This week has been a real struggle for my golf game….I played on Monday and Wednesday, at Vineyard (Mon) and Riverwalk (Wed)….both rounds were disappointing. Shot a 78 (+8) at Vineyard and an 82 (+10) at Riverwalk, birdied just once for the two rounds total and struggled off the tee. My putting was horrible at Vineyard, but improved by the end of my Riverwalk round. Once I started to move the ball more toward the middle of my stance, I was able to get solid contact with each putt and over my last 13 holes at Riverwalk; I putted the best I had in months. Now that I’m able to get consistent solid contact on my putts, my lag putting was spot on, no possibility of 3putts.
Golf is such a frustrating game and I keep questioning myself as to why I can’t stay consistent. I seem to find my swing and then lose it almost on a weekly basis. I know through coaching from my instructor that my tendency is to get too steep on the downswing….this leads to real inconsistent strikes. So I have spent the past 2 days analyzing my swing for hours in front of a mirror and on video. I got a new phone this week, the Samsung Galaxy S4 and it has given me the ability to download apps that can help improve my game. I am now able to record my swing and use the golf apps to draw lines to analyze my swing. Seeing my swing on video proved that I was indeed getting too steep again on my downswing….I used trial and error over the course of a few hours trying to see if I could get my swing back on plane, but nothing was working. I spent the next hour or so before work just thinking about what I could do to keep my club on plane on the downswing…..and then it clicked. I already in my mind tried to get the butt of the grip on the backswing pointing toward the ball, this is what helps me get the club started on plane, but I was forgetting to make sure it’s pointing at it on the downswing. I had just assumed that in my downswing I was basically on plane or that my arms were subconsciously just continuing to follow the plane from my backswing. Once I figured out how to get my club back on plane on the downswing, I did a few pump drills to make sure that I was getting the feeling. After work, I was able to head to the range and test out my theory…..it worked!! I hit the ball better than I have in months, more solid contact than I can remember having ever and the ball flight was consistent. Had a few misses to the left and right, but I realized that my tempo was causing that. Once I slowed down my tempo and made sure my club was on plane, I hit the ball exactly how I have dreamed I could.
I’m playing rounds again next week on Monday and Wednesday so I hope that I can get back to scoring well, after last night, I’m confident that I am going to improve. Now that I have the ability to record my swing at home and analyze it, should help me stay consistent…now I just need to keep the ball in play off the tee and start rolling in those putts! In a few weeks time, working on keeping my club on plane, I feel like I can get my scores back to the +1 and +2 I was shooting just a few weeks ago.
Also, I have signed up for a tournament coming up on August 16th-18th in Palm Springs. I’ll post more about that in coming weeks, but it will be my 3rd year in a row attending this tournament. Was in 2nd last year heading into the last day, until I blew up for an 83 on Sunday, so I’m hoping to improve from last year.
My Journey 2 Scratch 