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Mike Lambert

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Everything posted by Mike Lambert

  1. I'm on vacation next week and had planned to rest too, have some nagging aches & pains around my left shoulder, elbow and thumb...this week ended up being pretty crazy, ended up taking it off as well. Hopefully I'll heal up a bit
  2. Interesting article! I've been very fortunate in that I've never had any issues with lower back pain, just really some occasion discomfort from sitting too long in a bad chair, that kind of thing. I've always found that some exercise involving my lower back helps when that happens, so I think my experience matches up with the article. I know a couple of guys that swear by deadlifts for lower back pain, as long as your form is correct.
  3. Thanks for mentioning that, I know I'm guilty of looking at the swing radar, probably more than I realize. Hadn't thought much about it until now.
  4. Definitely a good reminder! I definitely plateaued after week 2 of the 1st protocol (I'm on week 5 of the 2nd level now) and even ticked down a little the past 3 weeks or so and am just a little slower than I was at the same point my first time through. Since I didn't quit for the summer this year, looking forward to a bump in another, ohh...14 weeks or so Side benefit of this program: good opportunity to work on perseverance...
  5. It's easy to underestimate the effect of sleep. Even a single night of poor sleep messes me up a bit for at least a day.
  6. Just finished week 3 of level 2...overall, speed is down a little the past couple of weeks, but I think that could be a combo of hot days and humidity, plus I've been back at the gym the past 4 weeks, so maybe a little fatigue there as I transition back from being a slug. Couple of interesting things I'm noticing: My non-dominant (left) step-change swings feel great - really smooth and a nice transition from back-swing to down-swing - since I shortened my step and are quite a bit faster than dominant side swings. Now if I can re-create that on the right side, I'll be cookin' The last knuckle on my left pinkie has been sore and a bit swollen for a few weeks now, I was getting worried that it might be arthritis starting. But I think I just figured it out: I've been using a baseball swing due to some tendinitis in my left thumb, and apparently my pinkie is gripping too tightly and getting mashed a bit when I swing. Funny how compensating for one little thing can cascade to another thing. Also wanted to add that I've keep learning things from everyone's posts, that's been really helpful too. Thanks everybody!
  7. Thanks for the feedback! I had been a little hesitant to use the orange whip during SS training (I haven't swung it since starting the SS training a few weeks back), thinking that it might work at cross-purposes with the speed training. On the other hand, I do struggle a little with sequencing, and know exactly what you mean about it forcing the hip to lead, that's what I like about it.
  8. That's something I would be interested in understanding as well! I think I would alternate, but not sure if that's best.
  9. Level 2, week 2 is in the books. Due to my schedule this week, just two sessions. A little interesting in that the green sticks were down a lot (to where I was the very first week), blue down almost as much, but second fastest week yet with red. Also, I've been taking 3 swings with the driver (no ball) at the very end, and 4 of those 6 swings this have been 95 or 96 - mostly I've been in the 86 - 89 range (with the occasion 91 or 92) up to this point - very encouraging. That would be my goal speed with a ball and that is starting to seem attainable. Unfortunately, my last 3 rounds have been a real struggle all around, just feeling out of sync. Topping lots of iron shots, hitting toe and heal shots with the driver, although when I hit it well, getting more distance than I used to, so that's a positive. Hey, it ain't easy keeping that handicap so high
  10. Last winter I was swinging on concrete in my garage - at times I felt like I was unintentionally holding back a little - partly because of what @ChasingScratch mentioned about banging up the sticks and partly because the ceiling is just low enough that I am aware of it when swinging. I think if you get a good sized mat you'll be fine. Not sure why I didn't think of it for myself, I did nick the floor a couple of time (luckily I swing pretty slow, so no actual damage ). Too cold here in the winter to swing out doors late November until late March/early April.
  11. Thanks for posting that, it was really interesting. I've already completed my swings today, but will experiment with this a bit next week.
  12. Absolutely! I wasn't even an official tester in the 2018 batch, but jumped on the bandwagon after accidentally stumbling across the forum in December '18, and Daisy was kind enough to help me with several questions I had.
  13. Haven't gotten to where I can purposely shape my ball flight yet, mainly pretty straight or a bit of a slice when I try to kill it although I'm getting better at controlling that urge.
  14. Finished week 4 of the first protocol. Finally saw that elusive 120 mph on a green swing, that was pretty cool. Other good news is that the gyms in MA opened this past Monday, so I'm back on my M-W-F routine; once I get a few weeks there under my belt, hoping to see some gainzzZz. Been out of sync the last two rounds, but when I have had decent contact, definitely getting more distance - on the Arccos, three drives 200+ each of the last two rounds, only one in the first 5 rounds of the year combined. I'll never get up to anywhere near where some of you guy can hit it, but if I can get around 220-225 in the next year, I'll be pretty psyched. I going to jump to level 2 on Monday, I did a sort of variation on level 1 for a couple of weeks before "formally" starting back up...besides, I miss the kneeling swings
  15. You make a great point about how confidence level is a big part of this; for me, that's one of the biggest things I've learned from going through the protocols.
  16. Being 58, everything is a bit more ache-y than it used to be . But I have to say I haven't experienced any new soreness directly related to the SS protocols, I think because when I went through them before (Dec '18 - May '19, Oct '19 - Jan '20) I had been going to the gym on a regular basis, so it didn't seem like I was adding much additional stress. I started up again a couple of weeks ago after having halfheartedly been doing some body-weight exercises at home for about a month, but had been hitting balls into a net as well (maybe 40-50 a day, 3 or 4 days a week - having to work from home full time has been a great opportunity to practice a bit between rounds). Anyway, my left (non-dominant side) shoulder blade/upper arm area has been a bit sore, but that started with hitting balls in the backyard before starting the protocols. It hasn't gotten any worse from the protocols, and isn't bad enough to stop - I mainly feel it at night because I sleep on my side. One thing that helps is using a lacrosse ball to hit the tight spots between my shoulder blades (by lying on it). Hope that's useful.
  17. Great question! In my case, I'm really still a novice, so inefficiency in my ball striking is probably as big a factor for someone like me as speed. I kinda think getting my technique in a bit better shape is probably a better focus before a fitting, but would be interested in what more experienced players have to say about that.
  18. Good tip, thanks @SuperSpeed Golf I have the Speed Radar unit and sometimes have trouble getting swings to register, mostly on my non-dominant side with the step change - I'll give this a try.
  19. Played an interesting course Saturday, Southers Marsh in Plymouth, MA - it built around working cranberry bogs - also, it's an executive course, so pretty short (but plenty of opportunity to lose balls in the cranberries). Anyway, didn't have a lot of chance to "take off the governor" because I was having a terrible round for the first 9 or 10 holes (topping the ball all over the place), but eventually got straightened out enough where I felt comfortable letting 'er rip - and hit what I think was my longest drive yet (about 220, which is a neighborhood I'd be happy to live in, at least for now ). I forgot to start my Arccos, but one of the guys I was playing with had one, so I'm estimating based on his distance). So I'm glad I saw @revkev mention the other day Daisy's challenge to him last year; gonna keep it up now.
  20. I'm going to give that a try when I play tomorrow. I think rushing the transition gets me too, that's when my stability goes out the window and I start sliding too much
  21. You'll get there! if it's any consolation, I just looked back to my first time through the program, I didn't see any jump until the 4th week of of protocol 2, so 10 weeks in. All the sudden, I had a 6 mph jump and stayed very steady again thru week 22 (that's when I stopped for the summer).
  22. That's interesting, and matches my experience to some extent: at times, I've tried to slow down my backswing a little to try and hit the magic 3:1 ratio (I'm generally around 2.2-2.3:1 according to Zepp), but that does seem to hurt my ball striking, at least when I'm hitting into a net in my backyard. I think I'm just going to abandon that idea in favor of that rebound effect you mentioned. If nothing else, that will remove one extraneous swing thought from my crowed brain I got the Zepp when I first started playing 4 years ago, and tend to use it on-and-off, mainly in the spring - it was the first golf-training item I picked up. I may just retire it, I think it's giving me too much to think about. Maybe the most interesting info is seeing how much steeper my downswing is when there's a ball to hit than with a practice swing. Speaking of swings, I hit 110 and 113 on the green sticks Monday and this morning, so the speed is coming back in week 2. One good thing about having to work from home is that I can do the protocol in the morning between meetings. Definitely better than the end of the day. The big day will be seeing some red swings crack 100.
  23. Finished Protocol 1 Week 1 Friday with a high of 107 on a green stick (all time high last December was 119, based on my previous 2 experience, thinking another couple of weeks should get me back in that neighborhood). Aside from my putting, I played probably my best round in my short "career" Saturday. 3 drives in the 200 - 210 range - 2 years ago I would normally hit my best drives 170 - 175, so very happy. Ironically, I haven't practiced with my driver at all yet this year, been concentrating on my wedges which need even more help that my speed . My mis-hits with the driver were mainly too low on the face resulting in short but pretty straight drives - the main thing is I'm feeling more comfortable "taking off the governor" a bit as came up in some comments on Friday.
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