What/How Did You Practice Today?

[Rob Person]

15 minutes ago, Corentin Vadillo said:

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==

I have that exact same issue!!! Lost the slice, gained a draw/hook!  Best I can figure it's is from rolling my wrists just before impact.  I'm going to have to do some slow motion videos and review them both from good face contact and poor ones and find the issue.

My buddy said " just adjust your driver angles to compensate " I told him that won't fix the issue on clubs that I can't adjust 

[CorentinV]

2 minutes ago, Rob Person said:

I have that exact same issue!!! Lost the slice, gained a draw/hook!  Best I can figure it's is from rolling my wrists just before impact.  I'm going to have to do some slow motion videos and review them both from good face contact and poor ones and find the issue.

My buddy said " just adjust your driver angles to compensate " I told him that won't fix the issue on clubs that I can't adjust 

Exactly but look at the video I posted, maybe you can find an explanation too. I definitely feel that sometimes I'm over-rotating and sometimes the opposite, causing some wrists flipping so my club face is closing too soon. My ball looks like a topspin tennis ball  

[Bobos101]

I've been working on tempo and releasing my hands.

My transition has always been quite fast so I've been imagining a small pause at the top (there is still definitely not a pause). 

Letting my hands release has really helped with a more consistent strike and has also promoted a soft draw to all clubs.

Edited April 30 by Bobos101

[ILMgolfnut]

11 hours ago, cksurfdude said:

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

One of the things I did in one of my demo session was try a 12 degree head versus the 10.5 with the adjustment at the shaft adapter. I found the tweak of the shaft adapter gave me better launch angle and contact than the higher loft. In any event, a new shaft/new driver is going to wait until after I finish FFG/get back from Scotland, both in July.

Edited April 30 by ILMgolfnut

[pete1276]

It's been a very windy and wet spring here in the Midwest.  We've also had quite a few days of cool weather.  I've still been getting out to play almost every day.  I do my practicing while I'm playing on the course. 

It's a bit disconcerting that the ball is just not traveling the distances I usually expect, but I have to keep reminding myself that the ball doesn't compress as easily in cool whether, and there's basically zero rollout in these wet conditions.  The wind playing tricks with the ball doesn't help much either.

During my last practice round I played I tried to focus on tempo.  I feel like when I'm playing well, my tempo is spot on, and I gain confidence because the strike is more solid as well.  When I press, I get quick in the back swing, and in transition.  This usually results in inconsistent contact and low point, which can lead to some pretty ugly shots.  

Having a consistent tempo allows me time to load my hips and explode through the ball creating solid contact with the low point in front of the ball.  I even try to use the same thought process when I'm putting.  It's not the same tempo, but it's a similar feel.  

[BLD7]

This morning I was able to get to the range to focus specifically on the driver. Ive only played a few rounds so far this season, but the driver has not been friendly or consistent. To the point of sometimes being unplayable. My gamer is the TSR3, Ventus TR Black shaft. I had tried in the off season to gain some swing speed and put into play the TR Black 6X. Which ultimately was a nominal speed increase, but it came at the expense of playability. My process this morning was (after getting a decent warm-up) to give myself 5-swing blocks. 5 swings with the 6X, switch to the 7X - 5 swings, switch back. Well 3 sets of each is all is took to determine that the 6X simply does not work for me... 2-way misses, and not small misses either. Completely inconsistent. Another dozen or so swings with the 7X to confirm the repeatable fade I've come to expect over the years and it was time to mess around a bit. I noticed that the ball was starting to climb and then 'fall' out of the sky. I've been playing in the 9 degree setting, and decided to switch to the 8.25 setting. Same shot pattern, however with a lower more penetrating flight, and the ball wasn't "falling" out of the sky. Ill find out Wednesday how that set up works in a round. 

[Steve F]

What a gorgeous day here in Maryland! Was able to get home during lunch to the "home range" and do some driver work. Got out the 8i to warm up, and the striking there felt awesome! Got the driver out, felt great all the way through. Finally starting to get the downswing to shallow a bit and it's translating into better carry distance for me! (According to the SC300i Launch Monitor). As a rule, was carrying around 200-205 average prior to my lesson, with losing the "death grip" on the club and shallowing my right wrist, I'm finally starting to see some results! Can't wait to carry this to the course tomorrow afternoon! Still loads of work to be done, but it's great when you get some small positive physical feedback from the work you put in! 
Hope everyone is having a great Tuesday, hit 'em straight MGS Nation! 🏌

[Sam C]

Played a practice 9 yesterday and while the scorecard wouldn't suggest it, I hit some really good shots and went 5 for 5 in getting out of the sand on 5 separate holes. 

That being said though, does anyone have any good putting practice drills I can start incorporating into my sessions? I gained a lot of strokes on poor putting yesterday. 

[TJ Hall]

35 minutes ago, Sam C said:

Played a practice 9 yesterday and while the scorecard wouldn't suggest it, I hit some really good shots and went 5 for 5 in getting out of the sand on 5 separate holes. 

That being said though, does anyone have any good putting practice drills I can start incorporating into my sessions? I gained a lot of strokes on poor putting yesterday. 

Think it depends on what you are working on with the putting.

Setup: putting mirror

Starting line: gates

I spend time putting indoors with the PuttOut Pressure Putt and love it.  Just spending time using this helps me overall.

On a putting green, will hit putts from around the hole from 3, 6 and 9 feet and then really focus on speed control for long putts.

[snoopy79]

Hey peeps, so I got out yesterday evening and hit a bucket at the range. Put my alignment sticks down, put a tee in the grip and got some video. I was focusing on wrist angles hand path, but after reviewing the video I feel like i need to put some attention into my lower body and clearing the hips sooner. I keep blocking right or hitting push draws. Or in the case of the 3w a snap hook. Contact is solid so really trying to work on a better release or getting into that impact position.

 

[Sam C]

12 minutes ago, TJ Hall said:

Think it depends on what you are working on with the putting.

Setup: putting mirror

Starting line: gates

I spend time putting indoors with the PuttOut Pressure Putt and love it.  Just spending time using this helps me overall.

On a putting green, will hit putts from around the hole from 3, 6 and 9 feet and then really focus on speed control for long putts.

I like the gate drill! I don't have it the budget right now to get any training aids but will definitely try the distance putting. I just watched a video from Me and My Golf that was essentially a putting game to help with tempo that I will give a try. 

[TJ Hall]

7 minutes ago, Sam C said:

I like the gate drill! I don't have it the budget right now to get any training aids but will definitely try the distance putting. I just watched a video from Me and My Golf that was essentially a putting game to help with tempo that I will give a try. 

The PuttOut was around $30 last I looked on Amazon.  Can always use some tees to create your own gates.  I have also put down a plastic cup just to putt at home…think anything you do can help you just get a feel for how the ball comes off the face and gain consistency.

[Sam C]

10 minutes ago, TJ Hall said:

The PuttOut was around $30 last I looked on Amazon.  Can always use some tees to create your own gates.  I have also put down a plastic cup just to putt at home…think anything you do can help you just get a feel for how the ball comes off the face and gain consistency.

Thanks TJ!

[cnosil]

2 hours ago, Sam C said:

That being said though, does anyone have any good putting practice drills I can start incorporating into my sessions? I gained a lot of strokes on poor putting yesterday. 

There are tons of drills that you can do based on what you are trying to work on.  The four skills are aim, touch, stroke, and read.   
 

Aim:  use something that you know is straight and then set your putter face to match.  This will help teach you what square looks like.  
 

stroke:  your ball should go where you aim.  Use gates tees, cups, anything heavy and setup a ball gate and a putter gate and roll the ball through the gate.  The putter going through the putter gate will help with center contact.  You can also put a dime about 17” in front of a ball and roll the ball over the dime.   Do this with varying length strokes to work on short and long putts.

touch: touch is hard to do unless you are on a green or have somewhere in your house  that will allow for 20’+ putts.  The thing you can work on at home is consistent rhythm.   You want the same rhythm for a 5 foot putt and a 50 foot putt.  Make strokes saying something like one potato…two.   One potato is the end of the backstroke and two is the end of the forward stroke.  Changing rhythm is horrible for distance control.  On the green do ladder drills.

read: has to be done on a green and you need to be pretty good at the other skills to trust a read.  You could do something like aimpoint but that would require a class.  

[cksurfdude]

My practice today was reading this article by Jon Sherman of Practical Golf...

...

When most golfers are introduced to the game, it's all about their swing. We are programmed to consciously think about what our bodies are doing at all times. Often, this results in playing "golf swing" and not golf.

But what if there were more productive thoughts that had nothing to do with the golf swing?

 

The Big Three

Generally speaking, there are three different focuses of attention as it pertains to golf (or just about any other sport):


Internal Focus: Concentrating on the movement itself, your actual golf swing. For example, what your arms or wrists are doing throughout the swing.

External Focus: Thinking outside your body. This could be concentrating on striking a particular part of the clubface, brushing a blade of grass in front of the ball, or envisioning a specific trajectory or shot shape.

Neutral Focus: Unrelated to the movement or process of the shot. A simple example is focusing on breathing. Another could be humming a song.


These can be broken down further, especially external focuses, but for simplicity, it's best to think of them in these three buckets.

Most sports default to preaching an internal focus - it's all about what your body is doing. But over the years, a growing body of research in motor learning is pointing out that it might be detrimental to the growth of certain players, and moving towards more external (task-related) thoughts can speed up skill development.

 

Experimenting

I am not against internal swing thoughts, but I think they have their time and place. They are better during practice sessions, during swing changes, and for players still learning the game. But having too many of them, especially on the golf course, can prevent you from performing your best.

Shifting to an external focus, or focusing on the task itself, can benefit golfers tremendously. It frees your body to self-organize athletically. For example, trying to strike a certain part of the face or having the club bottom out in front of the ball. Many of you know I love to practice with tempo beats, and that's another great example.

Lastly, a neutral focus, such as focusing on your breathing or humming a song, can be calming and effective for certain players.

Try experimenting with some of these methods on the range and the course. I think you will see some interesting results!

...

 

A few years back an instructor told me to.. "play golf on the course and practice golf swing at the range"

And, naturally, while I remember him telling me that I completely totally and utterly forget all that good stuff as soon as I've hit the first tee shot...

So I'm thinking part of my struggles on the course lately may be due to way too much of an internal focus on the swing changes I'm working on...

[Sam C]

3 hours ago, cnosil said:

There are tons of drills that you can do based on what you are trying to work on.  The four skills are aim, touch, stroke, and read.   
 

Aim:  use something that you know is straight and then set your putter face to match.  This will help teach you what square looks like.  
 

stroke:  your ball should go where you aim.  Use gates tees, cups, anything heavy and setup a ball gate and a putter gate and roll the ball through the gate.  The putter going through the putter gate will help with center contact.  You can also put a dime about 17” in front of a ball and roll the ball over the dime.   Do this with varying length strokes to work on short and long putts.

touch: touch is hard to do unless you are on a green or have somewhere in your house  that will allow for 20’+ putts.  The thing you can work on at home is consistent rhythm.   You want the same rhythm for a 5 foot putt and a 50 foot putt.  Make strokes saying something like one potato…two.   One potato is the end of the backstroke and two is the end of the forward stroke.  Changing rhythm is horrible for distance control.  On the green do ladder drills.

read: has to be done on a green and you need to be pretty good at the other skills to trust a read.  You could do something like aimpoint but that would require a class.  

This is great! Thanks!!

[cksurfdude]

Had a good practice sesh this afternoon!

Main focus was to work on the irons, see if I could get something going there (been struggling on the course last few times out).

Started out, as I usually do, with wedges - picked up a 58 recently and think I may switch it for the 60 now in the bag. Worked on contact and distance control, and then a PW to a 90 yd target.

Then onto the 7i - continuing to work on things from lessons a YEAR ago (..I am a slow golf learner!).

When I do a full turn back and don't rush down in transition I kinda sorta sometimes maybe a little bit start to get it almost right

Saw the instructor on the range and set up a time for tomorrow. 

Then a few hybrids and drivers - just trying to swing smoothly _through_ the ball. 

And then over to the putting green for a bunch of different lag drills. Not too too bad overall.

WIP

[BobBC78]

Went to the NKGC range today worked on videoed full swings with various clubs through a small bucket of balls. I'll be sending Junge some of the video, but it is clear to me that my through swing needs work. 

[brodonnell17]

I made it out to the range during my lunch to work on my 4 iron and driver.

I've been playing much more golf this year and really focusing on getting my handicap down and just overall more consistent with my swings.

I noticed with my long irons (and pretty much all clubs) I was swinging all upper body and wasn't using my lower body at all. I'm really focusing on turning my hips and today's session went very well and felt good. I was only able to get a few swings with the driver, but I was very happy with my swing. Most shots had a slight fade and the others going straight which is nice to see. 

I was going to finish up with some chipping and putting when a senior gentlemen (84 years old) walked by to chat. He told me stories of him playing in the early 1960s in a few tournaments as an amateur and then went on to teach at Torrey for a bit and a few other clubs. We chatted for awhile and I had to unfortunately leave to get back to work, but I thought it was a great way to finish my practice. As I was leaving he said, "Just remember, keep you're head down because you'll only look up to a bad shot". 

[Willie T]

Day 107 (02 May 24) - well missed posting last couple of days (even though I did work on some stuff)….today was back to the Divot Board and making swings with 7i, 9i and GW.  Focused on pre-shot setup and coming thru with ball first contact (those fish scale sequins don’t lie)…solid session….

[Meezi]

In Northern VA, went out today with only my PW and 7i to work on my tempo. Used a metronome app at a 27/9 setting with an earbud and was actually getting consistent shots with the PW for about 20 balls with a tight dispersion. Then it all went to hell. Thinned shots, hosel rockets and slices. Switched to the 7i and the bad shots kept coming for 10 balls. Decided to take a break to chip then went back to the range. Hit another bad 30 balls then it clicked. My back and chest posture was too rounded out so I made the adjustment and was hitting it well for the final 20 balls. 

[Willie T]

Day 108 (3 May 24) - played with the Friday men’s group.  Was not the same game as I played Monday, but was a fun round where my 80something neighbor was part of the foursome….hope I am as good as he when I am his age…

[pete1276]

Anyone have any good drills to work on hip mobility/flexibility?  I feel like I strike the ball way better when I lead with the hip.  I go in and out of grooves where it just comes naturally, then I forget about it for a while and my ball striking suffers.  I'd like to have a range drill as part of my pre-round warm-up routine that will focus on leading with the front hip to initiate the downswing.  

Thoughts?

[Mrsbell89]

Has anyone ever tried the humming trick while you swing to keep you from squeezing the grip of your club or adding too much muscle into the downswing? I have the worst pull hook with my driver and always try to muscle the ball with my swing. My dad told me i need to relax and loosen my grip so i tried this at the range today after my round and I swear I was hitting straighter and farther with significantly less effort. The trick is to hum consistently throughout the entire swing and if you can’t, the point that you stop or grunt is when you’re doing too much. I was in shock. I am beginning to learn that less is actually more in this sport. I really gotta listen to my dad more AND take some lessons

[Josh Parker]

2 hours ago, pete1276 said:

Anyone have any good drills to work on hip mobility/flexibility?  I feel like I strike the ball way better when I lead with the hip.  I go in and out of grooves where it just comes naturally, then I forget about it for a while and my ball striking suffers.  I'd like to have a range drill as part of my pre-round warm-up routine that will focus on leading with the front hip to initiate the downswing.  

Thoughts?

@GolfSpy_KFT couldn't remember your article or thread for this.  Can you tag it on here?

[Jim Shaw]

3 hours ago, pete1276 said:

Anyone have any good drills to work on hip mobility/flexibility?  I feel like I strike the ball way better when I lead with the hip.  I go in and out of grooves where it just comes naturally, then I forget about it for a while and my ball striking suffers.  I'd like to have a range drill as part of my pre-round warm-up routine that will focus on leading with the front hip to initiate the downswing.  

Thoughts?

you being from Minnesota you will relate to this next comment... the hip movement is more of a "tap" not a "hip check". you can achieve this on the practice range by inserting an alignment stick beside your left foot, if you are right handed, and just touch it with your hip on your downswing.

[cksurfdude]

6 hours ago, pete1276 said:

Anyone have any good drills to work on hip mobility/flexibility?

Yes! There are a few good articles on the main site, including this one by Jason Noble ...

https://mygolfspy.com/news-opinion/golf-fitness-add-mobility-to-improve-your-swing/

[BallsLeon]

Had my first chance to swing the autoFlex last night... so here's a teaser to entice folks to join us in the autoFlex review thread! 

 

 

Edited May 4 by BallsLeon

[nvizble1]

21 minutes ago, BallsLeon said:

Had my first chance to swing the autoFlex last night... so here's a teaser to entice folks to join us in the autoFlex review thread! 

 

Love that!

[cksurfdude]

Had a pretty good day of golf practice...

Start with warmup/loosen up; then a bunch of practice at the range; then an hour lesson; followed a little more practice on one of things we'd worked on; over to a bunch of lag putting; then with just my practice clubs (light carry bag with a half a set) .. and no one around waiting to take off .. played two holes that form a nice loop.

Did not hit great shots but was able to scramble for two "easy" bogeys - first hole first putt rolled by just missing the high side, and second hole had a great chip from just off the green that stopped literally an inch short of dropping.

So came away from all that actually feeling a bit encouraged and positive about my game moving forward!