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Played 18 today. Driver is erratic. Mostly with big push cuts. Might just stick with my 2 cross over for now, until I can work on the driver. The misses just feel like I can’t square up the club face. When I try to square it up more, I’d slice it more. 

When I get a chance to hit an iron it’s pretty good. Ball first contact, center of the club face, nothing crazy with the ball flight. I had two slight pulls and one push cut. The rest of them were pretty decent. I like the feel of less overall turn and pausing slightly at the top of the swing to keep it all shorter.

Short game was ok. One bad miss hit. One hero shot where I caught a fluffy lie and kept it in the rough. Mostly I was  with in 10-ft.

Putting was just a disaster, which surprised me. Liked I would take the club back and then just accelerate the crap out of it and bash the ball well past the hole. Or, I would ease up a ton and hit the ball 5-ft short. Just strange, usually my speed control is good. 

 

 

Matt Dougherty, P.E.
 fasdfa dfdsaf 

What's in My Bag
Driver; :pxg: 0311 Gen 5,  3-Wood: 
:titleist: 917h3 ,  Hybrid:  :titleist: 915 2-Hybrid,  Irons: Sub 70 TAIII Fordged
Wedges: :edel: (52, 56, 60),  Putter: :edel:,  Ball: :snell: MTB,  Shoe: :true_linkswear:,  Rangfinder: :leupold:
Bag: :ping:

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Likely just a little twist and roll.

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Erik J. Barzeski —  I knock a ball. It goes in a gopher hole. 🏌🏼‍♂️
Director of Instruction Golf Evolution • Owner, The Sand Trap .com • AuthorLowest Score Wins
Golf Digest "Best Young Teachers in America" 2016-17 & "Best in State" 2017-20 • WNY Section PGA Teacher of the Year 2019 :edel: :true_linkswear:

Check Out: New Topics | TST Blog | Golf Terms | Instructional Content | Analyzr | LSW | Instructional Droplets

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  On 7/15/2023 at 6:25 PM, saevel25 said:

Played 18 today. Driver is erratic. Mostly with big push cuts. Might just stick with my 2 cross over for now, until I can work on the driver. The misses just feel like I can’t square up the club face. When I try to square it up more, I’d slice it more. 

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Sounds like that club face control you were mentioning before

Colin P.

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Ok, a bit better today. Didn't slice one driver off the map with the driver. I still wasn't happy with the driver swing. It felt much longer than I wanted. I was able to time stuff up. I also didn't use the driver as much, so I didn't play as much Russian Roulette 😛. I kind of gambled on old swing feels would allow me to time of a few driver swings I needed to make. 

Putting was better today. I was using too long and too slow of a putting stroke. I upped the tempo a bit and made the putting stroke shorter. Distance control got much better. Still not making anything of significant length, like 15+ feet. 

Short game was hit or miss. I got some god awful lies around the green or some crazy stances. 2 shots I don't even mind what happened. They were like 8/10 in difficulty. I didn't leave myself with a 2nd short game shot, so I take it as a win.

Irons were decent. I like the direction the irons are going. 

Going forward, I need to keep working on the swing. Especially the driver swing. I need to figure out the backswing feel for keeping it shorter, and from there figure out how to actually swing the club down to make good contact. It's a crap shoot if I can have good club path and club face control if I do the stuff I do with my irons. Make shorter turns, and feel more of a pause in the backswing to feel the club and hands are in a good position. With the driver, from the moment of the pause feel and going to impact, it's ugly. 

 

Matt Dougherty, P.E.
 fasdfa dfdsaf 

What's in My Bag
Driver; :pxg: 0311 Gen 5,  3-Wood: 
:titleist: 917h3 ,  Hybrid:  :titleist: 915 2-Hybrid,  Irons: Sub 70 TAIII Fordged
Wedges: :edel: (52, 56, 60),  Putter: :edel:,  Ball: :snell: MTB,  Shoe: :true_linkswear:,  Rangfinder: :leupold:
Bag: :ping:

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Now that I am noticing my backswing is routinely shorter with my irons with very little effort on my part. I am going back to working on my downswing stuff. The above video is pausing at the top of the swing. Feeling the hands lower down towards my right heel. 

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Matt Dougherty, P.E.
 fasdfa dfdsaf 

What's in My Bag
Driver; :pxg: 0311 Gen 5,  3-Wood: 
:titleist: 917h3 ,  Hybrid:  :titleist: 915 2-Hybrid,  Irons: Sub 70 TAIII Fordged
Wedges: :edel: (52, 56, 60),  Putter: :edel:,  Ball: :snell: MTB,  Shoe: :true_linkswear:,  Rangfinder: :leupold:
Bag: :ping:

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So... the attempt to speed things up was a good 0% success rate right now. I decided to hit like 5 balls, trying to see if I could do the feels at speed. I was curious. The results were not good. 🤣

I was able to recreate the feel dropping the back of my hand to my right pocket. 

 A4.png A5.png A6.png

Which in reality means I get to A6 with the club here...  when I do things slowly 😛

A6 (Actual).png

Slow and steady wins the golf race 😛 

Matt Dougherty, P.E.
 fasdfa dfdsaf 

What's in My Bag
Driver; :pxg: 0311 Gen 5,  3-Wood: 
:titleist: 917h3 ,  Hybrid:  :titleist: 915 2-Hybrid,  Irons: Sub 70 TAIII Fordged
Wedges: :edel: (52, 56, 60),  Putter: :edel:,  Ball: :snell: MTB,  Shoe: :true_linkswear:,  Rangfinder: :leupold:
Bag: :ping:

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So, apparently the pause in the backswing really works well for me on the course. Front nine, mishitting shots, contact sucks. Then, I go back to the pause feeling and start hitting everything so good. Especially the driver.

So, no matter what I do on the range in trying to get the downswing feels to set in. The pause feel just syncs up the swing and lets me hit the ball so much better than compared when I don't. A 44 front nine, and 36 back nine is a bit of proof. The difference is 100% off the tee and approach shots. 

Matt Dougherty, P.E.
 fasdfa dfdsaf 

What's in My Bag
Driver; :pxg: 0311 Gen 5,  3-Wood: 
:titleist: 917h3 ,  Hybrid:  :titleist: 915 2-Hybrid,  Irons: Sub 70 TAIII Fordged
Wedges: :edel: (52, 56, 60),  Putter: :edel:,  Ball: :snell: MTB,  Shoe: :true_linkswear:,  Rangfinder: :leupold:
Bag: :ping:

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  On 7/21/2023 at 7:47 PM, saevel25 said:

So, no matter what I do on the range in trying to get the downswing feels to set in. The pause feel just syncs up the swing and lets me hit the ball so much better than compared when I don't. A 44 front nine, and 36 back nine is a bit of proof. The difference is 100% off the tee and approach shots. 

Expand  

Yes, because you aren't continuing to load the right elbow.

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Erik J. Barzeski —  I knock a ball. It goes in a gopher hole. 🏌🏼‍♂️
Director of Instruction Golf Evolution • Owner, The Sand Trap .com • AuthorLowest Score Wins
Golf Digest "Best Young Teachers in America" 2016-17 & "Best in State" 2017-20 • WNY Section PGA Teacher of the Year 2019 :edel: :true_linkswear:

Check Out: New Topics | TST Blog | Golf Terms | Instructional Content | Analyzr | LSW | Instructional Droplets

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Had a great range session. Just kept it focused on the drill for about 40x. At the end I hit three shots with the following feels. First the pause at A3.5. Second more straightening of the left leg.

Things I noticed. The contact was crazy good. The club felt like it effortlessly smashed the ball. The sound of contact was totally different. The noticeable difference was how slower my hands felt through impact compared to how fast the clubhead went. 

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Matt Dougherty, P.E.
 fasdfa dfdsaf 

What's in My Bag
Driver; :pxg: 0311 Gen 5,  3-Wood: 
:titleist: 917h3 ,  Hybrid:  :titleist: 915 2-Hybrid,  Irons: Sub 70 TAIII Fordged
Wedges: :edel: (52, 56, 60),  Putter: :edel:,  Ball: :snell: MTB,  Shoe: :true_linkswear:,  Rangfinder: :leupold:
Bag: :ping:

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Good range session today with the driver. Similar stuff with the irons. Practice a good backswing, pause it at A4, drop hands to A6 and from there hit the ball by extending left knee and turning. 

Some feels that came from the drill. Body stays in tilt better, and head stays behind ball as I turn. 

For full swing, keep the turn shorter. Time turn with left shoulder at chin. Pause there. Then keep head behind and turn with extending left knee. 

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Matt Dougherty, P.E.
 fasdfa dfdsaf 

What's in My Bag
Driver; :pxg: 0311 Gen 5,  3-Wood: 
:titleist: 917h3 ,  Hybrid:  :titleist: 915 2-Hybrid,  Irons: Sub 70 TAIII Fordged
Wedges: :edel: (52, 56, 60),  Putter: :edel:,  Ball: :snell: MTB,  Shoe: :true_linkswear:,  Rangfinder: :leupold:
Bag: :ping:

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  • 2 weeks later...

Some take aways from yesterday's round. 

  1. Feel like the driver swing is 1/3rd the backswing length. Feel like the hands stop between A2 and A3:whistle:
  2. Less taking the clubhead around the body on pitches and chips around the green. Softer arms, and the clubhead and work more up. 
  3. I Need to work on putting inside of 15-FT. 

I got off the tee pretty decent and had a few good looks at birdie. My short game and putting was BLAH. 50% should be the baseline for scrambling, and I think I got up and down for par once. So, there was like 8 strokes, not including the three putting. I think I could have broken 80 with good, not great short game and putting yesterday. 

So, I bought my irons a year and a half ago. I do like them, except for I think they are a tad too low spinning for me. I need to get on a trackman or equivalent sometime to check out the spin rates. I think I catch fliers' way too often. On Hole #18, I had 155 to the pin, and the wind was out of the right (just confirmed on google maps the orientation). I was in the rough, which was light rough. I should have caught a good amount of the ball. I hit a pretty stock PW shot by feel, which goes like 145-148 yards. I flew the pin by 5 yards. I had to have caught a flier. Out of the lie, I should not have flown the ball 160 yards. 

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Matt Dougherty, P.E.
 fasdfa dfdsaf 

What's in My Bag
Driver; :pxg: 0311 Gen 5,  3-Wood: 
:titleist: 917h3 ,  Hybrid:  :titleist: 915 2-Hybrid,  Irons: Sub 70 TAIII Fordged
Wedges: :edel: (52, 56, 60),  Putter: :edel:,  Ball: :snell: MTB,  Shoe: :true_linkswear:,  Rangfinder: :leupold:
Bag: :ping:

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  On 8/10/2023 at 8:42 PM, Benville32 said:

curious how you've been posting your swings since 2010.

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Cell Phone + Tripod + Youtube Account 😉

  On 8/10/2023 at 8:42 PM, Benville32 said:

How much have you improved since then?

Expand  

Probably a 13 handicap, down to a 3 handicap for a while, up to around an 8 handicap as I continue to work on stuff. 

Overall, ever facet of the game is better. 

Matt Dougherty, P.E.
 fasdfa dfdsaf 

What's in My Bag
Driver; :pxg: 0311 Gen 5,  3-Wood: 
:titleist: 917h3 ,  Hybrid:  :titleist: 915 2-Hybrid,  Irons: Sub 70 TAIII Fordged
Wedges: :edel: (52, 56, 60),  Putter: :edel:,  Ball: :snell: MTB,  Shoe: :true_linkswear:,  Rangfinder: :leupold:
Bag: :ping:

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  On 8/10/2023 at 8:42 PM, Benville32 said:

curious how you've been posting your swings since 2010.

Expand  

The internet has been around since before 2010 :-P

Driver: :titleist:  GT3
Woods:  :cobra: Darkspeed LS 3Wood
Irons: :titleist: U505 (3)  :tmade: P770 (4-PW)
Wedges: :callaway: MD3 50   :titleist: SM9 54/58  
Putter: :tmade: Spider X

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  • 2 weeks later...

After going up to Erie to practice a bit. The current feels;

1. Control swing length, it’s good but it’s always needs monitoring. Swing length being defined by right elbow bend and amount I turn my torso. 

2. Pause my turn for like half a second. This gives me more time to get my hands down. Half a second feels noticeable. The pause needs to work with swing length. I can’t forget to do this when I hit 3/4 or 1/2 shots either. 

3. Get hands down to right pocket better. 

 

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Matt Dougherty, P.E.
 fasdfa dfdsaf 

What's in My Bag
Driver; :pxg: 0311 Gen 5,  3-Wood: 
:titleist: 917h3 ,  Hybrid:  :titleist: 915 2-Hybrid,  Irons: Sub 70 TAIII Fordged
Wedges: :edel: (52, 56, 60),  Putter: :edel:,  Ball: :snell: MTB,  Shoe: :true_linkswear:,  Rangfinder: :leupold:
Bag: :ping:

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For others… it's not actually a half second. Just feels like it.

  • Upvote 1

Erik J. Barzeski —  I knock a ball. It goes in a gopher hole. 🏌🏼‍♂️
Director of Instruction Golf Evolution • Owner, The Sand Trap .com • AuthorLowest Score Wins
Golf Digest "Best Young Teachers in America" 2016-17 & "Best in State" 2017-20 • WNY Section PGA Teacher of the Year 2019 :edel: :true_linkswear:

Check Out: New Topics | TST Blog | Golf Terms | Instructional Content | Analyzr | LSW | Instructional Droplets

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  • 2 weeks later...

Went to the range with @iacas before playing Moraine CC yesterday. Some notes from there. 

Full Swing Stuff

1) Still have the pause feeling at end of backswing
2) Hands down to right pocket faster from A4. Feeling more like I am sending my hands in a long arc away from head. Like my right fist is facing away from the target instead of facing up. 
3) Backswing length, it is better, but less right elbow bend at A4 makes it easier. 
4) When I get the hands down better, it just flows through impact. Body turn feels way more compact in the downswing into finish.

Short Game Stuff

1) WAY LESS hinging of the wrist. More let the arms stay relaxed and make it more body turn.
2) Wait much longer to pivot, to allow the hands and club to get to the ball. 

Putting Stuff

1) Work on appropriate backswing stroke and tempo to control speed. I take the putter back way too long for shorter and midrange putts. 

 

Matt Dougherty, P.E.
 fasdfa dfdsaf 

What's in My Bag
Driver; :pxg: 0311 Gen 5,  3-Wood: 
:titleist: 917h3 ,  Hybrid:  :titleist: 915 2-Hybrid,  Irons: Sub 70 TAIII Fordged
Wedges: :edel: (52, 56, 60),  Putter: :edel:,  Ball: :snell: MTB,  Shoe: :true_linkswear:,  Rangfinder: :leupold:
Bag: :ping:

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Putting myself on the IL. Was practicing today and felt a spasm in my lower back. Not overly severe, but I can feel my back not liking me taking a golf stance. 

Matt Dougherty, P.E.
 fasdfa dfdsaf 

What's in My Bag
Driver; :pxg: 0311 Gen 5,  3-Wood: 
:titleist: 917h3 ,  Hybrid:  :titleist: 915 2-Hybrid,  Irons: Sub 70 TAIII Fordged
Wedges: :edel: (52, 56, 60),  Putter: :edel:,  Ball: :snell: MTB,  Shoe: :true_linkswear:,  Rangfinder: :leupold:
Bag: :ping:

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