I think this could be a fun topic for both input and to keep everyone accountable. Perhaps monthly/quarterly check-ins will be in order. There are many forms this thread could take, but for myself I plan on addressing my strengths/weaknesses and creating a plan to improve upon the weaker parts of my game. I'm going to rate the weaker parts each month or two to get a numeric value on improvement.

Relative Stats
29 yo
Amateur
+1 handicap
Large amount of available practice time
Want to play competitive amateur events at a statewide level

Strengths
Driving
Consistency of ball flight
Ego-free decision maker
Short putts

Weaknesses
Wedge Play (4 out of 10)
Lag Putting (2 out of 10)
Pre-shot routine (5 out of 10)
Overall course strategy (6 out of 10)

Somewhere in the middle
Fitness
Chipping/Pitching
Bunker Play

Ideas for improvement
1. Wedge play - I need to get a better handle on my distances, I plan on doing this via buying a laser, getting new wedges (don't really like mine), and being less nonchalant over these shots. I tend to take them from granted, don't think them out as in depth as longer shots, and as such my results suffer.

2. Lag Putting - Both my solidness of contact and overall approach to each putt needs to improve. I've identified my technical flaws and have begun working on them. I have also found a couple helpful drills. I must also find a way to improve my green/slope reading and overall lag putting philosophy.

3. Pre-shot routine - Lack of a consistent routine leaves me rushing some shots while taking forever on others. I also do a poor job of taking enough practice swings from non-standard lies. New routine will have 3 total looks at the target. Once after I set the club down, 2nd after I set my stance, 3rd after a waggle.

4. Overall course strategy - A lot of credit will go to Ship on this one, we've talked a few times recently about what he is pitching to college/tour players and I already feel more confident in my decision making. It allows me to take a much freer approach to each shot knowing I will have made to most +EV decision before execution.

5. Fitness - I need to get stronger in my base. I've returned to the gym after multiple years off due to health issues. I have begun squatting and running, soon I will add a few more golf specific movements.

Follow my lead or make your own post ITT. Let's all kill it in 2015!

Cheat more frequently.

Seriously though, I need to get physically stronger and generate more clubhead speed. Not so much for driving distance, but to compress the ball better with my irons. Also freeing it up more mentally around the greens in tournaments.

BO

What's your plan for going about this? I'm in decent shape but I'd like to do the same thing. I'll probably start cross-fit early next year, more for overall health than anything else but hopefully it helps golf as well.

I think cross fit as programmed for the masses is a poor idea for golf improvement. However I do think the Olympic lifts could have a nice carryover into swing speed generation.

I have a couple thoughts on overlooked body parts for the golf swing, namely the glutes. I plan on incorporating a few more exercises like lunges and hip thrusters into my routine. Another exercise I could see paying long term benefits are farmers walks.

I would say low bar back squats and deadlifts are by far the best lifts for golf. And safest. I've seen way too much fancy play syndrome in the golfing fitness world.

If only Tiger did more of this instead of all that bull**** stuff he wouldn't have been getting hurt 24/7. Just pick up heavy things and put them back down. No need to get fancy.

Nice post Spenda. A question. You have Ego-free decision maker as a strength, but course strategy as a weakness. Care to share more info.

Over the years the people I have played with who don't tend to make ego-driven decisions like consistently under-clubbing, or taking on trouble shots where the chances of success is low (and risk/reward ration is usually poor anyway), are also very good at course strategy/game management.

Are these two areas not correlating for you?

They aren't because I was using poor reasoning in the past. Since Ship and I have talked I realized I thought I was thinking through things properly but I was way off.

By ego free I mean I will have no issue making the most +EV decision on each shot no matter what might be the "typical" play.

I think strong glutes and lower back is actually a bad thing, long term.

my game really came around at times this year.......

my big thing now i think is wedge yips. i am always worried about chunking shots (i play in very wet conditions often) and i think it's got in my head.

also, one longer pw shots i don't seem to have any consistently in my ball striking. some go high. some go low etc. all to a certain degree decent hits for my level but completely different.

one think i think is i went to specialty wedges too much... i think i should go back to playing alot more shots with pitching wedges and even down to 8 iron (more likely 9 iron) to get consistency back.

other than that, driving, irons, chipping, putting were all superb for my level by the end of the year. and i think i've figured them out.

i think at some point i need a nice range finder to get to the next level

Spenda, i watch quite a bit of pro golf live and i can tell you that wedge play seems to be what really blows me away about the pros. it's so good. almost always right near the pin from under 120 yards....

Great thread idea, Spenda!

Relative Stats
34 yo
14 handicap (down from 21 last year)
90 rounds last year
Want to take another big bite off my handicap this summer. I enjoy the game more when I play better, and I'd like to be one of the better players at the muni track I play at this summer (this would be a handicap between 5-10).

Relative Strengths
Driving
Avoiding blow ups holes
Mental game (Poker was amazing for this, strangely enough)

Weaknesses
No pre-shot routine
Play entirely depends on confidence level
3W
Lost a ton of distance this summer due to being unable to work out for medical reasons
Hip flexibility
Chipping
Iron play in general

Hot and Cold
Putting from everywhere (sometimes I am a putting machine, other times No)
Pitch shots

Ideas for improvement
* Practice more: I bought a season pass at the nice local municipal course this year, which meant a lot of great rounds of golf! It also meant that I never got to a driving range. Driving ten minutes farther away and paying money when I could play golf for free was always in the plans and never actually happened. I simply need to commit to time on the range once a week. My shot was so much less consistent than the year prior and this is why. I also need to spend more time doing drills on the putting green. I had a fair amount of rounds that 3 putting just killed. I've been much better at three footers in the past. I need to get back there.
* Commit to a pre-shot routine. Trust it. I have gotten worse and worse at standing over the ball trying to "load" all of my swing keys. More time on the range would help with this as well.
* Fitness: Because of exercise induced headaches, I pretty much need to figure out a low-intensity fitness regiment that will keep my flexibility and some of my strength over the winter so I'm not terrible come golf season.
* I think I need to focus on a target more on longer shots (driving and lay-ups especially).
* When I'm gambling with buddies on the practice green (and drinking) I chip with a ton more confidence and the results are great. I rarely get up and down on the course, but do it at a much better clip while screwing around (from intentionally harder positions). I need to transplant that mentality to the rounds when I'm playing them.

Subscribing.

+ I'll work out my own schedule to get my h/c back down to where it used to be, or lower if possible.

I'm going to try to play more and maybe get new clubs. I either played a round or hit 100 balls and chipped/putted for 90 minutes or played a round ~4 times a week all 4 years of HS.

In the last 9 years I have not topped 12 rounds and 25 hours of practice time in any year and am using a 10 year old driver and 12 year old irons and wedges none of which have been fitted.

I figure if I can get to 20 rounds, 50 hours of practice time (2 hrs every other week), and get fitted for clubs I can go from 86-100 completely dependent on the day to 83-88 pretty consistently. I would settle for making any 2 of these 3 happen.

GREAT idea. Will be coming back to this for reference to remind myself of what I need to be doing each time I go out as well as looking at all of your updates/advice for things I can incorporate.

Relative Stats
27 yo
6'5" 240
Amateur
13 handicap (down from 23 in two years)
Large amount of available practice time
Want to win country club events and become low single digit by end of 2015

Strengths
Long hitter (can manage most courses without ever needing a driver if desired)
Strong putting and green reading (play on bermuda greens that run about 13-14, makes you better in a hurry!)
Shot-shaping
Course management
Very physically fit (licensed personal trainer on side) and have no trouble walking 18 with a very heavy bag

Weaknesses
Driver (8/10 for distance and trajectory, 3/10 for consistency and accuracy)
Sand shots (3/10)
Pre-shot routine (1/10, erratic and totally inconsistent, but I'm much better when I remember to do it, sucks having ADD)
Flexibility (2/10)
Balance (5/10)
Concentration (6/10)
3W when not teed up (2/10)

Somewhere in the middle
Chipping/Pitching
Shot visualization
Focused practice (sometimes have great focus when attempting to achieve a certain goal when practicing, sometimes aimless)
Wedges

Ideas for improvement
1. Utilize pre-shot routine in practice for every single shot after general "warm up" shots in order to create better habits that will translate to the course. Right now, when I'm actually doing it, I try to go down the list of variables that will likely affect the outcome of the shot (lie/slope, wind direction and velocity, pin position, and desired trajectory/shot shape) and then take a practice swing before getting over the ball to prepare to hit. However, I tend to rush this routine, and consequently I end up not trusting the shot before I get over the ball, resulting in a lot of mis-hits. I need to be extremely consistent and methodical in order to maximize my per shot EV.

2. Most of my mis-hits have to do with either not staying down long enough, not keeping my weight back long enough, or not getting my hands through and releasing the club if I do both of the first two. If I do these things on each shot, I play very well and have the capacity to shoot under 80 a reasonable amount of the time. However, I tend to let outside and irrelevant thoughts creep in, causing me to lose focus and forget to remind myself to do those three things before each shot. I need to block out a lot of the random thoughts and tweaks I am trying to make while playing rounds and just concentrate on those objectives.

3. Don't force the driver on days where I'm not hitting it well, and definitely don't force it on holes where it's not necessary. My driving average is over 300 yards, but the gain I get from hitting it on certain holes does not even come close to the risk of an errant tee shot. My course management ability is generally quite strong, but I need to extend that discipline to the driver as well.

4. Emphasize flexibility and balance training more aggressively in gym sessions. My physical fitness is great (I work out 7 days a week) but I have never really worked hard to improve my flexibility and balance. My weakness in these two areas often causes me to swing beyond my body's flexibility and balance threshold, creating inconsistency. Some of the exercises/stretches I plan to do are:
A. Bosu Ball lunges and squats
B. Wobble-board (circles, back/forth, side to side, etc.)
C. Core strength isolation exercises (medicine ball crunches and situps, stability ball crunches and situps, planks, etc.)
D. Hip, quad, and hamstring-specific stretches

5. Try not to play by myself as often. I tend to get a lot of time to play by myself during the week since I have a lot of flexibility with my work schedule, but I've found that I get very frustrated doing this and have a lot of trouble concentrating and pacing myself effectively to accomplish my goals. I am going to attempt to only play one round by myself per week at most, and play two balls if possible at a time in order to facilitate better pacing and concentration on my objectives for more practice.

6. Bring healthy snacks with me when I play to keep energy levels higher.

7. Relax and have fun when I play, and don't get so down on myself when I make poor shots.

Relative Stats
43
6' 2" 270ish (xmas crap)
Amateur
6 handicap

Member private course..lots of practice time former LPGA tour member I am doing short game lessons with.

Strengths
Very long driver (300+ at sea level carry with Ping G25/oban 70grm/XS

Good putter
Body like the OLD JD (taller though)

Weaknesses

Chipping,chipping,chipping... -4/10 just awfull...use the texas wedge which I am very good at lol

Club selection...come up short or to long.

Keys to success in 2015: short game short game....oh and short game.

Relative Stats
Generally older, taller and fatter than the rest of the thread
Amateur
Ended the year as 8.5 handicap, started at ~ 6.5
Minimal available practice time
Only play club competitions and the odd scramble

Strengths
Fairly consistent ball striker with irons
Driver went from significant weakness to moderate strength last year
Understanding of my game and how to manage the course accordingly
Familiarity with course

Weaknesses
Fitness (3 out of 10)
Distance (minus 10 out of 10, shortest hitter on the internet)
Pitching and chipping (2 out of 10)
Sand game (2 out of 10)
Sound, consistent swing mechanics

Somewhere in the middle
Putting (has improved from abysmal to almost average)
Accuracy with driver and irons (maybe a bit above average)

Ideas for improvement
1. The biggest and easiest improvement will be better fitness. I went from walking a lot in '12 to not at all in '13 and it made a noticeable difference. The last couple holes on my home course are essentially the most difficult but I'm sick of making doubles because I'm tired.

2. Those damned wedges. Everyone says how much they love having a wedge in their hand. Not me. If it's a sand wedge and I'm in the bunker, there's a 20% chance I'm putting it tight, 20% somewhere on the green, 10% I leave t in the bunker and 50% launched 100 yards over. I don't put pitching wedges near close enough. I also need a short game lesson to reboot my pitching and chipping techniques.

3. Learn how to hit a fairway wood. I got a SLDR 3 wood at the end of the year, hope to get it dialed in this season. It's sad but I am much, much, much better at hitting driver off the deck than I am at keeping a fairway wood in play.

4. Improved grinding. I flamed out of a match play event last year when I couldn't hold a sizable lead. I gave other people a chance to get back into the club championship by getting sloppy at the end of rounds.

My expectations are modest since I don't practice much and haven't taken a lesson in years, but I certainly could do either or both.

it's funny you mention hitting driver off the deck..

on my dad's advice i started using driver to get that 150+ yard advancement under trees and their branches. worked well.. so i started using it for slightly obscured shots on fairway, again worked very well.... was just starting to incorporate for 240 yard fairway shots at end of year. not sure of results, but never got me in trouble or anything.

i thought modern drivers were harder to hit off FW or have they got easier the last number of years.

thanks advance

I'm not sure if its easier or harder to hit driver off the deck than it used to be. I had always assumed it was impossible with modern drivers and never tried it, but last year I did it a few times just messing around and it was a lot easier than I expected.

Relative Stats
27yo
6'1 260lbs
No handicap, scoring 110~
Moderate amount of practive time
Have only started playing again recently and have a lot of immediate improvement, no rela goals playing wise. I dont have a desire for competition, just to be as good as I can.

Strengths
Putting (>15 feet) - Very good mid range putter, lots of 1 puts on course despite high scores
Bunker play
Pitching
Iron play

Weaknesses
Distance - completely lack distance, but not sure how much of that will come as I play more. Cannot punch through a headwind at all
Pre-shot routine - Didnt even know this was a thing, I just play around until comfortable and hit
Overall course strategy - Again not something on my mind
Driving - Easily my biggest weakness, struggle to hit fairways, lose a lot of balls. Getting this right will shave 10+ shots off my game straight away

Somewhere in the middle
Fitness
Lag putting - very good straight, but seem to have an issue when dealing with movement and lag putting, i end up leaving them short a lot

Ideas for improvement
1. Play more - have played about 6 rounds so far in my new golf life, and I just need to get out there and hit balls around the course

2. Coaching - Have had 2 lessons with a highly qualified coach. In the first lesson he fixed my iron play instantly and its right on point, the second lesson we worked on driving but progress has been slow, though there has been progress.

3. Driving - Need assistance to improve here, have a bad slice that I'm having trouble getting rid of. Hit lots of balls, lots of practice, lots of reviewing.

4. Distance - Get stronger and hit more balls

5. Clubs - Upgrade to fitted clubs, do an intensive fitting session with a professional and look at lots of clubs/shafts etc.

6. Course strategy and pre shot routine - Learn about these things and get some implementation going

Overall though its about playing for me at the moment, will look to play 27+ holes on the days I play, hopefully can play somewhere around 54-72 holes per week

I played all the time for 2 years, going from beginner to 12hcp. For the next 4 years I played about 8-10 times a year and usually didn't break 90. Now I'm ready to come out of retirement.

I've been thinking about my swing a lot and have spent a lot of time on the range for a couple months trying out ideas. I really think I've put my finger on my major problems so the plan is just to play a lot and see if my new swing works on the course. I really think it will and I expect a lower handicap once I begin keeping track.

For those who are interested, half of my swing improvement came from working on a single tip that I wasnt aware of before: The swing is controlled by the leading hand/arm, the trailing one pretty much just goes along for the ride. For me that was huge in terms of having my hands ahead of club head at impact.

I'm still not getting it with the driver though. Maybe I'll get a lesson to try and reconcile my swing with other clubs to that of the driver. Or maybe I'll just buy one of those new small headed 2 wood driver/fairway thingies.

This may work for you. Other people are very (right handed player) right side dominant in the swing. It all works together.

Relative Stats
37 yr old, 5'9", 175 (dropped 20+ pounds in the last 9 months or so)
Started 2014 as a 7 handicap, ballooned to an 11 in the first month and then got back down to 6.5 (lowest was 6) by the end of the season
Minimal weekly practice time available as I have to drive 35-40 minutes to the nearest grass range and don't get to my car until 6pm. I practice usually once during the week. I make it up by practicing like crazy before/after every single one of my weekend rounds.
Strictly recreational golf; I play mostly with the same group of guys one of us being a 2 handicap, the rest are between mid single-digts and 11'ish

Strengths
Fairly consistent driver of the golf ball; when I get hot, it's my greatest asset
Great short to mid-range chipper
Good green reading skills
Course management in spades
Strong legs (I walk every round and could do 36 in a heartbeat)

Weaknesses
100 to 20 yards
greenside bunker player
Absolutely terrible from fairway bunkers
Topped shots with 4wood/hybrid off the tee


Somewhere in the middle
Putting (it's hot and cold)
Long-range chipping (40+ feet)

Ideas for improvement
1. Starting in April last year I committed myself to getting back my strength. While I'm always doing things to keep in shape (biking and yoga mostly), my strength is embarrassingly low. I have been doing the Starting Strength program since April and my gains have been really good. Over this winter I'm going to do more to increase my strength and get in better cardio shape too.

2. I need to get myself in some bunkers (greenside and fairway) in the spring and dig a hole to China until I improve that aspect of my game

3. Last year I got very hung up on the asthetics of my golf swing. I have a flying right-elbow and a move at the top that looks kinda 'hitchy'. I tried everything under the sun to make it go away which lead to disastrous results early in the season. I need to get over worrying about how my swing looks and just take what I have to the course.

4. I need to recommit myself to practicing mostly short-game. I need to be able to consistently hit a green from 90 yards and in and also tighten up my circle from those distances.

The reason you are having problems with the driver is it’s not that you want the hands “in front” of the ball at impact just for the sake of it. That is missing the point of what is actually going on. That simple soundbite makes a player try to hold lag and force the hands into that position and stick the club in the ground.

What is really happening is a little more dynamic than just a single point in time. Yes, the hands are leading into impact, but more importantly they are actually moving UP from just prior to impact and through impact. That motion allows the hands to be leading into impact, but does not jam the club into the ground like so many people are rehearsing when they don’t get what is happening.

This upward movement of the hands offsets much of the downward clubhead direction into impact. This is what allows crisp wedge play, the stinger three-wood and pure irons. It allows you to hit up on the driver instead of beating down on it and wanting to buy different equipment to make up for it.

If you really want to take it to the next level that is what Bubba, Tiger, and everyone else is doing when they literally look like they are jumping at impact with the driver. This is all part of what I have alluded to that Como gets that others don't understand. More to come, but I think that watching this video is a great place to start if you want to learn about the swing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuJaSM7Kexw