frustration

Been practising a lot over winter to sort out my swing faults.

In the past i had a problem with fatting my iron shots on a regular basis.

Played today and didnt fat a single shot only problem is now i cannot hit my woods off the deck and my putting as gone up to 3 putts a hole.

This is so frustrating as putting and using my woods off the deck was a strong part of my game.

Seems i am taking 1 step forward and 2 back at the moment. Might be that i am that focused on lowering my handicap other parts of my game are being affected.

All i know is its so annoying. 

I think that spending so much time on the range over the winter months will affect your short game/putting.

Now that the days are getting longer maybe it would help out if you got down to your club and practice your putting.  You said that your putting was a good part of your game, so it shouldn't take too long to get it going again.

If you are now striking your irons well then I would suggest the next time you go to the driving range to alternate your clubs.  Hit a driver, then your three wood (both off a tee), then hit your wood off the mat, then go through your irons, say 3, 6, 9.

I often go to the range and play my local course in my mind.  Stand on the mat and take the club you would normally play on the first tee.  Then play the shot you would normally take to the green, etc.

Practice, practice, practice and all will be good.

Russ

I know quite a few exceptional PGA coaches, who really take in interest in what one is trying to achieve, but, as Wayne has pointed out, a lot are simply not capable of imparting their knowledge in a form that is understood by the pupil.

I played five holes the other afternoon with a young man who told me that he had been having lessons and I was amazed that he was still swinging on an out to in path, with the resultant sliced ball flight.

Five holes was as much as I could do walking but in that short time I had him hitting a ball flight that will stand him in good stead, assuming he will persevere in checking/absorbing what knowledge I gave him.

Like Wayne, I too have a problem with the workings of the PGA.

I am PGA Qualified, but can I use it now, no. When a PGA Pro is "unattached" (no home club) for a year, they are suspended and thrown on the scrapheap. This is why the WGTF & EGTF are getting bigger.

The young lads are taught that the Golf swing is like a house, "You can't put a roof on before you build the walls". Or "you need a solid foundation before you build a wall". So they take all pupils back to basics and won't go to the next step until they see that they have a solid grasp of the first step.

The older they get, and wiser, they begin to see that this is not the best way. Not everyone can turn 90* and put pressure on their legs and knees. They need help WITHIN their able movement.

 TheLyth

Sorry, Wayne, Kev was right, it should be you're and not your, also  'grammar' has an 'a'.

He, he, he - I love it when people criticise others for their "grammer". 

Kevin and John are correct by the way, in this case it is "you're" as it is an abbreviation of "you are".

Congrats Lewis.

Your, generally relates to a possession.

Jason, stick with it and the improvement will happen.  Certainly try and make range time more structured as mentioned, far better off really concentrating and hitting a bucket of say 40 balls whilst doing a full pre-shot routine & analysis of shot - rather than rattling through a bucket of 80 with barely any thinking between shots.  As also mentioned I'm sure your putting will improve back to what you were experiencing before once you manage to spend a bit more time on that again.   You've probably heard this before but you should certainly spend the vast majority of any practice time on your short game as that is where most shots are taken within a round.  I still need to force myself to do that more to be honest.

As Lewis said also when playing try to totally ignore your score during your round (apart from a quick jot down on card between holes) - write it down and immediately forget about it, just concentrate on the next hole.  The first time I broke 90 I did just that, missed a shortish putt on the 18th and was convinced I'd blown my chance of breaking 90.  Tallied up the scorecard and had hit an 84.  I know for sure I would have taken even more shots on the last if I had known I was on for shooting my best ever score!!

Lewis - congratulations on baby Monty, I have a 3 year old boy so can associate with your new found fun and lack of sleep!!  I'm sure South Captain Dave Ley will happily help you wet the babies head on the Sunday night before the NvS - he's shown the Northern team good hospitality in the past comps (purely out of joy for you and don't let any of your Northern teammates tell you that it's a tactic)