MPR: The Single Digit Project

[GB13]

11 minutes ago, GolfSpy MPR said:

So here's what I've got with lofts:

• PW (G700): 44°
• GW (G700): 49°
• SW (MD3): 54°
• LW (PM Grind): 58°

Given the strength of the G700 lofts (combined with the hollow body, hot launching properties), it might make sense to go stronger than 54° with my SW, but then it stops being useful as a short game club, I would think.

I'm probably going to do another Skills Assessment on Thursday, using my GW for the 105 yard shot and the PW for the 120. Here's why I'm optimistic: using my GW for the 120 yard shot this past attempt, I hit shots of 106, 112, and 114. Keep in mind: I was trying to go 120, so I was swinging hard. I suspect a nice easy GW will be good at that 105 range.

If that doesn't solve that distance for me, then I'm going to have to look at my set makeup there.

If you are using a 58° for lob shots, changing a 54° for a 52° shouldn't change your short game much. You 54° is probably used for chips and pitches, a 52° can absolutely do those things and might close the gap between your GW and SW. 

(I may be a little partial to the 52°-58° setup, but it really does work well for me.)

Edited March 20, 2019 by GB13
grammar

[GolfSpy MPR]

1 minute ago, GB13 said:

If you are using a 58° for lob shots, changing a 54° for a 52° shouldn't change you short game much. Your 54° is probably used for chips and pitches, a 52° can absolutely do those things and might close the gap between your GW and SW. 

(I may be a little partial to the 52°-58° setup, but it really does work well for me.)

Definitely an option.

I went and looked one more time at the numbers for my attempts at the 90 and 105 yard shots (all with the 54°). Just like @yungkory observed, the average distance was the same (it was actually shorter for the 105 attempts because of a bad strike); but the 105s launched about 2-3° higher and had a peak height about 1-2' higher, with 2° steeper descent angle. So that's some data in confirmation of the idea that, with the 54°, I reach a point at which swinger harder just gets the ball higher with no added distance.

[Also, I'm totally nerding out on the data I have access to. ]

[cnosil]

4 hours ago, GolfSpy MPR said:

Definitely an option.

I went and looked one more time at the numbers for my attempts at the 90 and 105 yard shots (all with the 54°). Just like @yungkory observed, the average distance was the same (it was actually shorter for the 105 attempts because of a bad strike); but the 105s launched about 2-3° higher and had a peak height about 1-2' higher, with 2° steeper descent angle. So that's some data in confirmation of the idea that, with the 54°, I reach a point at which swinger harder just gets the ball higher with no added distance.

[Also, I'm totally nerding out on the data I have access to. ]

This is one of the issues that people encounter when switching from a set wedge to a specialty wedge.  The set clubs generally spin less and travel farther; specialty wedges spin more and travel less distance.  You may need to change the loft on your wedges to get that comfortable distance.  

[GolfSpy MPR]

Another day, another skills assessment (before the temps drop back below freezing again tomorrow).

So I've created a Google Sheets spreadsheet to track my SkyTrak skills challenges. Here's where things stand through three attempts:

Topline info: my overall handicap has dropped 1.5 strokes and I have increased my greens hit each time through three attempts. I don't expect the progress to continue at that pace

Today's attempt felt like the round in which you're holding everything together with baling wire and duct tape. In my spreadsheet, I've highlighted in red everything 10 and over, and in blue everything under 10.

My previous attempt had a ton of extremes: some awful numbers with some scratch-level play. This round was just a lot of shots that were right at my target handicap.

On the plus side, that might indicate some more steady play. It was frustrating, though, because it's awesome to mix in some great shots, and I just wasn't making those today.

On the wedge front: I used my GW and PW for the 105 and 120. I was still short with most of them, but not as much. I was short on a lot of shots today, until I realized I was sliding into impact again. As soon as I focused on keeping my head behind the ball, my distances increased again. So I need to go do that on the wedge distances again.

The 190 test goes through my 5 iron, as I've noted before. I also hit some shots with my 4 iron, 3 hybrid, and 4 wood. Last shot with the 4 wood, I hit the ceiling (pink insulation) with the club. It leaves a terrible residue on the head. Ugh.

Anyway, still making progress here. Thankful for you guys that are following along and adding advice and encouragement.

[GB13]

54 minutes ago, GolfSpy MPR said:

Another day, another skills assessment (before the temps drop back below freezing again tomorrow).

So I've created a Google Sheets spreadsheet to track my SkyTrak skills challenges. Here's where things stand through three attempts:

Topline info: my overall handicap has dropped 1.5 strokes and I have increased my greens hit each time through three attempts. I don't expect the progress to continue at that pace

Today's attempt felt like the round in which you're holding everything together with baling wire and duct tape. In my spreadsheet, I've highlighted in red everything 10 and over, and in blue everything under 10.

My previous attempt had a ton of extremes: some awful numbers with some scratch-level play. This round was just a lot of shots that were right at my target handicap.

On the plus side, that might indicate some more steady play. It was frustrating, though, because it's awesome to mix in some great shots, and I just wasn't making those today.

On the wedge front: I used my GW and PW for the 105 and 120. I was still short with most of them, but not as much. I was short on a lot of shots today, until I realized I was sliding into impact again. As soon as I focused on keeping my head behind the ball, my distances increased again. So I need to go do that on the wedge distances again.

The 190 test goes through my 5 iron, as I've noted before. I also hit some shots with my 4 iron, 3 hybrid, and 4 wood. Last shot with the 4 wood, I hit the ceiling (pink insulation) with the club. It leaves a terrible residue on the head. Ugh.

Anyway, still making progress here. Thankful for you guys that are following along and adding advice and encouragement.

What is the "dispersion" metric? It seems like you were much more consistent today, so shouldn't that number be lower?

[GolfSpy MPR]

Just now, GB13 said:

What is the "dispersion" metric? It seems like you were much more consistent today, so shouldn't that number be lower?

Totally had the same question. I'm going to have to look that up.

[GolfSpy MPR]

@GB13: it looks like dispersion is exactly what you'd expect: for each grouping of shots, how big is the circle that contains them.

The wider dispersion today (vs. two days ago) is almost certainly because today I hit five shots per distance, whereas the previous challenge I did only three per. More shots, in my case, is almost always going to mean more dispersion.

[GB13]

Just now, GolfSpy MPR said:

@GB13: it looks like dispersion is exactly what you'd expect: for each grouping of shots, how big is the circle that contains them.

The wider dispersion today (vs. two days ago) is almost certainly because today I hit five shots per distance, whereas the previous challenge I did only three per. More shots, in my case, is almost always going to mean more dispersion.

Ahh, that makes sense. These numbers really provide valuable insight into one's game. They are also nice since they aren't a one time dispersion circle during a fitting, they show trends over a period of time. Right now, your trend shows steady improvement and struggles from mid range shots. This information is invaluable, and what makes this such an effective practice device.  

[GolfSpy MPR]

Another round of over a dozen chips/pitches from 10–25 yards. Certainly can't complain about that pattern:

[GolfSpy MPR]

OK, in my last update, I observed the 1.5 drop in my skills assessment handicap over three attempts. I said that that pace wasn't likely to continue.

It didn't.

Today, I dropped from 8.1 to a 4.4!

So many thoughts right now.

First, golf season needs to start. Now. Unforturnately, the snow in our yard is still a couple feet deep. There's no way we're golfing for at least another month. On the plus side, there's time to get better. On the minus side, there's time to get worse

Second, I'm epecially stoked about the consistency of my scores today. It's not a mix of great and poor scores; everything is right there in my target range.

Third, the weakest facet of the skills assessment is that you get to hit multiple consecutive shots into the same target. There were a handful of distances in which my first attempt was either very left or fatted, and then I saved my score by making adjustments. That's not real golf. I'm going to suggest to SkyTrak that they allow all 50 shots (10 distances, 5 shots at each) to be randomized.

Fourth, even with that, the pressure is real, and that is awesome. SkyTrak does not tell you your overall score as you're progressing. It tells you each shot individually. But I certainly had an idea that I had a really good score going.

So while my last assessment had the feeling of holding a bad round together, this one had every bit the feeling I had the first time I broke 80 last summer. I knew I had a good score, and I felt a ton of pressure to keep it going. You can see a bit of my faltering with that pressure at the end; the 190 performance was not strong today.

But I'm certainly as optimistic as I've ever been at reaching my goal of getting to single digits this season.

[cnosil]

I am hoping the weather gets warm soon,  interested to hear how this translates to on course success. 

[GolfSpy MPR]

Here's the updated spreadsheet:

[edingc]

Loving all of the data @GolfSpy MPR.

[GolfSpy MPR]

And now for another use of the SkyTrak: club testing!

Some golfers are disciplined: when they buy a club, they sell the club it's replacing. I, on the other hand, am a hoarder. This is in part because I normally buy bargain barrel clubs to begin with, so that by the time I'm done with them, they have exhausted all their resale value.

On the plus side, though, I have enough clubs lying around to run my own mini fitting studio. So last night, I ran my first head-to-head-to-head-to-head test for a spot in my 2019 bag.

Like many ordinary golfers, I have a problem around the 200 yard mark. In my SkyTrak skills tests, I've been very pleased to find that I'm hitting my 5-iron consistently in the vicinity of the 190-yard target. But then my 4-iron doesn't go much further than that, nor does my 3-hybrid.

So last night, I grabbed four competitors:

• Adams red 18°
• Adams Super S 19°
• Adams Super 9031 20°
• Callaway XR Pro 20°

In this contest, I was looking for two things: distance and left-avoidance. My big miss with most of my clubs is a pull-hook, and like many other golfers, I find that hybrids are especially susceptible to going left.

I initially hit 5 balls with each club. SkyTrak has a club comparison feature, but I need to do a bit more reading on how it's supposed to work. I ended up just setting the four clubs at 3H, 4H, etc.

Average distances and distance offline:

• Adams red: 182 yards | 15 yards left
• Adams Super S: 182 yards | 27 yards left
• Adams Super 9031: 162 yards | 11 yards right
• Callaway XR Pro: 183 yards | 11 yards left

And averages with gross mishits removed:

• Adams red: 194 yards | 19 yards left
• Adams Super S: 189 yards | 30 yards left
• Adams Super 9031: 189 yards | 8 yards right
• Callaway XR Pro: 197 yards | 11 yards left

Some initial conclusions:

• I think I can eliminate the Super S from this competition. Nothing noteworthy in distance, and massively left.
• The 9031 was by far the most impressive in eliminating the left side; it actually missed right! I just really struggled to get any distance with it; I had no shots with a total distance of 200+ yards.
• The Adams red remains interesting, especially because it has a significant movable weight. When MGS reviewed it back in 2015, Tony wrote that they've almost never had a club where moving the weight made such an enormous difference in eliminating the left side. So I obviously need to do some more swings with the red with the weight moved out to the toe.
• The Callaway XR Pro is the leader in the clubhouse. It's the most obnoxious-sounding of all the hybrids: a very metallic sound. But it was clearly producing the best overall numbers.

One last takeaway from this: I've got to get back to my SuperSpeed training. I got off it in January when I started experiencing some significant pain in my left hand. That seems to have finally cleared up. I've got to allow more whip in my wrists to generate the speed I need to get reasonable distance in this spot in my bag.

[cnosil]

Does the skytrak do any putting evaluation?

[GolfSpy MPR]

9 minutes ago, cnosil said:

Does the skytrak do any putting evaluation?

No, it doesn't. It apparently will try to read putts in the various simulator software options (not terribly well, from what I've read), but the main SkyTrak software doesn't even have an option for putting at all.

[GolfSpy MPR]

Ugh. So I've posted several really encouraging things recently. But today was less encouraging. It turns out that when you turn a camera on while you're swinging to hit a ball at a target (instead of just making a swing at nothing), every old habit that you thought was gone comes back:

There's the high handle and impact. There's the loss of posture, the head lurching forward.

Ugh.

The biggest difference, which isn't seen in the above picture, is which my follow through. Previously, the club head would come up and over my shoulder to the finish. Because I'm exiting impact now more low and left, and the swing finishes more around, with the shaft more horizontal.

Without a doubt, I'm getting better results out of my swing right now. But I'm still interested in making changes that are going to give me a better chance at more consistent solid impact. So it looks like I'm due for some video work.

[perseveringgolfer]

*pressure* does that- clear your mind young padewan, use the force, BE the club, SEE the swing.............

 

OR

Just set the camera and take lots of focused swings then use the editing tool 

[GolfSpy MPR]

Finish position comparison (today on the left; last July on right):

[THEZIPR23]

I have been rebuilding my swing, currently trying to fix 3 swing faults that I have had for the last 20 years. What I find when I go through video is that they are still there almost no matter what I do. Don't know if it is just because I focus on trying to see them or if I am just unable to correct them. BUT they are definitely less pronounced and the results are much better. Focus on the results. From following along on your journey your results on the skytrack seem to show vast improvements on the areas of your focus. 

Results trump everything every single time. 

[GolfSpy MPR]

3 minutes ago, THEZIPR23 said:

I have been rebuilding my swing, currently trying to fix 3 swing faults that I have had for the last 20 years. What I find when I go through video is that they are still there almost no matter what I do. Don't know if it is just because I focus on trying to see them or if I am just unable to correct them. BUT they are definitely less pronounced and the results are much better. Focus on the results. From following along on your journey your results on the skytrack seem to show vast improvements on the areas of your focus. 

Results trump everything every single time. 

This is very good; appreciate it. And I'll need to be reminded of it from time to time, because I'm definitely the sort that might develop a functional swing, but always be lured in by the Adam Scott swing.

Function > cosmetics.

[GolfSpy MPR]

Drove by my course this morning. I still have (gulp) a while to practice before opening day.

[GB13]

3 minutes ago, GolfSpy MPR said:

Drove by my course this morning. I still have (gulp) a while to practice before opening day.

I don't know why, but the course closed sign is making me laugh. Like, I don't think I need a sign to know that...

[GolfSpy MPR]

6 minutes ago, GB13 said:

I don't know why, but the course closed sign is making me laugh. Like, I don't think I need a sign to know that...

Yeah, it's overkill, insult to injury level stuff there.

[MaxEntropy]

18 minutes ago, GolfSpy MPR said:

Drove by my course this morning. I still have (gulp) a while to practice before opening day.

That sure is some funny looking grass....

[THEZIPR23]

34 minutes ago, GolfSpy MPR said:

Drove by my course this morning. I still have (gulp) a while to practice before opening day.

Wow! I will refrain from telling you that our forecast says 70-75 for the next 14 days...

[GB13]

4 hours ago, THEZIPR23 said:

Wow! I will refrain from telling you that our forecast says 70-75 for the next 14 days...

I will also "refrain" from telling you that a course in Minneapolis finally opened, and I'm going out for a round tomorrow. 

[GolfSpy MPR]

Listen, I get it: most of the inhabitable earth can play on golf courses before I can.

Kick a man while, he's down, why don't you?

[tony@CIC]

Drove by my course this morning. I still have (gulp) a while to practice before opening day.

That is truly depressing. It's the end of March the bulbs should be coming up in your garden and the grass should be turning green.

 

FYI I played 18 today it was in the 60's but the 20 mph winds cooled it down a bit. And yes you can send me that finger memo if you'd like

 

 

Sent from my iPad using MyGolfSpy

[Shankster]

You should put Tiger’s, Justin Roses, Louis Oostuizen’s, and some of the other great ball strikers impact vs address position. You’ll notice every one of them has higher hands at impact.

I got caught up on that last year and it messed me all up.

Keep up the good work though.