Big Question?
What automatic negative thoughts (ANT’s) do you have while on the golf course?
Feels
My feeling this week is one of positivity.
This week has been one where I have found a flow state. It could be an outlier but getting in some practice, gym time and playing a round, has felt more natural and straightforward. I have maintained my nutrition. It feels like I have a benchmark for moving forward and I am progressing! It’s taken 10 weeks of trial of error but maybe the habits are beginning to form!
Practice
I had another positive practice session this week. My main focus again was to make sure I adhered to the mantra - Quality over Quantity. Following a similar structure to previous weeks, I began the session with a physical warm-up. The first part of the session was centred on my technical work. 3-5 exaggerated swings, focussing only on moving down and into my lead side. What I have not done since commencing this technical work, is monitor strike effectively. I sprayed the face of my Driver/6i/8i/PW and went about exploring strike tendencies, switching clubs for each shot and incorporating the exaggerations. Total time 30 minutes. Total balls hit 20.
My findings were interesting and certainly an improvement on previous monitoring (initially found below)
I noticed a more centred strike overall and less of a heely bias, although it is still apparent. As you can see above with the driver, the tendency is again has a heely bias bit is close to having an average of the middle third of the face. Happy with that!
Having monitored strike I then spent some time trying to move strike towards the toe. This had mixed results but success was achieved around 40% of the time. The idea behind this element of the practice was to enable me to take the skill of moving strike, to the course. If I start a round and see/feel a heely bias, I can begin to call upon the skill of moving strike toward the toe of the club. This may not produce a 'full’ toe strike but may move it across the face far enough to find a more centred strike. Total time 35 minutes. Total balls hit 25.
Playing
A thoroughly enjoyable and positive round on Sunday. My immediate reflections were ‘What if?’ but having had some time to consider it, I was happy with how I played. One immediate thing stood out, that is worth sharing and considering. The majority of my practice lately has been on my approach play, following my lesson. If I was to allocate a percentage to that, I would say around 70%. My strokes gained statistics (below) show my game was pretty balanced versus my next milestone of a 5hc but does not tell the entire story. My driving felt horrid. Now, I haven’t had a lesson on my driver yet, but getting into a rhythm of striking my irons, getting across into my lead side and seeing a lower flight, becomes scary when pulling out the big stick. I wasn’t confident in my aim, wasn’t sure where the safe side would be and ‘felt’ as though I was guiding the ball a little. Managed it ok but I must grow my confidence in the driver over the coming weeks, through practice.
My learning here is that finding some balance and logic in practice between the four areas of the game; tee shot, approach, short game and putting, will be advantageous. On the flip side, if my approach is considered long-term, I can favour the approach side of the game until my technical shift becomes more natural and refined.
Question - how do you balance your practice between the four areas of the game?
Really poor tee shots on 4 and 6, 2 of the hardest driving holes, cost me shots, but the overall round, and in particular my approach play was much more positive. I hit 52% of greens versus a 40% average for the last 10 rounds. Positive! My birdies came after good drives on Par 4’s and good iron shots to within 10 feet.
Focus
The other notable difference in the round was a consistent approach to my focus. I committed to selecting an intermediate target, lining up to it and giving it my full attention. This proved to be helpful and adds further promise to using more of an external focus rather than focusing on specific movements or an internal focus while playing.
Training and Nutrition
I was forced to take a couple of days off at the end of last week, having come down with a cold. After a tough session the day before, I woke up feeling groggy and worn out. This continued for a few days but I managed to get my next session in and continue to progress through the program.
As promised, my start of week 3 measurements are below. Week 1 on the left, acting as my baseline measurements for the program and Week 3 on the right. Notable improvements in waist and hips both decreased by 3cm and 4 respectively. Further notable improvement in chest (up 4cm), shoulders (up 4cm) and thighs (both up 1cm and 2cm). Pleased with the progress and must add further praise to the program, which I have found to be well-balanced and challenging but easy to follow and carry out. Weight is down to 91.6kg, now down 2.4kg in total. 1.6kg to go for this first phase to meet my initial target.
Drop a like or comment below if you are interested in a Nutrition series to run alongside the training material. It’s a huge area of interest and expertise for me, writing about it and sharing my strategies, would add value to the blog.
Cleveland Smart Sole 4 Chipper Conclusion
It is staying in the bag!
10 rounds total and the data is showing it has improved my short game overall.
Data I have on 10 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 - 29% (43% versus 14%)
Proximity - 3 feet (8ft versus 11ft)
Shots to finish - 0.6 shots (2.3 - 2.9)
I feel confident in the strike and I am therefore selecting landing spots and committing to them, much more frequently.
Recently, I have taken a number of shots with it from inside 100 yards, when the lie has been poor, with excellent results.
A surprise but a pleasant one, for sure. For now, it stays in the bag and I will revisit the starts every 10 rounds or so to make sure the data set is playing out over time.
Reflective questions
Is your bag set up to complement your game and goals?
Do you have a system for your wedges that enables good scoring?
Do you have any scar tissue in your golf game, holding back your performance?