What/How Did You Practice Today?

[rkj427]

15 hours ago, sirchunksalot said:

The last couple of days I've had the golf itch...bad. Unfortunately, the weather has not cooperated and it's been rainy and muddy since Friday. Today, I pulled the net out of the closet and was able to set it up on the driveway. 

My only regret was my carport has too much stored on it to record my swing. 

 

At least you were able to set up the net and get some good practice in. 

With my crazy work schedule there is minimal time for me to try and practice anything except chipping or putting at home at this time.

Weather here getting better, and sun shines a little later so I may be able to get some range time in during the week days going forward as long as it doesn't rain.

 

Typically, at this time, when I do get out to the course, I will randomly select certain holes or shots to hit a couple balls from, as long as it doesn't slow down any play of the group I am with or ahead of.

[sirchunksalot]

7 hours ago, rkj427 said:

 

At least you were able to set up the net and get some good practice in. 

With my crazy work schedule there is minimal time for me to try and practice anything except chipping or putting at home at this time.

Weather here getting better, and sun shines a little later so I may be able to get some range time in during the week days going forward as long as it doesn't rain.

 

Typically, at this time, when I do get out to the course, I will randomly select certain holes or shots to hit a couple balls from, as long as it doesn't slow down any play of the group I am with or ahead of.

Hopefully the weather will get better soon and you can get out and both practice and play soon. I bet with all the short game work you're getting in at home, you've probably got a killer short game. 

Having the net is awesome! I feel like it's doing me some good seeing results from my strike and is getting me to focus solely on strike. 

I got back out again today and hit about 40-50 balls with my set GW and put the Swing Jacket to good use. I hit some both thin and fat, but didn't see a single ball shoot right. I couldn't do much more than that because the wind picked up and  I had to get things ready to cook out this evening. 

I'm leaving work early Thursday to get the windshield replaced on my car. It's supposed to take a couple of hours because they have to calibrate some sensors and I have to take it to them. Right now I'm hoping I might just be able to sneak 9 in. 

[MDGolfHacker]

On 5/6/2022 at 6:24 PM, Getoffmylawn said:

Curious as to what your planned fix is; let us know how early next week goes…

@Getoffmylawn,

    I lost strokes on two chip shots and putting.  I actually went out in the pouring rain Saturday morning and practiced at a local course's practice green for two hours working on getting my putting more consistent in stroke and distance.  It was a no chipping green so I'll have to work on that another day. Normally I lose a stroke or two off the tee or poor approach shots but I was pretty solid last week except for the aforementioned issues.  Hoping to put it all together this week for league.

 

MDGolfHacker

[Kenny B]

On 5/7/2022 at 4:16 PM, sirchunksalot said:

My only regret was my carport has too much stored on it to record my swing. 

I see a storage shed in your future!  

[Kenny B]

I have been having issues with fat shots lately... my wife said that @sirchunksalot is already taken!!   It is very hard on my hands hitting off my mat in my hitting bay.  You'd think that since it hurts so much, that I would avoid doing it.  Nope!  I normally hit 7-8 good shots, then a fat one.

I generally practice irons shots with my Macgregor 9i and 6i {translation... PW and 7i for most irons today}.  I play the ball in middle to slightly forward of my stance like I have been told by many instructors; others say to play the ball slightly back of center so I make ball-first contact.  That position has never worked for me.

I recently saw an Instagram post by my coach Monte that addressed fat shots normally resulting from dropping the trail shoulder. He suggested a drill where the ball is placed "stupid forward" of your stance, like outside your lead foot.  I can actually hit the ball pretty well from that position; I focus on getting the club to the ball, and I can actually see the back of the ball instead of the top of the ball.  So that helped, but going back to my original position I started hitting fat again after a few shots.  

THEN, (for some strange reason and I have no idea why) I watched Jack Nicklaus' Golf My Way.  He played all shots off the inside of his left heel (where I play my driver); of course his stance varies with the club used, but he is making the same swing all the time.  From that position I can see the back of the ball and my strikes have been more consistent with considerably higher trajectory than my normal iron shots... nice when coming into greens.  I hope these positive results will continue with this change.  Maybe I should have watched Jack's video years ago!!

[RDel90]

4 hours ago, Kenny B said:

THEN, (for some strange reason and I have no idea why) I watched Jack Nicklaus' Golf My Way.  He played all shots off the inside of his left heel (where I play my driver); of course his stance varies with the club used, but he is making the same swing all the time.  From that position I can see the back of the ball and my strikes have been more consistent with considerably higher trajectory than my normal iron shots... nice when coming into greens.  I hope these positive results will continue with this change.  Maybe I should have watched Jack's video years ago!!

That's the basic principle with the single plane swing I'm working with. Ball position remains constant (about club head inside front foot) and the stance width adjustments is what changes the position relative to center sternum. Narrower width just inside shoulders with wedges/short irons, shoulder width stance with mid/long irons and fairway wood. Driver is the only time I change ball position in line with front foot and stance slightly wider than shoulder width. I found like you experienced when ball is too far back more fat shots from either back shoulder dropping or getting too much forward weight transfer resulting in then coming in too steep.

[MrBandit]

Going to get some practice in this afternoon.

Basic routine:
Hit about 25 balls on the range, just making sure Irons, wedges, Hybrid, 3/5 Wood and Driver are still behaving. (if there is something off I will come back another day and just work on that piece.

Rest of the time approximate 1hr
Chipping with 56 and 60 degree wedges, short and long, get it within the circle of friend or grip length before changing clubs.
Then Putting from 6ft and 3ft.  ( most people missed are from that distance, if not shorter) Left, right , top and bottom.

 

Edited May 10, 2022 by MrBandit

[Kenny B]

1 hour ago, RDel90 said:

That's the basic principle with the single plane swing I'm working with. Ball position remains constant (about club head inside front foot) and the stance width adjustments is what changes the position relative to center sternum. Narrower width just inside shoulders with wedges/short irons, shoulder width stance with mid/long irons and fairway wood. Driver is the only time I change ball position in line with front foot and stance slightly wider than shoulder width. I found like you experienced when ball is too far back more fat shots from either back shoulder dropping or getting too much forward weight transfer resulting in then coming in too steep.

Yeah I remember that when I did the Moe Norman swing.  Maybe that's why it feels comfortable to me since I did it for 10+ years.  

I also have the ball in the same position for all my chips and pitch shots, unlike what Graves Golf taught.  I could never get the hang of their ball position procedure for different shots with different clubs.  I basically play these shots without opening my stance, ball same location as all other shots, and usually only use my LW for low, medium and high shots (sometimes a GW) if pin is a long distance away.  Works for me on the typical courses around here.

[sirchunksalot]

6 hours ago, Kenny B said:

I see a storage shed in your future!  

You know I've looked into them on more than one occasion. I have a perfect place indoors in the garage at the place we got for my mother-in-law, but it's turned in to a storage unit for all the things she's saved (see also: hoarded) over the years. I often fantasize about having a good time over there just me and a dumpster. 

6 hours ago, Kenny B said:

THEN, (for some strange reason and I have no idea why) I watched Jack Nicklaus' Golf My Way.  He played all shots off the inside of his left heel (where I play my driver); of course his stance varies with the club used, but he is making the same swing all the time.

I watched that video a couple of years ago and was surprised to see how Jack positioned the ball off his lead heel for every shot. I can't criticize the practice of it, I think Jack might have done pretty good playing the game. 

[mynerds]

20mph sustained winds and 40mph gusts at the range today. On the bright side, I was able to rip into my driver and new 3 wood since the wind was directly into my face. On the downside, by already poor carry yardages were made that much worse. Still had a blast though!

I really struggle hitting my 3i and 4i. Might look to permanently replace them with some kind of hybrid or wood, and get a 5-PW in the next iron set. Also feeling less in love with my Jumbo CPx's now that I have a Midsize CP2 Pro in the bag. I will probably regrip my Driver and Hybrid with the CP2 Wrap to be able to compare the 3.

[jayjay0808]

After working hard with my coach on Wednesday with the driver, I decided to take out my Jones bag and only load it up with wedges to 9 iron. Hit 120 balls moving around targets and distances. Felt good to be target focused rather than technique focused 

[MDGolfHacker]

Well, went out yesterday afternoon to a very busy putting/chipping green to practice chipping. Strange day, I would hit 5-6 chip shots well then shank one.  Could of been because I was worried about blading one and hitting one of the other 6 guys also chipping but who knows.  I'll have to get out again today when the green is hopefully less busy to figure out what went wrong. Also practiced putting and that was off too.

MDGolfHacker

[mikeanthony]

Purchased my first lesson since my junior golf days and beeeejus christ, I'm an idiot for not having done so sooner. Had my first session today with Bob over at the Golf House here in Charleston and specifically worked on my irons ... only hit PW and 8i ...

No swing changes, which I knew, just mainly setup and grip changes ... and it's unreal what a massive difference it's made. My grip over the past 2 years has gone from a neutral, to weak, to a really weak grip - which in turn has lead to an open setup and just an over-rotation of my wrist during takeaway and over-rotation at impact and the follow-thru. 

It's wild how an extremely looking closed club face at address, to me, is actually a neutral and on target club face. 

Worked on a stronger grip, neutral club face at address, a quiet no hand/wrist action takeaway (with the same idea through impact) ... and I went from 145-155 8i at a 77-79mph swing-speed, and a slightly upward angle of attack ... to a 157-167 8i at an 80-83mph swing-speed with a slightly downward angle of attack. 

It def took some mental block to get past it, but after about 45-50 swings, I def started to feel more of a groove. It'll be something I have to keep working on, but I feel like it's lit that motivation fire in me to get better. 

[Nolan220]

been practicing my tilt i have a problem of not tilting and then when I tried to I felt like I was more trying to move my arms more and would be all messed up.... think I fixed the problem and been hitting the ball well in my practice sessions .. need to hit the course though to see if I can keep it there. 

[Vegan_Golfer_PNW]

Range day and video taping for lesson. Light grip pressure was focus. I was almost to light as I nearly lost my speed stick. Irons were off. Driver was good when I swung easy. When I went after it got toey (see picture). I did monitor my strikes and on easy swings was more toward the center. My miss has now changed which used to be the heel. Still coming in steep but takeaway and back swing is better. Will really need to focus on shallowing now.  Then some wedge work and bunker practice. Looking to not shot myself in the foot next round. 

[chisag]

20 minutes ago, Vegan_Golfer_PNW said:

Light grip pressure was focus. I was almost to light as I nearly lost my speed stick.

 

... While some aggressive hitters have a tighter grip on the club, most are shocked at how light they should grip the club. You described a feeling I tried to give my students that the club should feel like it is almost going to slip out of your hands. Taking a look at Fred Couples swing, his right hand is holding his grip so loose it literally comes off the grip at impact.  Obviously you want a secure grip but most grip waaaaaay too tight. Sounds like you are on a good path! 

[Shankster]

Spent about a hour at the range today.  The wind was not very good for my fade, 15-25mph left to right… but I fixed my grip and my take away and I was able to get some really good wind work in.  Hit a dozen or so stingers with the 3 iron that Tiger himself would have enjoyed… funny thing is, the easier I swung the better the result, with all of my clubs. 
 

I was tempted to play 9 because I could have done it in around the same time, but I played the round on the range as I would have, the results were pretty darned good… going out Thursday for my birthday.

[RollingGreens]

Got to the range today later than I wanted and I felt like I didn’t have enough time to get through everything. I was a bit rushed which showed with some poor swings and trying to muscle some shots but I was able to calm down and put it all together in the end. Really working on getting my feet to align with the target. I have found that my feet have been dictating my body position and swing path. Using alignment sticks has helped me get back to the norm stance I was used to last year. Didn’t even hit the driver since I’ve been incredibly ecstatic with how it’s performed. 
hope to get out to practice Thursday or Friday with the putter prior to playing this weekend 

[Kenny B]

6 hours ago, Shankster said:

… funny thing is, the easier I swung the better the result, with all of my clubs. 

Not funny... fact!  "When it's breezy, swing easy."

[Kenny B]

7 hours ago, Vegan_Golfer_PNW said:

Range day and video taping for lesson. Light grip pressure was focus. I was almost to light as I nearly lost my speed stick. Irons were off. Driver was good when I swung easy. When I went after it got toey (see picture). I did monitor my strikes and on easy swings was more toward the center. My miss has now changed which used to be the heel. Still coming in steep but takeaway and back swing is better. Will really need to focus on shallowing now.  Then some wedge work and bunker practice. Looking to not shot myself in the foot next round. 

If you want to see how well you're shallowing or practice shallowing, try hitting balls that are above your feet... like low on the outside corner of the strike zone.