What/How Did You Practice Today?

[Willie T]

Day 145 (10 Jun 24) - Worked on preshot setup, and initial takeaway - hitting a few hard foam balls in the process.  

[Michael.Sandoval33]

Hit the range today, worked on irons except for a few driver swings. Was focused on sitting into my down swing and rotating but it was a really tough showing. A lot of fats, a lot of tops, a lot of pulls. Maybe 5 good shots out of the whole basket. Don't know where my iron game has gone in the past couple of weeks but it left town without notice. From the video I recorded, my hands on the back swing were just terrible as well. No flatness at the top and a really open face.

So, back to the drawing board for that.

Plus side, spent over an hour just putting, had great success after taking some advice from @Steve F over in the L.A.B. testing thread about my right index finger placement. Definitely made a huge difference in my control of the club. 

Qi10 Max on the few drivers I hit were as good as any day so far, good distance, some fade to the right but still getting so much better in that department. Just need my irons to stop being a nuisance

 

 

[TJ Hall]

Played putt putt with the family this evening (not true practice)…the concrete covered felt was rolling almost as fast as Royal New Kent!

Little one is still trying to figure out what side of the ball she wants to stand on…and might have some field hokey in her future.

Both kids did get a hole in one though, so they were super excited!

[BobBC78]

2-hours of practice today at the NKGC range and practice green. 

Range: Worked through a medium bucket (about 70-balls) on 9-to-3 swings with 9i, 8i, 7H and 6H, followed by 6 balls of full swing driver, checking impact (still needs work) and finished with 30-60 yard wedge shots with PW, 50* and 56* wedges. 

Putting green: Practiced 20-yard chip shots with ChipR, 50* and 56*, followed by ten 15' to 20' putts on different holes, going through my full routine. I sunk two and got all but two past the front edge of the hole to a maximum of 4'. I got this drill from Adam Young's book "The Practice Manual". 

[Rob Person]

I need to get on the range! If possible,  preferably one with tracking data!

Only wish we had ones utilizing real grass over the fake mats!

My work GC has grass ranges, but no data!

I am consistently 10-20 yards longer with the Stix irons than I ever have been before!

I will be in a bay on Friday though for a data session.

[Mdrnsamurai]

on the range again... short iron (8i) warm-up and then through the bag... followed by some short chips and pitches...

then 20 shots with the driver to finish the session off...

[Willie T]

Day 146 (11 Jun 24) - long day of travel, but managed some mirror work in hotel room. 

[cksurfdude]

Not a great practice from a ball striking perspective but good with respect to getting in more reps on the "better" movement patterns I've been working on. 

Getting more comfortable with wedge distance control .. my range sessions are typically a *lotta* wedges .. but still need to keep refining my aim when I get to 40 and 50 yards.

Full swing clubs kept hitting a bit heavy / behind the ball .. was not doing as well with the pressure shift / movement there today...

So went back to doing a bunch of feet together slow full swings until I got the feel of a better turn and better pressure shift.

Then a bunch of putting, alternating between longer lags and varying distance shorter putts to a cup with varying breaks on different sides. 

Realized there that I'm still struggling to keep my hands quiet, I.e. keep the wrists from rolling open on the back stroke .. which forces me to roll them back in the through stroke .. so way too much face rotation going on...

So put more focus into the feel of keeping the putter face more square to the target line for longer .. both back and through.

So yeah it's all still a very big ... Work In Progress!!

Edited June 12 by cksurfdude

[Matherly11]

Practiced over 100 shots today with my Garmin R10 into the net at my house and I don’t know what I’ve changed but I’m almost pulling everything 10-30 yards left and anytime I try to straighten it out I just go way right. 3/4 and half swings just barely go right. My grip is neutral and swing plane is pretty consistent from -2-2 but club face is staying closed when I make a full swing. Tried to watch some videos to find out what I’m doing and haven’t been able to correct it. I’m going about 150-155 carry 8 iron with on average 15 left deviation.

[TJ Hall]

18 hours ago, Rob Person said:

I need to get on the range! If possible,  preferably one with tracking data!

Only wish we had ones utilizing real grass over the fake mats!

My work GC has grass ranges, but no data!

I am consistently 10-20 yards longer with the Stix irons than I ever have been before!

I will be in a bay on Friday though for a data session.

You can buy one!

Or, after seeing the Franken-cart, sure you can develop one from some thrift store finds!

[Lafn96]

Have really been trying to improve lately by hitting pitch shots, wedges and short irons every day.  This morning was the absolute worst I've done with 40-50 yard pitches in the last few weeks; same with hitting 100 yd wedge shots - so frustrating.

[Willie T]

Day 147 (12 Jun 24) - resort where we’re staying has a sweet 9 hole putt putt course…what better way than to roll the ball on some decent artificial greens that are not greased lightning but also not humpy lumpy.  Had decent pace on the ball…and still lost to my grandson by 3 strokes….

[Mdrnsamurai]

At the range again today and it didn't go well... hit through the bag and my shots were horrible... 

losing them right, losing them left, even topped some... it was not a good session at all... 

moved on to some bunker shots which was a little better...

and then finished off on the putting green working on speed control from 4ft...

back at it again tomorrow...

 

[TJ Hall]

Spent 15 minutes just swinging a club, working on a new feel…will put it to the test this weekend.

Also, spent about 30 minutes putting.  Feeling a bit more comfortable with the putter again after the last few outings were rough.

[Tom the Golf Nut]

Geez, I practiced by watching others practice at the US Open. Just sitting there watching the pros warm up on the range was eye opening. Effortless swings and throwing darts. The drives were insane. 
It just shows me how much I need to work on my game. 
Going again tomorrow for more pain and suffering.

[TJ Hall]

3 minutes ago, Tom the Golf Nut said:

Geez, I practiced by watching others practice at the US Open. Just sitting there watching the pros warm up on the range was eye opening. Effortless swings and throwing darts. The drives were insane. 
It just shows me how much I need to work on my game. 
Going again tomorrow for more pain and suffering.

Enjoy your time there!

[cnosil]

19 minutes ago, Tom the Golf Nut said:

Geez, I practiced by watching others practice at the US Open. Just sitting there watching the pros warm up on the range was eye opening. Effortless swings and throwing darts. The drives were insane. 
It just shows me how much I need to work on my game. 
Going again tomorrow for more pain and suffering.

I always loved going on practice days and hanging out at the range and putting green.  It is just amazing to watch. 

[rkj427]

On 6/11/2024 at 9:37 PM, cksurfdude said:

Not a great practice from a ball striking perspective but good with respect to getting in more reps on the "better" movement patterns I've been working on. 

Getting more comfortable with wedge distance control .. my range sessions are typically a *lotta* wedges .. but still need to keep refining my aim when I get to 40 and 50 yards.

Full swing clubs kept hitting a bit heavy / behind the ball .. was not doing as well with the pressure shift / movement there today...

So went back to doing a bunch of feet together slow full swings until I got the feel of a better turn and better pressure shift.

Then a bunch of putting, alternating between longer lags and varying distance shorter putts to a cup with varying breaks on different sides. 

Realized there that I'm still struggling to keep my hands quiet, I.e. keep the wrists from rolling open on the back stroke .. which forces me to roll them back in the through stroke .. so way too much face rotation going on...

So put more focus into the feel of keeping the putter face more square to the target line for longer .. both back and through.

So yeah it's all still a very big ... Work In Progress!!

@cksurfdude Chuck, any thoughts on maybe trying a different putter grip, either on your gamer or an older model hanging around?

@Tom the Golf Nut Tom had the new "reverse taper" Golf Pride grip on his during the Kingsmill trip, and although the bottom of the grip is larger, the top felt and appeared to be "normal sized" and it is touted as designed to keep hands and wrists quiet during the putting stroke.

Just thought I would throw this out there.

[sirchunksalot]

7 hours ago, Tom the Golf Nut said:

Geez, I practiced by watching others practice at the US Open. Just sitting there watching the pros warm up on the range was eye opening. Effortless swings and throwing darts. The drives were insane. 
It just shows me how much I need to work on my game. 
Going again tomorrow for more pain and suffering.

Enjoy the misery, Tom! Glad you made it there and hope you have a good time walking around that beautiful course. Pinehurst looks like it's going to eat some of those guys alive. 

[Prodigal Duffer]

Been working on my irons a fair amount the last couple of months. It is really starting to pay off - last two (nine hole) rounds, my strokes gained for approach was positive. And, generally just hitting the ball a lot better. I've noticed that my miss tends to either be a pull or a hard draw. I know that I need to work on not flipping my hands. I also need to work on "swinging right," which my instructor told me to do two months ago.

So, yesterday got out and hit some irons. Focused on not flipping and swinging right. What a difference! Hitting the ball generally on the line I want, very few pulls, and no hard draws. Will continue to drill those two components.

My driver play has been mediocre as of late. Plan to do some work on that in the weeks upcoming.

[edingc]

Great lunch range session today focusing on two things:

1. Swinging as fast as I can.
2. Keeping the club head in front of me.

The two go along hand-in-hand because if I keep the club in front of me, I can stay in balance on my downswing and swing fast while hitting good shots. If the club gets behind me (probably from me rolling arms open in the backswing) I can't swing all that fast, and if I try, I lose my balance and hit terrible shots.

Was a pretty successful session and hope to continue to see more improvement in both areas. 

[Dweed]

On 6/11/2024 at 8:16 PM, Rob Person said:

I need to get on the range! If possible,  preferably one with tracking data!

Only wish we had ones utilizing real grass over the fake mats!

My work GC has grass ranges, but no data!

I am consistently 10-20 yards longer with the Stix irons than I ever have been before!

I will be in a bay on Friday though for a data session.

What the heck are you complaining about there Rob. Track and accept that the new sticks are working for you my man. 

[Rob Person]

12 minutes ago, Dweed said:

What the heck are you complaining about there Rob. Track and accept that the new sticks are working for you my man. 

No complaints,  just completely floored by the difference! My mind wants to understand WHY there is so much gap between the stix and my clubs. How much is the shafts, the heads, the increase in speed, etc.

[cksurfdude]

20 hours ago, rkj427 said:

@cksurfdude Chuck, any thoughts on maybe trying a different putter grip, either on your gamer or an older model hanging around?

That's really interesting that you mention that - there's a busybody staff/member/teaching pro (I dunno he does everything including constant schmooze) at the club who walked by me as I was putting and said almost the same thing - he thinks that larger putter grips make it harder .. not easier as I'd, uhh, assumed .. to keep the hands quiet....

So yep putter grip shopping is ON!!

Thx for that!

...........

In other practice news had a decent session today! Felt like I was making a better turn back .. and moving better .. and so making better contact. Generally. (.. yes - still a work in progress...) 

Another key I keep working on is to (pardon the French ) SLOW THE F*** DOWN!!!

I still have a bad tendency to rush into the downswing .. cutting short my turn back and my transition .. and of course that's when not so good stuff happens....

So had some success with that today just need to take it to the course (please please please!).

Also worked on some putting and the quiet hands/wrists thing.

[Willie T]

Day 148 (13 Jun 24) - 2nd day at resort, LegoLand Fl, so another day of a using the mini golf course to work on pace and break on the “greens”….

[RHB75]

Played 18....concentrating on center contact. And then practiced hitting chips out of thick rough at home

[buckpillar]

17 hours ago, sirchunksalot said:

Enjoy the misery, Tom! Glad you made it there and hope you have a good time walking around that beautiful course. Pinehurst looks like it's going to eat some of those guys alive. 

@Tom the Golf Nutjust remember they get to do that everyday, wish we could do that.

[Mdrnsamurai]

had a fitting today and man was it eye-opening... 

I honestly believe I found the absolute perfect irons for me... The fitter had me try the Mizuno MP 245's and they were brilliant... distance, control, forgiveness, the whole package... It honestly felt like an extension of my arm...

and then we moved on to the Driver and Woods... which ended up being the Callaway Ai Smoke Max which no joke added 20 yards to my carry... it was 10.5* with the Ventus Velo Blue Shaft and was booming them... 260+ in the air... crushed the 3W and 5W as well... 

it was a really productive day...

[alexchung]

Had a 45 min putting lesson with the Pro at my home course today. Felt that I have left a lot of putts on the course over the past month or so (say out of 3 putts, I would hole one, miss one short, miss one long and had some alignment and green reading issues)

Technique was otherwise ok, but the Pro noticed that I was taking it back too short and then used a hit/strength/speed of stroke to get the ball to the hole. So worked on a longer backswing but stop the putter from going past my left foot on the follow through and also focused on the tempo of the stroke as well. As for pace, we worked on making sure that the ball died at the hole rather than dead weight or having it go a foot by. After the lesson I spent another hour on the green working on this and putting/aiming to a tee on the ground to help me focus on my aim and line.

 

Edited June 19 by alexchung

[Dweed]

23 hours ago, Rob Person said:

No complaints,  just completely floored by the difference! My mind wants to understand WHY there is so much gap between the stix and my clubs. How much is the shafts, the heads, the increase in speed, etc.

Careful not to go down that rabbit hole, you may end up having to give up your day job to get the time to figure out "why am I hitting better?"