Tracking practice sessions

[Shankdog]

Does anyone track their range sessions and if so, what data do you track?  I've been wanting to target my practice a little more and am thinking if I somehow track each shot, it'll not only slow me down so i don't just hammer a bucket down range, but also track if what I'm actually doing actually yields results.  I was thinking having some type of sheet to note club, fat, thin, slice, hook, straight, and maybe a note on what change I was trying on that shot.

Thanks!

 

[THEZIPR23]

 

PUTTING

25 IN A ROW FROM 5'

30 IN A ROW FROM 20' TO 3' CIRCLE

30 IN A ROW FROM 30' TO 3' CIRCLE

30 IN A ROW FROM 45' TO 3' CIRCLE

CHIPPING

7 OUT OF 10 TO 3' FROM 40'

BUNKER

10 OUT OF 10 OUT

7 OUT OF 10 STOP INSIDE FLAGSTICK

7 OUT OF 10 OUT OF BUNKER FROM UNEVEN/BURIED LIES

6 OUT OF 10 ON GREEN FROM 30-50 YARDS

IRONS

PW 7 OUT OF 10 ON GREEN

8IRON 6 OUT OF 10 ON GREEN

6IRON 5 OUT OF 10 ON GREEN

DRIVER

7 OUT OF 10 IN FAIRWAY

You could do something like this, and make notes as far as your contact. Once you master this then you can start with different shapes and heights. One thing of note try to keep track of your intention vs the result. 

[PlaidJacket]

That's good advice for a 0.6 hcpr Zipr. But, ole Shankdog is a 19 hcpr according to his info above. I'd guess many/most of his basic fundamentals need some work first. I hate to say it again but having a trained instructor take a look at his swing, grip, alignment, etc. might be the best place to start. (and not just a one and done thing) IMO - Until those basics are working reasonably well; should he start to focus on details. Shankdog it seems is a guy that needs to solve/improve the big picture. Again, just my opinion.

[Shankdog]

I'm really looking for some way to help get something towards improvement out of a range session.  For example, I hit 80 balls the other day and tried to break it down between clubs.  I felt like my irons were rockin, but my driver, not so much.  My misses seemed to be all over the page.  My focus going into the session was to work on keeping my left wrist flat, so I'm sure that was part of it.  I'm looking for a way to gauge improvement over the winter.  (please don't say judge it on the course, I'm looking at two inches of snow right now.)  

[alfriday101]

I recommend two books for you to read and study.  Note, they are not your typical, technique oriented golf books.  

 

First, The Lost Art of Playing Golf.  If you take it to heart, it will change the way your approach the game and practice.  No more worrying about keeping your left wrist flat, are your pronating or not, etc., but focusing your attention on actually playing better.  It also has a section on practice and keeping track of your results. I would recommend this book to golfers at any level.  

 

 https://www.amazon.com/Lost-Art-Playing-Golf-ebook/dp/B07WF8K43B/ref=sr_1_1?gclid=CjwKCAiA5o3vBRBUEiwA9PVzat3lfbczLg20x8B0arBmbFzytiPwnhzEigS156JmHz3QRup2vZtvihoC-UYQAvD_BwE&hvadid=394318228996&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9017776&hvnetw=g&hvpos=1t1&hvqmt=e&hvrand=7612051476004675907&hvtargid=aud-840076997981%3Akwd-828733160059&hydadcr=7465_9611852&keywords=the+lost+art+of+playing+golf&qid=1575223693&sr=8-1

 

Second, GLT Golf Practice--How to Practice Golf and Take Your Range Game to the Course. The book has a good, if somewhat simplified, overview of different types of practice and how each works best for what you are working on.  It then has a series of games/drills to work on for game improvement and to track your results..  It has suggestions on how to do the games based on your current level, beginner, intermediate or advanced.  It also has suggestions on how to incorporate the drills into circuits (where you move from one drill to the next to the next and then repeat) so as to maximize learning and skill retention.  

 

https://www.gltgolfstore.com/p/golf-books/glt-gp001.html

The book is a bit expensive, but it was worth it to me.  Much of the same information is available on the GLT (Game Like Training) Youtube channel.  Personally I like the book as it goes into more depth and provides a better overall framework.  Go to their Youtube channel and under "playlists", you can find their golf practice circuits.  

 

 

[cnosil]

1 hour ago, Shankdog said:

I'm really looking for some way to help get something towards improvement out of a range session.  For example, I hit 80 balls the other day and tried to break it down between clubs.  I felt like my irons were rockin, but my driver, not so much.  My misses seemed to be all over the page.  My focus going into the session was to work on keeping my left wrist flat, so I'm sure that was part of it.  I'm looking for a way to gauge improvement over the winter.  (please don't say judge it on the course, I'm looking at two inches of snow right now.)  

What are you trying to accomplish with your practice sessions?   What was the goal for each of those 80 shots?   For those shots that were "misses"  did you have a target ?  How much did you miss the target?  Keep track of those numbers and see if you are improving.   From your first post it seems like contact is something you want to track.   From the last it looks like you were working on a skill,  for that ball contact probably isn't something you want to track.  

Make up games to keep score and measure improvement;  here is one example:

 

 

 

[Kenny B]

2 hours ago, PlaidJacket said:

That's good advice for a 0.6 hcpr Zipr. But, ole Shankdog is a 19 hcpr according to his info above. I'd guess many/most of his basic fundamentals need some work first. I hate to say it again but having a trained instructor take a look at his swing, grip, alignment, etc. might be the best place to start. (and not just a one and done thing) IMO - Until those basics are working reasonably well; should he start to focus on details. Shankdog it seems is a guy that needs to solve/improve the big picture. Again, just my opinion.

I agree.  If the issue is ball striking, then practice without knowing what to practice will groove bad habits... I know; been there, done that.  Yes, making trial and error adjustments might make the results better, but it's likely adding compensations for flaws that don't need to or shouldn't be there.

Wintertime is a great time to get a swing review and fix basic setup and swing tendencies that cause problems.  Then you can approach a range session by focusing on a specific issue.  I purposely said "a swing issue".  I recommend when at the range to not make a bunch of changes or work on multiple issues.  Focus on a target.  One thought, and do it well.  When you have developed a repeatable action that gives the desired result, I recommend seeing the instructor again before moving on to the next issue.  

[Shankdog]

Thank you everyone.  I appreciate the input.

[tony@CIC]

On 12/1/2019 at 9:59 AM, Shankdog said:

Does anyone track their range sessions and if so, what data do you track?  I've been wanting to target my practice a little more and am thinking if I somehow track each shot, it'll not only slow me down so i don't just hammer a bucket down range, but also track if what I'm actually doing actually yields results.  I was thinking having some type of sheet to note club, fat, thin, slice, hook, straight, and maybe a note on what change I was trying on that shot.

Thanks!

 

Interesting question. Last winter I spent a fair amount of time at a (heated) driving range, my focus was SS and dispersion. I used my SC200 to track improvement in SS and took a pic of the SS avg for the individual clubs I was using. FYI I don't have download capabilities with the SC200, so the pic is the easiest way to capture data. I also use impact tape, particularly with my driver and take a pic generally after every 10 hits (last spring I sent the pic of my impact tape results to my instructor in prep for the net lesson with him). Also I didn't bother to track distances since I'm using old range balls. Tracking dispersion becomes more anecdotal and isn't captured/written down. 

My miss however is that I'm not putting the SS data into a program to track it over multiple sessions. I need to do that this winter.    

[Detonator]

I'm a pretty high handicap golfer and I video my swing (range sessions). I'll give a hand signal of the club I'm using and I've come up with a system of hand signals of shot results. It's hard to refute video evidence of what one is doing wrong. I've also shown it to my coach the next time I get into him so he can beat me over the head with a 9i. I think it has helped expose the serious flaws in my swing and helped me focus those down to more manageable and specific fixes that I'm committed to improve this season. 

I've also pounded a sh*t ton of range balls over the years with limited success. It's discouraging the amount of time I've put in vs my improvement. I don't do that anymore. I try two things now...

1. Starting with my PW, and hit a few balls. If all is going well, move up...if not, it isn't typically going to get any better for me so I stay there, go slow then graduate up. Many times, I put my right toe (trail) a foot or so behind my left heel. It helps my tempo and balance. 

2. Play a round of range golf. Grab a score card and tee off as you would on the first tee. Pick two targets to stay within to hit a fairway. Then pick your approach club and range needed to hit...if you hit it, give yourself 2 putts. If not, chip or pitch to a target. If you hit it, give yourself 2 putts for bogey.  On the card, you could track, FW hit, GIR (estimated) or F for fat, T for thin, HR for hosel rocket, S8iOK for snapped 8i over knee, etc. On the course, we only have one shot to get it right...this practice sorta simulates that. 

Try to beat your best score. I don't expect to score the same on the course but, it's helped mix things up and keep focused because range time can turn into fully automatic machine gun practice very easily.