Got a lesson last night to help me through some troubles. Good stuff, but I just know I'm going to probably get clobbered in my league on Saturday. I know anytime you start making changes it takes a while to get them to take, but any tips on how to minimize the damage?

On the one hand it's never fun to get out there and struggle (and I'll definitely be struggling after dealing with some changes to my grip, setup, and takeaway), but on the other hand I don't want to let my old habits take over on the course and win out over the changes I'm trying to make.

Any tips on how to balance making changes versus trying to perform?

This may not be great advice and anyone feel free to chime in and correct this, but when I make suttle changes to my swing/grip/stance etc and I am playing a competitive round I pick my 'battles' of when to try the new swing.

Driver with wide open fairway - new swing.
200 yards to stick green over water - I may go back to my old swing.
100 yard wedge to open green - new swing.
50 yard wedge from rough carrying a bunker - might go back to the old swing.

The good news is that at least with my irons, incorporating changes have a pretty predictable result with all of them resulting in a big, big hook. Over time I think I can get it straightened out, but on Saturday on my irons I think I'll just adjust and act like I'm hitting a huge draw.

Best way to play through it is to maintain your same routine, and don't think about it. Play target golf, and focus on your short game/putting. Also probably worth going at the course with a little more conservative game plan.

Bagger - That's a tough spot to be in. I was in a similar position a few years ago when I got my first group of lessons which coincided with me playing competitive golf for the first time. I was awesome on the range, but once I got in a match, the temptation to revert back to what was comfortable was hard to overcome and I would end up "splitting the difference" which was disastrous.

Even changes you think you have ingrained break down quickly under pressure, so my advice is to try to get yourself in a frame of mind that will reduce the pressure. Much of that means lowering expectations, and to OA's point, taking a conservative approach. Sucks to struggle, but look at it as a learning step to see what you need to continue to focus on vs. beating yourself up over it during the round.

Just got out to the range at lunch. Driver is a mess but 3-wood works okay. Spent most of the time working on hitting 1/2 or 3/4 swings with mid irons. Tomorrow I'll just dial back expectations and plan on playing to the front of a lot of greens. Maybe some bump and run when I can.

They cancelled the tournament this morning because they were scared of the rain that never showed up. Ended up just playing a little money game with three other guys from the club who showed up anyway and won even without playing my best.

Stayed committed to the grip adjustment throughout the round and didn't think about much else. A few iron shots were top ten most pure irons I've ever hit, though so that's encouraging.