LowPost42 Journal

The Tournament: Domtar Invitational
The format: 3 days; 2 days to set flights, 3rd day play to win!
The goal: Keep the 3 day score under 300.

Day 1: Ballstriking was hit and miss, driver was OK. Putting was off, short game was non-existent. There was an hour long wait between 9's. One 9 and two 7's with only 1 par makes it tough to score well... Not to mention the 4 penalty strokes. 51/48 made for a 101. There's some work to do tomorrow - I'm already 2 strokes behind the goal.

Day 2: Ballstriking was still hit and miss, driver was getting better, putter was getting better. However, 3 penalty strokes, one 9, four 7's, and an avalanche of 6's upended the four pars. Another 40 minute wait between 9's.56/47 makes for 103. Now I'm 5 strokes behind. My 2 day total is 204. I've gotta shoot a 96 to make 300, 95 to achieve the goal. The idea that "I'll work to make 5's" after Robert's post backfired - but I sure made a lot of sixes! And I didn't quite make any compact backswings...

Day 3. Unbelievably, I'm not in the last flight! Instead, I'm 11 strokes behind the guy that leads the second-to-last flight (193 to my 204). So, winning the flight is out. All I can hope for is to be the best in my foursome - I'm pretty sure given the previous two days, I will not achieve my 3 day goal. I lead my foursome, but by 1, 2, and 4 strokes. Each of these fellows had a sub-100 score in one of the first two days. I don't have any style today - I'm playing aggressive golf today - go for the green if you have the smallest look. If laying up made me a bunch of sixes yesterday, maybe I can make a bunch of fives today.

I start out double double double bogey. This is my best start in 3 days, as the other two I've taken a 9 by now. Another double, three more bogies, and a par get me to the turn with a sub 50 front 9. The short, compact backswing is working, although I'm topping tee shots again, and my miss is a 30 yard pull. Still, I'm pretty pleased to be on pace for a 96 (even 300) if the day continues this way. There's no wait today between 9s, so having made a great up and down for par on 9, I get to carry that momentum into the back 9. Flub a chip to have to go up and down for bogey on 10. Yank a shot into the trees on 11, but have a window to the green. Stick a PW on, and take a two putt par. Top a tee shot on 12, take 4 more strokes to get on, then drop a 6 footer for double. Airmail the green on 13, chip back and two putt for bogey. Top another tee shot on 14 - and it runs into trees. Punch out to 230. 3 wood fades to pin high, but just off the green. Chip across 50 feet of green to leave a 1 footer (make the bogey). 15 almost jug my chip (approach short) for a tapin par. I was all over the flag, but about a half club short. Par the par 5 (nothing unusual). Clean lie in the rough on 17, but completely misjudge my yardage. Airmail the green and a bad hop leaves me behind a tree. Chip to the clear, chip up, two putt double. 18 gets a topped tee shot with an unknown yardage in (par 3). Try to 'feel' a half wedge. I felt it over the green. Pitch back is the perfect distance - but kicks hard the wrong way, and runs downhill. I've got a 15 foot sidewinder that breaks about 3 feet - and to miss will have the ball run away. Lag it up to 1 foot (short and right - high side miss). Tap in and finish with double.

Tally up the card - I've got 93, and a 3 day total of 297!

Lesson learned - half a backswing is way, way better than a 'full swing'; and I really don't lose much distance.

Now I have to figure out why I top these other balls. I'd wager at this point that I'm simply swinging too aggressively, and I'm lunging at the ball. Off the deck, the same club was money - so that's another angle to consider. Perhaps I need to not tee up anything but driver for a while.

Next up - trying to break 90!

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True Length Technology Fitter - www.truelengthtechnology.com
It's live! - www.ShipShapeClubs.com
PCS Class 'A' Clubfitter

A new highlight: Golfing the home course on Christmas Day.

I say it too often: If it's golf club shaped, you can play with it.

For the record, I'm a club doctor, not a swing doctor.

Hey LP...

Good job on achieving the "Break 300 over the 3 days" goal. That 93 on the last day must have been really pleasing for you.

Can relate to the shorter backswing idea and suggest you continue to try it out. Over the last 2 rounds I played I rarely (other than with driver from the tee) went anywhere beyond 3/4's the way back. And, as you say, no appreciable loss of distance over a full swing and a very appreciable improvement in accuracy.

Topping for me is either ball position too far forward or maybe left arm not straight at impact. Get that video cam of yours out...

Good luck getting that 80 something... And SOON!!!

Cheers

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Look at the Target, Look at the Ball, Swing... Dr Bob Rotella...

Well, 80 something is farther away than I thought.

My swing is coming together quite nicely, it seems (I'm in desperate need of range time). A full turn with arms held away (maintain the triangle) and a proper wrist set makes for good shots. Remember to swing with abandon to hit the ball well. Beware the forearms rolling around if you get too loose.

Some putting practice is needed - I've got roughly zero distance control. I need to spend some more time with Big Blue, and then start trusting my natural feel. Natural feel is certainly helping with the short game.

Range time and 'no expectations' golf may get me sub-90 this year.

__________________
True Length Technology Fitter - www.truelengthtechnology.com
It's live! - www.ShipShapeClubs.com
PCS Class 'A' Clubfitter

A new highlight: Golfing the home course on Christmas Day.

I say it too often: If it's golf club shaped, you can play with it.

For the record, I'm a club doctor, not a swing doctor.

Good luck, buddy.

I feel like prefacing all my comments at the moment with "I'm a 26, I know jack", and I honestly feel that's true, but I also get a slightly funny twitch at the phrase "No expectations", because whilst I totally see that I must not go in to a round of golf thinking the course, in some bizarre way, owes me a score of X (and I think I have done this), I also think if I rejected my 'expectations', I might be in danger of also rejecting;

hopes
aspirations
targets
self-belief
self-discipline
pre-shot routine
...and others

That's me - not to say you would be the same. Maybe I'm being overly semantic, and I can see you've chosen the word 'expectations' carefully. Even so, I think it's ok to give yourself a mental head start on yourself, and start with a positive expectation as opposed to a negative or an absent one.

But that's purely my take on it, and how I play - not at all recommending it to anyone else, and my journal has several examples of where my attitude has bitten me in the ass!

__________________
~_~_~_~_~
Personal bests 2007;
Best 18: 78 (+12)
Best 9: 37 (+4)
Best Stableford: 45 pts
Best total putts: 28
Best total length sunk putts (ft): 54

Club tourney history this year: Captain's Day - 1st; Club foursomes - 2nd; Dimex Stableford - 2nd; Club Championship - 13/28 gross, joint 5/28 nett; Ferebee Shield - 2nd; Sept Medal 2nd; Autumn Stableford - 1st

No - what I'm referencing is the former that you allude to: The thought that 'I've scored X before, so I know I can' - which leads to more frustration when you have a couple blowup holes.

Wow! What a round! The score was horrible (47-50 something [possibly 60]), but lots learned. I was hitting the ball well (but directionally challenged).

Things learned:

An intermediary target is mandatory. Otherwise, you set up willy-nilly. Sure, you think you're 'train tracked', but you just setup to get 'train wrecked'. Most noticeable on putting, as my pace was more or less fantastic (nothing more than a couple feet coming back, save one downhiller I completely misjudged).

I suspect that my ball position crept further and further back as I started leaving shots out to the right. I almost need a 2" stick that sits off my left heel to give me an idea of where my position is.

When spraying your driver all over the place, the answer is to not 'swing through it'. The answer is to bench the driver. Being wild off the tee just killed me. I had no reason (more or less) to NOT hit 5 wood off every tee. Once I started that (save for late in the round) I was hitting fairways (or pretty close) most of the time.

Finally, I need some f*#&ing bunker practice. I suspect the answer is new wedges (too much bounce coupled with too wide a sole). I had some thin-soled wedges that were just fantastic... but then I sold them (I didn't know what I had). It's either that, or find 'the' magic amount of face opening to find the 'right' amount of bounce.

__________________
True Length Technology Fitter - www.truelengthtechnology.com
It's live! - www.ShipShapeClubs.com
PCS Class 'A' Clubfitter

A new highlight: Golfing the home course on Christmas Day.

I say it too often: If it's golf club shaped, you can play with it.

For the record, I'm a club doctor, not a swing doctor.

Well, I applied point #1 from my last post in my round today.

And it worked like a freakin' charm! I setup to an intermediary target (aim the club, parallel the body) and save for some horrendous swings, was pretty close to online most of the time (even came up 1 club short of trying to jug an ace!)

Still gotta watch the hands, though. Conciously kept the club shut with the driver with great results.

Picking an intermediary target is part of my routine for every shot these days: full swing, chip, or putt. Not only does it simplify aiming, but it also helps me to stay extended through the swing--something that I always struggle with. But that intermediate target is only a foot in front of my ball, so in a sense I'm swinging right at it.

But I wanted to mention something about the "half backswing." I'd bet the farm that if you videotape your supposed half backswing, you'll find that it's not a half swing at all. You're probably taking your arms up to about 10 o'clock or higher but because you don't feel the strain you imagine they're much lower.

Todd

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Todd
Philadelphia, PA
USA

The reason the pro tells you to keep your head down is so you can't see him laughing. ~Phyllis Diller

A quick 9 holes in yesterday, with some interesting results:

Shot a 42 - 6 over - in the wet rough and dewey greens; tying my PB.

The secret? Taking all the danger out of play. I hit driver once. Then I didn't hit anything longer than a 5 iron save a 4 iron once.

The 'shoulda-woulda' score is 41 - I managed to push a PW into the lat hazard.

With virtually no wind, I hit driver, 5 iron, 5 iron, 6 iron (coulda been a 5), 5 iron, 6 iron, 6 iron (on the 470 yard par 5), 4 iron (shoulda been a 5), and I think I hit an 8 pin high on the par 3.

All that, and I still managed to miss fairways.

But the lesson is learned!

__________________
True Length Technology Fitter - www.truelengthtechnology.com
It's live! - www.ShipShapeClubs.com
PCS Class 'A' Clubfitter

A new highlight: Golfing the home course on Christmas Day.

I say it too often: If it's golf club shaped, you can play with it.

For the record, I'm a club doctor, not a swing doctor.

You rock! It confirms my belief that for players like us (my PB for nine is 44), a large part of taking the danger out of play is leaving the danger in the bag. The other part is course management, but course management really only starts to make sense when we are using clubs that we control reasonably well. Well done!

I'm in the same boat as you two. I left my driver in my shed, that way I can't be tempted. I hit an 8i layup off a Par 5 tee yesterday and would have been on in regulation had I not done the unthinkable and chunked my subsequent 3w shot straight into the pond (dropped and hit the 3w over the pond and right down the middle after that, leaving an easy 9i onto the green). With the driver keeping the lawnmower company, I managed to hit 10/13 fairways with the 5w not visiting the trees once. Shot a 92 in the end.

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Personal bests:
18 holes - 92 (+21 02/08/06), 92 (+20 24/06/07)
9 holes - 43 (+7 02/08/06), 41 (+7 24/06/07)
Putts (18) - 30 (04/09/07)
Putts (9) - 12 (02/08/06)
Fairways - 11/14 ((02/08/06, 24/06/07, 01/08/08), 10/13 (09/06/07)
GIR - 5/18 (01/08/08)
Pars in one round - 7 (24/06/07)

Lifetime birdie count - 8 Latest - 03/09/08 - 7th hole Kingsway 318 yard par 4
Lifetime eagle count - 1 Latest - 15/06/08 - 4th hole Canadian G&CC 9 hole 481 yard par 5

Thanks fellas.

Snowman, my theory would have dictated something like pond carry + 2 clubs, then either split the distance (ie 7i 7i) or hit like 5i 9i in. But yes, like Todd said, taking trouble out of play takes big scores off the card. If I wasn't yanking approach shots (took 7 holes to realize I was swinging OTT a LOT on approaches - almost all pulled) I would have shot 38 (as I was 2 putting greens like a madman).

It certainly gives me a ton of hope for the next time I go out!

I would just like to give an emphatic ditto to Todd's post. I also pick an intermediate target about a foot in from of the ball (a broken tee or an old divot...) and it works wonders.

The 'half backswing' thing is always something that I end up going back to when my swing gets in a funk. I always had a sneaking suspicion that I was probably taking quite a full swing while I thought I wasn't... A few days ago the sun was just right and I was able to watch my shadow while taking a supposed abbreviated backswing. Sure enough, my arms were going to 10 o'clock or more and the club was going parallel to the ground, as Todd said.

I hate to say it, but for me 10 o'clock is about as "full" as it gets--with shaft at right angle, so about 1 o'clock. If I try to put my arms any higher than that, my swing self-destructs. A more dependable, controlled swing only goes to 9 o'clock. It may be a geezer swing, but I don't worry about it too much, because when my timing is on I can still get lag and pop the ball a good distance. I just don't have much flexibility, so by the time I get to 10 o'clock, I feel wound up very tight.

__________________
Todd
Philadelphia, PA
USA

The reason the pro tells you to keep your head down is so you can't see him laughing. ~Phyllis Diller

To jack my own journal:

The way the backswing has been explained to me is as follows:

Turn your shoulders back as far as you can. Lift your arms. That's your backswing.