Week 20

End of Year Review

20 weeks…. wow! Thank you so much for following along and reading my ramblings this year and welcome to the 28 new subscribers this week.

Big Question?

What questions are you asking yourself as we approach the end of 2022?

Feels 

My feeling this week is one of realism.

I have spent the week reflecting on my ‘progress’ so far. Many different thoughts have occurred. A sense of pride emerged along with a realisation that measuring progress in golf is tough. If I frame our progress in scores, distances and handicaps, I may be in for a rough ride. I will be disappointed if I use my lofty expectations as a guide. So, how do I frame my progress? I focus on the process. I let things fall into place. I am patient. I am the best student you could hope for!

Practice and Lessons

I had the coldest practice session ever this week. The session itself was average with a number of poor shots (I expected some when working on a new move). The key to the session was to work on the lead wrist and takeaway. The session followed the same structure as always; technical work, experiment/differentiated practice, and a game. The practice looked like this;

• Warm-up (lengthy physical warm-up plus 4 balls half shots) 

• Technical - Lead wrist work x 12 with full routine each time

• Experimentation - Narrow stance/open stance/closed stance x 15

• Game - Nearest to the pin game on Top Tracer x 15

• Finished balls with 50y target with SW, GW x 4

Ryan was satisfied with the lead wrist work and positions at the top so it is time to move on. The main task for me is to begin banking the trail foot. The idea is that it will support my lead hip in clearing and improving my rotation through the ball. The lesson and drill are linked in the video below.

My practice when exploring this new movement will look like this:

1. Perform it as a dry drill (no ball)

2. Perform freezers (stopping in certain positions to feel the move)

3. Perform slow mo swings

4. Perform 50% speed swings

5. Perform 75-100% speed swings

This was sent out as a tweet by Ryan (follow here @Ryanmouquegolf.) Steps 1-3 are what I have been doing in the garden with the lead wrist work. I will continue to use this process with the trail foot and rotation work, in the coming weeks.

Stats Review

I did some digging around on my Shot Scope Dashboard to see what impact the work has had so far. I wanted to look at driving and approach play as the majority of the work I have done has been in those areas. Here are a couple of key statistics, comparing the last 10 rounds versus all of 2022.

Driving

Last 10 41% FIR

2022 at 37% FIR

+4% improvement

Last 10 Rounds

2022 Total

Driving distances

Last 10 P. average 263y

2022 P. average 270y

Can only put this down to strength training and fatigue coupled with technical changes. This is a key area for me to improve in 2023!

-7y

Approach Play

Last 10 55% greens (27% short)

2022 at 40% greens (38% short)

+15% improvement (11% improvement)

Last 10 Rounds

2022 Total

A sobering review

Chapter 1 Frustration (Pre-blog)

Before I started taking lessons, practising and blogging, I found myself very frustrated. As with many golfers, I turned up to the first tee unprepared. I struggled my way around. Sometimes hit the ball off the planet. I struggled with scoring, struggled on the greens, with my short game, off the tee, the whole shebang.

After rounds, I'd act as if something different was going to happen. As if by magic, I was going to have learnt how to hit the shots I needed to hit. With the technique that I had. I'd go home and hope next time would be different.

During the week, I'd sometimes squeeze in a large basket of balls at the range. One after the other. Bang bang bang. Turn up on the weekend and relive the cycle again. I was living in a loop of constant mismanagement of expectations and limited action. No plan, no reflection, no fun.

Something needed to change.

Chapter 2 Realisation (Ongoing)

I started asking myself questions about what I wanted from golf. What I actually wanted from playing on a weekend. Was it the social aspects or did I want to improve my performance? My conclusion was that I wanted to improve. I wanted to learn how to play the game that I loved, I wanted to enjoy the game more. I understood I would still hit it off the planet. I understood I would still have off days. But what I did realise was whatever I was doing and whatever loop I was cycling through, it was not helpful for my game, my mental well-being and ultimately, my enjoyment.

Other questions I began asking myself.

• How do I intend to improve?

• What my plan was to get better?

• What will help me commit to a process?

• What are my targets?

• How much time do I have?

• How much better can I get?

• What resources do I have at my disposal

• Who can support this journey?

I didn’t have all of the answers but each question stirred something up in me. I didn’t know how I intended to improve or what resources would help. I did know I have the capacity to talk to people and to research, read and explore a variety of resources.

Chapter 3 The Neverending Journey Begins (Present day)

If you have been following along, you’ll know many things about the journey so far. You will have drawn your own conclusions on my progress and where I am now versus where I was when I started. I have a couple of conclusions that I would like to share.

• I am no better at golf than when I started! Technically, I’ll be 'worse' until the tweaks to the swing take shape!

• My initial plan was optimistic and unrealistic. I only have a certain amount of time to learn! I have a family (twin boys aged 6 and a daughter aged 11) and full-time and part-time jobs. Doing everything in one go was never going to happen!

• What was great though, I reviewed, adapted and changed the plan, rather than throwing the towel in!

• My practice understanding is a little better. My execution in practice is also much better. I waste less money on blindly hammering balls.

• My most recent lessons with Ryan have helped me to understand why I move as I do and the impact of MY clubface on MY movement.

• I plan and reflect better than I did before I started. My planning has some structure to it including ‘play’ which I look forward to.

• I am 5kg lighter than when I started and stronger in every one of the big lifts.

• My review is public which keeps me accountable and ensures I am thinking things through and thinking them through again.

• I have loved sharing my 'progress' with you over the last 20 weeks! It has flown over!

Many of these things aren't 'golf' per se but they may help my journey be more successful if I can consistently apply them. My commitment in 2023 is not to get to scratch. It is to maintain a consistent approach to improvement. More lessons. More planning. More practice. More reflection. If the outcome is getting closer to scratch, great!

Thank you so much for following along this year. I hope your golf is improving and you will pick up the journey again with me next year.

Reflective Questions

What is your golf improvement plan for 2023?

How can you get the most bang for your buck in the golf improvement world?

What would you tell yourself if you were starting golf from scratch?

The next blog will be sent out Week commencing Monday 2nd of January. It's my birthday next Tuesday!

Have a wonderful festive period!