2012 Golf Improvement Plan and mid-season layoff

My golf season has come to a screeching halt with the onset of our summer kitchen/living room remodeling project and I’ve been forced to take the month of August, and maybe longer, off.  Other than eating tons of restaurant food, breathing in plenty of dust, getting little rest, no play, and very little practice or exercise, I have not much to look forward to.

So this is a great opportunity to step back and evaluate the goals and KPIs for my 2012 Golf Improvement Plan,  and see if I’m on target.  The primary objective was better ball striking achieved through a new conditioning program.  The numbers through 26 rounds this year and 35 in 2011:

Year	Stroke Average	Relation to Par	GIR	Putts per round
2012	77.96	6.77	9.35	32.12
2011	79.60	8.51	8.74	32.86

Analysis:  The big winner has been my physical conditioning and that I feel great.  Walking 18 holes in the most adverse conditions has not been a problem.  Playing 198 holes in six days at Myrtle Beach was not a problem.  I attribute this to the exercises for back, shoulders, and legs.  I’ve also enjoyed a significant increase in distance with the driver.  One drill I do with every workout is to swing a club upside down and fast.  I think this has made a huge difference in my balance and timing, which corresponds to better swing speed.

I’m clearly not going to hit my goal of 11 GIR per round and one thing has remained quite apparent is that old habits are hard to break.  I still come up and out of my spine angle and that remains a major obstacle to consistent contact.  Several rounds I’ve felt very close to having a great ball striking day only to be undone by one or two bad swings with my standard miss (big push).  The modest increase in .61 GIR per round makes me wonder if all the effort was worth it but the 1.64 stroke average improvement for someone at my handicap level (5) tells me it was.

Playing 26 rounds in seven months and the limited time I have to practice and play have certainly been a constraint.  I’ve also recognized that correct short game practice is more important than amount of short game practice.  I’ve reduced the amount of short game practice by about 50% and it hasn’t hurt my game.  I’ve also found that unless you have a plan, remain focused, and can avoid distractions, short game practice is difficult.  The last two weeks my play has reflected the effectiveness of my short game practice the day before ( some good and some bad), and I’m one of the lucky ones who usually plays like he practices.

So we hang ‘em up until the fall and make a final push for improvement.  How’s your game coming?

Golf Improvement Plan – The Big Test

It’s June 1 and I’m two weeks out from the final exam for the 2012 Improvement Plan.  Yes, end-stage preparations have begun for the annual pilgrimage to Mecca (Myrtle Beach) and a quick review of my 2012 KPIs vs. 2011 and some anecdotal observations are in order.

Positive trends:

• Scoring average has dropped from 79.17 (six rounds) to 77.80 (10 rounds).
• GIR average has increased from 8.83 to 9.20 with 7 out of 10 rounds at or above 10 GIRs.
• Putts per round has decreased from 32.66 to 31.90.
• More play.  Number of rounds up from six last year to 10 in 2012 with two or three more scheduled prior to MB.
• Number of practice sessions has been reduced from 20 to 13 for the same time period.  Intent was to be more efficient by playing more and practicing less.

Negative trends:

• Short game is not as sharp, especially with greenside SW shots
• Tendency to pull hook the occasional mid-iron off the tee on par-3 holes

General observations:

My focus has been on improving core conditioning in hopes that the changes would result in more consistent ball striking.  This has worked and I’m enjoying more length off the tee and better accuracy with my three wedges inside of 120 yards.  My GIR stats are skewed down a bit by an early round where I hit only two greens but actually struck the ball decent.  That day the course was playing hard and fast with the greens impossible to hold.   It’s clear that ball striking has seen the best improvements.  Along those lines,  I’ve been resisting the temptation to work on my swing and finally succumbed last weekend, but the key here is that I continued to focus on my single most prevalent weaknesses (not maintaining spine angle).  My Saturday range work helped result in 12 GIRs during Sunday’s round.

Adjustments:

Players of this game all know that just when you think you have it, you don’t, and that golf requires constant adjustments.  I didn’t want to work on my swing but started to see some familiar misses that were not evident early in the season.  Now that I think I’ve got that fixed, it’s off to work on the greenside pitches.  I’m not too worried because these are clearly a problem with technique and lack of reps.   I changed short game approach over the winter and have not practiced it enough to get comfortable.  With my focus on conditioning, the short game suffered.  The good news is that it usually takes only one or two dedicated sessions around the green to get comfortable.

So a little short game work, a round this weekend and next, a few last minute adjustments for whatever else pops up, and I’ll be ready to go.  Wish me luck!

2012 Golf Improvement Plan – Quarterly Review

Three months into my improvement plan and I passed a major test on Friday.  Again, the simple goal has been to better my satisfaction through improved ball striking.

Between a family vacation at Disney followed by a brutal week at work, it had been three weeks since I touched a club,  and Friday I headed out to Northwest in Silver Spring with legitimate concerns.  Boy did I surprise myself.  Going stone cold (straight from the parking lot to the tee) I managed to hit 12 greens on this long tough course and continued to see performance gains with my swing that appear to be permanent.

After five full rounds, it is crystal clear that maintaining my spine angle throughout the backswing and downswing is so important to ball striking consistency.  Again, a HUGE thank you to Brant Kasbohm at Fixyourgame.com for calling this out on my video lesson last fall.  Being able to execute without warming up, and without playing for three weeks is an excellent validation on my approach.

The beauty of this plan is that I haven’t been working on my swing at all; just conditioning.  The core exercises designed to strengthen my back and shoulders, and build flexibility in my hips and ankles are working great.  The obvious payoff has been in driving distance.  It’s been pretty dry in the DC area but for all five rounds, I’ve been pounding drives on familiar courses into places I’ve never been able to hit.  I’m no longer blocking my short irons to the right, and have picked up 1/2 to a full club length of distance with my irons.

It’s great when a plan comes together and the best part has been the confidence I’m gaining.  To know when you go to the course that you’ve got a great chance for a good ball striking day is extremely encouraging.  Can’t wait for the weekend!