A Rough Round, a Slower Backswing, and a Reason to Keep Practicing

I knew today would be a difficult day to score. Cold, rain, and wind will do that. But what bothered me afterward wasn’t the weather. It was how poorly I felt I was striking the ball.

Playing my home course, Saddleback Golf Club, I finished with a 92. The round summary showed 34 putts, 17% greens in regulation, and 50% fairways in regulation. It also recorded a round without a three-putt—a positive worth keeping in view.

I wasn’t seeing the distances or ball flight I expected. A 4-wood went roughly 230 yards with a helping wind. Too many shots felt like I was lifting the ball instead of hitting through it, producing a higher flight without the distance to match.

There was one encouraging stretch: a three-quarter 8-iron that traveled around 165 yards with a more penetrating flight and started on line. Then I repeated it with another good strike.

That was something worth bringing home from an otherwise frustrating round.

Back to the drills

Later that afternoon, I returned to the iron drills I had been doing a few weeks earlier, when my irons were working much better.

The session was organized around blocks of 10 shots:

• Pitching wedge: One-arm swings, focusing on keeping the lead arm straight.
• 8-iron: Seventy shots working through familiar drills, including feet together, the TRS Slider, rolling the egg back, pausing at the top, double-pump and step-through movements, and a towel behind the ball.
• 4 driving iron: Ten punch shots.
• Gap wedge: Ten partial swings with a target around 100 yards.
• 7-iron: Ten full swings to finish, without a training aid or drill.

The drills gave the session structure. But the most useful observation was simpler: I felt much less rushed.

I was working toward fuller swings during the drills, yet the takeaway wasn’t to swing harder. Slowing the backswing and giving myself a better transition felt like the biggest difference.

What happens when the drill goes away?

The final 10 shots mattered because they were normal 7-irons. No aid, no special setup—just a slower backswing and a better transition.

That is the part of practice I want to pay attention to. A drill can help me find a feeling, but eventually I have to put the aid down and hit a golf shot. Then I have to take that feeling to the course, where there’s a target, a consequence, and plenty of time to overthink both.

Today gave me a useful cue to take into that next test.

It didn’t prove that I had solved my iron swing. One afternoon of practice can’t tell me that. But it reminded me that familiar drills can still be useful, especially when I give myself enough time to make the swing.

What I’m taking into the next round

I don’t want to stand over the ball trying to remember every drill from this session.

Give the backswing time, then transition without rushing.

The weather made today difficult. My ball striking made it frustrating. Getting back to purposeful practice afterward gave me something concrete to work with.

The next step is finding out whether I can carry that same patience onto the course.