I shot my best round - thank you shorthitter

I seldom post but I need to give credit to my coach shorthitter aka Allen Kelly for what he has done to my game.

I started golf in 2005. Before AK, I have been to at least 10 coaches but my standard of golf is still very poor. It was so poor that I could not break 100. I just go to range and hit balls without knowing what to do, what to practice, what to focus etc etc. There are just so many swing thoughts going on in my mind.

From GR, I get to read about shorthitter.
When I started with him, I'm impressed. He pass me a student's handbook, give me a doc on what to practice during ranges, give me another doc on what are he exercises that I can work on to improve my swing. In between lessons, he will email me doc on the drills that we work on in the range. Often times, we will exchange emails, sms on all things related to the swing. He will sometimes sms me and ask how are things. When I did not do according to what he say, he will SCOLD me.

He focus a lot on short game, he keep asking me to be patient as he cannot work magic. Swing change takes time, and while we are making swing changes, we need to make sure we are also posting respectable scores, this is where short game comes in.....he will say

He emphasize a lot on positive range practice. He will demand I go thru proper swing routine for every shot during range practice....of course when I did not do it, sure kenna scolding.

I have been with him since last Nov. I have a more reliable and repeatable swing now....and most impt of all, I think my short game has improved quite a bit.

My official hcp is 13.7
Last Fri, I shot 78 at NSRCC Navy Army off the white tee.
I got 1 birdie and 11 pars.
The birdie is a long putt.
About 50% of the pars came from GIR and the other 50% came in the form of 1 chip 1 putt.....

I know this is a day where all things went right.
But I'm quite sure that without the positive practice (accuracy training) and emphasis on short game, I will not be able to achieve this result.

Thank you coach.
I'm not sure when I can break 80 again.
But I'm sure if I continue to practice positively, I will slowly but surely get there.

Wow..that's a remarkable achievement Skybobo..Congrats!!!

Good for you bro!!!

Savour the best day you had!

AK is a friendly, easygoing guy and VERY passionate about what he is doing.... That's why you get scolding...

Awesome stuff! Keep it up!

weesern wrote:

AK is a friendly, easygoing guy and VERY passionate about what he is doing.... That's why you get scolding...

haha....I dun mind getting the scolding cos I know this is a true guy who is concern abt his own students

To the rest, thanks for all the well wishes

congrats Bro........wishing you more and more to come

skybobo wrote:

weesern wrote:

AK is a friendly, easygoing guy and VERY passionate about what he is doing.... That's why you get scolding...

haha....I dun mind getting the scolding cos I know this is a true guy who is concern abt his own students

To the rest, thanks for all the well wishes

totally agree to this...

skybobo, im impressed with your determination and hard work too.
congrats to the good score and achievement.

congrats, and being to analyse precisely how you broke 80, means you already know how to do it! I am sure you will post more low scores in time to come!

Most excellent. Thumbs up!

jurongtiger wrote:

Good for you bro!!!

Savour the best day you had!

you should say, your score is coming down steadily as well!

Even though I have no coach like shorthitter, but you have helped me much with me being a lot more conscious with the bunker saves and the short chips from 30 yards now.

To everybody: More pars and less putts bogeys!!

ghoonk wrote:

jurongtiger wrote:

Good for you bro!!!

Savour the best day you had!

you should say, your score is coming down steadily as well!

Congrats on breaking 80! It is no mean feat!

congrats for your 78, army/airforce is not a easy course......

Actually can I also ride on this thread to thank Shorthitter

I was privellege enough to happen to have a game with SH part of the flight. First thing first, I am bloody amazed with the fact that he actually kept track of my game eg. GIR,etc etc....and of coz, none of the numbers look promising. If anything, I should stay away fm the game and focus on gardeniinng

But the one observation he gave was my setup and a tip to go along with it, and I am pleased to say that since then, I am no longer suffering fm real aching bad pain after game....to the extent I had upgraded fm graphite to steel shaft now....

so while I might still be accidentally doing 'gardening' on the golf course, but no pain....

thanks SIR

awesome! You put in the hard work and with good coaching, what a difference in your game/scores. Talk about being inspired!

I'd like to ask skybobo, and other good golfers here, folks with low hcap (there are a lot in GR). What was your practice routine to see significant drop in your scores?

1. How many holes did you play in a month?
2. How many hours/month you put in honing your long game at the range?
3. How many hours/month you put in honing your short game?
4. How many hours of pro lessons did you take?

Wah bro... planning to become pro ah?

Bro Pushslice, I'm only a mid hcp.
There are many low hcp here. Darenlim, Slinger, Mowen...just to name a few.

IMHO, in order to post good scores, there are few things to take note:
1. Keep your tee shot in play, you do not have to muscle your drive, as long as its in the fairway, its ok. A 180m drive in the centre of the fairway is much much better than a 230m drive in bunker, rough. Its not how u drive, its how u arrive

2. Keep away from trouble, do not be hero. If u know u cannot 2 on, then play for 3 on. Dun have to try and chiong over water and incurr 1 shot penalty.....and end up 4 on......every shot counts

3. Know your distance. For those holes that you cannot GIR, try to play your 2nd shot to a comfortable distance so that u can take out your favourite approach club and hit it with accuracy to the green to allow you a shot at par (it doesn't mean we always have to hit our longest club on 2nd shot).....remember, GIR is important, but to be 3 on near the pin is equally important as well

4. Take adv on Par 3. Even if u cannot 1 on, its ok. You still can chip it near the hole for par. That is why chipping is so so important

5. Focus on putting. Most of time when we 3 putt, its because we screw up on the 1st putt. Practice your lag putt so that u will minimise 3 putting.

There are a few more here and there but I will try to answer your following questions....

1. How many holes did you play in a month? - I play min 4 rounds a mth
2. How many hours/month you put in honing your long game at the range? - I go to range once a week. Its not the frequency that matters, its the effectiveness of the practice. For long game, I focus on accuracy.....swing and know confidently that the ball will fly generally the direction that I want it to go
3. How many hours/month you put in honing your short game? - I allocate at least 30mins to 45mins for each range session. I focus mainly on chipping to various distance
4. How many hours of pro lessons did you take? - it depends on which stage u are in.....are u doing a swing change, are u a beginner, are u working on specific things etc. But regardless of which stage, pls do not make your lesson an expensive session whereby u engage the pro to see you practice

Bro, the above are just my personal opinion.
It may or may not work for you.
Besides your swing, there are many things that will affect your game.
Your personal ego, your course mgt, your mental strength......

Jia u

+1 on review on shorthitter. Even till today, he is still providing remote guidance - more like a friend than a coach, and you can see that he truly wants to see his students improve!

Thanks guys ( n girls Moonie) Happy for Sky bobo it is finally working... after every range session I get 2 page email and 4 text messages.....

skybobo wrote:

Bro Pushslice, I'm only a mid hcp.
There are many low hcp here. Darenlim, Slinger, Mowen...just to name a few.

IMHO, in order to post good scores, there are few things to take note:
1. Keep your tee shot in play, you do not have to muscle your drive, as long as its in the fairway, its ok. A 180m drive in the centre of the fairway is much much better than a 230m drive in bunker, rough. Its not how u drive, its how u arrive >>>> Keep a]

Congratulation ! skyboo. Hard works did paid off. Thank you for the tips ... I am a beginner but sometime happened last Sunday. I won a overall best net trophy. I will post my score card & pic later tonight under " I am new in this forum " .. talking about mental .. I almost "dead" on Sunday.

Welcome all and your comments.

Im answering this in all honesty.

1. How many holes did you play in a month?
3-4 x 18 holes
2. How many hours/month you put in honing your long game at the range?
24 - 30 hrs
3. How many hours/month you put in honing your short game?
6-8 hrs
4. How many hours of pro lessons did you take?
2 hr/month

many thanks skybobo, noted the post from shorthitter about quality/positive practice, and I really took that to heart. People mention hard work, but i was curious how much "quality" hard work is required to make good progress (in your case). Currently doing similar practice routine so I guess I'm on a right course, except that I don't play often. Once a month, twice if i'm lucky

wmf, no lah bro, dun have the talent nor the time required to reach skybobo's level. Dont even mention bro slinger/mowen. Playing to the usga hcap avg of +14 consistently is my holy grail bro..

Alamak....any hope with the following:


1. How many holes did you play in a month?
1 x 18 holes ( max = 2 ...like this month)
2. How many hours/month you put in honing your long game at the range?
0 hours
3. How many hours/month you put in honing your short game?
0 hours...but if you include virtual simulation using mirror...then will be 2 hours a week
4. How many hours of pro lessons did you take?
0 hour......although I read the monthly golf magazine....

OK....I better tone down my expectation and be a realist.