots at the range, but sure have been on the course.
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jclenden



USA
206 Posts

Posted - September 06 2008 :  11:09:57 AM  Show Profile Send jclenden a Private Message  Reply with Quote
As the summer wears on it is getting harder and harder to find time to practice. I don't play as much, either. Since I keep fairly complete stats its pretty easy to see what suffers the most from lack of practice, at least for me: my chipping. Early in the year my average distance from the pin on chips was close to 7'. Now it is up over 10'. I'm a marginal putter as it is, and I know that I'm 3x more likely to make a putt under 7' than one over 10'. I guess I'll have to get with it and work on that chipping again!
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Gmoney



USA
1 Posts

Posted - September 09 2008 :  02:55:01 AM  Show Profile  Send Gmoney a Yahoo! Message Send Gmoney a Private Message  Reply with Quote
jclenden

Practice does not make perfect. Just makes it easier to do the same thing without to much thought. You are doing the right thing by planning your practice and keeping records. I very seldom go to the driving range anymore. It just seems so boring without having that cup for a goal. :-0

Anyway, what I thought might be helpful is to say something about your wonderful brain. When it comes to chipping, pitching and putting, you need to learn to trust your brain to make the calculations for you and give your body the right instructions to get the job done. As much practice as you have done has given your brain all the information it needs to know just how to hit the ball to get it close. It is when we start "thinking" about hitting the ball a little easier or a little harder or higher or lower or whatever that we start causing ourselves problems. All you need to do is your basic setup, look at the target once and concentrate on making a nice smooth swing. Your onboard computer will take care of the rest.

The more times you look at the target, the more times you think about how much of a back swing you are going to make, the more times you think left or right, the more problems you will have. "Think long! Think wrong!" is pretty true in this instance. I very seldom go a round without pitching or chipping at least one in the hole. Sometimes more and from 50 yards down to the 10 feet off the green. Saves a little putting.

Something I do and have had good luck with for lagging on long putts is to spread my feet to shoulder width or a little wider. It seems to give greater stability and therefore greater control on distance. I have a couple of friends who have been helped greatly by making this change too. It is also easier to make a longer online swing of the putter or, at least, feels that way. I also make sure I use a wide stance on chipping and pitching.

If your putts tend to go past the cup on the far side most of the time it is most likely because you are not over the ball with your eyes and this makes the line off some. If you have to grip down on the putter to make sure you are over the ball with your eyes, try it.

Congratulations on your discipline! I wish I had that same discipline on some of the work I need to get done. I really enjoyed your posts though and hope I haven't come off as some kind of know-it-all. I just truly love this game.
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jclenden



USA
206 Posts

Posted - October 23 2008 :  09:43:06 AM  Show Profile Send jclenden a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Well SSers, here we are near the end of the (northern) golf season and it’s time to objectively evaluate whether SS has helped me improve my game this year. At the beginning of the season I set some goals for myself and structured my practice sessions to help me meet them. I have also kept stats for each round played so I could track my progress. After my first few rounds of the year I noted my initial numbers. Since that time I have monitored my trends for the most recent 72 holes so I could monitor trends. The trends were relatively level for the first few months of the season while I was still learning the swing. But these past 2 months the numbers have trended significantly upward. Here are my latest stats, showing the goal, my initial number, and my most recent 72 hole number:

Statistic (Goal) (Early Season) (End of Season)
% Fairways Hit: 65% / 40% / 66%
% Greens in Reg: 60% / 30% / 61%
Median distance from pin for GIR: 21 ft / 18.5 ft/ 24.5 ft
Median distance from pin – no GIR: 7 ft / 14 ft/ 13 ft
% Sand Save: 25% / 0% / 38%

Clearly SS has made my full swing much better. If I can carry over the FH and GIR numbers to next season I will be absolutely thrilled. About midway through the season my median distance numbers had both dropped well below my goals, but as I hit more and more GIR those numbers climbed back up. I don’t think I can do much better when I’m hitting greens from 150-180 yards, but for those holes where I’m hitting from <140 yards I need to get the ball closer to the pin. That will be a priority for next season. The sand save number astounded me. My 25% goal was, quite honestly, wishful thinking. I don’t think I’ve made half a dozen sand saves in 35 years of golf, but I made more than that in the past 2 months alone!

Anyway, my conclusion is that SS made an obvious, measurable difference in my game, especially when I practiced with specific goals in mind, and it allowed me to reach goals that I really didn’t believe I could achieve when I began the quest.

Jeff

Edited by - jclenden on October 23 2008 11:28:27 AM
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SATTHMNS



121 Posts

Posted - October 23 2008 :  10:18:03 AM  Show Profile Send SATTHMNS a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Good job with your goals. that is what i need to do going inot next year. Do you have any plans for winter drills or anything?

PS sand shots have always been one of my big problems !!!
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