Today I had an intersting round.  I started off on the first hole with a tee shot that almost went OB, left me with a 180 yd shot to the green, hit a five iron to about 12 feet and sank the putt for birdie.

I proceeded to have a bit of an up and down day with my ball striking, but my putting was pretty good.  I only needed 29 putts today, and I sank several 10 -15 foot putts to save par.

I had a few shots where I really felt that I was able to match my actual swing with my practice swing, and on those I hit the ball as pure as winter snow. Throughout the round, after hitting each shot I would rate it on a scale of 1 to 5, to how closely the actual swing matched the practice swing, with 1 being the most different and 5 being an exact match.  I had my fair share of 1s and 2s, but I noticed that anything at 3 or above was always a good shot.  On the 7th hole, I had a 145 yards to a back pin, with a slight uphill lie in the rough behind a bunker, and an elevated green.  I took my practice swing with an 8-iron, and it felt just right.  I was able to match the swing perfectly, and ended up 4 feet from the cup for birdie, and I sank the putt.

On a few holes early in the back 9 I got a bit out of synch and it showed.  I sprayed some shots and got very frustrated for about 3 holes.

I shortened up my backswing, and I was able to get some 3s and 4s and right the ship.  I came to 17, which required a carry of about 210, to a back pin at about 223.  Into the wind I hit my 2 hybrid, and got on the green in regulation.  It was a pretty pure shot that managed to hold the right side of the green.  I gave that shot a 4.  I hit a poor putt that left me with about 12 feet to go.  But I was able sink hat 12-footer for my par.  A 3 is always a good score on that tough hole.

On 18, after a poor drive, I was in the rough on the right side, roughly 250 from the green (par 5).  I hit a decent 2 hybrid but ended up in the fairway bunker, with about 120 into the wind for my 3rd shot.  I shanked the bunker shot and ended up about 30 yards right of the green.  I needed a 5 in order to get up and down from there.  I took my 60 degree lob wedge, and took a nice short practice swing.  It felt right.  I did the exact same swing when I hit the ball and I ended up about 10 feet from the pin with a downhill putt.  I sank the putt to finish with a par.

I wanted to write about these shots because they showcase what I’m trying to achieve with the practice swing and actual swing challenge.  Up above you can see why I believe that retraining the hit impulse, and becoming consitent with having my actual swing match my practice swing is a game changer.



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