Shanky’s Short Game Sessions

[Shankster]

Going to have to the videos on pause. After recovering from my round today, I may have messed up my shoulder.... can’t catch a break.

Hopefully I don’t have to give it up all together. I believe that chunked 8 iron was the culprit. Going to lay low for a week without picking up a club to see how I feel.

Stay tuned...

[sirchunksalot]

Well, mine points to the driving range teeing ground with just a parking area for carts in-between. You can see the cart path just passed the pitching green.  The elevated area is the teeing ground.  

People have skulled shots there.  

I could do that, I'm a master of the skulled wedge.

I did get out in my backyard this evening and give this method a whirl. So far, I'm pretty impressed with what I'm seeing. I was able to dial in a decent shot at about thirty feet. Nice spinny shots with a lower trajectory that were landing near my target (my wife's crepe myrtle, don't tell her).@Shankster I hope your shoulder starts feeling better soon and thanks again for sharing your knowledge.

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[Kenny B]

5 hours ago, Shankster said:

Going to have to the videos on pause. After recovering from my round today, I may have messed up my shoulder.... can’t catch a break.

Hopefully I don’t have to give it up all together. I believe that chunked 8 iron was the culprit. Going to lay low for a week without picking up a club to see how I feel.

Stay tuned...

Sorry too hear about the shoulder.  Maybe you should get some Hank Haney Voo Doo pain relief cream!!  Actually, it does work somewhat.

I spent a couple of hours in the practice area today.  Our course was hosting a H.S. girls 3A regional today, so no play.  I absolutely cannot hit the shot as you described at the start of the thread.  If I open my stance that far, that's where the ball is going.  My stance is fairly parallel to the target line and feet close together.  With a pendulum swing letting gravity do most of the effort and an open face, I hit some very nice shots (better than the pic above).  Distance determined by length of back and through swing.  Most were picked, but a few were a little fat.  However, using the bounce like that still produced a good shot, just a little more runout.  Bounce is your friend.

[Shankster]

Thanks for the well wishes gents. It’s the shoulder I had surgery on last year. So I’m being extra cautious. Some pain this morning. So we’ll see.

Kenny, The Open stance is tough to get used to. If your technique works I wouldn’t change it. It’s something that I have developed over a few years.

Even yesterday I had a few chances to use it and left myself a long par putt.

Still knocking the rust off.

[sirchunksalot]

Note to self: never go to the course and try something for the first time without putting in a little more practice than a few balls in the backyard. My game was so skully today I had a guy chasing me with a sword shouting something about power and Greyskull.

I did get on the practice green after my round and figured out I was not completely following your advice on how close to get to the ball. I was setting up probably between 18-24 inches from the ball. Once I moved closer, I saw much better results. I really like this setup and now I'm going to spend more time on the practice green to see if I can hone my ability with it.

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[Shankster]

Note to self: never go to the course and try something for the first time without putting in a little more practice than a few balls in the backyard. My game was so skully today I had a guy chasing me with a sword shouting something about power and Greyskull.

I did get on the practice green after my round and figured out I was not completely following your advice on how close to get to the ball. I was setting up probably between 18-24 inches from the ball. Once I moved closer, I saw much better results. I really like this setup and now I'm going to spend more time on the practice green to see if I can hone my ability with it.

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Yeah. I do the same. Warm up hitting fades, then try to hit draws all day whilst yelling at myself.

It does take a bunch of practice to get comfortable with this technique. I put in around a hour a day for an entire summer on it, and still put at least 15-20 minutes every time I go to the range. It’s a perishable technique for sure.

[GB13]

I took this onto the course for the first time today, and it worked pretty well. I was making pretty decent contact, but I need to get it into my head to carry it to the pin. Since I normally play bump and run shots, I was still landing the ball 20-25 feet short of the pin, but not getting enough rollout. Just need to drill it into my head to hit it pin high. 

[Shankster]

I took this onto the course for the first time today, and it worked pretty well. I was making pretty decent contact, but I need to get it into my head to carry it to the pin. Since I normally play bump and run shots, I was still landing the ball 20-25 feet short of the pin, but not getting enough rollout. Just need to drill it into my head to hit it pin high. 

It’s tough to give in. With the greens I play on this method works great. Anything much quicker and I’d have to leave it a little short and play for a little release.

There’s actually a video of Tiger hitting the high one like I do floating around on the web today. Wipey short fade looking thing that goes 3-4 yards, his was a down hill shot so it released some.

Practice. But keep that roller in your arsenal.

[GB13]

Just now, Shankster said:

 

It’s tough to give in. With the greens I play on this method works great. Anything much quicker and I’d have to leave it a little short and play for a little release.

There’s actually a video of Tiger hitting the high one like I do floating around on the web today. Wipey short fade looking thing that goes 3-4 yards, his was a down hill shot so it released some.

Practice. But keep that roller in your arsenal.

 

Yeah, I was playing hard fast greens today, and I really wasn't getting a ton of release. With my normal runner, I would have had a tough time keeping shots around the pin. In all reality, my best chips were when I was short sided, and forced to land the ball in a tight area 2-3' short of the pin, and have it trickle down. 

Now, if I could just not hit my approaches behind trees, I could hit good pitches. 

[Shankster]

Yeah, I was playing hard fast greens today, and I really wasn't getting a ton of release. With my normal runner, I would have had a tough time keeping shots around the pin. In all reality, my best chips were when I was short sided, and forced to land the ball in a tight area 2-3' short of the pin, and have it trickle down. 
Now, if I could just not hit my approaches behind trees, I could hit good pitches. 

Dang trees. I’d rather hit out of hay then have trees on golf courses.

Played a few links “style” courses and you get free reign on shot shaping. Trees force you to play a certain way...

[GB13]

5 minutes ago, Shankster said:

 

Dang trees. I’d rather hit out of hay then have trees on golf courses.

Played a few links “style” courses and you get free reign on shot shaping. Trees force you to play a certain way...

 

Yeah, the trees I was behind shouldn't have even been in play... I had an eighty yard shot from pin high right. I've not sliced the ball like I did today in years. 

Sorry, I'm derailing the thread, to get it back on track, how do you set up for bunker shots? Where is the ball in your stance? I left 2 balls in the bunker today...

Edited May 16, 2019 by GB13

[Shankster]

Yeah, the trees I was behind shouldn't have even been in play... I had an eighty yard shot from pin high right. I've not sliced the ball like I did today in years. 

Sorry, I'm derailing the thread, to get it back on track, how do you set up for bunker shots? Where is the ball in your stance? I left 2 balls in the bunker today...

 

No problem.

 

Depends. But generally I set up with a really wide stance square for normal bunker shots, but open and close for different shots. Face is square (believe it or not). But I do open the face when needed.

 

Ball is in the middle of the stance. You can practice pitch shots like that too, shallows out the swing.

 

I never try to hoist a 56, if I need it to go high just finish higher, or grab the 60

[cnosil]

I tried this last night at the course. I must be missing something, everything went right, about 45* right and basically rolled. I need to read this whole thread again and figure out what I am doing wrong.

Need to get a spinning pitch into my repertoire.

[Shankster]

I tried this last night at the course. I must be missing something, everything went right, about 45* right and basically rolled. I need to read this whole thread again and figure out what I am doing wrong.

Need to get a spinning pitch into my repertoire.

If everything is going right, lower the handle slightly. It’s only around a inch from my leg.

The face should point at the target, your feet should point 30/40 degrees left of it. Takes a bit to find the sweet spot.

Are you going for the low or the high one?

[cnosil]

If everything is going right, lower the handle slightly. It’s only around a inch from my leg.

The face should point at the target, your feet should point 30/40 degrees left of it. Takes a bit to find the sweet spot.

Are you going for the low or the high one?

Was trying low to start since that is close normal ball position for pitches/chips. Essentially it is just moving me closer to the ball and opening the face and feet. I am normally square face and feet.

[Shankster]

Was trying low to start since that is close normal ball position for pitches/chips. Essentially it is just moving me closer to the ball and opening the face and feet. I am normally square face and feet.

I’ll try to get a video today.

Has to be a pretty aggressive swing to get the club head speed higher for the added spin. That coupled with the wide open face and the low follow through is how I get the low checker.

This I use mostly from 30 yards and in. I use a different technique for anything farther than that.

[cnosil]

I’ll try to get a video today.

Has to be a pretty aggressive swing to get the club head speed higher for the added spin. That coupled with the wide open face and the low follow through is how I get the low checker.

This I use mostly from 30 yards and in. I use a different technique for anything farther than that.

Whenever you get a chance, I know you have a shoulder thing going on. I just need to spend more time at the practice range. I just tried it a few times before my match yesterday.

[Shankster]

Ok. So I learned two things today. I need a better camera, and I suck at explaining things.

Video is useless for anyone to consume.

But I left out a crucial piece. For me I have to feel like I’m trying to hit a stinger. If I get lazy they will go right every time.

I have to feel like my hands are out in front of the left leg before impact. Too bad the video sucks because I was hitting some knee high 2 checkers today.

You also don’t restrict your body. It’s much like J Days dead hand pitch shot as in your power comes from the core, not the arms.

I’m going to have to bribe my oldest daughter with ice cream to come take the video.

[cnosil]

. If I get lazy they will go right every time.
.

Hmmm, my instructor during my short game lesson said I have a tendency to get lazy and not commit to the shot. Going to have to give this a bit more practice.

[Shankster]

Hmmm, my instructor during my short game lesson said I have a tendency to get lazy and not commit to the shot. Going to have to give this a bit more practice.

Yeah. It’s tough. But you really have to commit to getting those hands out in front with my type of shot or it can seriously mess you up.

I did try my technique with a squarer face today. It does work but rolls out more. The open face if you get lazy it goes directly right with the blade that wide open.

It almost feels like I’m hitting a little pull shot with my hands out that far in front... if that helps at all.

[downlowkey]

1 hour ago, Shankster said:

Video is useless for anyone to consume.

It’s hard to fathom that your video would not provide something of use in this instructional thread. I think any additional visual perspective of your setup/path/impact/finish is crucial. So even if you don’t have a single video repetition of your action to share, simple screenshots of the aforementioned positions would most likely translate more effectively than a half dozen written iterations of how this particular motion “feels” to you. I’d really like to see a simple face-on perspective.

[Shankster]

It’s hard to fathom that your video would not provide something of use in this instructional thread. I think any additional visual perspective of your setup/path/impact/finish is crucial. So even if you don’t have a single video repetition of your action to share, simple screenshots of the aforementioned positions would most likely translate more effectively than a half dozen written iterations of how this particular motion “feels” to you. I’d really like to see a simple face-on perspective.

Yeah. Going to need something to get my phone off the ground and not pointing towards the sky. It really skews the video.

I’ll try to get some set up and maybe a face on video out in the yard this afternoon. The lie won’t be as good so that’ll be fun.

[Shankster]

Ok here are the best stills I can get.


Set up


Top of back swing


Half way down


Just passed impact


Follow through

[sirchunksalot]

Ok here are the best stills I can get.


Set up


Top of back swing


Half way down


Just passed impact


Follow through

Great pictures Shankster! I honestly think the angle is pretty good. Have you thought about a tripod if you're wanting to get a higher vantage for your camera? I picked up a 50 inch one at Wal-Mart for about $16 that I've used for swing videos and it's been great. The only problem I've had is making sure I'm in frame good.

Thanks for the photos! I was worried that my ball flight on the good shots I've hit were higher than you described (at least the ones I didn't blade), so it's good to see confirmation that these match up well with the ones I've hit. I'm hoping to hit the range this weekend and I'm definitely planning on going to the practice green to work on this.

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[azstu324]

Hey Shanks! Just an FYI if you plan on taking more pics or even videos, you can get very inexpensive 1080p HD cameras on Amazon. Similar to Go Pro's but really inexpensive and just as good IMO. I think I got mine for around $35 and it came with a waterproof housing for rainy days or pool fun. Additionally, I bought a decent case with foam protection and it came with a buttload of cool accessories.. i.e. bendy tri pod, telescoping selfie stick, dash clips, etc, etc, etc for like $15 extra. Takes an SD card that holds like 60GB which is a ton for these golf vids. 

I actually bought it after we finished the wedge review in case I were picked for other reviews. During that process my phone kept overheating and shutting the camera off so I got tired of that.. 112* weather wasn't helping. There's software that allows you to pick out stills. All pretty user friendly too. the camera itself is totally worth the $ and helps save space on your phone with better videos too. 

Edited May 17, 2019 by azstu324

[Shankster]

Great pictures Shankster! I honestly think the angle is pretty good. Have you thought about a tripod if you're wanting to get a higher vantage for your camera? I picked up a 50 inch one at Wal-Mart for about $16 that I've used for swing videos and it's been great. The only problem I've had is making sure I'm in frame good.

Thanks for the photos! I was worried that my ball flight on the good shots I've hit were higher than you described (at least the ones I didn't blade), so it's good to see confirmation that these match up well with the ones I've hit. I'm hoping to hit the range this weekend and I'm definitely planning on going to the practice green to work on this.

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Yeah, the flight varies from waist high to head high. That angle isn’t the best. But I quit recording when I was hitting the ankle biters because I didn’t think the video was doing what I was trying to show any justice. Guess I’ll just let it record all of practice from now on.

Hadn’t thought of doing videos till recently. I’ll pick up a tripod.

[Shankster]

Here’s the face on stills.

 

Set up

 

Top of back swing

 

Impact

 

Follow through

 

 

*this was a 30 yard shot

[Shankster]

Video from stills earlier. Same swing.

[sirchunksalot]

Video from stills earlier. Same swing.


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Nice video Shankster! You weren't kidding when you said this shot would result in a draw. I watched it go up and the could see it turning over.

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[Shankster]

Nice video Shankster! You weren't kidding when you said this shot would result in a draw. I watched it go up and the could see it turning over.

 

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That particular one was a little fat. Still ended up 2’ from my target. These aren’t as low as I would like.