Quote:

I think it has helped me immensely. I think the most important thing I've gleaned from it is that it is making practice so much more important now.

I am glad. I agree that now I practice with more purpose. I have been struggling with the putter and because of being more in tuned with my game. I have spent considerable time on it. I would have never imagined spending over an hour just on putting.

Keep up the progress and keep us posted. I am working hard on my short game because I am going to the world am.

GolfSmith7 wrote:

I am glad. I agree that now I practice with more purpose.

I think that's exactly it. Practicing with more purpose. I mean, I didn't until just recently even understand how to practice. What was I supposed to get out of my time on the range? But now, even my putting practice has been better. When I'm on the green concentrating on a smooth swing plane with my putter, it's a recipe for disaster.

Even though I haven't been getting out as much as I like lately due to other commitments and obligations (I usually like to get out every day), I think that I have more confidence now than ever before. My last three rounds were all below my handicap, and my putting has been horrible.

gpickin wrote:

This is a cool thread, some good issues, good advice, I find it really interesting, because BK, you're seeing the same issues I seem to face. I need to get to that range and put in the time, but some of the things you mention will definitely help.

The interesting thing is that the phenomenon that prompted me to start the thread still does occur. But it doesn't bother me as much because it's far less prevalent. Last Sunday, for instance, I knew that once I got within 200, I was going to be at least chipping. And inside of 150, I knew that I would be using my putter. The few times I failed, it was no big deal. It's only one stroke.

I think one of my biggest mental blocks is that feeling I get when I waste a stroke. I'm thinking "now I gotta play "well just to get bogey". I should be thinking, "I just need a good shot here".

I've long held that the biggest difference between y game and my regular playing partner, who has been in the single digits, is that whn he hits a bad stroke, he recovers. For the first time, I am seeing what I need to do to fix that aspect of my game. The biggest difference between my game right now and my game one month ago is that right now, I'm finding myself saying something a lot that I never said before: "I played that hole like crap, and I still managed a bogey".

Yesterday, I played, my drive fell apart majorly, and i still hit some duff shots here and there...
BUT I think I was thinking about my drive that I was pretty relaxed with all the other shots, and I played them all pretty well.

It seems I am always focused on one part of my game, and then rest I dont worry about, and they just work.

It felt like the worse round in months, but in fact, it was probably my best in months for not screwing up majorly. 1 triple... but only a couple of doubles, and a slew of bogeys.

I might have to get that book though

gpickin wrote:

Yesterday, I played, my drive fell apart majorly, and i still hit some duff shots here and there... BUT I think I was thinking about my drive that I was pretty relaxed with all the other shots, and I played them all pretty well. It seems I am always focused on one part of my game, and then rest I dont worry about, and they just work. It felt like the worse round in months, but in fact, it was probably my best in months for not screwing up majorly. 1 triple... but only a couple of doubles, and a slew of bogeys. I might have to get that book though

This is almost exactly what happened to me when I first started to implement the principles taught in the book. I stopped blowing up holes almost immediately. Look at my recent rounds. With the exception of a 9 on a practice round on Monday evening (playing into the sun, I lost two balls), my blowup holes have almost evaporated. When I do blow up a hole, it's usually because of a penalty stroke and a three-putt on the same hole. I know right now that if there is one aspect of my game that has gotten better, and that I need to keep at, it's my newfound ability to put a bad stroke behind me.

@Bryan K

you just need to work on your short game, thats all. It's not uncommon that people struggle with half shots (50, 70 yards, etc), but don't struggle as much on a full swing par 3.