Time to try a new game; The Biggest Golf Loser. This is a game where I try and lose as many bad habits with my golf swing as possible. A little background: For the last seven years, I have averaged between 8 and 9 GIR per round. Amazingly consistent but amazingly mediocre. This year is no different and I am right on the number at 8.32. Recently I have been struggling even more with my iron game, so much to the point where I’ll have a shot of 100 yards from either the fairway or light rough and have no idea if I can hit the green. This shot is a simple 3/4 gap wedge for me and is my bread and butter, my go-to play.
The trouble started at the tail end of my Myrtle Beach trip where I started either blowing these shots way right with a huge push cut, or hitting them fat. Yesterday at Bear Trap Dunes in Delaware I decided to work on my swing and had one of those range sessions that make you want to quit. Oddly enough, I was piping my driver, but every iron in the bag was all over the place. Just pure garbage. Thank God for mobile phones, so I whipped out mine and shot the following video with a 6-iron. WARNING: Parental Guidance Is Strongly Advised.
The best part about this video is the swing of the lady in the background wearing the pink top. Seriously, it’s a good thing that you can video yourself when you have no move and then compare your swing to a model.
Call me nuts but I used the Adam Scott wedge shot below as my measuring stick. You’re probably thinking, “What’s this idiot thinking; he’s going to hit iron shots like Adam Scott?” No, but I can see why my game is all over the place and the key in the Scott video is the lack of moving parts.
In my video, I am setting up poorly, with my weight too far back. On my back swing, I rise up and keep the club moving back with my arms long after I’ve finished my shoulder turn. Then I transition to my downswing with an upper body lateral move to the target and release the club way too early. Where this garbage came from I’ll never know, but that’s golf.
In the Scott video, notice how restricted his back swing is and how little his head moves as he transitions. He fully rotates through the ball, even though it’s just a wedge shot, and you can see both his shoulder blades on his follow through. I cannot get to this position without putting myself in traction, but if I focus on fully turning through the ball, I might be able to solve for that early release.
So much to work on but where to start? Actually, I’ve started today by carefully working on a more restricted back swing and to keep my head level. I’ve decided not to play for the next three weeks while I work on some corrections and allow them to sink in without the pressure of scoring.
Do you see anything else in this pretzel factory or do you think I have a handle on it? Hope you are hitting it better than me right now. Play well!
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