What/How Did You Practice Today?

[Fore67]

7 hours ago, Northern Monkey said:

This has also been my common practice mode of late. I have had one or two sessions on the putting green but mainly just played and tried to improve whilst on the course

The course is always a good place to work on the lies that you don't get at the range, but repetition of technique is harder because you are never hitting the same shot twice in a row. I often lament that I have to play more, but without any practice, playing just copies bad errors that could be fixed at the range. It's a difficult balance to achieve. If you only have time to play once a week, it's a shame to have to switch it out for range time. 

I often say that I have to play my way out of playing poorly. It doesn't work as well now that I'm a senior. It used to work quite well even into my 50's, but now I need to be on the range to work on tempo and ball striking.

GOLF, what a fickle game. When you've got it, you hang on for as long as you can. When you don't got it, you try desperately to get it back. 

THAT IS OUR QUEST!!

FORE!

Mike

 

[AdultLearner]

I'll cheat and mention what I practiced yesterday.

First time swinging the clubs in 2024 (I live in Minnesota, and even though we had the mildest winter of my 48 years here, I work at a school = minimal golf opportunities until June).

So - range session yesterday evening - started with 50-yard sand wedge shots. Probably 50-60 of those, just trying to get a half-swing "9-to-3" dialed in. Never really got there; mostly lots of deep divots and fat contact. Swing felt disconnected, but I was mainly trying to work on key swing elements for me like backswing path, foot coordination/balance transfer, and leading with front hip/shoulder on the downswing.

Then took about 20-25 8-iron shots to finish. Really took my time on each shot, deep breath with eyes closed (while in position) before beginning the actual swing. Those went surprisingly well, almost all good flight and in about a 10-yard radius of the target. Felt good, but strange - because normally I can get my short game and partial swings dialed in quickly, but full swing and longer clubs take more work.

Every day's a new experience!

[BobBC78]

Full swing - S4I Drill 1 with a 5W, slow motion LH, RH then both hands, ten reps each

Chipping - Worked on distance control and technique today. Set targets at 5-yards and 10-yards, chipped with 58* (20 balls), 50* (20 balls) then "C" (10 balls) alternating between landing each ball on or near each target and half-way between them. 

[Willie T]

Day 99 (22 Apr 24) - morning round at local course.  Another day focused on comparing the Mindset against a couple other balls I use from time to time.  Great day of focused routine and making sure ball striking was as consistent as possible…

[Steve F]

Good morning Spies! 
Was able to get home early from work yesterday and get in some iron work for about an hour and a half. My much better half was looking for me, and I was caught in the act: 

Hoping to get home at lunch and back to the "home range" for some driver work: still having that little hitch where I seem to like steepening my downswing angle. Had a lesson last week that helped shallow it out quite a bit, but it is still a work in progress! I hope you all have golf in your day!! Hit 'em straight! 

[Chubbs1991]

Practice yesterday on the swing feels. Had to slow down my turn. My hips were firing way to fast. Pull Draws are not my friend and I hate watching my ball start left and go left when I was setting for a little cut.  

Easy drill: Grab an alignment stick and put in your belt loop and take some practice swings. If your hips are IN front of your hands, your hands and club will hit the stick. Be careful as it can rip some belt loops out if your going too fast. 

Edited Tuesday at 12:52 PM by Chubbs1991

[AdultLearner]

2 hours ago, Chubbs1991 said:

Practice yesterday on the swing feels. Had to slow down my turn. My hips were firing way to fast. Pull Draws are not my friend and I hate watching my ball start left and go left when I was setting for a little cut.  

Easy drill: Grab an alignment stick and put in your belt loop and take some practice swings. If your hips are IN front of your hands, your hands and club will hit the stick. Be careful as it can rip some belt loops out if your going too fast. 

Love the drill recommendation - thanks!

[AdultLearner]

Lesson yesterday. Worked on the 9-to-3 swing with gap wedge, particularly drawing back along the target line with minimal initial hinge (think: "back" not "up"), then leading the downswing with the front hip and allowing the back foot to finish. My tendency is to leave the back foot on the ground through impact and then finish the body's rotation almost as an afterthought in the swing.

Then worked my way up the bag a bit: U-W-9, finishing with 9-iron shots at a 132-yard target.

Will try to remember to include some pictures/video next time!

[BobBC78]

Today I did about an hour at the NKGC practice green:

Putting with the Pendragon XL broomstick putter: Did the "star" drill with 5-tees set at 4' each around a hole (1-putt circle), went twice around going through my entire routine each on each putt and ended up sinking 6/10, with two of the misses lip outs. I'll stay at 4' until my makes are at least 8/10.

Using the tees set at 4' as a target, I then hit ten lag putts, again using my full routine, from 15' to 30' (2-putt circle), with the goal being to get into the 1-putt circle. On this test I got 8/10 within 4' of the hole. Next time I do this drill, I'll move out to 36'.

Chipping: I hit 10 chips of varying distances from the fringe of the practice green with the Smart Sole 4 C and CBX4 50* and 58* wedges. My goal was to get at least 6 of these chips within 4-yards of the hole; results were inside 4-yards 9/10 times so next time I go to 3-yards from the hole

Edited Tuesday at 07:45 PM by BobBC78

[cburins]

Had a great range session this past weekend, also had the entire range of weather for the few hours I was there. It was raining, hailing, snowing, sunny and Cloudy! I mostly worked on my alignment. I found that training on a trackman throughout the winter was great, but completely threw off my alignment. Once I got out to the physical course my entire orientation was off. Im gaining back that confidence with alignment and aiming. 

[cnosil]

While I waited to start my most wanted testing session today I grabbed a LAB DF3 and practiced putting for a little while.

Today was 5 iron day and I hit the ball okay.   Definitely need to work on my rhythm;  when I take my time with swing I hit it well and when I get a little quick shots were a little wild and tended to hit it fat.   

 

 

[Erin B]

I practiced 18 again.

[Willie T]

Day 100 (23 Apr 24) -  Played in monthly church men’s super ball 9 hole event - used a 9 club setup (driver, 5w, 3,5,7,9 irons, PW, SW, putter)…always makes for fun shot making when you’re in between clubs….fun day of course management (and better yet playing golf with my grandson!) 

[Steve F]

Good morning MGS Nation! Today will get to the home range at lunch to do some driver work. Was able to get home yesterday at lunch (was planning on doing driver work, but wanted to work my flatball drills.) Was able to get a decent video of the flatball striking sequence. I like these as it helps with better contact: they essentially make you hit more pure. They've helped me immensely with my iron striking! 

 

Then, league play this afternoon! 

I hope everyone has a great day and that golf figures into your Wednesday! Hit 'em straight MGS Nation! 

 

[Prodigal Duffer]

Yesterday, I practiced about 30 minutes with the putter, trying to get the ball through a narrow gate without touching the sides. That got pretty frustrating, as I kept opening or closing the face slightly. Finally got to a point where I felt good and confident with the stroke, and got several through clean.

Then, I went outside to work on my irons. As I've posted before, I am very focused on my iron play, particularly the takeaway and coming through with the feeling of swinging right. My first dozen or so were all okay to decent. Then, I had a breakthrough feel/thought and started striping the balls accurately. I also played on Sunday and hit the irons well, so things seem to be going in the right direction. Then, it will be on to short game stuff, where I am bleeding strokes.

[SDGolf619]

I worked on my chipping again yesterday. We have a domed green next to a 9-hole course that is free to practice. I start out with the 50 on an upslope and try to hit uphill and keep the ball under the hole. Then I move back about 10 feet to a flat area and go with the 54. Then I'll short side myself and try to get a 58 to go high and land soft. Probably one of the best practice sessions in a while. I moved onto putting and this green is in pretty poor condition despite being aerated, so I just worked on pace and keeping my hands a little higher. Holding my hands a little higher has really helped roll the ball end over end but it's been harder to get the pace right. Still, hard to say until I try this on a proper green.

[cnosil]

Most wanted 7 iron day; hit a few bad shots but most were pretty good.   Swing felt good, path and face angle control was pretty good.   The long green ones were post testing where I tried swinging a bit harder.    League night tomorrow and I hope I hit the ball as well as I did today/

 

Edited Wednesday at 10:28 PM by cnosil

[William P]

18 minutes ago, cnosil said:

Most wanted 7 iron day; hit a few bad shots but most were pretty good.   Swing felt good, path and face angle control was pretty good.   The long green ones were post testing where I tried swinging a bit harder.    League night tomorrow and I hope I hit the ball as well as I did today/

 

Good to see it all coming together for you.

[cnosil]

2 hours ago, William P said:

Good to see it all coming together for you.

I think the 2 month forced break may actually end up being a good thing.   I am a little apprehensive to swing full out and as a result my swing is a little more in sync and I am hitting the ball better than I have in a while.   

[TJ Hall]

33 minutes ago, cnosil said:

I think the 2 month forced break may actually end up being a good thing.   I am a little apprehensive to swing full out and as a result my swing is a little more in sync and I am hitting the ball better than I have in a while.   

Any pain or issues with the swinging you’ve been doing so far?

[Willie T]

Day 101 (24 Apr 24) - Easy afternoon with the wedges in the backyard.  Worked on “not decelerating” thru down swing…

[cnosil]

6 minutes ago, TJ Hall said:

Any pain or issues with the swinging you’ve been doing so far?

There has been some pain but not like prior to the surgery.   I think it is mostly the rotation is just pulling on the incision which creates some irritation.   

[Erin B]

I only got half a practice round in today. We fell into some box seats for HOCKEY!!! Colorado Eagles game 1 of the playoffs!

[SDGolf619]

I usually use the "tallest" rubber tee on the range and a similar tee height when I play. But today, pre-round, I decided to try a shorter rubber tee on the driving range and VIOLA, I was hitting nice, effortless draws and rarely fading it. I think I have been setting up with my head too far behind the ball, but need to try this more. It feels like it could be a game changer.

Edited yesterday at 02:19 AM by SDGolf619

[barney_bogey]

Some speed training tonight. No program. No weights. Just a driver and the MLM. Smooth is fast, smooth is fast... Bested my PR by 1mph and it felt glorious. 112. The speed is not useful with a ball but I reckon getting comfortable with higher speeds will start to bleed over eventually.

Or not. Feels good to swing fast for the sake of speed alone.

I've found that my fastest swings all had a left foot lift in common. Weird.

B

[TJ Hall]

9 hours ago, cnosil said:

There has been some pain but not like prior to the surgery.   I think it is mostly the rotation is just pulling on the incision which creates some irritation.   

Good to hear it’s getting better!

[Rob Person]

13 hours ago, cnosil said:

Most wanted 7 iron day; hit a few bad shots but most were pretty good.   Swing felt good, path and face angle control was pretty good.   The long green ones were post testing where I tried swinging a bit harder.    League night tomorrow and I hope I hit the ball as well as I did today/

 

Is there anyone else here that's also in the Most Wanted group at HQ?

[cnosil]

Just now, Rob Person said:

Is there anyone else here that's also in the Most Wanted group at HQ?

There could be some that are registered, but none that actually post other than myself.  

[DarrenF]

I've gone years without really practicing. My only practice was a few shots on the range before hitting the course to play, and that shows up in the deterioration of my game.

My solution was a little expensive, but it has shown great results so far. I purchased a Rapsodo launch monitor and created a "practice facility" in my garage. My first impression is...launch monitors are a game changer. The feedback is immediate, and the ability to adjust your process based on actual data cannot be matched.

One of the best things is that virtually all of the launch monitors are portable and can be used in or outdoors. 

If you can swing it, I highly recommend looking into the test results on Mygolfspy, and seeing if there is a monitor setup that fits your budget. 

[THE GOLF GUY]

I’m working a tournament today and after they all get off , I’m going to go practice some iron shots off some of the vacant holes . Working on 3/4 shots  , draws and fades hopefully.