Breaking 80 in golf is the last horizon before becoming a scratch golfer. Here’s how I learned to break 80 in golf all the time without worrying about it.
It took a while, I’ll readily admit it.
And it did take some effort but mostly stick-to-itiveness.
I broke 80 today and wasn’t satisfied at all.
I actually shot 76.
Maybe it’s because I bogied the last hole.
Or maybe it’s because I three putted one hole from 15 feet and failed to convert a simple up and down.
It’s probably a combination of both.
And, it’s probably because I’m now shooting for the next plateau in golf.
That’s a scratch handicap.
The golf vision quest to get to a scratch handicap
For the past year and a half I’ve been working on my game.
I started out at an 8 but that’s without any playing or practicing.
I knew I could get to a 6 handicap if I hit some balls and worked on my short game.
It didn’t take long until I was at a 7 and then soon a 6.5 hdcp.
I was playing about 3 times a week and hitting balls and working on my short game.
But I wasn’t really practicing to get better.
I was just beating golf balls onto the range with little purpose.
We all know this feeling.
It’s an amazing feeling but it does nothing for your game.
The first key to breaking 80 in golf
I knew I had to change my swing to get better.
My chicken wing and fast arms through impact were holding me back.
There are three direct indicators in your swing related to your handicap.
More lag at impact, clock position after impact where the shaft bisects the arms and distance from the butt end of the club to your left hip after impact are all good predictors of a golf handicap.
Check out this slow mo swing of Justin Thomas.
More lag at impact equals a lower handicap. Same for greater angle at arm bisection and further distance of the butt end of the club after impact.
After hearing about these predicators and watching some video of my swing, I was convinced things needed to change.
I needed to fix my chicken wing at impact.
I bought a lag shot golf training aid to assist me on my journey.
To make a long story short.
It works.
See my other posts for more on that. HERE
Lag training
For the past several months I’ve been singularly focused in my training on the range to eliminate my flip at impact and to try to at least get to square.
I’ve been able to do this by consistently monitoring my swing via my iPhone.
It’s been a little painful because it’s much more fun to just pound away at range balls, rather than hit 3 or 4, watch some video, assess and then do it all again.
Besides the lag shot golf 7 iron, the best training aid I’ve used is swinging with an alignment stick at the end of my grip.
As you can see in this drill, if you flip the club at impact, you will smack yourself on the side with the stick.
It will hurt!!
Caution: If you try this drill, please go slow at first.
The lag training is paying off and was able to drop my hdcp to a 5 to a 5.5.
This is good solid noticeable improvement and with our course’s handicap rating it meant that many of my scores were below 80.
The three wedge system transformed my game
Up until just a couple of months ago I was using an R-90 sand wedge that I had had in my bag since 1976!
I was using this sand wedge for every shot from 110 yards and in.
Additionally, it was so old it didn’t have any grooves.
It was a sentimental club and it was costing me strokes.
I eventually got fitted for and received 3 new titleist SM8 wedges.
I got a 50 degree, a 54 degree and a 58 degree wedge.
This has allowed me to dial in my shots from 115 yards and in a little better.
Consequently, my handicap dropped to an all time low of 3.4!
Despite being 59 years old and having played golf since I was 11, this represents the best golf I’ve ever played.
Ever.
Summing up
Practice with a purpose. Don’t just beat balls. Figure out your swing and improve it with drills. YouTube is amazing.
Work on getting lag at impact. If you’re not breaking 80, odds are you are flipping through impact. If you’re not, then your short game must be horrible.
Get the three wedge system and dial these babies in!!
If you can do all three of these things, I’m betting you’ll see consistently lower scores and will be breaking 80 regularly.
Journey to scratch golf continues
In order to get to scratch I’ll need to improve in following areas.
Putting
Bottom line my putting is horrendous. I’m leaving at least 2-3 strokes on the course every time.
I’m a decent lag putter which is nice, but have trouble converting some key 3-5 footers and some key birdie putts.
I’m going to get a Perfect Practice putting aide to help with my putting.
Chipping
My chipping is hot and cold.
When it’s on, there’s no issue, but some days I struggle to get the ball close on some very easy chips.
Tightening this up should be easy.
Dialing it in from 100 yards
I’ve been struggling with this lately. It’s very frustrating.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m hitting it close on most shots, but still missing badly on maybe one or two a round.
We’ve got three birdie holes in a row on our course and scratch golfers or better would probably birdie at least two out of three every time.
Have to get better here.
Completely eliminating chicken wing golf swing
It’s so frustrating to flip the golf club through impact.
You lose yardage, consistency and accuracy.
The key for me is getting my left hip cleared.
Part of it is age and flexibility and part of it is I never learned the correct golf swing.
I was taught to “hit down on the ball” hard!
This created an predominately arm swing “at” the ball, rather than a free flowing swing starting from the ground up that hits “through” the ball.
I’ve done a good job thus far and have the impact position to almost square, but it’s definitely not lag like the pros do.
Bottomline, this is a work in progress.
