Tell me about your game

[jbrunk]

I love this game. I love it so much that spend hours playing practicing and researching the swing. I have played since 1997 and am currently a 4.9. Above average driver, chipper and putter. Really weak with irons. Have never been able to consistently hit them. When I play I usually impress my playing partners off the tee and with the putter. I usually hit 7-9 GIR and stick a few close enough to make birdies.

It's funny because when we finish and I have slapped irons all over the place, we add them up and I am generally around 78-81. They just shake their heads.

I am amazed at so many on here who say they carry their 5 iron 190 or so. That distance would be a miracle for me.

There is no point to this story, but I am curious about how the rest of you guys get it around. All playing levels are welcome.

 

[hp12c]

I love this game. I love it so much that spend hours playing practicing and researching the swing. I have played since 1997 and am currently a 4.9. Above average driver, chipper and putter. Really weak with irons. Have never been able to consistently hit them. When I play I usually impress my playing partners off the tee and with the putter. I usually hit 7-9 GIR and stick a few close enough to make birdies.

It's funny because when we finish and I have slapped irons all over the place, we add them up and I am generally around 78-81. They just shake their heads.

I am amazed at so many on here who say they carry their 5 iron 190 or so. That distance would be a miracle for me.

There is no point to this story, but I am curious about how the rest of you guys get it around. All playing levels are welcome.

I love this game too jbrunk! I dont carry my 5 iron 190yds that distance can be low into the wind 3hybrid, a stock 4 hybrid, maybe sometimes a 5 iron with the wind. I dont impress anyone including myself with the driver. I get around by short and in the fairway and sometimes on the green in regulation. pretty good pitcher, chipper( thanks to Bmanz!) decent putter reader of greens( fall line and the zero break line!).

 

[finncox]

My game is currently a great source of frustration. I worked with Brian a few times over the years when I was basically ready to quit, and he got me back on track and enjoying the game again. I've always been a quick learner, but I kept wavering back and forth between extremes of the "Manzella Matrix," so to speak. My first lesson with Brian was basically SD, in order to correct a huge OTT move. But, about a year later, I had really overcooked the SD stuff, and he had to get me using NHA to get the ball in play off the tee. Eventually, all this balanced out, and I was more or less able to correct my swing on my own, to a certain extent.

All in all, I started playing some pretty good golf. I was routinely shooting in the mid 80's, and trending lower. However, there was always an element of my game missing--if the short game was on, I couldn't find the fairway off the tee, and vice versa. I'm sure many of you have been there.

About two years ago, I went back to some older ideas that Brian had initially got me working on. I tried to put all of the junk swing thoughts out of my head, and just think SD. I even watched the video again, and it helped. I started playing some of the best golf of my life, and worked my way down to about a 5. It all culminated in the one round of gold where I broke par!! I was on top of the world, could control my ballflight, and shape it on command. Also, I had picked up distance, and routinely outdrove everyone in my group with a 3 wood, 5 wood, or 3 iron. Literally, I was hitting some drives 320 plus without breaking much of a sweat. I could swing hard without fear of losing it either way,and I found myself routinely shooting in the mid-high 70's, occasionally sniffing close to par every now and then. In short, I was in golfing heaven, and I started to think I might have a legitimate chance of routinely breaking par one day.

THEN..........it all just kind of vanished. I've got too many swing thoughts rattling around in my head, and I can't seem to get back to the simple "step up and hit it" mentality I had when playing my best. I am changing swing thoughts, feels, and motions so much lately that I can't keep track of what/how I'm swinging any more. I feel like I have no ownership of my swing. I've still got most of my distance when I hit it well, but I just can't put a round together to save my life. The last 10 months or so have honestly been the most frustrating of my golfing life. Literally, I've gotten to the point where I just don't keep score any more because it gets too frustrating.

Anyone else been here before?

 

[jenhaoyen]

6.4 handicap.

I know if I hit fades that day I will do very very well. If I start hitting draws....I'm in trouble.

 

[mkemble]

I SUCK! I got down to an 11.3 a couple of years ago using NSA but then lost it and ever since have watched my 'cap rise - I'm sitting at 18 right now and there's no hope in sight. A couple of weeks ago I shot an 82 and felt I left 4 or 5 strokes on the table. Mind you, that was only the second time I broke 90 all year. I figured I was finally turning the corner and then...I followed it up with a 97 and 99 - WTF! I hate this game almost as much as I hate myself

 

[Kevin Shields]

I was smoke and mirrors until recently

 

[hp12c]

I was smoke and mirrors until recently

Wait, what? u telling us u got even better? tour time?

 

[JonWil]

I figured I was finally turning the corner and then...I followed it up with a 97 and 99 - WTF! I hate this game almost as much as I hate myself

This is great! I hear you!!!!!!!

 

[mgranato]

It's like a machine...

 

[Jared Willerson]

I have a decent short game. When the full swing is working well, I can do good things. I vary from hitting 14 greens and shooting 69 to hitting 2 greens and shooting 75......within the same week.

However things are looking up, I tend to get things backward in my mind after doing things correctly for a while and start doing the opposite. I was getting really under and inside out again a friend who knows my game just pointed it out and voila! Hitting it good again.

 

[Socalesq]

I love and am obsessed with the game as well. Only get to play about 3 times a month, but hit balls almost daily. 5.1 index,
but just shot 74 from the blacks last week. BF (Before Brian) I was a 9.3. 54 years old, medium-to-short length with driver (flies about 240) and irons (5-iron flies about 170). Pretty straight hitter, decent chipper and bunker player, mediocre putter, mental midget. Goal is to shoot par -- have shot 73 five times.

 

[hp12c]

I love and am obsessed with the game as well. Only get to play about 3 times a month, but hit balls almost daily. 5.1 index,
but just shot 74 from the blacks last week. BF (Before Brian) I was a 9.3. 54 years old, medium-to-short length with driver (flies about 240) and irons (5-iron flies about 170). Pretty straight hitter, decent chipper and bunker player, mediocre putter, mental midget. Goal is to shoot par -- have shot 73 five times.

Awesome way to go! there is hope for me still.

 

[Bigwill]

Been playing since '01. Amateur long, wild, good touch when I play frequently. Fell in love with the little fade after playing my first ever well-fit driver (which I broke over my back), and the discovery that Bubba golf is for Bubba, not me. Unfortunately, haven't been able to hit a real ball this year. I've had years like this before, so it's nothing new. Just keep with the dry swings and living room putting and I'll be back out there, chasing the single-digit dream, baby!

 

[fronesis]

I love and am obsessed with the game as well. Only get to play about 3 times a month, but hit balls almost daily. 5.1 index,
but just shot 74 from the blacks last week. BF (Before Brian) I was a 9.3. 54 years old, medium-to-short length with driver (flies about 240) and irons (5-iron flies about 170). Pretty straight hitter, decent chipper and bunker player, mediocre putter, mental midget. Goal is to shoot par -- have shot 73 five times.

This will sound like I'm joking, but I mean it dead seriously. If you can shoot 74 from the blacks and your goal is to shoot par, then I have one piece of advice: play the whites.

We all play better in our "comfort range" and it's always harder to play outside of it. When it comes to going "low" (whatever low is for you) you need to be confident and agressive about it. So move up to the white tees and go out trying/planning to shoot 70.

I say this from experience: I started playing golf at 13, and 9 months later I was playing competitive high school golf. My whole high school and college career was about trying to survive on tough/long courses. I played a LOT of golf where mid or high 70s was a great score, and I got good at shooting those numbers. But I never learned to really GO LOW. I could shoot 76 from the tips of a HARD course, but I hadn't learned how to shoot 68. I recently talked to someone who said that for coaching young kids these days they try to keep them on front tees until the are shooting in the 60s. I wish I'd had that experience.

So this summer I played the whites for all of June with my dad (he's in his late 60s) and tried to be agressive and think about low numbers. I shot 71 twice, which is usually a bit outside my comfort zone, and I felt better about trying to shoot in the 60s. I also went back to the back tees and shot a 71 this week – and I was a lot more comfortable doing it, because those numbers felt more normal. I was honestly trying to shoot 69.

So give the middle or front tees a try but do so by changing your mental approach and telling yourself you are going to tear the course up.

 

[kc8kir]

Where to start...

Certified range rat here... ie... I'm often awesome on the range... but I've only had a handful of games where I showed that glimmer on the course. Finally nailed it down this year to the fact my pivot is terrible and my descent angle is all off... far too shallow. When I'm at the range sometimes I just get in a lucky thin / flip rut, but most times playing I end up with bad hooks, blocks, thins and shanks. Being 7-12 degrees in-out will do that to you.

A usual round for me is a decent start off the tee, followed by poor iron shots, gradually progressing to a par 3 where I completely shank it due to getting too far in-out again. Usually the next shot is thinned as I desperately try to carry and get the club path level... yet too level. By now the feel for controlling the club and hitting the ball is gone and my coordination blown. All this really messes up the short game too. Lately I'm focused on putting a lot more with my shoulders and stopping being too handsy from 15 yards in (working better so far... but not good when you're at bogey just getting to the green with poor iron shots).

I'm a continual tinkerer having tried pretty much every grip under the sun including the Jim Fuyrk grip, baseball grip, and the reverse grip (left hand low). The swing feels massively different every time, and probably due to really good sensitivity in my hands (from years of piano) I am constantly playing with / reacting to different hand feels through the swing. Oddly enough all that fiddling also causes a lot of blisters... but that's a different story.

I'm hoping this year is the year the carry and NHA actually sticks. So far I'm getting the carry, but not enough shake, so I get the path fixed but the AOA is still too shallow and I'm not taking divots or keeping good clubface control. I've got an odd bounce of the club at the top of the swing I haven't been able to eliminate it without completely stiff wristing the swing... of course this takes all the feel away and I'm at a loss to find the ball. Of course the bounce often gets me too steep in the downswing and underplane... hence too in to out.

I think about golf a lot. In my business padfolio I have a list of all the big "swing ideas" I've tried. The "Trevino Loop", the "Nicklaus Umbrella", the "Chop and Clear Left", the "Freddie Couples Toss", the "Garcia Hand Drop". I think it's about 20 lines or so at this point with little symbols next to each indicating if it produced a slice, fade, hook, or draw (for the most part)... and I've only been playing casually for about 6 years. My scores haven't changed much from the 95-100 rounds I shot when I first took up the game, and honestly I only blame myself for not practicing enough to be as good as my ego would convince me I could be.

Yup... I'm addicted to the masochism of golf... and the relentless pursuit of that next pure shot that makes my regular habit of shanking half a 100 ball bucket just about worth it.

Well, sort of.