What/How Did You Practice Today?

[BobBC78]

Practiced chips out of the rough in my yard today. Also tried chipping crosshanded a la Matt Fitzpatrick. Don't think I'd use that technique on course, but it makes for a really interesting drill.

Nine-hole league tonight!

[sirchunksalot]

Today was the first day in a week the weather was nice, so I headed out to the range to hit some balls. 

I only picked up a small bucket and spent time making sure I was going through my routine and hitting balls at a target. I did start off with a couple of shanks with the wedges, but once I relaxed things with a lot smoother.

Irons were fairly crisp, the more I play the Forged Tec X the more I get confident with them. I did notice a few more strokes out of the toe, but I'll take that over the shanks.

Hybrids are so good, I love the way they feel and am confident I'm going to strike them well.

My 5 wood was good again today, but I did have some issues with the 3 wood off the turf.

Driver is so good, the Aerojet Max just performs. 

My main reason for heading out was to spend some time with the putter and the new grip, so I spent a fair amount of time hitting the distance of lag putts I would see on the course. I wimped out on a couple in the beginning, but finally found my rhythm and was knocking them close. I didn't sink anything over 20 feet, but had one lip out at 26 and was getting a lot more into make range. 

After an abysmal performance the last time I played, I'm starting to regain my confidence. 

[CSiders12]

I had a lesson today, the first lesson I've ever had. Lately, I have been struggling with my long irons and driver missing them to the right and not getting the apex height I am looking for. I like hitting a cut, but they are borderline slicing them right now. I warmed up for the lesson by hitting a small bucket of balls, mainly my wedges and short irons. I hit a couple of long irons, one with my hybrid, and one with my driver. After I was loose, I went to the lesson and worked on my longer clubs. 

We started with my 5 iron and worked on coming more over the top in my swing. At the start of the lesson, my swing was 2-5 degrees in-to-out. Since I want to hit a cut, he explained that I want to have a slight out-to-in swing with a slightly open clubface. We worked on my path and I started hitting some nice shots. By the end of working on the irons, I was consistently around 2 degrees out-to-in and hitting a nice falling fade. 

My driver was next, and lo and behold, I had the exact opposite problem with my driver. I was way too much out-to-in with an open clubface and that was causing me to swipe across the ball and create the big fade. He had me weaken my grip to relieve some tension in my forearms and set up a drill that forced me to hit under in alignment stick to shallow the club and come more in-to-out. By the end of the lesson, I was hitting my driver a pretty consistent 3 degrees out-to-in with a clubface that was open 1-2 degrees. This was causing a nice 10-yard fade, which is exactly what I am looking for. 

I practiced it for about an hour total, but then it was too hot to practice outside. I am looking forward to taking some of these drills and working on them over the next couple of weeks. I am close to getting my game where it needs to be and this is a great step in the right direction. 

[Jim Shaw]

5 minutes ago, CSiders12 said:

I had a lesson today, the first lesson I've ever had. Lately, I have been struggling with my long irons and driver missing them to the right and not getting the apex height I am looking for. I like hitting a cut, but they are borderline slicing them right now. I warmed up for the lesson by hitting a small bucket of balls, mainly my wedges and short irons. I hit a couple of long irons, one with my hybrid, and one with my driver. After I was loose, I went to the lesson and worked on my longer clubs. 

We started with my 5 iron and worked on coming more over the top in my swing. At the start of the lesson, my swing was 2-5 degrees in-to-out. Since I want to hit a cut, he explained that I want to have a slight out-to-in swing with a slightly open clubface. We worked on my path and I started hitting some nice shots. By the end of working on the irons, I was consistently around 2 degrees out-to-in and hitting a nice falling fade. 

My driver was next, and lo and behold, I had the exact opposite problem with my driver. I was way too much out-to-in with an open clubface and that was causing me to swipe across the ball and create the big fade. He had me weaken my grip to relieve some tension in my forearms and set up a drill that forced me to hit under in alignment stick to shallow the club and come more in-to-out. By the end of the lesson, I was hitting my driver a pretty consistent 3 degrees out-to-in with a clubface that was open 1-2 degrees. This was causing a nice 10-yard fade, which is exactly what I am looking for. 

I practiced it for about an hour total, but then it was too hot to practice outside. I am looking forward to taking some of these drills and working on them over the next couple of weeks. I am close to getting my game where it needs to be and this is a great step in the right direction. 

first lesson you have ever had and you are sporting a 3 handicap, good for you.... you must have great eye/hand feel. keep us updated on how your lesson seques to the golf course... 

[cjeffs12]

Swing has been feeling amazing, but hasn’t been consistent on the course yet. So today on the range I worked on course situational shots. Working on starting my short and mid irons towards the flags without crossing the flag, instead of starting close and then moving away from target. I think this will really translate to better on course performance and hitting more greens and getting closer to the pin. Then I hitting my nemesis, the putting green. I’m trying to work on my speed, so I tried a game where I have to two putt 8X in a row from 20+ feet then make a 5 foot breaking putt, if I miss or 3 putt I have to start over. I got to 7 and 8 a few times but I really struggled with speed control. I did this for an hour, but the heat and humidity really got to me. I’m really lost on putting, but it will get better. 

[Tom the Golf Nut]

Since the Cobra 50th challenge is starting up soon and has pretty much been raining since my woods wedges and putter arrived. I headed over to the range to dial them in. I took a bottle of water and an old golf towel to clean off the range balls. Yes, they are that dirty.

Worked from the wedges up to the driver and back down to the wedges. I’m getting used to them pretty quickly. Biggest surprise was the 7 wood. It performs so much better than my older Cobra 7 wood. Longer and higher. The 60 degree lob wedge is a spin demon. I found ball slivers in the grooves after each hit. No clue what the ball did when it landed. The range is so soft everything plugged. This should be interesting out on the course and fun to see what it does on the greens. Hopefully Sunday morning I’ll be out playing. 
After the range I went to the putting green. Boy did I have trouble. After the lightning fast greens at Pinehurst to the slow greens at my course. It took a bit to hit it hard enough to get to the hole.

Reads and direction were good. I was just short by three to five feet on some 15 foot putts. I eventually got the speed dialed in. 

Felt good to get out and hit the clubs.
 

[CSiders12]

2 hours ago, Jim Shaw said:

first lesson you have ever had and you are sporting a 3 handicap, good for you.... you must have great eye/hand feel. keep us updated on how your lesson seques to the golf course... 

I am pretty much self taught with the help of YouTube coaching! So many good tips and drills to work on your game. I'm hoping that with the help of a pro, I can get to scratch! 

[Jim Shaw]

1 minute ago, CSiders12 said:

I am pretty much self taught with the help of YouTube coaching! So many good tips and drills to work on your game. I'm hoping that with the help of a pro, I can get to scratch! 

you are well on your way, good luck...

[RichL85]

I've spent the last two weeks practicing the outer ends of the bag. I'm completely comfortable with mid and short irons, but the long game and partial wedges are the areas where consistency is an issue. Since I usually only take a handful of clubs with me, I've been heading to the range with 2 wedges, the 5-iron, 19 degree hybrid, and 3 wood.

I'm in a comfortable space where I feel like I know my swing. It is what it is, so to speak, quirks and all. The main things I've noticed that can throw my swing out of sync are that I need to feel like my weight is on my heels at setup, I need to feel an obnoxiously long pause at the top of the backswing, and I need to start the swing within about 2-3 seconds of getting setup. Feeling the weight in my heels helps to keep me balanced throughout the swing. Feeling like there is a Hideki like pause at the top syncs me up better and helps me to avoid getting too quick, which is especially my issue with longer clubs where my brain wants to tell me to consciously swing harder. The short time at setup just allows me to move and not get kind of frozen over the ball. So basically some constant movement of the feet and hands, settle in and minimal pause when grounding the club.

Today was the first time in awhile my course has let us hit off grass at the range, so I was pretty excited about that. 

[BobBC78]

Practiced speed control for short putts indoors on my PuttOUT matt, some cross-handed chipping (feels really awkward but low point control seems solid) then Super Speed practice. 

My putting speed control still needs a lot of work; I'll have to try the Rose Zhang putter ladder drill.

Edited June 24, 2023 by BobBC78

[MacTourney]

Too humid to play, so worked for about an hour on some things I do when sensing weight transfer and shaft pressure are not holding up their end of the bargain by becoming distant cousins.    With ball below feet, and working  shots from that lie, hitting into a fuller finish usually finds those two rascals returning back to brother and sister status. 

[JerryB]

Went to the range with my PW and 6h to try to get myself straightened out.  Failed miserably.  Booked myself a lesson for Thursday.

[Rickp]

49 minutes ago, JerryB said:

Went to the range with my PW and 6h to try to get myself straightened out.  Failed miserably.  Booked myself a lesson for Thursday.

Sometimes you just gotta get professional help, I’m sure you’ll be happy you did.

[JerryB]

23 minutes ago, Rickp said:

Sometimes you just gotta get professional help, I’m sure you’ll be happy you did.

Took two lessons last year, one of which was for this exact issue.  Got me on track quickly and hoping for more of the same.  Just difficult to pull the trigger because taking a lesson usually means one less round with family and friends.

At some point I need to be more mindful and get these things to stick but actual practice doesn't keep me engaged.  Dumb, yeah.  But...(shrugs)

[sirchunksalot]

22 minutes ago, JerryB said:

Took two lessons last year, one of which was for this exact issue.  Got me on track quickly and hoping for more of the same.  Just difficult to pull the trigger because taking a lesson usually means one less round with family and friends.

At some point I need to be more mindful and get these things to stick but actual practice doesn't keep me engaged.  Dumb, yeah.  But...(shrugs)

It'll all come along. Playing with new clubs can take a while to get used to. Plus there's always a little pressure when you're doing a testing opportunity and that can get in your head. 

[Ding-dong]

I think I am a perpetual worrier… I was thinking I have no predictability.. so go and hit 2-300 balls, I straighten it up but then I am too tired for the course!
I do have a habit of getting wide in my stance, which then gives me a random delivery. I need to remember this ! But I have decided to hit less ball, play more holes.

[Vegan_Golfer_PNW]

Looked at my sg over last ten and used that as a guide for my practice today. 
 

Sg 25-30 yards and approach 50-100 yards

Partial wedges today in my park. 36 yard shots to 3ft circle. 58/54 trying to go high and low with trajectory. Then did some face strike variation (wedges hate hosels) and some experimental practice with grip and face presentation. 
 

approach game 150-200

6i swing work today. Worked on ground contact. Then some feels from lessons working on technique  Then some face contact variation drills. Then ten shots with pre shot routine (hit some really good ones with foam balls)

putting 6-12 ft

in my house worked on putting for 20 mins at 9ft, just trying to get the ball going at the hole. I have a tendency to have my ball creep closer to center and causes a push with the LAB. Got things dialed in and a great session. My ruggable had pseudo alignment marks at the corners that help with face squareness. Also learned my living room to where I was putting has a slope of 0.3%. 

[BobBC78]

Practiced chips with my 58* and "C" wedge in the yard today. With the 58* worked on different trajectories. Interesting process, because its basically like chipping out of the rough, 

[BallsLeon]

Went to a different local course today in search of a putting green with actual holes, no luck. They had the moveable practice pins like my usual course. On the fence if this is good practice because I had a lot of trouble finishing putts during my round yesterday.

Nevertheless, we practiced. I called an audible after seeing the putting greens, and got a large bucket for the range. Goal was accuracy, and taking some notes on my distances with the rangefinder. Hit about 2/3s of the balls between my SW and PW. When it comes to accuracy these two are probably the best in my bag right now. The next 1/3 of the balls I hit with my 9i and 7i, connection was pretty but I find them harder to aim. I’ll shoot straight, but not always where I thought I was lining up to. I reserved a handful of the balls for my 5w. Was hitting a slice, but managed to correct it by the last ball for a decent hit.

Spent some time setting up 6 balls ~3ft around a practice pin, and did around 60 putts. Went alright, but we’ll see if this translates to actual holes. 

Got another medium bucket to workshop 5w and driver. Spent most the time getting comfortable with the 5w, trying to replicate the same shots without a slice. I was trying to focus on my swing and closing the face since I seem to leave it open. Once that felt comfortable I got out the driver. I don’t think I hit the same shot twice (minus my slice) but there were some decent hits mixed in there. Finished with 5 good hits in a row with the 5w.

Using the rangefinder my wife got me for my birthday, I took some notes on my current distances:

SW 50-70

PW 70-100

9i 100-125

7i 120-140

5w 140-180

Driver 160-220

[Tarheelvolvo]

Range session today really focusing on my follow-thru to make sure I'm coming all the way around the ball. I noticed last time that I was forcibly stopping my swing about 3/4 of the way on the follow-thru and thought, "boy, that's silly...why am I causing my stress to my joints and muscles??" 

New swing is really taking shape and finding more consistency across the bag, so please with the results, even if I didn't last too long out there thanks to the oppressive humidity after 5 straight days of rain in central VA. 

[ParFore74x]

Putting in the basement today, specifically working on tempo and keeping the upper body smooth. I made it interesting by using all six putters too which included blades, mallets, milled face, inserts, right-handed, and left-handed. I feel like the constant change of putters kept forcing me to slow down and get my tempo right. 

[Swood1994]

FINALLY got to the range today. It was all about the driver. I finally got the swing to click and it reverberated throughout the bag. The session started out rough as I couldn't even make decent contact with the 56°. Finally got a decent strike there and worked my way to the 7, 4, 3 wood, then up to the driver. This session was a lot of practice swings and "feels". Focused mainly on the backswing and transition. slowed the temp way down and felt my hand get to the top (3/4 swing feel), pause, then let the hands fall and rotate. This fixed my right miss and the drives were long and straight. I'm hoping I can take this to the course this week and I have a trip next week to Delaware where we are playing Baywood greens and possibly lighthouse sound. 

All in all I gained some really solid swing thoughts to take with me and I am a lot more confident in the tee ball.

[tdroma98]

Played 18 on Saturday & Sunday.  Hit the ball well off the tee and approach shots were good leaving some makable birdie putts, however putting was horrendous. Both Days! Definitely in a putting slump. Even put the "Old Master" in the bag yesterday for a total change. The highlight was draining a 48 foot putt to save bogey .  Going back to the Scotty Newport 2.  Set up putter back factory settings, as Scotty sets up - regripped with 81 gram grip and changed weights to factory set up - 15 gram weights. Going to back to old putting drills and basics. 

[GolfSpy_KFT]

Range work went MUCH better today. I implemented the advice from both @RickyBobby_PR & @Kenny B, and also implemented a drill recommended by @chisag. Thanks a ton, guys, I appreciate your willingness to offer up advice. 70% of the balls I hit today were parallel to parallel swings, and the only thought I focused on was "connected takeaway." I have been working on my takeaway all week after finding a video from Porzak Golf that stuck with me well (thanks @cnosil!). I warmed up with a few bump and run type chips with my GW, then moved to parallel swings with my GW and that single swing thought, and it clicked almost automatically. Good contact, neutral to slight draw ball flight. It didn't happen so quickly with my 7 iron, that one took some work. But once I got it going again it was nice, straight ball flight. I worked on a couple other clubs doing that, and then took some full range of motion swings but tried to feel like I was not swinging so "fast", and the ball was traveling well with good flight. I did miss some left, but reminded myself it's a work in progress and not an overnight fix. I attempted to hit a few drives at the end, which again were big left misses except one that flew well. Not going to worry about that too much and just keep working on that connected takeaway feeling. 

[BallsLeon]

Spent about an hour working on a 20-30yd shot on to the chipping green. I’ve gotten a decent feel for hitting my SW and PW from range, but working on my softer green side shots with the 60°. Focused on opening the club face, and being smooth. Setup in the rough with a bunker between me and the pin made it challenging, but I had a handful of great shots and felt more comfortable getting on the green.

Spent the rest of the time working on 5w and Driver. Working on my woods setup to correct a slice. Having luck with lining up the center of the club face slightly outside the center of the ball (away from my body). Was getting a feel for that and liking the results. So, we’ll see how it translates when I play again Friday.

[Swood1994]

8 hours ago, Jnoble89 said:

Range work went MUCH better today. I implemented the advice from both @RickyBobby_PR & @Kenny B, and also implemented a drill recommended by @chisag. Thanks a ton, guys, I appreciate your willingness to offer up advice. 70% of the balls I hit today were parallel to parallel swings, and the only thought I focused on was "connected takeaway." I have been working on my takeaway all week after finding a video from Porzak Golf that stuck with me well (thanks @cnosil!). I warmed up with a few bump and run type chips with my GW, then moved to parallel swings with my GW and that single swing thought, and it clicked almost automatically. Good contact, neutral to slight draw ball flight. It didn't happen so quickly with my 7 iron, that one took some work. But once I got it going again it was nice, straight ball flight. I worked on a couple other clubs doing that, and then took some full range of motion swings but tried to feel like I was not swinging so "fast", and the ball was traveling well with good flight. I did miss some left, but reminded myself it's a work in progress and not an overnight fix. I attempted to hit a few drives at the end, which again were big left misses except one that flew well. Not going to worry about that too much and just keep working on that connected takeaway feeling. 

I’ve been watching Porzak Golf a lot lately. Love his videos. Explained well and easily digestible. I used some of his drills for my driver session. Love seeing you take everyone’s input and act on it. It’s a shame that Some people are too closed minded to listen to other’s around them. 

[Tom the Golf Nut]

After a quick unboxing and a few photos. I ran over to the course to try out the new irons on the range. My club pro and the St Andrews  college golf coach were at the range as well as my son and I. After hitting one after another at my intended target. I was impressed to say the least with my club choice. The coach complimented me on my swing and the pro said I should play in more club tournments. Kind of felt good about that. Really like the clubs performance. Not a whole lot of room for error with such a small head. But for the most part all the strikes were centered and about 4 to 5 groves up on the face. Really noticed a difference being 1/2 inch longer in length. It was so easy to get to the ball and get it up in the air. Now I know why my miss in the past was a thin low ball. My clubs were to short.

[GolfSpy_KFT]

1 hour ago, Swood1994 said:

I’ve been watching Porzak Golf a lot lately. Love his videos. Explained well and easily digestible. I used some of his drills for my driver session. Love seeing you take everyone’s input and act on it. It’s a shame that Some people are too closed minded to listen to other’s around them. 

Agreed! I have always looked at input from others as a potentially game changing way to learn. If it doesn’t work, oh well. But when it does, watch out. Early returns are promising with what I implemented today. Just need to keep drilling the feel of that connected takeaway and then once I am to the point where I don’t have to think about it right before I start the swing, I’ll move to the wrist set that Porzak talks about all the time. For now just going step by step. I was a bit bummed the driver was still slicing so bad, but I used a Garmin R10 and attack angles were all negative numbers, so super spinny and I was swiping at it. Irons felt great though. 

[chisag]

1 hour ago, Swood1994 said:

I’ve been watching Porzak Golf a lot lately. Love his videos. Explained well and easily digestible. I used some of his drills for my driver session. Love seeing you take everyone’s input and act on it. It’s a shame that Some people are too closed minded to listen to other’s around them. 

 

... Sounds like you found someone that works for you! But I would warn everyone to be careful as it's easy to get information overload. My Southern guru told me before I started teaching "always give out infurmshun by tha teespoon, not tha shuvul". Too much information is just as bad as not enough. As the saying goes, ya gotta swing your swing. 

[Swood1994]

7 hours ago, Jnoble89 said:

 I was a bit bummed the driver was still slicing so bad, but I used a Garmin R10 and attack angles were all negative numbers, so super spinny and I was swiping at it. Irons felt great though. 

Felt like I was reading an autobiography with this haha. I have a steep AOA and usually hover between -1 and 0. I can control my spin rate to 2500-2800 but when I get lazy they sky rocket to 4K RPMs and my big push slice rears it’s ugly head. Keep grinding, looking forward to hearing about your results!