I really want to get back to hitting again

It’s been almost two weeks since I injured my left ribs. This is the second time this year an injury has kept me from playing or practicing. I guess it shouldn’t be a big deal since I’m not playing golf for a living. This is a cost center not a revenue producing hobby.

But not being able to practice is starting to really getting annoying. It’s also been a good thing. I’ve spent a lot of time working on putting. Inside, but even so I’ve been able to get a consistent setup, stroke and work on more mechanical aspects. I haven’t spent much time on putting so this was a good thing.

And I’ve been visualizing keeping my right foot more planting. Seems to be working. We will see when once I can start practicing again in a about a week or so.

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Went Fatso with the putter grip

What’s Going On

Since I can’t make full swings right now, I’m being “forced” to work on other aspects like alignment and putting. I’m actually happy about this, I need to be working on these things.

For a few months now I’ve been thinking about putting and the changes I need to make if I want to become a consistent sub-80s, single digit golfer. I need to putt well. I need to eliminate three putts. I need to make everything within 3 feet. I need to make the majority of 3-6 foot putts. It need to lag well. And none of this cant happen without a consistent setup and stroke.

I don’t think I’m far off, but what I do know is my putting stroke is handsy. My full swing is handsy so it’s no surprise. To take the hands out, I switched grips. I went with the SuperStroke Fatso. I love it. My hands are instantly softer and quieter. I was doing some drills inside trying to rolls 3 balls to the exact same spot bumping each other and was doing it consistently. Looking forward to trying it out on an actual green instead of artificial turf or carpet. But so far I’m loving it.

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What to work on

I think it’s clear what to work on now. 1) keep my right leg/hip/foot in check 2) trust the full shoulder turn 3) get alignment consistent and correct.

Not that there aren’t other areas to work on, but these are huge.

Look at how open my right hip is at this point. Foot is up, knee is over. Way early

MY NEXT GOAL

My next goal is to get my handicap down into the single digits. I’m at a 10.4 (10). But I’m right on the edge of going back up to 11. I was a 12 before Vegas. Looking at what I’d need to shoot to lower my handicap, its clear I’ll be a 10 for at least the next 5 rounds. My goal of breaking into the single digits by the end of the year might be really tough. I’m going to have to play well and play often.

Handicap over past year. From a 19 to a 10.

This is a great chart. You can see clearly where I’ve played better or worse than handicap. Cascata I played to an 8. Bear’s I played to an 18.

Can someone say “EXPECTATIONS!” Looking at the three rounds after Cascata, its clear that my expectations were high and my results suffered.
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Played Bear’s Best Atlanta – Suwanee, GA (92)

The Course

This course was stunning. Easily the best course I’ve played in Atlanta. I had high expectations for this course and it didn’t disappoint. Starting on the giant putting green, huge driving range, and the massive chipping area, we had a chance to warm up our entire game. The starter was great and the course was amazing. The condition of the course, even in mid-October, was superb. The fairways were still lush, tee boxes trim and full of great clean grass, and the greens were in great shape and rolling true. What is really amazing about this course, is that even though it consists of 18 holes from 15 (or so) different courses, it felt like one solid, cohesive track. Nicklaus used ever piece of the land to perfection. We will definitely be playing here again.

My Round

Casey got us out on this course and I couldn’t be happier that he did … and that he’s actually down here in ATL and we can play golf together. Regardless of the course, its always a fun round. And today was a great day.

Because we were playing this course for the first time, I wasn’t concerned with scoring well. That doesn’t mean I didn’t care about score, it just means it wasn’t a priority. My priority was just having fun and taking in the course. I didn’t score well, but I still hit some great shots. My bad holes were due in most part to rushing. For some reason Casey and I both rushed #6, the Muirfield Village signature par 3. As a result, I went right and short and in the water. My drop from the drop area, also short. When we got finished with the hole, the group behind us wasn’t even on the tee. We rushed for no reason. Same thing happened on #11 and a few other holes. We’re not slow golfers, there was no reason to rush. But that was the issue, rushing led to bad swings which led to numerous doubles.

I had some great swings. A few drives were over 280y, one of which had very little roll out, so that was a big hit for me. The shot I will most remember was off the #17th tee. A 160 yard par 3 downhill. I took an 8i and hit a beautiful shot that hit 8 feet past the hole, checked and even rolled back a bit. But the hit was perfectly struck with great balance, perfect divot and tracked with an ever so slight baby draw right over the flag. I lost it in mid air, but knew it was perfect and just looked at the hole waiting for it to come down.

My misses were a result of overactive hips and right leg and bad alignment. I’m not trusting my alignment and I need to work very hard at that. My right leg and hip keep spinning out and I need to keep them under control. I hit a few hooks and a few pulls. Whats funny is that on the range I was hitting the most perfect little baby draws, solid and long with the 9i and 7i. Even the driver. But I was using a narrow stance, focusing on a full shoulder turn (out over my right leg) and coming through the ball solidly. My right leg staying on the ground and under control. When I carried that feeling over to the course, I hit great shots.

Regardless of the score, we couldn’t have asked for a better day. It was a great round.

My Scorecard

Other Photos

Couldn’t ask for a better day at Bear’s

#11 180 yards completely over water. I ended up long in the bunker left

What a great starting hole. You get a feel for how cool this course will be right from the very beginning

Even the short holes can bite you here.

Black sand in the bunker on #2. Mimics the sand found in PA

The sightlines, contours and features of this course were insane

Looking back toward the tee of this unique but short par 4

We were running up against the clock, but it made for some awesome late day views of the course

Went for it in 2 from 245 out. Ended up flying it in the bunker right, 3 feet left and I roll up and probably thru the green

Each hole had a marker displaying the yardage as well as the original location for the hole such as Scotland

Tee Markers
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Played RiverPines – Alpharetta, GA (82)

Today’s 82 was just “ok.” It comes down to three things 1) lack of focus 2) not a full shoulder turn 3) no confidence.

The driver was off and I think a lot had to do with poor alignment and a weak turn. Irons were a bit pushed. And I wasn’t moving the lower body as well. But, after being even thru 4, then stringing 6 straight bogies, ending with 82 is actually pretty good. Greens were a pot hole mess, but rest of the course was in good shape.

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Played Rio Secco – Henderson, NV (82)

The Course

I feel like Rio was in better shape this year than last year. It was pretty wet, which helped us on the greens, but that also mean the fairways, tees a rough were thicker and longer. The greens are more marked up than Cascata, but that’s not surprising given they have caddies. That said, Rio gives everyone a divot tool in the cart, I use it (year round) so it’s disappointing people don’t use it. Whenever I could I tried to fix other marks while i was waiting for others to putt. The conditions allowed me to take some awesome full divots, which is always something fun to do.

My Round

Chris asked me before the round if I would be able to handle shoot anything but less than 79. That thought had crossed my mind but was easily ignored because Cascata is harder and ive only broken 80 once.

I just wanted to go out and appreciate the course and have fun. I also wanted to shoot well, no doubt. The round started well, with a crushed drive, great approach and par. We went to the second hole and i hit a great drive down the right 285. It was downhill slightly but my ball also was only a foot from its pitch mark so it was great distance. It also left me with a 7i into the green one 450y+ hole.

Knock down 9i over the ravine and a nice chip led to a par and a string of 3 putts put some bogies on the board. I didn’t tally my front 9 score until after 9. My driver was not as on today’s yesterday, but I was still getting distance and cent accuracy. What’s great about my driver confidence right now is that I can go all out. After a string of bogies I let some frustration out by making a good turn and letting loose. I’ve never had that confidence before. I tried to drive a 265y par 4, but ended up about 10 yards left but pin high. Would’ve been in the fairway. But it was awesome to swing all out. I took a big full shoulder turn, something I should probably do everytime but don’t. I was able to give a couple par 5s a go at it in 2.

I had some nice irons but also some bad ones. I really think my transition was weaker today, due mostly to being tired, playing yesterday and having an early tee time today. I hit some hooks and pulls and a couple push slices. My alignment wasn’t as good today and I didn’t trust it. But mostly I think I wasn’t completing my shoulder turn, and wasn’t moving aggressively enough during the downswing. I know I can work out that. I hit 11 greens today. Still really confident.

I went 34 holes in a row without a triple bogey and only had a handful of doubles. I managed to make par on 9 despite going a bit right and takin a penalty. i hit a 7i to 6 feet and rolled a confident putt. I thought there was no way I could break 80 again, since I felt like I had more bogeys today, but until 16 on the back, I actually had a good chance. The triple really hurt.

But still a great round, on a great course. I really enjoyed the last couple of days on the course. I’ve wanted to hit solid, consistent, accurate shots on the course, like I do on the range, and this weekend I did that, awesome.

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Broke 80! Played Cascata – Boulder City, NV (79)

I Broke 80!

I did it. I broke 80. And I did it on an awesome course.

The Course

If its possible, Cascata was in even better shape this year than last even with a ton of rain. The greens were super smooth, the rough nice and thick and the fairways and tees and were going in nicely. This course is unbelievable. It’s an oasis in the middle of the desert. I feel so lucky to have played it twice now and have to thank Andy for a great round. Incredible.

My Round

This was my greatest round yet. And not just because I broke 80, although that helps. This was my best round yet because I played better tee to green than I ever have. My drives were long, confident and in the fairway. My approach shots, even from uneven lies, we’re struck crisply and accurately. It was a blast.

From a swing perspective, i tried to stay consistent. Take the club back (don’t worry that I’m really inside on takeaway), transition with the hips, and most importantly, fire through the ball. With the driver, I was focusing on ball forward. Square up the shoulders and hips and feet, keeping my left arm more off my left leg and trying to keep the club face square. Then move the club back with the shoulders and when I really want to hammer the ball, make certain to complete a full shoulder turn.

It’s hard to pick out certain holes or shots to comment on because in this round, there were a lot of them. But I think the consistency is what is most shocking. On the front, I had 7 GIRs. And many of those gave me legitimate looks at birdies. I didn’t convert them, but I had them. But I was hitting the green and it was excellent.

There are a few shots, like a 120 yard, uphill approach from a sidehill lie where I hit a knock down PW to within 4 feet. Or my 8i off the tee on the par 3. The caddie gave a yardage of 160 and hit flushed an 8i. Since I was teed up, I could see the divot about an inch past the ball and perfectly straight at the target. The ball had a beautiful ball flight.

I got some nice breaks too, which allowed me to have a chance, but I also had 2 3-putts and a 4-put, so those evened out.

I needed to par out 16-18 to break 80. I parred 16. On 17, I blew it with bad putts and put up a bogey. So I went to the 18th, a par 5, needing birdie to break 80. The 18th is a dogleg left and since I was playing for a score, Mitch (awesome caddy) suggested I not y to cut the corner requiring a 265y carry, and instead play the hole hybrid, hybrid, 60d and “birdie” with the wedge. To have the confidence to go hybrid hybrid on a par 5 shows how I felt today. I hit my drive straight down the middle to pretty much where we wanted it. With water right, the play was to hit hybrid down the left and avoid having to hit wedge over the water to the green. I don’t know if ipushed it or lined up wrong, but I got dangerously close to the water, fortunately having a bit of draw on the shot to bring me back left. But I ended up 95 yards with a sidehill, downhill lie,forced to carry my shot over water to a middle pin. I needed birdie so I went right for it and hit a great wedge to 9 feet. Mitch really helped with the line, spending a lot of time looking from all angles and we decided it just needed to be firm right edge. I’d been long all day so there was no way I was leaving it short. Stood over the ball and felt real confident, took it back and rolled in th center with pace. It was awesome.

The whole day was incredible and playing golf like that is exactly why I spend so much time trying to improve. Having a great caddy like Mitch on the bag gave me so much confidence knowing that the numbers and the line were right.

Now my next big goal is to become a single digit handicap player. I dropped from a 12 to and 11 (10.7) on this trip. If I keep playing like this, I might have a chance to get to single digits by the end of the year.

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And there you have it, my swing

Stop messing around

I shouldn’t have changed anything. I should’ve stuck with what I was doing. I’m not saying its perfect, far from it, but fundamentally, it looks good. The numbers look good, the video looks good. For the next month, I’m not making a major change to the swing.

What I’m allowing myself to work on are these two things:

  • My hands, especially during the takeaway and backswing making sure I don’t roll them and pull it inside.
  • My hips. Making sure I continue to bump them forward without picking them up (especially my right leg).

Other than that, I need to just keep working on ingraining this swing. No changes, none.

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All this tweaking isn’t helping

Frustrated

Just had to vent out some frustration with my swing this morning over IM with Chris. He listened politely which was nice. I’ve had this same chat with Andrea, too. I’ve been constantly tweaking and changing my swing. I’ve known since the beginning that constant tweaking isn’t constructive. But I found some videos from last year (Oct and Nov) where I had a really nice swing. From a technical perspective, I was putting myself in good positions. I was making a good turn and I was makign a good shift. I was even dropping the club down where it needs to be on the downswing.

I was practicing a lot, but I wasn’t playing. And so I’d go out and play, not have a consistent round, and believe it was because of a fundamental issue with my swing. Now my swing wasn’t perfect, but I shouldn’t have abandoned good work just because I played one time that month and didn’t play well. I should’ve played more, continued to work on the swing, but stayed on the right path.

I played a good couple of days in a row in FLorida after making a big change to my swing. It was great. But I went home and didn’t play, so I thought I needed to change. I thought my head moved off the ball too much on the backswing and so I tweaked my shoulder turn. I thought I needed to drop the club into the slot so to speak, so I worked on elbow abduction. I thought my backswing was too flat and inside, but it was just my hands, not the shoulder turn. I shouldn’t have abandoned one thing just because I thought it was another. Thats all fine. But you know what, Kane….. go back to what you were doing before, ingrain that and stop changing.

Shoulder turn with the felling of getting over my right foot – which creates a nice brace against the right leg. Bump the left hip left and pump the hands down toward the ball. This will keep the right hip from firing up and the right foot coming up off the ground. The pump will keep me connected and driving inside out. And go back to the grip you had, seriously, you changed your grip! Why?

UPDATE: After getting back to the shoulder turn and swing of last November, I’m going to try to go a month without a fundamental change to my swing.

The position at the top is much better
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