30-Day (Was COVID) Practice Plan Challenge - April 1-30 2020

[Sean_D]

Finished day 3. After doing the day 3 drills, I was able to go play today (Sacramento county has not yet ordered all golf courses closed though many are closed voluntarily). I focused on the three points from the last three days and hit the ball better than I ever have and shot my best score 84 on a 6550 yard 71.8/129 course for a 10.7 differential. Thank you sooo much for doing this!

[Bonvivant]

I've spent the last hour or so going back through these, spending extra time on the ones I did incorrectly. I forgot how to do drill 3 from today when I filmed. For some reason keeping all 6 in my head at once was hard. When I saw @iacas's comment, I went back, and realized I was doing it completely wrong. Definitely feel better about it now.

[Darkfrog]

Day 3 drills done. Collapsing my right arm used to be a big issue for me, but I’ve mostly corrected this with lessons/practice. But the videos definitely gave me a better understanding of where the right arm should be relative to the side / rib cage, and I think I sometimes go too far inside with the right elbow so now I have a way to check this. Drill #1 was physically difficult holding the club up with just the lead arm (others mentioned this as well), maybe because I’ve started doing pull-ups and pushups every day during quarantine. If it doesn’t rain too much this weekend I’m going to move some pots around in the yard to setup a tripod to film. 

[Sammydreep]

Eric, thank you so much for the time and effort you put into these videos
Only three days in and I have a bunch of new drills and checkpoints. 
 

[ChetlovesMer]

Day 3: DONE.

Okay, @iacas

What I like:

1. That the videos are short, simple and follow a very logical progression. It feels like somebody who's never played the game before could start this series and "build" a golf swing. 
2. I like that they focus on fundamentals. Seems obvious, that trying to diagnose a swing fault from a crowd of folks on this forum is impossible. However, you see that a lot with online instruction. "If you have this fault do this..." …"What if I don't have this fault?" 
3. I truly believe these lessons could dovetail with any swing coach's lessons you are getting... alright perhaps if you are learning a very "non-standard" golf swing... but there are other threads for that topic.
4. I like the way you have each lesson laid out in words above the video, so we can see what's covered. That makes a lot of sense. 

What I might suggest going forward - I know you have a bunch planned, but since you are looking for suggestions....

1. Drills to promote balance
2. Drills to promote speed increases
3. I will always be working on posture. More posture drills are personally always welcome. Some may not need them, but finish position posture is something I tend to lose and rebuild often. 
4. Set up differences between driver and irons (perhaps this is 2 sessions: Set up and Swing differences.) 
5. Trajectory mini-course
6. Shot shape mini-course
7. Thoughts on Swing Thoughts
8. Thoughts on Enjoying Pressure
9. A video for all five or one video per each of the five swing keys - How to diagnose etc...
10. Putting fundamentals (I assume that's on the way.)
11. Read, Speed and Bead - How to diagnose which is failing you? How to work on them? If it can be done.
12. Perhaps a course strategy video? … Although that video you could just chuck down a copy of LSW and say "READ THIS". 
13. Equipment fitting suggestions video?
14. Warm up routine video?
15. Golf related stretching?

These are all just suggestions. I am not a golf coach, but I've got a lot of experience working with golf coaches … I tend to need a lot of coaching. The videos you have done so far have been an absolute Godsent for me. I truly appreciate all of these videos you are doing. When this whole thing is over and we're all sure we're still employed I hope a bunch of folks reup to support this site and the incredible amount of content it provides. 

 

[boogielicious]

7 hours ago, Bonvivant said:

I've spent the last hour or so going back through these, spending extra time on the ones I did incorrectly. I forgot how to do drill 3 from today when I filmed. For some reason keeping all 6 in my head at once was hard. When I saw @iacas's comment, I went back, and realized I was doing it completely wrong. Definitely feel better about it now.

You can do the motions without a club in front of a mirror first to get an idea if you are doing them correctly. I’ve been watching Erik’s instruction twice, then doing it.

[WillieT]

9 hours ago, TN94z said:

Day 3 complete. Whew!! That got my obliques sore..haha

I thought I was the "only" one feeling the stretch...then again I've never really worked on true mechanics and have been "lazy" in getting my core in action versus arms only. 

9 hours ago, DeadMan said:

Did the drills today. No video, again. Need to get my tripod back from my wife's school. These drills were actually a bit physically difficult for me, especially the first one. I guess I don't have a ton of shoulder strength, especially in the left shoulder. I might be the only one. But that was weird.

No you're not the only one.  I know I am weak in that area as well.  I believe this mandated off-season is a blessing in disguise as it is forcing, at least me, to really think about mechanics in a virtual classroom.  

6 hours ago, Darkfrog said:

Day 3 drills done. Collapsing my right arm used to be a big issue for me, but I’ve mostly corrected this with lessons/practice. But the videos definitely gave me a better understanding of where the right arm should be relative to the side / rib cage, and I think I sometimes go too far inside with the right elbow so now I have a way to check this. Drill #1 was physically difficult holding the club up with just the lead arm (others mentioned this as well), maybe because I’ve started doing pull-ups and pushups every day during quarantine. If it doesn’t rain too much this weekend I’m going to move some pots around in the yard to setup a tripod to film. 

Like you I did not realize just how badly I've been collapsing the right arm.  I had to watch Erik's video several times and I still found myself collapsing (bad muscle memory).  Likewise on the right elbow. 

5 hours ago, Sammydreep said:

Eric, thank you so much for the time and effort you put into these videos
Only three days in and I have a bunch of new drills and checkpoints. 
 

ditto...

45 minutes ago, boogielicious said:

You can do the motions without a club in front of a mirror first to get an idea if you are doing them correctly. I’ve been watching Erik’s instruction twice, then doing it.

Great reminder - I need to not be in such a hurry to get 'er done but rather to see what I am doing wrong to make sure I do it right.  Reminds me of the other things I've done where the only way to get better is to learn from those who are better!  Thanks again Erik  for your work on these video lessons!  I have gathered more in three days than all the "on-line video links" that I have been peppered with via the infernalnet promising below par scores with drives of 300+ yards, no fatted irons, no bad sand traps, no 3 putts!    

[iacas]

Day 4 – Lead Wrist Cupping and Palmar Flexion

The wrist conditions throughout the downswing have profound effects on the club face position, the “lag,” and so much more. The club face position will affect the path, which affects the quality of the strike, and on down the line. Suffice to say, the wrist conditions are very important and can create a lot of problems that cascade throughout the entire swing.

Typically, we see two common traits in golfers concerning the lead wrist:

First, and far more common:

• Golfers grip the club palmy and weak. This often lets them have a “flat left wrist” at setup, but hinders their ability to deliver a “flat left wrist” at impact.
• These golfers will be cupped or even add cupping to the lead wrist at the top of the backswing (A4). The toe hangs “down.”
• As a reaction to that, and in an attempt to square the face, the golfer will do a number of things, including throwing the club out over the top in an attempt to swing left (“path is instinctual,” and the golfer feels the face is open, so they swing left to try to start the ball left) or flip the wrists to attempt to square the face. Both of these are demonstrated in the video.

Second, and less common:

• Golfers attempt to maintain a “flat left wrist” at the top of the backswing and are flat or even slightly arched. These golfers are often laid off, too.
• Because they’re not Dustin Johnson, and often exacerbated by the club being laid off, these golfers cup and swing “over the top” throughout the downswing: the wrist gets “tired” of being arched (flexed) and moves in the opposite direction (extension, cupping) and the clubhead is so far “behind” them and under the plane that they throw it back out in front of them and get on top of the plane.
• Few golfers are Dustin Johnson or Graham McDowell, so they can’t rotate quite as hard in order to maintain these wrist conditions for very long.

As you can imagine, neither tend to be a great way to play golf.

Today’s drills are my attempt at helping you learn a reasonably “good” pattern with the lead wrist:

• Slight cupping at setup. I grip the club somewhat “strong” throughout the video to make this cupping more apparent, but even a neutral grip will have a little cupping at setup.
• Slight cupping at the top. Note that the leading edge and the lead forearm are roughly parallel to each other, and this is traditionally seen as “square” at the top, A4.
• Adding a little twist, a little palmar flexion, throughout the downswing so that the leading edge is slightly “toe down” at A6 (shaft horizontal on the downswing).

The drills for today include (do each twice today):

• 0:30 – Observe grip “strength” at setup.
• 1:00 – At A4 (top), check leading edge “squareness.”
• 2:30 – Swing down to slight “toe down” while palmar flexing.

The additional notes for each of the bullet points above are:

• 0:30 – Observe grip “strength” at setup. Use a mirror and look down at your wrists. Note how much “cupping” exists at setup.
• 1:00 – At A4 (top), check leading edge “squareness.” Use a mirror. There will likely be a little cupping at A4. Make sure the shaft is relatively close to on plane (not laid off, not across the line).
• 2:30 – Swing down to slight “toe down” while palmar flexing. Do these at various speeds, as the faster you swing down the more it will feel like you have to palmar flex.

Video:

Edited April 4, 2020 by iacas
thanks phillyk

[iacas]

3 hours ago, ChetlovesMer said:

What I might suggest going forward - I know you have a bunch planned, but since you are looking for suggestions....

1. Drills to promote balance
2. Drills to promote speed increases
3. I will always be working on posture. More posture drills are personally always welcome. Some may not need them, but finish position posture is something I tend to lose and rebuild often. 
4. Set up differences between driver and irons (perhaps this is 2 sessions: Set up and Swing differences.) 
5. Trajectory mini-course
6. Shot shape mini-course
7. Thoughts on Swing Thoughts
8. Thoughts on Enjoying Pressure
9. A video for all five or one video per each of the five swing keys - How to diagnose etc...
10. Putting fundamentals (I assume that's on the way.)
11. Read, Speed and Bead - How to diagnose which is failing you? How to work on them? If it can be done.
12. Perhaps a course strategy video? … Although that video you could just chuck down a copy of LSW and say "READ THIS". 
13. Equipment fitting suggestions video?
14. Warm up routine video?
15. Golf related stretching?

These are all just suggestions. I am not a golf coach, but I've got a lot of experience working with golf coaches … I tend to need a lot of coaching. The videos you have done so far have been an absolute Godsent for me. I truly appreciate all of these videos you are doing. When this whole thing is over and we're all sure we're still employed I hope a bunch of folks reup to support this site and the incredible amount of content it provides. 

Quick replies, mostly so I make sure I read everything…

1. Good idea. Might find something here. Can be tough to do since balance is pretty individualized and people often have very different feelings here. But still… maybe…
2. Can be tough to do without the equipment, but if I can think of something people can reasonably do, yeah. That's good.
3. Probably not going to do too much here.
4. Does this help: there aren't many. Upper body can be tipped back a little bit more for driver, feet a tiny bit wider, ball position is forward (and on a tee), and hands are a little further out from your body. That's about it. Your inclination should be about the same, etc. You're not "taller" for a driver. Tough to make a "drill" video for that.
5. Not bad, but also… tough to do for people staying inside. One of the things I'm trying to do is give people drills they can do indoors if they need to.
6. Ditto.
7. Not really "drills" that I can think of for that. I want people to have something to do every day.
8. Ditto.
9. So you want five three-hour-long videos? 🙂 Or I can just give away our 5SK videos…? 😄
10. Yep.
11. Yeah.
12. Not something people can "do."
13. Ditto.
14. If it's mine, it would be "get clubs out of trunk. Get to the first tee. Make a few half-hearted swings while catching up with your buddies." 😄
15. Not really my area of expertise, and could lead to some VERY awkward videos. 😉

10 hours ago, Sean_D said:

Finished day 3. After doing the day 3 drills, I was able to go play today (Sacramento county has not yet ordered all golf courses closed though many are closed voluntarily). I focused on the three points from the last three days and hit the ball better than I ever have and shot my best score 84 on a 6550 yard 71.8/129 course for a 10.7 differential. Thank you sooo much for doing this!

Awesome! So great to hear. Wow. I'll take, if you don't mind, 5% of the credit there. So glad for you, and the work you put in.

[cutchemist42]

Just came across this now....thanks a lot for doing these.

[woodzie264]

Day 4 - Done. This was soooooo very helpful.  That recommendation to flex the wrist to close the clubface was amazing. 

Edited April 4, 2020 by woodzie264

[metaswinger]

Day 4

Very much appreciate a discussion on the wrists.  Growing up playing w/o lessons there is much I can't articulate about a swing...  Tx.

 

[phillyk]

3 hours ago, iacas said:

 

• Slight cupping at the top. Note that the leading edge and the right forearm are roughly parallel to each other, and this is traditionally seen as “square” at the top, A4.

I assume you meant to say club face and left forearm/lead arm are parallel?

[SteveH]

Found this thread yesterday, so watched them all this morning.  I am going to do these drills but have to figure out how to do videos on my phone to post as that isn't something I'm familiar with. A couple of these things my instructor had me working on during my last lessons so this is great. I have been doing chipping drills in my yard the last couple of days, along with a full swing drill I found on fb for adding 4mph (who wouldn't want that ?)  I thank you for taking the time to do this.

[billchao]

Palmar flexion, my old nemesis. We meet again...

I spent years trying to incorporate this piece into my swing and I still don't know if I'm doing it right.

[iacas]

1 hour ago, phillyk said:

I assume you meant to say club face and left forearm/lead arm are parallel?

Yes, thank you, good catch. Fixed it here and on the Golf Evolution site.

[boogielicious]

Day 4 Drill

 

[klineka]

Day 4, I really liked this one, super interesting to me how bending the wrist like that makes the shaft shallower in the downswing

These were super exaggerated, I know my actual downswing looks nothing like that. I will try this with some real balls tomorrow.