MPR: The Single Digit Project

[GolfSpy MPR]

Top row: 7 iron swing from July 2018 as I began my review of the G700 irons.

Bottom row: this morning, with a GW.

I've got opinions, but tell me what you see.

[bens197]

Your center mass is in a far better position; not sitting back you’re able to rotate far better along your axis. Nice work!


Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

[GolfSpy MPR]

Posted a swing on Twitter this afternoon and had a really helpful conversation there with @THEZIPR23 and @edingc. Thought I'd post it here as well for the benefit of the forum. Here was my initial post:

Ryan and Cody jumped in with some good thoughts:

I think the feel/real distinction is one of the most important in golf learning. I was pretty convinced, though, that the feel of having passive hands was actually introducing real changes in my swing, so I set my phone up on a pew and took a quick video with the hickory I keep in my office. I wrote: "I definitely get your point, but in this case, I don't think it is just feel. These are terrible screengrabs, but the difference in the positions, I think, is meaningful."

Ryan then made a further observation:

Anyway, I thought this was all useful, and I appreciate @edingc and @THEZIPR23's input.

[GolfSpy BOS]

Interesting thought. I think I agree with Cody in the feel vs real. But it certainly seems to get you in sync a little better... so maybe real after all?! Reminds me a little bit of the re-loading Viktor Hovland was doing with his driver.

 

For myself if I think anything about the hands at the top of the swing I come OTT. I need to feel the lower body start my downswing.

 

But hey if it works it works! Can’t wait till we can see some of your results out on the course.

[edingc]

11 hours ago, B.Boston said:

For myself if I think anything about the hands at the top of the swing I come OTT. I need to feel the lower body start my downswing.

I like how different feels can be expressed different ways. One thing I can say about the "float loading" feel, is that sometimes I get a similar feeling from getting the lower body working correctly to start the downswing. The hands seem to "float" while this happens, and in reality they are just falling slightly as they are waiting to come down through on sequence. (Talking milliseconds here...)

Good stuff, as always, @GolfSpy MPR. @THEZIPR23 covered it nicely on Twitter, by the time I got back to that conversation he had already nailed the analysis!

 

[GolfSpy MPR]

Opening day is getting closer! Michigan course are permitted to be open now, but our local course is still awaiting the final melt of the snow. Should be able to play sometime in the next week or so.

In the meantime, my full swing has been...frustrating. I currently have two swings:

• One that I've done a lot of work on, staying connected, avoiding early extension, that avoids pitching the shaft steeply on the downswing. This one, according to SkyTrak, costs me between 15–30 yards per club (more distance lost on longer clubs).
• A swing that I don't care about positions, where I just try to hit the ball hard. I am still currently about a club shorter than I was mid-season last year. I'm not yet sure if this is just rust, or age and a lack of working out this winter.

And it is not as though the second swing is spraying it all over the place. Instead, with that swing, I just had my single best SkyTrak Skills Assessment ever:

I only had two bad distances: 75 and 90. The 75 was OK, not great, and then my fifth shot was a shank that finished 23 yards right of the hole. On the 90 yard shots, I had three that were really solid, but two that I slid the club a bit underneath. Otherwise, every other distance was in the low single digits. In fact, 7 out of 10 distances were a 2-cap or better. Looking back over previous Skills Assessments, it's my highest greens hit percentage and lowest dispersion numbers.

[For those keeping score at home, this was done with my G700s.]

In other parts of my game: I don't know when I've ever felt better about my putting. We'll have to see how it translates to the course, but I'm rolling the ball on my intended line at my intended speed better than I ever have before. I am strongly considering doing something dumb: after testing all my putters against each other and crowning my Indianapolis as my starting putter, I bought another putter.

This Odyssey R Ball slant neck and I are getting along really well. I love the alignment aid. Mentally, my thought is to keep the rear ball chasing down my target line; this has done good things in keeping my from over-closing the face at impact and pulling putts (my typical fault). So there's at least a 50/50 chance that the Indy gets bumped for this to start the season. Stay tuned on that.

I'm pleased with my wedge work as of late. I'm going into the season with three wedges:

[I don't count my PW as a wedge, because I don't use it for partial shots. It's a 10-iron to me.]

After doing a number of wedge matrices on SkyTrak, I'm looking at the following distances for the upcoming season:

Obviously, it doesn't work out that perfectly in real life, but I'm trying to use close numbers that I can actually remember on the course.

[THEZIPR23]

That's a solid skills assessment!! Hopefully it equates to the course.

 

Have you had any issues with your sessions syncing to website? I have many missing sessions...

[GolfSpy MPR]

10 minutes ago, THEZIPR23 said:

That's a solid skills assessment!! Hopefully it equates to the course.

 

Have you had any issues with your sessions syncing to website? I have many missing sessions...

Honestly, I've never really checked. I don't have an internet connection where I practice, and so I use my phone as a hotspot to login and validate as needed. Otherwise, the internet features are more of a hassle than a feature to me.

[Wedgie]

13 minutes ago, THEZIPR23 said:

That's a solid skills assessment!! Hopefully it equates to the course.

 

Have you had any issues with your sessions syncing to website? I have many missing sessions...

I've had some issues.  Spent about an hour and a half the other day on a full bag gapping session.  Shut everything down and went upstairs to analyze the results and nothing was there.  Said screw it and went back and played 18.

[palvord]

21 hours ago, GolfSpy MPR said:

Opening day is getting closer! Michigan course are permitted to be open now, but our local course is still awaiting the final melt of the snow. Should be able to play sometime in the next week or so.

In the meantime, my full swing has been...frustrating. I currently have two swings:

• One that I've done a lot of work on, staying connected, avoiding early extension, that avoids pitching the shaft steeply on the downswing. This one, according to SkyTrak, costs me between 15–30 yards per club (more distance lost on longer clubs).
• A swing that I don't care about positions, where I just try to hit the ball hard. I am still currently about a club shorter than I was mid-season last year. I'm not yet sure if this is just rust, or age and a lack of working out this winter.

And it is not as though the second swing is spraying it all over the place. Instead, with that swing, I just had my single best SkyTrak Skills Assessment ever:

I only had two bad distances: 75 and 90. The 75 was OK, not great, and then my fifth shot was a shank that finished 23 yards right of the hole. On the 90 yard shots, I had three that were really solid, but two that I slid the club a bit underneath. Otherwise, every other distance was in the low single digits. In fact, 7 out of 10 distances were a 2-cap or better. Looking back over previous Skills Assessments, it's my highest greens hit percentage and lowest dispersion numbers.

[For those keeping score at home, this was done with my G700s.]

In other parts of my game: I don't know when I've ever felt better about my putting. We'll have to see how it translates to the course, but I'm rolling the ball on my intended line at my intended speed better than I ever have before. I am strongly considering doing something dumb: after testing all my putters against each other and crowning my Indianapolis as my starting putter, I bought another putter.

This Odyssey R Ball slant neck and I are getting along really well. I love the alignment aid. Mentally, my thought is to keep the rear ball chasing down my target line; this has done good things in keeping my from over-closing the face at impact and pulling putts (my typical fault). So there's at least a 50/50 chance that the Indy gets bumped for this to start the season. Stay tuned on that.

I'm pleased with my wedge work as of late. I'm going into the season with three wedges:

[I don't count my PW as a wedge, because I don't use it for partial shots. It's a 10-iron to me.]

After doing a number of wedge matrices on SkyTrak, I'm looking at the following distances for the upcoming season:

Obviously, it doesn't work out that perfectly in real life, but I'm trying to use close numbers that I can actually remember on the course.

@GolfSpy MPR I think it will be fascinating to see how all of this indoor work translates to real life. You're in a unique position being in the UP where you're play vs. practice is skewed more towards practice compared to the average golfer. I know for sure in a normal year, I play more than I practice.

I am looking forward to your real world results and firmly believe you'll be a testament to the quote from Ben Hogan: "The secret is in the dirt." (or in your case, the fake dirt)

[GolfSpy MPR]

First two nine-hole rounds of the year under my belt!

Our course opened for walking play on Saturday. It is still very, very wet in places. I don't believe that the greens have been cut; they're quite hairy, with small mounds of worm dirt making putting nigh impossible.

Even so, through 18 holes I'm 19 over. I'm honestly pretty happy about that so far. I've had 35 putts, which is pretty awful for me. But as odd as it sounds, I'll felt good with my putting: I'm starting my ball on my intended line, just leaving it short adjusting from a perfect mat to the very slow greens.

I've driven the ball far better than I anticipated. I've used my driver so far for 7 shots. I've missed two fairways (both left), one by about a foot. My distances so far:

• 188 (the good ole' smother pull)
• 207
• 209 (miss left)
• 217
• 218
• 244
• 262

Honestly, I'll absolutely take these. It doesn't happen all the time, but we're still in ball-plugging season here. We just not going to get a ton of rollout on anything yet. If you've been following this thread for any time, driving has always been one of my biggest weaknesses. Last year, I took my average driver from sub-200 to about 220. I'm at 220 with these drives here, hitting fairways, and not getting rollout. The flight has also been as predictable as I've ever had: a very slight cut (on the ones that I don't pull). And so I'm encouraged.

I've committed to the clock system for my wedge play this year. I now have small card in my push cart with 9 distances. So far, I think it's been a help. To be sure: I still have to make good contact. My ugliest holes so far have all included a bladed pitch. Still want to work on that, but part of it is mental: anyone else shrink back from good contact on mushy turf? I find it hard at time to go down and get a ball if I know that I'm going to literally end up with mud on my face for my effort.

I also switched to Arccos from Game Golf for my stats this year. So far, I've been impressed. Most of the shots it misses are tap in putts, which is understandable. There are pros and cons about how it presents the stats for analysis: I find it really odd that I can't go to my "Driving" numbers and separate out tees shots with different clubs.

Through two rounds, Arccos is assigning me a handicap of 21. I believe that is in part because, while they have the choice between the blue and white tees at my course, they list both at being about 5,000 yards, which is incorrect. I've submitted the correction to them; I'm hoping they get it straightened out quickly.

[jaybeemaestro]

Good to know the cobwebs off and get a feel for the real thing. I'd be similar to you in that driver is my weak club. God knows where the ball will go off the tee post-lockdown on the 18th May.

Nice start and it's always good to feel positive post-round. 

[edingc]

3 hours ago, GolfSpy MPR said:

I also switched to Arccos from Game Golf for my stats this year. So far, I've been impressed. Most of the shots it misses are tap in putts, which is understandable. There are pros and cons about how it presents the stats for analysis: I find it really odd that I can't go to my "Driving" numbers and separate out tees shots with different clubs.

Glad to hear you like Arccos. There has been a few times where I've wished I hadn't sold my Game Golf for the ShotScope, although I will say the GPS distances on the ShotScope at a glance are awesome. Very little use for my laser anymore. 

[GolfSpy MPR]

2 minutes ago, edingc said:

Glad to hear you like Arccos. There has been a few times where I've wished I hadn't sold my Game Golf for the ShotScope, although I will say the GPS distances on the ShotScope at a glance are awesome. Very little use for my laser anymore. 

I'm still committed to going with my laser on the course, even though the times I've glanced at Arccos's numbers, they've been right on.

The main reason is personal: I have a tendency to fiddle with the data during the round if I'm looking at the phone. A shot gets plotted in the wrong place, etc.: I've got to fix it. Inevitably, I try to fix it, something doesn't work properly, I get annoyed: I've found it's really bad for my game. It's why even though I had a GG Live, I didn't pair it with my phone during the round.

The other reason is that, at least in my experience, every so often I'd check the phone GPS for yardage, and it was still drifting toward my location on the map. Since I'm trying hard to commit to the clock system for wedges, knowing specific numbers as I get inside 100 yards is mattering to me more. For me, I find that for those a laser is often a little quicker.

[jaybeemaestro]

I didn't know this thread was going for a year. I had a look back and from the stillon the initial post to recent twitter swings, I'm guessing you must have made some real improvement over the course of that last year. Will have a good read-through the story tonight.

[Kaplack]

I think I am going back to GPS this year, my hands get more shaky every year. And my ballstriking gets worse, so exact numbers matter less and are harder to get.

[JohnSmalls]

On 3/21/2020 at 4:18 PM, GolfSpy MPR said:

Top row: 7 iron swing from July 2018 as I began my review of the G700 irons.

Bottom row: this morning, with a GW.

I've got opinions, but tell me what you see.

What app are you using to draw lines on your swing?

[GolfSpy MPR]

6 hours ago, JohnSmalls said:

What app are you using to draw lines on your swing?

It's an Android app called VirtualPro. I might be mistaken, but I think @edingc posted about it at one point. It's free, and I've been really impressed with its simplicity and utility.

[Erik-M]

On 5/5/2020 at 11:23 AM, GolfSpy MPR said:

First two nine-hole rounds of the year under my belt!

Our course opened for walking play on Saturday. It is still very, very wet in places. I don't believe that the greens have been cut; they're quite hairy, with small mounds of worm dirt making putting nigh impossible.

Even so, through 18 holes I'm 19 over. I'm honestly pretty happy about that so far. I've had 35 putts, which is pretty awful for me. But as odd as it sounds, I'll felt good with my putting: I'm starting my ball on my intended line, just leaving it short adjusting from a perfect mat to the very slow greens.

I've driven the ball far better than I anticipated. I've used my driver so far for 7 shots. I've missed two fairways (both left), one by about a foot. My distances so far:

• 188 (the good ole' smother pull)
• 207
• 209 (miss left)
• 217
• 218
• 244
• 262

Honestly, I'll absolutely take these. It doesn't happen all the time, but we're still in ball-plugging season here. We just not going to get a ton of rollout on anything yet. If you've been following this thread for any time, driving has always been one of my biggest weaknesses. Last year, I took my average driver from sub-200 to about 220. I'm at 220 with these drives here, hitting fairways, and not getting rollout. The flight has also been as predictable as I've ever had: a very slight cut (on the ones that I don't pull). And so I'm encouraged.

I've committed to the clock system for my wedge play this year. I now have small card in my push cart with 9 distances. So far, I think it's been a help. To be sure: I still have to make good contact. My ugliest holes so far have all included a bladed pitch. Still want to work on that, but part of it is mental: anyone else shrink back from good contact on mushy turf? I find it hard at time to go down and get a ball if I know that I'm going to literally end up with mud on my face for my effort.

I also switched to Arccos from Game Golf for my stats this year. So far, I've been impressed. Most of the shots it misses are tap in putts, which is understandable. There are pros and cons about how it presents the stats for analysis: I find it really odd that I can't go to my "Driving" numbers and separate out tees shots with different clubs.

Through two rounds, Arccos is assigning me a handicap of 21. I believe that is in part because, while they have the choice between the blue and white tees at my course, they list both at being about 5,000 yards, which is incorrect. I've submitted the correction to them; I'm hoping they get it straightened out quickly.

Good start to the year.  Once the greens get cut you should be good to go on putting.   The thin chips are one of the things that get you in the most trouble when we play.  If you get that sorted out and maybe add a little feel in your game. I think you'll be in a good place. I like to see the distance coming up.  P.S. we need to play!

[GolfSpy MPR]

Progress check in!

So far this year, I've played 81 holes of golf: one 18-hole round and seven 9-hole rounds. I'm 78-over for the season—a bit better than bogey golf. And Arccos is assigning me a handicap of 19.3.

This is interesting to me. I do not carry an official USGA handicap, so for me, my handicap is defined by whatever app I'm using. By the end of last season, Game Golf had me down to a 12.8. So why has my handicap gone up 6.5 strokes at this point in the season?

The first reason is that it's early in the season. My putting in the first couple of rounds was atrocious, at least in terms of results. The greens were still fuzzy and debris-strewn. My stroke felt really good, but I had more 3-putts than normal. The rest of my game also requires, if not knocking off of rust, the adjustment from mats and a ceiling to turf and being outside.

The second reason, though, is that Arccos (like GG, which I detailed earlier in this saga) has inaccurate data for my home course. We have four sets of tees; Arccos has two, and lists them both at the same yardage (only 5,100 yards). Our course is short: the back tees are only 6,100—but that's still more than 5,100. Arccos doesn't tell me what it's using for rating and slope, but I have to guess that it's punishing me pretty severely. The course website lists the rating at 67 and the slope at 113. Punching those numbers into the various handicap calculators online tends to give me a handicap a bit closer to the 13 I finished last season with. I've submitted the corrected tees to Arccos; I'm still waiting for them to incorporate the changes.

That said, right now my game is looking a bit different than it did this time last year. Here are my GG numbers from last April/May:

According to GG, I was

• driving the ball slightly worse than a 20-handicap,
• hitting my approaches like a 15 handicap,
• hitting short game shots 2 full strokes worse than a 25 handicap,
• and putting at the level of a 10 handicap.

Arccos is seeing something very different this season.

• I'm driving the ball like a 24 handicap,
• hitting approaches like 25 handicap,
• chipping like a 14 handicap,
• and putting like an 8 handicap.

It would be just like a golfer to think, "Wow, my short game is getting better, but Arccos is messed up in figuring out my driving and approach play!" But...

On my wedge play, the clock system is paying dividends (though it did cost me a stroke before it dawned on my that, like an idiot, I made a wedge cheat sheet with the x and y axes reversed; sailing a shot over the green made me realize my mistake). Last year with GG, shots from 75-100 yards show 45% accuracy (36% short and 9% each left and right misses). This year in the same range, I've hit 3/4 from there, with one bladed wedge that went long. Small sample size to be sure, but it's been encouraging so far.

Off the tee, some of the gains I've made last year seem to be sticking. The graphic here has April/May last year on top; this year on bottom:

And this is before a driver fitting that opened my eyes to how a properly fitted driver can help compensate for a very poor swing.

So the bottom lines:

• Until Arccos changes the tees, I've got an uphill climb to get my handicap down.
• My last round was a 3-over 39, so the potential for a good season is definitely in place.
• My short game has been a strength so far.
• I think my driving is going to improve significantly this season.
• I have a Plane Mate coming over on a slow boat from China right now. This should be a big help in my approach play.

[yungkory]

10 minutes ago, GolfSpy MPR said:

Progress check in!

So far this year, I've played 81 holes of golf: one 18-hole round and seven 9-hole rounds. I'm 78-over for the season—a bit better than bogey golf. And Arccos is assigning me a handicap of 19.3.

This is interesting to me. I do not carry an official USGA handicap, so for me, my handicap is defined by whatever app I'm using. By the end of last season, Game Golf had me down to a 12.8. So why has my handicap gone up 6.5 strokes at this point in the season?

The first reason is that it's early in the season. My putting in the first couple of rounds was atrocious, at least in terms of results. The greens were still fuzzy and debris-strewn. My stroke felt really good, but I had more 3-putts than normal. The rest of my game also requires, if not knocking off of rust, the adjustment from mats and a ceiling to turf and being outside.

The second reason, though, is that Arccos (like GG, which I detailed earlier in this saga) has inaccurate data for my home course. We have four sets of tees; Arccos has two, and lists them both at the same yardage (only 5,100 yards). Our course is short: the back tees are only 6,100—but that's still more than 5,100. Arccos doesn't tell me what it's using for rating and slope, but I have to guess that it's punishing me pretty severely. The course website lists the rating at 67 and the slope at 113. Punching those numbers into the various handicap calculators online tends to give me a handicap a bit closer to the 13 I finished last season with. I've submitted the corrected tees to Arccos; I'm still waiting for them to incorporate the changes.

That said, right now my game is looking a bit different than it did this time last year. Here are my GG numbers from last April/May:

According to GG, I was

• driving the ball slightly worse than a 20-handicap,
• hitting my approaches like a 15 handicap,
• hitting short game shots 2 full strokes worse than a 25 handicap,
• and putting at the level of a 10 handicap.

Arccos is seeing something very different this season.

• I'm driving the ball like a 24 handicap,
• hitting approaches like 25 handicap,
• chipping like a 14 handicap,
• and putting like an 8 handicap.

It would be just like a golfer to think, "Wow, my short game is getting better, but Arccos is messed up in figuring out my driving and approach play!" But...

On my wedge play, the clock system is paying dividends (though it did cost me a stroke before it dawned on my that, like an idiot, I made a wedge cheat sheet with the x and y axes reversed; sailing a shot over the green made me realize my mistake). Last year with GG, shots from 75-100 yards show 45% accuracy (36% short and 9% each left and right misses). This year in the same range, I've hit 3/4 from there, with one bladed wedge that went long. Small sample size to be sure, but it's been encouraging so far.

Off the tee, some of the gains I've made last year seem to be sticking. The graphic here has April/May last year on top; this year on bottom:

And this is before a driver fitting that opened my eyes to how a properly fitted driver can help compensate for a very poor swing.

So the bottom lines:

• Until Arccos changes the tees, I've got an uphill climb to get my handicap down.
• My last round was a 3-over 39, so the potential for a good season is definitely in place.
• My short game has been a strength so far.
• I think my driving is going to improve significantly this season.
• I have a Plane Mate coming over on a slow boat from China right now. This should be a big help in my approach play.

My Arccos handicap is always higher than my actual USGA one for some reason. Also, send them an e-mail and ask them to update the course yardage. One of the local munis I was playing had incorrect tee placements, and one of the holes was completely wrong and labeled as a par 4 when it was a par 3. They replied to me in about 2 days and updated the course to my surprise. I sent them pictures of the scorecard to make it more "legit" don't know if that helped them.

[GolfSpy MPR]

3 minutes ago, yungkory said:

My Arccos handicap is always higher than my actual USGA one for some reason. Also, send them an e-mail and ask them to update the course yardage. One of the local munis I was playing had incorrect tee placements, and one of the holes was completely wrong and labeled as a par 4 when it was a par 3. They replied to me in about 2 days and updated the course to my surprise. I sent them pictures of the scorecard to make it more "legit" don't know if that helped them.

Yeah, I sent them a message on May 6. I listed all the yardages for each tee and created a graphic off a Google Maps satellite picture of the course with the tee boxes all marked.

So far, nothing more than the automated response.

[yungkory]

2 hours ago, GolfSpy MPR said:

Yeah, I sent them a message on May 6. I listed all the yardages for each tee and created a graphic off a Google Maps satellite picture of the course with the tee boxes all marked.

So far, nothing more than the automated response.

 maybe because covid?

[GolfSpy MPR]

30 minutes ago, yungkory said:

 maybe because covid?

Certainly a very reasonable possibility. Every interaction I've had with Arccos customer service so far has been impressive, so I'm definitely willing to extend all benefit of the doubt.

The counterargument: surely, course editing can be done remotely?

But the counterargument to that: it's very, very likely that I'm the only person using Arccos at my course. If they prioritize updates by demand (which is certainly reasonable), I could be waiting a while.

[GolfSpy MPR]

I've got a plan.

If all goes well, I'll have a new Tour Striker PlaneMate in my hands (and on my waist) next week. I'm excited; the reviews of it have been pretty universally glowing, and it's built to help in exactly the thing I struggle with: the feeling of shallowing through transition.

So I'm going to roll in a PlaneMate review into my journey to single figures. (There is already a PlaneMate discussion thread here worth checking out as well.) I'm planning to follow all the outlined protocols and track my progress over this season.

Obviously, the on-course results are what matter most, but I'm also interested in measuring the technical changes that will (hopefully) result. So with the help of a bunch of gadgets, I'm hoping to reconstruct the numbers I might get from a TrackMan.

I have a SkyTrak, but the swing and club are invisible to it. A SkyTrak only measures ball data. It will give you swing speed, but it's a calculation based on the ball information. But I also have other gadgets at hand: a Zepp and a SwingByte sensor. These complement each other well. The Zepp attaches to the glove, and gives a good picture of hand path. The SwingByte attaches to the shaft, and tells you a lot about club plane, lie angles, and shaft lean at impact. Both of these also estimate clubhead speed.

In addition, I have the swing speed radar used for SuperSpeed training.

So I've got a spreadsheet built. My intent is to take 10 7-iron swings and compile the data from the four of these sources, using an average of the four that tosses outliers for swing speed.

After I get the baseline, I'll remeasure after a month of PlaneMate drills. Here's my hope:

• Obviously, I'd like to see that downswing plane shallow out.
• I'd like to see a higher ball speed and higher spin, indicative of a cleaner strike.
• I'd like to see a tighter dispersion of the 10 shots.

Those, along with on course scoring, will be the standards by which I measure whether the PlaneMate is working for me.

[GolfSpy AFG]

Following.  This is great stuff.  Looking forward to that Planemate review, although after having picked up Super Speed the wife would go apesh!t if I bought another training aid.

Keep at it!  Hard work pays off.

[GolfSpy MPR]

It arrived today!

The first order of business, then, was to establish my baseline numbers. I got all four devices set up (SkyTrak, SwingByte, Zepp, and Swing Speed Radar). My oldest daughter (9) was a huge help: she entered all the numbers into my spreadsheet after each swing.

Nothing terribly surprising. Zepp makes it clear that my downswing is about 15° steeper than my backswing. I'm averaging about 75mph of swing speed and 103mph of ball speed. My spin rate is just over 4,000, due to three factors: the G700s aren't high spin, hitting from a mat lowers spin, and I hit the ball fat on nearly every shot.

So today, the swing rebuild began in earnest. The Day 1 protocol for the PlaneMate calls for 30 follow throughs to begin; no backswing, just going from address to finish. Then 30 pitches. Here's one of mine:

A couple things to notice here: the club actually shallows! On the downswing, it actually passes under my hands. The shaft is on exactly the same plane at impact as it is at address.

You'll also see one other aid that arrived today. I've been eyeballing a Speed Trap for some time, but choke on the price. For less than a third of the price, I picked up this: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GRZBAMY/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_apa_i_4IU0EbEEW6FX7

I'm planning to add some velcro and pool noodles. But even as it is, it's already an awesome addition to my training setup. My mat is nice and plush and forgives fat shots (I mostly know a shot was far setting seeing the spin rate plummet on SkyTrak).

Case in point: after getting the baseline numbers above, I put the board in place and tried hitting a 7. Had to slow down my speed a lot (the shot only went about 130 yards), but the spin rate kicked up 2,000 revs to well over 6,000.

So I feel like I've got some great pieces in place. I'll be doing daily drills with the PlaneMate, and I'm looking forward to repeating my test in a month to see how the numbers change.

[GolfSpy BOS]

14 minutes ago, GolfSpy MPR said:

It arrived today!
The first order of business, then, was to establish my baseline numbers. I got all four devices set up (SkyTrak, SwingByte, Zepp, and Swing Speed Radar). My oldest daughter (9) was a huge help: she entered all the numbers into my spreadsheet after each swing.
Nothing terribly surprising. Zepp makes it clear that my downswing is about 15° steeper than my backswing. I'm averaging about 75mph of swing speed and 103mph of ball speed. My spin rate is just over 4,000, due to three factors: the G700s aren't high spin, hitting from a mat lowers spin, and I hit the ball fat on nearly every shot.
So today, the swing rebuild began in earnest. The Day 1 protocol for the PlaneMate calls for 30 follow throughs to begin; no backswing, just going from address to finish. Then 30 pitches. Here's one of mine:
[/url] A couple things to notice here: the club actually shallows! On the downswing, it actually passes under my hands. The shaft is on exactly the same plane at impact as it is at address.
You'll also see one other aid that arrived today. I've been eyeballing a Speed Trap for some time, but choke on the price. For less than a third of the price, I picked up this: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GRZBAMY/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_apa_i_4IU0EbEEW6FX7
I'm planning to add some velcro and pool noodles. But even as it is, it's already an awesome addition to my training setup. My mat is nice and plush and forgives fat shots (I mostly know a shot was far setting seeing the spin rate plummet on SkyTrak).
Case in point: after getting the baseline numbers above, I put the board in place and tried hitting a 7. Had to slow down my speed a lot (the shot only went about 130 yards), but the spin rate kicked up 2,000 revs to well over 6,000.
So I feel like I've got some great pieces in place. I'll be doing daily drills with the PlaneMate, and I'm looking forward to repeating my test in a month to see how the numbers change.

 

Nice! I feel like I shallow out in my practice swings by not in my real swings.  But I’m not sure if its because I go back very flat or if I’m actually coming over the top.  I have to record some swings once the range opens up.

Looking forward to following along with your progress on this one!

 

[GolfSpy MPR]

I'm still awaiting Arccos's revision to my course's layout; I'm giving them another couple of days (it'll then be a month since I contacted them) until I send a check-in email to see if they're going to do anything with it.

Their current settings for my course are kinda killing me right now. I plugged my course rating and slope, along with my scores, into an online handicap calculator, and it gave me a 13ish handicap, which seems fair. I'm currently 86 over par for 99 holes, or about 15 over for every 18 holes.

And while I've acknowledged that my course is short (the back tees are only 6,100), Arccos still is not differentiating any sets of tees and thinks the blue tees are only 5,100 yards. I'm not sure what rating and slope it's using, but it's giving me an 18.2 handicap now, which would be about 6 shot increase over the end of last year.

[Erik-M]

Yeah kind of a big discrepancy