CNosil - Journey to a better golf game

[cksurfdude 8,691]

28 minutes ago, cnosil said:

I have 8 drills that cover 4 major areas.

Sounds good, thx. And sounds like this coach has been really helpful to you .. I'll keep him in mind!

[cnosil 18,828]

Today was another session of players distance iron testing club of the day was 7 irons.   Part of my goal was to work on ball center contact, not making too big of a swing, and not really going after the ball.   Contact was decent and as you can see from some of my numbers a bit on the toe, but definitely playable.    Tomorrow; unless it rains,  I will be playing in a league match.  

 

[cnosil 18,828]

League night:  scored horribly (8 over).   From the tees we play for league,  most of the holes are driver/wedge and the Par 3's are 9 iron or less.   Really struggled with fat shots when hitting distance wedges.  Hit some 7 irons to check where I was entering the ground; used a little foot spray to help.  In the image below I worked from top to bottom and you can see the first few were definitely fat.  Getting better with center face contact,  but low point control is a struggle.  

 

[ballplayer002003 1,326]

I will be following along.  I too have been struggling lately.  My handicap is starting to creep in the wrong direction as well.  I like the idea of blogging it! 

[cnosil 18,828]

My regular group wasn't able to play today so I took that as an opportunity to hit the range.    Need some better foot powder since ground/grass impact rubbed everything off making it hard to determine exact impact.   Some of the key things that seem to significantly impact my results:

1.  Backswing length.   Too long and fats/off center seem to be more in play
2. Alignment.  I have a tendency to setup closed which seems to bring more pushes/pull hooks into play.  
3. Aim identification.   Occasionally i had the tendency to not lock a target into my mind before swinging.  When I thought about where I wanted the ball to go,  results were much better.   This is an issue about lack of focus that I need to make sure i pay attention too when actually playing
4. Just slowing down and having better tempo.  As I think back to my testing at MGS, this seems to be an overall problem.   During testing, my warmup shots appear to be much better overall (contact, face impact location, etc).   

Basically 1 and 4 point to the fact I am trying to hit the ball too hard.   Need to focus on a relaxed even tempo swing. 

Experimented with distances wedges and it appears that my results are much better using my 51* gap wedge instead of my 54* sand wedge.  Going to switch my primary short game club.  

 Going to try and get a couple of most wanted testing sessions in before my next on course round.  

[cksurfdude 8,691]

Interesting self-critiquing .. and *NOT* comparing our games in any way, but those points you listed do seem very applicable to where I'm currently at - and I especially like the point about focus; only small change is I tend to set up a touch open when I rush/am not careful. I also need to work on hitting the ball better vs harder.

Glad to hear about your on-going progress!

[cnosil 18,828]

1 hour ago, cksurfdude said:

Interesting self-critiquing .. and *NOT* comparing our games in any way, but those points you listed do seem very applicable to where I'm currently at - and I especially like the point about focus; only small change is I tend to set up a touch open when I rush/am not careful. I also need to work on hitting the ball better vs harder.

Glad to hear about your on-going progress!

The focus thing is really interesting.  We always hear mental coaches discussing that you shouldn't think about the water or the hazard as your last thought because that is what you are thinking about.   When I struggle,  I pick out a tree or a stake or like today I was looking at a gap between some trees at the end of the fairway.  I believe that subconciously we make the ball go to that point.  I see this also when I am putting;  if someone talks about a spot left of right of the hole,  that is where I tend to have my ball end up which is why I think about the speed along a curve that ends up at the hole.  

The backswing and alignment was something my instructor pointed out last time we got together. 

As I titled the thread,  it is a journey and I don't expect to put everything together right away.  

[Middler 2,643]

2 hours ago, cnosil said:

1. Aim identification.   Occasionally i had the tendency to not lock a target into my mind before swinging.  When I thought about where I wanted the ball to go,  results were much better.   This is an issue about lack of focus that I need to make sure i pay attention too when actually playing
2. Just slowing down and having better tempo.  As I think back to my testing at MGS, this seems to be an overall problem.   During testing, my warmup shots appear to be much better overall (contact, face impact location, etc).   

My HI is higher than yours and I’m guilty of all four of your points - but could you expand on “aim identification?” While I have a target in mind, I aim in taking my stance, and don’t think about it after that. I’ve read about visualizing each shot, but I’ve never done that - I assume if I have the right club and I line up correctly, aim is done?

[cnosil 18,828]

1 hour ago, Middler said:

My HI is higher than yours and I’m guilty of all four of your points - but could you expand on “aim identification?” While I have a target in mind, I aim in taking my stance, and don’t think about it after that. I’ve read about visualizing each shot, but I’ve never done that - I assume if I have the right club and I line up correctly, aim is done?

Sure.   Yes,  I identify a target standing behind the ball and determine how I want the ball to fly (generally play a straight to slight draw ball flight).  I walk up, set my club pointing in the direction I want to start the ball, take my stance, and prepare to hit the ball.  So to that point we have done the same thing.   I have heard that described as soft focus;  what I am talking about would be hard focus.   This is something I do very consistently with my pitches, chips, and putts.  During those preshot I identify the general area I want to land the ball or the line I want the ball to roll along.   Before I swing I really focus on that landing spot or part of the hole where the ball will enter the hole.  I believe this helps me dial in the feel necessary to have the ball hit that spot.  

[sirchunksalot 11,545]

Great stuff so far @cnosil, I'm really enjoying how you're breaking down each goal you want to achieve and how you're implementing a plan to achieve each goal. As someone who struggles with both alignment and low point, it'll be educational to see how you tackle those problems. I've seen the drill with foot spray, but have never used it, you just inspired me to give it a go. Best of luck to you in this journey!

[edingc 9,457]

16 hours ago, cnosil said:

This is something I do very consistently with my pitches, chips, and putts.  During those preshot I identify the general area I want to land the ball or the line I want the ball to roll along.   Before I swing I really focus on that landing spot or part of the hole where the ball will enter the hole.  I believe this helps me dial in the feel necessary to have the ball hit that spot.  

When I'm playing my best, this is what I do also. I believe Adam Young refers to this as an "external focus," and his belief is that the body self-organizes to achieve the desired outcome/shot. Certainly some people may be better with "internal focuses" like a specific swing thought or position, or a combo of both.

I believe Dr. Bob Rotella talks about this is one of his books as well. 

Very good thread so far. Enjoying reading it.

[cnosil 18,828]

It has been a couple of weeks since I have been on the course;  last week was a day at the practice range.    I have been doing me practice plan which is designed to help work on turn, backswing length, grip, and sequencing.    This week,  I had a good score for the round;  a few holes/shots that were bad;  some I recovered from and one resulted in a double.    Overall I had 4 birdies, 5 bogies, and a double.   While my short game was better, I only got up and down 2 times on 8 attempts.    Pull hooks were the issue with both tee and approach shots.  I was happy that while I had pull hooks,  I didn't hit anything fat.   Progress is being made;  just need to continue the forward progress. 

[cksurfdude 8,691]

On 7/1/2020 at 8:25 PM, cnosil said:

Today was another session of players distance iron testing ....

Was just taking another look at the LM graphic in the post above, and started wondering .....

@cnosil in your opinion -- do you think hitting off a mat has a tendency to reduce the vertical contact point (of an iron)..?

Or is it a negligible, or zero, effect?

[cnosil 18,828]

Was just taking another look at the LM graphic in the post above, and started wondering .....
[mention=15174]cnosil[/mention] in your opinion -- do you think hitting off a mat has a tendency to reduce the vertical contact point (of an iron)..?
Or is it a negligible, or zero, effect?

In my opinion I would say no. With an ideal swing, the ball is contacted first so you would have the same impact location. I do know that hitting the ball fat will cause contact high on the face since the ball bounces a little.

[cksurfdude 8,691]

K, thx!

[cnosil 18,828]

Entering the "next phase" of the journey.  Had an online meeting to talk about course strategy and how to play a course from a target perspective.   Going to start with some basic stats like GIR, approach distance, and, first putt distance to start figuring out areas of my game that need additional attention.  

[cciciora13 816]

9 hours ago, cnosil said:

Entering the "next phase" of the journey.  Had an online meeting to talk about course strategy and how to play a course from a target perspective.   Going to start with some basic stats like GIR, approach distance, and, first putt distance to start figuring out areas of my game that need additional attention.  

Love following the journey. Your tips on putting have already improved my putting and I have been trying to get out an extra 1-2 times a week on the practice green. I guess practice truly is the key! How is the swing feeling?

[cnosil 18,828]

Love following the journey. Your tips on putting have already improved my putting and I have been trying to get out an extra 1-2 times a week on the practice green. I guess practice truly is the key! How is the swing feeling?

Glad to hear that some of the information I have provided is helping.

Swing seems to be doing well. The feeling of rotating around my left side instead of the right side has been a major improvement to my swing. Less fat shots and more center on the face. Still working on downswing to minimize my big pull hook miss. Supposed to be getting another drill to help with that. The amazing thing to me is how much the minor swing change has helped my short game. Even though I thought I was staying in my left side for short game shots I wasn’t which moved ground contact back.

[cnosil 18,828]

Played this past weekend and while my score was ok (83),  my ball striking was good with most shots hitting near the center of the face.   Short game (chipping and putting) were a struggle.  I think I need to look at my mental focus and staying in the shot; I am thinking I am just going through the motions on some of the bad swings.  

Did most wanted testing for the past couple of days and the number of fat shots and mishits was pretty low. 

[tchat07 1,569]

Good luck! Really looking forward to following your progess!

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