Pepsi Duck's "9-to-3" Thread...COVID Golf (#111)...!

[PutterKilledTheDream]

P Duck...if you're playing the SD circuit...you're dealing, primarily, with small postage stamp greens. It's significantly more important to know front, (cover) middle and fly ( back) edge numbers. There's not many opportunities...even at Torrey... where you have to play away from pins.

 

[PepsiDuck]

I honestly haven't played much golf on greens that are truly HUGE...so even the greens at Torrey feel "big" to me; or at the very least, they don't feel like small postage stamps... Thinking back on my round today, a good majority of my missed greens were firing at pins tucked against the left or right edges of the green (of which I felt there were many....)

So here's my general shot-planning routine on any approach shot:

Use Garmin G6 to check distance to middle of green. Pull out laser and get distance to the pin.For middle pins: take club to pin distance.For front pins: check distance on Garmin to front edge of green and take club to distance between front edge and pin.For back pins: check distance to back edge of green and take club to distance between center of green and pin.Adjust for wind and slope.Fire at the pin.

[bortass]

I think where to aim on the green has more to do with your predominate miss, and how big it is, and how consistent you are with the club you are about to use. Say you tend to miss right, flag is right and there's water or bunkers in that area, how often will you hit your 'miss' versus a good one that will be on the green with the club in your hand? That should be part of the thought process on whether or not to aim for the pin. Understand your game and play within it.

 

Part of the reason people are advised to aim for the middle, especially as the player's index gets higher, is because you want to be on the green. Not chipping or having a sand shot to deal with. So there's a much larger area to 'miss' but still be on. Once the pin starts to work towards an edge, the percentages of hitting the green will drop because a miss is more likely to actually miss the green.

[PepsiDuck]

Sooo...have you ever hit a guy in the face with your drive...? I can now say I that I have done that... It was a low line drive pull that went right down the middle of an adjacent fairway and apparently got him as he started driving off. I yelled fore as loud as I could, but he was straight into the wind and couldn't hear me. Luckily, he was ok. He claimed it hit him on the fly, but I think the ball got knocked around the cart before getting him in the jaw. Don't think he'd be able to talk if he caught one in the jaw on the fly...

Anyway, this happened on the third hole yesterday, and I ended up shooting a 91 (42/49). My only strategy was to aim at the center of every green; unfortunately, I had a slight problem with execution. I had some great drives with my 3W and hybrid, but had some trouble with the driver and general ball-striking with the irons. This was a shock to me because I had driven the ball so well a week ago at Torrey Pines. Also, distance control was off around the greens...it's definitely getting better, but I just need more time with that. After spending some time on the range tonight, I come with my question of the week:How do we overcome the dangers of results-based feedback on the range? In other words, when we're working on swing improvements, we tend to associate good ball-striking results with mechanically "correct" swings. So if we're working on something mechanically, we often associate a good shot with doing the particular mechanic correctly (even if we didn't). Inversely, if we hit a bad shot, we think we did it wrong (even if we did). With these natural tendencies, you can see how dangerous even a bucket of balls can be. I know for sure that I fell victim to this over the past week. My swing feel from last weekend is definitely not the one I took to the course yesterday.

I also got myself a new driver...TM SIM Max 10.5* with Fuji Ventus Black 7x, and I absolutely love it. The Ventus Black might have booted the Fuji Motore Speeder 7.2TS as my new favorite shaft...

[Hawkeye77]

If you thought he said, “THANK you buddy” his jaw was probably hurting, lol.

You did all you could do, turned out fine but I’ll bet it was scary for a moment.

That new driver obviously has some new face technology. ;-)

[Atrayn]

New driver before or after you hit the guy in the face? Sorry...Had to ask...lol

[Lincoln_Arcadia]

Claimed on the fly? Was he really okay? Will there be potential repercussions? Ouch... how far was he from your teeing position?

[Krt22]

Dude who got nailed likely had a bit of twist face at impact, lol

[Nard_S]

"How do we overcome the dangers of results-based feedback on the range?"-PD

 

I have a really high range to play time ratio. Best attitude is swing stuff has a 4 month horizon, not 4 day. The most solid thing you can take from range to course is rhythm & tempo. The rest has to ferment for a time.

[PepsiDuck]

And unfortunately for him, my driver also had Speed Injection and Inertia Generator technology, which increased the ball speed of my off-center strike!Clearly it was the only way to christen the new driver. It was the first time I used it on the course, and the second drive I made with it.

[PepsiDuck]

Yea, he reacted pretty aggressively...at first, my wife saw him waving his arms at me from the other fairway, but I didn't see him. When I went to look for the ball, he drove up after they finished on the green and I asked if I got him with my drive. He said yes, it hit him in the jaw. I didn't see any visible marks, and I asked if I hit him on the fly; he said yes. I imagine it was so startling that he thought it hit him on the fly when it really deflected off the cart. There's just no way there wasn't any more damage to his face... He was pretty upset that he didn't hear me yell fore. I apologized, and he drove off. Anyway, he caught back up with me at the turn and said he felt bad for going off on me. I offered to buy him a beer and we made good.

I'd say that he was about 125 yd away from my tee box?

[Atrayn]

So what's causing you to miss the sweet spot so badly? That could have happened with any driver. Something is causing this affect on your swing to produce such terrible results. It will always be an issue no matter how well you swing it. If it's in your head, no club will help you.

 

You should be able to put a solid swing on any club first swing of the day if you warmed up properly but even if you haven't you should be able to put a respectable swing on it even cold and end up relatively close to your target.

[PepsiDuck]

I'm fairly confident the primary issue is that my shoulders open up too soon at transition and downswing, which sends my path left and results in the low line drive pulls and pull hooks that hit people in the face. This is a problem across the bag; not just the driver. I understand there are likely a number of contributing causes along the way, but I'm currently working with an instructor to undo the last five years of my golf swing and level-set me once again. The old stuff (and the mental "yips" associated with it) still creeps in.

[Atrayn]

I may dispute your "primary" issue but definitely suggest sticking to one instructor for the duration. Quit buying clubs. It only throws in another "variable" which you already have an adequate supply of.

I saw you made some improvements in your short game via technique. This is one of the best videos I have ever seen on how you need to actually need to use the bounce of the club.

Monte talks about using the right arm it's along the same line as this video. As you see, it's a subtle change but the result is vastly different. Short Game Lesson With Phil Rodgers (Part 1)

[PepsiDuck]

I'm happy to report that I hit zero people in the face in today's round. Since the 91 from my last round, I was able to get out on the range once yesterday and out to the practice pitching area after work a couple times to continue improving distance control with my wedges from 30 yards and in. Today was my club's qualifier for the annual Match Play Championship. Using 12-month low indexes, I was in the B flight with a low H.I of 8.7 (currently at 12). I ended up shooting 73 (34/39) to take both low gross and low net for the qualifier, and presumably top seed in the B flight. Luckily for me, they aren't adjusting handicaps throughout the match play...

A few takeaways:

I finally feel like I'm playing golf! My swing is feeling great and somewhat repeatable; and my good drives were goooood...The most important series of holes today was 8-11...I was 2-under going into the 8th hole, and I hit a terrible pull hook that almost went OB. My first thought was, "...and it begins...here we go again..." But instead of turning into a mental case, I reset, hit a great recovery shot to just in front of the green, and got up and down for par. I hit another bad drive on hole 9. Recovered and made par. Hole 10; another pull hook and another recovery for par. Hole 11; pull hook and par. I finally realized that my swing was getting a little off, made the adjustment, and righted the ship on hole 12. Before today, that bad drive on 8 would have wrecked my round. Instead, I was able to make it through that rough stretch of holes at even. That was huge.I'm still aiming at the centers of greens, and I intend on continuing this for the foreseeable future. Yes, I'm still missing greens, but I was never short-sided, and I never had to stress just to make bogey.Practicing my pitching from 5 to 30 yards has made an incredible difference in my short game. I was never outside of 6 feet on any par putt; just a matter of making more of those 50/50 putts from 6 feet.No penalty shots, two chips, or three putts! Hank would be so proud!One last thing I'm trying to improve is my post-round "analysis." Rather than say, 'I should have shot a 70 if I had made those putts or if I hadn't hit that bad drive,' I say 'I made those crucial up and downs and that long putt for birdie to shoot 73 because it could have just as easily been a 78!' I think that positive spin to focus on things you did well to shoot the score is more valuable than focusing on the negative things that prevented you from shooting some imaginary score...

To say I'm excited would an understatement. I think this is by far my best score since 2014, and it was in competition! As always, thanks for reading and following along in my little journey.

[Atrayn]

Great work! Stay positive it breeds success. Develop a solid PSR.

[Hawkeye77]

Sandbagger!!!

Totally just kidding ----- great job!

[Hawkeye77]

I remember that vid! Really good and watching him pitch a ball is good for me!

Unfortunately I can't find the little vid of Rodgers himself pitching.

Found it! Short Game Lesson With Phil Rodgers (Part 5)

[pappaf2]

I feel like Elk took down a bunch of the videos of him and Phil unfortunately

 

maybe i was wrong

[LyinEye]

 

matter of knowing where and how to look perhaps. The Elk-Rodgers series, all 3 of them, are some of the best kept secrets on the internet, against scores of folks saying stay off YouTube for instruction. For players only who like making a living off the toe.

[PepsiDuck]

I can't believe it's been three weeks since the last round, and it's really been three weeks since I last hit a golf ball with everything that's been going on. I got a chance to play my first round in the COVID-era yesterday; went from the car to the putting green to the first tee, and I managed to keep the momentum with a 76 at a course I'd never played at before! I'm still aiming at the center of every green, and it has definitely played dividends. Mishits are still landing on the green, and those front and back pin positions aren't tricking me like they used to. I still don't feel quite comfortable with the driver, but I'm getting very confident with tee shots with the 3 wood and hybrid. I'm not sure when I'll be able to play (or even practice) next, but I'm using this chance to read up on the mental side of the game.

On a side note, I didn't even know the handicap system had an "exceptional score reduction" provision...but after my last round of 73, all my previous differentials got bumped down by one stroke...didn't even know that was a thing...went from 12.0 on March 1 to 9.9 on March 28 after just two rounds....now I only need to drop 7 more by July...!

[pappaf2]

I am majorly stoked for you. Way to hang in there through ups and downs.

[Lincoln_Arcadia]

Keep on going!