What/How Did You Practice Today?

[Rickp]

1 minute ago, Kenny B said:

3º is a big change for a wedge, even a forged wedge and probably not recommended for a cast wedge.  I wouldn't go more than 2º.  You are also changing how it interacts with the turf and affecting the offset.

Agree 2* is recommended max.  Howl can stress and crack also turf interaction can become skewed as @Kenny B mentioned.

[Kenny B]

On 2/24/2023 at 4:36 PM, snicerz said:

ound out that half swings and about 2 club lengths were the magic formula. i.e. I need a full 9i, instead grab a  7 and give it a half swing. It was definitely more of a punch shot with lower trajectory but worked out ok and was still fun trying to get around the course like that.

So... just practicing your wind shots!  

[Bang60]

48 minutes ago, Kenny B said:

3º is a big change for a wedge, even a forged wedge and probably not recommended for a cast wedge.  I wouldn't go more than 2º.  You are also changing how it interacts with the turf and affecting the offset.

Ahhhh was afraid you would say that lol, guess I’ll have to look for a wedge set. But that Diawa Protege sw is the best grouping I’ve ever had, beat TM Ping titleist cobra but obviously all those big brands have a sw that would work for me I just haven’t found one…

Ive got some mizuno to try so maybe they’ll work, meanwhile I’m having fun looking for nirvana lol…

[snicerz]

16 hours ago, Kenny B said:

So... just practicing your wind shots!  

lol mostly my "under a tree" shot

At this point, I've just learned to embrace the wind. Sometimes it will get me but for the most part, I can get away with my stock shot (just aimed a little more left or right). The course is so hard and dry where I play that any kind of punch shot has to land 20+ yds short or it will be way long. It does feel bad when you hit a great shot and just as the ball reaches it's apex a huge gust of wind shows up to put you 15-20 yds short. It's even worse on drives. Nothing like smashing a drive out of the middle and then finding it 40 yds short. So much more distance to make up.

[WaffleHouseTour]

A - I'm still in winter season here in Iowa, so everything I do is indoors.  

B -Ive been taking Skillest lessons for the last 9 months.  My coach has set up a "practice plan" spreadsheet in a shared google sheets for her students.  I like this as it makes me consciously think about a couple key items - I have to input into the sheet my "intention", my "swing thoughts for the day", I record if I'm doing block practice and what drills, randomized, is it driver, irons, chipping, putting etc... She gives all her students a monthly challenge - like make 100 3 ft putts in a row and record your number.  Also asks for "take aways from the session".  So it really makes me think about what I'm going to do and why, verbalize it, and then what I got out of it.  I've really liked this.

C - so I've been focusing on more weight in my heels, using a smart ball and tour aim on my backswing for a bit to esnsure I'm not whipping the club inside on the takeaway with my flying elbow; then ditching the training aids and just focusing on shifting my weight and holding my finish.  Then chipping 12 and 18 footers until I sink six (can take a while) and a ladder drill of putting 4/12/18 footers while focusing on drawing my shoulders back (its a whole thing about my posture).   Now adding in the Stack and speed training.   Have four nights a week to spend on this.

[Kenny B]

18 minutes ago, snicerz said:

lol mostly my "under a tree" shot

At this point, I've just learned to embrace the wind. Sometimes it will get me but for the most part, I can get away with my stock shot (just aimed a little more left or right). The course is so hard and dry where I play that any kind of punch shot has to land 20+ yds short or it will be way long. It does feel bad when you hit a great shot and just as the ball reaches it's apex a huge gust of wind shows up to put you 15-20 yds short. It's even worse on drives. Nothing like smashing a drive out of the middle and then finding it 40 yds short. So much more distance to make up.

I've played in Oklahoma; wind is about the same as here and our course is also very firm, especially right now when the ground has frozen many times over the last couple of months and it's dry as a bone.  Great if going down wind though, but as you say... have to play the ball short of greens.

[RichL85]

Weather managed to clear up for today so I hit the range after work. Wasn't really working on anything in particular, just wanted to hit some balls since it's been a few weeks. Might be a swing of the day kind of thing, but was hitting a small little draw on my irons instead of that push fade that has been plaguing me for awhile. Maybe moving the lie angles 3 degrees upright helped, maybe my swing was just a little better today. Either way, I was liking the ball flight, but I think the fade fits my eye a little better. Spent 60% of the time hitting wedges to different distances. Had some loft changes done on the PW and the 50 degree, so gapping appears to be better there. Nothing crazy, just swinging the club at a consistent tempo. I know most of my problems come when I get too quick at the transition, so I'm going to focus on just keeping everything smooth for the next few weeks. 

Everything was going pretty well so I figured I would hit a few 3 woods off the deck. I always figure the 3 wood will show me how much the other clubs are lying to me about my swing for the day. Coming from a person that was terrified to even purchase a 3 wood when I went for the fitting, it's still a club I need to work with. Having said that, if this is my miss with a club I'm not comfortable with after not swinging for a few weeks, I will take it gladly. Obviously a little low, but I'm trying to keep my expectations in the real world here. 

Also spent a little bit of time putting in the office during my lunch. Realized a weird quirk of mine that seems to cause me to push a lot of my putts to the right. Apparently I've been watching the club go back with my eyes, so today I just focused on keeping my eyes on the back of the ball and not watching the club. It was weird how much of a difference that little thing made. 

[Bang60]

I watched Phil’s chipping vid on utube and it’s working for me, I learned don’t discount someone because he’s done some dumb stuff as I’ve done. Nobody is perfect bloody good video..

[Kenny B]

11 hours ago, Bang60 said:

I watched Phil’s chipping vid on utube and it’s working for me, I learned don’t discount someone because he’s done some dumb stuff as I’ve done. Nobody is perfect bloody good video..

I've watched Phil's videos and his Hinge and Hold technique just didn't work for me.  I practiced it for days at the club, but it just never felt good. 

I'm more of a Steve Stricker type chipper; more consistent with it.  However, being bored during our poor weather I have been working in my hitting bay on creating more wrist hinge; trying to get a more supple wrist (like a Pinball Wizard ).  Taking the club back and letting gravity take over on the downswing and rotate; worked yesterday... I'll see if it works again today.

[Syks7]

Another week of practice rolled into one post.  Played another twilight 9 practice round less focused on contact and more focused on flipping the negativity I discovered in the video I made into being positive to myself after every swing (regardless of outcome).  It's shockingly hard.  The habit is so ingrained that I find myself having little arguments with myself.  'Ugh bad.  No, wait, that was actually pretty decent.'  I must look and sound like an absolute loon on the golf course right now.     Lot's of work still to do on that front.

Yesterday I did a lot of chipping practice that was more of an experimentation session than anything else.  I was trying to really get to know what I can and can't do with shot & trajectory selection around the green.  While my short game has gotten better I think I'd be getting up and down more often vs. giving up strokes if I made better decisions about target and trajectory.  It was fun and informative and towards the end I started to see if I could recreate situations I often see out on my home course.  I learned a few things there too.  My 52  is the most versatile wedge that I own, I can hit a low driver that checks and stops, a medium height shot that rolls out, and a surprisingly high little almost flop that stops where it lands.  The 58 is too situational and I think it's getting swapped for a 56 that will see a little more use.  Truth be told, if I have to hit a little 58 flop to get close I've done something wrong at this stage in my game.  Similarly, I can hit a high trajectory chip shot with any of my wedges down to PW, but that doesn't mean that I should.  While it was fun to lay the 47 over and hit a flop shot, the disaster to good shot ratio was too high.  It was either a nice long high soft landing flop or an absurd blade into the next zip code.  I'm going to be doing more of this type of practice.  It was way more effective than trying to hit 20 balls close to a single pin and I found that the further into the practice session I got the better I got at picking the right shot to get close as the first shot of a new tube.  

Similar stuff with putting.  Focused a lot on making sure I left good leaves from any putt outside 8'.  A lot more observation of what the ball does when I miss and what the optimal miss is to leave me a simple second putt -- like not driving it past a hole on an uphill putt to leave a slippery left to right 3 footer to make par.  

Same deal with irons on the range.  What is my miss, etc.  I suspect my new to me irons are flat, but seeing as how I have a tournament next week I'll get the adjustment done afterwards or not at all.  Debating whether a push baby fade miss is more tolerable to deal with than irons that I never miss left with.  

All in all a very good week of practice, but yesterday at the end of the session told me I was in danger of overdoing it.  Time to set up a golf fitness plan so I can get more swings in during a week without wearing out my core -- I've discovered when my core gets tired my upper lower body connection goes out the window along with my swing.

[RickyBobby_PR]

22 minutes ago, Syks7 said:

Yesterday I did a lot of chipping practice that was more of an experimentation session than anything else.  I was trying to really get to know what I can and can't do with shot & trajectory selection around the green.  While my short game has gotten better I think I'd be getting up and down more often vs. giving up strokes if I made better decisions about target and trajectory. 

Something to practice. Have 3 swings with club of choice and also try different clubs because they will all land and rollout different distances.

Note how at the ball travels in the air and how far it rolls out.

1st swing is short and quick (remember body rotation and not hands and wrists). Going to be a low trajectory shot that should land a little ways in front of you, kind of barely on the green if close to the green

2nd swing is medium length and speed. Going to be a little higher trajectory and carry further than the quick swing.

3rd swing longer and slower. Going to be even high and carry further than the media 

Only thing you are changing is speed, ball position will still favor more towards front foot. Also remember to keep more weight on front foot thru the swing 

another thing to practice is hitting your landing spot. Place a putting circle or towel where you want the ball to land and hit shots to that spot

[Bang60]

3 hours ago, Kenny B said:

I've watched Phil's videos and his Hinge and Hold technique just didn't work for me.  I practiced it for days at the club, but it just never felt good. 

I'm more of a Steve Stricker type chipper; more consistent with it.  However, being bored during our poor weather I have been working in my hitting bay on creating more wrist hinge; trying to get a more supple wrist (like a Pinball Wizard ).  Taking the club back and letting gravity take over on the downswing and rotate; worked yesterday... I'll see if it works again today.

Yeah finding what works for you and me is going to be different and difficult, the new course “Kapiti”I joined is cheap $520 p/a but the practice green is better than my old club PBGC in as much I can hit from 135metres into a nice green whereas the old fancy club just has a short mow grass area not a proper green? So now I’m actually practicing short irons into a green, I’ll try to remember a photo…

[cksurfdude]

Setup the old ExPutt* and rolled a few (Practice mode, random distances 5-30 ft, stimp 11) .. some things that I can see have improved include face rotation during the stroke and face angle at impact; however something that was off was distance control .. was either way off or really good...

 

* For more info on the ExPutt plz see the Forum Member Review thread...

..https://forum.mygolfspy.com/topic/39526-2020-official-member-review-exputt-putting-simulator

[RichL85]

Range was absolutely packed after work today. About 10 people waiting for a spot before me, so I spent about an hour just chipping/pitching and putting. Chipping practice absolutely bores me to tears and frustrates me beyond all rational reason at the same time. It seems to come in waves where I'll hit 4 or 5 good ones in a row, then out of nowhere I can barely make proper contact. I won't change anything that I can pinpoint, and I'll start hitting good ones again. It comes and goes seemingly for no reason. Haven't really figured out the cause of it. I really need to find a way to make it interesting because I know it would help lower my scores. Putting went well, doing a lot better job getting the ball on the right line and leaving most of my misses in spots I can clean up without much trouble. 

[Kenny B]

24 minutes ago, RichL85 said:

Range was absolutely packed after work today. About 10 people waiting for a spot before me, so I spent about an hour just chipping/pitching and putting. Chipping practice absolutely bores me to tears and frustrates me beyond all rational reason at the same time. It seems to come in waves where I'll hit 4 or 5 good ones in a row, then out of nowhere I can barely make proper contact. I won't change anything that I can pinpoint, and I'll start hitting good ones again. It comes and goes seemingly for no reason. Haven't really figured out the cause of it. I really need to find a way to make it interesting because I know it would help lower my scores. Putting went well, doing a lot better job getting the ball on the right line and leaving most of my misses in spots I can clean up without much trouble. 

It’s just the golf gods way of keeping an eye on you.  

Are the good ones the same shot to the same target?  Sometimes the mind gets lazy when you repeat a bunch of good swings in a row and doesn’t focus… until something changes, like hitting a bad shot.  Uh oh!  Better wake up!  I would guess that happens more when you are doing something that you consider boring.

Chipping and pitching are what I enjoy more than range work.  I try to be creative and change up shots frequently; different targets, different trajectories, even different clubs sometimes.  If you have a buddy, you can call shots and see you pulls it off better.

[RichL85]

18 minutes ago, Kenny B said:

It’s just the golf gods way of keeping an eye on you.  

Are the good ones the same shot to the same target?  Sometimes the mind gets lazy when you repeat a bunch of good swings in a row and doesn’t focus… until something changes, like hitting a bad shot.  Uh oh!  Better wake up!  I would guess that happens more when you are doing something that you consider boring.

Chipping and pitching are what I enjoy more than range work.  I try to be creative and change up shots frequently; different targets, different trajectories, even different clubs sometimes.  If you have a buddy, you can call shots and see you pulls it off better.

The chipping area has a few different targets so I will cycle through them and cycle through my wedges to try different flights. I just can't get into it by myself most days. No friends around the course for me. 

[Kenny B]

I did more inside work today in my hitting bay since it’s still chilly and windy.  After stretching I worked on making a bigger, deeper backswing; easy to do until I put a ball in play to hit.  Then I’m back to shorter swings.  However, I am noticing that my speed is up slightly, just at the expense of poor contact.  It will take time, but it seems like I have a lot of it with the current forecast.

I also spent more time with pitch shots working on softening my wrists and letting gravity start the downswing; seems to work pretty well.  Around 2pm I decided to take it to the course pitching area to see what it looks like outside.  Well, when you add in 20-30 mph wind, cold hands, and dormant grass that is drier than a popcorn f@rt… well, let’s just say that I need to practice a little more.  

I also did a little putting.  The greens are very firm and the grass hasn’t started growing yet this year, but the course has been mowing anyway.  They are lightning fast; I like it!!  The green in my hitting bay by Big Moss is supposed to be about 11-12 stimp (it is slightly faster in one direction vs the other).  Today our course practice green was rolling out much longer with the wind.  I can only practice putts at home that are less than 10 feet, so today I specifically worked on 15-20 footers into the wind and down wind.  Speed control was surprisingly good for not having played much lately, even made a couple!!

[cksurfdude]

12 hours ago, RichL85 said:

..hit 4 or 5 good ones in a row, then out of nowhere I can barely make proper contact

Just as an fyi when that happens to .. uhhh a friend of mine .. and I know this from video feedback during lessons... 

..one contributing factor can be not turning back / turning through nicely but rather letting the clubhead get outside the hands and then coming into the ball out-to-in and exposing either the leading edge or the hosel to the ball...

My miss is the ball shooting off low-right so that's a pretty good indicator of those cause(s).

[202]

Just as an fyi when that happens to .. uhhh a friend of mine .. and I know this from video feedback during lessons... 
..one contributing factor can be not turning back / turning through nicely but rather letting the clubhead get outside the hands and then coming into the ball out-to-in and exposing either the leading edge or the hosel to the ball...
My miss is the ball shooting off low-right so that's a pretty good indicator of those cause(s).

When I practice chipping/pitching, after four or five shots, I take a step back and do a couple of full swings (without a ball) to “reset”, and back at it again.

[202]

I spent an hour at the range today with the hybrids, 4 wood and the driver. The driver doesn’t like me anymore.

[cksurfdude]

7 minutes ago, 202 said:

When I practice chipping/pitching, after four or five shots, I take a step back and do a couple of full swings (without a ball) to “reset”, and back at it again.

Yeah I like to mix it up when I'm at the range - I seem to get into trouble more at home, hitting into the net, and in all probability getting lazy and unfocused with my chipping swing... Need to be more diligent about doing a better variable practice at home!

[PMookie]

FINALLY got to swing the club for the first time in months!!! Hit a large bucket of balls hitting just 3/4 shots working on my rotation. Felt nice to get back out there again!

[Bang60]

1 hour ago, PMookie said:

FINALLY got to swing the club for the first time in months!!! Hit a large bucket of balls hitting just 3/4 shots working on my rotation. Felt nice to get back out there again!

Take it easy not good for the body coming back after a long break and going to hard…

[Julius]

Went to the simulator yesterday and today.  Today I was working on the pre-season slice to get my club into the slot, then we spent about 90 minutes playing a series of games on the Trackman that mostly tests the shorter game (from 175 yards and down to about 45).  so you have to use all of your high lofted clubs and maybe up to a 3 wood.  This was fun and took 3 of the 4 contests. Feel like the low irons are dialing in pre-season rather ok at this point. 

[sirchunksalot]

Well, we didn't get to play today. All the courses ain't my buddy's house were booked solid and the one we were going to play had the back 9 closed due to all the rain lately. So, we went to a driving range and hit balls and hung out. It was fun getting to spend some time with Shadoe, his wife, and his brother. 

We hit quite a few balls and I will say the confidence is starting to tend the right direction. I spent a lot of time using the @chisag drill where you place a ball about 3 feet in front of the ball you're hitting and thinking about hitting the front ball with the ball you're hitting. I even had my buddy do a few to work on solid contact with his fairways. 

The best benefit for me was I was just sitting the club down and hitting as soon as it touched the mat. There was no sitting frozen over the ball paralyzed with swing thoughts. I was hitting the ball as well as I have in a long time. 

I didn't take a lot of photos, but I did get this one of 3 shots with the driver. 

They were low on the face, but the range had plastic tees and mine was sitting a bit low. I'm just impressed with the consistency of the strike. 

The best part of the day was we all left there feeling a bit more confident in our games. 

[Tom the Golf Nut]

Finally a nice weekend. Maybe too nice. Perfect sunny and 80 degree days. Yesterday I went to my daughters track meet. Did I mention 80 and sunny. I got burnt to a crisp. I got home took a shower and was in bed by 9:00. Totally wiped by the fresh air and sunshine. Woke up this morning at 7:00 and decided to play golf. 
Im calling it a practice session because the greens were just punched during the week. No way to putt on these greens today. All my woods and hybrids were performing well. Still struggling with my irons. Everything was on target but 10 yards short. Easy chips to get it close but I did get a lot of bad bounces on the green from the punched holes.

Im getting used to the new course but I’m not use to people. At 8:00 to noon I always had the course to myself. But not here. There were quite a few groups out ahead of me. They were all nice though and let me play through. I had several comments on the Motocaddy as I cruised by. I received a few comments on my game as well when they let me play through. “I wish I could hit it that far and straight” Another was I’ve been watching you behind us. Do you ever miss a fairway? Little things like that make you feel good about your game. Kind of took the sting from coming up 10 yards short all day. I’m not sure what it is yet. Was it the sunburn, wearing a long sleeve pull over to shield my toasted skin from the sun, or is the air density that much more than TN? Maybe just pure winter rust. I’ll get it figured out. I probably was shooting mid 70’s lots of pars even with the crappy greens. Played all over the tee box’s too. Blue, White and Gold tees just to  make things interesting. I just took the shortest route to the next tee box. What ever tee box was closest was what I played. All in all a fun day.

Then got home and started working on the golf green. The shape is laid out. Grass cut down to 1 inch and started top dressing/ leveling. Little by little I am making progress. Should have a reel mower next week. Then take it down to 1/2 inch and then top dress/ level again. 2 weeks before I can fertilize here. Then wait another few weeks and then seed. Then it’s up to Mother Nature. Grow, cut, grow, cut. 

[sirchunksalot]

I've been sitting here thinking about my last couple of practice sessions and came to the realization that having external cues really takes my practice up a notch. Today I did the ball in front of ball and also placed my ball next to the rubber tee when I started struggling with hosel rockets and I think having something visibly to focus on just works for me. 

I think it frees my mind from all the internal thoughts that have plagued me for a while. I was actually swinging after putting the club down and not standing there anxious about what the ball would do. You know what else? I was hitting balls more accurately and consistently. My buddy let me hit his TA 845 wedges and the first two strikes were dead center. (I also let him hit the Mizuno's to feel the buttery goodness).

On another note, the  Atomics I gave him had the head come loose on the 4 iron. Just separated from the shaft, so at least he can take it somewhere and get it fixed. 

[GolfSpy_KFT]

It was a beautiful mid 40s Wisconsin day today, so we headed to an outdoor range with heated bays to hit some balls. Our 5 year old just got his new set and wanted to try them out, so I didn’t do too much swinging. Took my driver along and hit a few balls which went surprisingly well. First swings of the year success? Most likely I will be trying to work hard on early extension this year, it’s my biggest issue within my swing. Everything feels good through the backswing but at the top and into the down swing I run into trouble. My wife got one swing recorded so I will probably post that to get feedback and any helpful drills to stay in my swing better. 

Either way, it felt great to swing the clubs again. We are more than ready for warm summer weather! 
 

Had to include a picture of me and the little man. I never knew I could have so much fun watching someone else hit golf balls. Can’t wait for the summer.

[Bang60]

1 hour ago, Jnoble89 said:

It was a beautiful mid 40s Wisconsin day today, so we headed to an outdoor range with heated bays to hit some balls. Our 5 year old just got his new set and wanted to try them out, so I didn’t do too much swinging. Took my driver along and hit a few balls which went surprisingly well. First swings of the year success? Most likely I will be trying to work hard on early extension this year, it’s my biggest issue within my swing. Everything feels good through the backswing but at the top and into the down swing I run into trouble. My wife got one swing recorded so I will probably post that to get feedback and any helpful drills to stay in my swing better. 

Either way, it felt great to swing the clubs again. We are more than ready for warm summer weather! 
 

Had to include the a picture of me and the little man. I never knew I could have so much fun watching someone else hit golf balls. Can’t wait for the summer.

That’s the perfect shot, you’re the luckiest dad  

[GolfSpy_KFT]

1 minute ago, Bang60 said:

That’s the perfect shot, you’re the luckiest dad  

1 minute ago, Bang60 said:

That’s the perfect shot, you’re the luckiest dad  

That I am!