What/How Did You Practice Today?

[EnderinAZ]

Went back to the range today. Still trying to find that sweet spot that produces a repeatable swing. Buggered up shoulder has been making it difficult since the last surgery. Found one that repeats huge distance that is straight or with a draw and an occasional hook. It is a shoulder pain avoidance swing that starts with my hands way out across the target line to the right and finishes with my hands and arms way way behind and left of the target line. Goes far, but nearly impossible to aim. 

So took the feeling of openness, of having room between my torso and my arms so as to approach the ball with a small inside out motion and applied to to several swing changes. One that seems to work well and is very repeatable is to push both hands and arms as far down the target line and away from my torso as possible. This gives me plenty of room, and supplies a natural lag on the downswing. My hands stay quiet, my hips and torso can snap quickly or move deliberately and I can give the ball a good accurate whack with any club in the bag.

Now I am going to go sleep for a few hours. It is a coin toss if that feeling of a swing that worked, one I can feel as I write, will be there in the morning. We shall see....

[jolter1]

Went out to the range just to swing the clubs for the last days of 2023. Felt pretty good for the most part. Wasn't trying to work on anything specific but just enjoy swing the clubs and hearing some solid contact with good ball flight. Heres to a new year and hopefully a fully healthy new year for golf and other things.

[Dweed]

No range work today. Snowy and 30. Decided it was a good day to go ahead and re-grip my irons. Might try hitting into the net tomorrow. Want to make sure they set good over night.

[Silver Fawkes]

Well folks this year I'm taking on an entirely new approach. I am pretty much self taught, and at one point when I was practicing a ton and began working in the golf industry I got relatively good. But I reached my ceiling. When my playing was reduced to a dozen times a year with little to no practice for the last few years my game suffered more than I ever thought possible. This time around, I wanted to find a program I could follow with practice not just as the range but with practice at home. I'm a fairly visual learner and have technology that allows me to record quality video so I decided to go the online approach. After some research I determined that Clay Ballard's program suits me. It suits me because the way he explains concepts and movements makes sense to me. And the way he demonstrates them visually has been fairly easy for me to replicate. Beyond that, his program really pinpoints some of my weakest areas. I've already purchased the year subscription and have been working on it for the last couple of weeks.

I already have plans to record my stats for this season instead of just handicap rounds, and want to build this entire thing into a review that will last throughout 2024. Maybe it can help people like me that are on the fence. 

Happy New Year everyone!

[cksurfdude]

12 minutes ago, Silver Fawkes said:

After some research I determined that ... the way he explains concepts and movements makes sense to me. And the way he demonstrates them visually has been fairly easy for me to replicate.

That's great .. good luck with the new lesson program!!

Fwiw I totally agree that good communication - and especially good reception of communications - between student and teacher is essential for an effective lesson.

[BobBC78]

A review of my stats for 2023 clarified several areas of my game which need work, putting being primary among them (wedges and getting a "go to" club are two others). Frankly, I am not a very good putter, even for my handicap level (SG was -1.15 vs. a 20 for all of 2023), so putting will be a focus of mine in the offseason here in NE. Today worked on Putting mechanics indoors:  

1. Grip and stance in front of a mirror
2. Stroked putts with thumbs off the grip for feel of control with the fingers, rather than thumbs and forearm pressure
3. Used different swing lengths putting a ball over a dime 18" in front 
4. Yardstick drill - Did really poorly today, getting about 4-5 out of 15 all the way down the yardstick.

After a few failures on the yardstick drill, I noticed that I was feeling tense over each putt so I became conscious about calming down and just letting the putter swing. Doing this significantly improved results. Going forward, I will be more conscientious about counting and tracking my progress. 

Edited January 2 by BobBC78

[Dweed]

Temps dropped below 30 last night so I decided to warm the barn up a bit to let the grips set for another day just to make sure. Warm enough inside to hit balls into the net that didn't feel like frozen rocks. I'm told spring should be here in 3 months.  We gained 49 seconds of daylight today.

[sirchunksalot]

I was invited to TopGolf today by a friend of mine as he was celebrating his birthday. I was there with Mitch and two other guys from work and his two sons, one of which works with us. 

It was a fun experience and my first time going there. The one in Chattanooga is a one level but I found it to be nice. I did have a time when I hit one great and seeing the limited flight balls doing their thing... Limiting flight. I think from 4H to 7 iron went close to the same distance. 

I hit the ball pretty good, in fact probably the best I have since getting to play again. That could be down to hitting off mats, but hopefully it's a positive sign. The last 20 balls I hit I had a mantra: slow, slow, fast. I went slow on the back swing, slow in transition, and fast coming through the ball. It made a huge difference and I was seeing such good flight. I was also focusing on bringing my hands through as if I had an alignment stick running up the club and at my side. I'm hoping I can ingrain this feel in the coming weeks using the Mevo. 

As a bonus, I stopped at Bass Pro and picked up a new smoker. I've been wanting to get a propane one and found one at a great price. 

[Dweed]

Yeah, @sirchunksalot. Those water balls can be mighty tough right out of the pond. Best to smoke em to tenderize them. Glad to hear you had a good time. and things are looking up for you. Keep banging them my man.

[sirchunksalot]

5 minutes ago, Dweed said:

Yeah, @sirchunksalot. Those water balls can be mighty tough right out of the pond. Best to smoke em to tenderize them. Glad to hear you had a good time. and things are looking up for you. Keep banging them my man.

I appreciate it @Dweed! It's getting there and I'm just happy to be able to hit some balls. I find it to be rather therapeutic.

What kind of grips did you go with? 

[Nemac]

I spent just over an hour in my driveway with my mevo plus/net playing the Belfry on E6. I also did 30 mins putting practice indoors on Exputt

[BallsLeon]

Watched this video during work, and it really resonated with me. The drill he describes really helps me get a feel for tempo, and rotating properly without making my arms do all the work. Additionally, the mantra/swing-thought of “vi-jay-singh” helps me get a feel for tempo and when I’m rushing or dragging.

Spent some time warming up with this, and started seeing some positive results by the end of my session. Had my longest recorded sim drive in a round (283yds), this bomb below with my 3 wood (no longer on probation), and a host of solid shots with 3w/7w/utility/6i. Looking at the shot groupings, things look crowded at the top of my bag but averages seem to work out ”OK”. 

[BobBC78]

Putting: I'm doing drills out of the book "Make More Putts" by Juan Gutierrez which contains nearly 150 different putting drills. Fortunately, many of these can be done inside, LOL. 

Today I did start line training with the "Yardstick drill" (got 7/10, my best so far) and the "Bruce Rearick drill" (different ball speed putts over a dime set 18" in front of the ball).

Wedges: Another problem area is my wedge game (shots 30-100 yards from the pin). I found Derek Deminsky's short game (less than 30 yards) videos to be well done and clear, so I picked up his "Master the 30-100 Yard range" video which advocates a clock system to control distances. Today worked on training the 7:30, 9:00 and Full swing lengths with an 8i (no ball).

Once I have sufficiently trained these swing lengths, I plan to spend time on the Trackman at Golf Galaxy to work out a distance matrix covering 8i-SW.  Although I doubt that I'll find the 7:30 swings with 8i and 9i very useful on the course, I plan to train them anyway and determine the carry and roll distances. 

[cnosil]

19 minutes ago, BobBC78 said:

"Bruce Rearick drill" (different ball speed putts over a dime set 18" in front of the ball).

Ve done that drill a lot; Bruce was my putting coach.  He knows his stuff and taught me a great deal about putting and how to assess my putting stroke.

Edited January 3 by cnosil

[BobBC78]

12 minutes ago, cnosil said:

Ve done that drill a lot; Bruce was my putting coach.  He knows his stuff and taught me a great deal about putting and how to assess my putting stroke.

Wow, that's awesome! I've followed his blog (and Substack) and watched YT videos of Rearick's teaching....seems like he'd be a great coach. 

[Josh Parker]

I got out to the range today and hit a bucket.  Warmed up with PW and moved thru the bag before getting to the driver.  

I am really working on just swing path and not falling back out of the swing.  Right now it's just re-wiring my swing.  

[Preeway]

Balance and weight shift can be the hardest aspects to master it seems. 

[RickyBobby_PR]

1 minute ago, Preeway said:

Balance and weight shift can be the hardest aspects to master it seems. 

Yes and some of it has to do with the concept of the shift. People think it’s weight shift so they move the mass of their body and you can’t get it not only back to where it started and definitely not where it needs to be in the downswing and at impact.

It’s a pressure shift and it doesn’t have to be a lot of movement. Theres a wide range of movement that can be seen by the pros but for the most part its very subtle to just a little bit and it stops by the time the club is parallel to the ground and no later than lead arm parallel. Then it moves to being centered again a the top of the swing and moved to lead leg before transition 

[Josh Parker]

23 minutes ago, RickyBobby_PR said:

Yes and some of it has to do with the concept of the shift. People think it’s weight shift so they move the mass of their body and you can’t get it not only back to where it started and definitely not where it needs to be in the downswing and at impact.

It’s a pressure shift and it doesn’t have to be a lot of movement. Theres a wide range of movement that can be seen by the pros but for the most part its very subtle to just a little bit and it stops by the time the club is parallel to the ground and no later than lead arm parallel. Then it moves to being centered again a the top of the swing and moved to lead leg before transition 

It has been tough to get the old habits out of the way and new habits to form!

[RickyBobby_PR]

1 hour ago, Josh Parker said:

It has been tough to get the old habits out of the way and new habits to form!

It takes along time to break the old movement patterns. Many don’t do enough slower motion movements to teach the brain what to do so that the brain can then tell the body what to do. Most just do drills at full speed.

another thing many don’t do is hit balls from less than full swing. If you can’t do it from a lead arm parallel position you won’t be able to do it from a full swing.

Think about Justin rose. He was working on a feel/movement for 11 years before it fully clicked in

[Josh Parker]

3 minutes ago, RickyBobby_PR said:

It takes along time to break the old movement patterns. Many don’t do enough slower motion movements to teach the brain what to do so that the brain can then tell the body what to do. Most just do drills at full speed.

another thing many don’t do is hit balls from less than full swing. If you can’t do it from a lead arm parallel position you won’t be able to do it from a full swing.

Think about Justin rose. He was working on a feel/movement for 11 years before it fully clicked in

great points!  Something I need to put much more focus on during my practice.  I have dropped speed but haven't done from lead arm parallel.  

I know what I will be doing tomorrow.

[RickyBobby_PR]

Just now, Josh Parker said:

great points!  Something I need to put much more focus on during my practice.  I have dropped speed but haven't done from lead arm parallel.  

I know what I will be doing tomorrow.

Another thing I forgot is many get focused on the result and if they aren’t seeing an immediate change they abandon whatever is they are working on for some other feel, drill, etc.

When trying to change a movement pattern it doesn’t matter where the ball goes, you just need to execute whatever is you are working on. 

[Josh Parker]

1 minute ago, RickyBobby_PR said:

Another thing I forgot is many get focused on the result and if they aren’t seeing an immediate change they abandon whatever is they are working on for some other feel, drill, etc.

When trying to change a movement pattern it doesn’t matter where the ball goes, you just need to execute whatever is you are working on. 

This is one thing I feel I am doing well.  I'm not concerned were the ball goes currently as long as I am making a better path/movement.  

[cksurfdude]

4 hours ago, BobBC78 said:

Putting: I'm doing drills out of the book "Make More Putts" by Juan Gutierrez which contains nearly 150 different putting drills. Fortunately, many of these can be done inside, LOL. 

Also have that book! ..really packed with all different types of great drills .. and I really need to dig into it and get to doing more of them!!

[MrBandit]

Practice some putting after getting my LAB Mezz1 putter back with the new ACCRA white shaft. 

Much firmer feel now, never thought putter shaft would feel like this.

Strokes feels more steady and confident.

Putts still were going in.

Lets see how it performs on the course this weekend. 

 

[BobBC78]

I was able to get to the range and practice green this afternoon (weather clear, about 43*F). On the range I was hitting directly into a wind of about 12-mph. Warmed up with some PW, 9i and 8i shots, followed by 6H (purposely hitting right, left and on target line), 5W (to an imaginary 30-yard-wide fairway) and 9:00 9i to an 80-yard target.

Finished on the putting green with 4' putts and lag putting from 5 to 15 paces. 

[Big moose]

It's 31 with snow on the ground, no practice or golf here in Western Pennsylvania, and there is more snow coming this weekend. Those of you who can play make a birdie for me. Have a wonderful day everyone. 

[edingc]

Famous words, but feel like I made a big stride in progress this week. I have been hitting a little bit in the garage on and off, less than in the past. My lead wrist has been bothering me a bit since the last couple weeks of the outdoor season, so I haven't been in any rush to overdo it.

Feels like I've made a fundamental change to my backswing. I've always fought spinning out a bit on the downswing, with my club getting very vertical. The last several lessons with my old coach focused on rounding out more. What I've found is that I had a bit of a misunderstanding/improper feeling at the top of the swing in regards to feeling like I was pivoting around my spine. Found out that I was really bending my spine backwards a bit and that was causing me to either come under and up or over and down on the downswing. Getting my spine into a truly more neutral position caused a lot of great things to happen, including the rounding out of my swing with a lower, left finish.

Anyhow, like I said, famous last words. But something positive to build off of.

[Dweed]

On 1/2/2024 at 7:59 PM, sirchunksalot said:

I appreciate it @Dweed! It's getting there and I'm just happy to be able to hit some balls. I find it to be rather therapeutic.

What kind of grips did you go with? 

Golf Pride Tour Velvet MCC4's Mid size.

[sirchunksalot]

2 minutes ago, Dweed said:

Golf Pride Tour Velvet MCC4's Mid size.

That's a good choice, I always loved the +4. I just think they feel so good in the hand.