edingc's Work In Progress

[edingc]

Had a fantastic range session this morning. I started my winter work last weekend and the first range session wasn't great. Looking over the video I realized I had gotten my hands really close to my body at address (again - this is a recurring problem that I've been working on for a long time). Today I went in keeping that in mind and after 15-20 balls feeling it out, I started hitting some really great shots.

I was happy to see ball speeds with my 5 iron creep over 131 a few times, 6 iron over 125 and 7 iron over 123. I'm sure with real balls I can squeeze out a few more MPH. More importantly, I'm hitting nice tight draws throughout the bag now and nothing that really cut at all. 

Still lots of work to do, but I had a good set of feelings going today:

• Proper grip, alignment and hand position at setup. I ended up having to weaken my right hand grip a little to keep the ball from moving too much right-to-left. Also need to continue to place my left hand a little lower on the grip so that my pinky can wrap comfortably.
• Feel the grip strength coming from my left pinky. Having a little tension there still allows my wrists to be fluid and loose. If I get other fingers involved my wrists tense up and I start to leave the ball right.
• Getting a nice wide takeaway, going straight back with my left arm and keeping the feeling of "right forearm over left" to the top. This keeps me connected and turning into my right hip.
• Staying balanced in my turn so that I feel tension in my right hip and weight in my left foot just slightly toward the toes at completion of my backswing.
• A feeling of throwing the club down the target line on the downswing. My tendency is to spin left and swing my path out-to-in which results in hooks if I don't get into the front of my left foot well.

I spent about half a bucket going maximum speed with the 5 iron and need to do more of that. I also tried speeding up my backswing some and the results were OK, but felt that, for me, feeling a little longer and normal tempo'ed backswing gave me the same speed and better results.

It feels good to feel like I'm making progress.

[edingc]

Rainy morning at the range today. After a conversation with @ncwoz this week, I took both my SpeedZone 7 iron and Maltby PTM 7 iron to the range to compare ball speeds and estimated distances with my Flightscope Mevo. I was interested to see if I could carry SpeedZone 5-7 irons and then Maltby PTM 7-GW in a sort of split set for the upcoming season. I've mentioned it in other places around the forums, but while I love the forgiveness of the SpeedZone long irons, the PTMs are gapped better in the shorter irons.

I'm still working on my swing. My miss right now is a pull/pull draw. I've been really struggling trying to find the right feels to get the ball starting at or just right of where I am aimed. Below is a pretty good example swing from today, this was a straight draw that finished a little left of where I intended. This would have played just fine, but during my round Thursday I really struggled with overcooking lots of stuff left.

I've noticed that if I were to lay an alignment stick across my elbows, my upper body appears to be pointed quite a bit left of where my feet are. This is something I'm going to focus on the next time out. On this particular swing I feel like my takeaway was slightly outside of my target line, and I think this may partially be because of being a little too open with my upper body.

Anyway, it does look like there is a sufficient gap between the SpeedZone 7 iron and the Maltby PTM 7 iron to run with a split set next season. The ball speed gaps on average-to-great swings are right in the 5 MPH range between the two, which should work out OK.

SpeedZone 7 Iron

PTM 7 Iron

Of interest (and taken with a grain of salt given the Mevo is a little inaccurate with club speed) is that I swing the PTM 7 iron slightly faster on average than the SpeedZone 7 iron. Same length, although the SpeedZone has the x-stiff C-Taper Lites which weight about 5 grams more than the stiff C-Taper Lites in the PTM.

[edingc]

If you follow Fit for Golf, Mike is a big proponent of going "all out" for a small subset of swings during a practice session, caring only about club speed and not direction.

I did this for my final 10 balls at the heated range this morning with the SpeedZone 5 iron from a tee. I'm stoked to see the averages over nine of those 10 swings (I removed one badly-thinned effort that had a higher than average swing speed but lower than average ball speed):

• Swing Speed: 97 MPH
• Ball Speed: 136 MPH
• Smash Factor: 1.4
• Carry: 203 yards
• Spin: 4,600 RPM
• Launch Angle: 14.9 degrees
• Height: 105 feet

I've italicized the bottom numbers because while the Mevo is great for ball speed, OK on swing speed, the remaining factors tend to be off to some degree, especially with mixed quality range balls.

As recommended by @Chip Strokes and @BMart519 (and inspired by @Getoffmylawn), I'm just starting my second monthly cycle of Wendler's 5/3/1 and so far have seen some good results. My working weights are nearing personal bests, and I've dropped about five pounds without a drastic change in my diet. I'm also continuing to do small numbers of SuperSpeed reps, and working with the Planemate, in addition to stretching in the mornings. I've found 5/3/1 to complement my off season schedule well, as focusing mostly on the core four lifts allows me enough recovery to also hit two buckets of balls (about 150 swings) once per week without issue.

[GolfSpy AFG]

1 hour ago, edingc said:

If you follow Fit for Golf, Mike is a big proponent of going "all out" for a small subset of swings during a practice session, caring only about club speed and not direction.

I did this for my final 10 balls at the heated range this morning with the SpeedZone 5 iron from a tee. I'm stoked to see the averages over nine of those 10 swings (I removed one badly-thinned effort that had a higher than average swing speed but lower than average ball speed):

• Swing Speed: 97 MPH
• Ball Speed: 136 MPH
• Smash Factor: 1.4
• Carry: 203 yards
• Spin: 4,600 RPM
• Launch Angle: 14.9 degrees
• Height: 105 feet

I've italicized the bottom numbers because while the Mevo is great for ball speed, OK on swing speed, the remaining factors tend to be off to some degree, especially with mixed quality range balls.

As recommended by @Chip Strokes and @BMart519 (and inspired by @Getoffmylawn), I'm just starting my second monthly cycle of Wendler's 5/3/1 and so far have seen some good results. My working weights are nearing personal bests, and I've dropped about five pounds without a drastic change in my diet. I'm also continuing to do small numbers of SuperSpeed reps, and working with the Planemate, in addition to stretching in the mornings. I've found 5/3/1 to complement my off season schedule well, as focusing mostly on the core four lifts allows me enough recovery to also hit two buckets of balls (about 150 swings) once per week without issue.

Nice work.  What's a "stock" 5 iron for you?  (And, just curious, when does your bag switch to the Maltby's...6 or 7?)

[edingc]

13 minutes ago, Getoffmylawn said:

Nice work.  What's a "stock" 5 iron for you?  (And, just curious, when does your bag switch to the Maltby's...6 or 7?)

The plan right now is to carry 5-7 SpeedZone, and then 7-GW Maltby. They gap out just about right even though I'll technically be carrying two 7 irons.

To be honest, I don't know what a stock 5 in the SpeedZones would be. I honestly didn't hit them all that well this past summer. I know I had two good tee shots each about 200 total with it though.

I'm hoping with more work on the swing with the Planemate, plus practice, that I might be able to carry 200 off the tee, but who knows? I can be a bit mental on the course ... It's easy for me to go hard at the range and then you add in pressure and I get tight.

[tony@CIC]

The plan right now is to carry 5-7 SpeedZone, and then 7-GW Maltby. They gap out just about right even though I'll technically be carrying two 7 irons.
To be honest, I don't know what a stock 5 in the SpeedZones would be. I honestly didn't hit them all that well this past summer. I know I had two good tee shots each about 200 total with it though.
I'm hoping with more work on the swing with the Planemate, plus practice, that I might be able to carry 200 off the tee, but who knows? I can be a bit mental on the course ... It's easy for me to go hard at the range and then you add in pressure and I get tight.

Just curious do you have the same shafts in both?. I got SZ 7i- GP with Recoils this past summer and they're working really well for me


Sent from my iPad using MyGolfSpy

[edingc]

4 minutes ago, tony@CIC said:

Just curious do you have the same shafts in both?. I got SZ 7i- GP with Recoils this past summer and they're working really well for me


Sent from my iPad using MyGolfSpy

Both have KBS C-Taper Lite, but the SpeedZones are x-stiff vs. stiff in the PTMs. They feel similar, I still prefer the stiffs over the x-stiffs though.

The swing weights on the SpeedZones are D2 vs. D4+ on the PTMs, so despite the weight/stiffness difference the transition between the two heads is pretty seamless.

[edingc]

Mid-winter (hopefully closer to mid-late winter) update: Winter practice and fitness programming have both been resounding successes thus far. 

I haven't been great getting a true mobility routine going, but I do stretch frequently, and I especially focus on my hips since I struggle with proper lower body rotation in the swing. I just completed my second month of Wendler's 5/3/1 lifting routine, opting to pair the main lifts with SuperSpeed and speed work rather than accessory lifts. My 1 RMs are at what they were before I quit lifting in March, and I expect to hit new personal bests sometime in February or March.

I've been calorie counting, not terribly strictly, but being mindful nonetheless. I am down about 10 pounds from early December, weighing 173-174 currently, and my goal is to be between 160 and 165 pounds by April. 

As far as golf specific practice goes, I have been spending a lot of time putting on my EXPUTT and chipping in the basement. Putting for me has always been poor, and I'm determined to be better this upcoming year.

Full swings are still a work-in-progress, though I am getting much closer to developing a repeatable swing that produces good results. I am seeing distance increases across the bag, and my contact has improved tremendously. I've spent quite a bit of time strapped into my Planemate and, even though I have not hit balls with it, the Planemate has helped me feel the correct motion in my swing.

One of the things I've been focused on is speed (who isn't?), and last week I started Mike Carroll's (Fit for Golf) new "Speed Series," which is a set of five golf club speed exercises. Additionally, I'm still using my SuperSpeed sticks two or three times a week but not following a particular program.

I hit two buckets on the range today and was very pleased with the results. I wasn't particularly focused on going "all out" today, but I've recently picked up a few MPH of club speed without much effort:

• 31 drives - I averaged 111.6 MPH club speed, 157.1 MPH ball speed (range balls), with a max club speed of 115.4 MPH and max ball speed of 161.6 MPH.
• 33 6 Irons - I averaged 95.2 MPH club speed, 128.7 MPH ball speed, with a max club speed of 98 MPH.
• 32 9 Irons - I averaged 90.5 MPH club speed, 109 MPH ball speed, with a max club speed of 94.3 MPH.

I have not had a lesson with my instructor since September, but I anticipate going again soon.

Here are some updated swing videos. First, a 9 iron, and then followed by a driver swing.

 

 

[GolfSpy AFG]

10 minutes ago, edingc said:

 

Full swings are still a work-in-progress, though I am getting much closer to developing a repeatable swing that produces good results. I am seeing distance increases across the bag, and my contact has improved tremendously. I've spent quite a bit of time strapped into my Planemate and, even though I have not hit balls with it, the Planemate has helped me feel the correct motion in my swing.

 

 

 

Bravo, looks like great progress and that you're really sticking with it.  Especially the PlaneMate work...I've found it tough to make strapping it on a habitual thing but am doing good for the past 2 weeks.

How are you tracking your numbers on the range...do you have a personal monitor?

[edingc]

23 minutes ago, Getoffmylawn said:

Bravo, looks like great progress and that you're really sticking with it.  Especially the PlaneMate work...I've found it tough to make strapping it on a habitual thing but am doing good for the past 2 weeks.

How are you tracking your numbers on the range...do you have a personal monitor?

I've found the Planemate to be invaluable to my feels of the takeaway, "standing up the umbrella" and also rotation through impact.

I have a FlightScope Mevo. In a brief comparison to my coach's Trackman last spring, we found ball speeds to be pretty accurate (within a MPH of unnormalized Trackman data). Swing speed was a little faster with the Mevo, and with range balls spin numbers are a crap shoot so total distance can be misleading (Mevo loves reporting low-spin fliers, especially on draws or pulls).

For my purposes, I'm just using the Mevo for tracking compared to my baseline first driver session on Dec. 19. Twelve drives on that day resulted in 104.9 MPH average club head speed with a max of 107.4 MPH. Today's 111.6 MPH average was a new personal best and is +6.7 MPH since the baseline. I hit 116.5 MPH max on 1/4, +9.1 MPH from baseline.

I attribute the increases to more swing/form changes than training, but I'm sure both have contributed.

[GolfSpy BOS]

Swings looking great Cody! Awesome numbers too. You’ll be hitting the ground running this spring.

[RickyBobby_PR]

Good progress there and numbers looking sweet

[GolfSpy_SHARK]

2 hours ago, edingc said:

Mid-winter (hopefully closer to mid-late winter) update: Winter practice and fitness programming have both been resounding successes thus far. 

I haven't been great getting a true mobility routine going, but I do stretch frequently, and I especially focus on my hips since I struggle with proper lower body rotation in the swing. I just completed my second month of Wendler's 5/3/1 lifting routine, opting to pair the main lifts with SuperSpeed and speed work rather than accessory lifts. My 1 RMs are at what they were before I quit lifting in March, and I expect to hit new personal bests sometime in February or March.

I've been calorie counting, not terribly strictly, but being mindful nonetheless. I am down about 10 pounds from early December, weighing 173-174 currently, and my goal is to be between 160 and 165 pounds by April. 

As far as golf specific practice goes, I have been spending a lot of time putting on my EXPUTT and chipping in the basement. Putting for me has always been poor, and I'm determined to be better this upcoming year.

Full swings are still a work-in-progress, though I am getting much closer to developing a repeatable swing that produces good results. I am seeing distance increases across the bag, and my contact has improved tremendously. I've spent quite a bit of time strapped into my Planemate and, even though I have not hit balls with it, the Planemate has helped me feel the correct motion in my swing.

One of the things I've been focused on is speed (who isn't?), and last week I started Mike Carroll's (Fit for Golf) new "Speed Series," which is a set of five golf club speed exercises. Additionally, I'm still using my SuperSpeed sticks two or three times a week but not following a particular program.

I hit two buckets on the range today and was very pleased with the results. I wasn't particularly focused on going "all out" today, but I've recently picked up a few MPH of club speed without much effort:

• 31 drives - I averaged 111.6 MPH club speed, 157.1 MPH ball speed (range balls), with a max club speed of 115.4 MPH and max ball speed of 161.6 MPH.
• 33 6 Irons - I averaged 95.2 MPH club speed, 128.7 MPH ball speed, with a max club speed of 98 MPH.
• 32 9 Irons - I averaged 90.5 MPH club speed, 109 MPH ball speed, with a max club speed of 94.3 MPH.

I have not had a lesson with my instructor since September, but I anticipate going again soon.

Here are some updated swing videos. First, a 9 iron, and then followed by a driver swing.

 

 

Great progress! Love the data.....I have an issue with the 31/32/32 can you edit the driver to 32 for me my OCD is freaking out

[edingc]

My first lesson since September went into the books today; the first time on Trackman since June. I’m happy to report I’ve made very good progress. My swing was mostly 2-3 degrees in-to-out with a slightly closed clubface, resulting in some nice push draws with good speed/carry from my 9 iron.

The focus for the rest of the winter will be continuing to get a better turn into my rear hip. My shoulders turn very well, but I don’t get as much rotation from my hips. Without good rotation my hands don’t get as far back on the backswing, and my path starts to get more erratic from shot-to-shot (left is before, right is trying to get more rotation):

I also need to work on getting to my front side in the downswing without also moving my upper body down the target line. When my timing is on I can get away with this move with irons, but it’s a disaster with the driver (I’ve mentioned elsewhere around MGS that I “cover” the ball too much, this is what I meant).

My coach gave me the feeling of keeping the head over my right foot in the downswing and that resonated pretty well, but it’s going to take some work to get it right. (It almost feels like I’m falling backward but video confirms I’m not.) On the left my head has moved forward in the downswing, on the right is a low speed rep where I worked on feeling the head stay back:

Overall, a great lesson, and I’m very pleased with my progress over the past few months.

[GolfSpy AFG]

1 hour ago, edingc said:

My first lesson since September went into the books today; the first time on Trackman since June. I’m happy to report I’ve made very good progress. My swing was mostly 2-3 degrees in-to-out with a slightly closed clubface, resulting in some nice push draws with good speed/carry from my 9 iron.

The focus for the rest of the winter will be continuing to get a better turn into my rear hip. My shoulders turn very well, but I don’t get as much rotation from my hips. Without good rotation my hands don’t get as far back on the backswing, and my path starts to get more erratic from shot-to-shot (left is before, right is trying to get more rotation):

I also need to work on getting to my front side in the downswing without also moving my upper body down the target line. When my timing is on I can get away with this move with irons, but it’s a disaster with the driver (I’ve mentioned elsewhere around MGS that I “cover” the ball too much, this is what I meant).

My coach gave me the feeling of keeping the head over my right foot in the downswing and that resonated pretty well, but it’s going to take some work to get it right. (It almost feels like I’m falling backward but video confirms I’m not.) On the left my head has moved forward in the downswing, on the right is a low speed rep where I worked on feeling the head stay back:

Overall, a great lesson, and I’m very pleased with my progress over the past few months.

I have that same problem with driver sometimes.  Is there a specific drill you’ve been prescribed or just a focus on the feel of head over right foot you mentioned?

[edingc]

2 hours ago, Getoffmylawn said:

I have that same problem with driver sometimes.  Is there a specific drill you’ve been prescribed or just a focus on the feel of head over right foot you mentioned?

He held a pool noodle up near my head during the lesson, which was a nice visual for the partial swings.

Beyond the head over foot feel, he also pointed out how my head will be a little more tilted when it stays back. When I was moving toward the target, my head would end up more vertical. 

Unrelated to what needs improvement, I was happy to see my swing speed progress. I unfortunately don't have access to the raw data and wasn't watching the results of every shot, but I saw 88 MPH with the 9 iron on at least one swing, with 84+ being the norm. 

 

[GolfSpy AFG]

9 minutes ago, edingc said:

He held a pool noodle up near my head during the lesson, which was a nice visual for the partial swings.

Beyond the head over foot feel, he also pointed out how my head will be a little more tilted when it stays back. When I was moving toward the target, my head would end up more vertical. 

 

I’m thinking the pictures you posted are iron shots (?); did you see an appreciable difference in launch angle with driver doing this?

[edingc]

1 minute ago, Getoffmylawn said:

I’m thinking the pictures you posted are iron shots (?); did you see an appreciable difference in launch angle with driver doing this?

Unfortunately, the hitting bay/area is a converted office and it's tight. I did not hit any drivers today. It will be interesting to get out to the range to see any difference in launch angle. While the Mevo isn't 100 percent accurate vs. expensive radars, I have lots of data from earlier in the winter to compare against itself.

Hoping to get out to the range this weekend and give these feels a shot with more full swings and longer clubs.

[ncwoz]

Any further ideas of what direction you're going to take with your irons next season?

[edingc]

7 hours ago, ncwoz said:

Any further ideas of what direction you're going to take with your irons next season?

I've promised myself no more club purchases this offseason. I'm trying to save up for a net, mat and Skytrak for the garage because driving to the range in the winter in the getting tiresome.

With that said, the plan is to go with 5-7 Cobra SpeedZone with 7-GW Maltby PTM in a "cross-brand combo set." Due to the lofts of the SpeedZones (21 degree 5 iron), they are really like 4-6 when comparing distances to the Maltby PTMs. I'm carrying two 37" 7 irons, but the loft difference seems to make up enough difference that there's not too much distance compression between them.

My ball striking has gotten a lot better, but I'm still not ready (and probably won't ever want to) play something too small in the 5 iron or longer. I'm not playing a lot of courses where I'm trying to throw darts with the long irons, but rather trying to hit the ball as far as possible while keeping it somewhat by the fairway/green. 

Ideally, I'd like to make it over to Sub70 sometime near the end of summer and get fit for a combo set from them. I'm thinking 4 utility, 5-6 699 and 7-GW 699 Pros. I'm interested in seeing what kind of feel/performance I can get out of graphite as well, as I'm not getting any younger. Although improving my swing has helped, I still get a bit of wrist and elbow pain from practicing on mats.

[edingc]

On 1/19/2021 at 6:45 AM, edingc said:

I've promised myself no more club purchases this offseason. I'm trying to save up for a net, mat and Skytrak for the garage because driving to the range in the winter in the getting tiresome.

This promise lasted all of a few days. 

I went with the "tour length" SpeedZone Xtreme last year, but snagged a nice deal on a basically brand new Mavrik from Callaway Pre-Owned this week. It arrived yesterday. The shaft length of the Mavrik is 1.25" longer than the SpeedZone.

Very interesting to see what the additional shaft length did to my ball speed and swing speed numbers at the range this morning:

• Over 33 drivers, I recorded club head speeds of 112+ MPH 28 times. All 33 drives were 110 MPH or faster on my Mevo.
• 11 drives were 115+ MPH club head speed.
• I set a new personal best with 117.4 MPH club head speed, and also recorded one swing at 117 MPH.
• 13 drives over 160 MPH ball speed.
• Recorded my first ever 270+ yard carry on the Mevo (twice), topping out at 272.7 yards.

Interestingly enough, my contact and dispersion were no worse with the longer shaft.

 

[edingc]

It's hard to believe I played a round of golf on March 1 last year. Looking outside and at our short-term forecast, it feels like winter is just getting started:

Anyway, I'm holding out hope we are about a month away from getting outside on the course and probably 45-55 days from having decent weather to do so. (On a side note, I think February is the only month I've never played a round of golf here in Michigan - we always get warm snaps during the winter but they never seem to come in February.) 

I've been busy the last few weeks prepping my bag for the 2021 season. More information is in my WITB? link in my signature, but the high-level overview is that only two clubs remain from the 2020 season (wedges), and they were reshafted and adjusted. I may still tweak the shafts on the hybrids, but otherwise I am set for the year. I do think my extensive changing of clubs since March 2020 has probably not done much for my game, so I'm planning to stay with these clubs for a bit now. 

I just finished up my third round of Wendler's 5/3/1 lifting protocol and have made some really great progress over the past three months. I'm no where as strong as I'd like to be, but in both my golf swing and everyday life I can tell I'm the strongest I've ever been and it's extremely motivating. I've cleaned up my diet somewhat (still some room for progress here), and dropped about 10 of the 20 or so pounds I put on through 2020. 

SuperSpeed sticks, the Planemate, the Smart Ball and EXPUTT simulator all make appearances in my training regimen at least a few times a week. 

Yesterday's two buckets were the first time out in February. I've definitely gotten better this offseason, but still fall prey to some bad habits with my setup. I tend to get my hands close to me, my upper body really bent over, and my weight in my heels, which makes a proper turn back and through really difficult. The left, from two weeks ago, is where I want to be. The right, from yesterday, is where I default to without really putting forward a lot of focus (both are 4 irons):

I have been doing better at getting a bigger turn back, regardless of setup, and have seen some nice boosts in club head speed as a result. In combination with feeling like my head is on a swivel and doesn't fly forward on the downswing, I've pretty much eliminated my left hook miss. 

My coach made a comment about how far my takeaway and backswing have come since starting work with him in fall 2019. I went back a little farther to look at how much this part of my swing has evolved since joining MGS in Dec. 2018:

He also gave me high praise during my last lesson saying my top of backswing position was reminiscent of the G.O.A.T.  in '99-'00:

One can dream...

[GolfSpy_SHARK]

3 minutes ago, edingc said:

It's hard to believe I played a round of golf on March 1 last year. Looking outside and at our short-term forecast, it feels like winter is just getting started:

Anyway, I'm holding out hope we are about a month away from getting outside on the course and probably 45-55 days from having decent weather to do so. (On a side note, I think February is the only month I've never played a round of golf here in Michigan - we always get warm snaps during the winter but they never seem to come in February.) 

I've been busy the last few weeks prepping my bag for the 2021 season. More information is in my WITB? link in my signature, but the high-level overview is that only two clubs remain from the 2020 season (wedges), and they were reshafted and adjusted. I may still tweak the shafts on the hybrids, but otherwise I am set for the year. I do think my extensive changing of clubs since March 2020 has probably not done much for my game, so I'm planning to stay with these clubs for a bit now. 

I just finished up my third round of Wendler's 5/3/1 lifting protocol and have made some really great progress over the past three months. I'm no where as strong as I'd like to be, but in both my golf swing and everyday life I can tell I'm the strongest I've ever been and it's extremely motivating. I've cleaned up my diet somewhat (still some room for progress here), and dropped about 10 of the 20 or so pounds I put on through 2020. 

SuperSpeed sticks, the Planemate, the Smart Ball and EXPUTT simulator all make appearances in my training regimen at least a few times a week. 

Yesterday's two buckets were the first time out in February. I've definitely gotten better this offseason, but still fall prey to some bad habits with my setup. I tend to get my hands close to me, my upper body really bent over, and my weight in my heels, which makes a proper turn back and through really difficult. The left, from two weeks ago, is where I want to be. The right, from yesterday, is where I default to without really putting forward a lot of focus (both are 4 irons):

I have been doing better at getting a bigger turn back, regardless of setup, and have seen some nice boosts in club head speed as a result. In combination with feeling like my head is on a swivel and doesn't fly forward on the downswing, I've pretty much eliminated my left hook miss. 

My coach made a comment about how far my takeaway and backswing have come since starting work with him in fall 2019. I went back a little farther to look at how far this part of my swing has evolved since joining MGS in Dec. 2018:

He also gave me high praise during my last lesson saying my top of backswing position was reminiscent of the G.O.A.T  in '99-'00:

One can dream...

Incredible how far the swing has come. Muscle memory is crazy and how defaulting reads it’s head, hope you can break that habit.

im wishful for a nice March as well but we aren’t looking that way either  

keep up the good work!

[GolfSpy MPR]

Did some catch up reading in this thread this morning. Bumped over to Twitter and encountered this tweet (it appears to be a Jamie Sadlowski swing model). Looks like you've got good company in the "head over trail foot" idea:

 

[edingc]

16 minutes ago, GolfSpy MPR said:

Did some catch up reading in this thread this morning. Bumped over to Twitter and encountered this tweet (it appears to be a Jamie Sadlowski swing model). Looks like you've got good company in the "head over trail foot" idea:

 

Yeah, that's a fantastic illustration of what I'm trying to accomplish. This is a still of something I sent my coach the night following my lesson (box marks head at address):

Rory has similar head movement as well:

Thanks for reading and chiming in! I realize I get a bit long-winded at times, but I treat this thread much like a notebook for my swing thoughts so I have something to refer back to.

[edingc]

Lower Michigan (sorry, @GolfSpy MPR) finally broke out of its prolonged cold snap and the snow is starting to melt! More white stuff will likely be on the way, but it feels fantastic to turn the corner. The near-zero degree temperatures we've had for most of February were miserable.

I've started to plan out my summer vacation/golf schedule. I should be able to get 60-plus rounds in again this year, weather permitting. I've mapped out a handful of other courses to play throughout the year besides my home course. If all goes to plan, I'll get a chance to play three or four new-to-me courses this season.

The cold weather made me a little stir-crazy over the past few weeks. I'm now in the "ready to be outside" mindset. As a result, I've neglected parts of my offseason program. My putting practice on the EXPUTT has lessened, and I have only been doing the bare minimum of stretching/working out. I need to improve upon this a bit. I recently started Fit for Golf's GolfFlex program. Right hip mobility continues to be a struggle for me. I'm hoping I'll see more improvement given a steady routine.

As the season approaches, it seems necessary to set a simple target for the year. I've decided being a solid single-digit handicap will be my 2021 season's goal. I floated between nine and 14 throughout last season. To cement a single digit handicap, I'd need to shoot 80 or better on my home course most of the time. In 38 18-hole rounds there last season, I shot 80 or better nine times.

Full-swing has continued to be the priority at the winter range, and it's been a winter of ups and downs. Lately, my struggles have been with a lot of shots out of the toe. If I'm not careful I revert to some bad habits in my setup and takeaway/backswing. Unfortunately, it seems like I'm chasing many issues at once, depending on the day. Sometimes I: 

• Roll my arms a bit inside
• Push my hands outside
• Setup too close to the ball
• Put too much weight on my heels
• Put too much weight on my toes

I'm sure there are other issues I'm forgetting. 

I suppose if golf was easy we'd all be professionals, right?

[ncwoz]

2 hours ago, edingc said:

Lower Michigan (sorry, @GolfSpy MPR) finally broke out of its prolonged cold snap and the snow is starting to melt! More white stuff will likely be on the way, but it feels fantastic to turn the corner. The near-zero degree temperatures we've had for most of February were miserable.

I've started to plan out my summer vacation/golf schedule. I should be able to get 60-plus rounds in again this year, weather permitting. I've mapped out a handful of other courses to play throughout the year besides my home course. If all goes to plan, I'll get a chance to play three or four new-to-me courses this season.

The cold weather made me a little stir-crazy over the past few weeks. I'm now in the "ready to be outside" mindset. As a result, I've neglected parts of my offseason program. My putting practice on the EXPUTT has lessened, and I have only been doing the bare minimum of stretching/working out. I need to improve upon this a bit. I recently started Fit for Golf's GolfFlex program. Right hip mobility continues to be a struggle for me. I'm hoping I'll see more improvement given a steady routine.

As the season approaches, it seems necessary to set a simple target for the year. I've decided being a solid single-digit handicap will be my 2021 season's goal. I floated between nine and 14 throughout last season. To cement a single digit handicap, I'd need to shoot 80 or better on my home course most of the time. In 38 18-hole rounds there last season, I shot 80 or better nine times.

Full-swing has continued to be the priority at the winter range, and it's been a winter of ups and downs. Lately, my struggles have been with a lot of shots out of the toe. If I'm not careful I revert to some bad habits in my setup and takeaway/backswing. Unfortunately, it seems like I'm chasing many issues at once, depending on the day. Sometimes I: 

• Roll my arms a bit inside
• Push my hands outside
• Setup too close to the ball
• Put too much weight on my heels
• Put too much weight on my toes

I'm sure there are other issues I'm forgetting. 

I suppose if golf was easy we'd all be professionals, right?

Love that goal (and the warming weather)! Do you feel that there's any particular part of your game that might be a source of low hanging fruit for shaving off a few strokes, or is it a little bit of everything?

[edingc]

1 hour ago, ncwoz said:

Love that goal (and the warming weather)! Do you feel that there's any particular part of your game that might be a source of low hanging fruit for shaving off a few strokes, or is it a little bit of everything?

Well, you saw firsthand how poor my putting can be. However, the last few rounds out with the new L.A.B. were really promising. I wish I had gotten it earlier in the season. I had a few doozies where I shot things like 84/39 putts, 80/36 putts and 81/35 putts. I did hit a few more greens in those rounds, but those are still a lot of putts on what should be fairly easy greens.

Arccos is more reflective of the last month or so of my season, when penalties and poor iron striking hurt me. For example, my two 18-hole rounds in October were marred by penalties and fluke holes. I was through 13 holes at +3 in the first round and finished +15 with four penalties over the last five holes. The second round I came to No. 9 +3 and went to No. 10 +9 thanks to a sand trap. Ouch.

That is why full swings, especially with my longer clubs, have been the focus of the offseason. I laid back a lot last season, opting to take 150-160 into greens rather than risk hitting anything longer than a 5 iron off the tee. I can't do that if I want to score under 80 consistently.

[edingc]

I thought I’d do a quick face-on swing critique from today’s range session. As we're nearing the "regular" season, I'm hopeful this will be beneficial for me to look back on in the future.

This 7-iron swing is pretty indicative of where I am right now. I’ve come a long ways, but still have a long ways to go. As always, golf is frustrating!

Setup

Setup is always a sticking point for me. I like to stand too wide and play the ball too far forward. Both exaggerate issues in my swing. I like this swing, but my left hand grip has gotten a little weak.

I also would love for a bit more spine tilt. My right shoulder naturally drops forward from years of baseball and computer work. The drop allows me to get my right hand on the club the "correct" position without actually needing to tilt my spine.

Takeaway

I left in my rehearsal of my hip rotation in the video. This was a great swing for the takeaway. I love how my right hip works behind me instead of swaying to the right of me. Good width. Steady head. Happy. Single biggest change in my golf swing since starting lessons.

Top of Backswing

My hip rotation is much improved from last season. I still feel like there’s more length to be had on the backswing, but I keep a very firm right wrist that limits my length. While it keeps me from feeling sloppy at the top, the club doesn’t set as much as you see with some other golfers.

Transition/Start of Downswing

This is the biggest area I need to work on. The first move in my transition has my hips and upper body moving forward as one. I have been working on the “No Turn, Cast” drill, but have a long way to go. I need to feel my head “staying back” more while my lower body gets through the ball. Easy to do in the mirror, tough to do on the course/range.

Impact

As a result of my upper body moving forward in transition, I throw away a lot of shaft lean coming into impact. As my left side softens, I get “flippy,” and playing the ball too far forward makes it worse. I’m OK when my timing is good, but the flip tends to lead to thins or high, weak shots.

Follow Through

A small detail, but the finishing balance and arm structure on my best swings has improved a lot.

[GolfSpy MPR]

If you do a face-on video while using the Down Under Board, do you see more head stability?