After hitting a few wayward drives (two that went OB on me) I decided to also leave the driver in the bag the rest of the round.  I just wasn’t feeling comfortable with it and it just wasn’t working well with the swing changes.  Besides Richter Park is not so long that I would miss the driver.  So I spent most of the round teeing off my 18 degree Cobra Baffler pro hybrid and decided that I would play the par 5s as 3 shot holes.

I was hitting the hybrid probably 20 yards behind where I would normally hit my driver and so much straighter.  On one hole I went hybrid – lob wedge and ended up about 8 feet from the pin slightly above the hole.  The only hole where driver would really have made a difference for me was 18.  I thinned the hybrid and ended up with 205 to the back of the green, to a green perched roughly 15 yards above me.  I would have proffered a shorter second shot but that’s golf.

I was pretty amazed at how well the swing changes worked.  My irons were crisp and very straight.  I ended up with an 81 that could have been even better had I left the driver in the car from the beginning.  I had 2 drives that went OB on me, and without those penalties the score could have been much lower.  However, my irons were crisp, as were my wedges.  I had really solid distance control all day and I’m excited for what these swing changes will bring.

During the round I also decided to implement the strategy from this article about asking the right questions.  The other thing that has improved my scoring is Game Sense.  Even when I don’t hit pure shots, I’m leaving myself good opportunities to save my score.  Deciding on the correct strategy based on what I brought to the course that day has now become second nature and it really makes the game so much more fun.  I recognize what the course architects are trying to do to trick golfers and I can very easily select the right strategy.  Sun Tzu said, and I’m paraphrasingm that every battle is won or lost before it has even begun.  Although golf is not a battle it is a competition between you and the golf course.  Use the right strategies and make the best decisions and you give yourself good opportunities to play well.

Okay, so there wasn’t any snow on the ground.  And that’s not a picture of the course I played.  But it was an unbelievable 62 degress in December in the Northeast.

Had to take advantage of it so I went out and played a round.  The course was pretty spongy and wet from all the rain we got last night.  But I can’t complain too much as I think the rain was responsible for the warm temperatures.

I warmed up at home with the Orange Whip Trainer, then headed out to the course.  My rhythm felt good and I felt like it was going to be a good ball striking day.

I started the round off with a 4 wood that flew quite a bit longer than my driver usually does.  It flew a good 40-50 yards further.  I don’t know if it was the warmer air or I just hit the ball extremely solid but I was very pleased with that shot.  On the next hole I hit an enormous drive, GPS measured to 302.  That is long for me.  Lately I’ve been carrying it out about 265-270.  There was very little roll on the course due to the wet conditions so I was amazed when we got the GPS measurement on it.

For the most part the day went somewhat like this.  I was hitting my irons very crisp again.  I continued to try to use as light a grip as possible.  I got a little over excited with the driver a couple of times and tried to force it (which resulted in some predictable blocks).  I was pretty much zeroed in with my wedges.  The only thing that let me down today was the putting.  I needed 33 putts which is why I ended up with an 81.  It’s a respectable round but it could have been so much better.  I think my work with the Orange Whip and the Country Club Elite golf mats is really starting to pay some dividends.  I feel like I’m a lot more patient on the course and I feel like my rhythm has just improved so much.

I was hitting my irons particularly solid that day and I think a lot of that had to do with a light grip on the club.

With a light grip the club seemed to swing more freely and with less effort.  On a day when my shots should have been 1 club or more shorter than in the summer, I was getting my full distance and then some.  With a light grip I could really feel the acceleration of the club down through the impact zone.  I could really feel the ball compress and even though I was playing a non-tour ball (Nike One Vapor), I was still getting a lot of spin, much more than I anticipated.

The other interesting effect that the light grip had was on the flight path of the golf ball.  I had a number of shots during the round when I know I had a tighter grip on the club.  On those shots, I tended to lose the ball to the right with a weak fade.  My shots with the lighter grip were controlled draws.

So there were several benefits from using a light grip:

1) More solid contact

2) More clubhead speed

3) Controlled draw vs a weak fade

4) Optimal spin

5) Improved Distance and accuracy

My scores in the last 3 rounds have been about 10 strokes over my course handicap.  Ouch.  Now, I am working on some swing changes so that takes time and patience before it translates onto the course.  But it is difficult to know you can shoot a 78 and end up with and 87.  It’s tough when you can feel the round slipping away but you don’t know how to get it back on track.

Today I feel I learned something important.  Throughout the round I did not feel like I had my best stuff.  My ball striking was off and I wasn’t sure where the ball was going to go.  I had a slow start 3 over par for the first 5 holes.  But I finished strong going 3 over par over the next 15 holes.  I really had to grind on each shot.  I only hit 7 greens in regulation, 4 fairways, but I only needed 26 putts.

What were the keys to this round?

1. Staying patient

2. Vividly visualizing

3. Staying within my capabilities

1. Staying patient

For me this was probably the most difficult thing to do.  It was very frustrating to hit those early misses.  I had some of the worst ball striking I’ve had in a while.  I also had to rein in the feeling that the round was getting away from me.  I reminded myself that this was really early in the round and to just try and play comfortable, and not go for too much.

2. Vividly Visualizing

I think this was a major key.  Normally I pick out a target and I think about what I want the ball to do, then I do a slow half-swing emphasizing the movement I want to feel.  Today I did something different.

I would walk up to the ball, and from behind vividly imagine the flight path.  I would see the ball take off a roughly the same speed that an actual shot would, but I would see it leave a bit of trail (sort of like the tail of a comet) as it headed to the hole.  From this point of view of looking at the ball from behind it I would also see me taking the swing that would hit the shot.  Sort of like watching a preview of it.  I had never really done this before this way.  I also would not address the ball until I had really clear visualization.  Then once the visualization was really clear and I addressed the ball, it sort of felt like stepping into the shot that I saw.  I would address the ball, see the path again and swing.  Once I started to do this it was amazing how many shots actually took the path that I visualized.  Obviously not every shot did, but it was amazing to me how many actually did what I saw in my minds eye.

3. Staying within my capabilities

Although it was tempting to hit the “hero” shot, I did my best to stay within shots I knew I could pull off.  When I was chipping or pitching instead of really trying to get it to the hole I gave myself slightly bigger margin for error.  I think this took some pressure off me, and the pitches and chips came off really well, on a number of holes I was left with easy tap ins for par this way.

Although my ball striking was not where I wanted it to be, I was happy with the score at the end and I felt that I am on my way to being a scorer and a scratch player.

In ordinary situations, on your favorite course, on your favorite hole, with your favorite club, and with ideal weather it’s probably not that hard.  But what happens when you are in a tournament, or there is some money riding on a putt, or you’re on the 16th hole needing pars in that last two holes to beat your best score.  Is it easy then to play fearless golf?  Probably not.

I think playing fearless golf requires awareness.  You must become aware of when the fear mechanism is triggered and act accordingly.  Too often we get caught up in the moment and instead of taking a moment to gather ourselves we push through, for whatever reasons we have.  Usually we end up with a bad result, a hooked or sliced shot, a shot OB or into the hazard, or a stubbed chip, or a weak or overly strong putt.

I set out this morning to play Fearless Golf in difficult conditions on my home course (temperature in the upper 40s, wind blowing around 30 MPH, with a threat of rain on the way).  You would think that in these conditions it would be difficult to play fearless golf.  What’s the wind going to do to my shots?  How much shorter will the ball fly in the cold?  What are the greens going to be like?  Will my hands be too cold to get any real feel putting or chipping?

I noticed the fear response came up a number of times.  I pictured a drive being taken by a slice wind way right OB.  At that point I had a choice.  What do I do about it?  I didn’t want to just hit then because I had a really ugly picture in my head.  I told my self “You’re playing fearless golf, you’ve hit this drive great before lots of times.”  I would then picture my ball flight as I wanted, relaxed by body, and especially my hands, and swung with confidence.  I hit it down the middle in ideal position.

I made several key birdie putts in the round by thinking “Fearless Putting”, including some breaking downhillers.  In the end I ended up with a score about 7 shots better than I expected.  I was fearless and it worked.

Still working on the stuff from my lesson and my ball striking was definitely off today.  It is difficult not to be mechanical when trying to apply what I’ve been working on since the lesson last week.

I hit a few really good shots, and I had an ok score, but it was difficult trusting my swing.  I’m sure that things will get better, and I have the whole winter to get my swing improved so having a mediocre round is not a big deal.  It was nice to be out there though.

Stats for the round:

7/14 Fairways (50%), 8/18 GIR (44%), 29 Putts (2.0 putts per green in regulation, 1.61 putts per green overall, 1.5 putts per green not in regulation), 29 Putts for an 80.  Did not hit into a single bunker.

Every green missed cost me .8 strokes.  That is a lot.  I should keep working on my ballstriking, but the short game will really help save strokes.  I need to dramatically reduce how many strokes a missed green costs me.  I also need to putt better when I get on the green in regulation.

Par 5 scoring:   +1

Par 3 scoring: E

Par 4 scoring: +7

Par 5s are my best opportunities for birdies.  Par 4s are where I really need to score.  Each par 3 cost me about .7 shots today.  That really needs work.

I think I put too much pressure on myself after my recent good scores.

Instead of being in the moment for each shot I kept looking back on mistakes or trying to figure out how bad this round was going to be.  Once my shots started to go astray, my thoughts turned very mechanical. Somehow I was able to save the round, as it could have been worse but it was definitely frustrating.

I haven’t hit the driving range in a while so maybe that has something to do with it.  I’ll get back on the simulator and see what’s going on with my swing path and face angle.

1) Putting Speed

The best way I’ve found to control my speed on fast greens is with a stroke that is short on the backswing and long on the forward swing.  With this stroke my speed was not only much better but the roll was truer.  I marked my golf balls with alignment lines and I was amazed at how true my putts were rolling with that end over end roll.  Although unfortunately I didn’t have any short birdie putts, I was able to make plenty of long (10+ feet) putts for par which went a long way toward saving the score.

2) Reading the Line

I’ve been writing about how many putts I lipped out, or burned the edges on.  I realized that this came from reading too much break into the putts.  It is a difficult thing to change because when you are used to reading a certain amount of break it is actually uncomfortable to play less break than that.  I had to learn to trust that the amount of break was actually correct even if it seemed like too little.

Yesterday I went to the putting green to practice armed with an excellent practice aid to help me read the greens.  It is basically a circular level that shows you in what direction the green is breaking at the point where you place it.  I learned to correlate the amount of change on the level to the amount of break and I really was shocked at how much break I had been reading into the putts.  Once I started to play less break and feel comfortable with it I started sinking a lot of putts on a fast practice green.

Combining #1 and #2 above really allowed me to feel comfortable putting.  It led to making a lot of nice long putts.  A few putts that didn’t go in where on exactly the right lines, they just needed a bit more speed.  Overall I was very happy with my putting.

3) Approach Shots from 120 Yards

This shot has been troubling me lately.  It’s not a full pitching wedge, and it’s too much for a sandwedge (52 or 56 degree).  I started playing a knockdown pitching wedge and it turned out to be the best way to hit this shot for me.  I had a number of these during the round and I started feeling very confident from this range.  As a result I hit many more greens today then usual.

4) Short Game

This is the one area that let me down today.  I feel like the 77 could have been a 74 or maybe even a 72 if my short game had been on.  Pitches from 15 to 30 yards where my biggest weakness during the day and turned some pars into bogies.  This area definitely remains fertile ground for improvement and I look forward to being a much better short game artist next season.

I did a lot of things well today on a tough course in cold, wet and windy conditions.  I was very pleased with my play and saw some serious room for improvement still.  But I do feel like it is doable and like I should be able to reach mid to low seventies next season on a regular basis.

I shot a 78 even though I only hit 6 greens and had 31 putts.

It was a good round though.  I hit the ball very solid.  I had a lot of good tee shots leaving me with wedges into the greens.  Most of my misses came on the approach shots.  I flew a few greens from 125 yards and in, since I’m still getting used to hitting the ball at bit further (even with the colder weather) so my distances are not totally dialed in.  I had a couple of nice birdies and just had a good round overall.  My putting can definitely improve and that’s something I’m going to work on.  I also need to get a bit more accurate with my irons, especially the short irons.  Getting into the mid and low seventies is going to be a challenge but I’m definitely looking forward to spending more time in the seventies.  I feel like I’m getting to know the game better and that I can score well even when I’m not hitting a lot of greens.  I feel like I’m becoming a better scrambler though of course I would prefer to hit more greens.  I’m confident that will happen.  My main miss is a pull when I get bit quick but I’m begining to more consistently hit nice baby draws.

I’m thrilled with the way the season went but I’m also a bit sad that I won’t be able to post any scores until April when the official 2010 season kicks off.

I played today and shot an 80 with 27 putts.  It was a pretty non-eventful 80 with a few really good shots, and a couple of nice putts that went in.  But it seemed like a pretty typical round and I know that I left a bunch of shots on the table.

I was pretty excited by how I was driving the ball.  I hit a lot of really good drives.  I definitely need to hit more greens in regulation.  My iron play was decent but not stellar.  My short game was pretty good although I did have a couple of errant chips, but most ended up within about 2-3 feet of the hole.

Does anyone know of a good indoor facility where I can practice my short game in fairfield county or westchester?  Mostly I’d like to practice putting, chipping and bunker shots.  There was a place I really liked in Norwalk, The Golf Training Center, but it closed down earlier this year.  I plan of updating this blog regularly anyway as I will continue to work on my game over the winter.  The plan for the winter is to continue to develop solid fundamentals on the full swing, and somehow find a place to practice my short game so I can get a killer short game over the winter.

I don’t get up and down enough.  I know that I have to improve my short game.  I need to leave short game shots close enough to easily one putt but it’s tricky.  This is my next challenge.  I feel like I’m plateauing around the 79-81 range.  And yet walking off the course I know where I left shots on the table.  Today I had an 81, which is one under for my course handicap so again, it was a solid round.  Although I do feel it could easily have been 4 or 5 strokes better.

I had a thought that was helpful on the golf course today. The image of the inner workings of a clock, seeing all the gears moving, synchronized, no one gear speeding up.  It seemed to keep me much more synchronized and helped with the long game.  I had a really good driving day and I had a lot of good shots.  It does get to me when I have a wonderful tee shot, and a bad approach shot.  It’s a nice drive wasted and it drives me crazy.  I had two of those, with the approach shots coming up way short (I had enough club but actually hit the ball fat).  I’m pretty sure that is just a mental game thing.

A couple of things were interesting.  I really felt comfortable driving the ball, and I also felt really comfortable with my fairway woods.  I’m not sure why that was but it was nice.  On 18 I hit my drive off the toe but still got it out with pretty good distance and in the fairway.  I had about 230 up hill and I hit a nice 4 wood, pin high, but in the rough on the left side of the green.  I ended up 1 putting for a par 5 but could easily have had a birdie if I had chipped it close.

I burned the edge on so many putts today.  Had a few of those gone in it could have been a stellar round for me.  I realized that I was reading 1″ too much break on each putt.  I didn’t correct that until the 17th hole but it made a difference once I figured that out.

Overall I was pretty happy with my ball striking today.  I had a couple of bad chips and a few bad putts, but as I said I felt I scored well, all things considered.  I had a few errant drives, and although I hit some fades I didn’t have any big slices.  I basically kept the ball in play and recovered from a couple of miscues.  I know that I need to hit more greens.  That will definitely lower my scores. I crushed a few drives but I’m still not sure the driver fits me totally, but it’s kind of too late in the season to change it up.

On the 9th hole, a very short par 3, I hit sand wedge from 109 yards.  I landed the ball pin high (then pin was about 10 feet from the front of the green), then spun it back to about 10 feet off the green (for a total spin back of about 20 ft).  That’s what happens when you’ve been playing a low spin ball and decide to switch to a tour ball.  Way too much spin.  I only needed some controlled spin and it just over spun on me.  Oh well, at least I got up and down for par.

I don’t worry about the par on the scorecard anymore.  The truth is that it’s not really relevant.  When I got back into golf 3 years ago, I was about a 26 handicap.  Back then it was really not relevant.

As I get closer and closer to becoming a scratch golfer it will become more relevant but for now not worrying about it has been tremendously helpful in lowering my handicap from 26 to my current index of 9.3.

What I do care about is my personal par.  The course I play has rating of 71.7 and a slope of 129.  In my book that makes it a nice test.  It’s not the most challenging course I play, but it’s not the easiest either.  My course handicap based on the above numbers is 11.  Therefore my personal par is 83.  However my goal is to shoot my index or 2 strokes less.  Meaning I’m satisfied with an 81 (-2) , but I want a 79 (-4).

Why I use a personal par?

Personal par allows me to gradually move to the actual par on the card as my skill improves.  Without it, it’s very frustrating to look at your scorecard and think, “what an awful day, I shot 11 over par.  I’m a terrible golfer.”  With a personal par that conversation changes to, “Ok, not bad.  I shot par.  Next time I’m going one under!”  However it gets really exciting when I shoot an 81.  “Sweet, I shot 2 under.  Awesome.  Let’s get that down to 3 or 4 under.  Yeah!”  As my index drops, so does my personal par.  An it’s even more exciting when I shoot a 77.  “Holy cow!  I shot 6-under.  Awesome!!!!”  Therefore as long as I keep improving, I’m always facing a new challenege.  Something interesting also happens when your index drops.  You find that a hole that you used to get a shot on, you no longer get that shot.  It makes you play that hole a little bit differently, but it doesn’t change every hole right away.  Therefore it’s a new challenge, and that’s pretty exciting.

Why it Works

It takes the pressure off.  Starting out you’re not likely to hit a lot of greens in regulation.  That is very frustrating.  With your personal par some par 4s become par 5s and usually some longer par 3s become par 4s.  Taking the pressure of reaching those in 2 or 1, actually makes it more likely that you will reach them in regulation.  You won’t over swing as much, you’ll make better contact, and you will hit more greens both in standard regulation and of course in your regulation.

Another reason it works is that unless you’re a scratch golfer or close to it, you’re game is so different that it’s not even fair trying to compare them.  Measuring your results against a score card designed for a scratch golfer is downright frustrating when you’re not a scratch golfer.  But some of you are thinking, “Won’t this lead to complacency and mediocrity?”  No.  It won’t.  It won’t because it becomes addictive to score par, even if its your par.  You’ll want to do it again and again.  And that encourages you to practice.  To take lessons, or to just get better.  As you see your personal par go down, that also motivates you to do better.

How to Do It

“So how do I go about using this wonderful personal par?”

1. Get a handicap.  You’ll need your index to calculate it.
2. Figure out your course handicap based on your index and slope rating for the tees that you play.  Use this calculator.
3. Add your course handicap to the par on the scorecard.
4. Add strokes to each hole based on the handicap rating for each hole.  If your course handicap is 18 each hole will get a stroke.  If it’s 11, only the 11 hardest holes will get a stroke.
5. Enjoy the round.

If you have a sky caddie, they have upgraded their software to caluculate “My Par”.  It rocks.

In “5 Lessons” Ben Hogan writes about keeping the left arm tight to the chest on the downswing.

So I started playing around with this.  How tight do I keep it there?  What’s the best way to do that?

One of the reasons I thought to do this was that I noticed on my OTT actual swings that the arms begin racing towards the ball.  And I thought, hmm, if I keep my left arm tight to the chest as long as possible, then the arms can’t race ahead.

So I videotaped some swings then I went to bed last night.

This morning I got up to play around.  The course I went to had no driving range, so I couldn’t warm up the swing that way, but I knew the one swing thought that I would keep in mind througout the round.  Keep the left arm tight to the chest.  I used a little visualization on my swings, almost feeling as if the left arm got superglued to my body at the top of the backswing.

I felt super-connected throughout the swing, and even though I had my share of errant shots, I was striking the ball more solid than usual, especially with the driver where I hit a few enourmous drives on a cold day into the wind a lot of the time.  My irons were really crisp and I felt the way I did on my practice swings.  I meant to do the post swing analysis where I rated the shots on how close they were to my practice swing, but I forgot to do that.

Tomorrow I will go to the range with the camera and hit some balls like this, but I have a feeling that it will be good news.

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.