What/How Did You Practice Today?

[Indy_Oz]

On 7/5/2024 at 5:02 PM, Indy_Oz said:

Heavy rain passed through this afternoon, so I was glad I'd booked some sim time to work on wedge ladders and trying to figure what I've been doing wrong with the driver. Driver is still work in progress, but felt like I took some steps in the right direction. Some videoing my swings, reviewing, tweaking setup and take away and then doing some drills to sort downswing and follow through. All stuff from lessons last year that I had saved as notes for drills and 'feels'. I'll get there.

I spent well over an hour on wedges and about 20 minutes on driver. I'm going to hit the practice areas at a local course tomorrow to get some putting and bunker and greenside chipping practice in.

My 50* gap wedge now has the same shaft as my irons (KBS C-Taper Lite XS, used to be stock S200), so I needed to rebaseline my distances. The 56* is a recent addition (switched from MG3TW to MG4TW, which comes with an S400 shaft vs old one with S200). Both the 50* and 56* felt great, but my distances have definitely changed a little, so the session was very worthwhile. I try to revisit my wedge ladder distances at least a couple of times through the season after setting baseline numbers in spring.

My putting is easily my weakest aspect of the game, so aside from getting lots of putting practice in, getting my short approach and chipping to a higher level will ease the pressure on my putting. Is it a bit OCD? Yep, but I'm an engineer looking at data and analytics every day, so I'm all in on 'marginal gains' - as coined by Sir Dave Brailsford, head coach of the British cycling teams for a number of years.lol

Positions (hip, waist, ribs, shoulder, full) are all a personal thing based on perceived position. I don't video to check, it's what makes sense to me and gives me some good gapping. I hit at least 10 shots at each position to establish approx distance. Noted distances are +/- a few yards. I'm not a pro, so I'm not worried about hitting a '43 yard carry'. Rounding to nearest 5 and expecting (or hoping for) +/-5 or so on course works well.

56* is my go to club inside 100 yards, so that's my focus, but I've been getting good success with hitting 50* for shorter approach shots. 60* is a club I don't often use, but as it's my lowest bounce - and lowest to the ground at address- wedge, there's always a chance I'll have to grab it through during dry spells.

I will be getting these onto a small laminated card to attach to my golf bag for quick reference.

 

Cheat sheet all ready for tomorrow morning's 9...

Nice to have some distances nailed down for the new wedge setup. It'll be interesting to see how the distances translate from zero-pressure sim session to the course.

[Fongle]

10 hours ago, Indy_Oz said:

Cheat sheet all ready for tomorrow morning's 9...

Nice to have some distances nailed down for the new wedge setup. It'll be interesting to see how the distances translate from zero-pressure sim session to the course.

Love this idea, I may have to steal this haha. 

Practiced some greenside distance chipping today, just in my backyard, and it was....rough. Turns out barely touching a club for a few weeks gets me very, very rusty. Was only hitting 13m-ish shots, and the first ten or so balls fell about 10m short of the chipping net I was aiming at  At least I know what I need to work on now

[Wasper007]

My daughter and I went out and played 9. My focus was taking my lesson to the course, but not worrying about my score. Flushed a few irons, one of which was a gap wedge to about 6-feet on the toughest green on the course.

[SDGolf619]

Wrong thread. Oops!

Edited July 7 by SDGolf619

[cksurfdude]

Please consult your medical professional before attempting any of the golf instructor prescribed practice drills illustrated in this video...

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C8K1PaUBJ-a/?igsh=MXRmdHlwMnFzZnl0cw==

(..omg yes it's totally hilarious!!)

[sirchunksalot]

4 minutes ago, cksurfdude said:

Please consult your medical professional before attempting any of the golf instructor prescribed practice drills illustrated in this video...

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C8K1PaUBJ-a/?igsh=MXRmdHlwMnFzZnl0cw==

(..omg yes it's totally hilarious!!)

Thanks for sharing that Chuck! It was hilarious and sometimes watching videos that pop up on social media make you feel like they're trying to contort you into all those different positions. It was hilarious!

[cksurfdude]

2 hours ago, sirchunksalot said:

Thanks for sharing that Chuck! It was hilarious and sometimes watching videos that pop up on social media make you feel like they're trying to contort you into all those different positions. It was hilarious!

Haha yeah Insta knows me well - I see surfing and skateboarding dogs and then fun golf things like that one!!

[Willie T]

Day 171 (7 Jul 24) - easy mirror work, focused on weight shift. 

[Willie T]

On 7/6/2024 at 6:30 PM, Indy_Oz said:

Cheat sheet all ready for tomorrow morning's 9...

Nice to have some distances nailed down for the new wedge setup. It'll be interesting to see how the distances translate from zero-pressure sim session to the course.

Love the cheat sheet idea as well - I have read about getting those yardages figured and taping to the respective wedge.  
 

Day 172 (8 Jul 24) Nothing that ornate today (see above) - just some PW work in the backyard with the Maltby TS-1 I recently built - ball position/ball flight correlation work - ball back (near trail foot - lower flight); ball center (mid stance - normal flight); ball forward (near lead foot - more lofted flight)…worked to stay away from “trying to help it in the air” syndrome…

[BobBC78]

Today at NKGC:

Range: Small bucket (35 balls) of which I hit 25 using half and 3/4 swings with GW, 8i and 5H to (or over) targets on the range, working on full swing motion. With the remainder of the bucket I "played holes" including a Par-5, Par-4 and Par-3 going through my full routine and living with the results of each shot. I should do this type of practice more often!

Practice green: Practiced aiming by using the line to aim directly at the hole (disregarding break) and checking with the club shaft) followed by stroking 12' putts with a goal of getting the to roll end-over-end. Finished with chip shots using 8i to GW and determining the carry to roll ratio for each.

[SDGolf619]

I took 16 balls to the chipping green near my house and practiced with my PW to see how many i could get up and down from 30 feet on a slightly uphill lie. I managed 14/16 at one point with a lot of tap-ins but mostly made more than 10 putts within 6 feet of the hole. I did this about 3-4 times and probably averaged about 75% one-putts.

When trying the same chip with the 50* wedge, I was only around 9/16 one-putts but the dispersion was so much greater at around 8 feet of dispersion, so it put more pressure on the putter. It's a good way to game-ify your practice and see what wedge statistically helps you get up and down more.

I wish I had started doing this years ago, but I also had a PW with a springy face, so it was hard to control the distance, the i230s are more of a cavity blade, so they are very consistent.

Edited July 9 by SDGolf619

[Willie T]

Day 173 (9 Jul 24) - full day painting living room, afternoon rain added up to swing rehearsals in front of mirror with 8i….

Edited July 10 by Willie T

[russtopherb]

I hit a small bucket on the range this morning to prep for this afternoon's tee time (no range at the course I'll be playing at). I found over my last few rounds that I was starting to have a false turn again on the backswing, so I focused a lot on my shoulders and making sure my rear shoulder is behind my head at the top of the backswing. Lots of great drivers, some decent irons - enough that'll let me get around the course if worse comes to worse

[Willie T]

Day 174 (10 Jul 24) - Had fun in the backyard working with the 7i and hard foam balls while using the ClawDaddy Pro White glove.  Worked on making solid ball contact first.  Tried a little trick of focusing about 2" ahead of the ball looking to start the divot mark there, i.e. not thinking about hitting the "back of the ball".  Found the drill challenging and fun at the same time. 

[ClevelandGirl]

Went to play on a friend’s sim, my usual Wednesday routine. When he’s not got any students scheduled, he usually joins in but he had a conference call. There’s a point to this story set up: he set up the course for me (no putting set up, so it’s automatic scoring,  hit the green for a 2 putt, or hit within 10’ of the flag for 1 putt). He must have been distracted and set me up on the wrong tees. I was paying about as much attention as he was and teed off on a 480 yd par 4 for some practice swings. I don’t consider myself a big hitter with my average drive now up to 190 per Shot Scope, but I couldn’t even reach the fairway. I was annoyed of course but whatever, and he started my round. I didn’t reach the fairway, of course, then had to maneuver a dogleg, and it took far too many shots to hit the green and I was resigned to hitting well but scoring a triple. The next tee required me to either layup 130 yards to the water, or carry 210 yards. 
 

Even while he was on his conference call, I hear a “that’s not right!” from behind me and my friend backs out the game to find I was set up at 6500 yards, not 4300 yards. We have a laugh about it and he restarts the sim on the correct setting for me, and hey! I hit the fairway just right past the dogleg for a solid approach, and manage a solid (for me) bogey. 
 

Fast forward, and instead of it all ending in tears from the blue tees, I “broke 90” with an 89 - my best playing on the sim. I had a steak of 5 holes where I was 1 under. Hopefully this form holds in real life tomorrow at Thunderbird Hills!

The moral of this long too detailed tortured tale is choosing the right tees. I see too many golfers (98% male) who refuse to play the “girls tees” or the “old man tees.” But my sim session shows how you can score much better when you choose the tee best for your distance game rather than choosing for your ego. Course management starts with choosing the course distance best for you. 

[Willie T]

Day 175 (11 Jul 24) - brought out the broomstick style putter (think it started life as a belly putter) this evening for some easy putting practice….may even try it on the course tomorrow if the weather holds…rain is likely…

[schooner44]

Spent about in hour hitting in my simulator. Working on tempo and swing/club path. I'm still struggling with some consistency but recent lessons have made my bad shots not nearly as bad. Once I get the consistency down, I can start working on adding distance.

[Bohnson]

Chipping and putting with the DECADE app suggestions!

[Willie T]

Day 176 (12 Jul 24) - Played in the Friday men's scramble...Had a decent day driving (steady tailwinds heading out meant stiff headwinds coming back).  Putting was a day of near misses on birdies, pars and bogies as greens were unpredictable at best.  Still a solid, for me, 88 today.  Also used the ClawDaddy gloves - Max on the front nine, Grey Pro on the back...thoughts for the day can be found here: 

 

[Michael.Sandoval33]

Range day today. Hit a large bucket starting with wedges and skipping to my 4i and swapping randomly from there. Ended with playing a couple of par 4s in my head and everything felt good today. Spent a good while on the putting green and even longer in the chipping area. Still need more work there from thicker lies. 

Edited July 12 by Michael.Sandoval33

[Indy_Oz]

Range/ practice area for a couple of hours this afternoon. 
Bucket of balls working through wedge ladders to loosen up. Then 9i-6i-7W-3H-3W-D (5 balls each). 
The rest of the balls were used to play a virtual 9 based on my childhood course in England. If I ‘missed the fairway’ or green due to shot shape, I would play a recovery shot or adapt the next shot. Picturing familiar hole layouts helps me make it into a more productive practice. 
I also worked on having a consistent and brief pre-shot routine and kept that up until the balls were gone. 
Chipping was decent. As always I worked on Dan Grieves’ 3-releases. Mostly release 1&2 from various lies and grass lengths. 
For the last 40 minutes I was on the putting green making friends with the new putter and new reverse taper grip. I hope I putt as well on course as I did on the practice green! Distance control was good and direction consistently very good. I really like the feel off the face and the new grip feels very comfortable and face control seemed pretty consistent. I made sure to hit a few deliberately off the toe and heel to test out the forgiveness. Off the toe it seems very good (my usual mis-strike), so I have a good level of confidence in how it will play. After putting on this fast practice green I need to get to Sunday’s course (the 9-hole muni I play league on) to get some more practice in  those greens, which are usually slower.

Happy Friday all. Here’s to a productive weekend and some great golf! Swing well…

Edited July 13 by Indy_Oz

[Mdrnsamurai]

I'm playing in the sand today...

one hundred shots from the sand today... and then hit through the bag on the range...

and then finished my practice on the putting like usual...

[Tom the Golf Nut]

2 hours ago, Mdrnsamurai said:

I'm playing in the sand today...

one hundred shots from the sand today... and then hit through the bag on the range...

and then finished my practice on the putting like usual...

100 out of the sand. Impressive. I hope you had sunscreen for all that time at the beach. 

[sirchunksalot]

4 hours ago, Mdrnsamurai said:

I'm playing in the sand today...

one hundred shots from the sand today... and then hit through the bag on the range...

and then finished my practice on the putting like usual...

That's a nice practice area to have a couple of sand traps to practice out of. A hundred balls is a lot and I'm sure you'll see results from such dedicated practice. I would be worn out just from raking after that many shots. 

[IndyBonzo]

Greetings Spies.

I practiced on the garage sim today.  After warming up, I hit 25-30 iron shots with the purposeful long pause at the transition point.  Then hit several mid iron shots and some driver shots working on tempo before playing 3-4 GSPro holes.  This tempo training is difficult for me.  I instinctively want to rush.  So this is important practice for me.

I felt good at first but my lower back pain on the right side came back about halfway through and tightened me up.  It costs me distance for certain.

I do have to be careful.  The garage is not air conditioned and stuffy.  Even with a fan going, I have to practice this time of year wearing rain gloves bc I sweat so much!

I stopped when FABWIFE came in to tell me the news of President Trump’s shooting.  Not how I expected my practice to conclude, to say the least.

Be safe Spies. 

[Willie T]

Day 177 (13 Jul 24) -  hit a few hard foam balls with the Tommy Armour 845s Silver Scot 7i (still love the feel and balance these irons) - working on takeaway and delivering thru the ball, not to the ball.  Slowed tempo a little as well.  Total of about 15 shots over a half hour. 

[Mdrnsamurai]

8 hours ago, Tom the Golf Nut said:

100 out of the sand. Impressive. I hope you had sunscreen for all that time at the beach. 

It was pleasant today with plenty of cloud coverage... but have on my usual amount of protection anyway...

[Mdrnsamurai]

5 hours ago, sirchunksalot said:

That's a nice practice area to have a couple of sand traps to practice out of. A hundred balls is a lot and I'm sure you'll see results from such dedicated practice. I would be worn out just from raking after that many shots. 

Chi Chi Rodriguez Driving Range in Clearwater, FL... It's a really nice set-up and right across the road from the course... Two Canopied Areas, One open area, a huge Chipping Area, Two Bunkers, and a Putting Green... As well as 5 great instructors on site and an amazing staff...

Plus Clearwater Paintball on site as well... 

[Willie T]

On 7/12/2024 at 7:45 PM, Indy_Oz said:

the new putter and new reverse taper grip

How is the reverse taper in terms of feel, control vs a typical putter grip? 

[Indy_Oz]

3 hours ago, Willie T said:

How is the reverse taper in terms of feel, control vs a typical putter grip? 

So far so good. I really like how it sits in the hand. Feels pretty natural. The pistol grip design doesn't feel as big as is looks. Laterally flattened at the bottom and vertically flattened at the top works well for me and contributes to it not feeling too big a grip.  I'm still getting used to the feel of the new putter, but the grip seems to be helping me keep the face consistently correct at impact. Feel is good too. Sure, you don't get as much feedback as a skinny, firmer grip, but for me there was sufficient feel and impact feedback. It didn't feel as detached as some of the larger diameter superstroke grips did when I tried them in the past.

I played 9 this morning at the local muni. Very slow greens after recent rain. Groundskeeper said he's toying with cutting slightly shorter to compensate as it's at the same height as last year but running slower and softer (they've not had to water the greens for more than a week) and have cut and brushed every day. Anyway, I digress...

With the new putter and grip I was hitting my line consistently, it was just the distance control with longer putts (particularly downhill pace) and read that cost me. But the putter and grip felt great. I spent 20 mins on the practice putting green after the round and left feeling pretty happy with how I was rolling the ball.

Still early days, but promising signs...