Putting Breakthrough

By far the weakest part of my game is putting.  I was never a great putter, but I felt like I used to be solid enough, especially on shorter putts.  After spending a semester studying abroad in India, I returned home having lost over 10% of my body weight.  I had lost what little strength I had, and my muscle memory was gone as well.  I eventually got my swing back, and my chipping came along not too long after, but I developed a hitch in my takeaway with the putter.  I started missing everything and I completely lost my confidence.  Fast forward to today, nearly 10 years later, and I still find myself still struggling on the greens. A few weekends ago I had another terrible putting round.  I was hitting the ball great, giving myself 5-foot birdie putts on 4 occasions, but I missed every single one of them.  I three-putted three times.  With the exception of canning a 30-foot downhill double-breaker, I didn’t make a putt outside of 3 feet.  That day I hit the ball well enough to shoot somewhere around even par, but ended up shooting 80.  The following week, I snuck in 9 holes of twilight golf and putted even worse.  After the 9th hole, I decided to play a few more holes.  I was just off the green and the ball was lying poorly in the fringe.  Without hesitating I went to my go-to shot for such situations: the bladed sand wedge.  I’ve always been freakishly good at playing the bladed wedge and use that shot almost every single round I play (particularly in the summertime when I get a tight, firm lie just off the green).  Sure enough, I rolled that bladed wedge right online and put the shot to within tap-in range.  I was amazed at how well the ball rolled and how the ball started out on the exact line that I had chosen.  

I was lucky enough to sneak in another twilight round and decided to putt as if I was hitting a bladed wedge.  I switched to a slightly longer and heavier putter.   I short sided myself on the first hole, but hit a solid chip that left me a simple uphill left-to-right 10-footer.  These were the putts that were killing me- I knew that I should at least be giving these putts a chance, but more often than not, I was missing the hole by a mile.  I put my feet closer together and opened my stance dramatically.  I put the ball way forward in my stance and imagined that the putter was actually my sand wedge.  I rolled the ball directly into the middle of the hole with perfect speed.  It was too good to be true, I thought.  Two holes later I found myself standing over a 35-foot downhill double-breaking putt.  With my old stroke, I was just hoping to have a second putt within 5 feet.  While I under-read the break, the speed could not have been better leaving a tap-in for par.  On the very next hole, my approach shot needed an extra club as I landed 40-feet short and, even worse, on the wrong tier of the green.  I’ve 3-putted on this green so many times, that I was all but resigned to playing for bogey.  Instead, I nearly holed the uphill beast, leaving the ball mere inches from the left edge of the hole.  Through the rest of the round, I lagged the long putts well and made the short putts.  The medium range putts had at least half a chance, even though I didn’t make any of them.  Despite struggling a bit with my swing, I shot 1-over for nine holes.  

For the first time in a long time, I’m starting to gain confidence on the greens.  I’ve had hot rounds with the putter in the past- I made 7 birdies and an eagle when I shot 65 and I once one-putted 9 consecutive holes- but I’ve never been able to consistently make short putts and lag long putts.  What I’ve learned is that like a golf swing, a putting stroke doesn’t have to look pretty or be conventional to be effective.  When I try to putt in a conventional stance, everything feels unnatural.  I have to concentrate so hard to make a decent takeaway, so much so that I end up watching the clubhead go back instead of watching the ball.  My brain is analyzing so much and my body is trying to make so many adjustments to try to make a “correct” stroke.  With my new setup, I’m just reacting to what I see.  When I’m in “the zone” with other parts of my game (I get into grooves with my driver and with my chipping fairly often), there’s almost no thinking.  I feel like if I can get into “the zone” with my putter, I’m bound to post some low rounds and will be able to eliminate those “disaster” rounds.  

Basement Bargain Buyers Needed

They say the first step toward healing is admitting that you have a problem.  So I’m just going to come out and say it- I own too many golf clubs.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m not one of those people with a garage full of overflowing golf bags.  I’ve managed to lend out all of my backup drivers (Titleist 983K, Taylormade R5, Callaway Diablo Edge Tour).  I have three backup 3-woods (Cleveland Launcher, Callaway Big Bertha II, Taylormade Raylor), two backup hybrids (Adams Tour Prototype, Taylormade Rescue), two sets of backup irons (Mizuno MS-11, Ping Eye2 BeCu), and at least 5 backup putters.  I think it’s time for me to get rid of some clubs.  I just bought a new 3-wood that I’m in love with, so I can’t foresee much regret in getting rid of the others.  I can’t hit my backup hybrids, which I’ve only held onto in case I need to throw a set together for out of town guests.  That’s part of the problem- I feel like I need to hang onto the hybrids and one of the 3-woods for when my family comes to visit.  For the same reason I feel the need to hold on to the Mizuno MS-11s- a set of true blades that I feature the world’s smallest sweet spot (but what a sweet feeling sweet spot it is!)- so that I have something to play with when I lend my Cleveland CG Reds to my bogey-golfer father.     Beyond that, something tells me that the MS-11s and the Ping Eye2s (the Ping’s grips are so worn that they can’t be used) will only increase in value.  I’ll have a hard time getting rid of any of my putters because I’ve had solid putting rounds with every single one of them. And there you have it- I’ve already managed to justify keeping the majority of my cache of clubs.  Here’s how you can help: let me know if you are interested in any of my clubs (see details below) and let’s make a deal.

Drivers:
Titleist 983K, YS-6 Stiff shaft, New Decade Multicompound grip (currently on loan)
Taylormade R5 Neutral, stock graphite stiff shaft  (this club has been claimed)
Callaway Diablo Octane Tour, Project X 6.0 shaft (currently on loan)

3-woods:
Cleveland Launcher, stock graphite regular flex
Callaway Big Bertha, YS-6 Stiff shaft
Taylormade Raylor, Aldila HM-40 Tour Gold Stiff flex graphite

Hybrids:
Adams Idea Pro Tour Prototype 23-degree, Aldila VS Proto  Regular flex
Taylormade Rescue Mid 19-degree, UG65 graphite stiff flex

Iron sets:
Mizuno MS-11 3 - PW, Rifle 6.0 shafts
Ping Eye2 BeCu 2 - LW, stiff steel shafts

Wedges:
Titleist Vokey Spin Milled 60.04
Scratch Golf 47-degree wedge

Putters:
Odyssey White Hot XG #7, 35-inches (currently on loan)
Odyssey White Hot Tour #9, 34-inches (my current gamer)
C-Groove Mallet, 33-inches
Ray Cook Blue Goose blade putter, 35-inches
Never Compromise ZI Delta2 blade, 33-inches, Winn AVS grip
Odyssey 2Ball, 33-inches, Golf Pride Dual Durometer grip
Acushnet Bullseye, 35-inches
Powerbilt Levelume blade, 32-inches
Ping Anser blade
Ping Pal

Hole-in-one stories / Gushing about Kahuku GC

The first hole at Kahuku Golf Course, a 9-hole muni a few minutes down the road from the Turtle Bay golf courses, is a 164-yard straight-forward par 3.  It’s wide open, the only trees in sight are rows of dwarf cypress-like evergreens to separate the hole from the “driving range” (an open space where you can hit balls provided that you supply the balls and you shag them afterward) on the right and the 9th hole on the left.  Kahuku Golf Course is a true links course with very few trees, small greens, and fierce wind that blows in off of the Pacific Ocean, whose white-sand shore abuts the east side of the course.  Shots that land in the fairway kick up a puff of sand.  When you inspect the fairway more closely, you see what causes this- the fairways are comprised of clumps of grass with sand in between them.  The local rule that we always play by states that, provided you are not in a hazard, you can place your ball on the nearest clump of grass if you find your ball in a sandy spot.  Indeed, this is an authentic, old school links course.  It’s like going back in time, when the greens ran at about 6 on the stimp and it only took an hour and a half to play 9 holes.  Those fancy golf balls you got for Christmas will do you no good here.  Neither will those game improvement irons you bought yourself to make it easier to get the ball up in the air.  The 30-mph gusts will make your driver that launches the ball so high and straight seem useless.  That fancy new wedge with the milled face and fancy grooves?  Nope- that’ll put way too much spin on every chip shot.  To play well at Kahuku you need to manufacture some shots.  You’ve got to re-learn the old bump and run shot.  Dust off the old wristy pop-style putting stroke while you’re at it.  Get that punch shot ready, too.  Now you’re ready.  When you step up to the first tee, it all seems so simple.  The wind is coming hard right to left.  There is no trouble right of the green.  Just avoid going into the shrubs over the green, and don’t go into the bunker on the left side of the green.  You have the luxury of watching your playing partner hit first.  You realize that the wind isn’t just right to left, it’s also hurting a little, as evidenced by your partner’s ball short of the bunker.  You switch from a 6-iron to a 5-iron.  Nothing like hitting a long-iron for your first shot of the day...you shake your head as you tee up your ball. Sure enough, you catch it a bit thin, but the ball starts where you aimed at the right edge of the green.  Your partner has played the course numerous times before and immediately yells for the ball to get down.  The wind gets ahold of it and pushes the ball left.  The ball curves to the middle of the green and lands left of the pin.  Then it bounces and bounces and....it’s in the middle of the greenside bunker.  Lesson number one: the ball bounces out here.  Welcome to your first bunker with REAL SAND.  You can’t believe how much sand is in the bunker, or how inconsistent the depth of the sand is. There’s a ton of sand under your right foot, hardly any under your left foot.   Suddenly that lip looks like its higher.  At least you’re hitting back into the wind, you think as you set the blade open and dig your cleats in.  You catch it a hair thick and the ball barely makes it out.  But the small green means that your par putt is still within 20 feet.  You see that the green tilts from front to back, so your putt should break left to right.  You’re still hitting back into the wind, so you aim at the left edge and hit it a little harder.  Your ball doesn’t even make it halfway to the hole.  Your partner apologizes for forgetting to mention that your putt was also directly into the grain.  Lesson number two: read the grain.  You ram your bogey putt through the break and it lips out on the left edge.  Lesson number three: keep it in the hole if you’re trying to ram in short putts.  Double-bogey 5.     

That’s often how the first hole goes at Kahuku.  Bogey isn’t such a bad score.  When I first started playing the course in high school, I averaged a 5 on the hole.  It was a typical round at Kahuku with my father.  I was just starting to really get into golf.  I had worked on my game enough to consistently shoot in the high eighties.  I was playing with an old set of Acushnet irons that my father’s co-worker gave to him.  They were probably about half an inch longer than standard and looked like blades.  They were way too heavy for me, too.  I choked up on them and swung hard, hoping to just get the ball airborne.  I remember having a rough opening 9, the opening hole had been particularly ugly.  The wind was blowing hard.  I was hooking it and topping shots, too.  I felt like my game had taken a step backward.  I convinced my dad to play a few more holes.  So we headed back to the first tee.  I cold topped my 4-iron.  It was barely off the ground for the first 30 yards or so.  Then it bounced and bounced and bounced.  I was thrilled when I saw that it was going to reach the green.  Just before the green it took a strange bounce toward the pin, and it just kept on going.  I watched the ball roll right into the hole.  I threw my hand up in the air, “I think it went in!” I yelled to my father who didn’t bother to watch the shot once he saw it hit the ground 30 yards out.  He wanted to make sure I didn’t get my hopes up in case it went over the green, and told me that I shouldn’t get too excited until we get up to the green.  My heart was racing.  I must’ve practically jogged to the green.  There it was, my Top Flite XL 3000 Aero at the bottom of the cup.  My first reaction was to pluck the ball and rather dramatically exclaim, “Finally!.”  My father, who has played golf for over 30 years and still has not had an ace shook his head and said, “Finally?!  You have no idea how lucky you are!”  He was right- that shot was pure luck, but somehow I had expected it to happen again in the near future.  

Fast forward several years.  I’m still in high school, but now I’m able to shoot in the mid 80s pretty consistently.  I’ve even had my first round in the 70s.  I’m wild off the tee, mostly because I swing as hard as I can, but my chipping and putting is pretty solid.  It’s another typical round at Kahuku with my dad.  The wind is really blowing hard.  We reach the fifth hole, which is down in a low area so you can’t feel the wind.  It’s a straight ahead par 4 that measures 310 yards on the scorecard, but it plays directly downwind and is easily reachable with a solid drive.  From the tee, the fairway rises gently and crests about 35 yards from the green, then it drops off more steeply down to the green.  From the tee, all you see is the horizon created by the crest of the fairway- you can see the top of the flagstick, but much of the green cannot be seen.  I tee up my ball and aim way out right for my low slinging draw/hook. I swing hard and I get under the ball a bit.  The ball climbs way up high into the air and stays up the right side- there’s no draw at all.  The wind at my back pushes it hard enough to clear the crest of the fairway and I’m glad to see it take a big bounce forward and left, toward the green.  As I approach the green, I can’t see my ball anywhere.  It should either be short and right of the green or in the greenside bunker to the right of the green. It’s not in either spot.  Just before I drop another ball, my dad tells me to check the hole.  I wander over to the flag expecting to be disappointed.  There it is!  A hole-in-one on a par 4- an albatross!  I almost can’t believe my luck, but somehow I can.  

That hole-in-one somehow made me more confident.  From that day on, my game seemed to improve rapidly.  Before I knew it, I was able to shoot in the low 80s fairly consistently.  If I was putting well, I knew I was going to be in the high 70s.  I played one season of JV golf in high school, which featured 9-hole tournaments with the exception of the conference tournament, which was 18 holes.  In my very first tournament I birdied the first two holes, including making an 80-foot putt, and held on to shoot 38, which gave me runner-up honors.  If memory serves me right I shot an 84 in the conference tournament to finish top-20.  I didn’t play tournament golf again until I walked on the college golf team my sophomore year.  About three tournaments into my first season, I shot a 78 in ugly conditions (the tournament was delayed an hour because of hail) to finish in third place.  That really boosted my confidence, and I ended up putting up a few more good rounds in my college career.  I managed one other top-3 finish, finished in the top-15 of the conference championship several times, and twice held the 18-hole lead in 36-hole tournaments.  Not bad for a self-taught golfer who started late and couldn’t find a fairway to save his life (I literally played out of the left trees for the entirety of my college career).  For all that success, I did not record a hole-in-one in college.  I never really came close.  I did hole out a pitching wedge for eagle on the hardest hole on the course during the conference championships one year, but my par-3 scoring was not so hot.  I often go through stretches in the summertime when I consistently shoot in the low to mid 70s.  I’ve never made a hole-in-one during those hot streaks.  

My third hole-in-one came in the midst of one of the worst slumps of my golfing career.  I was working at a golf course and was hitting a ton of balls as I worked on a swing change.  It was getting me nowhere.  I was back to shooting in the low to mid 80s.  Beyond golf, I didn’t know what I was doing with my life- I had graduated from college two years prior and was earning barely over minimum wage at the golf course.  I was living paycheck to paycheck and wasn’t using any of the skills I had gained in college.  I was pretty much playing for the exercise at that point.  It was a sunny Monday.  I came to the par-3 sixth hole, a downhill 175-yarder with bunkers protecting the front, left, and right of the green.  The green slopes severely from left to right, so much so that the only place flat enough for pin locations are on the far right side of the green.  I struck my 6-iron right on the sweet spot, but with a shut face.  The little draw I was playing for turned into a hook that luckily caught the far left edge of the green.  It took a nice kick forward and right.  Then gravity took over as the ball raced down the hill toward the pin.  I watched to ball smack off the flagstick and into the hole.  I remember not knowing what to do.  I was playing alone.  There was no one in sight.  I also remember feeling like that was my first “legit” hole-in-one because I had actually struck the ball solidly.  While it was still a bit of a lucky shot, it didn’t require nearly as much luck as my two previous aces.  

My most recent hole-in-one was my favorite one.  I had moved to Chicago and hadn’t touched my clubs in 4 months before visiting the islands during the holidays.  Knowing that I’d be playing some golf, I spent the weeks leading up to the trip visualizing playing golf.  For some reason, over and over again I found myself envisioning making a hole-in-one.  As expected, I found myself at Kahuku Golf Course, this time accompanied by my entire family.  I was playing relatively well when we came upon the 6th hole- a severely uphill par 3 that only measures about 135 yards, but plays closer to 150 yards due to the slope and hurting right to left wind.  I decided to hit a hard 8-iron instead of a 7-iron to take over the green out of play.  I absolutely pured it, and it started exactly where I was aiming- some 15 yards right of the flag.  I hit it so well that it seemed to be boring through the wind, and I was convinced the ball was going to fly the green.  It wasn’t until the ball reached its apex that the wind started to push the ball toward the flag.  Only the top of the flagstick is visible on that hole, so I had no idea where the ball ended up, but I knew it was online.  I muttered to everyone that it probably went over the green, but my best buddy was convinced I had hit it close.  It was no surprise that my ball wasn’t on the green.  There is a steep downhill slope over the green, so I made my way down to look for the ball, but found nothing.  I came back up to the green and decided to check the hole.  There it was- hole-in-one number four.  Finally, a hole-in-one that required almost no luck.  I chose the correct club, hit it on the screws, and started it on the line I had intended- it was a perfect shot.  Best of all, my family was there to join in on the celebration.    

It will be difficult to top my most recent hole-in-one.  It’s incredible that three of my four hole-in-ones have come at the same golf course.  If you’re ever on Oahu, I encourage you to go play Kahuku Golf Course.  As I mentioned, it’s like a trip back in time, and it’s golf in a very pure form. It’s also the cheapest course you’ll find on the island and there are some magnificent ocean views.  Unfortunately, Kahuku Golf Course will likely not be around for very long, as the owners of Turtle Bay have been looking to purchase the land for many years now.  It will be a very sad day for me and my family when Kahuku Golf Course is no more.

  

How to have a successful first round back after a long lay-off

I’ve had several long stretches away from the game.  The first came when I went away for college.  I didn’t even have my clubs with me for one semester of my freshman year.  The other semester, I played one round of golf, which was a fateful one as it led to me walking on to the golf team the next year.  The second time came when I decided to spend a semester studying abroad.  More recently, I played almost no golf when I moved to Chicago for a year a handful of years ago.  I had very different levels of success when I came back from each of those layoffs.  

The first layoff didn’t present much of a problem as I had spent a significant chunk of my freshman year working out.  I came back physically stronger as I had started lifting weights for the first time.  I was also itching to play and spent the summer between my freshman and sophomore year working hard on my game.  In other words, I was ready to play again, both physically and mentally.  When I first started playing again, I couldn’t hit the ball all that solidly, but I was just happy to back on the course and played through about three or four poor rounds before I started to shoot my normal scores again.  

The second layoff was the most difficult.  I had started working at the golf course the summer before going abroad.  The access to both the golf course and the practice facility over the summer took my game to the next level.  I shot back-to-back rounds of 72 and had my first legitimate chance to shoot under par (I was 4-under par with four holes to go and then choked like a dog, finishing bogey, par, double, double).  I studied abroad in India, where, like everyone else I traveled with, I got sick numerous times.  When I left for India, I weighed about 135 pounds.  When I returned almost 4 months later, I weighed 119 pounds.  I remember swinging a club in the front yard, dumbfounded by how heavy it felt.  I couldn’t get the ball off the ground for a couple of weeks, but worst of all, my putting stroke was in shambles.  It took me a long time to get my swing back and an even longer time to regain my feel.  I don’t feel like I ever recovered my putting stroke.  This return to the game was much more challenging because I wasn’t physically ready to play again.  Furthermore, my time in India rather forcefully changed the way I viewed the world.  Thus, golf became a low priority and my passion for the game had lost its spark.  

The third layoff was a lot like the first- I was in the best shape of my life when I lived in Chicago.  I had access to amazing workout facilities, and I worked out at least 5 times a week for hours and hours.  After four months of not even picking up a club, I went back home for the holidays where I knew that I would get to play at least a round or two.  In the weeks leading up to the trip, I did a lot of visualizing.  I played the course I grew up on in my head several times.  What’s more, I spent many hours visualizing making a hole-in-one.  When I arrived back home, we almost immediately ended up on the golf course.  We played 9 holes, and it wasn’t pretty.  I got beat by my brother, who was just starting to play regularly, and almost got beat by my father who was enduring a shoulder injury that prevented him from lifting his right arm above his shoulder.  A few days later, we played another 9 hole round at a links style course.  From the first shot, I knew I was swinging better.  Then on the sixth hole, I holed an 8-iron for my fourth (and most recent) hole-in-one.  As was the case with my first long layoff, I was both physically and mentally prepared to play.  

Along the way, I’ve had shorter, but still significant breaks from the game.  I have found that the best way to regain my form is to start at the chipping green.  Hitting chip shots helps me get the feeling back of contacting the ball crisply and on the center of the clubface.  Once I can consistently hit chip shots solidly, I move on to hitting balls.  I don’t spend much time hitting my longer clubs.  I spend a lot of time hitting 75 - 150 yard shots, just working on my fundamentals and trying to make solid contact.  I should mention that I don’t always hit balls- once I’m confident with my chipping, then I’m usually ready to get back on the course knowing that no matter where I hit it, I’m going to give myself a decent chance at making some pars.  I have a reputation for being a good “rusty” golfer mostly because I try to find time to work on my chipping.  I’ve gone months without playing on the course or hitting a single full-swing shot, but am able to return and shoot a decent score because I’ve spent an hour at the chipping green every week.  

Are you making the most of your practice time?

Several Division I golfers practiced at the golf course where I worked.  One of them came nearly every day that I worked and spent hours hitting balls and stroking putts with earphones blaring some angry form of rock and roll.  This person had seemingly everything going for him- he started at a young age, had unfettered access to an amazing practice facility and golf course, was born to extremely wealthy parents, and he came from championship golfing pedigree to boot.  He was built to pulverize a golf ball, and his swing speed was fast enough to warrant extra extra stiff shafts.  Unfortunately, his golfing career never matched his potential.  I got to know him when I was working at the course and my own armchair-psychologist assessment was that he didn’t succeed because 1) his pedigree allowed him some shortcuts along the way, 2) at the same time, his pedigree also put a ton of pressure on him, and 3) deep down, he wasn’t passionate about golf.  As I spent more time with him, I actually started to feel sorry for the guy.  I shared my thoughts to a friend who also worked at the course while we watched him practice from afar.  My coworker had enjoyed a highly successful college career, and continues to add titles to an already impressive professional career.  My coworker shocked me by stating flatly that I shouldn’t have any sympathy for the guy because he’s never actually worked on his game.  I started to watch his practice sessions more closely and realized that we were both right.  I started to notice how much time he spent texting, searching for music, making phone calls, and chatting while he was “practicing.”  He certainly wasn’t getting the most out of his time.  Of course, he was probably distracting himself because he didn’t actually want to practice but knew that he “needed” to practice.  It was almost like he was there to check something off a list of things to do.  Had practicing become a chore?

I started reflecting on my own practice time.  Luckily for me, I’ve always enjoyed practicing.  I absolutely love hitting balls on the range, most likely because growing up I couldn’t afford to hit balls very often.  When I worked at the course and had free access to the range, I would lose track of time and hit balls for two hours straight.  But what I enjoy even more than hitting balls is working on my chipping.  Give me a wedge, a couple of golf balls, and a chipping green and you can leave me there for the entire day.  In other words, I’ve never lacked the enjoyment piece, which means that I’m always up for a good long practice session.  EXCEPT, if the only thing I can do is practice putting.  That’s one thing I don’t care for.  Don’t get me wrong, I will put in the hours, but the enjoyment is gone after about 30 minutes.  I realized this about myself, and started wondering what it was about putting that made it so much less fulfilling.  I’ve decided that there are three main reasons: 1) it bores me because it’s too stationary an activity (I haven’t been to a movie theater in a LONG time for the same reason), 2) I don’t experience much success when it comes to putting (a nice way of saying that I suck at putting), and 3) sometimes it feels like the more I practice my putting, the worse I putt.  Funny how that works, the one part of my game that needs the most work is the part that I’m the least motivated to work on.  Obviously, this is why I remain a weak putter.  I started to reflect on my chipping and swing practice to see if there was something that I could transfer over to putting.  

That’s when it hit me: when I go to the driving range or to the chipping green, I don’t really practice to improve a weakness in my game.  Most of the time, I practice to further improve my confidence in an area of my game where I’m already above average.  What I have found is that after I warm up, I often hit shots that I can already hit fairly consistently.  My goal is to get to what I call “Tour level” with those shots.  For example, I work on really simple chip shots with the goal of having all four balls within tap-in range (the criterion being whether I could tap-in the putt using my wedge).  This gives me a ton of confidence when I’m confronted with those shots on the course.  When I’m practicing regularly, I’m pretty automatic when it comes to shots that are within a couple yards of the edge of the green.  When I’m practicing a ton, I’m trying to make those shots.  But the fact of the matter is that I was already solid with those shots- I could put them within 5 feet consistently.  The extra practice helps me put those shots within 3 feet.  That 2-foot difference significantly impacts my scoring because I’m such a poor putter.  And as a better player, when I miss greens, I tend to miss them on the “correct” side.  Which means that, more often than not, the chip shots I find myself facing on the course are similar to the shots that I practice.  

Part of my problem with practicing putting is that I feel like there’s not a putt that I’m already decent at making.  If that sounds like hyperbole, it’s not- I miss 2-foot putts on a somewhat regular basis.  Now, like all golfers, I’m a “streaky” putter, which I’ve decided is just a fancy way of saying that I’m inconsistent.  So while I miss a 2-footer every now and then, I also drain the occasional 15-foot putt and have been making double-breaking 30+ foot downhillers as of late.  That’s my problem- my putting is so unpredictable that I don’t know where to begin.  Which is where we get to the issue of practicing to improve a weakness.  As you can see, this type of practice is much more difficult and usually requires some outside help.  After a slew of rounds marred by extremely poor putting, I decided it was time to overhaul my putting stroke and identify what was causing my inconsistencies.  That’s when I turned to youtube.  That’s when the learning began.  One clip featured a teaching pro talking about how most amateurs have one length of backswing for every putt, decelerating on short putts and jabbing at long putts.  Another clip mentioned focusing on maintaining an even grip pressure throughout the stroke.  And then there was the big one- a teaching pro breaking down why Tiger was going through a putting slump.  Slow motion video proved that Tiger had started to make a mini hip turn as he struck his putts.  The move was so slight that it was barely detectable, even in slow motion.  But there it was, plain as can be.  I went to the putting green the next day and realized that I was significantly opening my hips on the through-stroke without even feeling it.  What’s more, I was also opening my shoulders on the through-stroke.  Now I had something concrete to work on.  I found that my putting sessions became more productive as I ingrained this new putting motion.  I also realized that the hours I had been logging on the putting green before the fix weren’t helping me become a better putter- I was just rehearsing the same flawed motion over and over again in a failed attempt to make that motion yield consistent results.  

Sound familiar?  Well, maybe it’s time to make a change and get some help.  As far as getting help goes, if someone tries to change your entire swing in the first lesson, I advise that you find someone else to help you.  I should mention that most good teaching pros will start by checking the basics of your set-up position.  Go ahead and skip this step by doing it yourself.  When hitting balls, lay some clubs on the ground to establish consistent alignment and ball position.  And use a mirror to check your posture (Tiger Woods is the model of perfect posture at address).  Indeed, simply making sure that you are properly aligned on every shot will dramatically alter your practice time.  Finally, make your practice count.  If you truly are practicing to get better, then practice requires quite a bit of focus.  Make every swing count by being very specific about what you are trying to accomplish with each swing: “I’m going to hit a high fade that will move 5 yards left-to-right in the air and fly 125 yards,” or “I want to keep my eye on the ball all the way through impact,” or “I want to land this chip shot on top of that dark spot.”  And if practicing is starting to feel like a chore, it might be time to put the clubs away for a bit. 

What's in my bag

 Driver: Titleist 905R 10.5 degrees 
Graphite Design YS-6+ Regular Flex, standard length/lie
 
 Ever played with that golfer who can work the ball both ways off the tee and seems to do it just for fun?  When I’m swinging well, I’m that guy.  For some reason, I’ve only ever been able to work the ball both ways with Titleist drivers. While I’ve hit other drivers that go farther, I have yet to find that magical combination of distance and workability that this club has.  

3-wood: Cleveland Mashie FW 
Miyazaki 59R, standard length/lie
 
This is the newest addition to the bag and is currently one of my favorites. I’m still getting to know this club, but in the couple rounds I’ve played with it, I’ve been absolutely smoking it.  There’s something about the lightweight shaft and the good-looking clubhead that inspires confidence when I set up over the ball. I suppose consistently hitting it high, straight, and long helps too.

20* Hybrid: Mizuno CLK Fli-Hi 
Exsar HS2 Stiff Flex, standard length/lie
24* Hybrid: Mizuno CLK Fli-Hi 
Exsar HS2 Stiff Flex, standard length/lie
 
 It took me a long time to find hybrids that I could hit consistently.  I found other hybrids to be too light (Taylormade), too ugly (Callaway), or too harsh (Nike).  While I liked the look & feel of Titleist hybrids, I seemed to always block them out to the right.  Finally, I bought these on a whim and have been playing them ever since.  I battle the blocks with these every now and again (further proof that my hybrid troubles had more to do with my swing than the clubs), but overall they’ve been the best hybrids I’ve found for my swing.  The piercing ball-flight and muted click off the clubface that has led many low-handicappers to ask about my hybrids.

 

5 - PW: Cleveland CG Red 
Dynamic Gold SL S300, standard length, flat lie angle
 
 Before this set, I was playing a set of forged Mizuno blades from the 80s.  These Clevelands are so much more forgiving, and launch the ball higher and softer.  I’ve been hitting so many more greens since I made the switch.  If you’re still playing blades and you don’t have the time to practice like you used to, do yourself a favor and find a set of cavity backs.  If you’re worried about the feel of cast, there are plenty of forged cavity backs out there these days.  But don’t rule out cast- you might be surprised at just how solid (and not harsh) a cast head can feel.  


 

52* wedge: Cleveland CG10, mid bounce, standard length/lie
A gift from a friend who received free gear from Cleveland, this instantly became a favorite for full-swing wedge shots.  This club has set me up for more birdies than any other club in the bag.  

56* wedge: Titleist Vokey Spin Milled, 10* bounce, standard length/lie
This club predates the groove rule change, so I wouldn’t be allowed to play it in a USGA- sanctioned event.  The reason I play it is because I think the rule change was short-sighted and I didn’t want to get rid of a perfectly good club that I love.  Around the greens and out of the sand, this is as good as it gets and it’s basically the only club I use from 60 yards and in.  When my short game is on, I feel like I can get up and down from anywhere.....as long as I have this wedge.  

58* wedge: Nike VR, 10* bounce, standard length/lie
I bought this club used just about a month ago and it replaced the 60* Vokey I had been playing.  I was finding that the high loft (60*) and low bounce (4*) of the Vokey made it so I could only use it in very specific situations that didn’t come up very often.  With a little less loft, and a lot more bounce, the Nike is so much more versatile.  I’ve even found myself using it instead of my beloved 56* Vokey for shots around the green where I need a little more loft.  What I love most about this club is the weighting- it feels nice and heavy, but the weight also feels evenly distributed.  







Putter: C-Groove Mallet, 33”
This is the putter I’ve been using for about 6 months now.  Putting is the weakest part of my game, and as such I tend to switch putters every 3 or 4 months.  I bought this putter used back in high school after I realized that I struggled with distance control with putters that had soft inserts (I was playing with a friend’s Nubbins putter at the time and putting on slow and grainy greens in Hawaii).  This putter has a very firm feel and makes a very metallic (and rather unpleasant) sound. I find myself going back to this putter during the winter months when the greens I play tend to get pretty slow.  I recently picked up a used Odyssey White Hot Tour #9 that I may put in the bag this summer when the greens get quicker.  Or I might go back to my old 2 Ball.  Or there’s the White Hot #7.  Or the Never Compromise blade with the fat grip. Or...you get the point.