What/How Did You Practice Today?

[bens197]

46 minutes ago, Jim Shaw said:

wow, great swing....

Thanks Jim 

[Willie T]

Day 22 (03 Feb 24) - Easy pitches w/8i staying with setup drill I’ve been focused on of late. 

[cksurfdude]

Been swinging my Orange Whips (yes plural) in the garage - in front of a mirror to check my positions and movements throughout the swing. Been pretty helpful .. I think...

Finally cleared up around here and dried out some today, so may try to hit the range tomorrow and even possibly walk a few holes.

[sirchunksalot]

It was a beautiful 60° day and I met up with a friend from work at the range. He hasn't played much golf over the winter and wanted to iron some rust out and I wanted to get in some quality time with the Mevo. 

I started out working on short pitches, which were my weakness the last time I played and used that opportunity to get warmed up. 

I moved on to hitting partial wedge shots and try to dial in distances from 40-80 yards. I worked on getting my hands to 8 o'clock, 9 o'clock, and full shots with my lob and sand wedges. It's only one trip to the range, but at least I have a ballpark figure to go on.

While I was mainly there to get information from the Mevo, I was also working on the feeling of my back right pocket moving towards the target at the top of the swing to help prevent swaying. 

I'm still finding that I'm getting back my speed but not getting quite the distance I had before my foot injury. More work is needed. 

Mitch had saw a drill that Butch Harmon used to make Tiger do where he paused at the top of the backswing before swinging through the ball. l thought he did a pretty good job and even saw him hit several good shots. I tried this one myself and was surprised when I made good contact. Mitch had a few shots where he forgot to pause and hit some great shots. 

We had a great time, we even took time to talk to a group of middle school golfers who were ripping the ball. One just took up the game last June and was tearing it up with the driver. I guess that could be expected since he was also a baseball player. 

I ended up the day playing a few holes in my mind on the range, it's one of my favorite things to do. 

 

[Donn lost in San Diego]

I taped some weights onto a 3w and a 1w, so they are swing weight around F5 and G or H .  I take one when I go for a walk.  I swing.  Swing.  Do sets of 10 or 15 or 20 swings working on building the core muscles by swinging , instead of exercises like Paloff press. 

[EnderinAZ]

Went back to the short game practice area and set my bucket at 7 steps again. This time with 105 balls I hit the bucket 25 times. 16 times better than the last time. The key here was changing my stance to allow less movement in the damaged shoulder. I took this stance change to the chipping green at 11, 20, and 35 steps.  At 11 steps I put 18 balls inside a 4 foot circle around the flag. At 20 it was 11 balls inside the 4 foot circle. At 35 it was 4. The big change here was the dispersion pattern. That pattern had my misses short or long (20 steps short, 35 steps long) on my target line. Another marked improvement. 

Today is taking that stance change to the range. Will bring the Garmin Approach r10 to note both distance and accuracy off the tee. It does appear my best shots come from limiting the angle an movement direction of my shoulder. Unfortunately that easy, powerful, no pain swing sends the ball a whopping 30 degrees off my target line to the right. To try and fix this I have done loads of things including buying the Lag Shot club set. They have helped immensely but my fallback shot is the off target swing.  I tried a radical change while playing the middle 4 holes of the back nine on the way home from the practice area a couple of days ago. I took my regular stance then stepped my right foot forward until the heel was equal with the toe of my left foot.  This opens my hips those 30 or so degrees. The ball explodes off my club face straight down the target line with a draw. Well it did for 4 holes anyway. Today's range session will see if I can make it repeat across my bag. 

[cjeffs12]

It’s been pretty wet here, so I’ve mainly been working on little things at home. I did get out to the range this week, and I am trying to work on some better connection and sequencing in my swing. I figure these two things I can work on slow while it’s cold and the course is wet. In terms of working on connection, I am using the connection sphere with the ProSendr. It has been very useful. The transition part has not been as fun. I am really feeling my upper and lower body resist in the takeaway, and then feeling a pause at the top. That pause at the top is a killer, but I am seeing some good things on the course. 

[Donn lost in San Diego]

2 hours ago, EnderinAZ said:

Went back to the short game practice area and set my bucket at 7 steps again. This time with 105 balls I hit the bucket 25 times. 16 times better than the last time. The key here was changing my stance to allow less movement in the damaged shoulder. I took this stance change to the chipping green at 11, 20, and 35 steps.  At 11 steps I put 18 balls inside a 4 foot circle around the flag. At 20 it was 11 balls inside the 4 foot circle. At 35 it was 4. The big change here was the dispersion pattern. That pattern had my misses short or long (20 steps short, 35 steps long) on my target line. Another marked improvement. 

Today is taking that stance change to the range. Will bring the Garmin Approach r10 to note both distance and accuracy off the tee. It does appear my best shots come from limiting the angle an movement direction of my shoulder. Unfortunately that easy, powerful, no pain swing sends the ball a whopping 30 degrees off my target line to the right. To try and fix this I have done loads of things including buying the Lag Shot club set. They have helped immensely but my fallback shot is the off target swing.  I tried a radical change while playing the middle 4 holes of the back nine on the way home from the practice area a couple of days ago. I took my regular stance then stepped my right foot forward until the heel was equal with the toe of my left foot.  This opens my hips those 30 or so degrees. The ball explodes off my club face straight down the target line with a draw. Well it did for 4 holes anyway. Today's range session will see if I can make it repeat across my bag. 

My Titleist TPI phys therapist taught me similar.  Start stance with the rear foot about 8 inches behind normal and do 10 swings.  Then place rear foot normally and take 10 swings.  Then place it about 8 inches forward, where it really starts to restrict your swing, and do 10 swings.  Then reverse the order.

 

I often practice some shots placing the rear foot almost totally behind the front foot, this challenges balance.  The rear foot is about 10 to 12 inches back, and is only about 2 inches away from the front foot.  

[cksurfdude]

Clear and sunny?

Almost no wind?

Temp went over 40?

Body feeling ok?

Pack up some practice clubs, head over to the range with the wife .. .. everything is closed down...

(On to Plan B we went for a hike with some good elevation change up and down.)

[rkj427]

Well, this afternoon the sun was shining brightly in all its glory, and the temperature made it up to 48 degrees F, so it was a perfect February day to spend more than a couple of hours at Carl's on the range.

Spent the first 40 minutes or so hitting pitching wedge, gap wedge, and sand wedge from their short game area. Off the grass and targets at distances from 40 yards to 110 yards.

Then I proceeded to go through the bag starting with short irons, moving up to eventually hitting driver. Swing still in reasonable form, especially since not being on a course since mid-November.

I did "demo" the new Cobra and Ping drivers, and with the shaft options they had on hand, not quite as good as my current gamer. Maybe some additional forgiveness, but no noticeable distance gains.

Tried a couple of Titleist TSR hybrids to see if I can get better gapping at the top of my bag, and results were promising. Will go back later in the spring when they have their "Demo Days" and see if they may be able to get them dialed in where I would put them into play. 

 

[Willie T]

Day 23 (04 Feb 24) - chips and pitches today with the 7i in the backyard, moved up to full swings using hard foam balls.  Played with ball position in stance a little - to go from high floaters to low runners.  Did okay.  

[Willie T]

Day 24 (05 Feb 24) - Bump and runs with the 5h (think bumps onto the green) - using a putting stroke, keeping the club below P2. 

[barney_bogey]

Took a putting lesson on Saturday. I probably only rolled about 10 putts in that entire hour long block of time.

We spent time discussing what drills I could work on. Strategies to read greens. Refined my putting routine. Also, I'm to start marking my ball with a target line using a sharpie.

Today I took to the practice green and spent an hour rolling putts. 360 drinks, one handed putts, lag putting. Every single putt, with two hands anyways, was read, lined up, and taken seriously.

Felt good.

There was a fella there with the exact Scotty I've been looking at. He let me hit it. Just got one and by chance that 7 footer dropped center cup and my wallet started to burn immediately. Loved the weight.

Also a stealth bomber flew over during the practice so I took that as a good sign. Will be returning tomorrow.

Cheers
B

[BobBC78]

Outdoor practice today. Worked on distance control with my SS4 C(hipper) today, hitting to targets 2 paces, 5 paces and 7 paces. Then worked on full swing form and checked swing speed with the PRGR on Driver, 5W, 5H and 8i. Today was my first time making full swings with the JumboMax Ultralite XS grips. While the feeling is quite different than standard grips, I felt like I had better control of the club and did not lose any club head speed compared with standard sized grips. 

Edited February 6 by BobBC78

[Willie T]

Day 25 (06 Feb 24) - Played 18 with my son, solid round of 80.  10 of 18 GIR, solid putting with only a couple miscues-could have easily been in the 70’s. The Odyssey Milled putter is doing the trick along with the Indi Wedges….

[ILMgolfnut]

13 minutes ago, Willie T said:

 10 of 18 GIR, solid putting with only a couple miscues-could have easily been in the 70’s.

I think that 14.3 HI is in jeopardy. Nice work!

[Willie T]

33 minutes ago, ILMgolfnut said:

I think that 14.3 HI is in jeopardy. Nice work!

Thanks - would love to see it steadily fall.  

[Josh Parker]

I got out to the course this afternoon and worked on driver and then picking some spots around the course that I sometimes hit to and worked on shaping shots. 

[cksurfdude]

So my garage has been a bit of a disaster, but finally cleared out space for the net!

Took a few swipes at the ball this afternoon - kinda sorta feel like I'm making progress with the things I've been working but...

.. well you know...

Work In Progress!

[WaffleHouseTour]

Putting putting putting... my coach has me working on bringing my elbows in closer to my body.  My mental cue is actually to have them graze my ribs.  Trying to get more "gate" action with the putter.  I've always kinda locked my elbows in place well out from my sides, so this is definitely a very different feel.  I'm trying not to look at the putter as it rocks back and forth because I see it opening and closing.  But I'll say this - my longer putts are much better.  Easier to generate more speed without pulling.  So a good start to the weeks' practice. 

[Rob Person]

5 minutes ago, WaffleHouseTour said:

Putting putting putting... my coach has me working on bringing my elbows in closer to my body.  My mental cue is actually to have them graze my ribs.  Trying to get more "gate" action with the putter.  I've always kinda locked my elbows in place well out from my sides, so this is definitely a very different feel.  I'm trying not to look at the putter as it rocks back and forth because I see it opening and closing.  But I'll say this - my longer putts are much better.  Easier to generate more speed without pulling.  So a good start to the weeks' practice. 

I recently have been working exactly opposite and pushing my elbows outward. It has helped reduce the arc in my stroke. I've gone from 9-10 o'clock exposure on follow through,  down to an 11 o'clock 

[cjeffs12]

Made it to the range last evening after work, for a beautiful sunny afternoon therapy session. I worked on my separation in the back swing with half speed pitching wedge. It felt really good, worked up to about 3/4 speed, and was really hitting it on line. Even got the 7 and 5 iron out to work on half speed swings to really test it. Not as good, but the 5 iron exposed some of my flaws. So I went back to PW, but I went down a rabbit hole and kinda fell apart. I got back to a good stopping point at the end. I’m not trying to rush these changes, but more of a gradual process in hopes that a month or two months when everything really picks up I’m better. 

[BobBC78]

Worked on full swing setup using an 8i then practiced impact using a 7 to 5 swing for about 15 minutes outside today. Started each time wiht several practice swings w/o a ball then hit a ball (about 5 yard carry, a chip really) holding the finish to check my position. 

[cnosil]

14 hours ago, WaffleHouseTour said:

Putting putting putting... my coach has me working on bringing my elbows in closer to my body.  My mental cue is actually to have them graze my ribs.  Trying to get more "gate" action with the putter.  I've always kinda locked my elbows in place well out from my sides, so this is definitely a very different feel.  I'm trying not to look at the putter as it rocks back and forth because I see it opening and closing.  But I'll say this - my longer putts are much better.  Easier to generate more speed without pulling.  So a good start to the weeks' practice. 

I've been focusing on a more natural hang with my arms.  Interesting that your coach is trying to get you to intentionally have more "gate" action with the putter.   Been doing a lot of reading of various putting instructors and my focus is on my hands/thumbs and I simply try to move my left arm straight back and then have the putter fall through the ball.   Putter itself will arc and gate based on length of stroke but it isn't a focus or anything that I think should be a concern.   I like the mental cue that he has given you. 

[Dweed]

No courses or ranges open yet. Temps have gotten above 32* for the past week or so. Headed back out to the barn and worked on consistency. Did a number of sets trying. One set I was really happy with. Others weren't bad but just not as good. Now if I could just repeat this all the time I might be getting there. But!! I did prove to myself I can do it. It is obtainable.

[donald86]

This off season I have been doing some over speed training and working on flexibility and mobility. As a small guy I'm trying to gain an edge anyway possible. 

Anyone here been doing over speed work?

[Golf2Much]

On Wednesdays, my wife volunteers at the local SPCA which is just down the road from our golf course.   I have her drop me off on the way to the shelter so I can practice for about 90 minutes or so.  Unfortunately, the "driving range" is about six mats inside a netted area about 50-60 yards long.  The balls are so bad that they don't consistently pick up on my Rapsodo launch monitor.  That's OK, because for me to score, my chipping and putting need to be on.  So I tend to spend that time at our chipping area and practice putting green.

Today, I split my time 50/50.  I typically start with chipping back and forth between two pins on the chipping green.  I'll take my wedges (50, 55 and 60 degrees) and chip/pitch to each pin with each wedge.  The green is slanted, so I get to hit up and down an incline.  After going through each wedge, I spent extra time hitting my 60-degree to close, little green to work with pin.  Since I've moved up to the gold (senior) tees, I find myself in that situation about four holes during a round.  Plus I haven't executed the bump and run technique the best lately with our elevated, false front greens. 

Then it was off to the practice putting green.  They typically have four pins, one on each corner.  Today's exercises focused on speed and break.  After some warmup putts, I picked the pin that had the biggest break around the hole.  Then at different distances I experimented with the combination of speed and amount of break to get it to the hole.   I started at about 4-5 feet from the hole and worked my way back to about 20-25 feet away.  At each distance, I played with how hard and how much break I needed to play.  I did that for about 45 minutes.

Finally, I got a text that my wife was on the way back so practice time was over.  

[Willie T]

Day 26 (07 Feb 24) - Worked on setup-preshot focused on wedge play - greenside length shots - short pitches in the 5 - 25 yard range. 

[pbclub]

On 2/6/2024 at 8:42 PM, Rob Person said:

I recently have been working exactly opposite and pushing my elbows outward. It has helped reduce the arc in my stroke. I've gone from 9-10 o'clock exposure on follow through,  down to an 11 o'clock 

Interesting. I lock my elbows to my ribs and rock my shoulders to putt. No hand movement. 

[Rob Person]

9 hours ago, pbclub said:

Interesting. I lock my elbows to my ribs and rock my shoulders to putt. No hand movement. 

I have a bunch of videos posted in the AI putter topic, and a link in my final review on page 1 to all of them. You can see my progression. I'm definitely getting more comfortable with elbows out. But my purpose behind it was to reduce my arc through the stroke. I wasn't hitting far off target with my arms naturally locked in, but it became an experiment turned towards more consistent putting.