What/How Did You Practice Today?

[PMookie]

Went to the range yesterday to hit a large bucket of balls and do some drills from my recent lesson. Sent some more video to the coach as well.

[Vegan_Golfer_PNW]

17 minutes ago, PMookie said:

Went to the range yesterday to hit a large bucket of balls and do some drills from my recent lesson. Sent some more video to the coach as well.

How are the lessons going so far?

[PMookie]

1 hour ago, Vegan_Golfer_PNW said:

How are the lessons going so far?

Very good! Sent 2 sets of follow-up videos to the first lesson, and the changes are minimal to start which I like. Thanks for the recommendation!!!

[RichL85]

Another range session today. Things felt a little off for most of the time. Checked out the little bit of video I took and the lifting of the arms at the top snuck back into my swing for the first half of the session. On the positive side, even with that issue, I still hit the ball pretty well.  I was just a little bit out to in giving me either a slight pull or a little fade. There have been many days in the past that these would have been good shots whereas now they are my problem. I am going to consider that improvement. 

Made a couple little tweaks and got things sorted out fairly quickly. Since my 18 degree hybrid has been giving me trouble I spent some time with that club. Turns out my biggest issue with that club was just a dumb set-up mistake. Same thing was affecting driver for me, so I made that change and like what I am seeing. Seeing consistent ball flight and distance with driver is a bit of a surprise for me.

I'm going to have to get a few rounds in and then look at my Shot Scope data to see if what I see on the range carries over to the course. If so, I'm going to have to consider making some changes to the bag to fill in some gaps. I'm actually not looking forward to that possibility with the age of my bag. 

[JerryB]

Hit the range today to work on my setup/alignment issues.  As I'm figuring things out I hit a couple of really awful fat shots, and then about a third of the way through the bucket the head of my 7 iron snapped off.

Seemed like a good time to switch it up and work on my longer clubs.  Was able to get my 3 wood, 7 wood and hybrid straightened out. I was overly closed in my setup and opening up and shuffling back slightly brought it all together.

Pulled out a wedge and putter to work on the chipping green.  I put everything else in the trunk and realized I'd just locked myself out.  While I waited for Owen to come with the spare key I worked on chipping to a slightly elevated green from about fifteen yards away.  Needs more work.  Came up short of the green far too often and if I tried to put a little more on it I wound up hitting liners off the back of the green.

Have an outing next weekend, gotta figure out whether I should go back to my Cobra Amps or pull out the old Wilson Staff blades.

[RichL85]

Rough day on the range today. No real excuse for it, I just didn't feel good about my swing. It was ugly with lots of shots off the hosel, the exact opposite of my usual slightly toey contact miss. By the end I could tell that I wasn't staying down at all, moving towards the ball and lifting up. I didn't feel that I was able to make any real corrections, which is annoying because I had been doing well recently. Will probably take a day or two off and then go back to working out the kinks. Hopefully it was just a bad day and not the destruction of all of the work I've been doing for the past few weeks. 

Left probably half a large bucket out there. It reminded me too much of something my college advisor told me. "If everything is going badly in the first 30 minutes of your day, just go home. It won't get any better and you will be miserable trying to fix everything." The few times I've used that advise, he wasn't wrong. 

Edited August 20, 2022 by RichL85

[GolfSpy_APH]

More puttout training today. Still on the fence about actually buying a new putter. I have really come to like the StrokeLab and its feel, but others always are fun to look at. I average about 1 in 15 from 7 feet with the puttout which I think is great. However @GolfSpy MPR mentioned the other week that Kirke made a puttout perfect putt from 40 feet! I don't think I could ever do that. I'll just stick to my 6-10 foot practice. 

[Shapotomous]

Went to the course late afternoon and ended up as more practice than play.  It was very slow so we jumped around after 6 and played 4 more.  After playing my tee ball I was dropping a few on each hole from the 70 - 90 yard range to try a variety of shots with the new SM9.  

I thought it would take a while to swap out the gamer wedge while i dialed in the 1/2 & 3/4 feel shots but I had no issue controlling distance on those shots yesterday.  And they were stopping at the ball mark rather than rolling out like the old 53* has been doing.  I will do some more backyard practice with it today at the 65 yard mark and if I have the same good results it will go in the bag for league play tomorrow.  

If I have been browsing the Sub 70 wedge offerings does that mean I started "thinking" about a 50* to replace my worn 49* ??!!   

[Vegan_Golfer_PNW]

Went to practice at a different course today. Got 40 mins of putting practice. Lag from 20/35/50 ft with different breaks and slopes. Then worked in close. Lastly finished with some chipping work before I got kicked out. This is a private course that I have practiced at before and they have signs up for the members only area. Not the putting green or part of the range. Oh well, it was time for me to leave anyways. 

[edingc]

One of the better range sessions all season today, I think. I've been more focused on pressure at setup and that has helped a lot. Today I was also focused on hand path and not getting the club too rolled in behind me to start the backswing. 

I hit some really solid feeling shots and even the driver seemed to be cooperating pretty well.

[ryan.mzzz]

got to the range right at open since I haven’t yet adjusted to the tropical monsoon climate here in south florida. it was 81 feels like 92 and the sun wasn’t even up yet. i made it through a large bucket concentrating on high quality contact with distance and direction control. successfully shaped a bunch of shots with my 6 iron and then again with my hybrid which are my go to clubs for having to work the ball. Hit at least 2 55 gallon drums for wedge target practice. Almost jarred one(into the barrel) from 77 yds. At least I got a healthy clang off the side. 

Edited August 24, 2022 by ryan.mzzz

[Kenny B]

Haven't picked up a club in a full week.  After getting a haircut I went to the course to see what my swing would look like.  The range was fairly empty which is unusual.  After stretching and some warmup swings I started with my 8i, working on a bigger backswing and getting the club deeper which is what Monte wants.  The sun was in the perfect spot for me to see my shadow on the ground; I could see where the clubhead was at the top.  Amazingly, I hit some pretty good shots.  Moved on the my Heavenwood and driver with decent results.  

Took the other half of the bucket to the pitching green where I hit balls with my 60º from rough (because it was in the shade!!) over the practice bunker working to a short pin and a long pin alternately... then some fairway cut shots and several bunker shots.  

Next was the putting green where I chipped with my usual 60º to short pins and long pins, then switched to my 48º PW for the same.  This is where I sucked the most!  I'm usually pretty good at these, but today I was very inconsistent... need more work.  Putting wasn't that good either; decent lag control, but I had a difficult time with my one-handed putts inside 6 feet... pulling and pushing.  Need more practice on those, for sure!!  

I guess the layoff was about normal for me.  I have always had more difficulty with my short game when starting again and the long game doesn't seem affected that much.  Tomorrow will be a test to see if I can see improvement.

[Vegan_Golfer_PNW]

Getting back into SS training before hitting the gym hard in the offseason. back at it for a couple weeks. Today on my post protocols swinging as hard as i could (or so i thought) my CHS was around 112. I then thought to swing like i would on the course (a feel of a pause at the top and then explode). Avg there was 114. I was surprised. I guess i was sequencing better. Plan was to get to the range and hit balls after but when i got up, I was so exhausted after eating i passed out for 1 1/2 hours. Did the speed work an hour after that nap and now its work time. Hopefully i can hit some balls friday and see where things are at.

[JerryB]

Went to TopGolf in Naperville today and got a lesson with the instructor.  First time I'd ever been there; neat place.  We have a rewards program at work and one of the things you can get are TopGolf gift cards so I figured I'd try it out.

Lesson went extremely well.  Adjusted my grip a bit and that really helped.  I always had the club more in my hand and now it's more in my fingers.  Then we worked on my takeaway; bringing the club straight back a little more and keeping the head out, as opposed to basically twisting it up and around my body, of that makes sense.  

Still struggling with my arm positioning at the top of my backswing (throwing a sandbag onto my shoulder) and also need to really pay attention in order to open the clubface during the takeaway.  Something to keep working on.

8 iron shots went from weak hooks to pretty consistently straight with ball height around 100 feet and carry of about 140 yards.  Consistent strike pattern although a bit toe-y.

Most of the tweaks carried over to my 3 wood although if I wasn't careful with my grip it would get slicey.  

Hitting the course tomorrow with Owen and a friend of ours and I'm really excited to see if I can get even some of it to carry over!

[Kenny B]

On 8/24/2022 at 8:42 AM, Vegan_Golfer_PNW said:

Getting back into SS training before hitting the gym hard in the offseason. back at it for a couple weeks. Today on my post protocols swinging as hard as i could (or so i thought) my CHS was around 112. I then thought to swing like i would on the course (a feel of a pause at the top and then explode). Avg there was 114. I was surprised. I guess i was sequencing better. Plan was to get to the range and hit balls after but when i got up, I was so exhausted after eating i passed out for 1 1/2 hours. Did the speed work an hour after that nap and now its work time. Hopefully i can hit some balls friday and see where things are at.

I have to get back into the SS training to see if the work I've been doing on Monte's bigger, deeper swing will work well with the speed training.  My swing "feels" faster, and I'm seeing a few more yards but that may be due to better synch.

[JerryB]

Back to the range today to work on my swing adjustments.  Originally planned to just hit my 7 iron but contact was so consistent I pulled out the rest of the bag, too.  Even hit the 5 iron pretty solid a few times.  Developing a new pre shot routine is helping me out.

One thing I'm struggling with is keeping the club head pointing upwards during the takeaway, rather than more downward.  I didn't think to ask during the lesson but is getting the club head in the right position more a matter of grip or rotation?

[sirchunksalot]

My range session started out good today, I was loosening up hitting some short chips and they were nice. Then, without warning, the shanks came out of left field and punched me in the mouth. The hits kept on coming and I was ready to leave half a large bucket and go home. That just led to firing off some shots without a plan which didn't help anything.

I realized after a while that my right bicep was hurting which tells me I'm getting into old swing habits. I stepped back and realized I was becoming disconnected with my trail arm. I tucked my sleeve underneath my armpit and started seeing better shots. They weren't all spectacular, but it was enough to know that with more work I can make a better swing and possibly score better. I even pulled the 4 iron and hit three decent balls. 

It's been a rough year for my game, but as fall approaches, it is coming into prime time for me to play. I'm really excited to see what it holds. 

[WaffleHouseTour]

Had maybe my most consistent week ever - 81, 77, 80 & 80.

So of course, just when I thought I had the game figured out…

 

 

May need to trade up to the XL net size….

 

[MattF]

I actually went to the range yesterday to work out why I was goat humping and hitting everything just plain bad.

Found: One swing that was lost at Windmill Lakes.

I was getting too far away from the ball for starters. It also looks like I was getting stuck on my back foot.

I got closer to the ball (the end of my grip a fist length from my body) and kept some weight on my front foot.

BOOM, back to getting the ball in the air and going straight again.

[Kenny B]

7 hours ago, WaffleHouseTour said:

Had maybe my most consistent week ever - 81, 77, 80 & 80.

So of course, just when I thought I had the game figured out…

 

May need to trade up to the XL net size….

 

But it was drawing back... right??  

[GolfSpy TCB]

11 hours ago, WaffleHouseTour said:

Had maybe my most consistent week ever - 81, 77, 80 & 80.

So of course, just when I thought I had the game figured out…

B0C0A397-24A8-4ABD-8E50-577B0BD20AD5.MOV 11.58 MB · 2 downloads  

 

May need to trade up to the XL net size….

 

I resemble that process and result so much, I have a "side" net on my home range.  haha.

[GolfSpy TCB]

I have a tendency to start over thinking mechanics and positions which leads me to being very armsy in my swing (focusing on positions too much) - and outside in path.  So I have been working on a one piece takeaway with my shoulders to create a full turn.  The positive outcome seems to be a more natural and more correctly timed opening of the hips to allow the swing to come through with a better path.  At least that is where I am in my head.  How that looks IRL may be a different story.  I think this may be one of the many sinkholes draining my swing speed.  I know that generating speed with the arms is futile, I just can't convince my body to activate my core more.  

When I turn with the shoulders and not arms, my swing feels more in sync and I am more consistent with ball contact.  So I'm trying to create that habit by reps currently.

[mynerds]

11 hours ago, WaffleHouseTour said:

Had maybe my most consistent week ever - 81, 77, 80 & 80.

So of course, just when I thought I had the game figured out…

May need to trade up to the XL net size….

This made my day and reinforced my decision to never take my XL out of my garage

Can you share a little bit about your camera setup with the Mevo? Do you have any issues with setup/takedown? I currently use the Rapsodo as my launch monitor and really wish I could have a better camera view to go along with the launch stats. I saw that there is support for a multi-camera view with the Mevo+. It's starting to look awful tempting for the indoor winter setup...

[WaffleHouseTour]

11 hours ago, mynerds said:

Can you share a little bit about your camera setup with the Mevo? Do you have any issues with setup/takedown? I currently use the Rapsodo as my launch monitor and really wish I could have a better camera view to go along with the launch stats. I saw that there is support for a multi-camera view with the Mevo+.

I have my iPhone set as the primary camera for the Mevo. It’s attached to an @irange stick I have stuck in the ground for my down the line shots. I have another stick in the ground for face one. I have used both the iPhone and my iPad at the same time w Flightscopes multi cam app. My biggest challenge was not technology, it was getting the iPads camera positioned right. I typically just move my iPhone from one stick to the other. For my Skillest coach’s purposes that’s good enough. But the MultiCam does work slick.  
 

the irange sticks just stay in the ground.  I’ve got a metal disc I slipped into the iPhones case and it is grabbed by the big magnet on the stick. Takes zero time once you’ve done the prep work. It just snaps into position.  You can see the stick in the ground behind and to the left of the Mevo. 

the Mevo has a built in camera but my coach wants the video at hand level down my foot line - so I don’t used the Mevo camera - but its available. 
 

one of the nice things is the manner in which it exports, how much actual time it grabs (I have it set to 3 seconds before impact and 1.5 after) so the files are too bad. Slo no obviously much larger.  So in video mode EVERY swing is recorded as raw video. Then you can export it and the app lays the data you want like speed, distance, angles etc over the video.  So when I export for my coach she can see the swing and also four or five data blocks
 

I could use the Mevo camera, the iPhone front camera, the back camera, the back camera in slow motion, the iPad front, rear, you get the idea. 
 

The thing that made the difference in ease of set up was the @iirange sticks. I’ve got them w the spike, but it screws off, and this winter when I go inside I’ll attach the base plate so it can stand on the floor. 
 

helpful?

[GolfSpy_APH]

Went to the range with the new irons. They have top tracer there which not sure how many of you have used, but really enjoyed it. Definitely going to go more often and try out some of the games and so on!

[Vegan_Golfer_PNW]

Worked on chipping and putting today. Took chipping videos for my coach to assist me. Also got some pointers from @twyatt700and that seemed to help. Moving the ball almost back to my back foot helped consistency a lot. Also played games on the green putting to put more pressure on me. Really focused on 15ft and in as that is where my SG are worst. Realized I bleed a lot of putts in or end up short. Need to hit a little harder with more confidence if I 100% trust my line. 

[Kenny B]

I spent the last two days in the practice area.  Even though I played well this weekend, I know my swing is not "there" yet.  Today on the range I was working on a bigger, deeper backswing.  For anyone working on their swing while trying to play a round of golf... DON'T!!  Go play golf and forget about your swing drills.  Changing a swing habit leads to horrible shots, but it's necessary to get the movement correct.  Doing it on the golf course will only make you very unhappy!!  Just go have fun.

I have also spent a bunch of time on chipping and pitching which have been neglected while working on full swing.  Yesterday was pretty bad, but today I started to see improvement in distance control that I've been lacking the last few months.  I worked with my 9i for chipping; I've never used it before.  I think I'll be giving it a try on the course for chips where the ball is close to the green but the flagstick is 20 feet or more away.  I usually use my 60º and sometimes my 48º PW, but the 9i seems to use less effort with better results.  My only issue with it is that I tend to push the shot a little right.  Need to work on alignment.

[tmerick]

Currently unable to get out due to some family health problems. Set up the yard with some chipping nets to test out the new milled grind wedge and pulled out the ol indoor putting mat to use to spend my meeting times wisely. I'll be working around and on the green with no problem once I'm back out there!

[RickyBobby_PR]

23 hours ago, Vegan_Golfer_PNW said:

Worked on chipping and putting today. Took chipping videos for my coach to assist me. Also got some pointers from @twyatt700and that seemed to help. Moving the ball almost back to my back foot helped consistency a lot. Also played games on the green putting to put more pressure on me. Really focused on 15ft and in as that is where my SG are worst. Realized I bleed a lot of putts in or end up short. Need to hit a little harder with more confidence if I 100% trust my line. 

Other than playing for a low shot why play the ball that far back in the stance?

[Vegan_Golfer_PNW]

8 minutes ago, RickyBobby_PR said:

Other than playing for a low shot why play the ball that far back in the stance?

get the ball on the ground faster and this prevents me from blading my chips