What/How Did You Practice Today?

[Swood1994]

Still can’t seem to stop throwing the club on the downswing. Going to try and do some cross handed swings at the range to train my trail hand to move down instead out. That and slowing my swing down to try and work on plane vs power. Hoping I can get a little more consistent and confidence back in my game. At this point in time I have no idea what the ball is going to do. The biggest positive is I’m close to the low point in my game so I can only get better from here. I’d love to get back down to where I was last year which was a 4.7. I’m currently creeping up towards the 7.5-8 mark in my handicap. 

[richk9holes]

I hit about 70 balls at the range, mostly 6i up to the new 699u 17°. Lots of good strikes shaping the ball how I want left to right and relatively straight. Found the forgiving part of the 17° more times than not.

Surprised by how easily I could manipulate the height. I knew I'd be able to hit low runners, but today I surprised myself hitting some full swings that were ~90' high that went what felt like a mile with a range ball. Also hit some scuffed balls from the shag bag and hit some with real nice carry comparable to where my driver goes if I have side spin, but far straighter.

[Ding-dong]

Yesterday despite the rain, I just practiced golf. Playing and scoring… when I hit a rotter, I practiced being positive and focused on all the good stuff.

So 2 over for 9 holes, 50% GIRs, 2/3 sand saves, 16/18 putts. Playing just a 3wood off the tee, did make some holes longer than need be. 
Still going to maintain this approach, practice swing feet closed feel the path, then widen same feel … line up and strike. 
 

I love the range, it’s a de stresser .. but I will carry on through blisters and pain which isn’t really good for me. So I need to be more careful.

[russtopherb]

I hit a small bucket before coming into the office this morning just working on making sure my wrists hinge on the backswing. It's one of the first things I need to remember to self-correct out on the course when everything starts going low and left, like what happened on my back 9 on Monday. 

[Haro]

Working on short putts inside 3 feet   Feel really comfortable going cross handed and “ramming” in the cup   Got 20 in a row. Final miss hit the rim and lip out. But most of the ones hit the back and fell in 

more confidence with drawing my irons 

I’m swinging what feels like 30 degrees to the right and my clubface is closed relative to my swing path halfway between my swing path and my target 

[chisag]

18 hours ago, Swood1994 said:

Still can’t seem to stop throwing the club on the downswing. Going to try and do some cross handed swings at the range to train my trail hand to move down instead out. That and slowing my swing down to try and work on plane vs power. Hoping I can get a little more consistent and confidence back in my game. At this point in time I have no idea what the ball is going to do. The biggest positive is I’m close to the low point in my game so I can only get better from here. I’d love to get back down to where I was last year which was a 4.7. I’m currently creeping up towards the 7.5-8 mark in my handicap. 

 

... Always difficult to diagnose anything from words and I have a feeling you may be talking about an early cast losing leverage as opposed to "throwing the club" which I think is an excellent way to play golf. I think this video does a really good job of explaining throwing a club. 


 

 

[Vegan_Golfer_PNW]

Got out at old aid I had (300 yard impact) and worked on wrist conditions, shift and hip turn. Following that did some adam young impact drills on my divot board and some slow full swings working on proper sequencing. Have a video chat/lesson with my coach tomorrow.

[NM01]

19 hours ago, Swood1994 said:

Still can’t seem to stop throwing the club on the downswing. Going to try and do some cross handed swings at the range to train my trail hand to move down instead out. That and slowing my swing down to try and work on plane vs power. Hoping I can get a little more consistent and confidence back in my game. At this point in time I have no idea what the ball is going to do. The biggest positive is I’m close to the low point in my game so I can only get better from here. I’d love to get back down to where I was last year which was a 4.7. I’m currently creeping up towards the 7.5-8 mark in my handicap. 

Throwing the club isn’t necessarily a bad thing (do you throw or twist thread on wrx). But it has to be combined with other stuff including rotation.

But without a swing guessing club is out of position in the swing and this is a compensation for it

[Swood1994]

2 hours ago, chisag said:

 

... Always difficult to diagnose anything from words and I have a feeling you may be talking about an early cast losing leverage as opposed to "throwing the club" which I think is an excellent way to play golf. I think this video does a really good job of explaining throwing a club. 


 

 

 

2 hours ago, RickyBobby_PR said:

Throwing the club isn’t necessarily a bad thing (do you throw or twist thread on wrx). But it has to be combined with other stuff including rotation.

But without a swing guessing club is out of position in the swing and this is a compensation for it

I likely used the incorrect terminology in my fit of rage typing this out. I am a “puller” and start everything with my lead hand/arm. If this gets to far outside my swing plane I have and early extension this causing open hips and open club face.

At the sake of my own dignity here is a video of an “okay” swing but still a miss to the right carrying roughly 280 for reference. Any help is appreciated.

 

 

[NM01]

15 minutes ago, Swood1994 said:

 

I likely used the incorrect terminology in my fit of rage typing this out. I am a “puller” and start everything with my lead hand/arm. If this gets to far outside my swing plane I have and early extension this causing open hips and open club face.

At the sake of my own dignity here is a video of an “okay” swing but still a miss to the right carrying roughly 280 for reference. Any help is appreciated.

 

 

You appear to be too much into your heels at setup.

Your problems all start with the takeaway which is all arms and not shoulder rotation and  hip rotation. Com in that with no vertical hinge you end up with a flat swing, arm lift to get to the top, a cupped wrist.

Because of where you are at the top and where your weight is you fire the hips and keep the hands up. You have no choice but to pull and throw the hands/arms at the ball. You early extend because your body has to wait for the hands to catch up.

Getting a better setup and learning how to have a better takeaway and backswing is going to be key to improving the issue you are facing with not knowing where the ball is going. 
 

 

[chisag]

13 minutes ago, Swood1994 said:

I likely used the incorrect terminology in my fit of rage typing this out. I am a “puller” and start everything with my lead hand/arm. If this gets to far outside my swing plane I have and early extension this causing open hips and open club face.

At the sake of my own dignity here is a video of an “okay” swing but still a miss to the right carrying roughly 280 for reference. Any help is appreciated.

 

... Your hips opening aren't a problem but your shoulders are. Without a ball your practice swing looks pretty good and on plane. But with a ball in front of you a lot changes. Just like many that play this game with good practice swings that don't happen when they are actually hitting shot. Focus on your practice swing and attempt to have the ball just get in the way of that practice swing. Do not hit the ball, just make a swing. It is a metal adjustment, not a physical one. Allow yourself to think you will not hit it as far and keep your smooth practice swing as your goal.

[NM01]

1 minute ago, chisag said:

 

... Your hips opening aren't a problem but your shoulders are. Without a ball your practice swing looks pretty good and on plane. But with a ball in front of you a lot changes. Just like many that play this game with good practice swings that don't happen when they are actually hitting shot. Focus on your practice swing and attempt to have the ball just get in the way of that practice swing. Do not hit the ball, just make a swing. It is a metal adjustment, not a physical one. Allow yourself to think you will not hit it as far and keep your smooth practice swing as your goal.

His practice swing is going to cause similar issues. It’s around him and flat and he fires the hip and is stuck and has to throw the arms/hands at the ball. Will probably have some better days than his actual swing but when the timing is off he won’t know where it’s going 

[chisag]

1 minute ago, RickyBobby_PR said:

His practice swing is going to cause similar issues. It’s around him and flat and he fires the hip and is stuck and has to throw the arms/hands at the ball. Will probably have some better days than his actual swing but when the timing is off he won’t know where it’s going 

 

... I don't usually respond to you because we have completely different ideas about the golf swing. I have no desire for a back and forth with you which invariably happens. Having taught many years I think massive changes like you often suggest are very near impossible without the watchful eye of a good instructor. Even then after working with many students, I have always believed baby steps produce better results than a complete swing over haul for 99% of those I taught. 

[BobBC78]

Putting and chipping practice at the NKGC practice green.

Putting: Started with green reading (find the straight putt), warmed up with the gate drill on 7' putts, then 4'-6' putts of different breaks (observed how the putt broke versus what I thought and made corrections), four lag putts of 20' to 60' then putt out (3-putted the 60 footer, 2 putted the others). 

Chipping: chip and run shots using putter, 8i and 5H (determined that the putter was most reliable from various distances, followed by the 5H then the 8i); then UW and SW putted out. 

[Swood1994]

@chisag @RickyBobby_PR No need to have a back and forth over my not so pretty golf swing. I appreciate both of your input and will likely use bits from both your input during my practice sessions after vacation. I tend to go through these slumps every now and again and it always nice to get outside perspective. On the same note I don't want to high jack the thread from others. Thank you both!

[Golf2Much]

On Wednesdays, my wife volunteers at the local SPCA animal shelter for a couple hours.   Since it's just down the road from my home course, I typically have her drop me off so I can get a little practice in.   Today, was like most Wednesdays, I was focusing on chipping and putting.  We have two small areas for both.  At the chipping area there're two pins, one at each end.  I chip down to the first and turn around and chip to the other.   Then I walk over to the practice putting green which has four holes scattered throughout the green.  

Today, I picked up my bag from the bag room, walked over to the chipping area and I was already sweating like crazy.  A quick check of my weather app on my phone said it was in low 90's/high 80's, 74% humidity and a feels like temperature of 106 degrees!  I dropped eight balls next to the green and could only manage three passes back and forth before it was time to move on.  At the practice green, I hit the same eight balls to each of the four pin placements.  I was sweating like crazy and knew that today's practice session was over!  

The starter happened to drive by, so I dropped my bag with him and walked briskly to the bar and cold AC.  

Needless to say, it wasn't my longest and most productive practice session.  At least I was smart enough not to overheat and ruin my game for tomorrow.  Luckily, we tee off first light where the heat index should be only 95 degrees!

[NM01]

2 hours ago, chisag said:

 

... I don't usually respond to you because we have completely different ideas about the golf swing. I have no desire for a back and forth with you which invariably happens. Having taught many years I think massive changes like you often suggest are very near impossible without the watchful eye of a good instructor. Even then after working with many students, I have always believed baby steps produce better results than a complete swing over haul for 99% of those I taught. 

They are basic fundamentals and many can do them without the watchful eye of an instructor because they can use the videos to compare. Not to mention won’t go see an instructor and choose to give things alone. I just give videos for them to reference to get the basic movements  down if they choose to make a change. But you can reference some of GaryF’s posts and a few others that have had success working on videos I pointed them to for working on their swing.

But don’t worry about a back and forth because I have no intention of replying after this one.

[Vegan_Golfer_PNW]

[Vegan_Golfer_PNW]

Had a really good video lesson with my coach today. Basically I heard similar things in past lessons so it came fairly quick. Long story on this, all the work I put in last year got over ruled doing speed work and I lost a lot of what I did. I have a plan now for better ingraining, slow repetition swings and speeding up once comfortable. Like a baby learning to walk. First they lea to roll over, then crawl, then walk, then run. Another amplify is trying to brush your teeth with your opposite hand and seeing how long it takes you to be proficient like with your normal hand. 

 

 

[RichL85]

29 minutes ago, Vegan_Golfer_PNW said:

Had a really good video lesson with my coach today. Basically I heard similar things in past lessons so it came fairly quick. Long story on this, all the work I put in last year got over ruled doing speed work and I lost a lot of what I did. I have a plan now for better ingraining, slow repetition swings and speeding up once comfortable. Like a baby learning to walk. First they lea to roll over, then crawl, then walk, then run. Another amplify is trying to brush your teeth with your opposite hand and seeing how long it takes you to be proficient like with your normal hand. 

Noticed that the first time doing speed training too, so you aren't alone on that one. It seems to be that there is a period of time where one aspect improves faster than the others, usually the case being speed increases, but it throws the rhythm out of sync and the body starts compensating for being out of positions. It's a bit frustrating to try to resync to the faster speed, especially if you are trying to see on course results at the same time. I haven't gone back to speed training consistently after that first attempt just because it was so frustrating. I went about the speed challenge a different way over the winter and so far like those results better, not sure if I will bother trying to gain any additional speed in the future, or just be fine with what I've got now.

[richk9holes]

I got to the course about an hour early yesterday and had the chance to hit into a net before my round. I think I unlocked some distance with my irons.

I have a tendency to leave the clubface open at impact, and to work on that I've been consciously trying to close the face a touch at address. Now I think I found that slight adjustment I was making great contact.

The problem being when I brought that swing on the course I grabbed my PW from 112y and hit it about 130y into the wind. On another hole I had 132y to the pin and hit a 9i 150y to the back fringe.

Now I have to learn to take some heat off these shots while still maintaining the proper tension and swing path. It's easy to get lazy when trying to swing a touch slower.

[chisag]

1 hour ago, RichL85 said:

Noticed that the first time doing speed training too, so you aren't alone on that one. It seems to be that there is a period of time where one aspect improves faster than the others, usually the case being speed increases, but it throws the rhythm out of sync and the body starts compensating for being out of positions. It's a bit frustrating to try to resync to the faster speed, especially if you are trying to see on course results at the same time. I haven't gone back to speed training consistently after that first attempt just because it was so frustrating. I went about the speed challenge a different way over the winter and so far like those results better, not sure if I will bother trying to gain any additional speed in the future, or just be fine with what I've got now.

 

1 hour ago, Vegan_Golfer_PNW said:

Had a really good video lesson with my coach today. Basically I heard similar things in past lessons so it came fairly quick. Long story on this, all the work I put in last year got over ruled doing speed work and I lost a lot of what I did. I have a plan now for better ingraining, slow repetition swings and speeding up once comfortable. Like a baby learning to walk. First they lea to roll over, then crawl, then walk, then run. Another amplify is trying to brush your teeth with your opposite hand and seeing how long it takes you to be proficient like with your normal hand. 

 

... Awesome posts from both of you and you guys have touched on what I feel is the cornerstone of improvement as I said in an earlier post. baby steps. incremental improvement. start with a teaspoon and not a shovel. 

... Jumping with both feet into Speed Training produced the same results as you Rich. I figured if I was doing the program, I should do the program. And literally speed training has you swinging as fast as you can right from the start, and then try to swing even faster than that. In theory I retrain my muscles to increase speed that I have put a governor on for 40 years. But in reality after one month my rhythm was completely destroyed and my muscles had learned to swing as fast as they can but they couldn't care less about syncing everything together. It took me about 2 months to get back to my normal swing. 

... That said, I may try again at sometime. But I will approach it like I am my own instructor and will attempt to incrementally increase my speed. Every training session try to swing just a little faster. Unless everything works I will not be swinging as fast as I can until faaaaar down the road, and maybe never. DeChambeau is an extreme example but he found a point of diminishing return in swinging as fast as he can. I think a more realistic goal for most of us is "swing as fast as you can while maintaining your rhythm and control." Trying to add 10 mph of swing speed is not on my radar (pun intended ) but adding maybe 3-5mph would be my goal. 

[Vegan_Golfer_PNW]

4 minutes ago, chisag said:

 

 

... Awesome posts from both of you and you guys have touched on what I feel is the cornerstone of improvement as I said in an earlier post. baby steps. incremental improvement. start with a teaspoon and not a shovel. 

... Jumping with both feet into Speed Training produced the same results as you Rich. I figured if I was doing the program, I should do the program. And literally speed training has you swinging as fast as you can right from the start, and then try to swing even faster than that. In theory I retrain my muscles to increase speed that I have put a governor on for 40 years. But in reality after one month my rhythm was completely destroyed and my muscles had learned to swing as fast as they can but they couldn't care less about syncing everything together. It took me about 2 months to get back to my normal swing. 

... That said, I may try again at sometime. But I will approach it like I am my own instructor and will attempt to incrementally increase my speed. Every training session try to swing just a little faster. Unless everything works I will not be swinging as fast as I can until faaaaar down the road, and maybe never. DeChambeau is an extreme example but he found a point of diminishing return in swinging as fast as he can. I think a more realistic goal for most of us is "swing as fast as you can while maintaining your rhythm and control." Trying to add 10 mph of swing speed is not on my radar (pun intended ) but adding maybe 3-5mph would be my goal. 

I fully agree. If i get back into speed work, it will be swinging my driver as fast as I can so I can make sure my ball striking is still good and focusing on good movements

[J7Hawkins]

Hey everyone, it has been a bit since I visited this thread but I really wanted to run you all through what I am practicing now that has helped my game IMMENSELY over the last few months. 

For starters, I have strengthened my grip and focused on keeping my lead wrist bowed rather than "cupped". This has resulted in more consistent contact with my irons and better dispersion and distance with my driver/3 wood. I am practicing this by taking a debit cart (or old gift card) and putting it in the back of my golf glove under the velcro then practicing my swing on the range. The card provides feedback on my wrist position as it won't let me get to a "cupped" position with our pressing into the skin on my forearm.

The next thing I am working on is keeping my driver swing hitting upwards on the ball and wedges hitting down. This alone has added 20 EASY yards to my average drive as I have reduced spin and am launching at a more consistent flight. I am doing this with my driver by keeping the "butt" of the club from getting perpendicular to the ground and ensuring I am getting my weight to my backside while keeping my head still. Then a count of pause at the top then down to the ball. With my wedges, it am trying to get just a little more steep and getting more flexion at the top, completing the backswing before leaning slightly left and coming through with the hands to hit down on the ball and create compression/spin.

 

I have a lot of work to do on both of these things, but focusing on them has cut my handicap by 5 points or so in the last month!

[JerryB]

Spent some time yesterday taking some swings with the Lagshot 7i and then also working with a regular 6 iron on taking the club back on my takeaway, trying to keep my lead arm straight for as long as possible.  The Lagshot really helps me with my tempo and sequencing, and it all seemed to carry over pretty well into my round today.

[Girldad18]

Update on my practice. Working on getting my backswing more upright. I take it back way inside. Thought I was doing better, then my wife took some videos and I noticed it was still inside. Remembered the chair drill to put beside me to keep my club from hitting it on the takeaway. I used box jumps instead but same thing. Also my setup posture is way bent over. So working on starting taller. And weight transfer to back foot on take away. 
Hit some today. Set up taller, squatted more at setup to compensate. Then the take a way I felt like my lead hand was swinging the club back. Shorter clubs were good. Once I got to the long irons, the ball flight was real low. So figured it was my weight transfer, wasn’t happening. So tried to feel like my weight was on my back foot at set up. The rest of the long irons were better. Took a sec to get the adjustment down. Then went to the driver. Previously all strikes were towards the toe, just off center. Today they were more centered. 
 

So it’s coming. Slowly. But it’s coming. Even if I don’t hit I try to do the take a way drill and feel my weight shift. 
 

Keep at it fellow golfers. Keep working. 

[RichL85]

10 hours ago, chisag said:

 

 

... Awesome posts from both of you and you guys have touched on what I feel is the cornerstone of improvement as I said in an earlier post. baby steps. incremental improvement. start with a teaspoon and not a shovel. 

... Jumping with both feet into Speed Training produced the same results as you Rich. I figured if I was doing the program, I should do the program. And literally speed training has you swinging as fast as you can right from the start, and then try to swing even faster than that. In theory I retrain my muscles to increase speed that I have put a governor on for 40 years. But in reality after one month my rhythm was completely destroyed and my muscles had learned to swing as fast as they can but they couldn't care less about syncing everything together. It took me about 2 months to get back to my normal swing. 

... That said, I may try again at sometime. But I will approach it like I am my own instructor and will attempt to incrementally increase my speed. Every training session try to swing just a little faster. Unless everything works I will not be swinging as fast as I can until faaaaar down the road, and maybe never. DeChambeau is an extreme example but he found a point of diminishing return in swinging as fast as he can. I think a more realistic goal for most of us is "swing as fast as you can while maintaining your rhythm and control." Trying to add 10 mph of swing speed is not on my radar (pun intended ) but adding maybe 3-5mph would be my goal. 

[richk9holes]

Driving range hit about 50 balls, half with wedges working on a full swing carry to about 125-95-65 with my 45-52-56° and extra work with 52° closed face chipping and 56° open face flopping. The results were quite exaggerated in being mixed. A couple of those "holy...that nearly went sideways" and about 80% nice job. Ah-kya.

Hit 1 22° hybrid that troubled me. It traveled the path that a miss with my driver might, but it felt perfect. I think this is how I'm supposed to be hitting this club but the previous 175 strikes were off the toe slightly or open face a touch. This one wasn't any of the mistakes I usually make and zoomed 200+ yards. I think of this as my 180y club that I use between 150-190 depending on factors but if I ever execute this shot on the course rather than the driving range...cold shudder, chills down the spine, etc. That is OB about half the time.

[Bang60]

Hit some balls today for the first time in 3weeks, watched a utube video of "Paddy's Golf tips" which talked about "squaring the club face at impact" I liked what Padraig Harrington said how to achieve that, and that's what I did today which worked really well for me by going to the extreme of hitting a draw and a fade by a closed or open club face any way that works easier for you. I changed my grip for either and found it surprisingly easy to do, I will keep trying to do it for awhile and see what happens

[Vegan_Golfer_PNW]

200 slow swings in the park with lesson feels. 5 practice swings and then one with a ball. Took 30 mins. Plan to also do this on the course for practice swings, then play golf. Then get a small bucket for after the round. Plan is to do this for several months and ingrain these feels.