What/How Did You Practice Today?

[edingc]

Picked up a club for the first time in almost two weeks yesterday and chipped two shag tubes around the yard really quickly. Weird, but refreshing feeling to not touch a club for a while as I've been focusing on a few other things as of late.

Also got my EXPUTT set up in our spare bedroom and have rolled about 75 putts on it over the last two days. My speed control is so much better than it was a year ago. Didn't have more than five land outside of a 3 foot circle around the hole. Face/path still need some more work though. At least initially it appears I've been setting up really open this past season and swinging the putter way out to the right. Worked on feeling more square in my setup and that got my face angle and path both on more reasonable numbers.

My garage space isn't ready to use yet, and I'm starting to get the itch to hit some golf balls. Might have to make my way up to the heated range next weekend to scratch that itch.

[JeremyD]

I haven't been on a golf course in about 4 weeks now, and I hit balls for the first time in about 6 weeks yesterday. I struggle with 2 things. Pull hook misses, and hitting just before the ball on my irons. Yesterday, I focused on trying to hit the ball first. I had some really bad shots, and it gets frustrating. I placed a tee about 2 inches past my ball and made that my focus. It felt different, but when I hit it right, it really made a difference. i'm thinking of taking another 2-3 weeks off before playing a few late fall or early winter golf. 

[RichL85]

The weather has been fairly awful the past few days with rain but I took the Spornia net outside for some testing. Mostly hit a few irons just to work on swing things and get some video to send for my first lesson. After that just worked on hitting some consistent distances with my 50 degree wedge. Consistently hitting everywhere from 40 to 80 yards with the wedge by just adjusting the length of my backswing was working pretty well. Video definitely supports my claims that I have a quirky golf swing. Will see what my coach gives me to work on. Mostly I just wanted to get outside after being stuck inside the last 3 or 4 days. 

[Haro]

Weather is chilling now I just been practicing in garage or going to local golf store and “trying out the clubs” in the simulator 

I been noticing that if I relax neck muscle and just letting my head drop  at address  I am force to swing more upright and hit down on the ball and this produces much better control for my irons. 
 

My old swing I was trying to hard to “hit up” on a 4 iron to get barely go 200 yards.  This young guy next to me in the simulator delofts 6 iRon and carries the ball 200 yards  Not sure why I bother using any higher loft irons. Maybe I’m getting older and my swing changed  Hit down on hybrid is the way to go for me.  I have old driving irons with 2 and 3 iron lofts that I don’t use anymore 

Edited October 27, 2021 by Haro

[Vegan_Golfer_PNW]

More shaft testing after speed training. Ventus caught up. Face contact better but way more fade biased. Needed to close the face at address to try to get it to go less right. Was 30yrds plus right of tgt to start then was better. Need some in course testing 

ventus

rdx

[PMookie]

I was supposed to play yesterday, but of course we got the first day of rain in weeks. So, I went to hit balls on a sim and hit my 7 iron, then my two drivers vs each other, and then hit the G425 LST 3w vs the Cobra King Tec hybrid. 

[RichL85]

As usual, working on something new feels like a few steps backwards in the short term. Decided to try a few lessons to see if a coach could fix some of the major issues with my "inherited from tennis" swing. Biggest thing is the wrist angle and it sure does feel weird. Going to need some extra time with the adjustment for sure.

[Haro]

Was a sunny and chilling day. Thought I was done for the season. But want to take out the clubs out.  Range session and practice green.  Took a while to get warmed out. I extend my 5 wood to be about the same length as my driver.  Worked really well   Single length woods Lol

On the practice green , I been trying to different set ups.  One for short putts inside 25 feet ( 12 paces) and one for longer putts 

it’s not as complicated as it seems. I use claw grip for shorter putts and cross handed for between 12-17 paces.  Of course that is for a flat normal pace green. If it fast and downhill I can use this for further than 35 feet.   The tough ones are 35 feet , and uphill on two tier that my limit.   I figure I will switch to wedge or hybrid for more energy into that one  even if I’m on the green 

Edited October 31, 2021 by Haro

[edingc]

I did end up making it up to the heated range. Except they weren't heated yet and still only on the grass and not mats, and I actually had a beautiful morning for it. Mid 40s. I had about a bucket's worth of sun and then it went back to overcast.

I hadn't taken a full swing in three weeks and it showed. Took me a while to get going, and my irons kind of picked up where they left off, hitting hooks and blocks. Tried to fix them and ended up getting too steep and starting hitting fades. By the end of the session I went back to feeling like I was trying to hit a draw and got things straightened out a bit.

Having not swung much I pretty much exhausted myself after the first bucket so the second bucket was mostly short pitches and half swings with my 54 wedge. Surprisingly very crisp contact. Very happy with that.

I didn't bring the AutoFlex/Epic Max LS combo with me because I assumed I'd be in the heated bays, which are too tight for a 46" driver. Instead, I brought my 44.5" 10.5 degree Cobra AMP Franken-driver, with a made-for-Callaway Project X LZ 5.5 shaft. Everything about this club is wrong for my swing, and combined with the freakishly poor range balls (no dimples, super high spin and high launch) I produced some really funny numbers on my Mevo+. My personal favorite:

Admittedly, there is something to be said about a shorter driver and face control. Five of my first seven shots were right out of the center:

I also was happy to see 112-114 on the Mevo+ with a shorter driver than usual. I have done zero speed training this month and instead have just been working in the gym trying to get stronger. So far, so good.

[sirchunksalot]

7 minutes ago, edingc said:

I did end up making it up to the heated range. Except they weren't heated yet and still only on the grass and not mats, and I actually had a beautiful morning for it. Mid 40s. I had about a bucket's worth of sun and then it went back to overcast.

I hadn't taken a full swing in three weeks and it showed. Took me a while to get going, and my irons kind of picked up where they left off, hitting hooks and blocks. Tried to fix them and ended up getting too steep and starting hitting fades. By the end of the session I went back to feeling like I was trying to hit a draw and got things straightened out a bit.

Having not swung much I pretty much exhausted myself after the first bucket so the second bucket was mostly short pitches and half swings with my 54 wedge. Surprisingly very crisp contact. Very happy with that.

I didn't bring the AutoFlex/Epic Max LS combo with me because I assumed I'd be in the heated bays, which are too tight for a 46" driver. Instead, I brought my 44.5" 10.5 degree Cobra AMP Franken-driver, with a made-for-Callaway Project X LZ 5.5 shaft. Everything about this club is wrong for my swing, and combined with the freakishly poor range balls (no dimples, super high spin and high launch) I produced some really funny numbers on my Mevo+. My personal favorite:

Admittedly, there is something to be said about a shorter driver and face control. Five of my first seven shots were right out of the center:

I also was happy to see 112-114 on the Mevo+ with a shorter driver than usual. I have done zero speed training this month and instead have just been working in the gym trying to get stronger. So far, so good.

That face contact is looking superb, Cody! 

[cjeffs12]

Well after a couple weeks of superb play, golf had to humble me lol I had a busy week last week and could not find time to practice. So my over the top and hold on to the face reared it’s ugly head… gonna try and start back with what helped me weeks ago and see if it helps. Here’s a picture of how left my path was… Kyle Field makes for a decent backdrop 

[Kenny B]

I played from the Forward (Red) tees today.  

I was going to post this in the How'd you play? thread, but this was purely practice.  It was a nice calm day and 50º, and I decided to walk.  The tee sheet was full, but my wife was playing with her Ladies group and was about to make the turn when I got to the course.   One lady was only playing 9 holes and left, so I joined them.

I thought it would be easier if we all played from the same tees.  I took all my long clubs out of my bag and left them in my car.  Played 4i-LW.  The reason I did this was to practice using my Mizuno MP-20 HMBs, and I didn't want to be tempted to use my driver on the short holes.  

Overall, I shot 38(+3), no birdies, so not as good as I have done from tees further back, but it was a very controlled 9 holes.  I hit 6/9 greens (as many as I typically hit playing 18 holes); hence, the 3 bogeys.  I ended up hitting every iron except the 6i.  All long holes were 4i off the tee, and they were all dead straight, although a couple were not as solid as I'd like.  I was practicing Monte's Broom Force drills, and it's starting to feel good.

Putting was not great today; the course applied the Blue stuff on all the greens and it affected my speed and line for some reason.  I think it's a fungicide; they apply it 4-5 times a year.

[Padreruf]

Hit balls for the 2nd time since spinal fusion back surgery in April -- last week was the first.  Back and core are stronger due to 1 hour stretching and strengthening workouts every day.  However, I'm still not fully back...by a long shot.  Working with a ½ to ¾ swing length, swinging in rhythm and not forcing anything.  Gap wedge was about 10 yards shorter than before, but I anticipated that.  Just glad to hit and not feel pain...any suggestions out there as to how I should progress, let me hear it!!  I've rehabbed both shoulders before, but not a spine!!

[Haro]

Spend one hour with putter trying to regain confidence   Back to forward press and making some putts  around 20 footers but not reliable for anything under 10 feet. 
Last round I was back to forward pressing my wedges. Because I’m aiming just outside hole at the apex it’s okay for longer putts and chipping but I think it’s not as good for short putts 

Also I’m some chipping where the green complex is below the ball  and when I forward press I deloft the face so more “natural aim spot” on the green 

The chip shots where the green is well above the ball the flop/lob is preferred. No forward press. 
To “undo” forward press I been bouncing the club on the ground when I take the grip rather than holding the face with my other hand in the pre set routine 

[edingc]

Back to the range yesterday on a beautiful fall afternoon. Went to a different range much closer to me and with better balls this time around.

One of the things I've been working on with my coach over the last few sessions I've had with him is getting "more left" or steeper on the downswing with my irons. I've been making a lot of progress with that, but now that I'm going longer between range sessions/touching a club, I'm finding some other old habits are coming back into my swing. Yesterday, it was me rolling the face open on the backswing. I hit a bunch of fades that started at my target early on in my session and it took a concerted effort to get them sorted out. By the end of my time things had gotten so much better. I left feeling like I could have gone out and played a really solid round.

I've been hitting the weights a little harder than usual to start the off season and I'm excited by the results I'm seeing at the range. This time out I brought my gamer AutoFlex/Epic Max LS combo and finally hit two benchmarks I've not seen before on my Mevo+:

I have some work to do on face contact as I was not finding the middle very often, but even with that being the case, my dispersion was not worse than what I'd expect at those distances/speed:

The red line is 60 yards of dispersion.

The session gives me some crazy motivation to keep pushing myself this winter. Going to be a long off season waiting to get back out on the course!

[sirchunksalot]

I went to the course today to hit up the practice green for some testing of the Odyssey White Hot OG and decided to get in the golf mood by hitting a small bucket. 

It really amazes me how many people just stand there and rip driver. I watched some guys yesterday and today pull up and go through an entire bucket dedicated to it.

I spent the bucket working on ball position, alignment, and working on the drills from the lesson. The short shots with the wedge were good, I got out of the habit of rotating yesterday and wanted to address that. I get a bit handsy sometimes in less than full shots.

Irons were ok, some good, some not so much. Toward the end I was working on the Justin Rose drill and hit some nice ones. 

Ended the day simulating an 18 hole round on the green and did pretty good. I had 38 putts which were only .61 stokes lost against my putting handicap. 

 

[dlow206]

I know people say not to try to copy what someone else does, but trying an experiment to copy Bryson's armlock putting technique. My reasoning is that Bryson is attempting to minimize the amount of variables in the putting stroke and that is what i am after as well. 

Note: have never gamed an armlock, just indoor putting so far. 

[Haro]

Working on improving my short putts   This is where I am poor at and need work The tips that have worked out are

1 keeping the putter blade aim square as long as I can I feel is best accomplished when I can hold the finish 

2 don’t look for ball to go into the hole.  If I look up to quickly can throw off the shoulder alignment during my stroke

This is really tough to do.
Things I tried 

a) close my eyes when I putt.  Weird but it does work
b) focus on spot  in front of the ball  works better on 3-4 footers but as I get to 9-10 footer I feel I can not trust that spot is square   Also gets anxiety that I not reading the break properly  that match the speed when I pick a spot that close to the ball

 C) Don’t look up until I hold my finish.  I think this works best for me. Gives me freedom to pick a spot anywhere between 2-10 feet ( this what I consider short putts) after I read the break 

so for slight uphill. I want to keep my line I focus on a spot really close to ball and aim the putter face square to that spot 

for side hill breaks that have max borrow pick my starting path Aim x amount of cups away from the hole  stroke the putt on my path and don’t look up until I hold my finish 
Interesting a spot farther away from the ball produced slightly longer follow through but ball speed is less than a my shorter follow through 

Edited November 8, 2021 by Haro

[Syks7]

Been working on the wedges some more.  I finally decided to cut bait on the blade style for everything except the TM 58 Hi Toe that I found and purchased a CBX2 54 to compliment the CBX2 48 I already have.  I have to say that I'm in love.  Its easy to hit and gives me a lot of confidence both full swing and with touch.  The TM 58 has 10 degrees of bounce and is awesome out of the sand and is also excellent and forgiving on short touch shots.   

We've been up at our cabin the last couple weekends and the community up there has a tricky little 9 hole par 30 executive course.  It's a course that is deceptively difficult, lots of slope, very small greens, a few very long par 3s, and some tricky driveable par 4s.  In any case, for the first time in a while, I decided to go out and do some practice rounds instead of trying to score.  Dropping a second ball when I want to to hit a shot again when it doesn't go where I want it to.  I'd almost forgotten how fun it is to do that rather than just grinding away.   It also gave me the freedom to try some different shot shapes, really get to know the greens, practice chipping on every hole, and go for broke on the Par 4s.  I didn't drive any greens but I had some reasonably simple chips from just off, including one that I almost holed for a 'practice' eagle.  Instead I settled for a practice birdie. 

I also decided to try a shot I'd hadn't attempted.  #9 is a 295 par 4 that's uphill (probably plays 330) with a very large pond that you either have to layup to the left side or that you need to hit about 270ish to clear.  I didn't quite clear it, not because I didn't hit it well enough, but because I reached into my cart for a golf ball that I know had been there heat cycling from hot to cold for two years.  As soon as I hit it I knew it was dead. Still even with a dead ball I hit it well enough that I thought it cleared the pond. (That altitude bonus at 5300 ft. is no joke).  I cannot have missed by that much.  I'm guessing it plugged into the pond somewhere around 0-5 yards short of clearing the water.

The practice rounds were honestly the most enjoyable time I've had on the golf course in a couple months.  I'd really forgotten how much fun it can be to go out with zero pressure, play, and just work on your game.

[cjeffs12]

So I feel like things are coming together with my swing changes. I have really been striping it on the range, I added more shaft lean at address, and now I am getting more compression. It has started to trickle on to the course, but not completely. Just need some more work and time.  

[Shapotomous]

On 11/8/2021 at 1:54 AM, Syks7 said:

Been working on the wedges some more.  I finally decided to cut bait on the blade style for everything except the TM 58 Hi Toe that I found and purchased a CBX2 54 to compliment the CBX2 48 I already have.  I have to say that I'm in love.  Its easy to hit and gives me a lot of confidence both full swing and with touch.  The TM 58 has 10 degrees of bounce and is awesome out of the sand and is also excellent and forgiving on short touch shots.   

We've been up at our cabin the last couple weekends and the community up there has a tricky little 9 hole par 30 executive course.  It's a course that is deceptively difficult, lots of slope, very small greens, a few very long par 3s, and some tricky driveable par 4s.  In any case, for the first time in a while, I decided to go out and do some practice rounds instead of trying to score.  Dropping a second ball when I want to to hit a shot again when it doesn't go where I want it to.  I'd almost forgotten how fun it is to do that rather than just grinding away.   It also gave me the freedom to try some different shot shapes, really get to know the greens, practice chipping on every hole, and go for broke on the Par 4s.  I didn't drive any greens but I had some reasonably simple chips from just off, including one that I almost holed for a 'practice' eagle.  Instead I settled for a practice birdie. 

I also decided to try a shot I'd hadn't attempted.  #9 is a 295 par 4 that's uphill (probably plays 330) with a very large pond that you either have to layup to the left side or that you need to hit about 270ish to clear.  I didn't quite clear it, not because I didn't hit it well enough, but because I reached into my cart for a golf ball that I know had been there heat cycling from hot to cold for two years.  As soon as I hit it I knew it was dead. Still even with a dead ball I hit it well enough that I thought it cleared the pond. (That altitude bonus at 5300 ft. is no joke).  I cannot have missed by that much.  I'm guessing it plugged into the pond somewhere around 0-5 yards short of clearing the water.

The practice rounds were honestly the most enjoyable time I've had on the golf course in a couple months.  I'd really forgotten how much fun it can be to go out with zero pressure, play, and just work on your game.

I probably play more like this than real scoring rounds since I play evening rounds alone most times.   The one down side to this is I believe my putting suffers a bit in the scoring rounds.  

[Nolan220]

Took a month off to get my neck better so today ran out to the range during my lunch break .. end up trying to work on mechanics to hit the ball wasn’t trying to hit any target just wanted to hit it straight went pretty well .. was happy about it kind of rushed bc had a meeting but it felt good to be back swinging the clubs  

[Haro]

Working on concepts from Zen putting (Dr Parent). For short putts thinking about rolling the ball down a wide path to the hole rather than specific line.  Practicing putting with ball on  a yardstick seems help me see a path   Not going to use a line on the ball.  Though what does help me in the past was having the line on the ball perpendicular to the start line.  In other words the line on the ball looked straight up and down when I looked at it side on at address and lines up with the putter face   This gives me a ball path rather than a specific line 
another concept is “holding the finish”. I feel I can hold my aim when I do this  Feeling the trail arm armpit muscles tighten for short putts at the end of my stroke. 

Edited November 10, 2021 by Haro

[PMookie]

Went to the course where I play on weekends to pick-up the shaft I bought, then I proceeded to do drills, and hit 7/10/54/Driver. Hit the ball quite well! I was pleased.

[fozcycle]

When you hit balls to warm up before a round, what clubs do you practice with?

I take turns with a wedge(45/49/53/57), then a 7/8/9 iron, then 5W or 4Hybrid followed by my driver.  Just a few balls with each. At 70 yrs old I don’t want to wear out before the first tee….Lol

[Tom the Golf Nut]

14 minutes ago, fozcycle said:

When you hit balls to warm up before a round, what clubs do you practice with?

I take turns with a wedge(45/49/53/57), then a 7/8/9 iron, then 5W or 4Hybrid followed by my driver.  Just a few balls with each. At 70 yrs old I don’t want to wear out before the first tee….Lol

I hit even less. Driver and 8 iron. About 5 of each. These are the clubs I hit on the first hole of my course. 

[edingc]

52 minutes ago, fozcycle said:

When you hit balls to warm up before a round, what clubs do you practice with?

I take turns with a wedge(45/49/53/57), then a 7/8/9 iron, then 5W or 4Hybrid followed by my driver.  Just a few balls with each. At 70 yrs old I don’t want to wear out before the first tee….Lol

I used to hit 20-25 to get loose. 5-6 wedges, 5-6 mid/long irons, 5-6 hybrids, 5-6 drivers.

I've found I have better results from doing a modified speed workout with Rypstick/SuperSpeed sticks and then only hitting 8-10 balls total, four each of wedge, iron, hybrid and maybe four drivers.

It may be slightly more swings due to the speed stick warmup, but it gets me a lot more loose than just hitting balls.

[Nolan220]

got out to the range again yesterday on my lunch was practicing to keep my elbow in and practicing drawing the ball .. I am a natural left to right so if I miss my big misses are 50 yard slices. I feel like I swing over the top so tried to keep the ball a little further and also put an alignment stick into the ground so if I came over the top I would hit it ... with my wedges and shorter irons I was money .. once I hit the 6-4 iron the left to right start creeping back in .. but got some good work in and had to rush a little bit at the end as I had to get on a call. Hopefully be able to get back out again today.

[RickyBobby_PR]

2 hours ago, fozcycle said:

When you hit balls to warm up before a round, what clubs do you practice with?

I take turns with a wedge(45/49/53/57), then a 7/8/9 iron, then 5W or 4Hybrid followed by my driver.  Just a few balls with each. At 70 yrs old I don’t want to wear out before the first tee….Lol

15 balls with 54 and 60 using chip/pitch swing. Then a short iron for 10 balls, mid iron for 10 balls move on to long iron and hybrid for 10 balls, fairway woods off a tee and deck and finish with driver

[JerryB]

My home course doesn't have a range.  Couple swing weights on my nine iron, two or three swings for the moon to crack my back, and I'm ready to shank my opening drive!!