What/How Did You Practice Today?

[Willie T]

Day 105 (28 Apr 24) - easy afternoon of short chips with the 9i (20yds or less).  Was nice to just watch the ball fly and roll to or just beside the target point.  

[BobBC78]

Chipping - 12 shots each with my 58* SW (carry about 14-yards) and 50* GW (varied the back swing length to vary the carry) focusing on turning back and through and making good contact.

Putting - Worked on developing a routine to get into my setup consistently. Based on my poor short putting in my league this past Friday, my next trip to the practice green will include practicing 4' to 6' putts. 

[sirchunksalot]

I didn't a little time on the range today mainly focusing on staying connected with partial wedge shots. The short game has been a bit off lately and I wanted to see if I could make better contact and have better control on those in between shots. 

I was making crisp contact and seeing fewer left misses by staying connected through the swing and letting my body do the work. 

My longer clubs need some work, once I got longer than 7 iron, it all went downhill. I actually erased my 5 wood shots from the Mevo since I didn't have a single solid strike. 

My driver was just ok, I only had 1/5 shots that would not have been playable.

I still need to work on strike as the SS and carry distance aren't where they need to be. 

 

[russtopherb]

First range session of the year is in the books. I mostly hit wedges and short irons to just get things to come back to me along with a few drivers, then spent some time in the short game area with my son putting and chipping. 

[Steve F]

Overall had a great day on the course. Still compiling data for the Spider / L.A.B. DF3 comparison. Got to Fox Hollow at the crack of dawn to do some pre-game work with the Spider which was "eh" overall. Did my normal setup for comparison setting my markers at 3', 5', 7' and 10'. Then went out and played 18, which the front 9 my putting was, for some reason, way better than normal.  Four 1 putts on the front? Never, ever happened before, VERY happy with that. Then, the back nine I kinda fell apart a bit... I had at least three putts that were rim shots that just didn't want to fall.... shot a 43 on the front and a 49 on the back. Once we were done shooting 18, went right back to the practice green, setup the markers again and went through the paces once more.

 

The positive thing about the misses is that I'm not leaving myself long putts like I have in the past: my dispersion is close to the pin so the second putt isn't from Timbuktu... I'm very curious and excited to compare all this with the DF3: how much difference will the L.A.B. style of putting change my putting game? So, practice is definitely making "better"... and anxious to see what improvements the DF3 will help make in my game as well! 

I hope everyone had a great weekend and that golf was part of yours! Hit 'em straight MGS Nation!!! 🏌

[Byrnzee]

I went to the range today to work on my swing after some inconsistent play on the course yesterday. One of the things I was focusing on today was keeping my right arm tucked more on the backswing to promote a more connected swing. I've also learned that feeling like I'm bending at my hips more has helped me to get a better turn at the top.

I also used the ProSENDR training aid to ensure I was reaching a good position at the top of the backswing as well as staying connected to start the downswing. I was really happy with how I was hitting the ball and hoping I can translate that feeling onto the course next weekend!

[THE GOLF GUY]

Went to the range today and worked on 5,6&7 irons . As crazy as it sounds , I was working on a punch 5 iron @170 yards , punch 6 iron @ 160 yards and a punch 7 iron @150 yards . A commitment to tempo and trust is a must .

[ILMgolfnut]

On 4/27/2024 at 3:31 PM, GolfSpy MPR said:

The Stack tells me I should be able to swing a driver 120+, and I can—as long as there's not a ball in front of me.

Which ties right into my practice session tonight. Drove four hours to Charlotte this afternoon, went to my normal range there after arrival, but they close at 6 on Sunday. Fortunately, a half mile away is a place called The Golf Village, which not only has a range open after 6 but a lighted 9-hole pitch and putt. Considered a pitch and putt round but given the amount of time since I'd hit a ball (9 days ago), thought I'd do the range instead, and set up the Garmin.

My Rypstick training tells me I should be able to swing 85ish right now. Tonight I hit one with an 83 mph swing, and straight. Which is not to say that it's exactly what I wanted. Peak height was only 36 feet and backspin was 1900; those two things are related. Angle of attack was absolutely level. Most of my drives were line drives, which work great in Scotland with the wind and the hard courses, sometimes not so well over here. But I think I'll leave my sweeping swing alone until I get back from Scotland in July. I'd much rather hit a bullet that bounces down the middle than a high hook or a higher banana.

Edited April 29 by ILMgolfnut

[cksurfdude]

45 minutes ago, ILMgolfnut said:

My Rypstick training tells me I should be able to swing 85ish right now. Tonight I hit one with an 83 mph swing, and straight. Which is not to say that it's exactly what I wanted. Peak height was only 36 feet and backspin was 1900; those two things are related.

Reading on my phone so not seeing sigs/ witbs, so not sure what driver setup you're using...

But FYI if you have not seen it check out the "Otto-Phlex" thread - a lot of people, including this short scrawny old dude , have had success going to a lighter and softer flex driver shaft. 

 

[ILMgolfnut]

46 minutes ago, cksurfdude said:

Reading on my phone so not seeing sigs/ witbs, so not sure what driver setup you're using...

I have a Mizuno ST-X, 10.5 degree head dialed up to 11.625, Diamana Red 50-gram shaft, regular flex. I went in to demo the Ai Smoke a while back, told the fitter there I was doing strength and speed training, and he suggested I wait to do anything more to my driver (like a different shaft or a new driver) until I finish making those changes. Red is supposed to be the high-launch version of the Diamana, but clearly that's not working for me. I'm thinking there's a decent chance my next shaft will be lighter than 50g. I'm also thinking there's a better than decent chance I'm not gonna spend $750 on an Otto-Phlex, but I'm sure there are less expensive options to accomplish the same goals.

Edited April 29 by ILMgolfnut

[Indy_Oz]

First practice session with the new Vokey SM9 60* wedge. Main aim was to compare it in the bunkers to the old Taylormade MG2 TW 60* (higher bounce, not as low at address).

With the firm bunkers I play, lower bounce should definitely help. Practice went well and the Vokey was ripping these range balls, resulting in a few spinning back on the green slightly and many checking nicely. So far so good. About an hour of chipping around the green and a further hour putting drills. Putting drills went very well. Definitely seeing improvements within 10-12ft. More work to do on longer lag putts, but all practice is good practice right now.

Hoping to get back to do more bunker practice when it's quieter (midweek), so I can use gamer balls. That way I can test the bunker durability of the Bridgestone Tour BX Mindset balls against my regular gamer (TP5X) and the Callaway Chrome Tour and Tour X.

[RickyBobby_PR]

9 hours ago, ILMgolfnut said:

Red is supposed to be the high-launch version of the Diamana, but clearly that's not working for me. I'm thinking there's a decent chance my next shaft will be lighter than 50g. I'm also thinking there's a better than decent chance I'm not gonna spend $750 on an Otto-Phlex, but I'm sure there are less expensive options to accomplish the same goals.

Edited 8 hours ago by ILMgolfnut

The design profile of a shaft doesn’t have as much influence for those who don’t have a late to real late release. Shafts themselves don’t launch or spin. They are a timing device. They can have an influence on dynamic loft but everything is dependent on the golfer and how the golfer delivers the club. This is where the things that get posted about feel come in to play. How a club is balanced and how it feels will have a role in how the club gets delivered which will have a role in how the ball launches. Hitting the ball 36’ in the air is indicative of some swing issues most likely lots of hanging back on the swing.

Lessons if not already taking them is what’s needed more than speed training. There a lots of power leaks in your swing and getting better sequencing and a more efficient swing will increase swing speed. Even if speed training added some speed to your swing your actual swing won’t be able to use the speed because the brain is going to have the body slow down in an effort ti make good contact with an out of position club.

otto-phlex is the expensive shaft is the made up name by one of the member air an experiment based on a YouTube video using a lighter and softer shaft to mimic the aut shaft design

[MDGolfHacker]

13 hours ago, Byrnzee said:

I went to the range today to work on my swing after some inconsistent play on the course yesterday. One of the things I was focusing on today was keeping my right arm tucked more on the backswing to promote a more connected swing. I've also learned that feeling like I'm bending at my hips more has helped me to get a better turn at the top.

I also used the ProSENDR training aid to ensure I was reaching a good position at the top of the backswing as well as staying connected to start the downswing. I was really happy with how I was hitting the ball and hoping I can translate that feeling onto the course next weekend!

I'm having the same problem - having the swing more connected on the take-away.  I'm finding that I'm rolling my wrists which has the club going too inside on the take-away causing me to have an over the top downswing to compensate.  Went to the range on Saturday to work on getting a more connected take-away and checking half way on club position. I probably need more reps to ingrain the correct feeling on the take-away.

Edited April 29 by MDGolfHacker

[RickyBobby_PR]

13 hours ago, Byrnzee said:

I went to the range today to work on my swing after some inconsistent play on the course yesterday. One of the things I was focusing on today was keeping my right arm tucked more on the backswing to promote a more connected swing. I've also learned that feeling like I'm bending at my hips more has helped me to get a better turn at the top.

I also used the ProSENDR training aid to ensure I was reaching a good position at the top of the backswing as well as staying connected to start the downswing. I was really happy with how I was hitting the ball and hoping I can translate that feeling onto the course next weekend!

What does tucking the right mean?

What drill or tip pointed you to do that as a solution to not being connected?

[Byrnzee]

1 hour ago, RickyBobby_PR said:

What does tucking the right mean?

What drill or tip pointed you to do that as a solution to not being connected?

Sorry for the confusion. I mean keeping my right (trail) arm tucked closer to my body on my backswing. Think towel drill or headcover in the armpit. When I try to artificially create power, I have a tendency to lift my right arm away from my body and form a chicken wing. So keeping a more compact arm structure in my backswing has helped with consistency.

[RickyBobby_PR]

9 minutes ago, Byrnzee said:

Sorry for the confusion. I mean keeping my right (trail) arm tucked closer to my body on my backswing. Think towel drill or headcover in the armpit. When I try to artificially create power, I have a tendency to lift my right arm away from my body and form a chicken wing. So keeping a more compact arm structure in my backswing has helped with consistency.

This isn’t a great drill as it’s actually one that robs speed in the swing. The trail arm should separate from the body.

If you are getting disconnected it’s more than likely due to improper wrist set and use of the arms along with imroper sequence and/or rotation of the body

[Byrnzee]

Just now, RickyBobby_PR said:

This isn’t a great drill as it’s actually one that robs speed in the swing. The trail arm should separate from the body.

If you are getting disconnected it’s more than likely due to improper wrist set and use of the arms along with imroper sequence and/or rotation of the body

Respectfully, I'm gonna do the drills that work best for me and my swing. The trail arm is going to separate from the body regardless; I'm not binding my arm to my torso. The drill with the towel or headcover is helping with a feel of not allowing my arm to lift like it has in the past with worse habits. I don't struggle with speed and this drill has helped with consistency in my ball striking.

[tdroma98]

Today was my first round with new irons & wedges.  
Went through a Titleist fitting last month, with Titleist rep and will say fitting was excellent. 

Fitting was a blended set:  T350 - 5 iron, T 200 - 6 iron through PW & SM10 Vokey wedges: 48 (bent to 49), 54, 58 degree.  Irons with Nippon Modus3 stiff shafts, Wedges with Wedge Flex Dynamic Gold S200 shafts. 

The irons are impressive, especially being properly fitted.  The T350 5 iron is hot. The wedges are sweet and performed very well.  I love the look of the SM10 black wedges.  I tried giving myself approach shots in the wedge range - 75 to 115yds. 
The 58 degree is good from 85yds & less. SW - 86yds to 100yds & Gap (48) 101 to 115.  The First Gap wedge shot was from 112 yards to an uphill back pin. Comfortably hit the shot, the ball ended up 9 ft. Well, I did miss the birdie putt. 

The T350 5 iron is hot. I hit it well off the tee and from the fairway.  Hit a couple of different shots - high & sort of a stinger. Best 5-iron shot, 176 yards Par 3, dead into the wind playing 190 yards. I played the ball a bit back in stance and hit a bullet.  The ball never ballooned, and had a nice trajectory. I pushed it a bit right of the flag, end result - 30 feet right of the pin, but the pin high. Parred the hole. 

Shot an even Par 70, with an Eagle & double bogey.  All in all, very impressed with the Irons & love the wedges.  The wedges performed well with: Chipping, out of the sand, and full shots, all resulted in good outcomes. Here are photo's of the SM10 Vokey Wedges: 48. 54. 58

[Steve F]

Got to go home and hit the "home range".... dedicated the 45 minutes to 4i and 5i. I hit 10 flatballs and 2 regular golf balls in rotation. I find the flatballs definitely give the fine tuning to hit the ball more pure. Not sure if anyone else uses or has tried them, they seem to be helping me with my irons immensely. I'll get home from work this afternoon and go out and hit some more with the 4i and 5i. 

[BobBC78]

More short game practice today, this time at the North Kingstown GC practice green and practice bunker.

Putting - As I am reviewing the Pendragon XL broomstick putter, much of my putting practice has been focused on developing my skills using this technique. Today I did two drills for short putting: the "1-Putt circle" game (twice around 5 tees around a hole set at 4' from the hole) - today making 8/10 vs. 6/10 last week. The second short putt drill was Mark Broadie's "5-foot" game (10-holes of putts 4' to 6', putting out 1 putt = 2 pts; 2 putts, 1st long = 1 pt; 2 putts, 1st short = 0 points and 3-putt = -3 pts) - I scored 9, mainly due to having a 3-putt which resulted from a sloppy 2nd putt. 

For lag putting, I did the "2-putt circle" game from 15' to 36', with the object to get the ball in the 1-Putt circle. Today, I scored 9/10 vs. 8/10 last week. The one that I missed was due to a mis-read of the slope, which started uphill, before going downhill. 

Chipping - Ten chips from various locations around the putting green, using my 42* SS4C or CBX4 50* or 58* wedges, from both fairway and rough lies. My goal was to get to 9' or less from the fairway lies and 12' or less from the rough, which I was able to accomplish 10/10 times. 

I find that playing these games is a much better way to simulate "on course" play, rather than being simply repetitive. There were a few instances where I realized that I had stopped concentrating on the shot, which cost me. A good lesson!

Bunker - Unfortunately, our practice bunker is in terrible shape, so I mainly focused on "throwing" what little sand there was out of the bunker. 

[cnosil]

After my most wanted session today I asked Phillip to give me some pointers on chipping since he was practicing chipping behind me.   Made a couple of suggestions on things to work on so I hit chips for a little while.   

[Erin B]

I’ve been working on a few things. Wind play being one of them. Unfortunately it affects my swing work. 

In the wind I want to have a more penetrating low shot. At least my tempo isn’t changing. This photo isn’t indept. I have to select a club to get solid numbers. Here they are:

The numbers are a little skewed because I’m working on different things including lower wind shots. This is the mini driver stats. I’m also seeing these stats drop:

I love this tracking app. As long as you have a good apple or android watch and phone you can track a lot of data. I’m hopeful to take another fitting/lesson at Collindale Academy next month or in June. It will tell me how close or far I am from my initial fitting/lesson. And that’s what I’m working on.

[TJ Hall]

8 hours ago, tdroma98 said:

Today was my first round with new irons & wedges.  
Went through a Titleist fitting last month, with Titleist rep and will say fitting was excellent. 

Fitting was a blended set:  T350 - 5 iron, T 200 - 6 iron through PW & SM10 Vokey wedges: 48 (bent to 49), 54, 58 degree.  Irons with Nippon Modus3 stiff shafts, Wedges with Wedge Flex Dynamic Gold S200 shafts. 

The irons are impressive, especially being properly fitted.  The T350 5 iron is hot. The wedges are sweet and performed very well.  I love the look of the SM10 black wedges.  I tried giving myself approach shots in the wedge range - 75 to 115yds. 
The 58 degree is good from 85yds & less. SW - 86yds to 100yds & Gap (48) 101 to 115.  The First Gap wedge shot was from 112 yards to an uphill back pin. Comfortably hit the shot, the ball ended up 9 ft. Well, I did miss the birdie putt. 

The T350 5 iron is hot. I hit it well off the tee and from the fairway.  Hit a couple of different shots - high & sort of a stinger. Best 5-iron shot, 176 yards Par 3, dead into the wind playing 190 yards. I played the ball a bit back in stance and hit a bullet.  The ball never ballooned, and had a nice trajectory. I pushed it a bit right of the flag, end result - 30 feet right of the pin, but the pin high. Parred the hole. 

Shot an even Par 70, with an Eagle & double bogey.  All in all, very impressed with the Irons & love the wedges.  The wedges performed well with: Chipping, out of the sand, and full shots, all resulted in good outcomes. Here are photo's of the SM10 Vokey Wedges: 48. 54. 58

The black Vokeys are amazing looking! Glad to see them working for you, I have the SM8s and love them.

[TJ Hall]

I tend to spend a little time putting in the evening…tonight my 11 year old decided she would putt with me.  Got her an old Zebra mallet to play around with.  She was getting better towards the end and starting making some 8 foot putts.  Alignment needs some work and she cuts across the ball terribly, but she at least showed interest on her own.

I then spent time putting focusing on grip and setup after she went to bed.

[Willie T]

Day 106 (29 Apr 24) - Played 18 with son and good friend (he joined in for just the back nine).  Had a personal best of 79 (39 front/40back), officially breaking 80 today!   I realized that this may happen when we were on 16 and I was only plus 6 for the day.  Bogie on 17 put me at plus 7 and I was hoping not mess up 18.  Wound up with a GIR and two putt par to finish plus 7 and 79.  Personal best of 11 of 18 GIR, putting was a little messy at times, but still solid for most of the round.  Even the two double bogies did not super phase the round.  A great way to start the week with a new low score.  Here's a screenshot of the scorecard via Garmin...

[cksurfdude]

23 hours ago, ILMgolfnut said:

I'm also thinking there's a better than decent chance I'm not gonna spend $750 on an Otto-Phlex, but I'm sure there are less expensive options to accomplish the same goals.

Sorry should've clarified...

"Otto-Phlex" is @azstu324 word play on the yes way over-priced "magic" Auto-Flex " .. the goal was to find a roughly comparable shaft performance-wise at only $50-$100.

See... https://forum.mygolfspy.com/topic/53310-shaft-hack-the-otto-phlex-journey/

One of the popular models tested in there is the Grafalloy Pro Launch Blue, available at Golf Works less than $100. I used and liked a 45/A.

I'm not familiar with the Diamana shafts, but perhaps a different high launch shaft .. with a different bend (EI) profile might fit you better..?

Another fyi I went to a 12° head to help me with launch, too.

[BallsLeon]

Practiced what I learned from my lesson on Saturday. Getting into a more athletic setup (knee/hip bend), let my hands hang loose, and maintain that low position through my swing. Finding this allows more room for me to swing closer to my body, and results in a less in-to-out path. 

Really struggled in my warm-up, but was able to turn it on for the match against my buddy after. Starting to trust that (when done properly) swinging my hands closer to my body won’t result in a pull. Ended up stringing together a great round for me, bummed we didn’t get to finish cause we set it to match play. 

[TJ Hall]

9 hours ago, Willie T said:

Day 106 (29 Apr 24) - Played 18 with son and good friend (he joined in for just the back nine).  Had a personal best of 79 (39 front/40back), officially breaking 80 today!   I realized that this may happen when we were on 16 and I was only plus 6 for the day.  Bogie on 17 put me at plus 7 and I was hoping not mess up 18.  Wound up with a GIR and two putt par to finish plus 7 and 79.  Personal best of 11 of 18 GIR, putting was a little messy at times, but still solid for most of the round.  Even the two double bogies did not super phase the round.  A great way to start the week with a new low score.  Here's a screenshot of the scorecard via Garmin...

Congratulations on breaking 80…seems like all that practice is paying off!  Keep going!

[Rob Person]

10 hours ago, Willie T said:

Day 106 (29 Apr 24) - Played 18 with son and good friend (he joined in for just the back nine).  Had a personal best of 79 (39 front/40back), officially breaking 80 today!   I realized that this may happen when we were on 16 and I was only plus 6 for the day.  Bogie on 17 put me at plus 7 and I was hoping not mess up 18.  Wound up with a GIR and two putt par to finish plus 7 and 79.  Personal best of 11 of 18 GIR, putting was a little messy at times, but still solid for most of the round.  Even the two double bogies did not super phase the round.  A great way to start the week with a new low score.  Here's a screenshot of the scorecard via Garmin...

Congratulations!

[Corentin Vadillo]

I've spent considerable time refining my backswing—focusing on a solid pivot and weight transfer. Now, I’m shifting my attention to structuring my downswing to improve clubface stability at impact.

Previously, slicing was a major issue, but that's been eradicated with my backswing improvements, and a draw has emerged. However, this draw too often morphs into a hook. The challenge now is to fine-tune the downswing sequence, particularly how I initiate hip rotation and hand descent, to keep the clubface square and consistent.

I'm using my coach's videos (@alexshattuckgolf) : https://www.instagram.com/reel/C5Q-ALHO6h0/?igsh=MWo2eHJycWZmdmE1ZA==