Week 34 Update
Any Week with 2 Rounds is a Good Week!
Welcome Players! Read below for the Week 34 Update.
Contents:
Habit Tracker
Training Log
Skill Practice
Golf Performance
Wrap-Up
Habit Tracker
Busy week even though it doesn’t look like it. 2 full rounds, a great range session, and finally got a new* putting mat all correctly* set-up.
What a shit-show getting a putting mat was… took me over a month from the moment I ordered to when I actually got to use it consistently!
The problem was that at first I ordered this super fancy new-technology mat that was made out of a proprietary foam blah blah blah supposed to simulate a real green feel. Cool - or so I thought.
But then the material wasn’t lying down flat so every putt had break on it which is not what you want when practicing at home. So some back and forth with their customer service and I eventually ended up returning it, but was a huge pain in the ass to get the right sized box and pack it correctly, etc.
So long story short is I returned the fancy schmancy one and bought a Well Putt, which was recommended to me from the very beginning. Live and learn! Here’s what my set up looks like:
So far this is the perfect tool that I was looking for. It rolls up easily, unrolls (flat!) easily, has multiple tools for both alignment (dotted and straight lines) as well as pace (speed control).
It also comes with a book of drills and games that you can play 9 “holes” with the putting mat putting from different locations with different aim-points.
I’m looking forward to re-start my putting practice with this thing every day now!
Training Log
Resistance Train (Gym): 2
Conditioning (Road Bike): 2
Was able to get a full week of training in (2 rides + 2 lifts) on top of 2 rounds! This was a perfect week in terms of activity.
Skill Practice
I did hit a large bucket and a half at the range but I didn’t take any swing videos.
I’m very, very happy with how my swing is progressing.
I feel confident in the repeatability of my swing, am making the best ball contact I’ve ever had, and am getting good compression on the ball (relative to me).
I know the thousands of repetitions has led me to this point, and it’s nice to step up to the ball and be thinking about the other aspects of the game that don’t have to do with the actual swing or performance of the swing.
Golf Performance
Any week where I can play two 18’s is a good week!
If only I scored a little better…
First up at Miami Shores:
Next was Osprey Point up in Boca Raton.
This course was short and TIGHT, with many tee shots being blind where you can’t see the line or the fairway you’re hitting to.
That was my first time playing a course designed like that, where the line of sight and tee-box position is set up to make you aim one way but you need to take an “unpleasant” line in order to hit in bounds.
This was more mental/psychological than anything, not being able to see where you’re hitting really makes you have to trust your swing. There weren’t a lot of hazards but if you took an aggressive line there was a good chance you’d not only miss the fairway but would end up OB.
As you can see, I ended up OB a LOT…
12 balls out of bounds… that’s atrocious.
On the flip side I putted very well! Only 32 putts which might be my lowest total to date. Part of this was because I was putting better, but my chipping was actually what performed the best here as my approach shots would miss off the green and I was able to consistently chip inside 10ft leaving me with easy 1- or 2-putts.
I was also pretty good on the Par 3’s, hitting a couple greens and logging 1 par.
But it was the OB shots off the tee box that really cost me the scoring round. Had I hit 1 less ball OB I’d be under 100, had I hit 50% less (still 6!) OB I’d be around a 95, and had I played a clean card I’d have a chance at breaking 90.
Wrap-Up
It was a good week of progress but I’d be lying if I said I’m not disappointed in my scoring.
The penalty shots are KILLING ME!
From my perspective I’m not “inaccurate” off the tee. I’m not missing the ball or hitting “bad” shots (ok maybe a few bad shots).
But for the most part my ball contact is good, it’s just I’ll take an aggressive line and swing a little too hard which now means my hands get ahead of my body and I come across the ball with a shut face, leading to strong draws or even worse a hook.
This (Osprey Point) was a course where strong draws/hooks that would normally be in decent position on other courses was an automatic OB, and that’s where I lost a lot of strokes.
Now that my swing is repeatable, consistent, and getting faster, I’m starting to creep into the out-swinging-my-clubs territory.
I can develop a pretty decent clubbed speed, but with the clubs I’m hitting now the shaft isn’t stiff enough so I’m getting a lot of whip out of the clubbed at the bottom of the arc and it’s been difficult for me to swing less hard in order to control the draw.
Especially since I’m hitting the center of the club face much more consistently I want to put the ball as far down the fairway as possible, even if it’s a L/R miss (the stats don’t lie).
So at Osprey I was taking this approach except would end up with these fast swings, good contact, but an out of control hook.
This round definitely reinforces my need to get a proper club fitting so that my equipment matches my ability level instead of holding it back. In the meantime I either need to mentally accept a slower, more controlled swing or just accept that my misses are going to be bad.
Hopefully I can get fitted in the next few weeks and put this problem behind me and make a strong push to shoot in the 80’s consistently this fall.