fourwaymiss

Quick update as I'm now a little more than half-way through the second programme (Neural Drive). Speeds continue to go up and I am seeing the delta on the course as well. At the beginning of Neural Drive, I felt that the speed gains in the app weren't really translating on the course (from ~201m off the tee to ~207m). Then suddenly around session 6 or 7 of the Neural Drive programme and my distances have jumped significantly. Now, my minimum off the tee is 210-215m, and I'm regularly getting 230-240m when everything syncs up nicely.
For those who are wondering why they're plateauing, just hang in there and keep on working on it. Building strength takes time. Your body then needs time to figure out how to utilise that strength, so that takes additional time to sync everything up in your swing. The one thing my coach constantly reminds me is that even though I'm stronger, I CANNOT go out on the course and try to murder the ball. Continue to make your "normal" swing, and let the new strength and speed take care of itself.
Sharing the results of the Foundation programme and the Neural Drive programme (everything now normalised to MPH since I'm the only idiot using KPH on this forum 😉) :

I saw some comments about losing speed and then feeling like they couldn't hit a previous personal best, so I've graphed out the 2 programmes together in a line chart for easy comparison. (I've also added the trendline to help folks see the progress without the whiplashy noise).

Finally, I wanted to add my vote to the discussion around warming up prior to doing your Stack session. It is SOOOO critical that you get your body warm before you start swinging. @NB54 and @Hacker60521 said it best - you don't have to follow their warm-up routine, but please make sure your muscles are warm to avoid injury. For me, there are 3 areas that hurt the most after a session if I haven't done a full warm-up, and now I make sure I give those 3 areas extra TLC before I start my session: 
thighs and outer thighs (squats/lunges help warm these up, and knee-hugging stretches them out) neck (head rolling and looking left-right help stretch and warm up the neck) upper back/shoulders (the Stack has a great swinging hug drill that I found really useful, especially the part about changing the angle of your arms) Hope these real life data points help anyone who's quietly wondering whether or not the system helps. But like any workout programme/tool, you gotta stick with it!
 
 

Quick update as I'm now a little more than half-way through the second programme (Neural Drive). Speeds continue to go up and I am seeing the delta on the course as well. At the beginning of Neural Drive, I felt that the speed gains in the app weren't really translating on the course (from ~201m off the tee to ~207m). Then suddenly around session 6 or 7 of the Neural Drive programme and my distances have jumped significantly. Now, my minimum off the tee is 210-215m, and I'm regularly getting 230-240m when everything syncs up nicely.
For those who are wondering why they're plateauing, just hang in there and keep on working on it. Building strength takes time. Your body then needs time to figure out how to utilise that strength, so that takes additional time to sync everything up in your swing. The one thing my coach constantly reminds me is that even though I'm stronger, I CANNOT go out on the course and try to murder the ball. Continue to make your "normal" swing, and let the new strength and speed take care of itself.
Sharing the results of the Foundation programme and the Neural Drive programme (everything now normalised to MPH since I'm the only idiot using KPH on this forum 😉) :

I saw some comments about losing speed and then feeling like they couldn't hit a previous personal best, so I've graphed out the 2 programmes together in a line chart for easy comparison. (I've also added the trendline to help folks see the progress without the whiplashy noise).

Finally, I wanted to add my vote to the discussion around warming up prior to doing your Stack session. It is SOOOO critical that you get your body warm before you start swinging. @NB54 and @Hacker60521 said it best - you don't have to follow their warm-up routine, but please make sure your muscles are warm to avoid injury. For me, there are 3 areas that hurt the most after a session if I haven't done a full warm-up, and now I make sure I give those 3 areas extra TLC before I start my session: 
thighs and outer thighs (squats/lunges help warm these up, and knee-hugging stretches them out) neck (head rolling and looking left-right help stretch and warm up the neck) upper back/shoulders (the Stack has a great swinging hug drill that I found really useful, especially the part about changing the angle of your arms) Hope these real life data points help anyone who's quietly wondering whether or not the system helps. But like any workout programme/tool, you gotta stick with it!
 
 

Congrats, everyone!
I recently picked up the Stack for myself and my brother, and we've currently about ⅔ into the first foundational training program. I previously had another speed training system and didn't feel I was getting much out of it. The big differentiator is the app UI and the customised training programs you get through the app.
Look forward to comparing notes with the testers' results!

I believe so, @GolfSpy BOS or @GolfSpy SAM , do either of you still have the VCT bag cards?

Are these bag tags still available?? Would love to get me one as I just cleared 5... 

There is. I’ll work on getting it posted again, but the readers digest version is thus:
1st and ties pays out 500 points
50th and ties pays out 9 points
There is a graduated scale for all places in between. Everything after 50th gets 1 point. Most birdies and long drive for the week get 150 points on top of the points earned for placing. In theory, the most points a player could earn for any given week is 800. But that would have to be one hell of a round. 😁

Here is the long-awaited update to the season long Forum Cup points race! We have a new leader. Congrats @RoverRick on a fine season, to this point! Also, of note: there were 186 participants as of our week 14 update. To date, that has grown by 39 golfers to an astounding 225 participants playing at least one recorded round! Awesome job, folks! Keep the scores coming, as the race goes until the week of April 7th, 2024! Lastly, we are working on something for this winter that incorporates Virtual Rounds for all of you folks living above the frost line. Details to come...
  
    

 
 
 




 

Date 10/27/2023 Course Name Timberwood Golf Club Gross Score 77 Course Handicap 7 Gross Strokes over/under par 5 Net Score to Par -2 Net Score 70 Net Birdies or better 7 Longest Drive 258 Partly cloudy, breezy, and mid 70's for temperature on October 27 in Michigan made it a great day to be out on the course. Played with a co-worker and his wife, and SWMBO came along for the ride and to socialize. Course was crowded, but with this weather here it is easily understandable.
Played extremely well on the front 9, the wind increased in speed as the afternoon moved along, and some iron shots I played were to limit any big scores, rather than taking a club which could have led to trouble spots around the greens.
Also had 2 penalty strokes on the back 9 due to not being able to find the balls in the fairways due to both the large amount of leaves, and soft, mushy ground in spots. That happened on holes 13 and 18, and without those strokes would have had an even better score.
Hit 10 of 14 fairways, 9 of 18 greens, and had a total of 31 putts.
Added some pictures here of the "colors of fall" here, as I know some other forum members like them.

Date 10/26/2023 Course Name Marina Bay GC Gross Score 92 Course Handicap 14 Gross Strokes over/under par 20 Net Score to Par 6 Net Score 78 Net Birdies or better 2 Longest Drive 266 First round back after 3 weeks away from the game. Front nine started abysmally with a snowman on the par-4 first. I hit into two different bodies of water...🙈
Managed to settle down on the back with 5 GIRs, 4 pars and 2 doubles for a 43, but the damage was done after Hole 1. 🤷‍♂️
In other news, the tweaks to my putter are definitely showing progress! My alignment is much better now and I'm able to start the ball on my intended line - which means I now need to unlearn all the subconscious adjustments I've been making for the past 2 decades with this putter.
 

Good questions.
I often have the same experience w my Stack. So I took the numbers just for the GB Rainsuit and dropped the first two  and last two - kept the middle six. Went from 85.3 w dev of 0.6 to 85.3 w dev of 0.7. Lateral went from  4.8L to 2.3L no change in deviation. So - no significant difference. 
 
As to the most unincumbered swings being slower?  I’m no Iron Byron…. I wondered about that too. Mechanical mistakes and swing flaws?  I’d say getting tired but I jumped back up. 

Holy cow @WaffleHouseTour this is fire! Love the level of the detail - thanks so much for putting so much effort into this!
I have a couple of questions/thoughts on this initial round of results:
When I do my 8-10 swings on Stack, I've noticed that my middle 4-5 swings are the most indicative of my swing speed at that weight. (First few are getting used to the weight; last few are just getting tired.) How different would your results look if you only took the middle 5 of your swings in each set? I'm curious that your 3rd set - shirt and shorts - was slower than your 1st set by 1.8mph. (In my mind, this is fully unrestricted, so should be the fastest.) Do you have a sense of what was different? It's awesome to see the GB set have such a favourable set of results! And once again, thanks for taking the time to do such a detailed test and sharing of the results!

Flexibility Test
Since I was gone for a couple weeks while my rainsuit sat in a box, I feel obligated to do some catch up.  So here is my attempt to measure flexibility – does the rain suit restrict you.   I thought the best way to do that would be in a controlled environment, testing multiple “outfits”.   I did this all in my backyard using my Mevo+.  
I started with a Stack session this morning to get warmed up.  Took a break, hit five or six balls to make sure I knew where the actual club face was, and then got started. 
I did four sets of ten shots each.  For each set I was swinging my 7 iron.  I hit my 7 iron much more consistently with the driver, and as you’ll see in the videos I take the club back just as far as I would with the driver.  I don’t think the club would make any difference in flexibility, but I know from my own experience that my driver speed and mechanics vary much more.  If you look at the data, ignore the club id in the corner - I always used the 7 iron. 
My two metrics I am choosing to focus on are club head speed and lateral dispersion.  I think club head speed makes sense – can you get through the ball as fast as you could without the rainsuit.  I also focus on lateral dispersion as it may reflect if you can turn and return in the same fashion.  My tendency is to the left as you’ll see shortly.  But if I'm consistently left - that's ok - at least as far as the suit goes. 
Remember – we are not grading my swing here… Just looking for flexibility. 
 
First up, wearing a pair of Joggers and a favorite Peter Millar Quarter Zip Jacket.  
Average Club Head Speed was 85.9 mph, with a deviation of 0.6; Lateral average of 10.1 yards left, with a deviation of 5.9
 

Next up, my current ProQuip Rain Jacket and Sun Ice pants. 
Average Club Head Speed was 84.8, Deviation of 1.3; Lateral average of 6.1 left, with a deviation of 7.9.
 

Third, stripped off the jack and pants to wear just a Golf Shirt and Shorts.
Average Club head speed of 84.1, Deviation of 1.5; Lateral average of 8.0 left, with a deviation of 7.6.
 

Finally, change into the Galway Bay Rain Suit, same golf shirt under, no golf shorts, just the GB pants. 
Average club head speed of 85.3, Deviation of 0.6; Lateral 4.8L; Deviation of 10.5 
I hit a few way left – but I don’t think that is the suits fault.  
 

An observation – the GB suit on me is puffy in the chest/midsection area when I get into my golf posture.  It just kind of sticks out – bunches a bit.  I’ve got two photos here one in the GB and on in my old – notice the difference in my chest area near my lead elbow.  It kind of puffs out.  My old rain suit I have a couple Velcro straps under my arm pits that can be used to tighten the jacket and I do that.  However – clearly it did NOT hinder my swing.   Again it is super light weight. 
              
My next question is does this puffy-ness interfer with putting or chipping – something where you are holding your hands much closer to your body.  I’ll be looking at that this weekend.  
Thoughts or suggestions from the Spies?
@Getoffmylawn @Paco Chan @Bradka13
 
 
 

On August 6th I messaged @GolfSpy TCB mentioning that with the NBA now planning a mid-year tournament and the Ryder Cup fast approaching, maybe we should have a VCT mid-season tournament.  He quickly responded that we were on the same wavelength, and he already proposed a format which was the structure of this Match Play Tournament.  We quickly filled in a couple of blanks, created some structure and divided up the roles.  GolfSpy TCB would serve as the commissioner, and I would be responsible for scoring (as in the previous two tournaments).   Five days later the MyGolfSpy VCT Four Person Team Match Play Event was announced. 
To our surprise, the response was overwhelming.  Over the next two weeks, the captains raised their hands, teams were formed and creative team names and logos were developed.   Finally, as September 1st approached, captains made their pairing choices and week one kicked off with 64 golfers, 16 teams and four divisions.  I don't know about the rest of you, but I found the team banter fun to read and it made me even more excited about playing in this event!
After week one, our commissioner needed to step aside due to unforeseen circumstances.  I volunteered to be the assistant commissioner and do the scoring to keep this puppy going!  I want to thank all the captains and participants for your patience.  We made it through the last two weeks of divisional play and the semi-finals last week without a major incident!  
In reading many of the comments on this thread over the last few weeks, I appreciate all the kind words directed my way.  However, I can't take the credit.  If it wasn't for GolfSpy TCB's vision and determination, this event would not have been possible. 
So, I think it's only fitting that we dedicate this week's final matches to Commissioner GolfSpy TCB!  Without him, we would not have had the opportunity to compete with our fellow forum members from around the world in this type of match play event.  
Thank you, Commissioner @GolfSpy TCB...these finals are for you!
 

Date 09/28/2023 Course Name Otelfingen - Gelb Gross Score 75 Course Handicap 7 Gross Strokes over/under par 3 Net Score to Par -4 Net Score 68 Net Birdies or better 7 Longest Drive 282 VCT Match Play Designate Week 4 Match Play Round Apologies as this is going to be a long post, but wow this was a round!
Let me set the stage for a second to begin. Yesterday I played a warm up round. I kept score just in case weather went sideways, but yesterday we were fog locked. And by fog locked I mean couldn't see past 100 yards until 14th hole? Truthfully it wasnt that much fun as it was so hard to tell where the ball was going and it took my biggest weapon out of my hands... driver. 
Move forward to today... or more specifically last night. I think I slept for 3 hours, maybe 4 if you count rocking the little one to sleep in her chair and dozing in and out of sleep. Alarm went off at 5am with tee time being at 8am. It is Thursday so range isn't open till 9 and I had to work before going to the course. Out the door by 5:40 with clubs packed, work done by 7:15 off to the course and fight through some traffic before arriving at 7:40 for tee off. I was paired up with someone I had never played with before and he actually asked if it was okay if he could play with me. He is a 33 handicap and saw mine at 6.9 (more on that in a second), he was a bit nervous and I told him to not be as we are just here to have some fun and enjoy what ended up being perfect conditions. 
So the 6.9 - I have been playing off an 10 most the whole season. My official handicap according to the Swiss system was an 8.9, however this was based off my Canadian handicap record from 4 years ago. My app and so on which I have been using has had me at a 9.9-11.8 this season. However I played my first tournament last week (Stableford) the scores were input and when I booked I saw my handicap dropped 2 full points down to a 6.9. Do I believe it? Well in the interest of being the most possibly fair for the playoffs this is what we are going to go with. I don't know how it dropped, but it did. 
Next quickly, the course is going through a ton of renovations and there are a ton of bunkers being redone and are GUR, I did not thankfully hit into any of them. However the tee boxes are mixed because they are redoing a bunch of those as well. Again for the purposes of this the difference between course handicap from Yellow and White is a 7 and 10, for this I am going to take a 7 as the majority of the tee boxes were yellow. Only seems fair. 
Now onto this beauty and what could have been of a round (Yes you will get a hole by hole)

Hole 1: Yellow Tee box - Took 3 wood and stripped it down the middle. Roland the gentleman I played with asked why 3 wood not driver and I explained that the trees I normally aim towards with driver puts me in a lot of trouble, where 3 wood leaves me at worst 135 yards out and avoids any tree issues. Nice tee shot, slightly toey approach, but safely on the green and what was a theme a slight misread which lead to an easy 2 putt par. 

Hole 2: White Tees - Not a ton of difference between white and yellow, but ripped a drive... right into the bunker. It rolled up close enough to the lip that I had to take a wedge, play out and hope to get up and down from 70 yards. Spoiler it didnt... wasn't far off and had a 12 foot putt which just fell as it neared the hole. Another easy 2 putt, but for bogey. 

Hole 3: Yellow Tee Box: Drive of the day, maybe? Right down the middle and was left with 220 to the green. Played 5 iron and had a chip with a good angle which left me 4 feet straight for birdie. Putt made and first birdie on the card!

Hole 4: White: Been a nemesis for me as there is hazard all right hand side. I play a draw which seems to be a magnet for that hazard. Pin was at the front and stripped a 7 iron with a tiny draw, landed in front of the flag... hit the flag and rolled back to the pitch mark. Yes, devastating. Put what I thought was a perfect putt on and burned the edge for a par. Ugh. 

Hole 5: Yellow - Tee shot driver when into my bunker like I always do, its a par 5 so not the end of the world. 6 iron out and unfortunately over draw to the right hand side blocking my vision to the green. I hit a wonderful 9 iron to 15 ish feet over some trees to the middle of the green and once again another 2 putt par. 
Hole 6: Yellow: Back into the sun and hit the most toey shot I have ever hit. Neither of us saw the ball, but felt like it was okay. Hit a provisional and put that one in the perfect position. Thankfully as we walked up we found my first left semi. Caught a PW fat and ended up in the front bunker. Made the up and down and was my first real adversity of the round. 
Hole 7: White: Another fantastic drive, but into right semi. Had 150ish in and took 9 iron. Now as I was about to swing I thought maybe I should grab the 8 to clear the front bunker for sure and go right at the pin, but maybe if I just go after the 9 and draw a little I will be right of the bunker and use the slope a bit... that is what happened. Maybe caught a little thin, but worked. Middle of the green and again great pace and just off a bit on the read which mean a 2 putt par. 
Hole 8: White: Hardest hole on the course, but also my favorite. Took my 3 wood smashed down the middle to 140 yards to the green. Pin was tucked back right and once again had my trusty 9 iron which was flushed and hit to 4 feet. Made the straight birdie 🙂 Thats 2! 

Hole 9: White; Double crossed myself on a fade and hit into the bunker, hit a decent bunker shot given how crummy the bunker was and didnt make the putt. Oh well move on with a bogey and even par after 9. 
Hole 10: Yellow; Back into the sun and thinned a 5 iron so hard... lol it was terrible. Ended up being 180 yards to the green and flushed my 6 iron into the sun. Felt amazing, a little right but neither of us saw the ball. So we walked up and Roland was in the front right bunker and there was mine middle of the green pin high. Super cool! 20ish foot putt was a little short, but again simple par on the cards. 
Hole 11: Yellow- Par 5 reachable in 2 which a good drive, which I had. Was left with 200 or so to the pin and hooked the living crap out of my 5. Left myself 40 yards or so in the rough to chip on. Thankfully made the chip and putt died about 5 cm from the hole. Ugh... another easy par but really wanted better. 

Hole 12: Maybe the hardest hole on the course I think? Yellow tees and hit a simple 3 wood to the middle of the fairway leaving me about 170 into the pin. There was a greenskeeper working in the right hand bunker and I would be lying if it wasnt a distraciton. I pushed my approach a little left and thankfully stayed out of the hazard which allowed me to have a relatively simple up and down for par. Approach was perfectly pin high, just about a yard too far left which took the slope a bit. However difficult hole, par is great!

Hole 13: White: This is the hardest hole. No question in my books. I proceeded to essentially wiff a driver OB. Yikes... second drive was annoyingly good and approach was to 155 ish to 15 feet again. 2 putt, but walk away with a double. Had I not had the wiff which was just a complete mental block ... anyway. 

Hole 14: Yellow: Par 3 which I don't get along with. Hit an okay 6, but pushed a bit and left me with a chip, didnt get up and down but made a really poor effort at the putt. Another bogey on the card and almost felt like it was getting away from me as it has in the past. 
Hole 15: Yellow - DRIVER again! just a great shot. Was into the semi, but still good. Tried 3 wood, but caught a bit thin and ended up being more of a lay up. A great 50 yard high chip over the bunker to 18 feet and another close but not close enough putt. 

Hole 16: White: Another good drive which left me 130 into the flag and pumped a 50 degree over the flag and missed the green. A complete shotty duffed chip and 2 putt for another bogey. That chip I really wanted back. 
Hole 17: Yellow: Drive of the day, so straight and split the hazard on and over the new bunker. Had 100 yards in and put it to 5 feet and made the birdie. 
Hole 18: Yellow: I will admit I knew I was having a good round, but wasnt paying much attention to score. I just knew I had 3 birdies and I have never had 4 in a round. Played 140 to a left pin and hit a nice draw from middle of the green working back towards the flag which left me with another 15 ish foot putt... which proceeded to stop less than a full turn short for my 4th bridie. 
All said and done even on the front, and 3 over back with an OB ball and 2 bad par 3s for a 75. Just incredible and truly am so freaking pumped that things went this well. 

Date 09/25/2023 Course Name Golden Bear Golf Club at Indigp Run Gross Score 87 Course Handicap 15 Gross Strokes over/under par 15 Net Score to Par 0 Net Score 72 Net Birdies or better 7 Longest Drive 194 VCT Match Play Really enjoyed this round at Hilton Head Island.

Date 09/28/2023 Course Name Marina Bay GC Gross Score 94 Course Handicap 17 Gross Strokes over/under par 22 Net Score to Par 5 Net Score 77 Net Birdies or better 4 Longest Drive 279 VCT Match Play Gorgeous late afternoon round. Got paired up with an Aussie expat whose biceps were the size of my thighs and was easily smoking drives 310yd with a headwind. I'm proud that I didn't let that get into my head. But unfortunately, I had too many bad breaks on the greens again. 12 lip-out putts and 2 triples killed my round.
Despite the bad breaks, we were rewarded with a gorgeous sunset over the downtown Singapore skyline, as we played under the lights for the last 2 holes.

Date 09/28/2023 Course Name Bethpage Black Gross Score 84 Course Handicap 18 Gross Strokes over/under par 13 Net Score to Par -5 Net Score 66 Net Birdies or better 7 Longest Drive 314 VCT Match Play Designate Week 4 Match Play Round Buddy at 5 a.m.- Hey, can you bail out of the office to play the Black this morning?
Me- Like what time "this morning"?
Buddy- We go off at 9-ish....
Me- Well, you aint gotta slap me in the face with a wet mop. Hell yeah I'm in!
 

Completely 100% apologize to my teammates.  Hasn't been a good month, bowing, bocce, even darts are looking more appealing right now. 

@Paco Chan
I could use a sub this week. Missing a player. Did you happen to play?

Played blue tees on 9/22 
Was able to sneak it in at a semi-private club Friday afternoon before the tropical storm hit
 
 

Oops! Sorry for creating confusion. It was fun regardless.
Guess I'm available as a hired (water) gun if anyone needs a sub! 🤪 😆

Oops! Sorry for creating confusion. It was fun regardless.
Guess I'm available as a hired (water) gun if anyone needs a sub! 🤪 😆

Oops! Sorry for creating confusion. It was fun regardless.
Guess I'm available as a hired (water) gun if anyone needs a sub! 🤪 😆

@GolfSpy_BNG you’re correct, I thought our team was going to need a sub but it seems like I’ve been proven wrong! Either way, thanks to @Paco Chan for stepping up! 

Thanks to @J7Hawkins for inviting me to sub in for this week. I've posted my round in the Week 25 channel. I'm happy that my ball-striking, especially driver, was pretty much there. Just got in trouble on the greens - could read the speed or the breaks very wellz unfortunately.
Gross 92, net 75. It was fun though, approaching the round as a match play, rather than normal stroke. Hope I get another chance to sub, and definitely want in for the next match play event!