What/How Did You Practice Today?

[cnosil]

Hit some pitches and chips in the backyard this morning.  Excited to get on the golf course this weekend and see how my new short game swing will work during an actual round.  Practice sessions have been good so I am optimistic.   

Scoring has been pretty poor lately; at least based on what I am capable of scoring.   Along with my short game changes, I am going to work on a different course management strategy this weekend;   middle of the green and 2 putts.  Basically no pin seeking.  Tee and fairway shots will be based on club distribution.  The course I am playing is relatively short, has smaller greens, and steep hills right and left that can result in shots going OB.  

[PMookie]

Hit two buckets with bucket one devoted to 1/2 and 3/4 swings to work on knuckles, and body rotation. Bucket two was for full swings for mainly my woods since I’ve been struggling off the tee. Then I went to the chipping green and worked on my number one issue: chipping. Chipped for 30 minutes. I need more of that!!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[Rickp]

Hit one bucket with new Mizuno irons. Broke it up PW, 8i & 6i. Tried nice easy swings with good ball contact & no shoulder pain. Went well, decent ball flight a couple of thin scankers and NO shoulder soreness. Good morning.


Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

[CarlH]

No game available today, so I played the inside 9 (We have a 27 hole course and the inside 9 is the original course that doesn't get as much play).   Hit 7 of 7 fairways, only 3 of 9 greens, and putted 17 times for a 4 over 39.  I call this more practice because I did drop additional balls periodically (but didn't count them in scoring).  The inside 9 is the longer and more difficult 9 of the 27 holes we have.

[PING Apologist #9]

6 hours ago, Rickp said:

Hit one bucket with new Mizuno irons. Broke it up PW, 8i & 6i. Tried nice easy swings with good ball contact & no shoulder pain. Went well, decent ball flight a couple of thin scankers and NO shoulder soreness. Good morning.


Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

Soooooo glad you are getting back into it Big Rick! Keep at it Bud!

[PING Apologist #9]

4 hours ago, CarlH said:

No game available today, so I played the inside 9 (We have a 27 hole course and the inside 9 is the original course that doesn't get as much play).   Hit 7 of 7 fairways, only 3 of 9 greens, and putted 17 times for a 4 over 39.  I call this more practice because I did drop additional balls periodically (but didn't count them in scoring).  The inside 9 is the longer and more difficult 9 of the 27 holes we have.

Good work out there Carl! I'm so pleased it seems that you're though the "bad" stuff and back in the saddle. Keep hitting them true my friend!

[Rickp]

Soooooo glad you are getting back into it Big Rick! Keep at it Bud!

Thanks Buddy, gotta keep trying!


Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

[pulledabill]

My game tee to green(side) has been decent. but getting up and down % has been low. Gone to the course the last 3 morning and twice today to work on various chips and pitches and putts 6 foot and in. When I shoot sub 80s, it usually means a high up and down %. Ive also been running Srixons Z and Z XV as a testor for MGS, and been using them most round the last few weeks. 

[CarlH]

Our club is closed on Mondays but the course is open for play on the holes not undergoing any weekly maintenance.  Today, holes 4-12 of our regular course and holes 1-9 of the 9 hole course were open for play.  It wasn't crowded, so my buddy and I opted to play holes 4-12 twice through, but we were doing additional chipping practice on each hole and dropping an occasional ball for rehits on any mishits we wanted to replay.  We weren't keeping score and it was more for practice than anything else.  Hit my irons crisply and on target for the most part, chipping was decent, and putting was okay.  I was pulling my driver pretty badly all day and it wasn't until the final hole we played that I realized that I wasn't really working my lower body to initiate the initial move and was just swinging from the top.  So, got something to work on next time out!

[pulledabill]

Back is a bit sore so hit the practice green for some chipping drills. Didnt last long as my back is just too sore. Did get in some good BS'ing practice in though. 

[CarlH]

Really good session on the driving range with my driver today.  Working on a more inside path and clubhead release.  Been fighting a pull recently and needed to work on minimizing the over the top/swing from the shoulders move I seem to have picked up since returning to play post surgery.  Worked on initiating swing with lower body a bit more and  the feeling of holding back the right shoulder a tad longer.  

After that, I went over to the chipping range and worked on some high and low shots with LW, SW, and AW from varying distances.

[perseveringgolfer]

Been chasing a swing thru tweaks and fixes the last 4 mths- one day great, next day appalling.

Went to the range with my 12 yr old two days ago, told him my golf woes (no-one else will listen lol), he said "Dad, you've played golf a long time, why dont you just stand up and hit it"..............kids have a knack of cutting thru the BS.

He's not wrong though.

Went to the range today with basic fundamentals in set up, backswing more on plane and strikes were consistent and good grouping.

Even the F9 was launching higher and longer.

So its now two swingthoughts instead of the 17 I had on every shot haha

[russtopherb]

I hit a small bucket at lunch and it was probably too humid to be out there, to be honest. I was exhausted after 10 swings. Worked on distance control with my scoring irons and pulled driver towards the end still trying to work on a swing that will eliminate one side of the course. If/when I can do that I'll be so much more confident on the tee box. I've been working on going left, as I still have a bit of an OOT move with the driver. So if I hit a slight pull, I'm OK if I'm aiming up the right and the ball ends on the left. If I hit a "power fade" I'm in the middle or the right side. If I try and go to the right and intentionally fade the ball, I'm in the woods. 

[edingc]

17 minutes ago, russtopherb said:

I hit a small bucket at lunch and it was probably too humid to be out there, to be honest. I was exhausted after 10 swings. 

Thanks for posting this. Made me feel a lot better because I just really failed to think about the weather today. According to AccuWeather, the real feel here is currently near 100 degrees. 

Long story short, went to range at lunch with the idea I'd hit two tokens worth, mostly working on short pitches with my 60 degree. I had brought my driver, a Ben Hogan Edge CFT 6 iron I built this weekend to try, and my lob wedge. Started with the iron and hit a bunch of crap balls. Figured I'd better quit that and move on.

I've been struggling with my driver inconsistency still, so today I made a small tweak to how far I stand from the ball (moved back another inch or so, and for the first 5-10 balls I was just striping it right off the middle of the club face. Long and straight.

And then, just like that, I couldn't swing to save my life. Club felt awkward in my hands, couldn't grip correctly, couldn't swing, wasn't balanced, etc. Went from 104-107 MPH and 255-260+ carry on a few straight to literally topping the ball yards in front of me.

Ended up with an OK session with the lob wedge, but I've been stewing all afternoon at how awful I hit the driver. Of course, I really didn't even think about the weather. I was drenched in sweat. Hitting driver 30-plus times is not realistic, I suppose.

Stupid. 

[PMookie]

I went to the course to get on the range with the new EXS, but the range was closed due to 3” of rain there last night. I chipped for awhile, horribly, then jumped on 10 and 18 to hit drives, approaches with my mid irons and wedges. The EXS was a two-way miss, so adjusted it twice, and still no luck. LST beat it pretty handily. The EXS shaft just isn’t close, and I’m not going to spend money on trying to find a shaft for it.
My approaches were pretty dang good, and I was able to get my left wrist to turn over and trap the ball at impact. Boy, did that feel good!!!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[Jmikecpa]

Went and hit balls to keep the tempo that I have found in my swing. Hitting the ball as pure as ever, now if I can just get some putts to fall.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[juspoole]

A lot of hard practice on joining the Wolfpack. Good start but still
some work to do.

Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

[pulledabill]

Hit the course to play but I forgot Thursday is the day the Special Olympic guys and gals take over the front and the back gets crowded so another day of practicing up and downs.  Worked on pitching fromte fring but for me I think Im better putting from the fringe as My contact is much more consistent. 

[DrMJG]

One of the difficulties for older players is practicing on very warm days.  There are still a lot of things golf related you can do indoors, such as using a putting mat, but one needs to be creative.

I live in an apartment complex, and, for example, I have to bring out a mat to hit off towards a target net.  For some reason they do not want a lot of divots!

Today, for example, I did get up early (6:30 AM) enough to use a shady area at home for about 45 minutes.

15 minutes physical activities from knee bends, toe touches, moving side to side with still legs and a club behind the back, holding a club in front with arms out and moving legs and hips. (I did these indoors with the air conditioning aiding.)

15 minutes using the Orange Whip® and primarily concentrating on the motion of the body and a good swing plane.

15 minutes working on full swing with cotton golf balls and a target net.

Was 92º at finish. Went in and kept moving around the house for 10 minutes or so to cool don followed by a shower.

When it hits 90º before 8AM, a round is out of the question for me if I don't want my doctor hollering at me!

[revkev]

 

Haven’t swung a club in nearly two weeks and had time today - but the range at my club is closed (we had 8 inches of rain while I was away) and the greens were punched.

 

So I went to the local muni and played the Par 3 course. Played 2 balls per hole and hit lots of other shots. By the time I was done I hit every club except driver, 5 wood and 48.

 

I was rusty at first, bogeyed 1 on both balls by hitting it in the trap twice. Hit a nice wedge on 2 from 110 into the wind to 15 feet and chunked the second one to 64 yards from the pin.

 

So I did this with my 60....

 

 

Slowly but surely I got my act together and started hitting shots. I’m not as long as most so I had to hit a gripped down 52 from 97 on 8. Here’s that grouping...

 

 

18 was perfect to check out my gapping - tees at 185, 169 and 161. Here are 7 wood, 9 wood and 6 iron from those yardages.

 

 

Notice three things:

 

1. One ball is longer - that’s the 9 wood because it should be 172 and that’s what it went.

 

2. There is no pin in the shot. I was aiming 25 feet left of the hole because the pin was hidden behind a trap on the right hand side of the green. In that scenario I will always aim left and trust my putter. In this case I hit all three putts inside of 2 feet. :)

 

3. The main course at this muni has new greens with a different grass. These greens are old school Bermuda. I grew up on poa and bent grass greens. My stroke works best on Bermuda. Soon it will be no more (on greens). I’m sad about that.

 

Finally I was one under for the last 9 balls that I played hitting - 3 shots on each of the last 3 holes. Almost jarred my first 9 iron from 133 on 7.

 

Was 2 over for nine on each of the first 2 balls - didn’t use a tee ever on those.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

 

[PMookie]

Got to the range, hit some balls, then a rain delay. When the rain stopped I went back out to finish. All I concentrated on was what a coach in Dallas had me work on: getting my right side through so I don’t stall out. I hit the ball very well when I did it. Felt good!!!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[DrMJG]

 

Due to the very very high heat predicted for the day, I got to the range when it opened for those with a card to operate the ball set up at 7:15. It was 86º when I started and now, at my air conditioned home, the mercury tube tells me it is 111º in the great out of doors

Started out with 10 minutes physical warm-ups and 10 swipes with the Orange Whip®.

Hit a total of 35 shots with only 3 clubs.

15 with my 50ºas a combination warm-up and first club. Good distance and direction was ok though a bit inconstant.

10 with my 7i, best over all work in some time. No complaints.

10 with my 4h. Over all, I was very happy about how it seemed as if, at lest for today, that I mastered the weapon!

(Humility will return next time I play the damned club on the course, I fear to say, LOL. )

 

Edited July 14, 2019 by DrMJG

[sirchunksalot]

It's been a busy weekend, but was able to head out to the range and get some swings in. Started out with the 60 degree working on short chips all the way up to 40 yarders. Brought out the 7 iron for a few shots and had a bad case of the chunks. Made an adjustment and started hitting the 5 iron off the tee ( the bane of my existence) and was actually hitting it pretty well. Hit a few drives, then back to the wedge.

I really need to remember to focus on the short game more, that's what's killing me right now. I had planned on going to the putting and chipping area, but I ran in to a gentleman I used to work with and by that time it was time to meet the wife for lunch.

Sent from my SM-G955U using MyGolfSpy mobile app

[yungkory]

2 hours grinding on the practice green watching that Hawaiian sunset. Life's good!

Sent from my Pixel 3 using MyGolfSpy mobile app

[Kenny B]

My normal Monday walking day today, but no buddies... on a trip; one guy fell and hurt his wrist.  So I thought I would just hit the practice area.  Nope!!

A Junior tournament was going off at 9am.

However, I managed to sneak out with a single just ahead of the first group of youngsters.  Played a practice 9 holes working on shots around the green.  I did hit decent shots off the tee and a few good approaches: took several extra shots when I got near the greens.  Overall, not a bad day.

[revkev]

Got to the range, hit some balls, then a rain delay. When the rain stopped I went back out to finish. All I concentrated on was what a coach in Dallas had me work on: getting my right side through so I don’t stall out. I hit the ball very well when I did it. Felt good!!!
 
 
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 

When I read coach in Dallas, I thought... “Hitting the tackling hard.” :)


Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

[Kenny B]

On 7/15/2019 at 9:16 PM, Kenny B said:

My normal Monday walking day today, but no buddies... on a trip; one guy fell and hurt his wrist.  So I thought I would just hit the practice area.  Nope!!

A Junior tournament was going off at 9am.

However, I managed to sneak out with a single just ahead of the first group of youngsters.  Played a practice 9 holes working on shots around the green.  I did hit decent shots off the tee and a few good approaches: took several extra shots when I got near the greens.  Overall, not a bad day.

I'm not sure where to post this, but since I posted about the Junior tournament here yesterday, I'll add in today's round.

I went to the practice area to work on pitching and putting.  Today was Day 2 of the WA District 4 Junior qualifying tournament for the 2019 championship.  A local girl who plays at my course all the time was making the turn, and I asked how she was doing.  She said "Better than yesterday"!  I saw the scores posted and yesterday she shot 75 and was one stroke behind the leader in the Girls 14-15 bracket.  I have played several holes over the past couple of years with her, and she keeps getting better.  Hits her drives about 260y.  She had started on #10; headed for #1, and I decided to follow for Holes 1 and 2.  I walked with her mom and dad.  Her dad said that she should be -4 for the first nine holes but missed several really short putts.  She parred #1.  Here she is teeing off on #2:

Her tee shot found the middle of three bunkers on the right about 50 yards from the green; blind shot over a 10 foot tall grassy mound; can't even see the flagstick. I've been there; not a fun shot at all.  I was standing pin high left on the other side of the cart path with her dad.  I couldn't see her, then I saw sand fly out of the bunker.  The ball landed 10 feet past the pin and spun back to about 2 feet.  It's the closest ball in this picture:

She made that putt and went on to shoot -2 today; and round of 70 and took first place by 7 shots.  Tomorrow she'll be out on the putting green all day, I bet!!

EDIT:   She was the low scorer for the two-day event... +1.  For both girls and boys up to age 18.

[StrokerAce]

left shoulder over the front of the right foot.

amazing how well the ball flies when you fully rotate your shoulders and keep your core steady.

[Kenny B]

1 minute ago, GolfSpy Stroker said:

left shoulder over the front of the right foot.

amazing how well the ball flies when you fully rotate your shoulders and keep your core steady.

AND...

right shoulder over the front of the left foot.

amazing how well the ball flies when you fully rotate your shoulders and keep your core steady.  

[russtopherb]

left shoulder over the front of the right foot.
amazing how well the ball flies when you fully rotate your shoulders and keep your core steady.

Yep. One of my main things that I constantly work on. One of the best tips I ever got in lessons is to rotate the front shoulder over the rear foot and feel the weight in my inner right thigh. When I do it right, the downswing is pretty much automatic from there.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk