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The dreaded practice swinger


Sluggo42

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So I'm humming along get to 15 befor I run into the group in front of me, they had to have started at dawn, yesterday perhaps.

 

So theys in the woods for about 5 minutes before they finally kick Em out.m

So, the first guy steps up, takes about 4 practice swings, then klanks one about 20 yards.

 

Walked up to it, took 5 more practice swings, and re-klanks it. Again and again.

It was so bad, I just turned around and went back to replay the last hole. ( quiet day)

 

Then I re caught up with them again. Dude must have swung the stick 5000 times that day.

 

Then it occurred to me that I rarely take a practice swing. Hardly ever. I just pick a stick, pose up with a waggle or two, and boom, I hit it.

 

Is that weird on my side or his side?

 

:titleist-small: TSr2 on tensi blue stiff

:cobra-small: Speedzone 3-wood on Tensi blue S

:callaway-logo-1: Epic Max 5 and 7 woods on HZRDUS  Reg flex

:callaway-logo-1: Paradym 9 wood on HZRDUS reg flex

:taylormade-small: P770 / P790 combo set on Ventus R-6 shafts 6-AW

:mizuno-small:  T22 Denim Copper 54°, 58° on Kinetic X Trajectory 

:EVNROLL: ER3 or,

:edel-golf-1: E.A.S. #4   (“Fang” or “Adele”)
 

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Adidas Tour 360 , or Sketcher shoes

 

 

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not weird, I usually do the same. In fact, I'm trying to get myself to take a maximum of two swings first now, just to slow things down a little when I get too quick. When it comes to putting, I refuse to practice swing. Visualize the line, pick an aim point, get comfortable, and let 'er rip.

Driver: TaylorMade R9 9.5* with a Diamana Kai'li 70 S shaft

Fairway: TaylorMade R9 TP 13* with Graphite Design Tour AD YSQ-st X flex

 

UtilityWilson Staff FYbrid 19.5* Aldila RIP Sigma Stiff

 

Irons: Wilson Staff FG Tour V2 KBS Tour X flex 4-pw (soft-stepped)

Wedges: Wilson Staff FG Tour TC 50* (standard grind, bent to 51*) TT DG Spinner, 56* and 60* (tour grinds, bent to 55* and 59*) Dynamic Gold Wedge flex

Putter: Yes! Abbie Tour Forged Pro Series 33" 

Ball: Wilson Staff FG Tour, Maxfli U4

 

Bag: Wilson Staff NeXus 100th Anniversary carry bag

 

Backup Irons: Wilson Staff FG-17 Tour Blades with TT Dynamic Stiff 3-PW

 

Backup Utility: Mizuno MP-H4 2 iron TT Dynamic Gold R300

 

Backup Putter: Pro Gear CG 100 33" (Pro Gear is what turned into Yes!)

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I hate it when people take too long to hit which includes too many practice swings. I usually take one or two practice swings while hitting and same with putting. I take more sometimes if I feel like I'm swinging too fast or I don't feel right. Either way I make sure to not take forever.

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Yes, I now take practice swings. You can skip the rest. I have said it before.

I had gotten to the point where I had no practice swings in my preshot routine. I did not really see the need. I was playing better than ever before. Then I went up to Canada and for most of the week I played much poorer than I wanted. Actually, I usually play worse than I want to. But there I was doing the same thing every time and did not know what it was and could not fix it. Honestly, stinking it up and beating myself in important rounds was nothing new to me. I seemed to make a habit of doing that.

So I come back home and go to my course and immediately play great for a few days. Then I go se where else with a buddy and make a 12 on the first hole and an 8 on the second hole and 6 on the third hole. All par 4's and he speaks up and tells me what I am doing.

I was swaying in my back swing and I was very tense in my arms. The next hole I relax and make a turn and blast a drive 5 yards passed the guys I had been 100 yards behind so far. And to for the green with a hybrid because i certainly was not going to ruin a good round. I ended up with an eagle and actually had a really good round from there.

That round was a turning point for me and after careful consideration I realized I needed to make a major change. That change was to my preshot routine. I needed a preshot routine that addressed key problem areas that I have. They are tempo, tension, casting, swaying, swing path.

This is certainly too much to think about before each shot because if I did then I seemed to have left out thinking about the shot. But I eventually came up with this. I generally know my club selection as soon as I get to the ball and see the lie. I have a GPS watch I see the lie and in the past could grab a club set up and hit.

Now I pull out the club still holding it by the head, look at the ball and while invisioning the shot, put both hands on club and take three swings, ensuring that the swooshing sound is by the ball. This takes care of tempo, tension and casting right there and it took all of 6 seconds. Then I flip the club over take one more reenforceing what I just checked. I take another thinking about turning,not swaying in the back swing and swing path through, usually the inside of the ball, for a draw. Then one final practice swing thinking about the desired ball flight. Then address the ball and fire away thinking about the ball again.

So I have six practice swings and a mini lesson before each stroke in the span of about 20 seconds. My ball striking immediately improved. By that I mean I became more consistent. I then changed shafts going to the C Taper Lites and then heads to the MP59's. and I improved even more.

 

So this long winded answer is find something that addresses you needs and put it in. I talked on Sunday morning with a playing partner about this. He mentioned that he noticed I had changed and went from playing well most of the time to playing well all the time. I asked it I was taking a long time and he said no. It was obvious that I was doing something but it was pretty quick and we never had to spend time looking for my ball. It was in the fairway or on the green.

 

But keep in mind that you playing partners do not want to wait while you have you own little Haney Project session. Except on the teebox I do this while waiting my turn to hit.

:ping-small:G430LST 10.5° on     T P T    POWER 18 Hi Driver 

:ping-small:G430MAX 3w  on     T P T    POWER 18 Hi Fairway 

:ping-small:G425 3H on     T P T    POWER 18 Hi Hybrid 

:taylormade-small:P790 Black 4-A 
on :kbs: TGI 80S
 

:mizuno-small: ES21 54-8° & 58-12° on :kbs: Hi Rev

:L.A.B.:DF2.1 on :accra: White

:titelist-small: ProV1  

:918457628_PrecisionPro: Precision Pro  NX7 Pro

All Iron grips are BestGrips Micro-Perforated Mid

Driver, 3w, 3H are JumboMax JMX UltraLite XS 

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Does it take longer to make practice swing or look for a ball?

 

What sucks is when they take 6 or 8 and you still have I look for the ball.

:ping-small:G430LST 10.5° on     T P T    POWER 18 Hi Driver 

:ping-small:G430MAX 3w  on     T P T    POWER 18 Hi Fairway 

:ping-small:G425 3H on     T P T    POWER 18 Hi Hybrid 

:taylormade-small:P790 Black 4-A 
on :kbs: TGI 80S
 

:mizuno-small: ES21 54-8° & 58-12° on :kbs: Hi Rev

:L.A.B.:DF2.1 on :accra: White

:titelist-small: ProV1  

:918457628_PrecisionPro: Precision Pro  NX7 Pro

All Iron grips are BestGrips Micro-Perforated Mid

Driver, 3w, 3H are JumboMax JMX UltraLite XS 

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I really hate people who take a ton of practice swings and then duff the ball 30 yards. There's a guy on my high school team who does that, he takes two swings behind the ball, sets up, backs off, does two or three more swings, then steps up to hit and duffs it. He does this for every single shot he hits, from driver up to when he's chipping. I mean, come on! It's not like you're a frickin' PGA Tour player, you're a 18 handicapper at best. If he did that many practice swings and played well, maybe I wouldn't be as annoyed with him. But it really gets on your nerves when he does all that and then tops, duffs, or shanks the ball 90% of the time... you start getting impatient.

In the bag as of now...

Driver: Titleist 909 D3 9.5* w/ Diamana Kai'li 60 X
3-wood: Callaway RAZR Fit 15* w/ Diamana Kai'li 70 S
5-wood: Callaway RAZR Fit 18* w/ Diamana Kai'li 70 S
Irons: 4-PW Mizuno MP-64 w/ Project X 5.5
Wedges: Mizuno MP T-11 52*, 56*, 60* w/ Dynamic Gold Spinner
Putter: Byron Design 007 w/ Superstroke Ultra Slim 1.0
Balls: Taylormade Penta TP5 or Tour Preferred X

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My uncle: king of the practice swing. He'll take 2-3 hit and if its a bad shot 2-3 more. And he wonders why he's tired after 18. It's nonsense. 1 practice swing is plenty, 2 is okay. More than that? Ludicrous. I rarely take a practice swing on full shots. Only when wanting to work the ball a certain way to get a feel for the move I want to put on it. Other than that, never on full swings. I do make a few practice moves for chips or putts or partial shots, just to decide on swing length.

In The Bag
Driver: TaylorMade M2 (2017) w/ Project X T1100 HZRDUS Handcrafted 65x 
Strong 3 wood: Taylormade M1 15* w/ ProjectX T1100 HZRDUS handcrafted 75x
3 Hybrid: Adams PRO 18* w/ KBS Tour Hybrid S flex tipped 1/2"
4 Hybrid: Adams PRO 20* (bent to 21*) w/ KBS Tour Hybrid S flex tipped 1/2"
4-AW: TaylorMade P770 w/ Dynamic Gold Tour Issue Black Onyx S400

SW: 56* Scratch Tour Dept(CC grooves) w/ Dynamic Gold Spinner
LW: 60* Scratch Tour Department (CC grooves) w/ Dynamic Gold Spinner
XW: 64* Cally XForged Vintage w/ DG X100 8 iron tiger stepped
Putter: Nike Method Prototype 006 at 34"

Have a ton of back-ups in all categories, but there are always 14 clubs in the bag that differ depending on the course and set-up. Bomb and gouge. Yes, I'm a club gigolo.

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I think it's when the whole lot of them go to the one guy hitting, practice strokes and all, then the whole lots move across the fairway to the next guys ball and he then repeats the same thing.

 

In my groups, we all fan out to our own balls, and then pretty well hit in rapid succession, farthest out first. But after that, the next guy is already at his ball, and so on...

Unless the group in front has slowed us to a snails pace...

 

:titleist-small: TSr2 on tensi blue stiff

:cobra-small: Speedzone 3-wood on Tensi blue S

:callaway-logo-1: Epic Max 5 and 7 woods on HZRDUS  Reg flex

:callaway-logo-1: Paradym 9 wood on HZRDUS reg flex

:taylormade-small: P770 / P790 combo set on Ventus R-6 shafts 6-AW

:mizuno-small:  T22 Denim Copper 54°, 58° on Kinetic X Trajectory 

:EVNROLL: ER3 or,

:edel-golf-1: E.A.S. #4   (“Fang” or “Adele”)
 

:titelist-small: ProV1x, or, Maxfli Tour X

:callaway-small: .Org 14 cart bag

Adidas Tour 360 , or Sketcher shoes

 

 

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That's how we do. I leave him with the cart and grab clubs and walk to mine. And we still usually wait on him. Yes, he's the slowest golfer in the world lots of times. We've tried everything to speed him up to no avail

In The Bag
Driver: TaylorMade M2 (2017) w/ Project X T1100 HZRDUS Handcrafted 65x 
Strong 3 wood: Taylormade M1 15* w/ ProjectX T1100 HZRDUS handcrafted 75x
3 Hybrid: Adams PRO 18* w/ KBS Tour Hybrid S flex tipped 1/2"
4 Hybrid: Adams PRO 20* (bent to 21*) w/ KBS Tour Hybrid S flex tipped 1/2"
4-AW: TaylorMade P770 w/ Dynamic Gold Tour Issue Black Onyx S400

SW: 56* Scratch Tour Dept(CC grooves) w/ Dynamic Gold Spinner
LW: 60* Scratch Tour Department (CC grooves) w/ Dynamic Gold Spinner
XW: 64* Cally XForged Vintage w/ DG X100 8 iron tiger stepped
Putter: Nike Method Prototype 006 at 34"

Have a ton of back-ups in all categories, but there are always 14 clubs in the bag that differ depending on the course and set-up. Bomb and gouge. Yes, I'm a club gigolo.

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Pace of play is everything. Sunday we played two groups of 5 and completed the round in 3:10. And the day before yesterday 2 of us played in 2:20. So it does not matter what you do if a. You do not distract your fellows and b. you do not slow down your group.

:ping-small:G430LST 10.5° on     T P T    POWER 18 Hi Driver 

:ping-small:G430MAX 3w  on     T P T    POWER 18 Hi Fairway 

:ping-small:G425 3H on     T P T    POWER 18 Hi Hybrid 

:taylormade-small:P790 Black 4-A 
on :kbs: TGI 80S
 

:mizuno-small: ES21 54-8° & 58-12° on :kbs: Hi Rev

:L.A.B.:DF2.1 on :accra: White

:titelist-small: ProV1  

:918457628_PrecisionPro: Precision Pro  NX7 Pro

All Iron grips are BestGrips Micro-Perforated Mid

Driver, 3w, 3H are JumboMax JMX UltraLite XS 

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I was probably that guy in my first year playing. My goal was to just hit the ground with my practice swing, otherwise I knew I would top off my real swing. I still managed to top it off, but if I didn't hit the ground I did it 100% of the time.

 

The only cure for this is practice. I'm very sympathetic to new golfers because it's frustrating as hell to play that badly. They know they're slow, they just want a shot or two that feels good to make their round worth their time. If this is the case, just enjoy the day. They're probably only playing 9 holes anyway.

 

Now, if a golfer has been playing for years and does this, they have no excuse whatsoever. That definitely annoys me. Hell even my son takes no more than 1 practice swing on full shots. More than that just doesn't help.

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I do practice swings for wedge and putter shots before stepping up to hit it. Exactly 2 each time, mostly to try and feel my shoulders through the swing/stroke which have a tendency to lock up.

 

Otherwise, I waggle like Dufner with irons/driver to try and drain tension.

 

I do have a tendency to dither over the ball as that's when I visualize the strike rather then before I take it. I suspect it annoys the heck out of people I play with and I'm trying to change that. Rick had to put up with a lot of it when he was here so he can tell you how long it is. In truth, I don't really know how slow/fast it is.

 

I do on the other hand know I make up wicked time on most people no matter how slow on the ball I am since I'm generally quick on the greens and run between my shots. I'm finding I play better and stop over thinking things when I jack my heart rate up a bit.

I laught at your claims to fight a zombie apocalypse when most of you can't stand up to a Spider

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Richard,

We've left him behind on holes before, told him he's slow, asked him if he did everything as slow as he plays golf, etc. it doesn't matter. He's fun to play with and he's been playing a long time. Still doesn't excuse the painfully slow play. We've not invited him to events just so it wouldn't take as long. Lol. Nothing, and I mean nothing, will speed him up. Trust me, we've tried. It's pointless at this point. And if he's playing poorly or playing well, it gets worse. It's mind numbing and painful at times.

In The Bag
Driver: TaylorMade M2 (2017) w/ Project X T1100 HZRDUS Handcrafted 65x 
Strong 3 wood: Taylormade M1 15* w/ ProjectX T1100 HZRDUS handcrafted 75x
3 Hybrid: Adams PRO 18* w/ KBS Tour Hybrid S flex tipped 1/2"
4 Hybrid: Adams PRO 20* (bent to 21*) w/ KBS Tour Hybrid S flex tipped 1/2"
4-AW: TaylorMade P770 w/ Dynamic Gold Tour Issue Black Onyx S400

SW: 56* Scratch Tour Dept(CC grooves) w/ Dynamic Gold Spinner
LW: 60* Scratch Tour Department (CC grooves) w/ Dynamic Gold Spinner
XW: 64* Cally XForged Vintage w/ DG X100 8 iron tiger stepped
Putter: Nike Method Prototype 006 at 34"

Have a ton of back-ups in all categories, but there are always 14 clubs in the bag that differ depending on the course and set-up. Bomb and gouge. Yes, I'm a club gigolo.

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