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Big Question
What does progress mean to you?
Feels
My feeling this week is one of motivation.
Adding some speed training into the mix has given me some added motivation this week. Seeing progress. Feeling faster. Sticking to a process through difficult moments. Moving on quickly. I remain interested in learning and am inherently satisfied by the process and challenge.
Practice and Lessons
A poor week of practice! I had 2 short sessions working on my wedges and one full session at the range. For my wedge sessions, I set up a station with a mat and an alignment stick and went through my technical cues. I attempted to start the ball right and draw the ball. In the second session, I found myself feeling frustrated and I began hitting balls with little thought for routine or process. I caught myself and packed up to go home.
After some reflection, I felt optimistic. Before starting this journey, I may have stayed and ploughed through more balls. I may have tried different stuff or I may have gone home frustrated; either way, I would have let it affect my behaviour. I may have looked for a new solution. I may have ditched the drill I've been working on. I may have even psychologically 'thrown in the towel'. I didn’t do any of those things!
My progress at this moment was ‘moving on’. It led me to discard the negativity and plan my next session. I did my 'no ball' work at home. I looked forward to the next practice. I reached out for more feedback. This feels like progress!
Main practice session
Theme: Basics and Drills
Warm-up
Technical
Lead wrist 1/2 and 3/4 shots x 12
Banking the foot drill 3/4 and full shots x 12
Variable
Start the ball to the right of the stick x 12
Wedges
50/70/90y 50 degree wedge x 8
Bonus
Driver speed work x10
I hadn’t hit any balls during my speed work so figured it would be good to get some ball data to supplement ‘all out’ swings. I struggled to find any kind of strike or speed but I am going to love the challenge of finding it. Max speed with the ball was 109 but I feel that will improve as I let go of strike quality.
Play
An odd round this week. I started well with a few solid strikes then had a random heavy hook shot with a 9 iron in my hand. A few solid holes followed then another snap hook, this time with an 8 iron. 4 more solid holes in a row then a five-hole stretch of some of the worst ball-striking i’ve had in a long time. A lost ball after a huge hook on the short par 4 12th.
Lots of hooky shots and low-point was all over the place. I couldn’t quite work it out but wanted to continue with the feeling in the wrist. Several bogeys and doubles followed. Then as if by magic, I finished the round with two excellent tee shots, two solid iron shots and 2 good looks at birdie that ended in pars.
Following the round, I had a few questions for Ryan and wanted to make sure I squeezed as much learning out of it as possible. Ryan suggested that if I’m not rotating through the ball but I persist with the flat lead wrist, I may hook the ball. I commented to my playing partners on the back 9 that I was feeling tired and a little stiff. This may have been a result of a week of max swings. Learning-wise, I now have some idea of what could go wrong and what the consequences could be. I also have an idea of how I can manage that moving forward, in upcoming rounds.
Speed
Another week including five more speed sessions at home and test balls at the range. I'm stuck at 120mph but my averages have increased by 3mph.
I felt sore in my rear delt, upper lat and trap after five consecutive days so I had two days off. It has already highlighted how important it will be to notice any signs of overdoing it. It affected my round on Saturday, which is the last thing I want! The principle of 'minimum effective dose' applies here. In summary, what is the least amount of work I can do to keep me moving forward (while doing no harm).
My on-course speed was interesting. I had no expectations or knowledge of what my top speed was likely to be. This made it easy to accept. The speed topped out at 105mph, 15mph less 'no ball' work. Having a specific target and score to play for, made it difficult for me to hammer it.
After 1 round, my average (according to Shot Scope) was 7y further; last five rounds average was 233y, and Saturday was 240y. I will monitor and post this average in the coming weeks, as this is one of the metrics I will use to track progress.
Reflective questions
How do you deal with poor practice or playing?
Do you make sure you squeeze the juice out of every situation?
What motivates you to keep going?
Getting my first round of the year in tomorrow. Got myself a shot scope watch during November so looking forward to using it and seeing what kind of data it gathers. Loving the blog!