Getoffmylawn

Happy Anniversary bro!

So I'm doing a little panicking/freaking out right now. I have a shoulder injury that could potentially sideline me for the season. Long story short, Thanksgiving week I was snowboarding at Keystone, took a fall, and my left shoulder felt a little stiff for the next day or two after. I didn't think anything of it, went back to my gym routine the following week, and noticed the same stiffness but no loss of strength or range of motion. After about a month in the gym, I took a week off to go on another road trip with the family. When I got back to the gym, something wasn't right. Pressing movements hurt, and I normally do cable external and internal rotations with 15 pounds on the stack, largely to build strong and healthy rotator cuffs. I could barely do 5 with my left arm, and as I type this I have a persistent ache and some odd range of motion issues...I can move it in every direction but some angles come with some pain. And, if I stretch it out (arm across the chest, pulling the arm into me with the other arm) I get about 3-4 pops and clicks from the shoulder. If I have rotator cuff tendinitis, that's about a month of rest and that will drive me crazy, but I can be a big boy and deal with it. If it's a tear, I could be staring at a surgery that will cancel my golf season. I've been icing the hell out of it and I'm finding a little less pain as I explore the range of motion, so hopefully it's just inflamed and I'm slowly bringing that inflammation down. I'm going to see the doctor on Tuesday, and I would think that will lead to an X-Ray or (hopefully) MRI....really really hoping to not lose an entire season. Prior to this my speed and weight training was really paying off. I hit new SuperSpeed PRs (145 C Club, 139 green) and really feel like I can have a great year. We'll see. Fingers crossed.

Definitely interested. A military move this summer makes things pretty tough, but I'll be following and hopefully I can make it work.

Glad you found the review helpful! I've been at Offutt for 5+ years; I'll PCS this coming summer. How many rounds at Willow Lakes? Too many to even think about counting! It's a gem of a course...Robert Trent Jones Sr. design for a military course is unheard of. I'm two strokes away from finally breaking par there...really hoping I can get it done before July (roughly when I think I'll be moving). I hope you do sign up for Foundations; circle back here and let us know about your experience; and welcome to the forum.

I may be breaking AMA rules here but…question #2: I have weight trained (primarily for hypertrophy) for nearly 20 years. Over the last 6-12 months I have moved towards complex training, pairing 1-3 reps of a heavy compound movement at 85% of my 1RM, with an explosive movement like sprints, box jumps, medicine balls slams, etc. (With 3 minutes rest between the compound lift and the explosive move.) However, I seem to be getting injured more often doing this…I fought golfers elbow for a large portion of last season, and I am now dealing with rotator cuff tendinitis. Would you advise a 43 year old like me to go for lighter weights and more reps in those compound lifts to maybe combat this? Any other thoughts on injury prevention? Thank you!

Well said. What is the cause for that toe contact…have you ID’d it and have a fix? When I struggled with that it was basically early extension and standing the club up at impact.

The answer is always new equipment! My sticks are about the same as yours, and I agree...a 45 PW has become the "new traditional" and 46 is probably considered weak in this day and age. (Right or wrong who cares...Dear God I hope this doesn't open your thread to a loft-jacking debate.) It looks like you're still getting enough spin, but I would agree that you are probably in a place where you really don't want to hit your clubs any farther than you are. (I'm assuming you're comfortable with your gapping and distances in all your wedges.)

Nice numbers. Your Sub70 699 Pro's...strong or more traditionally lofted? The 7 iron, for instance...?

I roll a lot of putts with my left hand only (I'm right handed). I'm pretty sure my right hand takes over my stroke a bit and I end up closing the face a little when it does take over. The left hand only strokes are a Stockton drill and help me learn to let my lead hand control the face with the right hand more along for the ride.

Uh, taken @chisag! And you all did see Golf Digest ran a commercial during the NCAAF championship last night pushing the Hot List, right? Maybe not a "bad" commercial, but I'm less than impressed with the product to say the least...

Thanks for doing this Mike! A bit of a different question: I followed along and was impressed with your significant reduction in your handicap...5 to a +1 in a year is a tremendous accomplishment, congrats! What's next for you in your own golf pursuits, where do you see the greatest opportunity in your own game for improvement, and how are you getting after that?

GREAT post. This team has clearly been working hard and provided some quality no-nonsense insight. @Tony Covey MGS’s willingness to opine that Callaway has probably gone to the well one too many times with the new Rogue line, for example…gold. You won’t find that kind of candor among the pandering of other sites/publications.

Awesome to hear you were able to get to the root of the problem. Now, how will you solve it? Were you prescribed specific exercises or an overall regimen to pursue?

Been off the forum a bit and on the road...spent the last week driving over 3.2K miles and hitting some national parks. Went to White Sands National Park and the White Sands Missile Range, Carlsbad Caverns, Guadalupe Mountain National Park, and Big Bend National Park. I'm beat. Wife has it in her head we need to see all of them. 11 down...53 to go!

Happy New Year spies! Looking forward to a great year on the course, and on this forum. My best to each of you in the new year.

Anyone care to post names of any forum members that win? I’ll be curious…can’t watch live…

That’s exactly why I said “hoping for”!

Well if you’re thinking about it, a TPI mobility assessment might be a good place to start. Obviously I don’t know your issue, but some simple low-weight/resistance band work can often do wonders to strengthen and rehabilitate the rotator cuff, which is often at the heart of a cranky shoulder.

Starting to stress the pending move a bit. Being an active duty officer it’s unheard of to stay in one place for 6 years, so I have no complaints and knew eventually I’d have to move on, but taking down Christmas lights yesterday it dawned on me it was the last time I was going to do it at our Nebraska house, and it’s becoming hard not to think that way about a lot of things. My kids are 8, 6, and 4…this place is all they’ve really known, and I’m really hoping I can get them to embrace the adventure of a move rather than lament leaving. Still no idea where to. Hoping for Langley AFB in Virginia or San Antonio, although I’m hearing back to the Pentagon is a possibility. (Please Lord, no!) In 21 years, I’ve never correctly predicted where I’m going next, so why I bother to guess is beyond me. Anyway, sorry to vent that all here, just on my mind more and more as the summer approaches. Won’t know anything to a certainty until March….

Great, now I’m going to feel damn guilty if you ever post about feeling tired with a few holes to go….

This has been a fascinating read and even more so in the last few posts. All I can say is Derrick probably is guilty of a few too many cooks in the kitchen that is his golf swing, but show me someone who isn’t guilty of that?? Whether it’s jumping from one instructor to another, trying the last golf magazine swing tip we read, or a new training aid, many of us maybe would have been better served with a few less voices and influences. That said, the value of a quality instructor is in the diagnosis as much as the prescription. If you don’t believe that, take a lesson that is captured on video and I promise you, you will understand what “feel isn’t real” means. Magazines, forum tips, etc can offer you cures for a ball flight issue, but there is no way to know it’s the cure for YOUR ball flight issue. A quality instructor is one who can diagnose why YOU miss the way you do. I for one think Derrick’s on the right track to align with one instructor and stick with him, and look forward to when he can take the technique work to the course, play golf instead of golf swing (which we are all guilty of at some point), and break into the 80s!

Can that shoulder not be rehabbed/strengthened so that you can eventually give the training a try?

Little surprise from the wife…

Merry Christmas to all my fellow spies!

In! Now I get to be excited and motivated, until I get halfway through the season and realize I’m not very good at fantasy golf…like bringing a knife to a gunfight.