DawgDaddy's journey to getting better at this game

[DawgDaddy]

Well, today I had my first in a series of 4 lessons. The instructor is the same one Ole Gray uses and upon his recommendation I decided to try Eric also.

We began with the full swing and he just told me to relax and hit my PW at the 100 yard flag, not worrying about the distance and just let him know when I began to strike it good. After about 8-10 balls I had begun to hit them about 105 with a high trajectory and told him that was it. I told me that he liked a lot of things with my swing (grip, stance, alignment) but I have a tendency to dip my head on the back swing, so I must compensate on the forward swing. And I am dipping my left shoulder on the back swing instead of turning them on plane. He said these 2 things go hand and hand and that makes sense to me, so I was more than ready to work on those 2 things.

He had me work on those 2 things, shoulder turn (no dip) and head somewhat steady (not perfectly still).
He asked me to take a practice swing about 2 feet over the ball and concentrate on keeping the shoulder turn on plane and the head relatively still without moving up or down. It was difficult to make good contact for the first 5 balls or so, but finally I did everything right and viola, nice high trajectory and 10 more yards. I really liked that. We worked with the 7 iron the same way and it was actually getting about 15 more yards. The driver was a little more difficult as I guess I was either getting tired or overswinging, but in the 8 or so swings I got a couple of them out there really good. I probably hit 150 balls between warm up and finishing up with the wedge again so it was a good work out, and I will work on incorporating the 2 foot above the ball practice swing into my preshot routine for a while and get back for lesson 2 in 2/3 weeks. It was encouraging to know that for a self taught hacker, I had many things right in my swing. The next lesson will again be on the range then we go to short game for lesson 3.

I am already looking forward to the next lesson.

 

[Sean]

Sounds good DD! Does he have you doing anything that feels really awkward? The reason I ask is I'm going through some swing changes myself (I have my own thread if you're interested) and old habit are hard to break! lol

 

[SW]

So you can teach an old dawg new tricks! Glad to hear you got lined up with the instructor at last. Keep working on it and before you know it, you and I will win back the Lake Jonesco Cup from Gray and KB.

 

[Tadashi70]

Good for Dawg..glad that you were able to hit balls and not just have hime talk at you for the entire lesson. Some of the things you are working on should feel foreign to you, that will go away over time. Good luck!:blob:

 

[DawgDaddy]

So you can teach an old dawg new tricks! Glad to hear you got lined up with the instructor at last. Keep working on it and before you know it, you and I will win back the Lake Jonesco Cup from Gray and KB.

LOL, actually the Lake Jonesco Cup belongs to me and KellyBo.

 

[SW]

LOL, actually the Lake Jonesco Cup belongs to me and KellyBo.

Well no wonder, you guys were cheating and switched the teams up on me...

 

[DawgDaddy]

Sounds good DD! Does he have you doing anything that feels really awkward? The reason I ask is I'm going through some swing changes myself (I have my own thread if you're interested) and old habit are hard to break! lol

I have dipped my shoulder and head so long that trying to hold the head level and make a quality shoulder turn instead of dipping that left shoulder does feel somewhat awkward. I plan to hit the range Saturday & Monday then try to take it to the course.

 

[DawgDaddy]

Well no wonder, you guys were cheating and switched the teams up on me...

That would be the old Dawg and old tricks move, we pretty much have it perfected here in middle Georgia.

 

[DawgDaddy]

Good for Dawg..glad that you were able to hit balls and not just have hime talk at you for the entire lesson. Some of the things you are working on should feel foreign to you, that will go away over time. Good luck!:blob:

Thanks for the encouragement Tadashi, hope we can tee it up together soon.

 

[m-910]

Keep up the good work!

 

[DawgDaddy]

Just got in from a practice session at the driving range. I can only describe it as both disappointment and euphoria. I am disappointed I was only able to hit the ball correctly about 25% of the time, so I see that this swing change will take more time than I had anticipated. Euphoric over the results of the ones that I struck correctly. I was actually getting about 145 out of the 8 iron, and for someone in their mid 60's that is way better than I have been hitting them for quite a few years now. The distance is quite the bonus as when Eric asked me yesterday what my major concern was I told him I want to be able to keep the ball relatively straight and in play, I am already seeing that even on the 75% I am not hitting correctly. I will be able to play the mishits so that has to lead to lower scores.

I plan to again hit the range Monday before trying to take the new swing to the course. Only concern is I have a tournament in Alabama on Friday & Saturday, so I would like for the success ratio to be much greater than 25%.

 

[Ole Gray]

Great job DawgDaddy! I have no doubt you will be shooting some exciting scores this summer. You already have some serious game so this little tuneup will have it all in sync. Looking forward to your future posts as it's fun for me to see the steps up or down it takes to move forward. Good luck buddy!

 

[DawgDaddy]

Thanks Gray, and thanks for the solid recommendation on Eric. He is a great teacher, encourager and just a good all around guy. I enjoyed the session.

 

[SW]

Good to hear Dawg! Just keep focusing on the fact that getting better is not a sprint, but a marathon. I've got all the confidence you can reach those goals, and best wishes down in Bama.

Guess we both kinda know what Tiger means when he says "it's a process."

 

[wcueb923]

Very cool good luck with your lessons look forward to reading your progress.

 

[Mardin]

Dawg, It's awesome to hear that you are working on your swing. I remember when I started to tweak my swing a year or so ago, it was a frustrating couple months but after a few months everything started to come together. Best of luck to ya!

 

[Golf 'N Gator]

Great to hear that you both like and trust the teacher. That is number one to having successful time with a teacher. Super nice that you understood what he was seeing wrong with your swing and that you able to make a change and see immediate good results. Sounds like you have laid a good foundation for getting better through building a better swing.
Here's to more success with each session! :clapp:

 

[DawgDaddy]

Good to hear Dawg! Just keep focusing on the fact that getting better is not a sprint, but a marathon. I've got all the confidence you can reach those goals, and best wishes down in Bama.

Guess we both kinda know what Tiger means when he says "it's a process."

Thanks Danny and yeah I guess Tiger knows what he is talking about when he is talking about golf.

Very cool good luck with your lessons look forward to reading your progress.

Thanks wcueb, I will post as long as I am taking the lessons to let others know about the progress and set backs. Maybe it will encourage someone to not wait until their mid 60's to see a pro.

Dawg, It's awesome to hear that you are working on your swing. I remember when I started to tweak my swing a year or so ago, it was a frustrating couple months but after a few months everything started to come together. Best of luck to ya!

I am way to impatient, I certainly hope it comes together quicker than a couple of months. My instructor did tell me that I have several things that look solid to him, so maybe it will go as I hope.

Great to hear that you both like and trust the teacher. That is number one to having successful time with a teacher. Super nice that you understood what he was seeing wrong with your swing and that you able to make a change and see immediate good results. Sounds like you have laid a good foundation for getting better through building a better swing.
Here's to more success with each session! :clapp:

Thanks for the kind words Hoosier, I am going to work on this for at least a few weeks before returning for the next lesson. I want it to be much, much more natural when I return.

 

[McRock]

Congratulations on taking the 'lessons plunge.' It sounds like you already have the right mentality that if it doesn't work right away, you will keep working to make it right. I know so many people in my area that if a swing change doesn't sink in within a few days, they just go back to their old swing and play it.

Stick with it, and keep up the hard work. I look forward to reading about your lessons.

 

[ddelise]

Well, today I had my first in a series of 4 lessons. The instructor is the same one Ole Gray uses and upon his recommendation I decided to try Eric also.

We began with the full swing and he just told me to relax and hit my PW at the 100 yard flag, not worrying about the distance and just let him know when I began to strike it good. After about 8-10 balls I had begun to hit them about 105 with a high trajectory and told him that was it. I told me that he liked a lot of things with my swing (grip, stance, alignment) but I have a tendency to dip my head on the back swing, so I must compensate on the forward swing. And I am dipping my left shoulder on the back swing instead of turning them on plane. He said these 2 things go hand and hand and that makes sense to me, so I was more than ready to work on those 2 things.

He had me work on those 2 things, shoulder turn (no dip) and head somewhat steady (not perfectly still).
He asked me to take a practice swing about 2 feet over the ball and concentrate on keeping the shoulder turn on plane and the head relatively still without moving up or down. It was difficult to make good contact for the first 5 balls or so, but finally I did everything right and viola, nice high trajectory and 10 more yards. I really liked that. We worked with the 7 iron the same way and it was actually getting about 15 more yards. The driver was a little more difficult as I guess I was either getting tired or overswinging, but in the 8 or so swings I got a couple of them out there really good. I probably hit 150 balls between warm up and finishing up with the wedge again so it was a good work out, and I will work on incorporating the 2 foot above the ball practice swing into my preshot routine for a while and get back for lesson 2 in 2/3 weeks. It was encouraging to know that for a self taught hacker, I had many things right in my swing. The next lesson will again be on the range then we go to short game for lesson 3.

I am already looking forward to the next lesson.

Very nice. Just curious (and sorry if I missed it) - what are your specific improvement goals? Are you looking to hit more GIRs, increase distance on irons, get down to a certain handicap?

 

[DawgDaddy]

Congratulations on taking the 'lessons plunge.' It sounds like you already have the right mentality that if it doesn't work right away, you will keep working to make it right. I know so many people in my area that if a swing change doesn't sink in within a few days, they just go back to their old swing and play it.

Stick with it, and keep up the hard work. I look forward to reading about your lessons.

Thanks McR, I am loving the difference I am seeing already. I have no plans to revert back to the head dip just to reenter my comfort zone, I plan to improve the swing.

Very nice. Just curious (and sorry if I missed it) - what are your specific improvement goals? Are you looking to hit more GIRs, increase distance on irons, get down to a certain handicap?

Thanks dd, and that is a great question, I reread my original post and I had not included what my instructor and I spoke about before the 1st lesson, I told him my primary goal is to hit the ball straighter, I am already fairly accurate, but if I can hit a couple more fairways a round and a couple more greens, the scores will come down. I also told him I would really like some help in reading greens, a talent I don't really have.

edit - I did find in reading through the thread that I mentioned my goal in post #11 as highlighted below.

Just got in from a practice session at the driving range. I can only describe it as both disappointment and euphoria. I am disappointed I was only able to hit the ball correctly about 25% of the time, so I see that this swing change will take more time than I had anticipated. Euphoric over the results of the ones that I struck correctly. I was actually getting about 145 out of the 8 iron, and for someone in their mid 60's that is way better than I have been hitting them for quite a few years now. The distance is quite the bonus as when Eric asked me yesterday what my major concern was I told him I want to be able to keep the ball relatively straight and in play, I am already seeing that even on the 75% I am not hitting correctly. I will be able to play the mishits so that has to lead to lower scores.

I plan to again hit the range Monday before trying to take the new swing to the course. Only concern is I have a tournament in Alabama on Friday & Saturday, so I would like for the success ratio to be much greater than 25%.

 

[DawgDaddy]

Today's range session was better than Saturday's by far. After warming up I decided to hit the balls with a 3/4 swing instead of a full swing. It really helped a lot in letting me keep my head steady. My goal at this point is to simply make that a permanent part of my swing so I don't have to think about on every shot, and not dip that left shoulder. I found that with the 3/4 swing I was getting approximately the same distance as I was with my old swing, so I am going to just use the shorter swing this week at the tournament and see how that goes, unless I become more and more comfortable with it and can put a little more turn on the swing. I did make a few full swings and when I caught the ball it was again a full club longer than before, so maybe that will come soon. I think I still hit only about 25% of the full swing balls like I want, but I hit something like 80% of the 3/4 swing balls like I wanted.
I am really thinking about taking it to the course tomorrow and seeing how it works when the heat is on. Wish me luck.

 

[Ole Gray]

Good job buddy and best of luck in your tournament! I will be pulling for ya :thumb:

 

[yorkem]

Well, today I had my first in a series of 4 lessons. The instructor is the same one Ole Gray uses and upon his recommendation I decided to try Eric also.

We began with the full swing and he just told me to relax and hit my PW at the 100 yard flag, not worrying about the distance and just let him know when I began to strike it good. After about 8-10 balls I had begun to hit them about 105 with a high trajectory and told him that was it. I told me that he liked a lot of things with my swing (grip, stance, alignment) but I have a tendency to dip my head on the back swing, so I must compensate on the forward swing. And I am dipping my left shoulder on the back swing instead of turning them on plane. He said these 2 things go hand and hand and that makes sense to me, so I was more than ready to work on those 2 things.

He had me work on those 2 things, shoulder turn (no dip) and head somewhat steady (not perfectly still).
He asked me to take a practice swing about 2 feet over the ball and concentrate on keeping the shoulder turn on plane and the head relatively still without moving up or down. It was difficult to make good contact for the first 5 balls or so, but finally I did everything right and viola, nice high trajectory and 10 more yards. I really liked that. We worked with the 7 iron the same way and it was actually getting about 15 more yards. The driver was a little more difficult as I guess I was either getting tired or overswinging, but in the 8 or so swings I got a couple of them out there really good. I probably hit 150 balls between warm up and finishing up with the wedge again so it was a good work out, and I will work on incorporating the 2 foot above the ball practice swing into my preshot routine for a while and get back for lesson 2 in 2/3 weeks. It was encouraging to know that for a self taught hacker, I had many things right in my swing. The next lesson will again be on the range then we go to short game for lesson 3.

I am already looking forward to the next lesson.

It is awesome that you had so many good things already incorporated into your swing. Changing grip can be a real pain in the butt, trust me. You certainly hit a lot of balls. Is that normal for you? I don't think my back could handle that many, and if I get too tired, I would worry about falling into bad habits instead of concentrationg on making the changes. Do you feel that is an issue for you? Does Eric? Good luck with all of the changes. I look forward to following your progress.

 

[DawgDaddy]

yorkem, I am not sure Eric knew I hit quite that many balls as he had a tournament at the course that day and had me go warm up, then a cart had trouble and he had to take care of the problems before he joined me at the range. I usually go to our range and hit anywhere from 75 to 100 balls every week or every two weeks, so it really did not present a problem. I was not too worried about any bad things creeping in right then as I was concentrating so hard on the shoulder and head. Also anytime I practice on the range 40, 50, & 60 yard shots are a part of the practice time, so that is not hard on the back at all.
Old Gray and I played a tough track here in middle Georgia today and it was not pretty at all, as the round went on, I found that I will revert to my bad habits if I don't really concentrate hard. I did hit some quality shots early on and played fairly well for the first 14 holes, the last 4 were very forgettable as far as ball striking goes. As always, it is a work in progress.