Feels
I have settled into a nice rhythm lately, enjoying my rounds and enjoying my practice.
Good things are just around the corner!
I feel privileged to share my progress and learning with you all!
I feel grateful for the support of every one of you!
I am committed to growing and continuing to be curious about where the journey takes me!
By the way, I've added a "Buy Me a Coffee" link if you feel generous and want to support my writing endeavours. I love sipping coffee while penning down my thoughts, whether at cosy coffee shops or just pondering over a cup at home.
Practice
I am enjoying my practice! I have shifted my overall focus to more skill-based work with an initial focus on a technical aspect, given to me by Ryan during my 4-month batch of lessons. This week I continued to focus on the trail foot banking inward during the warm-up and strike in the main part of the session. It looked like this:
Warm-up balls (trail foot banking focus) x 15
30, 50, 70, and 90% iron shots with face spray feedback moving through the bag. If I hit 2 middle in a row, move up a club. I spent 34 balls on this game and got up to my 4H from my SW. It helped me focus on the task at hand.
Call Shot - Wedge start, hit the shot and call the part of the face hit without looking at the feedback from the face spray. If I get 2 correct in a row, move up through the bag.
Finished my last 12 balls trying to hit heel then toe, heel then toe. The image below was the only one I managed to get in a good spot. I have lots of work to do on strike but this type of session not only keeps me focused on the skill it also helps keep me concentrating on the range.
Play
One round this week in the midweek Stableford. Another round where a couple of 3 putts and a shocker rescue off the 15th tee have left me feeling a little disappointed but also confident ‘it’ is coming. Approach play work is paying off with 10 more GIR and general ball striking heading in the right direction.
I tweeted about the round on Wednesday, suggesting I was close to another round in the 70s. Ryan (my Golf Coach for new readers) questioned my framing and suggested it appeared that I expected to be shooting in the 70s and was maybe getting ahead of myself. His question couldn’t have come at a better time.
Even though it was a little sobering for me, it reminded me of the long-term focus I need and the process I am in, on my way to better golf. Thanks Ryan!
Statistics
I spent some time pondering over my ‘short’ miss. The next breakthrough for me will come as GIR improves and my driving returns to anything like it was before my approach play improved. I thought I would visit my distance in Arccos and see where some decision-making could be improved. The chart above shows my ‘smart distance’ which uses an algorithm to calculate my distances, seemingly, removing the outliers from all of the shots I have hit to provide this number.
My approach to working with these numbers for the next 2 or 3 weeks is to subtract 5 yards and work from that yardage downward toward the next lowest (also -5). This will be a good starting point for adding a couple more GIR. Time will tell!
Reflective Questions
What ‘sobering’ questions can you ask yourself on your game?
Do you set yourself experiments to reflect upon?
Is your practice more skill-focused or technique based? Why?
I follow Adam Young quite a bit. In addition to doing the heel-toe-centet face work, I like trying to present the face open-closed-square at impact. I will also play a round at the range imagining a certain course and hitting the shots. Keeps me engaged and better prpared to play.
I really like your shift to more focus on skill based practice. I have been a proponent of it for a long time.