CNosil - Journey to a better golf game

[cnosil]

44 minutes ago, tchat07 said:

Good luck! Really looking forward to following your progess!

Sent from my SM-G950U using MyGolfSpy mobile app
 

Thanks!

[cnosil]

Had an online session last night to review some of the stats from recent rounds.  Things that stand out as areas for improvement:  short game and lag (30'+) putting.    Distance proximity from the hole on approach shots isn't bad.  Obviously, more greens would be better,  but to get my scoring average down to 75,  I need to work on the two previously mentioned areas.   Got a couple of drills and thoughts to work on with short game shots.   Hoping the ExPutt helps me learn to control speed a little bit better.  We talked about ball contact and flight and confirmed that what I am trying to do to fix is on the right track.   Have some metrics to start looking at so I can do some self evaluation to make sure I am targeting the right areas and meeting expected efficiency from various distances and lies.    

While most of of think we understand how to play this game,  there is so much to learn to consistently play this game well.   Hitting good tee and approach shots, having a functional short game, and decent putting are important,  understanding the environment (wind, temperature, moisture, etc) are key to success week in and week out.  

Moving in the right direction and building a plan to keep moving forward.  

[cnosil]

Had some time on the GCQuad yesterday since it was a
Most wanted testing day. Face contact location is definitely improving. I am still hitting the occasional toe shot, but becoming more aware of the feels and resulting ball flight and can identify when the feel isn’t right.

It is interesting how people respond differently to the same directions from instructors. When I was talking to my instructor one of the “feels” we
Talked about having was skipping stones. I remember a thread about a year or so so about a forum member being told to swing like he was skipping stones and how he couldn’t translate that into his swing. For me it fits perfectly into my swing sequence and a great feeling to try and have. But back when the thread was going on, the thought made no sense to me but now with the path I am going down it works for me.

[cnosil]

ball striking seems to be improving.  Hit a couple of fat shots,  but overall drills are helping to improve contact.   As I am starting to put together metrics from my round it seems that wedge play (125 and in) is my big weakness.  Proximity to the hole and greens hit needs to significantly improve.    Lag putting seems to be getting better with the use of the exPutt.   

Overall I feel like my game is going in the right direction. Probably need to follow some better course management practices;  I have taken some big numbers (doubles and triples) as a result of questionable shot selections.  

[dlow206]

On 8/4/2020 at 7:39 AM, cnosil said:

Had some time on the GCQuad yesterday since it was a
Most wanted testing day. Face contact location is definitely improving. I am still hitting the occasional toe shot, but becoming more aware of the feels and resulting ball flight and can identify when the feel isn’t right.

It is interesting how people respond differently to the same directions from instructors. When I was talking to my instructor one of the “feels” we
Talked about having was skipping stones. I remember a thread about a year or so so about a forum member being told to swing like he was skipping stones and how he couldn’t translate that into his swing. For me it fits perfectly into my swing sequence and a great feeling to try and have. But back when the thread was going on, the thought made no sense to me but now with the path I am going down it works for me.

There are so many different feels that instructors have to try to achieve many of the same things. I've churned through a lot of different feels, some have helped, some didn't work for me.

[cnosil]

41 minutes ago, dlow206 said:

There are so many different feels that instructors have to try to achieve many of the same things. I've churned through a lot of different feels, some have helped, some didn't work for me.

 When working with an instructor, they are not trying to achieve feels,  that is uniquely yours.  The thing about feels in the golf swing is that when you are doing something correctly, the feel is all yours and the feel (good or bad) indicates you are doing something correctly.  An instructor cannot tell you what to feel. 

[HardcoreLooper]

1 hour ago, cnosil said:

 When working with an instructor, they are not trying to achieve feels,  that is uniquely yours.  The thing about feels in the golf swing is that when you are doing something correctly, the feel is all yours and the feel (good or bad) indicates you are doing something correctly.  An instructor cannot tell you what to feel. 

As my instructor reminds me, feel is not real.  He then reminds me that if wrong feels right, then right is going to feel wrong.

[cnosil]

As my instructor reminds me, feel is not real.  He then reminds me that if wrong feels right, then right is going to feel wrong.

Mine has also told me is that his job is to make me feel uncomfortable.

[tony@CIC]

29 minutes ago, cnosil said:

Mine has also told me is that his job is to make me feel uncomfortable.

I certainly felt that way when my instructor changed my grip - took me 1/2 season for it to 'feel right'

[DaveP043]

7 hours ago, cnosil said:

Mine has also told me is that his job is to make me feel uncomfortable.

For most of us, what we've been doing all along feels "right", even the faults somehow feel right.  To make a change means doing something different, and different will almost always feel wrong.  As you say, its the instructors job to help you change your movements, to feel wrong in a productive way.  It takes repetitions to make that revised movement feel right.

Edited August 10, 2020 by DaveP043

[DriverBreaker]

On 7/2/2020 at 9:18 PM, cnosil said:

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.  

 

I to have struggled with fat shots with wedges.  For me, it is often one of two things:

1) too much forward shaft lean through impact (remove the bounce of the wedge and if you are fractionally, you will hit fat)

2) not extending my body through impact (you know from my SuperSpeed that I am working on jumping aka extending through the shot rather than staying down too long)

Edited August 10, 2020 by ChasingScratch

[DriverBreaker]

On 7/5/2020 at 3:32 PM, cnosil said:

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.  

Is the bounce the same on your 51* and 54*?  Might be more bounce on the 51* which helps with fat shots.  Looks like you play high-bounce wedges (I do as well), so maybe not a bounce difference issue.

[DriverBreaker]

Also, @edteergolf is the best!

[cnosil]

Is the bounce the same on your 51* and 54*?  Might be more bounce on the 51* which helps with fat shots.  Looks like you play high-bounce wedges (I do as well), so maybe not a bounce difference issue.

51 is 8 and 54 is 14.

 

Fat hasn’t been much of a problem the past couple of weeks;grip changes and limited backswing have really helped. Hitting the ball really well and happy with full swing. From 100 and in (distance wedge)my hole proximity is terrible. Yesterday my proximities were: 88/40’, 97/25’, 82/35’, 85/35’, 50/30y, and 97/30’. I feel like I am better off outside of 115 yards. Mostly a lack of practicing those shots; need to spend time on the gcquad and build out my distance grids.

[DriverBreaker]

1 hour ago, cnosil said:

51 is 8 and 54 is 14.

 

Fat hasn’t been much of a problem the past couple of weeks;grip changes and limited backswing have really helped. Hitting the ball really well and happy with full swing. From 100 and in (distance wedge)my hole proximity is terrible. Yesterday my proximities were: 88/40’, 97/25’, 82/35’, 85/35’, 50/30y, and 97/30’. I feel like I am better off outside of 115 yards. Mostly a lack of practicing those shots; need to spend time on the gcquad and build out my distance grids.

Yeah....... need to tighten that proximity up for sure to take advantage of the distance off the tee.

Is it distance or directional that is the problem?  Sounds like distance from what you are saying. 

[MrBandit]

1 hour ago, cnosil said:

51 is 8 and 54 is 14.

 

Fat hasn’t been much of a problem the past couple of weeks;grip changes and limited backswing have really helped. Hitting the ball really well and happy with full swing. From 100 and in (distance wedge)my hole proximity is terrible. Yesterday my proximities were: 88/40’, 97/25’, 82/35’, 85/35’, 50/30y, and 97/30’. I feel like I am better off outside of 115 yards. Mostly a lack of practicing those shots; need to spend time on the gcquad and build out my distance grids.

For me anytime I hit Fat shots, has been always been my turn, I stop turning and leaning more or just shifting my body instead of shoulder turn. This causes the wedge to hit fat or almost hitting shanks at times.  Whenever I do that I reset , center shots and once I have the turn, then I begin practicing moving forwards, center  and back stands to get different wedge shots.
My wedges bounce are 56 (10) and 60 (9).  
 

[cnosil]

3 hours ago, ChasingScratch said:

Yeah....... need to tighten that proximity up for sure to take advantage of the distance off the tee.

Is it distance or directional that is the problem?  Sounds like distance from what you are saying. 

Distance primarily and mostly short.  Not taking a big enough swing; but "feels" right when I make the swing.

 

[cnosil]

Had a zoom meeting with my instructor last night. The system we are following establishes proximity averages for distance from the hole. He agreed that based on the stats I have been tracking proximity to the hole with the wedges is a big problem area. We went through some strategies about how establish consistency with distance wedges. First option is to avoid those distances and play to my strengths. I chose the option to establish a way to control distance better. He provided some recommendations on thing to work on but mostly the goal is consistent contact which means controlling low point, shaft angle, and smash factor. For distance wedges we are seeking a smash factor of about 1.0 or some consistent number in that proximity. It could be 1.1 as long as the swing produces consistent results. Will be working on determining a method that enables me to accomplish that goal. Basically do I adjust the length of swing or or speed of swing. Time to get out to the range and figure this out.

[cksurfdude]

On 8/21/2020 at 8:45 AM, cnosil said:

I chose the option to establish a way to control distance better.

That makes sense to me, too - as much as we'd like to try, we're not always going to be at our comfortable layup / approach distance(s)... Seems to me that being able to develop wedge distance control is a critical part of the game. Good luck with your training!

[cnosil]

11 minutes ago, cksurfdude said:

That makes sense to me, too - as much as we'd like to try, we're not always going to be at our comfortable layup / approach distance(s)... Seems to me that being able to develop wedge distance control is a critical part of the game. Good luck with your training!

We talked about this for a bit on our call.  You can be extremely successful not trying to get as close to the green as possible or putting a wedge in your hand.    He told me about one of his students that was highly skilled player except for the wedge game.  In order for him to be productive for his HS and college teams,  he scaled back distance off the tee and laid back beyond his wedge distance and continued to improve the wedges.  He could have continued to hit to short wedges during competition and not been productive and also not been on his team.    I am going to let me scores suffer in the near term to work on those shots since I am not playing competitive golf.    This is where stats come into play;  right now putting a wedge in my hand increases my scoring due to poor proximity to the hole.  I am better if I stay outside 115 yards.    It isn't about laying up to a specific distance,  but not going inside a distance.