April statistics

Start of the new season and the hope and promise has been replaced by frustration and despair, well momentarily I hope. I registered my best ever score off the whites at the beginning of the month (97) and had hoped to press on and consolidate scores in the mid 90's. However, I was having problems with inexplicable snap hooks and went to see my pro on 23rd April. St George's Day turned out to be a bit of a nightmare as I have struggled to come to terms with the adjustment he made to my grip. More on that later in the post.

Practice
Putting is still being neglected but I have racked up a lot of hours this month, mainly in an effort to bed in the new grip, improve my chipping and resolve my issues from bunkers. 19 hours and 25 minutes of practice has resulted in one very positive outcome: my chipping is much more consistent and reliable. I hope over the summer months that I can take my vastly improved technique and work on my distance control. I am please that I have exceeded Padraig Harrington's advice to spend 20 minutes a day on your short game, although I packed my time into 3 or 4 more lengthy sessions a week. In my opinion this is sound advice as my ability to score is vastly improved. The problem I have at the moment is creating those chances to score.

Distance	Time (minutes)	% of practice time
Driver	0	0%
Other Woods	0	0%
200 - 250 yards	20	2%
150 – 200 yards	95	8%
100 – 150 yards	205	18%
Short Approach	635	55%
Bunker Play	85	7%
Putting	125	11%
Total	1165	100%

Rounds
As an illustration of the impact of my latest swing change I will break down my round stats into a before and after snapshot of my lesson.The statistics below are a comparison between this month and last month as usual. Fairly consistent though still lacking the ability to convert my chances. I only had one week with the X Factor chipping technique and the nine holes I played once it had a chance to settle I scored 20 points.

Statistic	Performance	SS2 Handicap level
Fairways in Regulation	28% (29%)	22 (22)
Greens in Regulation	17% (18%)	15 (15)
Putts per Round	35.31 (35.17)	19 (19)
Birdie Conversion	0% (0%)	28+ (28+)
Par Scrambles	7% (4%)	28+ (28+)
Sand Saves	0% (0%)	28+ (28+)
Penalties per Round	1.38 (1.38)	14 (14)

The SS2 handicap level is a calculation made indicating your performance on different facets of your game.

...and then I had my lesson. Since then I have hit on 5% of Fairways and 3% of Greens in regulation. I am tking more putts (36.58), not scrambling as well (3%) and racking up more penalties (2.32). It's a statistical horror show but I guess it is part of the improvement process. Following my most recent practice session I know that the ability is there but the belief and on course focus is lacking.  I'm hopefully playing tomorrow and a chance for me to put my woes behind me and gear up for the May medal. I know I've got the game to get another cut!