What/How Did You Practice Today?

[Rickp]

9 minutes ago, sirchunksalot said:

I appreciate it @Rickp! It's starting to come along nicely and I'm starting to feel the game is getting closer to where it should be, and that's a great feeling. 

You’re finding the face of the club more than in the past, it’s getting better.

[cjeffs12]

On 11/6/2022 at 4:18 PM, sirchunksalot said:

It's been a stressful weekend with a sick cat and an ER vet visit that lasted 4 hours. He's doing a bit better now, but it always sets us on pins and needles when we have a sick animal and we've had a lot in the last year.

This morning, my wife got up early and suggested we go out for lunch and run around a bit before grocery pickup. We had a wonderful time and after getting home, I decided to go to the range.

I only went to hit a small bucket and took only four clubs (60, 52, 7 iron, and 5 wood).

Started out pretty hot, hitting some nice pitches with the 60. I'm learning to trust my alignment where I'm picking a spot, lining the club up with my trail hand, and gripping fully before taking my stance. I'm seeing good results as far as accuracy goes.

Much of the same with the 52, wasn't perfect but the improvement is getting there.

The 7 iron was ok, started out with a bit of a push that I attribute to lack of rotation and was hitting all over the face. I had to spray the club a second time and it got better.

The 5 wood was coming a bit off the toe, but only hit one really bad toey duck hook.

Still a work in progress, but I'm happy seeing positive results.

The wedges and the second group 7 iron looking good! 

[cjeffs12]

So after my hot weekend, I went to the range to refer my feels ingrained. I told my pro about my PB, and he was excited and wanted to see my swing. He saw a few and really like what he was seeing, but noticed how mechanical I was swinging. I told him I love how it feels, but I have to really focus to repeat it. He made one tweak, gave me a trigger and now it is even better than I have ever hit it. It feels so natural and effortless. He videotaped my swing and it doesn’t even look like me. I don’t think I’ve seen my own ball flight high piercing fade. I’m hoping to keep riding this high and hopeful to get some more buckets and maybe sneak in a 9 one day this week. 

[ejgaudette]

Just did some net practice yesterday and of course had the end of year session where it all seems to fit. While I probably won't get to actually play anymore but I will use the net a longs as I can to hopefully keep this feel.

[RichL85]

Went to the range yesterday to try some things out and it felt extremely strange. Learned plenty of things from the K-vest analysis I had done a few weeks ago, so I'm starting to work on fixing the timing of things. Also turns out that I was way too close to the ball. Like, 5 inches too close, so that put a lot of things out of order. Found out that I was setting up something like 12 degrees open as well. It was just a mess. So went about taking easy swings focusing on setting up the correct distance from the ball, doing everything in my control to feel like I was lengthening my spine, setting up more square, and going from there. Hit a few off the toe to start, but was starting to get it figured out. It felt like it was helping to allow me to turn through the shot rather than flipping at the ball, but I didn't get any video. The person I'm working with mentioned that my game may take a bit of a dip while we start to work on physical limitations so I don't want to be overthinking the swing too much right now. Just stick to working on basics and setup and if the ball goes the right direction great, if not, it will get there. Plenty of places to make improvements. 

[cksurfdude]

On 10/29/2022 at 1:53 PM, chisag said:

..drove their cart almost on the fringe, hit multiple shots from the same place and never replaced/filled their divots or repaired ball marks. I asked them politely to replace their ball marks/divots because this is my home course and they replied "maintenance crew does that" ...

ohyeah.... Wife and I splurged on a private club this year - which on the North Shore of Long Island is, unfortunately, a whole lotta $$$ - and I'm basically abhorred by that attitude = "Oh, I'm paying someone else to do it!" I'm not sure how widespread it actually is throughout the golfing membership, buuut .. there seem to be enough careless/thoughtless players............

Also, I don't use the locker room much but my wife does - club has a pretty nicely equipped fitness room so she goes in there some mornings - and she's literally disgusted by the mess that other women leave laying about .. for someone else to clean up after them.... 

The thing with ignoring marks on the greens kinda baffles me - club members "should" (quote-unquote) know that maintaining greens are expensive .. and difficult, especially during summers of extreme temps like we had a stretch of .. and it ended up that several of the greens got stressed, got a fungus and had to be closed off for a good part of the season......

[Kenny B]

Temp in the 20's this morning and my wife went to play with the Ladies Club after the frost delay.  I had to wait for the construction crew to finish up my new hitting bay, but that's another story.  Around 11am I headed to the course; bright sunny, cool 40º.

I was just going to work on my swing on the range and pitch a few balls, but after hitting maybe 30 balls, I decided to walk the course and hit practice shots.  I haven't done that much this year; too many people!!  But today, very few golfers after the Men's Club teed off.

I decided to play last year's winter ball... yellow Titleist Tour Soft against the ball I've been playing lately... white Maxfli Tour X.  Par on #1 with both balls; birdie on #2 with both balls!!  #2 is a short par 4; drove the Tour Soft to left side of fairway and the Maxfli to the right side of the fairway... about 5 yards longer.  From 65 and 60 yards, I hit a partial SW for both shots to here...

I only played three more holes, but my general observations about the two balls:

• The Maxfli Tour X flies higher than the Titleist Tour Soft for driver, 3W and irons.
• The Titleist Tour Soft flies a little straighter than the Maxfli Tour X, likely because it spins less; more shots would be needed to validate that. 
• The Titleist Tour Soft has more run-out on approach shots; not really an issue since I don't play hop and stop shots anyway.
• The Titleist Tour Soft is... well... softer, but not by a lot.  I like soft this time of the year!
• The yellow color of the Titleist Tour Soft is easier to see (for me) this time of year than the white Maxfli Tour X.

I'm thinking of switching back to the Titleist Tour Soft for the winter, because I have some left over from last year and yellow is easier to see most winter days.  However, I'm thinking about getting some Maxfli Tours in yellow to see how they compare to the trajectory of the Tour Soft.  Lower trajectory is nice when irrigation stops and fairways become runways!!

[Caddie1966]

Wow Kenny, those are two awesome wedge shots.  Does look like the Maxfli is a bit closer so I understand you wanting those in yellow …

[JerryB]

Went to River Heights to scratch the "cold weather golf" itch.  Only one there, it was nice and peaceful.  Temp somewhere in the low 30s.  Went to the back nine because most of the holes cluster near the clubhouse.

After the first hole I dropped a couple balls for both practice and Titleist white box testing.  Used my 3 wood a bunch, too, trying to get it under control.  I'd jumped on the PXG sale and I think it was a poor choice.  Not that I wouldn't do it again, just not working out.

Went through five holes before calling it quits.  Wasn't hitting too bad, it just wasn't very fun, y'know?  Good practice, though.  Got to see some good ball flight and reaction characteristics.

[cksurfdude]

On 10/31/2022 at 6:26 PM, Rickp said:

Some may disagree with me but if your feet are too close together on anything but short chip shots, there is a tendency for high handicappers to pull the ball left unless you have decent rotation through the ball.  The pitch shot is just a small version of the full swing; yes, the feet can be closer together but not "actually together."

I agree 'cuz it works for me! Helps me feel and focus on "control / accuracy and not power".

[cksurfdude]

On 11/1/2022 at 5:07 PM, JerryB said:

A lot of second shots were much better strikes, a little longer or more on target. 

Yep yep yep ... heard a great saying once, which I like to repeat every chance like this that comes up  ... "golf is easy - just hit your second (do-over) shot the first time"

[cksurfdude]

On 11/2/2022 at 12:09 AM, Kenny B said:

I heard that Nancy Lopez used to teach her students bunker play using marshmallows... if they didn't get the marshmallow out of the bunker, they had to eat it.  

The first part is very true!! On the second part you get a clean marshmallow out of the bag as a consolation (literally ) prize.

I've also seen vid tips using a tee or a penny to "splash" out of the bunker.

[cksurfdude]

Been practicing, including lessons, more vs actually playing past few weeks; a few of those practice sessions were a little up and down buuuut .. with the most recent practice sesh I finally felt like a lot of the pieces that I've been working on are actually starting to come together...

Some of the technical aspects include... takeaway/turn back; weight shift in transition and continuing thru impact; more shoulder turn coming into impact and better wrist position at impact. 

Areas of visible progress include:
- chipping/pitching - more consistent clean contact with improving distance control;
- partial full swing - been incorporating varying drills like feet together, step forward through the ball and hitting a 7i towards a 90 yd marker;
- 7i full swing - thought I was swinging the club fairly well, doing all the good things I'm supposed to be doing but the ball was consistently taking off left .. taking off nicely but still taking off left .. wellll .. a minor light bulb moment and I move the ball position back in the stance just a bit and voila!;
- driver - been working on this a bunch .. including feet together / grip all the down / half speed-half swings .. and am starting to send the ball downrange more often than way left or way way right (this is a big yea! for all of you who've heard/read me gripe about my lousy tee shots!);
- putting - usually am focusing on (1) lag putts / distance control (eg. fringe to fringe, fringe to a random dark spot, etc.) and then (2) shorter putts, say 3-6 ft, working on green reading, setup and start line usually doing a partial around-the-clock drill with just two or three balls and always moving positions around.

Not sure the next time I'll be able to get out and play but .. haha for right now at least .. am feeling a little (but just a little) more confident about what I'm trying to do out there.

[Kenny B]

On 11/11/2022 at 7:19 AM, Caddie1966 said:

Wow Kenny, those are two awesome wedge shots.  Does look like the Maxfli is a bit closer so I understand you wanting those in yellow …

Thanks!  A bunch of luck!!  Yeah, the two shots weren't equal by any means; The Titleist was on the left edge of the fairway... poor shot, pulled it, landed on the slope of the mound and rolled out to the pin.  The Maxfli was on the right side of the fairway and my view of the green was blocked out by the mound in front of the green... so blind shot.  Nice trajectory and I knew it would be a good shot, but didn't know it was that close!!

Funny thing is... if the two balls were switched in the fairway and I hit they exactly the same as I did, neither one would likely be on the green!! The Maxfli would have stopped on the left edge of the green and the Titleist would have run off the back of the green!  I know how to play each ball given their characteristics and the green conditions.

[edingc]

Got my garage cleaned up and organized Saturday so that I can start hitting in there soon. Of course I ended up taking a few swings to "make sure everything still works." That turned into a bucket's worth quickly...

Since I was just messing around, I grabbed my Sub70 699 Pro 6 iron. I was having all sorts of issues with my ball flight and I couldn't elevate the ball at all (something like 65 feet peak height). I was so frustrated I ran inside and grabbed my Hogan PTx Pro gamer 6 iron and immediately started hitting beautiful shots with a much higher apex. Crazy to think how much better of a fit the Hogans are for me...

Anyway, I really didn't swing all that well overall, which is not surprising as it was my first indoor session of the fall. My last shot was probably my best (below).

Couple points of emphasis that I'll be looking at this offseason:

1. Club speed/ball speed. I would love to see this be around 100-102 MPH club and 134-136 MPH ball by end of the offseason. This was a very old Nike One Platinum I found on course, I'm thinking I may see a little better efficiency with a new Titleist Pro1x RCT as this was a clean, centered strike.
2. Club path/face-to-path. I'm ecstatic to see these numbers be a lot more neutral than they used to be. It was not all that uncommon to see something like +6 in-to-out path with -4 closed clubface in the not so distant past. 

[GolfSpy TCB]

On 11/9/2022 at 7:22 PM, Kenny B said:

Temp in the 20's this morning and my wife went to play with the Ladies Club after the frost delay.  I had to wait for the construction crew to finish up my new hitting bay, but that's another story.  Around 11am I headed to the course; bright sunny, cool 40º.

I was just going to work on my swing on the range and pitch a few balls, but after hitting maybe 30 balls, I decided to walk the course and hit practice shots.  I haven't done that much this year; too many people!!  But today, very few golfers after the Men's Club teed off.

I decided to play last year's winter ball... yellow Titleist Tour Soft against the ball I've been playing lately... white Maxfli Tour X.  Par on #1 with both balls; birdie on #2 with both balls!!  #2 is a short par 4; drove the Tour Soft to left side of fairway and the Maxfli to the right side of the fairway... about 5 yards longer.  From 65 and 60 yards, I hit a partial SW for both shots to here...

I only played three more holes, but my general observations about the two balls:

• The Maxfli Tour X flies higher than the Titleist Tour Soft for driver, 3W and irons.
• The Titleist Tour Soft flies a little straighter than the Maxfli Tour X, likely because it spins less; more shots would be needed to validate that. 
• The Titleist Tour Soft has more run-out on approach shots; not really an issue since I don't play hop and stop shots anyway.
• The Titleist Tour Soft is... well... softer, but not by a lot.  I like soft this time of the year!
• The yellow color of the Titleist Tour Soft is easier to see (for me) this time of year than the white Maxfli Tour X.

I'm thinking of switching back to the Titleist Tour Soft for the winter, because I have some left over from last year and yellow is easier to see most winter days.  However, I'm thinking about getting some Maxfli Tours in yellow to see how they compare to the trajectory of the Tour Soft.  Lower trajectory is nice when irrigation stops and fairways become runways!!

Not sure how I missed this post Kenny... but that is some pretty impressive consistency right there.  and with two different ball profiles.  You are most definitely going to school me next year during the PNW Meetup.!

[GolfSpy TCB]

I wasn't able to play this weekend, but I did spend some time on my home range (mat and net) both Saturday and Sunday.  Speed training on Saturday and ball striking yesterday.  For ball striking, I am trying to focus on a) completing my backswing (which I have found to be getting shorter and shorter as I am working on the speed training) and b) starting my downswing following the same path as my backswing - in an effort to keep from my first move being over the top.  I'm sure I'm still re-routing the club up and over, but it "feels" like I'm "on plane" and my ball contact has seemed to improve.  Of course that is in my home practice facility.  Truth will come to bear on the full range, or on the course.  

[Kenny B]

5 minutes ago, Golfspy_TCB said:

Not sure how I missed this post Kenny... but that is some pretty impressive consistency right there.  and with two different ball profiles.  You are most definitely going to school me next year during the PNW Meetup.!

If you read my subsequent post...  hahahaha!!!

[revkev]

I thought it was worth posting here that I saw tangible results from all the short game practice that I did last week.  My putting was particularly good after three trips to the putting green spread out throughout the week and the Ping Glide 3.0 Eye 2 grind felt like an old friend - I practiced with it three times as well.  Plus I put my SCOR 52 back in - if ever you see that is out of my bag, you have my permission to call me out immediately.  I've tried in many and various ways to replace that club - never again. 

 

74 with 29 putts works for me every time.  Direct correlation to what I practiced throughout the week.

[ED13]

Got my net and SkyTrack set up today.  Hit over 150 wedge shots getting ready for my wedge fitting this Thursday.

Also signed up for winter practice at TXG.  Ceiling height in my basement is only 8.5' so can only practice up to my 7 iron.  This way I can work on my longer clubs at TXG and rest at home.

After 2 years of not being able to play I have the itch.

[Syks7]

Now that travel for the year is done (no holiday travel!) I jumped back into speed training.  My baseline speed with my driver as 108 if I swing for the fences (and probably won't make contact) and 98 with the swing that I use to find the fairway.   The goal is to nudge that fairway finder speed and control up toward the max speed.  We'll see where we are after the first month.   As I've read I showed an immediate jump in swing speed (that's temporary for the moment) with my fairway finder being at 103 and my swing for the fences at 112.  Should be interesting to see how it goes.

I've also been spending a lot of time putting.  It used to be the strongest part of my game but has tailed off this year even with practice.  I think a large part of that has been mental (reading Rotella) with me putting a lot of pressure on myself and focusing too much on my mechanics.  I've started just putting around to build my confidence mixing drills in with casual putting and trying not to put too much pressure on myself to hole the putts. I've been heavily focused on inside 8 ft and in and it's had good effect on my stroke which now feels much more natural to me.  It's also had the added effect of making lag putts seem less intimidating since I'm much more comfortable inside six feet.  Should have focused on this all along.

[RichL85]

I've been busy with work trying to get things taken care of before my vacation week and then had the kids all week so I haven't hit a ball since the last round I played. Best I could do today was to set up the net in the yard and take some swings. It was a very uneventful practice session. Basically hit 3 or 4 half punch shots, then one full swing trying to work on feeling like the arms stay back as long as possible and allowing the rotation to bring them around rather than trying to create all the speed in my arms. 

On an unrelated note, I feel like I definitely have a visual connection in my swing that I have to figure out how to get over. The tendency of my brain is to "hit" the target I'm looking at rather than swinging through and sending the ball to a distant target. The fact that I'm usually looking at the front tip of the ball translates to my body trying to release the club and bottom out the swing right at the front of the ball. This can have varied results depending on the day. Today I just messed around with finding a spot that was a different color to focus on about 4 inches in front of the ball. Felt weird to swing and not really see the ball, but in some ways it helped. Hopefully things will cooperate and I can get out on the course next week while I'm off work. 

[GolfSpy TCB]

Range work today and then played a few holes (7 to be exact).  My scrambling game was in check... good thing because I was flaring everything (I mean everything) to the right.  Got home and went straight to me mat/net.  I believe I have it worked out... but it was ugly.  Still managed to play those 7 holes in 2 over.  But only because my pitching, chipping and putting saved me.  

MGS Forum Virtual Turkey Shoot rounds scheduled Tuesday and Friday... may try to squeeze in another round on Wednesday.  

[edingc]

Working in the garage last night on getting some more width in my swing - mission successful on the width (before on the left, last night on the right - notice the additional space between my trail hip and hands at club shaft parallel). Unfortunately it didn't add the speed I was hoping to gain with the driver, but it did help a lot of other things in my swing. It did add a few MPH with my 6 iron so hopefully it will come around with the driver as well at some point.

[Syks7]

A little more speed training and a lot more putting today.  Going to the good range where I take my lessons tomorrow and to play a couple sim 18's with the Garmin to focus on positive visualization and course strategy

[cksurfdude]

Finally got back out to the range after having to take care of a lotta house stuff...

..but did get in a few minutes with an Orange Whip here and there during the past almost two weeks .. focusing on what Martin Chuck calls "structure" in the arms..

..well at the range today it made a big, positive, difference! Much better contact on full swings - including with driver and with a fairway off the mat (hit it straight three times in a row .. sounds silly but that's a new PB for me and FWs ).

Still (always) also trying to work in all the good things accumulated from lessons over the last two years .. feel like some of that is starting to happen now, too.

Thinking the next area to build on includes getting wrists and hands working better throughout the swing .. and getting a little more consistent path plus face angle at impact...

Work In Progress!!!

[Haro]

I stopped crouching behind the ball for putting. Do better when I start drawing a line from the cup to the ball. Often for short putts I draw a line with my eyes from 2feet beyond the cup back to the ball and then stroke the ball.  Try not to take too much time between moving my eyes back and stroking the ball  If I’m look like I’m taking time it’s just to figure out my speed.   
chipping seems to be different.  I look for a spot to land the ball   I actually have to stand on the side and have full view of both ball and hole and image the ball either dropping into the hole with wedge or play chip and roll with lower loft club   So I walk from the side and start my routine from side rather than behind the cup.    

Edited November 24, 2022 by Haro

[Vegan_Golfer_PNW]

Range before gym this morning. Irons are heel side strike and some hosel rockets. I think I need to move back a smidge to compensate. When I strike well it was a nice fade but distance not there. 
 

short game practice was good getting chipping feels. Lag putting good. Learned I need better control to leave more short. I was blowing by more often than being short by 3 ft

[GolfSpy TCB]

On 11/22/2022 at 7:20 AM, edingc said:

Working in the garage last night on getting some more width in my swing - mission successful on the width (before on the left, last night on the right - notice the additional space between my trail hip and hands at club shaft parallel). Unfortunately it didn't add the speed I was hoping to gain with the driver, but it did help a lot of other things in my swing. It did add a few MPH with my 6 iron so hopefully it will come around with the driver as well at some point.

This is a great comparison pic!.  Your original post about this position in the swing got me thinking and looking at my own takeaway.  I had some really nice drives in the last few rounds with trying to feel myself in the position on the right.  In fact, heading out to my mat now to work on it some more.  It feels a little clunky with the irons... but I think that is because I'm not transferring my weight correctly with the irons.  

[edingc]

1 hour ago, Golfspy_TCB said:

This is a great comparison pic!.  Your original post about this position in the swing got me thinking and looking at my own takeaway.  I had some really nice drives in the last few rounds with trying to feel myself in the position on the right.  In fact, heading out to my mat now to work on it some more.  It feels a little clunky with the irons... but I think that is because I'm not transferring my weight correctly with the irons.  

One thing I noticed in my swing is that you do have to be careful not to throw your pressure out over your trail foot without recentering or, worse, swaying to get the movement. Drew Cooper talks about feeling the pressure start to move back to center by P2/club shaft parallel in backswing, and for me that's a great queue to keep my pressure from doing that.

I tend to get so "rotational" with my arms stuck to my sides. Feeling a lot of room in my setup and getting this width has drastically improved my path/face relationship. Looking forward to continuing my work on it.