I broke 100 again! Yay! I scored a 97 at Monarch Bay from the forward tees. =)
I learned that I don't have to play particularly well. I just have to keep advancing the ball (ie hit it over 100 yards from the fairway) and get a green in regulation or one over a green in regulation. From there I just have to 2 putt or less and it will be a fine and dandy day.
How did I do?
First, I wasn't hitting my driver well. It would slice and find a fairway bunker and other times, it would go straight. On one hole I had a 160 yard drive that was verified by Sky Caddie. I did find a lot of fairway bunkers and I did fine getting out of them. I had to remember that I had to pick the ball clean and keep my lower body still. When I would sway, I wasn't able to get out cleanly, but I got out. I also didn't have any really bad shots. I was able to advance the ball and I even had 2 pars! yay! I am getting the hang of pitching. I even got a pitch to land and stop 6 inches from the hole to save par.
Putting - My putting was erratic. The day before I spent over an hour working on putting with Anthony. First we worked on my set up. My hands were too far away from my body and were hanging in an odd position. My stance was a little too wide and the ball was too far away from me. To fix all of this, I had to have my hands hang straight down under my chin. I also narrowed my stance, so that my feet were under my hips. To fix the ball position, we moved the ball closer to me. Next, we worked on my 25' to 30' putts. I have the most trouble with this distance because I either leave putts really short or I hit it way past the hole. I had to work on getting it within tap in distance. We worked on putting uphill and downhill to help work on my distance control. Even though we worked on this my putting on the front 9 was horrendous. I would leave putts short and long. I got things under control on the back nine. I need to learn to calm down before I putt.
That's how I played. =)
Showing posts with label Golf Blog. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Golf Blog. Show all posts
Friday, May 21, 2010
Monday, April 12, 2010
Owwiee
On Saturday, April 10, I went to play golf at Monarch Bay, one of my favorite courses. Oh little did I know I would par the 18th hole playing on one leg.
My friend hit me with his tee shot right smack in the thigh. Luckily and thankfully it did not hit any other part of my body. So how did I get hit? Well, the group in front of us was taking FOREVER to get down the fairway. I went first because I don't drive the ball that far and they were still within my friend's driver vicinity. So I go and then I stand off to the side out of the way. My friend's tee box is to the left of my box (so my box is out of the way) and is 30 yards behind mine. The right side of his tee box was about 10 yards to the right of the left side of my tee box. So yea I am out of the way. He tees up his ball on the right side of his box (I have no fucking clue why since he never does that). He hits the ball and then I see it coming at me, but I couldn't react fast enough and I get hit. I then collapse onto the ground and start rubbing my leg because it's stinging from all of the pain. I dunno what the hell was said, I think I remember my friend said he was sorry, but hey I was in pain. Anthony was halfway down the fairway when he heard me yelp. I heard him ask me if I was ok. Then I heard him ask my friend, "How did you do that?!" Which was hilarious, but I couldn't laugh because of the pain. Ugh. But seriously how the hell did that happen. We've been playing for about a year, and his line drive tee shots need to go. Hah. I forgot to mention that his box is slightly elevated.
Anyways, I got up and hobbled/limped to my ball (which was about 170 yards away). I saw the yardage marker and tried to do the math. The first marker I found said it was 113 to the middle, and my ball was 30 paces in front of it. So I was figuring out it was about 60 to the middle. Then I saw another marker about 5 paces in front of my ball and it said that it was about 60 to the front. So now I am confused. I try to gather myself and pick out my PW, my 70 yard club. I figure if I choke down and take a nice easy swing it should get there. It did and it went slightly pass the pin and rolled a few inches into the rough. I have about 2 inches of rough between my ball and start of the fringe. I chose my 6i to chip it out. It stops about 4 feet pass the pin, but that's fine because I am left with a slightly up hill putt. I putt out and make my first par on a par 4. haha. Maybe I should play injured all the time! Not!
Time for pictures!
I was hit around 11am, and here's my leg at 7pm on Saturday. About 20 min after I was hit, there was a dark blue half ring at the site of injury. It was pretty nasty, but I can't see it here. What the picture doesn't show is how swollen the area is. It looked like I had an extra rectus femoris muscle (it's a muscle in the quad). It looked like an alien was growing inside. I got paranoid for a bit, but I continued to ice it. The area was inflamed and it was hot.
Day 2. Still kinda sore to walk, but I can get around. It's starting to heal. Where I was hit, there is a slight dent, but my muscle works fine.
Day 3. I woke up this morning and I wanted to slap myself. I totally forgot to wrap my leg to help the swelling. But that's what my leg looks like. Lovely.
My friend hit me with his tee shot right smack in the thigh. Luckily and thankfully it did not hit any other part of my body. So how did I get hit? Well, the group in front of us was taking FOREVER to get down the fairway. I went first because I don't drive the ball that far and they were still within my friend's driver vicinity. So I go and then I stand off to the side out of the way. My friend's tee box is to the left of my box (so my box is out of the way) and is 30 yards behind mine. The right side of his tee box was about 10 yards to the right of the left side of my tee box. So yea I am out of the way. He tees up his ball on the right side of his box (I have no fucking clue why since he never does that). He hits the ball and then I see it coming at me, but I couldn't react fast enough and I get hit. I then collapse onto the ground and start rubbing my leg because it's stinging from all of the pain. I dunno what the hell was said, I think I remember my friend said he was sorry, but hey I was in pain. Anthony was halfway down the fairway when he heard me yelp. I heard him ask me if I was ok. Then I heard him ask my friend, "How did you do that?!" Which was hilarious, but I couldn't laugh because of the pain. Ugh. But seriously how the hell did that happen. We've been playing for about a year, and his line drive tee shots need to go. Hah. I forgot to mention that his box is slightly elevated.
Anyways, I got up and hobbled/limped to my ball (which was about 170 yards away). I saw the yardage marker and tried to do the math. The first marker I found said it was 113 to the middle, and my ball was 30 paces in front of it. So I was figuring out it was about 60 to the middle. Then I saw another marker about 5 paces in front of my ball and it said that it was about 60 to the front. So now I am confused. I try to gather myself and pick out my PW, my 70 yard club. I figure if I choke down and take a nice easy swing it should get there. It did and it went slightly pass the pin and rolled a few inches into the rough. I have about 2 inches of rough between my ball and start of the fringe. I chose my 6i to chip it out. It stops about 4 feet pass the pin, but that's fine because I am left with a slightly up hill putt. I putt out and make my first par on a par 4. haha. Maybe I should play injured all the time! Not!
Time for pictures!
I was hit around 11am, and here's my leg at 7pm on Saturday. About 20 min after I was hit, there was a dark blue half ring at the site of injury. It was pretty nasty, but I can't see it here. What the picture doesn't show is how swollen the area is. It looked like I had an extra rectus femoris muscle (it's a muscle in the quad). It looked like an alien was growing inside. I got paranoid for a bit, but I continued to ice it. The area was inflamed and it was hot.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Three Putting Sucks
This past weekend, I played golf at Summitpointe. I always have trouble with this course because of the uneven lies and I always have a difficult timing finding a rhythm playing the course. What made it even worse was all of my three putts! I think I three putted almost every hole. Making a 2 putt felt like a 1 putt. Sad, huh? I had 48 putts for the whole round. Anyways this week I am working on putting. I decided to put away the Scotty and play my Yes! Callie putter. Right now, I don't deserve to play the Scotty because of my putting performance. I know I will have three putts because they are inevitable, but to three putt almost every hole? Kinda ridiculous.
Anyway, I have some new putting goals that I've added to the list.
- Have less than 40 putts per round (Gotta do this to help me break 90)
- Shoot for 35-38 putts per round
This weekend we are gonna play Monarch Bay. =D
Goal: Break 100 again.
Anyway, I have some new putting goals that I've added to the list.
- Have less than 40 putts per round (Gotta do this to help me break 90)
- Shoot for 35-38 putts per round
This weekend we are gonna play Monarch Bay. =D
Goal: Break 100 again.
Friday, March 26, 2010
96
96
That's right... I broke 100! Yippeeee!
It was tough and I really had to be on top of my game. I thought I lost my chance on the 17th hole when I triple bogied the hole. But luckily I did well on the previous holes, that I gave myself a cushion.
In addition to breaking 100, I had my first birdie. My first birdie was on hole #10. The easiest handicapped hole on the course. To the middle of the green it was about 100 yards, and the pin was slightly more towards the back of the green. I took out my 6i, teed it up about 1/2" an inch and hit the ball. The ball landed before the pin, released and rolled a few feet behind the pin. On the green, I had a slightly downhill putt with a slight break to the left side of the cup. Not an easy putt. So I aimed to the right side of the cup, hit it and voila! I had my first birdie! I squealed with joy and retired the ball so that I have my first birdie ball.
So now that I know I can break 100, now I have a goal to break 95. Small steps folks small steps.
Stringing bogeys is a good feeling. I've strung 4 bogeys together, but to do 7 bogeys in a row? Amazing! Then I had 4 more on the back 9. Playing bogey golf actually helped me. I didn't really focus on par, but rather on personal par. I like playing personal par better since I have trouble reaching the green (I really need to get more distance off of every club).
My short game was decent. I've been working on it all week..er 1 day. I spent 4 hours at the range on Friday. I've changed my set up. Now I stand closer to the ball so that I can hit down on the ball. I was always sweeping, so the ball wouldn't get up. My putting wasn't bad. I mostly two putted. I also used a new putting stroke, so that helped me. I still have to work on my distance control, but this new stroke is a lot better. The shaft is inline with my forearms and I have a toe hang.
Hole 17... Wow. My worst hole ever. The pin was tucked into the back left corner of the green. Normally, I would use my 7i for a front pin, 6i for a middle pin and 9 wood for a back pin placement. So I chose my 9 wood and teed it up. I aimed straight for the pin, but it ended up going into the left bunker. Boo. After I hit, Anthony told me that there is a tendency for the ball to go left when it is teed up and hit with the wood. Boo. I wish I knew that because I would have aimed right! So I ended up in the bunker with an awkward lie. The ball was in the bunker, but I couldn't stand in it. So I tried my best and aimed for the pin (dumb move there) and I catch too much ball and hit it into the 18th hole tee box. Grr. So now, I am about 20 yards away from the green. I try to hit a pitch shot, but I babied the shot and it ends up in the grass. Anthony scolds me for getting "cute" with the shot. I deserved it too because I wasn't aggressive through the swing. So I go and hit my ball out of the grass on the side of the bunker and two putt for triple bogey. Fun Fun. I was so afraid that I lost it there. But I didn't let that bother me and told myself that I had to just bogey the next hole and I would be fine. Umm yea, I double bogey the last hole because I got caught in the bunker and had to hit back out onto the fairway to get out. But I did break 100. =) So the lesson from this hole, be aggressive throughout the entire shot. Don't get "cute."
I need to find a ball that I can play with. During the first 10 holes, I played with a pink Pinnacle ball. I seriously hate the way the ball looks, but damn I can hit this ball. My shots go a lot farther, so I may have to buy some of these. Dammit. I looked on Lostgolfballs.com and they have a 100 bucket for about $30. Too bad they don't have the white ones. I think I would be sold on those. hehe. Anyways, this ball flies for me, but it rolls. I had a few lucky breaks where it bounced off the side of the hill and stayed in the fairway.
I think on the 15th or 16th tee, Anthony told me how Rickie Fowler's routine lasts 30 seconds. His 30 second routine includes the time he grabs his club to when he hits the ball. Fast, huh? Before he grabs his club, he knows what he is going to doSo I started to speed up my routine. My previous routine involved taking the club, practice swing, aim and hit and that could last for about 1min, maybe more. Not good. I found that I did a lot better when I would pick my club, stand behind the ball, pick out my target, take my practice swing, align myself properly and hit. Sooo much better. So now I have to really work on that.
I have my mini goal of breaking 95, while my ultimate goal is breaking 90. That is basically bogey golf. All I have to do is bogey every hole. That's tough because double bogeys, and some triple bogeys are gonna slip into there. I know I can do it. I hear it's short game will help me to break 90, so I need to really improve on my short game.
That's right... I broke 100! Yippeeee!
It was tough and I really had to be on top of my game. I thought I lost my chance on the 17th hole when I triple bogied the hole. But luckily I did well on the previous holes, that I gave myself a cushion.
In addition to breaking 100, I had my first birdie. My first birdie was on hole #10. The easiest handicapped hole on the course. To the middle of the green it was about 100 yards, and the pin was slightly more towards the back of the green. I took out my 6i, teed it up about 1/2" an inch and hit the ball. The ball landed before the pin, released and rolled a few feet behind the pin. On the green, I had a slightly downhill putt with a slight break to the left side of the cup. Not an easy putt. So I aimed to the right side of the cup, hit it and voila! I had my first birdie! I squealed with joy and retired the ball so that I have my first birdie ball.
So now that I know I can break 100, now I have a goal to break 95. Small steps folks small steps.
Stringing bogeys is a good feeling. I've strung 4 bogeys together, but to do 7 bogeys in a row? Amazing! Then I had 4 more on the back 9. Playing bogey golf actually helped me. I didn't really focus on par, but rather on personal par. I like playing personal par better since I have trouble reaching the green (I really need to get more distance off of every club).
My short game was decent. I've been working on it all week..er 1 day. I spent 4 hours at the range on Friday. I've changed my set up. Now I stand closer to the ball so that I can hit down on the ball. I was always sweeping, so the ball wouldn't get up. My putting wasn't bad. I mostly two putted. I also used a new putting stroke, so that helped me. I still have to work on my distance control, but this new stroke is a lot better. The shaft is inline with my forearms and I have a toe hang.
Hole 17... Wow. My worst hole ever. The pin was tucked into the back left corner of the green. Normally, I would use my 7i for a front pin, 6i for a middle pin and 9 wood for a back pin placement. So I chose my 9 wood and teed it up. I aimed straight for the pin, but it ended up going into the left bunker. Boo. After I hit, Anthony told me that there is a tendency for the ball to go left when it is teed up and hit with the wood. Boo. I wish I knew that because I would have aimed right! So I ended up in the bunker with an awkward lie. The ball was in the bunker, but I couldn't stand in it. So I tried my best and aimed for the pin (dumb move there) and I catch too much ball and hit it into the 18th hole tee box. Grr. So now, I am about 20 yards away from the green. I try to hit a pitch shot, but I babied the shot and it ends up in the grass. Anthony scolds me for getting "cute" with the shot. I deserved it too because I wasn't aggressive through the swing. So I go and hit my ball out of the grass on the side of the bunker and two putt for triple bogey. Fun Fun. I was so afraid that I lost it there. But I didn't let that bother me and told myself that I had to just bogey the next hole and I would be fine. Umm yea, I double bogey the last hole because I got caught in the bunker and had to hit back out onto the fairway to get out. But I did break 100. =) So the lesson from this hole, be aggressive throughout the entire shot. Don't get "cute."
I need to find a ball that I can play with. During the first 10 holes, I played with a pink Pinnacle ball. I seriously hate the way the ball looks, but damn I can hit this ball. My shots go a lot farther, so I may have to buy some of these. Dammit. I looked on Lostgolfballs.com and they have a 100 bucket for about $30. Too bad they don't have the white ones. I think I would be sold on those. hehe. Anyways, this ball flies for me, but it rolls. I had a few lucky breaks where it bounced off the side of the hill and stayed in the fairway.
I think on the 15th or 16th tee, Anthony told me how Rickie Fowler's routine lasts 30 seconds. His 30 second routine includes the time he grabs his club to when he hits the ball. Fast, huh? Before he grabs his club, he knows what he is going to doSo I started to speed up my routine. My previous routine involved taking the club, practice swing, aim and hit and that could last for about 1min, maybe more. Not good. I found that I did a lot better when I would pick my club, stand behind the ball, pick out my target, take my practice swing, align myself properly and hit. Sooo much better. So now I have to really work on that.
I have my mini goal of breaking 95, while my ultimate goal is breaking 90. That is basically bogey golf. All I have to do is bogey every hole. That's tough because double bogeys, and some triple bogeys are gonna slip into there. I know I can do it. I hear it's short game will help me to break 90, so I need to really improve on my short game.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
I broke 100!!
Yep, I scored a 99 at Santa Teresa! Except I didn't play all of my tees. I played the par 3s on the forward tees. Whipping out driver on a par 3 is ridiculous! I guess technically I didn't break it, but hehe I know what I have to do to break 100 now.
Limit the 3 putts
Drive the ball well
Yep that is what I have to do.
Playing Summitpointe this weekend. I know I can break 100 there. I just need to practice. I haven't gone to the range all week.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Driving Range 3.1.10
Yay! I am very happy with my swing.
Oh driver.... I was hitting it well and I had a consistent miss. On my good drives, I was able to hit it about 150 yards (carry), which meant I could probably hit it a few yards farther! *leaps for joy* I am more comfortable with my set up. I didn't really have to fight placing the club on the ground. I actually forgot about fighting the urge and focused more on my shoulder turn and set up. I am still figuring out how far I should be from the ball and where to place it. Right now I have it where I am about half an inch away from the edge of the cross (located on the mat). This is about right since I am slowly hitting it near the center and not heeling the driver. I am still figuring out where to place the ball. Right now I am experimenting on having it where my armpit is. After these changes, my ball flight is a lot higher, but it's going farther. No more 70 yard driver shots. yay!
I practiced hitting my irons using the hit the tee drill, except I couldn't hit the tee. However, I was able to drive through the ball. Which is the point of the drill, so I guess I learned from it. I can now hit my 7i and it had a beautiful ball flight. It was nice and high and it went about 110-120 yards. I could even replicate it several times!
Here are my distances by the end of the night:
6i- 125 yards, kida low ball flight
7i- 115 yards, nice high ball flight
8i- 100 yards, high ball flight
9i- 88 yards
PW- 80 yards
AW- 70 yards, very high ball flight, slight hook
SW- 65 yards
I am getting closer to my goal of hitting my irons higher. That's what I was working on, and now I need to work on gaining distance and getting equal gaps between the clubs. I need to be aggressive in my downswing. I kinda lost it while focusing on eliminating the sway. It's slowly coming back and that's a good thing. I learned that I can't rush the backswing. I gotta have a nice, easy and controlled shortened takeback and then I can swing aggressively on the downswing. I also tweaked my ball positioning. I could never do because my sway would cause my the club to bottom out at the wrong place. I have to put my wedges a little behind middle, 8 and 9 middle, 7 and 6 slightly in front of middle and my woods a ball ahead of middle.
At the end of the range session, I practiced my pitches. I showed Anthony how I thought a pitch should be hit and he said I don't accelerate my hands through the ball. So I had to practice accelerating through the ball and rolling through my ankles. After a few tries, I got and then he showed me how to use my tempo to control the distance of the ball. He also showed me how to get the ball to land softly by slowing down my tempo.
Overall, today was a very good range session. I am scared that my next session won't be as good because that is what usually happens. But I gotta work on my consistency and forget about that pattern. I learned how to experiment a little to figure out what works. Tempo is important and I really want to get back into the bunkers to work on my tempo.
Oh driver.... I was hitting it well and I had a consistent miss. On my good drives, I was able to hit it about 150 yards (carry), which meant I could probably hit it a few yards farther! *leaps for joy* I am more comfortable with my set up. I didn't really have to fight placing the club on the ground. I actually forgot about fighting the urge and focused more on my shoulder turn and set up. I am still figuring out how far I should be from the ball and where to place it. Right now I have it where I am about half an inch away from the edge of the cross (located on the mat). This is about right since I am slowly hitting it near the center and not heeling the driver. I am still figuring out where to place the ball. Right now I am experimenting on having it where my armpit is. After these changes, my ball flight is a lot higher, but it's going farther. No more 70 yard driver shots. yay!
I practiced hitting my irons using the hit the tee drill, except I couldn't hit the tee. However, I was able to drive through the ball. Which is the point of the drill, so I guess I learned from it. I can now hit my 7i and it had a beautiful ball flight. It was nice and high and it went about 110-120 yards. I could even replicate it several times!
Here are my distances by the end of the night:
6i- 125 yards, kida low ball flight
7i- 115 yards, nice high ball flight
8i- 100 yards, high ball flight
9i- 88 yards
PW- 80 yards
AW- 70 yards, very high ball flight, slight hook
SW- 65 yards
I am getting closer to my goal of hitting my irons higher. That's what I was working on, and now I need to work on gaining distance and getting equal gaps between the clubs. I need to be aggressive in my downswing. I kinda lost it while focusing on eliminating the sway. It's slowly coming back and that's a good thing. I learned that I can't rush the backswing. I gotta have a nice, easy and controlled shortened takeback and then I can swing aggressively on the downswing. I also tweaked my ball positioning. I could never do because my sway would cause my the club to bottom out at the wrong place. I have to put my wedges a little behind middle, 8 and 9 middle, 7 and 6 slightly in front of middle and my woods a ball ahead of middle.
At the end of the range session, I practiced my pitches. I showed Anthony how I thought a pitch should be hit and he said I don't accelerate my hands through the ball. So I had to practice accelerating through the ball and rolling through my ankles. After a few tries, I got and then he showed me how to use my tempo to control the distance of the ball. He also showed me how to get the ball to land softly by slowing down my tempo.
Overall, today was a very good range session. I am scared that my next session won't be as good because that is what usually happens. But I gotta work on my consistency and forget about that pattern. I learned how to experiment a little to figure out what works. Tempo is important and I really want to get back into the bunkers to work on my tempo.
Handicap - 3.1.10
28.6
It went down! hehe. I feel silly. I learned that a handicap is supposed to predict how well I will score 20% of the time. Boo. Which means 80% of the time I will score worse. Dang!
It went down! hehe. I feel silly. I learned that a handicap is supposed to predict how well I will score 20% of the time. Boo. Which means 80% of the time I will score worse. Dang!
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Driving Range 2.28.10
I'm still working on eliminating the sway. Today I could identify when I sway, and that is progress! However, I could not hit my 7i for shit. ugh. Trying to eliminate this sway is difficult! I hit the ball shorter, but it's going up higher. Whenever I try to accelerate through the downswing or think that I am going to accelerate through the downswing, I tend to sway.
I tried a new drill. Well it's kinda old, one that I did back in the day when I only had a 6i and a SW. It's called hit the tee. I place the ball 6 inches behind the tee and then hit the ball and hit the tee also. I could do this drill successfully up to my 9i (didn't try with 8i), but I had trouble with my 7i. I dunno what I was doing wrong with it, so I stopped with the 7i and worked on other things.
I didn't touch my woods today. :( I hit them decently and I get enough practice on the course with them, so they got a break.
I've always had the same problem with my driver set up. And today we worked on it. First, I set up too close to the ball, so I had to play around and move back a bit. I think I found a better position, but I have to go to the range to experiment a bit more. Second, I was floating my driver which caused me to bottom out at the wrong spot. To correct it, I had to start with my driver on the ground, a few inches behind the ball. That was hard to correct because it's habit to start my driver like that. I am still fighting it, but my drives were a lot better. That's another thing to correct - where to start my driver. It has to start about almost a full head length back (about where it starts to taper). I dunno if that makes any sense, but that makes sense to me. I also don't rotate through. I tend to slide my hips instead of going around my body. Which is odd because in tennis, I rotate around. One drill that really helps my body feel the rotation of my hips is swinging the club with only my right hand. It helps to ingrain that muscle memory. I also swing with my left hand to get the club up in the right position because I take it low. So these two drills worked for me and I think I will be doing them on the course while waiting to tee off.
Big shoulder turn, hurry hard, and rotate through. That's what I have to think when I wield my driver. Hehe. The hurry hard was from curling, but it's to also get me to swing faster since nothing happens when I swing slow.
Oh Flippy... there's this guy who doesn't look that good. I know I'm not the world's greatest golfer (I'm still trying to break 100), but I hate his advice. I've never seen him until a few weeks ago on the chipping green. After chipping for a bit, he come up to me and tells me that I should grip down further on my grip. I already grip down about 2 inches, but he told me to grip down all the way to the bottom of my grip because LPGA players do the same thing and it would give me better control. Today he also tried to give me the same tip, but I walked away and ignored him. Very unlike me because I will listen and be nice about it, but seriously? That pissed me off. I watch LPGA players and I don't see them with their hands all the way down there. They choke down like 2 inches at most. And Phil Mickelson says choking down is a matter of preference. Also, if I choke down further, I have to hit the ball harder because of the physics of the club. So suck it Flippy. Oh and why do I call him Flippy? Because he flips at the ball when he chips. That's why ur ball doesn't check. One more reason I don't like Flippy. He smokes around the chipping green. I mean if ur gonna practice ur horrible game, please don't give me horrible lungs.
I hope that rant doesn't look like I don't accept tips. Because I do. I appreciate good tips from people that know (ie. prove and have the game) what they are doing.
I miss practicing in the bunkers. They are still wet from the rain. boo. I actually like practicing in the bunkers. It improves my tempo, gets me to think about my shoulder turn and I like practicing my short game.
Practiced chipping and putting. I lost in PIG, but I had some crazy putts to save myself from getting a letter. yay! Chipping was ok. I played around with the 58* wedge. It's heavy but it's better than my sand wedge.
Friday, February 26, 2010
Driving Range 2.25.10
Went to the driving range last night and got home in time to shower, get ready for bed and watch the final group of women's figure skating. Hehe. What a very productive evening.
Anyways...
I went to the range last night to work on a new swing. Anthony wanted to try something new with me to try to get more distance out of my driver. We worked on the one piece takeaway until the club was parallel to the ground. From there, I would hinge my hands to the top. So I have to kinda think, "throw the hands up there." On the downswing use my hips to initiate it and then have the club drop into the slot. This looked promising because I did it with his heavy wedge and with my wedges. However, things went bad from there. I couldn't really hit my 8, 7, 6 iron with the change. I tried it with my woods and they were kinda slicing 7 yards right. Then I tried to do it on the driver and everything went 10-20 yards right. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. He said I wasn't rotating through and I really wasn't. I think I stop my rotating once I make contact with the ball. Towards the end of the session, I was able to rotate more, but I still sliced it. Later on that night, we also figured out I was delaying my release. Fun. fun.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Cinnabar Hills Golf Club - 2.20.10
Wow it's already Thursday (2/25) and I have yet to write about my experience at Cinnabar Hills. Here I go...
So how did I shoot? I shot a 104 with a mulligan thrown in because Anthony forgot to bring my putter to the putting green. But that's a story for another day. So yea, I shot a 104. That isn't bad because I aimed to at least break 110 because it was my first time on the course, the greens were the fastest greens I've ever played on and slope was 120.
When we arrived at the course, we checked in and headed out to the range to warm up. I had fun because I finally got the chance to loosen up and focus on my driver swing. However, that did not help my driver swing at all. I had the driver yips, again... I really need to fix this stinking club. On some holes, I could hit it and it would go about 150 yards. On other holes, it would only go 70 yards. WTF. We also went to the range after the round (hey the practice facilities are really nice) and I found that my hands were too low on my take back. This made sense because high hands usually equal good drives for me. I also realize I need to swing through the ball and around my body. I think I swing through the ball and up. Ugh. Need to fix that. God I sound redundant, but it's always the same problem.
In addition to driving yips, my chipping was crappy. I decided to drop the specialty wedges and use my sand wedge for chipping. I need to really focus on accelerating my hands through the ball. If I don't do that, my ball goes nowhere. And I need my own wedge. My sand wedge gets stuck and it feels too light to chip with. However I did use it to get out of my one and only bunker. It was on the 18th hole, the sand was fluffy and I got it out and 2 putted for double bogey. yay! So all of my hard work this past week in the bunker has paid off.
My iron play was ok. We had gps carts and I had a better sense of my yardages.
5w - 130 yds
9w - 120 yds
6i - 100 yds
7i - 95 yds
8i - 80 yds with a tee, 75 without
9i - 70 yds
PW - 60-65
AW -
SW - 55 yds, 50 yds from rough with 2ft release.
Those are my yardages. I am a short hitter and this is why I am always hitting my woods. I did use my SW a lot on approach shots. So now I found my favorite approach distance. Good for me but kinda lame because my approach distance is somebody's pitching distance or half shot. haha. I really need to hit the ball harder on the downswing. When I attempt to hit harder on the downswing, I have trouble controlling my body. I think I need to take my normal take back instead of rushing.
Putting. I had one 1 putt (for par too!), a few 2 putts and a bunch of 3 putts. I had trouble reading the greens because they would slope left and then right. How the hell do you do that? Also, the ball would slide near the hole because it was a faster green. This made my comeback putt tougher. I also kept missing putts to the right which could be attributed to 1) not aligning properly and 2) not closing the face. Gotta work on that. But I did learn to slow my tempo down on a short putt and take the same short stroke. I am getting better using a shorter stroke. yay!
Overall I had fun and I scored better than I expected. I really need to work on my driver because I need that distance off the tee. And I need to work on chipping. I can't chip for shit anymore. :(
So how did I shoot? I shot a 104 with a mulligan thrown in because Anthony forgot to bring my putter to the putting green. But that's a story for another day. So yea, I shot a 104. That isn't bad because I aimed to at least break 110 because it was my first time on the course, the greens were the fastest greens I've ever played on and slope was 120.
When we arrived at the course, we checked in and headed out to the range to warm up. I had fun because I finally got the chance to loosen up and focus on my driver swing. However, that did not help my driver swing at all. I had the driver yips, again... I really need to fix this stinking club. On some holes, I could hit it and it would go about 150 yards. On other holes, it would only go 70 yards. WTF. We also went to the range after the round (hey the practice facilities are really nice) and I found that my hands were too low on my take back. This made sense because high hands usually equal good drives for me. I also realize I need to swing through the ball and around my body. I think I swing through the ball and up. Ugh. Need to fix that. God I sound redundant, but it's always the same problem.
In addition to driving yips, my chipping was crappy. I decided to drop the specialty wedges and use my sand wedge for chipping. I need to really focus on accelerating my hands through the ball. If I don't do that, my ball goes nowhere. And I need my own wedge. My sand wedge gets stuck and it feels too light to chip with. However I did use it to get out of my one and only bunker. It was on the 18th hole, the sand was fluffy and I got it out and 2 putted for double bogey. yay! So all of my hard work this past week in the bunker has paid off.
My iron play was ok. We had gps carts and I had a better sense of my yardages.
5w - 130 yds
9w - 120 yds
6i - 100 yds
7i - 95 yds
8i - 80 yds with a tee, 75 without
9i - 70 yds
PW - 60-65
AW -
SW - 55 yds, 50 yds from rough with 2ft release.
Those are my yardages. I am a short hitter and this is why I am always hitting my woods. I did use my SW a lot on approach shots. So now I found my favorite approach distance. Good for me but kinda lame because my approach distance is somebody's pitching distance or half shot. haha. I really need to hit the ball harder on the downswing. When I attempt to hit harder on the downswing, I have trouble controlling my body. I think I need to take my normal take back instead of rushing.
Putting. I had one 1 putt (for par too!), a few 2 putts and a bunch of 3 putts. I had trouble reading the greens because they would slope left and then right. How the hell do you do that? Also, the ball would slide near the hole because it was a faster green. This made my comeback putt tougher. I also kept missing putts to the right which could be attributed to 1) not aligning properly and 2) not closing the face. Gotta work on that. But I did learn to slow my tempo down on a short putt and take the same short stroke. I am getting better using a shorter stroke. yay!
Overall I had fun and I scored better than I expected. I really need to work on my driver because I need that distance off the tee. And I need to work on chipping. I can't chip for shit anymore. :(
Friday, February 19, 2010
Driving Range 2.18.10
Driving Range... again.... because we are playing Cinnabar on Saturday!!
Going into tonight's session, I really wanted to work on trying to keep my head still and eliminating my sway. That sorta worked. I think my proprioceptors are off or I have no idea what a correct swing is really supposed to feel like. Well I tried to work on keeping my head still and eliminating my sway, but that didn't work out so great. I tried to fix things as a whole instead of breaking it down. So I stopped working on that, and instead worked on my backswing. I know, I know where is the discipline?
Working on my backswing and takeback helped me realize what contributed to the sway. My right leg! On my takeback I lock my right knee instead of keeping it slightly flexed. I also didn't feel "stacked" at set up. My weight was distributed more on my toes instead of distributing the weight evenly over the balls and heels of my feet. I also worked on shortening my takeback so that I can be more aggressive on the downswing. Also, I realized I tilt instead of rotate around my core. Shortening my backswing helped me to get a sense of rotating instead of tilting.
I started to hit better once I thought "start takeback with left shoulder." I started to hit a lot better. Heck even my driver went about 150 yards (that's a HUGE accomplishment these days). I even got my six iron to go about 130 yards. =) This also helped me to rotate instead of tilt.
But I still have so many things to fix. One thing at a time, one thing at a time.
The bunkers and pitching green were clear, so I got to practice that. Yay! I'm getting better at getting out of the bunker. I practices fluffy lies and hard packed lies. I still can't get the ball to stop rolling, but it's getting out and going towards my target. In the previous session (2.17.10), I learned the importance of tempo. If i rush my swing, things go awry. I tend to mishit and hit a bunch of sand. So I have to think one-two (and rotate with my left shoulder.
Since nobody was around, I got to practice 40-60 yard shots. Normally, these would be pitches for the average person that hits their wedge around 100 degrees. I'm a short hitter and 60 yards equals my gap wedge and my sand wedge is about 50-55 yards. So guess who practices full shots from the rough? Me. hehe. That was fun and I learned to keep rotating through and not try to punch out the ball. The rough was thick, so i had to really work making good contact, keeping my wrists strong and rotating through.
I feel ready for Cinnabar, except for my chipping. I am having so much trouble chipping. I have neglected it and hopefully the next time I go to the range I will dedicate more time to this. I also haven't practiced my putting because the sun sets early. I think I'll be fine here and Anthony wants to go early so we can warm up. So, I'll have the chance to practice my putting and hopefully get some chipping in.
So I feel good. I get to play tees were the total yardage is under 5000 yards, but the slope is around 120. Which means it's still difficult, but the distance is a good distance for me. yay!
While playing at Cinnabar I will keep 2-3 swing thoughts.
1. Start swing with left shoulder
2. Shorten backswing
3. Left side flat at impact.
I need pictures. These entries look so boring with just words.
Going into tonight's session, I really wanted to work on trying to keep my head still and eliminating my sway. That sorta worked. I think my proprioceptors are off or I have no idea what a correct swing is really supposed to feel like. Well I tried to work on keeping my head still and eliminating my sway, but that didn't work out so great. I tried to fix things as a whole instead of breaking it down. So I stopped working on that, and instead worked on my backswing. I know, I know where is the discipline?
Working on my backswing and takeback helped me realize what contributed to the sway. My right leg! On my takeback I lock my right knee instead of keeping it slightly flexed. I also didn't feel "stacked" at set up. My weight was distributed more on my toes instead of distributing the weight evenly over the balls and heels of my feet. I also worked on shortening my takeback so that I can be more aggressive on the downswing. Also, I realized I tilt instead of rotate around my core. Shortening my backswing helped me to get a sense of rotating instead of tilting.
I started to hit better once I thought "start takeback with left shoulder." I started to hit a lot better. Heck even my driver went about 150 yards (that's a HUGE accomplishment these days). I even got my six iron to go about 130 yards. =) This also helped me to rotate instead of tilt.
But I still have so many things to fix. One thing at a time, one thing at a time.
The bunkers and pitching green were clear, so I got to practice that. Yay! I'm getting better at getting out of the bunker. I practices fluffy lies and hard packed lies. I still can't get the ball to stop rolling, but it's getting out and going towards my target. In the previous session (2.17.10), I learned the importance of tempo. If i rush my swing, things go awry. I tend to mishit and hit a bunch of sand. So I have to think one-two (and rotate with my left shoulder.
Since nobody was around, I got to practice 40-60 yard shots. Normally, these would be pitches for the average person that hits their wedge around 100 degrees. I'm a short hitter and 60 yards equals my gap wedge and my sand wedge is about 50-55 yards. So guess who practices full shots from the rough? Me. hehe. That was fun and I learned to keep rotating through and not try to punch out the ball. The rough was thick, so i had to really work making good contact, keeping my wrists strong and rotating through.
I feel ready for Cinnabar, except for my chipping. I am having so much trouble chipping. I have neglected it and hopefully the next time I go to the range I will dedicate more time to this. I also haven't practiced my putting because the sun sets early. I think I'll be fine here and Anthony wants to go early so we can warm up. So, I'll have the chance to practice my putting and hopefully get some chipping in.
So I feel good. I get to play tees were the total yardage is under 5000 yards, but the slope is around 120. Which means it's still difficult, but the distance is a good distance for me. yay!
While playing at Cinnabar I will keep 2-3 swing thoughts.
1. Start swing with left shoulder
2. Shorten backswing
3. Left side flat at impact.
I need pictures. These entries look so boring with just words.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Driving Range 2.17.10
I went to the driving range to work on my driver. Failed on that. I can't keep my head still during my swing. Argg. This sway and head bobbing is KILLING ME. It's killing my swing. It's killing my game. I really need to work on it and fight it. I also dip at the ball in my downswing. I need to stop that. To remedy that, I did the feet together drill. I have to work on doing this drill properly.
Things finally clicked with me getting out of the sand. Yay! In the past, I would not swing along my body line. Instead, I would swing along the ball line. Last night, I finally learned how to swing along my body line. yay!! My divots were better. I still dig my club through the sand, but my divots aren't as deep. Good. Now I need to work on entering the club on the sand properly and also continuing to accelerate my hands through. I tend to stop swinging once I hit, but I have to remember to keep on going through.
I think I am in another slump. I need to fight thorugh it. And I will. I hate how I have so much pressure on myself to break 100. I have to break 100. I have to.
There are some days when I just want to quit golf. It's too freaking hard, but then I know I am not a quitter and that's not me. So gotta work through this.
But I still like tennis better. I can grunt when I hit the ball. I can take my anger out on the ball. But in golf... that stupid ball taunts me.
Things finally clicked with me getting out of the sand. Yay! In the past, I would not swing along my body line. Instead, I would swing along the ball line. Last night, I finally learned how to swing along my body line. yay!! My divots were better. I still dig my club through the sand, but my divots aren't as deep. Good. Now I need to work on entering the club on the sand properly and also continuing to accelerate my hands through. I tend to stop swinging once I hit, but I have to remember to keep on going through.
I think I am in another slump. I need to fight thorugh it. And I will. I hate how I have so much pressure on myself to break 100. I have to break 100. I have to.
There are some days when I just want to quit golf. It's too freaking hard, but then I know I am not a quitter and that's not me. So gotta work through this.
But I still like tennis better. I can grunt when I hit the ball. I can take my anger out on the ball. But in golf... that stupid ball taunts me.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Handicap - 2.15.10
28.7
That's my new handicap! I went down from 29 to 28.7, so ya! Let's keep moving down. I don't want it to move up.
That's my new handicap! I went down from 29 to 28.7, so ya! Let's keep moving down. I don't want it to move up.
Friday, February 12, 2010
Driving Range 2.11.10
Anthony and I went to the range in preparation for Saturday's round of golf. I didn't hit well, but he helped me, especially with my driver.
First, we worked on my routine and applied it to all of my clubs. I stand over the ball way to long. So we worked on me taking my practice swing, setting up to the ball and hitting away. That helped alot. I started to hit better. If I stand over the ball, I start to have doubts and that ruins my confidence. So the next time we play, I have to take my practice swing as if the ball was there. Then I step up, make my small adjustments, take my rehersal takeback and then swing away.
Second, we worked on my driver. I had driver troubles.
- I took the driver back too low.
On my backswing, my hands ended up below my ear. To correct that, he had me swing my club with my left hand to the top of my swing. Where it ended up is where I should be. So we worked on getting me to that position.
- Get wide
I need to get wide to get more power out of my swing. I tend to take it too far inside. So gotta think, stay wide.
Speaking of thinking....
- Swing thoughts
I have no swing thoughts. Anthony asked me what I thought and I don't really think anything. I just think, get the ball high straight and far. Yep I have no swing thoughts. I need to think about my shoulder and upper arm. On the takeback, I need to think stay wide, hands high turn left shoulder. For the downswing and at impact I need to think left side flat at impact and rotate through. These thoughts helped me alot.
Third, he also touched on me rotating through. My hips were sliding and not really rotating around. He told me to think like my forehand, how I rotate through it. Once I got that feeling ingrained, I applied it to my driver and yay! problem solved.
These all helped me and on my final driver shot, I got it to go high, and about 150 yds. =D Glad I got to end on that.
Before he really focused on helping me, I had trouble getting my legs into my swing. So I used the one leg drill. That helped me to stay centered and stop my sway.
I can't hit out of the sand. I have the hardest time accelerating my hands through the ball and entering the sand 1/2 and inch before the ball. I need to practice more, and longer.
I also worked on my putting. I am getting a little better at shortening my backstroke. Now I need to apply it to the course. I still hit it a foot short, so that means I need to aim a little past the hole. Thats for flat shots. I gotta work on my downhill putts. It's really difficult to get the speed right, especially if the green starts to slope near the hole.
Anyways, this Saturday we are going to play 36 holes of golf! Yay! And we are playing it at my favorite course. So I have 2 chances to break 100 I know I can do it too. I know I can. Think positive. And Anthony's cousin is going to play with us, yay! I love playing with her.
So tomorrow at the tee box, I gotta remember what I learned.
-stay wide
-hands high
-rotate left shoulder
-left side flat at impact.
First, we worked on my routine and applied it to all of my clubs. I stand over the ball way to long. So we worked on me taking my practice swing, setting up to the ball and hitting away. That helped alot. I started to hit better. If I stand over the ball, I start to have doubts and that ruins my confidence. So the next time we play, I have to take my practice swing as if the ball was there. Then I step up, make my small adjustments, take my rehersal takeback and then swing away.
Second, we worked on my driver. I had driver troubles.
- I took the driver back too low.
On my backswing, my hands ended up below my ear. To correct that, he had me swing my club with my left hand to the top of my swing. Where it ended up is where I should be. So we worked on getting me to that position.
- Get wide
I need to get wide to get more power out of my swing. I tend to take it too far inside. So gotta think, stay wide.
Speaking of thinking....
- Swing thoughts
I have no swing thoughts. Anthony asked me what I thought and I don't really think anything. I just think, get the ball high straight and far. Yep I have no swing thoughts. I need to think about my shoulder and upper arm. On the takeback, I need to think stay wide, hands high turn left shoulder. For the downswing and at impact I need to think left side flat at impact and rotate through. These thoughts helped me alot.
Third, he also touched on me rotating through. My hips were sliding and not really rotating around. He told me to think like my forehand, how I rotate through it. Once I got that feeling ingrained, I applied it to my driver and yay! problem solved.
These all helped me and on my final driver shot, I got it to go high, and about 150 yds. =D Glad I got to end on that.
Before he really focused on helping me, I had trouble getting my legs into my swing. So I used the one leg drill. That helped me to stay centered and stop my sway.
I can't hit out of the sand. I have the hardest time accelerating my hands through the ball and entering the sand 1/2 and inch before the ball. I need to practice more, and longer.
I also worked on my putting. I am getting a little better at shortening my backstroke. Now I need to apply it to the course. I still hit it a foot short, so that means I need to aim a little past the hole. Thats for flat shots. I gotta work on my downhill putts. It's really difficult to get the speed right, especially if the green starts to slope near the hole.
Anyways, this Saturday we are going to play 36 holes of golf! Yay! And we are playing it at my favorite course. So I have 2 chances to break 100 I know I can do it too. I know I can. Think positive. And Anthony's cousin is going to play with us, yay! I love playing with her.
So tomorrow at the tee box, I gotta remember what I learned.
-stay wide
-hands high
-rotate left shoulder
-left side flat at impact.
Monday, February 8, 2010
Driving Range 2.6.10 & 2.7.10
Saturdays at the range are interesting. After a few days of not golfing, I don't hit well. Sundays are usually better.
Driver
I can't hit this.
Woods
I did ok here. I was hitting my 9 wood pretty well. I had trouble with my 5 wood. I couldn't hit if off the ground. I kept hitting groundies until I figured out that I needed to hit it harder. That got it up into the air. On Sunday, I couldn't hit my 9 wood, but I could hit my 5 wood. Weird.
Irons
Pretty good. I still need to work on not swaying and keeping my head still.
Chipping
I am working on shortening my backswing, the hinge and hold, and accelerating through. It's hard shortening my backswing.
Bunker - Did not practice... there were puddles in the bunkers
Putting
I changed my stroke by shortening the backswing. This is a good change because I can now continue to accelerate through the ball. Now I don't take too long of a backswing and have to slow down through the ball.
I lost in pig. Again. I had a 2-0 lead (p-i lead?), but Anthony came back and won Jamba Juice. I always do that. I blow the lead. But I did sink a 10 footer to save myself at the beginning. That was pretty sweet.
Driver
I can't hit this.
Woods
I did ok here. I was hitting my 9 wood pretty well. I had trouble with my 5 wood. I couldn't hit if off the ground. I kept hitting groundies until I figured out that I needed to hit it harder. That got it up into the air. On Sunday, I couldn't hit my 9 wood, but I could hit my 5 wood. Weird.
Irons
Pretty good. I still need to work on not swaying and keeping my head still.
Chipping
I am working on shortening my backswing, the hinge and hold, and accelerating through. It's hard shortening my backswing.
Bunker - Did not practice... there were puddles in the bunkers
Putting
I changed my stroke by shortening the backswing. This is a good change because I can now continue to accelerate through the ball. Now I don't take too long of a backswing and have to slow down through the ball.
I lost in pig. Again. I had a 2-0 lead (p-i lead?), but Anthony came back and won Jamba Juice. I always do that. I blow the lead. But I did sink a 10 footer to save myself at the beginning. That was pretty sweet.
Monday, February 1, 2010
Got My Handicap....
29.0!!
hehe. time to get it down.
But first I must break 100.
Then I'll get it down.
hehe. time to get it down.
But first I must break 100.
Then I'll get it down.
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