Big Question?
What are your concrete plans to improve in November?
Feels
My feeling this week is one of pleasure and gratitude.
I am loving the opportunity to improve and learn this game. I am loving sharing the journey, interacting, learning, reading, practising, recording, and training all to get better. I appreciate all of the comments, people trying to help, encouragement and expertise. Overall, things are moving in the right direction (I think) and I am very grateful for that! I would love for this to be read by more golfers trying to improve and would appreciate it if you could share this with your friends or anyone you think would benefit from reading it!
Practice
This week’s practice has taken a slightly different direction, one I wasn’t planning on, but I felt it was worth the time. I listened to the Tour Tempo Sweet Spot Podcast episode (linked) this week while out for a walk and was intrigued about my own swing tempo. The premise of the episode is around the ratio of backswing:downswing, which for an incredibly high % of golfers is around 3:1. We can explore our ratio using the free app. It uses high-speed frames to calculate the ratio. John Novosel Jr. explains why this is the case and goes into the technical elements of the ratio and its importance. The interesting bit for me was how that ratio is applied, e.g. 21:7, 24:8, 27:9 etc. (in reals terms this is 27 frames total for the backswing and 9 frames in the downswing.)
My (early extended) swing with my 5 iron had a 32:10 ratio, which is both slow and slightly out of the 3:1 standard. I proceeded to ‘play around’ with different clubs and different speeds, recording the swings and was amazed by the results. I managed to record a 24/8 ratio with my 4 iron and found I had a similar level of control to my ‘standard’ tempo. I found that the well-struck ones really flew. I wish I had been on a launch monitor as my feelings could have been checked and authenticated. I am not going to buy the full app just yet, which plays the sounds at different ratios but I will continue to monitor and record my swings so it won’t take much time to run them through the video app and check in on it from time to time.
Do you feel your tempo has an impact on your ball striking?
Playing
I played a couple of rounds this week. One as part of a pair, so no strokes gained or scorecard for that.
The round I played on my own was a little odd but has raised a couple of points. My approach play and general ball striking were not great. My driving overall was a little off in terms of direction (36% FIR) and distance (259y Performance Average). Yet my scoring was good! My short game and putting ‘made up for it’. This further supports Jan Sherman’s 2/3 rule. Having an external focus (in this case, an intermediate target) appears beneficial at this stage too!
What I have taken from the round;
Most of the pressure I put on certain areas of my game is unnecessary
More GIR will positively impact my score and I should still be chasing that, however, making choices to eliminate double bogeys may be more ‘impactful’ overall (2 in this round)
Par 4’s are an issue (GIR issue)
The 2/3 should be in my mindset and expectations every round
External focus and intermediate targets should be part of my practice
12 pars is also my best return in a round. Par 4’s are still proving the challenge.
‘Progress’
I thought I would write a 3-month review but decided to do one at the end of the year instead. However, what got me started on this thinking was a quick review of my handicap counting rounds on the MyEG app. I started practising and journaling my journey at the start of August around the time I shot another disappointing 91. I was fed up with the feeling of frustration and decided to make a change to my commitment.
My average score for the 6 rounds I had leading up to starting this journey was 90 (screenshot below). My last 6-round average is 82.3 (screenshot below).
Average 90
Average 82.3
This really got me thinking!
A few reflections;
I am not letting the average score metric ‘validate’ my approach.
I know progress is not linear, especially in golf.
I know this average score could negatively flip as quickly as it positively flipped.
I am allowing myself a pat on the back for the hours of practice, reading and time invested.
It’s amazing what we can find to validate our approach when we want to! Note to be careful of ‘cherry picking’ evidence.
The reality!
I’m sticking with strokes gained for actual ‘validation’ evidence and my progress check in’s! The SG metric will help provide me with the stimulus to plan my practice, structure my lesson time and work with my coach to improve.
The reality is that my approach play has improved by around a shot compared to many of the rounds posted early on in this journey and after my lesson. The short game has seen a little boost too.
The reality is I must think long-term, look for opportunities to improve and not ‘validate’ my approach, which should evolve as my game and skill level does.
The reality is I have sooooooo much to learn!
Last 5 rounds SG vs a 5hc
Reflective questions
Do you look to validate your choices or challenge them?
What evidence and feedback are you using to check on progress?
Note: Training and nutrition will be in a separate blog from next week!
I read about Tour Tempo on the Practical Golf blog. Jon Sherman endorses it. Took me about a year to get my head round paying for the app. I wish I’d done it sooner, the results were instant and I’m still using the app in practice 2 years on. In hindsight, while it’s relatively high cost for a simple app, the cost is less than one lesson and much less than equipment.