Chasing Improvement

Practice
#74

Yeah, I’m definitely interested in the DECADE stuff, but curious as to how in depth it can get for each individual player… I think it’s a huge leap forward in helping develop strategy, but there is still plenty of nuance left for use to adjust to…

@rlane2k has a very good point on improving dispersion patterns, even if you aren’t narrowing overall dispersion. I think that’s a great way to look at things… Hitting 100 balls at a target and having 10 as outliers vs having 20 as outliers might not change your targeting but it will definitely improve your results.

I think that might be what I focus on with driver and irons this season… improving my patterns… I know what I need to do on putting, and I’m in the middle of a technique shift with chipping, so I’m committed on that front!

My goals:
Driver and irons: Tighten the median of my dispersion.
Pitching: Get my wedge distances down and identify my dispersion patterns
Chipping: Just get confident and consistent with the Sieckmann method… it’s gone well thus far, but needs more time on the course
Putting: Keep working on distance control, and identify my big misses and start grinding them away. Thus far, I’m REALLY happy with my putting progress, as I’m 2 months in…

Hopefully I’m back to swinging full by April and I can start to grind progress… both mentally and on the scorecard… I do think strategy and mental prep will play huge roles in any improvement, but I also think they will tie in to confidence in my shots… Looking forward to golf in 2021 (assuming my back holds up)

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#75

Here’s a question let’s say 5i. My data after thousands of shots with my 5i that I have collected for 40 years tells me currently i’m 72 with it. How do you know when you’re going to hit the dud, the pull, the wipe, the dreaded topper or chunk? My normal flight is high with a 5 fade… Normal 75* day so compression shouldn’t be an issue, minimal breeze, I’m 75 middle 60f/90b it’s a 5i, I know it’s a 5i, I’m not going to hit anything else but that 5i. If I short it I’m front, I fly it I’m back fringe…so I take it left edge of green and let it rip. I could pull it / I could wipe it. What’s your dispersion telling me…I could mess it up?
See now I have that PRGR I will take to my warm-up routine and that’s going to be an excellent tool with the way I warm up…I might not be hitting DR 8i on the first hole because my swing might not be firing yet so instead of shorting an 8i for real, I could trust myself to hit the 7i…normal circumstance prevailing. Everyday is different, for amateurs like us, you could be 10yds short in the morning and now I know to take 1 more club, but by the 9th hole I could be relaxed enough to hit my standard distances…

So I just did some math because of my standard routines with being a range rat for 40 years, I have a data set on my 50 and 46…I have hit those on the range at least 720,000 times over 360K each? I really must be crazy…Don’t tell my wife. I guess I shouldn’t call my data set Decades…it should be called Generations…LOL

#76

That’s just it. You don’t know. So decade tells us to aim so the center of our shot pattern is in good shape but also the outer edges are trying to avoid bad hazards and lost balls. A common misuse of decade is to apply it to an individual shot rather than all possible outcomes. Of course I’d rather hit it by the stick every time, but I don’t know when I’ll pull it to the short side or shove it into the front right bunker. So I aim in a manner that the majority of my pattern is on the green, or away from a hazard off the tee.

It is so hard to aim away from the flag and watch as a perfectly struck ball goes 30’ right of the stick. But that is playing the variances to make you better in all situations, not just a cherry picked example.

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#77

TY, See old school guys like me…we have notebooks with distances. This is how I was taught and I was taught with a shot scope so distances were tracked. I would go to the range with lets say my 5 iron 2x during the week. I would hit 200 balls give or take each session. After I loosened up maybe just 1/2 swings 20 or so balls. I would begin my work. using a 3 iron, I don’t use alignment stix, I would pick a target green on the range. I would hit 20 balls 85%. I would throw out the 5 to 7 mishits, I would count the thirteen that I hit well, that would give me my standard distances. Right now its 72, it used to be 83. I would record the 13 and then 2 days later do the same thing record add 'em up and that was the distance. Then I would focus on flight another 20 balls on flight. My 4, 5, 6, 7, are a 5 fade. I can manipulate 8, 46, 50 any way I want…But each club has been charted and each year…now I go to Trackman (at least last year I did) for yardages, but I keep them in a book…NOw I have PRGR and I will use that, but now I’m getting SF. so now I can track that in my notebook. Then the rest of my practice sessions were things like forcing a draw, lowering ball flight etc…alot of repetition but with one club…now it’s alot less on standard shot path, I know what that is, more on distance and ball strike and manipulation. Sometimes I might bring 2 clubs to the range I was taught focused range work especially for amateurs is better than being all over the place…2 big boy buckets is very limited balls and 5 shots with this one club and 8 shots with another one etc is just too scattered an approach when trying to build a repertoire! When Seve learned had and hit a 3i, along with a 3i mixed in with his…3i…oh yea for me putter That putter is like an American Express card —Don’t leave home without it!— at least 2 full clocks on the practice green everytime which is about 80 putts

#78

The key takeaway is that it’s a shotgun, not a sniper rifle and to plan accordingly. Also, leave more putts short.

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#79

Anyone know how to mute a specific user… :joy:

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#80

Yep. This thread forced me to figure it out.

Screenshot 2021-03-12 140020
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Profile and then click box under message.

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#81

No problem brother I get your message. Don’t be a wimp just say something… I’m out. One can tell when they are not welcome. Hope you all have a nice summer. I thought this could be a fun place for an open discussion, and it is, as long as one doesn’t disagree or have something different to share with the certain few.

#82

Not a full decade user but i am noting the center of the green yardage (with garmin watch) on each approach and then carry distance

I had a decent idea of carry distances w flush strike, but did not realize how fat/thin/toe/heel could take of a full 10 yards… not big mishits, just a bit out of center

I also didn’t realize how badly the wind beat down shots that weren’t absolutely flush. I would bet that 80% of my shots into the wind were coming up short before i started tracking and saw how off i was

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#83

I used to always miss short hitting in to the wind too. I just assumed if hitting downwind added 10% it would take off 10% hitting in to it. It was a big revelation when I found out that wind will take off more distance than it can add.

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#84

I think you have to log chips, pitches and bunker shots and note down length of shot and proximity to isolate the short game motion from putting component in the up and down stat

I did this for a bit, but have stopped and am focusing on logging all approach shots.

I only have the patience to log general stats and then very specific detail of one other phase of the game (approach, short game, putting)

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#85

One other way which would be a bit simpler would be to track how many short game shots you hit, how many end up inside 10 ft, and how many end up stiff.

Sort of a poor mans strokes gained could be derived from those simple numbers

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#86

Speaking of playing in wind.

Full disclosure: I’m abysmal playing in wind (which can be a bit of a detriment here in TX!)

Question: I’ve noticed that not all downwind shots get assisted either. Seems occasionally my shots apex, then fall like rocks, sometimes shorter than without wind. I’d assumed I hit poor shots, but I’m not sure. Anybody else?

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#87

Yes with a strong quartering wind it almost seems like i can hit shots with top spin (i don’t hit the ball very high)

Very tough for me to stop these on the green

I assume this isnt optimal!

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#88

Wind is funny… in your face and it lifts the ball up and kills distance… behind you and it keeps the ball down and doesn’t help as much.

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#89

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Currently just working on my path and getting to the inside… hammering the nail.

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#90
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#91

This last week or so, I took the time to try to get a sense, based on 2020 performance, where there are opportunities to sharpen things up a bit in 2021. Here we go.

I “analyzed”, in a crude form, data from my last 20 rounds of 2020 from my Grint inputs. I hit the biggies, such as score, GIR’s and putts. There were no distance measures such as yards covered/to hole or feet to hole. Like I said pretty crude. I then separated the data into relative performance for the first 10 rounds (Set 1) and the second 10 rounds (Set 2). No gory details, just the state of the state:

  • @Jon is right! I reduced my double bogeys by two and almost eliminated my triple bogeys between Set 1 and Set 2 and improved my score by 1.2 strokes.
  • Part of my pre-round mantra has been “no 3-putts…’. I had six 3-putts in 360 holes, so that’s not an issue. Three of the six were on one hole, so I need to address that.
  • Other part has been “no double bogeys…”. I had 27 (7.5%) of them. Most of those can be attributed to Driver misfires (in one, out two, hitting three…).
  • Otherwise driving not an apparent issue; I hit 70% of fairways, while averaging probably 225-240. However, distance is getting to be an issue with me. Something else to be addressed.
  • Now the play gets ugly. I had a GIR of only 25% (4.5). Scrambling was only 35%.
  • Iron play improved a bit in last month, but overall, still pretty dismal. Which, to me, explains why GIR/scrambling numbers were so bad.
  • Putting was pretty ‘meh’. I averaged 1.66/green on scrambles and 1.91/green on GIR. Clearly, quality of contact => proximity to hole had something to do with this, but putting still needs to sharpen.

Now that I have both vaccine jabs, I’m looking forward to getting in some golf dome time. The first “play date” with my friends is set for this Thursday. It’ll be a perfect opportunity to work on tempo, rhythm and impact quality (left-right, up-down). I’m really looking forward to it. It will also be a good opportunity to work on speed drills.

So, based on some assumptions:

  • If I eliminate double/triple bogeys and “replace” them with bogey and sporadic par, I expect to cut 1.15 strokes per round.
  • If I can add another 4 GIRs to a total of +8, I expect to reduce 3.0 strokes per round.

If I can accomplish the above, my average can drift down to mid-high 70s. A lot of work to do, so I’d better get busy.

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#92

Driver misfires and not enough greens… very similar to my game!

Good news is these are both “full swing motion” so they should improve together!

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#93

Yes, that is good news. :wink:

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