Well, I played again today and was not nearly as successful as I had hoped. I had a great practice session yesterday where I felt I made some great progress and was really making what I thought was good contact with a FLW. I even got to the point of consistency in my swing that I was able to play around with ball position and actually base the ball flight results on that instead of a swing flaw. I found, what I thought, was a perfect spot just forward of center for my 7-iron where I'd get a little draw. A little bit back for there and it would fade. More back and it would push.
Then today. Well, it wasn't all bad. I hit 9/14 fairways and was pretty long, considering the fairways were a little wet and so it was all carry, ranging from 265 to 280 (must have hit a sprinkler and rolled some). I had a birdie on a par 5, a sand save and some other decent shots for an 85. The bad -- I hit three greens in regulation. I hit fat shots. I hit it short. I hooked it. I pushed a 3-wood into a creek. I don't think I've hit a fat shot since I've seen Lee. I've been working with my dowels and doing some other drills he showed me. I think I just need to learn how to take it from the range to the course. Frustrating, because in my book, I should at least par every hole that I hit the fairway and I should hit every par 3 green.
Well, the journey continues.
Vandal,
It is difficult to take your ball striking from the range to the course, especially when learning something new. I try to mix up my practice and play to condition my subconcious to treat practice and play the same. I will go to the course, walk right out and play. Other times I just practice. Most of the time I practice a little before I play. I find after awhile that my play time and practice time blur together. This keeps play time from becoming "special" which leads to nervousness over trying to exactly repeat the swing I had from the range. It probably sounds a little crazy, but it seems to help me. Good luck and keep plugging away!
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Steph
Distance is Magic; Precision is Practice.
No, it doesn't sound crazy. It sounds like an extension of the idea that Pia Nilsson and Lynn Marriott write about in their book. I think I've focused so much on getting my swing changes right that I forgot about how to practice playing golf.
Well, I've played a couple more rounds since my last "update" and I think things are progressing very well. I played a round at a fairly tough course (72.1/135) with very windy conditions and shot an 86.
Yesterday, I played a bit easier course and managed an 84 -- thanks to a triple and a double! Take those away and I would have had a 36 on the back nine! I started off rough but chalk that up to hurrying out to the tee without any warmup. I turned things around pretty well on the back (except an OB and one in the water, which were both mental errors.) I had a sand save, a couple of up and downs for par and a barely missed eagle putt after nailing a 3-wood from 235. The tougher course I played was a bit of a mix because of the wind, but I missed only two fairways all day. My index is creeping into places it's never been before and my goal of being a single digit and breaking 80 is within sight.
Hybrid Mode
