What/How Did You Practice Today?

[Big money]

Was working on items that our city champion showed me in yesterday's round.Why is it his info seems to work better for me than the teaching pro's advice?Everything he showed me all Seems to mesh together.Where the teaching pro has me doing a motion that feels so complicated and forced.Im not saying I don't believe the teaching pro nor doubt his abilities.But how can one ignore a golfer that can play the game well everyday of the week?He isn't a qualified pro.But he is a plus handicap

Decision time on what I'm going to pursue.

[cksurfdude]

Was working on items that our city champion showed me in yesterday's round.Why is it his info seems to work better for me than the teaching pro's advice?Everything he showed me all Seems to mesh together.Where the teaching pro has me doing a motion that feels so complicated and forced.Im not saying I don't believe the teaching pro nor doubt his abilities.But how can one ignore a golfer that can play the game well everyday of the week?He isn't a qualified pro.But he is a plus handicap

Decision time on what I'm going to pursue.

Sounds like you already have!

 

But I'm sure the teaching pro is giving you good info .. IMHO, FWIW, My $0.02 and all that .. .. work to ingrain the _movements_ that give you good and consistent results. This may be the city champ's advice, or this may be a blend of both, but .. opinion .. the teaching pro's job is to put you into "positions" from which you are supposed to then make a proper swing... So you need to come back next week to learn the next position.......

 

My best success has come from a coaching session with a former pro tourney player.

[Miboy62]

Two hours of practice around the chipping green.

[MDGolfHacker]

Driving range for my daughter's junior pga session. My son decided to tag along so I only hit maybe 10 balls total as my daughter almost whacked my son in the head with an iron. Way too close a call so down went my clubs as I eagle eyed both to ensure that it didn't happen again.

 

MDGolfHacker

[null]

Had a lesson today. Worked on the boditrack system to tune my weight shift and hip turn

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jv7o4T1qPe0

[Big money]

Sounds like you already have!

 

But I'm sure the teaching pro is giving you good info .. IMHO, FWIW, My $0.02 and all that .. .. work to ingrain the _movements_ that give you good and consistent results. This may be the city champ's advice, or this may be a blend of both, but .. opinion .. the teaching pro's job is to put you into "positions" from which you are supposed to then make a proper swing... So you need to come back next week to learn the next position.......

 

My best success has come from a coaching session with a former pro tourney player.

great post.The info I learned from our multi city champ is the release.Its one area that I personally feel I can master.Or at least make more consistent.Whereby the teaching pro is micro managing the whole motion.The plus handicap (non teaching pro)stressed impact is the only imperative and the rest is individual.Just the thought of only focusing on that makes this easier for me

[cksurfdude]

So practiced a bunch of putting. Again. Need it! Goal - I think Rev said it previously - is "three putt avoidance"!

 

Working on trying different grips to see what I might get the most consistent results with -- I'm finding, so far, one style of grip is seeming better for long lag putts while another style is seeming to work better on the short putts.

 

Started on the practice green, then went out for a few holes with focus on getting down in two putts. Mostly successful, over only 5 holes i played, except for one very sloping green where I missed the short downhill left-to-right breaker.

 

So it was back to the practice green after playing - long lag putts uphill, downhill, and sidehill and try to hole out with the second putt. Didn't make all of them but getting better!

[Smalls1588]

Went to the range and did some takeaway drills, as well as shallowing out my swing with my lower clubs. Very productive

 

 

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[cksurfdude]

Putting and chipping.

 

Need to sharpen up the short game!!!!

[Kenny B]

Putting and chipping.

 

Need to sharpen up the short game!!!!

Sounds like you and @MmmmmmBuddy need to have a competition over the rest of the year on who can be Most Improved.

[MDGolfHacker]

Putting and chipping.

 

Need to sharpen up the short game!!!!

This was me today as I was testing out the E6 speed white, E6 speed yellow and Prov1 for MGS and concentrated on the chipping,pitching and putting aspects of the ball. Also hit the range to work on irons and the woods.

 

MDGolfHacker

[cksurfdude]

Sounds like you and @MmmmmmBuddy need to have a competition over the rest of the year on who can be Most Improved.

Oh yeah, right. I already concede: how much do I owe him... ;-)

 

But OTOH....

 

Took a private short game lesson today. Well worth it!

 

First thing I learned was I am not as body-aware as I thought I was, ie. the position of my wrists on a small chip shot when I take the club back and again when I finish - in this case I was using a lot of wrist hinge when I thought I wasn't.

 

The drill he gave me was clubhead back stopping below hip level and then using quiet hands + turning the body and finishing with the clubhead below hip level again.

 

The primary key of the lesson was THIS is the basic greenside chipping motion. By using this same, simple motion with the same (small) effort with four different wedges you should get four different distances. Then to vary trajectory and rollout you move the ball back or forward in your stance.

 

So this gives you 8 basic, core, shots which you can then build on by adding more effort (so call that now 16 shots) or more wrist hinge (so now call that 24 shots).

 

Then we reviewed planning your shot:

FIRST - decide what the shot calls for, eg., more or less trajectory, more or less rollout; then second - pick a very specific landing spot (I was not being narrowly focused enough); then third - then and only then pick the club that "fits" that shot you've just planned; and fourth - commit to the shot and execute the exact same thing as your practice (or I like the term "rehearsal") swings!

(don't tense up, don't hold back, don't hang back on your back foot and flip your hands at it......)

(not that I ever did any of that)

 

Then we worked on a few situations just off the green using just one wedge.

 

* Pop Quiz:

Three balls are in three different lies. One is down in thick grass and barely visible. Two is sitting atop a tuft of grass. Three is on a small patch of bare ground surrounded by grass.

 

So: which is the hardest shot? One, two or three?

 

..

(no peeking .. c'mon and guess)

..

 

 

Initially I said "one", the buried lie but it's actually "three", the ball on the bare ground - there's no margin of error​ to slightly mishit the ball and still get it onto the green but a lot of room for error to blade it and skull it over the far side of the green....

 

Oh, another tidbits that I knew but wasn't properly accounting for in my setup and execution - if you're close and on an uphill slope that lie effectively adds loft to your club, so you have to adjust so as not to hit it too high and have it land way short of your target.

 

So anyway I've got a lot of work to do!

(So a lot of my future posts in this thread will just say, 'short game practice')

[MDGolfHacker]

Good info! I've been doing a lot of pitching, chipping and putting practice just because of the Bridgestone E6 testing so I'm hoping this translates to the course. We'll see tomorrow.

 

MDGolfHacker

[revkev]

 

 

This arrived yesterday so I went to the range today with two goals in mind. Hit my old irons to see if the lighter shafts would help create a more consistent ball flight and try the new fairway wood.

 

Lots of success with the irons. Beautiful ball flight much less draw than I've had over the past few months and way fewer thin hits. I hit wedges and 7 irons.

 

I would love to report that the 4 wood was good from the first swing. It wasn't. It sounds, feels and looks much different from what I've been using. However I got it going after a little work. It clearly launches higher than my 3 wood although not too high. It was hard to tell about distance - I will need to be on the course for that. I seemed to hit a number of shots on the heel which is weird given that the shaft is 1/2 shorter than my three wood.

 

I ended the session by hitting a series of 4 Woods, PWs. It simulates the 12th hole at my club. I have no doubt that all 5 of my 4 Woods would have been in the fairway right around the 100. 4/5 wedges would have been on the green. The other was a little heavy and left - the preferred miss on that hole.

 

 

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[Shankster]

Went through a bucket with the 5 iron and 8 iron. Centering most of them. Pure enough to just to keep hitting them and admire the ball flight. ⛳️

 

 

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[Kenny B]

* Pop Quiz:

Three balls are in three different lies. One is down in thick grass and barely visible. Two is sitting atop a tuft of grass. Three is on a small patch of bare ground surrounded by grass.

 

So: which is the hardest shot? One, two or three?

 

..

(no peeking .. c'mon and guess)

..

 

 

Initially I said "one", the buried lie but it's actually "three", the ball on the bare ground - there's no margin of error​ to slightly mishit the ball and still get it onto the green but a lot of room for error to blade it and skull it over the far side of the green....

You didn't say what kind of shot.  Full shot with which club?  Around the green chip?  Under most circumstances I would pick bare ground as being the easiest, but maybe it depends on the ground.  I picture it as not much different than a driving range mat.  Yes, i'd have to pick it, but thick grass is tough for my slow swing speed and I can slide a club right under a ball that's sitting on top of a tuft of grass.  So. I would say "one".

[Jmikecpa]

Tempo, tempo, tempo. Somehow I managed to start getting rushed in my swing which is causing inconsistent strikes with my irons. Also worked with the DST 8 iron and like the results so far.

 

 

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[steve4754]

Spent four hours with my R15 Driver and my Rocket balls pro. After 160 balls I'm still playing the Rocket alls driver better, good bye R15!

 

 

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[cnosil]

Just watching TV and hitting little chip/pitch shots to work on making solid contact.  

[Golfspy_CG2]

I Went to a local course today(not mine) and hit two buckets. I rarely ever finish one. But I wanted to get a real good feel for every club in the bag before my 54 hole tournamenf on Monday. With the irons, the driver and a FW all being added within the past week, I wanted to get comfortable.

 

Then spent a lot of time on wedge distances. Feel really good aboitvthe session.

 

Didmt spend any time on putting. That may come tomorrow evening

[cksurfdude]

You didn't say what kind of shot. Full shot with which club? Around the green chip? Under most circumstances I would pick bare ground as being the easiest, but maybe it depends on the ground. I picture it as not much different than a driving range mat. Yes, i'd have to pick it, but thick grass is tough for my slow swing speed and I can slide a club right under a ball that's sitting on top of a tuft of grass. So. I would say "one".

Aha, good point - and, yes, greenside chipping .. so, no, not a full swing.

 

The instructor's emphasis in this exercise was that to get the bare lie ball even close - your contact had to be absolutely spot-on. A touch thin or a touch heavy and either way you could send it off the other side of the green....

 

With the buried lie the lesson was to complete your body turn .. all the through .. full rotation. Speed per se was not as important as hitting through and rotating and finishing.

(still a problem for me)

[LBCgolfer]

I went out yesterday to do some short irons and wedge works.

 

I forgot that there was a match play tourney and spent two hours watching excellent ball strikers.

 

Totally screwed me up and set me back as I was subconsciously tried to emulate what I saw.

 

 

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[stdnasty]

I picked up a large amount of range balls at a yard sale! I've been chipping them around in my yard. Working on my short game. I have been hitting my gap wedge a lot. I have a bird house that sits in the middle of my yard and it goes straight up about twenty feet on a pole. I generally pretend that is my flag.

 

 

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[josmi15]

Worked on hybrids and 3Wood for a bucket, had to get some confidence back from hitting off the grass.

 

Also used a bucket to just dial in my wedges. Kind of like dessert!! Save the fun stuff

 

 

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[Golfspy_CG2]

Went to the range tonight where I'll be playing in a Solstice Survival tomorrow. 54 holes. Had the range and putting green to myself. Very cool.

 

Couple pics. The iron is the z565, glad to see the work is paying off with solid contact.

 

 

 

 

 

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[revkev]

Aha, good point - and, yes, greenside chipping .. so, no, not a full swing.

 

The instructor's emphasis in this exercise was that to get the bare lie ball even close - your contact had to be absolutely spot-on. A touch thin or a touch heavy and either way you could send it off the other side of the green....

 

With the buried lie the lesson was to complete your body turn .. all the through .. full rotation. Speed per se was not as important as hitting through and rotating and finishing.

(still a problem for me)

I was thinking I'd need a definition of good. I suspect that I would good more in a bucket close from the bare lie but I'm sure that I would have the greatest dispersion. I often struggle with the ball on top of the grass lie, we get that fairly frequently here on Bermuda. But I'm always getting it on the green. Ball nestled is tough to control but simple to get to 10 feet every time.

 

 

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[Kenny B]

Aha, good point - and, yes, greenside chipping .. so, no, not a full swing.

 

The instructor's emphasis in this exercise was that to get the bare lie ball even close - your contact had to be absolutely spot-on. A touch thin or a touch heavy and either way you could send it off the other side of the green....

 

With the buried lie the lesson was to complete your body turn .. all the through .. full rotation. Speed per se was not as important as hitting through and rotating and finishing.

(still a problem for me)

I believe that I am generally better from a bare lie or tight lies because I get more practice at that.  We don't have Bermuda and the grass is not very thick around the greens, so no buried lies or ball sitting on top.  This is one of the many reasons I struggle when we head south for the winter.

[revkev]

Even bare lie needs a bit of a definition IMO -

 

If it's bare and firm - no big deal - When I square my 60 there is very little bounce making that shot doable -

 

However if its bare and sandy or bare and soft - that is exceedingly difficult - we have had lots of those types of shots the past few months because it was such a dry winter - The course was already significantly different last weekend because of some rain - we've had about 3 and a half inches this week - I would imagine that there will be no more bare lies until next February or so. 

[revkev]

 

 

This is one of the things that I love about a private club. I called after my funeral today to find out if the range had opened (the course was closed yesterday because of rain).

 

"Yes Rev it is, would you like us to get your clubs out? "

 

Here's what I found when I got there twenty minutes later, along with an Orange Gatorade and a cup of ice. They were on the cart because the staff knows that I prefer to practice in a right to left wind and I would need to go to the back range (you can practice in any direction you want at our range.)

 

I hit that entire bucket and am hopeful that I found something by doing a drill that my old teacher had given me. I hit the 4 wood well once I put a tee about 8 inches behind the ball just inside straight back and then when I went back to my 7 iron I was killing it. I can't recall the last time that I was covering the ball like I was today. I hope it carries to tomorrow's round and beyond.

 

The two drivers that I hit were absolute bullets. When I hit it well I hit tons of solid shots, not the longest you've ever seen but solid and consistent. If my short game has kept me at a 5.6 I can hardly wait to see what it might do with an ounce of ball striking behind it again.

 

I'm actually excited about golf again.

 

 

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[Jmikecpa]

Getting reacquainted with my Hogan irons. Hit balls on Tuesday and played on Wednesday with steel shafts and my right elbow feels like it is going to fall off. Looks like it is graphite from here on out for me or at least until I decide to get surgery. Hit about 60 balls and worked on ball flight and tempo.

 

 

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