Short Game Hall of Fame

After working on chipping, I started on putting.  Now this I was actually decent at as I've played my fair share of mini golf :).  Since I felt more comfortable in this area of my golf game I was able to have more fun with my practice.  I went to another putting practice green and started with some basics.  There was still a lot I needed to learn though.

The first thing I learned was how to hold the club.  Your putting grip can be very different from how you normally hold the club.  It felt really uncomfortable at first to hold my putter with this grip but by the end of the day I was starting to get used to it.

Notice how the front of my grip in the picture on the right looks the same as usual but my fingers are set up different as you can see in the picture on the left.  I chose this grip because it kept my wrists locked but there are several different grips you can checkout to see what works best for you.  This link shows great pictures as you scroll down to get a better idea of how to hold your club.

After I learned to correctly hold the club I moved on to fun drills.

1.  I got this idea from the DVD I rented from the library!  It was the one redeeming quality after watching a "snoozeville" video and listening to atrocious music.  First, place five balls about a foot away from each other and try to put them in the hole one by one down the line.  If you miss one you have to start over.

 

2.  Alex gave me this drill.  Grab 8 balls and set them up in a circle

the same distance from the pin.  Then go around the circle to get them all in.  You practice from the same distance but different angles.  To make it more fun you can bet on how many you will get in.  I made 7 out of 8!



After practicing it was time to play.  I introduced Alex to a game called 11.  I learned about this game by studying up on golf and then he taught me a game he used to play with his teammates in high school called 21. 

11 - You need at least two players to play.  Player 1 picks a pin to aim at. Both players count how many strokes it takes them to get their ball in the hole.  Then player 2 picks another pin and each player continues to add on to their count.  The first player to 11 is out and the last player standing wins.  This game helps you learn to count your strokes.  When we played, Alex played to 8 and I played to 11 to make the game more fair since he is a more experienced golfer than I am.  He still beat me though.

 

21 - This game is a race to 21.  Each player gets two balls as they get two attempts to get as close to the pin as possible.  A player earns 1 point if their ball is a club's length away from the hole, 2 points if it is a club's head away, 3 points if the ball goes in the hole and no points if it is out of range.   

 

My putting experience was a lot of fun.  Who would of thought I could spend so much time at the putting practice green.  When I finished, I wanted to continue working on my chipping again.  It's really becoming addicting.  After breaking down the game of golf and working hard I now deserve to have a little fun.  I'm going to head to Top Golf in Wood Dale.  Anyone want to join me for a night out? 

Just a Chip Off the Old Block

How many of you have heard the phrase "chip off the old block?"  Do you actually know what it means?  When I looked it up online I found that it meant a person who resembles his father or acts the same as his father.  This seemed rather funny to me because I am acting as my father practicing my golf game so much.  I guess if the shoe fits, I should wear it :).

This week I focused a little on my short game.  I thought this meant I could practice both chipping and putting.  Wrong!  It took me a while to get the hang of chipping so we'll save putting for a later entry.  The good thing about chipping is you can really practice anywhere.  Most golf courses have a putting and chipping practice green that you can use.  The best part is it's free to practice there. Another great place you can easily practice is in your own backyard.  You could even grab a bucket and make it fun to try to get it into the target.  When I practiced, I used a 56 degree wedge otherwise known as a sand wedge.  Here are a few things I learned to help me when chipping...

1.  Always keep an open stance towards the pin/hole.  What I mean by this is that you will have your feet slightly facing outward.  It helps to keep your knees bent, your weight on your front foot and a closer distance to the ball.  I should probably have an even closer stance than I do below.

2.  NEVER bend your wrists! This was a BIG problem for me as I kept flicking them.  One solution to help is to roll over your lower hand, in my case it was my right, to help lock my left wrist.  Hopefully you can see what I mean in the picture below.  I found this link helpful to give me a few more pointers. 

3.  Play the ball as it lies.  You never know where your ball may land when actually playing so you should practice from several locations and distances.  You should also include shots from both short grass and tall grass.  I practiced from all sides of the pins aiming for different ones on different shots.   


Here is an example of how I spread out the balls.

 

Hopefully these few tips that I learned will improve your short game too!  As I stated earlier, I will be focusing on putting for my next entry.  Does anyone have any tips or suggestions for drills to get me started? 

Teeing Up for a Date at the Driving Range

     Yesterday, July 9th, was my boyfriend's birthday.  Could you imagine where he might want to go to celebrate?  You got it.  The golf course!  He played a round with two of his friends but then wanted me to meet him at the range after.  I've had a few experiences playing 9 holes just to get an idea of what it is like but I knew I need to work on the fundamentals and then make them a habit by practice.  I was excited to meet him and really try out different techniques to improve my swing.   While at the range I worked on three things.  These are all easy things you could do too if you are practicing on your own.

               1. Aim-  I laid a club down between myself and the ball to help me aim for the correct flag.  If any of you have been to a driving range before you know there are several spots you can swing from and several flags that you can aim at. In case you want a better definition, click on the link you see above.  When I picked a flag I then aligned my club up with it.  If you try this out be aware of the other club. You want to make sure it is in a position where you won't hit it with the club you are currently swinging with.

Here is how I used the club in between to help me aim.

               2. Stance-  It really helped when Alex told me I needed to keep my feet closer together (about shoulders width).  He gave me another helpful tip that I should feel like I am reaching to sit on a stool.  That made me feel like I was on top of the ball and on more on my toes.  Another thing I had to tweak was where I hold the club.  I was placing it in the middle of my legs but Alex told me it should be closer to my left knee.
               3. Follow Through- I wasn't swinging all the way and when I was I gave it my all thinking I would
slam that sucker.  I did my best when I slowed down my swing and followed through with my belly facing my target. Below is a video of me working on this...sorry that you have to tilt your head to watch it.  Any idea how to flip it?

                       

     Recording myself made me think of school.  In my masters program we recorded our speeches to self reflect and see areas we could improve on.  When teaching I have recorded lessons to reflect upon as well.  This was a good learning experience for me to see what I could work on next.  On my next visit I would like to work on not bouncing when I hit the ball and trying not to hit it off the toe of the club.  The toe is the tip and that's what made my ball go right instead of straight.  

     Before I went to the range yesterday, I thought to myself as a teacher I would encourage my students to go to the library and checkout several books to learn the basics of golf off the course.  I then thought, that's pretty good advice and I should do that for myself.  I love reading children's books so I got a mix of both adult and kids books to look at.  Sometimes I feel like I learn more in children's books because it is very cut

Here are some of the books I selected to read.

and dry, easy information to process.  They cut out a lot of unnecessary details adult books dive deeper into.  I also picked up a DVD in case I need a change up from reading.  I will have to let you know if any of them are worth while as I read and watch the DVD.  I wasn't really sure if there were any popular or reputable authors.  Does anyone have a good book they love or find helpful in the learning process?
    

A Sparked Interest in the U.S. Open

On Wednesday June 12th I along with many of my close friends received this email from another close friend...

Good Afternoon All,

Believe it or not, it is that time again. The second major championship of 2013, and with that comes our second Major pick em. The 2013 U.S. Open @ Merion – team challenge. #nogirlsallowedbecausetheywin.

For those involved in the epic Masters pick em earlier this year, the rules will be the same. For those new folks fortunate enough to be joining this fantastic collection of humans (or for those veterans who need a refresher)….. see below

Pick your top 4 golfers, lowest cumulative score at the end of the 2013 U.S. Open wins the pot. If one (or more) of the four players you choose fails to make the cut... then you fail to make the cut... and you're OUT.Bye bye, goodnight Irene, ain’t nobody got time fo that.

First tee time is 6:45am (est) tomorrow, June 13th... (that's 5:45am for all you central folks). Picks that come in after the first group has teed off will not be accepted. As soon as the first players tee off, I will send out the spreadsheet with everyone’s picks.

Let me know if there are any questions, concerns or comments, and as always I wish you all the best of luck!

I was excited to be included but my first thought to this email was... what actually is the U.S. Open?  Given, I know it is a big golf tournament and Alex forced me to watch the Masters previously but I wasn't sure what the differences might be or who gets to play in this tournament.  I wanted to participate but how was I going to pick my top four golfers?  Well fortunately I happened to be at my brother, Gary's, when I got this email and let's just say... he had some input.  I chose Adam Scott (who I saw win the Masters), Tiger Woods (who everyone knows, even non-golfers like me), Matt Kuchar and Phil Mickelson (my dad's favorite golfer).  Now my brother gave me some good advice because Mickelson did quite well but I was out of the pool when Kuchar didn't make the cut to play on.  I still enjoyed watching parts of the U.S. Open when I could so I was glad this pool could spark my interest in viewing it.  I learned about several popular golfers I had never heard of including, Justin Rose, the man who won it all!