Saving you time and money by experimenting and reflecting! An update on the weeks progress and activities.... and a Big Question!
Big Question?
How can your practice feel more like play?
Feels
The feel coming from this week is one of immense positivity! I am enjoying my practice including planning it. I am looking forward to playing my next round! I am loving tracking my rounds and I feel privileged to be sharing my wins and losses with you! Thank you for reading!
Technical
My round this week was a satisfying one. I allowed myself to be happy! I am rubbish at allowing myself to do this and if there is one thing to take away from reading this, it is to try and find a way to allow yourself to remember the good shots and let yourself celebrate the small wins.
The round felt like an excellent one but 2 destructive holes turned it into a good one. A poor tee shot on 4 (took a 3 Wood for safety) left me with a 3 off the tee, then I proceeded to hit a thin, toppy 3W 140 yards, ended with a SEVEN. I recovered very well but can’t help but think about what a good driver swing might have done for my round. Par 3 15th was a clear indication of the importance of my pre-shot process and sticking to it. I was between clubs and 'thought' I would just keep it in play and 'pop' it down there..... horrible swing with very little commitment, ended up in a terrible lie and short sided, hit it 30 yards past the hole, chipped on and 2 putted for a very poor double bogey, 5. Overall, a very positive round and one I feel I can learn from and build on, to keep moving in the right direction.
Strokes gained on the day!
Practice (embracing boredom and repetition)
I have had a very good week of practice. Approach play, short game and putting all completed - ZERO BALLS HAVE BEEN HIT WITHOUT A PURPOSE!
I shared my approach play session on Twitter yesterday - working on strike location again (I am very conscious to not worry about boredom here, this is a once a week practice for me now), low point control using a line on the mat and 100y, 75y and 50y shots, with my 3 wedges to different targets.
Strike locations with 8 iron
Short game practice
My short game practice was a simple game using my new Cleveland Smart Sole 4 Chipper and my SW.
The game was points based with simple rules;
You have a target on a green at a certain distance/lie/difficulty and 20 balls.
Points are as follows;
Hit your chips/bump and run shots at your target and mark down the points each time leaving you with a total for that location. Make a note on your phone or on a notepad.
My first target - 20 yards uphill from the fringe
The breakdown was as follows;
3 x inside 2 feet = 6
10 x inside 5 feet = 10
7 x outside 5 feet = -7
Total = 9 points
Repeat this from 2 more lies/challenging positions/different clubs and record your scores. It could be an interesting test between two clubs that you use to chip with - PW vs LW for example - repeat the test and see which one comes out on top?
2nd round of 20 balls
Putting
My putting session was completed using the Decade App. On the app you can do a simulated round of putting, with 18 holes of randomly generated distances. All you do is measure out your putts, record the total number of putts and if they were short or long. I had 30 putts total but the ones I missed on average, were short of the hole. This gives me a couple of clues and tendencies to consider, moving forward. Firstly, 30 putts to beat or match next week. Secondly, a clue on what to work on - my lag putting and pace control.
Decade App simulated putting round
Jon Sherman
Having read the first 100 pages of The Four Foundations of Golf (link below), I have got to say, I am hooked. Many excellent messages resonated with me during those pages but the key one that sticks out so far, which proved to be very freeing and helpful to my psychological approach on Saturday, is the 2/3 principle.
The 2/3 principle
Jon suggests there are 3 parts to your game; Tee Shots, Approach Play and Finesse shots (100 yards and in) and to have a successful round you only need 2 out of those 3 to be 'working'. He went on to state that very rarely, if ever, will you get a round where all 3 will click. My tee shots weren't quite as good as usual, but rather than get my head down and get nervous on the tee shots, I reframed my thinking to just act as though, on that day, my driver and 3W were the 1/3 of my game, that weren't firing.
The Four Foundations of Golf: How to Build a Game That Lasts a Lifetime: Amazon.co.uk: Sherman, J...
Reflective Questions
Are you expecting all 3 parts of your game to be firing?
When 1 part is not firing, do you write off your round?
Could you try to grind out a round, when you recognise 1 part not firing?
Thanks for reading!
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