Dlow206 does away with double bogeys

[dlow206]

I realized something really critical today that is especially prevalent with my driver swing. My left palm tends to come off of the grip at the top of the swing and then I regrip on the downswing. That is causing the face to open more than it should on the downswing and then from there usually comes the snap hook. 

[edteergolf]

On 5/26/2020 at 1:30 PM, dlow206 said:

I realized something really critical today that is especially prevalent with my driver swing. My left palm tends to come off of the grip at the top of the swing and then I regrip on the downswing. That is causing the face to open more than it should on the downswing and then from there usually comes the snap hook. 

If it is opening, how is it hooking? 

 

[dlow206]

22 minutes ago, edteergolf said:

If it is opening, how is it hooking? 

 

Last second flip right before impact to attempt to close the face, combined with an inside swing path.

[dlow206]

Already posted about it in the "How did you play" thread, but shot a 44 on the back 9 today at my home course. My driver went from a liability to a weapon, just by changing to an undersize grip and holding the club properly and more firmly in my left hand. Snap hook issue was cured, only 1 total snap hook on 18 holes. It feels good that to hit a driver well, i didn't even have to make a swing change, just needed to hold the club more firmly.

[tony@CIC]

Already posted about it in the "How did you play" thread, but shot a 44 on the back 9 today at my home course. My driver went from a liability to a weapon, just by changing to an undersize grip and holding the club properly and more firmly in my left hand. Snap hook issue was cured, only 1 total snap hook on 18 holes. It feels good that to hit a driver well, i didn't even have to make a swing change, just needed to hold the club more firmly.

Congrats on the 44!


Sent from my iPad using MyGolfSpy

[dlow206]

I officially have a handicap for the first time in my life, 23.2

[dlow206]

Broke 100 today, shot 99 from the blue tees. Played the round with no snap hooks off the tee, which was a big improvement. Started off the round with missing with a push fade off the tee. Only needed to make a slight adjustment of moving the ball slightly more toward my left heel, that fixed it. 

[Brian A]

What helped me most with my short game was not only lots of practice but using those Flat Balls they sell at Dicks Sporting goods, really forces you to hit the ball clean,

[dlow206]

On a side note, I have started to get addicted to the Golf WOD workout programs. It is like crossfit for golf. I do not agree with all crossfit principles, so I have made some modifications to the program, but they are a great workout. Good combination of power, strength, and conditioning. 

[dlow206]

Getting much closer to shooting in the 90s regularly. Had a couple of rounds recently in the high 90s. My driver game is coming together, and this Ventus Red Velocore shaft I picked up seems to be a game changer based on my one round out with it.

Need to figure out my iron game now. I used to be decent with my short irons, but its been a bit iffy lately. 100 yards out from the middle of the fairway should be one of the easiest shots possible, but I always find a way to make it hard.

[BMart519]

Do you have the ability to go on a launch monitor or simulator and hit 10-20 shots with each club in your bag? This is a valuable exercise to determine on average:
- carry vs roll out with each club for club selection on approaches and par 3s
- which side of your aim line does the ball land more often (and therefore where to aim on the course)
   - As someone who "fades" the ball I assumed my shot pattern would be biased to the right of where I am. But it turns out I either hit a straight pull or a pull that fades back toward center on average... So aiming to the right of target is better for my approaches. It is nearly impossible for me to hit a wedge to the right of where I aim, there is always some degree of pull. 
- side to side dispersion for each club (to know what hazards and OB are in play each hole)

[dlow206]

19 minutes ago, BMart519 said:

Do you have the ability to go on a launch monitor or simulator and hit 10-20 shots with each club in your bag? This is a valuable exercise to determine on average:
- carry vs roll out with each club for club selection on approaches and par 3s
- which side of your aim line does the ball land more often (and therefore where to aim on the course)
   - As someone who "fades" the ball I assumed my shot pattern would be biased to the right of where I am. But it turns out I either hit a straight pull or a pull that fades back toward center on average... So aiming to the right of target is better for my approaches. It is nearly impossible for me to hit a wedge to the right of where I aim, there is always some degree of pull. 
- side to side dispersion for each club (to know what hazards and OB are in play each hole)

Yeah, things have opened up a bit more in my area, so I can get on an outdoor Trackman with grass some time in the near future. Right now, my biggest issue is the chunked short iron. The ball thats in a really good lie in the middle of the fairway, thats when the chunky shots happen lol.

[AGutierrez7]

Thanks for sharing pal, currently trying to consistently shoot in the 90s (personal best is 87) so I'll be on a similar journey as you. Will be really interesting to see how you progress. Best of luck!

[dlow206]

My driver is starting to really come around. I'm finding the fairway on most holes off the tee unless I try to swing out of my shoes. Even when I try to swing out of my shoes, often times it works out okay, but other times I will pull it or sky it. I am also reaching parts of the course that I have never reached before.

My current problem is wasting strokes on approach shots. Often times, I will have between 115 to 130 left after my tee shot on the shorter par 4s. Should be an easy approach shot from the fairway, but then I find a way to chunk it and the ball only goes 50 yards. I believe the problem I am having right now is standing up and moving closer to the ball during the backswing, and then things just go bad from there. An instructor previously identified this issue and I can feel it happening again. I had some drills to work on for this, but I struggle implementing it in my swing. Going to experiment a bit with changing my setup posture to stand a bit more upright like George Gankas teaches. I have always felt more comfortable standing upright with little knee bend, but instructors have taught me to bend more.

[dlow206]

Just a general observation of where my golf game is at right now based on my opinion:

• Driver: Hitting the ball like a low to mid-handicapper, just need to stop trying to swing stupidly hard on some holes
• Irons: Many shots, I look like someone who has never played golf before. Way too many wasted shots on super fat shots. Would probably decrease my average score by 10 shots if I could have any sort of consistency. 
• Pitching/Chipping: There is hope. Besides the occasional chunk, just need to get a better feel for distance control.
• Putting: Sometimes it's decent, sometimes it's bad. I tend to putt better when playing with other people because I take more time since I can look at my putt while others are putting. When I play by myself, I often times rush myself

[heavygolffeels]

Upright with a little knee bend is fine. Keep more weight on the front foot. You do not need a driver swing to hit the ball 130. Pick the right club and the only focus is on making good contact, not speed. So shorten the backswing. Choke down a touch. Try an open stance to force a shorter swing and to keep the face square for longer. Solid contact and the ball will get up and go the distance. 

 

[dlow206]

35 minutes ago, scooterhd2 said:

Upright with a little knee bend is fine. Keep more weight on the front foot. You do not need a driver swing to hit the ball 130. Pick the right club and the only focus is on making good contact, not speed. So shorten the backswing. Choke down a touch. Try an open stance to force a shorter swing and to keep the face square for longer. Solid contact and the ball will get up and go the distance. 

 

Thanks. I think if I can get rid of the hips moving toward the ball during the backswing, that will help. Also, need to reign in my head movement. I know that some head movement is okay, but I at times can have way too much lateral and up/down head movement.

[heavygolffeels]

32 minutes ago, dlow206 said:

Thanks. I think if I can get rid of the hips moving toward the ball during the backswing, that will help. Also, need to reign in my head movement. I know that some head movement is okay, but I at times can have way too much lateral and up/down head movement.

Yes, trying to force movements like the right hip clearing and going toward the target can create some problems. End up having to dump or reach for the ball to make contact, Fat city.  

A really easy drill, even without a ball, is to take 3/4 swings with a pitching wedge (nothing hard, just ingraining a feel) and start the downswing by sliding your rear foot (right foot) backward. Helps to wear tennis shoes, or even just socks in the house. Think of a hockey player taking a slapshot. This forces weight to the front foot, and the right shoulder to work down toward the ball. Keeps your spine tilt and almost forces you to be on plane as it is difficult to come over the top with your right foot pulling away from you.

[dlow206]

28 minutes ago, scooterhd2 said:

Yes, trying to force movements like the right hip clearing and going toward the target can create some problems. End up having to dump or reach for the ball to make contact, Fat city.  

A really easy drill, even without a ball, is to take 3/4 swings with a pitching wedge (nothing hard, just ingraining a feel) and start the downswing by sliding your rear foot (right foot) backward. Helps to wear tennis shoes, or even just socks in the house. Think of a hockey player taking a slapshot. This forces weight to the front foot, and the right shoulder to work down toward the ball. Keeps your spine tilt and almost forces you to be on plane as it is difficult to come over the top with your right foot pulling away from you.

Nice. Saw this same drill from Monte's Instagram. Will give it a shot.

[dlow206]

Hit my irons better today, much better. I had been struggling with hitting everything fat, especially short irons. The change I made was trying to feel like my left hip was snapping back at impact. "Snapping" might not be the right word, but I had seen a tip from Mike Malaska about that feel for rotation through impact. Took much smaller divots and even hit a few thin balls. My driver off the tee has continued to be a strength, but sometimes I overthink and then put a bad swing on the ball. However, I significantly reduced OB balls off the tee. I think I lost one today.

[dlow206]

The good driver swing was nonexistent today. It didn't show up until the last hole.

Iron swing started to come around today. Made a small change to how I grip the club. My grip tends to get too strong and then I start to miss low and left. However, the grip starts to feel weird if I have a neutral grip. So what I did was start my setup with the face open, grip the club with my normal strong grip, and then proceeded to square the face behind the ball to complete my setup. It helped a lot.

[dlow206]

Reflecting overall, things are coming a long in my game. I started to see some breakthroughs in most aspects of my game and see glimpses of good golf mixed in with bad golf. In normal times, I would see an instructor in person to work through my current issues. However, with Covid ongoing, it has made it trickier to see an instructor in-person, at least in my area. Also hurting me is that my club's practice area is only open for warmups prior to a round (25 min max), so I haven't had a chance to practice much.

Once my backyard renovation is done, going to put back up my backyard net and do a few online lessons.

[dlow206]

Played with a couple of legitimate single digit handicappers yesterday and it was very encouraging for me. I learned that I could keep up with them off the tee. One of the biggest differences between their game and my game is I have too many chunked shots, sometimes a few in a row. I probably waste at least 5 and up to 10 shots a round on chunked shots. I will have a shot 100 yards out, perfect lie in the fairway, and I will find a way to chunk it. The second area is that their pitch/chip game is much cleaner than me. I find ways to screw up short chip shots, bunker shots, etc. 

When it comes to short game, I have the demonstrated the ability to hit good shots, its just the consistency missing. Yesterday, I felt when I try to make too "mechanical" of a swing/stroke, it usually resulted in a poor result. On 18, when I was dead tired, had a 40 yard pitch left, was too tired to be mechanical and just made a natural smooth feeling pitch swing and almost holed it, was within 2 feet. Where was that all day?

[dlow206]

Many areas of my game are showing promise. A couple of areas that need a lot of work:

• Bunker play is currently atrocious. That is all i have to say about that
• Ball above the feet lies give me a lot of problems. Almost guaranteed bad shot

[dlow206]

Another random thought that I had. I feel like I am the most underachieving golfer that shoots in the low 100s. Once I can get more consistency in a few areas of my game, I believe my scores will drop significantly, at least into the 90s regularly. Blow up holes are killing me these days and its usually not because of more game management. Sometimes its bunkers, sometimes its various lies on hills. And then sometimes bad shots come in streaks, like hitting two balls in a row in the water.

[dlow206]

Cleaned up the two way miss (for the most part). When my right hand starts getting too strong I start hitting either way right or pull/snap hook left. With a more neutral right hand, my miss mostly becomes block right, but is more manageable. 

[dlow206]

Now that I have cleaned up some setup fundamentals, I need to work on making sure the face gets squared up. I know to square it up, I need to get some flex in the left wrist. I am going to experiment with a little bit of wrist bow during the backswing. In my mind, this will reduce the amount of timing required to square the face. Let's see if this works, it may not.

[dlow206]

Made one of the most important discoveries yesterday that is the biggest difference between me being a fairway sniper and hitting almost every fairway and me being a wildman and losing three balls off the tee on one hole. 

During yesterday's round, on the front 9 my driver off the tee was uncontrollable, push right, pull left, etc. I thought I was overswinging, so I tried to slow down the swing, that didn't help too much. Tried changing somethings with setup, etc. that didn't help either.

On hole 12, I decided to slow down my transition a bit. Be more patient at the top and feel like I am pausing at the top (it's not really a pause, it just feels like it). That was the difference maker and that was the swing I remember. From there, driver was point and shoot and a fairway finder. That small power fade that I remember.

Somewhere a long the line in the last month, in the attempt to hit the ball farther, I started getting quicker in transition, and that made me wild off the tee. I actually hit the ball farther with the slower transition, for one because I make better contact, and two, I am not actually swinging slower, just being more patient. I am really glad that I figured this one out.

[Kenny B]

13 hours ago, dlow206 said:

I am really glad that I figured this one out.

Uh oh!  Now you've done it.  I hope the golf gods didn't hear that.  

Hope the fix works!!

[dlow206]

10 hours ago, Kenny B said:

Uh oh!  Now you've done it.  I hope the golf gods didn't hear that.  

Hope the fix works!!

Thanks. Although it is a change, in my mind I don't think about it as a change. It's more of going back to my normal, natural tempo.