Saving you time and money by experimenting and reflecting! An update on the week's progress and activities.... and a Big Question!
Big Question?
How much of your performance is down to your preparation?
Feels
My feeling this week is one of opportunity .
One week after the lesson and things still feel very raw and new. I still have a clear 'checklist' running through my mind when practising and playing. The checklist is too long and takes my mind off playing the game, my target, and the shot's requirements. This is the feeling of a beginner........ (insert anything here, driver, golfer, blogger). Everything is conscious and rehearsed. My feeling of opportunity comes from having the chance to reset and ingrain new feelings into my golf swing. I will embrace this feeling and ensure I see it as an opportunity to improve my game and enhance my learning.
I repeat... I am on the right path!
Practicing on course
I managed to get two rounds in this week. One at Linden Hall Golf Club in a windy Northumberland and one at my home course. Two pretty similar scores but two incredibly different rounds.
I hit 17% of greens in regulation over the 18 holes but had an excellent short game day, with nearly 50% up and downs. This is a shockingly low GIR but my expectations were managed by considering I am just off the back of a lesson. I hit half of the fairways too but the wind played havoc with the distance, hence the -1.11 in strokes gained.
Durham City GC only two days later (and with less wind, I might add) I hit 33% of greens in regulation but my short game dropped to 25% up and down, mainly due to my putting. The main improvement was with my iron game but I am still dropping short of the greens in regulation benchmark for a 5 handicap (37%) and a scratch handicap (52%).
The 326-yard drive was downwind and downhill on the first hole. My performance average was 258. Don't let this fool you into thinking I am a long dog, I'm not!
In reflecting on the two rounds, there was little to shout about score wise but I was pleased with how I managed the round and kept the ball in play. I attempted to pick a target with a safety-first mindset and execute a swing. I'll keep plugging away with the swing changes but there is enough evidence for focussing on how I manage my round to keep it going and explore it more, in the coming weeks.
Management
DECADE... WOW!!
I eventually got around to going through my home course and plotting my tee shots. The app makes it incredibly easy. Select 'Driving Target' at the top of the homepage of the app. Find your course. Input your typical driving/tee shot distances (I put in my driver performance average given to me by shot scope, my grip down driver yardage for control and my hybrid), it looked like this;
270 yards
250 yards
215 yards
Input your dispersion too, mine were;
60 yards with full driver
50 yards with short driver
40 yards with hybrid
The app plots your three shots onto the hole to enable you to pick a suitable and reliable target. My miss with the driver is mainly right (22% left, 39% right). Adjust your aim incorporating your dispersion and miss pattern and drag the big red dot to where you will be aiming. A nice visual of what will be on your target line with each club. Brilliant! You can adjust for trouble, penalty areas, bunkers, trees etc and give yourself every chance of hitting a tee shot that gives you an opportunity to hit the green.
What remains to be seen is my ability to execute the tee shot strategy consistently. This is the main challenge.
Cleveland Smart Sole 4 Chipper Experiment
8 rounds down and 2 rounds to go to complete the experiment but I thought it was worth an update on progress.
Objective
Data I have on 8 rounds include;
Up and down %
Proximity to the hole in feet
Shots to finish
The Chipper is currently scoring best in all three categories by;
Up and down - 26% (40% versus 14%)
Proximity - 4 feet (7ft versus 11ft)
Shots to finish - 0.3 shots (2.6 - 2.9)
Subjective
My feeling and observations over the last 8 rounds have been one of positivity. This positivity has come from how I feel when in certain lies. Tight lies and 'duffy' lies have not been as nerve-racking and I am beginning to feel confident standing over them. On interrogating the objective data, this feeling only increased.
Conclusions
I am being cautious about how I draw my conclusions on this one but so far, it looks like it is staying in the bag. I am in a good position in terms of how my bag is set up as the inclusion of this wedge, takes me to 12 active clubs. If there are any other club-based experiments you would like to see, follow me on Twitter and we can get the conversation going. Link below:
Reflective Questions
What areas of your game are you adding complexity to?
What part of your game has the biggest impact on your score on the course?
How are you managing your mistakes?
Next week
Practice sessions are back, the Mental Scorecard and Speed Work.
Thanks for reading!