Season Wrap Up: 2024

Driver Yips, Failed Goals and Going Forward

Nov 22, 2024

As the Maryland golf season winds down, it feels like the perfect time to reflect on my 2024 season.

In January, I shared "My 2024 Golf Goals," outlining my ambitions for the year and the strategies I intended to use to achieve them.

Here’s what I wrote in that piece:

My Golf Goals for 2024 📋

1) Get my Handicap below 2.0

2) Average 32 Putts a round or better

3) Break 70

How Did it Go?

Not so good.

Not only did I not achieve a single goal, but I got worse.

My handicap rose to 5.9 at its peak from a low of 2.5. It would have been higher, but MSGA soft-capped me!

I didn’t break 70 or get anywhere close to my previous low.

And I didn’t lower my putts per round to 32 or below.

My irons felt off for most of the year. I struggled with topped drives for several months and even shot a 100 (with an eagle!).

Here is a quick reminder of where my game was going into this season:

Last year, my issues were fairly consistent. Driving the ball was my biggest asset at +2.4 Shots Gained over a scratch golfer. But approach shots (-1.9), short game (-0.9), and putting (-2.6) were all areas with room for improvement. (see below)

So how did I get worse?

Mainly two things:

Driver Yips
Approach Shots

The Driver let me down. At some point, I started topping drivers, which often left me with 300 yards for my second shot or penalty strokes off the tee.

What was once my biggest asset, became a liability.

This trickled into my approach game, which was already not great. Instead of having SW, PW, and a 9-iron into many greens, I hit more 6 and 7 irons or even 7-woods or 5-woods.

However, it wasn’t ALL bad.

The Positives

Even though I didn’t reach my goal of 32 putts on average, I improved my putting from the prior year. I played multiple rounds with + shots gained putting, which was a rarity in years past.

My short-game chipping and bunker game improved immensely.

Improvements in both these areas were due to a greater emphasis on practice and a more consistent setup approach with solid technique.

Shout out to Ross MacLeod and Dan Grieve for the improvements in putting and chipping!

Lessons Learned

Reflecting on my 2024 season, here’s the bottom line:

Golf is Hard

Improving your handicap isn’t guaranteed, especially when you’re already in the low single digits.

Will Zalatoris summed it up perfectly:
"Going from 10 to 5 versus 5 to 0 is like a light-year difference."

I took that reality for granted.

Moving forward, I need to focus less on specific handicap goals and more on smaller, targeted improvements that contribute to lowering scores—and, by extension, my handicap.

“Mental” Issues are Often Rooted in Technique

Whether it’s chipping yips or, in my case, driver yips, the problem may feel mental, but there’s usually a physical flaw in your mechanics.

The solution? Figure out what’s happening in your swing and address it.

Please don’t fall for the trap of thinking it’s simply a mental issue like I did for way too long. Something you are doing physically is causing the problem. The fix is technical, and it probably will not go away until you fix the root cause.

Curtis Hughes helped me solve my driver yips with a simple feel-based adjustment: Imagining I was hitting my 5-wood (a club I hit well).

This thought naturally forced me to shift my weight forward earlier, correcting my habit of hanging back too far.

What seemed mental was simply a weight-shift issue.

In-Person Lessons

This one’s tough for me, and I’m sure it is for many of you. I’ve avoided multiple in-person lessons because of the time and cost, relying instead on online lessons. But sometimes, face-to-face instruction is the fastest path to progress.

Although I like and recommend online lessons, I sometimes need immediate feedback. I hope to get a few lessons this season to clean up my driver and iron mechanics and supplement them with online lessons.

Going Forward

Despite taking a step back in 2024, I finished the season strong. I posted multiple rounds in the 70s, including a 75 that felt amazing.

My driver showed improvement—though there’s still room for improvement—and my approach shots started to come together. Coupled with my improved putting and short game, I feel optimistic heading into 2025.

I’ll be sharing an offseason post soon, outlining my plan to set myself up for success in the 2025 season. Stay tuned!

How was your season? And what are your goals moving forward?

Thank You

Thank you for reading and subscribing. If you enjoyed this piece, hit the “like” ❤️ button below and share it with a fellow golfer.

Til next time.