Bo the Golfer's Golf Journey

[Bo the Golfer]

So today is the last day of my first week of the new workout program. Yesterday were golf specific rotational exercises which felt great. The other four days are lifting to which I add either a treadmill or stationary bike workout afterwards. I must say while I'm no where near fit  I feel like I'm on the road to that end for longer then I can remember. 

I'm hoping to hit the dome this weekend but we do have a lot going on. I want to show some difference in my swing for Evolvr as I feel the daily practice I'm doing is going very well. Proof will be in the videos. My swing does feel so much shorter and I'm hoping that shows up with a ball in front of me. 

[Bo the Golfer]

Worked out yesterday and it was a struggle. Between visiting family and the SuperBowl my eating was atrocious this weekend. Felt it working out yesterday afternoon and as a result don't feel well today. I'll take today off and regroup. 

Haven't been to the dome in a bit so I'll try to head there tomorrow. Want to see all this daily practice start showing up some. 

[Bo the Golfer]

Hit the dome today to hit some balls. Videos are in my swing thread. My thought was to keep arms straight and swing shorter. Epic fail. I have been drilling daily but when a ball in placed in front of me it's back to the same old stuff. 

Haven't been to the gym in a few days as my wife is in Miami so I've been with my little girl at home. Plan on going tomorrow so it will be nice to get back at it. 

[iacas]

7 minutes ago, Bo the Golfer said:

Hit the dome today to hit some balls. Videos are in my swing thread. My thought was to keep arms straight and swing shorter. Epic fail. I have been drilling daily but when a ball in placed in front of me it's back to the same old stuff. 

Then go slower.

If you post the same thing to Evolvr… for your best interests, I'm just going to say "no, this isn't what I want to see. Make yourself do it."

Learn to do those things even if you miss the ball - until you no longer miss it. said:

The Three Imperatives and Essentials operate to correct faulty procedures. So, if they seem elusive, it is invariably because you are trying to execute them while you hit the ball - in your accustomed manner. That must be reversed. Learn to do those things even if you miss the ball - until you no longer miss it. There is no successful alternative (3-B).

[Bo the Golfer]

2 minutes ago, iacas said:

Then go slower.

Yes sir. That is the piece I have an issue with. 

[iacas]

4 minutes ago, Bo the Golfer said:

Yes sir. That is the piece I have an issue with. 

I mean this in the tough love sense: no, you don't have a problem with it. You just won't make yourself do it.

I guarantee you that if I said I'd give you $10,000 if you could make a backswing that took > 3 seconds and which stopped short of vertical, you could do it.

It's about willpower and discipline.

You're capable of doing it. You just haven't made yourself do it.

[Bo the Golfer]

2 minutes ago, iacas said:

I mean this in the tough love sense: no, you don't have a problem with it. You just won't make yourself do it.

I guarantee you that if I said I'd give you $10,000 if you could make a backswing that took > 3 seconds and which stopped short of vertical, you could do it.

It's about willpower and discipline.

You're capable of doing it. You just haven't made yourself do it.

You are absolutely correct. Thank you for the bitch slap. I respond well to those lol. 

[iacas]

1 minute ago, Bo the Golfer said:

You are absolutely correct. Thank you for the bitch slap. I respond well to those lol. 

Your time is valuable, as is mine.

I'm just gonna tell it like it is, rather than dancing around it and pretending we're moving forward when we're not. 😄 

You can accomplish a lot at home, too. If it's easier without a ball, or hitting a foam ball, start there. It can only make it (a bit) easier when you have a real golf ball sitting there.

[Bo the Golfer]

3 minutes ago, iacas said:

Your time is valuable, as is mine.

I'm just gonna tell it like it is, rather than dancing around it and pretending we're moving forward when we're not. 😄 

You can accomplish a lot at home, too. If it's easier without a ball, or hitting a foam ball, start there. It can only make it (a bit) easier when you have a real golf ball sitting there.

Will do. Thank you Erik. I may live in MN but being from the East Coast I'm much better with people telling it like it is over bs'ing me. 

[billchao]

38 minutes ago, Bo the Golfer said:

I have been drilling daily but when a ball in placed in front of me it's back to the same old stuff. 

That's actually pretty normal. Change takes time. What is your practice routine like? Are you doing some drills and then hitting balls at full speed or are you doing things slowly and occasionally hitting a ball at that speed? Remember the object of your practice is to make a change in your swing. That should be the focus and not just a your swing thought. Make swings where you can see yourself doing the things you're trying to do, even if it means you're hitting your 6i 50 yards or something.

Here's an old video of me practicing something:

It might not be the best example since I was trying to do something at speed, but hopefully it gives you an idea of the process. Make slow and deliberate backswings that are shorter with your arm straight (if that's the piece you're working on). Check to make sure you're doing it properly. Reset. Do it again. Reset. Do it again. Then maybe hit the ball without resetting. Your focus isn't really about hitting the ball, but hitting the ball once in a while helps reinforce the motion in your brain that it's meant to be done while hitting a golf ball. Also it keeps things from getting excruciatingly boring. 

Do you play music by any chance?

[phillyk]

How many balls do you hit while looking for a more successful ball flight/result vs how many balls do you hit while exaggerating/focusing on feels to get a better motion? How many practice motions do you perform before each ball hit?

In your video from today, you can see the flat shoulder plane start to develop in the first foot or two of clubhead takeaway. Your left hip is shooting towards the ball fast in that time period, which makes it hard to maintain postural bend in the backswing. 

Post a vlog of a practice or two, not just individual swings. That way there’s more accountability to practice correctly. It’s hard, even for really good golfers, to practice the right way for a whole session.

In swing improvements can definitely take months to years to make. Learn to practice so that you can play when that white stuff goes away. 

[Bo the Golfer]

5 minutes ago, billchao said:

That's actually pretty normal. Change takes time. What is your practice routine like? Are you doing some drills and then hitting balls at full speed or are you doing things slowly and occasionally hitting a ball at that speed? Remember the object of your practice is to make a change in your swing. That should be the focus and not just a your swing thought. Make swings where you can see yourself doing the things you're trying to do, even if it means you're hitting your 6i 50 yards or something.

Here's an old video of me practicing something:

It might not be the best example since I was trying to do something at speed, but hopefully it gives you an idea of the process. Make slow and deliberate backswings that are shorter with your arm straight (if that's the piece you're working on). Check to make sure you're doing it properly. Reset. Do it again. Reset. Do it again. Then maybe hit the ball without resetting. Your focus isn't really about hitting the ball, but hitting the ball once in a while helps reinforce the motion in your brain that it's meant to be done while hitting a golf ball. Also it keeps things from getting excruciatingly boring. 

Do you play music by any chance?

I don't play music no but think I know where you are going with that question. I've read of musicians going over a certain part slowly many time before being able to do it as intended. I have not been great about working my swing slowly while hitting balls. I drill at home slowly but when hitting I act like the drills will magically work for a full speed swing. This will be what I work on going forward. 

6 minutes ago, phillyk said:

How many balls do you hit while looking for a more successful ball flight/result vs how many balls do you hit while exaggerating/focusing on feels to get a better motion? How many practice motions do you perform before each ball hit?

In your video from today, you can see the flat shoulder plane start to develop in the first foot or two of clubhead takeaway. Your left hip is shooting towards the ball fast in that time period, which makes it hard to maintain postural bend in the backswing. 

Post a vlog of a practice or two, not just individual swings. That way there’s more accountability to practice correctly. It’s hard, even for really good golfers, to practice the right way for a whole session.

In swing improvements can definitely take months to years to make. Learn to practice so that you can play when that white stuff goes away. 

It's pretty much been 100% of hitting balls at full speed. Drills at home are different but now realize I need to be really practicing with slow exaggerations. 

[iacas]

8 minutes ago, phillyk said:

Post a vlog of a practice or two, not just individual swings. That way there’s more accountability to practice correctly. It’s hard, even for really good golfers, to practice the right way for a whole session.

I'm probably a top 2% practicer. It's tough and I still kick myself from time to time.

I haven't made a full-speed swing in practice since… October.

[billchao]

2 minutes ago, Bo the Golfer said:

I don't play music no but think I know where you are going with that question. I've read of musicians going over a certain part slowly many time before being able to do it as intended.

Yea exactly. You learn a piece at a slower tempo than it's intended to be played because you're trying to train your fingers to move in a certain way, in a certain sequence, and then you gradually speed it up over time. It's the same with the golf swing.

4 minutes ago, Bo the Golfer said:

I drill at home slowly but when hitting I act like the drills will magically work for a full speed swing.

Unfortunately, it doesn't work like that.

As @phillyk said, post some videos of you practicing and doing the drills. You'll get some feedback on that, too.

[Bo the Golfer]

@billchao I'll post some drills tomorrow as I'm itching to get back to the dome and try this out. Thank you. 

[boogielicious]

11 hours ago, Bo the Golfer said:

@billchao I'll post some drills tomorrow as I'm itching to get back to the dome and try this out. Thank you. 

Patience. I have a tough time slowing things down too. It takes patience and being able to relax when doing things slowly. And it’s a mindset you need to practice.

Try changing your warmup. Do an easy swing then tell yourself you can go slower on the next one. Make the swings easy and fluid but full range. Do maybe 3-4 with a good 30 seconds between. Stretch a little and clear your mind before the next one. Then you can be ready for doing your priority piece work slowly.

We want instant results for changes, but they can take a long time if we’re trying to change an ingrained physical movement. Sometimes it is finding the right feel takes time too. I’ve been working on my piece for over a year and we’ve gone through several feels to get closer.

Lastly, don’t be too hard on yourself. I’m guilty of this. Some things come very easy for me so I expect the golf swing to be easy too. But it is a challenge. We see players on tour swing effortlessly and hit 5 irons 200 yards and think it should be easy. It’s not. It’s equivalent to Simone Biles doing back flips on balance beam. She makes those look easy too, but we’d never think we could do it.

[iacas]

Make A or A+ swings at a speed where you can DO it, don’t just make a bunch of C- swings at nearly full speed.

[Bo the Golfer]

1 hour ago, boogielicious said:

Patience. I have a tough time slowing things down too. It takes patience and being able to relax when doing things slowly. And it’s a mindset you need to practice.

Try changing your warmup. Do an easy swing then tell yourself you can go slower on the next one. Make the swings easy and fluid but full range. Do maybe 3-4 with a good 30 seconds between. Stretch a little and clear your mind before the next one. Then you can be ready for doing your priority piece work slowly.

We want instant results for changes, but they can take a long time if we’re trying to change an ingrained physical movement. Sometimes it is finding the right feel takes time too. I’ve been working on my piece for over a year and we’ve gone through several feels to get closer.

Lastly, don’t be too hard on yourself. I’m guilty of this. Some things come very easy for me so I expect the golf swing to be easy too. But it is a challenge. We see players on tour swing effortlessly and hit 5 irons 200 yards and think it should be easy. It’s not. It’s equivalent to Simone Biles doing back flips on balance beam. She makes those look easy too, but we’d never think we could do it.

Great post and it seems we think pretty similarly. I think somewhere in my brain I thought hey, I'll do a couple of months with Evolvr and be on the road to a lower handicap. Been on this site long enough that I should have known better. 

 

1 hour ago, iacas said:

Make A or A+ swings at a speed where you can DO it, don’t just make a bunch of C- swings at nearly full speed.

Will do. I'll post some practice later today.