My Swing (iacas)

[saevel25]

My 166-yard 6-iron on 12… a tree was in my backswing, so that was a little punch shot I tried to cut. Just stayed straight. If I'm in the rough there's a 95% chance I'm taking something off. They tend to result in fewer fliers.

I really should do this more often

[boogielicious]

Quote:

Originally Posted by atanum

I use a Theraband and swing plane perfector

and that seems to be a little more flexible and works too.

Thanks. I've moved on to not using anything.

Worked pretty well today: http://www.gamegolf.com/round/86278 .

When it displays the shot, it is showing curvature.  But I assume it is just the program, correct?  It showed many fades and you generally play a push draw.

[Zeph]

Pretty sure the curved path is just a visual thing to make it look like the ball went through the air, as opposed to giving you straight lines. The curved path is more to give you a 3D effect, it doesn't show which bay the ball was spinning.

GG can't know how you hit the ball or how it flew. It only knows what it's told, which is where you hit from, what club you used and where the ball ended up.

[iacas]

Pretty sure the curved path is just a visual thing to make it look like the ball went through the air, as opposed to giving you straight lines. The curved path is more to give you a 3D effect, it doesn't show which bay the ball was spinning.

GG can't know how you hit the ball or how it flew. It only knows what it's told, which is where you hit from, what club you used and where the ball ended up.

This.

[boogielicious]

Well then Titleist will have to invent a ball that can be tracked by GPS then, won't it!

[Abu3baid]

Well then Titleist will have to invent a ball that can be tracked by GPS then, won't it!

I'm pretty sure this already exists.. I think I saw a video last night that wast posted here on TST.. Basically it was like a range/club/games area and very ball has it's own gps and is tracked after it is hit.. At least I think that is what I heard, let me confirm and get back to you! Edit: sorry didn't see this was a my swing thread.. Feel free to delete or move, thanks

[Missouri Swede]

1) Swing to 2 making sure my right elbow bends quite a bit.

I've seen a couple posts about having more right elbow bend early in the takeaway/backswing.  How does this balance with Shorter (Probably Better) Swing? Keep the Right Arm Straight ?

Is it a matter of balancing one versus the other (overdoing one leads to undesired outcomes, so then the swing thought needs to change to the other? Or getting the "right amount" earlier, and then keeping that stable during the rest of the backswing?

Thanks.

[iacas]

Is it a matter of balancing one versus the other (overdoing one leads to undesired outcomes, so then the swing thought needs to change to the other? Or getting the "right amount" earlier, and then keeping that stable during the rest of the backswing?

Yes.

:)

I can't say, because everyone's a bit different. For example, mine stayed straight too long, "knew" it needed to bend, would start bending, and then wouldn't stop in time. Others don't have that problem. Some people bend it early and keep bending it.

Currently it feels like I bend it early and then it stops, so it's still "relatively straight" (the amount of bend put in by 2 is small). That's not what actually happens, but it's the feel.

[iacas]

Just wanted to go through my round of 69 at Whispering Woods to highlight a few things. It was from the blue tees (6500 yards) where we'd held the TST outing a few days prior. Let's take a look at each hole and the relevant Separation Values™ of the shots I hit.

I'm going to list the Skills that came into play and then rate myself as 1 (bad), 2 (okay), or 3 (good).

The Skills I won't list include Green Reading and GamePlanning. The former because it comes into play on every putt and I could give myself a "3" for that virtually every time (go AimPoint!), and the latter because I could similarly give myself a 3 every time. After all, I literally wrote the book on it.

Hole 1, 430 yards, par 4

Not a bad drive up the hill just stepping out of the car minutes before. In the left rough, on a sideslope, but still fine. 6-Iron was thinned and pulled a little, but from the lie, advanced the ball to nGIR. Chip/pitch got to within about three feet for a tap-in.

Driving (SV④) - 2

Approach Shots (SV④) - 2

Greenside Shots (SV③) - 2

Short Putts (SV②) - 2

Hole 2, 175 yards, par 3

I was trying to take a little off the 6-iron and hit a straight draw. Still, I avoided the super steep slope left (the ball hit on the fringe and trickled into the rough and part way down the hill), and that left me a straightforward pitch shot to four feet.

Approach Shots (SV④) - 2

Greenside Shots (SV③) - 2

Short Putts (SV②) - 2

Hole 3, 530 yards, par 5

Hit a shrimpy quick hook drive that buried into a the hill and hopped over it. From a lie with the ball a foot above my feet, I played a great hybrid shot to about 70 yards. The pin was up front, but the green slopes away, so I landed the ball about pin high (almost holed it on the fly) and then missed the twelve footer coming back.

Driving (SV④) - 1

Long Shots (SV②) - 3

Approach Shots (SV④) - 2

Greenside Shots (SV③) - 2

Medium Putts (SV①) - 2

Hole 4, 295 yards, par 4

Scuzzed a hybrid out to the right where it was perfectly safe. Stuffed the lob wedge from 70 yards or so to three feet. Kind of got away with this because that was as short as I could go without bringing trouble into play. I was playing for another five yards as I was on a bit of a downslope. Ball was wet so I think it slid up the face a bit more than grabbing.

Long Shots (SV②) - 2

Approach Shots (SV④) - 3

Short Putts ( SV② ) - 2

Hole 5, 300 yards, par 4

Pulled a 3W a little bit off the tee, but it carried the bunker and sat down quickly. Pitch to the green was decent. I gave myself a putt, but wasn't inside of 15 feet. Made the 15- or 16-footer.

Long Shots (SV②) - 1

Short Shots (SV③) - 2

Medium Putts (SV①) - 3

Hole 5, 190 yards, par 3

Approach Shots (SV④) - 3

Greenside Shots (SV③) - 2

Hit a 5-iron to the fringe. Two-putted from the fringe and 20 feet from the hole.

Hole 7, 530 yards, par 5

Pulled the driver a bit but OB is right as well as a fairway bunker, so left is a bit safer. Ball actually got some bounce in the rough, which was dryer than the fairway. Had a nasty lie so hit a 5-iron as I knew it wouldn't go long if it somehow jumped, but it would be long enough to get back to the fairway or close to it. Pitch shot was very good and left a two-footer.

Driving (SV④) - 3

Long Shots (SV②) - 2

Greenside Shots (SV③) - 3

Hole 8, 430 yards, par 4

Hit a nice 3W to the left side of the fairway. 9-iron to essentially an island green was good. Missed the 12-footer just high.

Driving (SV④) - 3

Approach Shots (SV④) - 3

Medium Putts (SV①) - 2

Hole 9, 410 yards, par 4

Thin cut 3W out to the right, but perfectly playable. Lots of room there; you can't really go left. Chip 8-iron up the hill was in the fringe. Almost made the putt from the fringe.

Driving (SV④) - 2

Approach Shots (SV④) - 2

Greenside Shots (SV③) - 3

Hole 10, 440 yards, par 4

Heeled the driver a little but it was still in reasonable position. Terrible 5-iron approach shot. Not a great short shot, and two putts from there.

Driving (SV④) - 2

Approach Shots (SV④) - 1

Short Shots ( SV② ) - 1

Medium Putts (SV①) - 2

Hole 11, 170 yards, par 3

Hit a green that's surprisingly tough to hit, so I get a 3 there. Had about 20 feet for birdie with a lot of break. Two putted.

Approach Shots (SV④) - 3

Medium Putts (SV①) - 2

Hole 12, 540 yards, par 5

Pulled drive a little, but left is the only place to go here and the fairway is about 20 yards wide in the landing spot. Was near a tree so all I could do was hit a 6-iron trouble shot with a partial backswing. It didn't cut, but left me just short of the bunker, which I'd planned on (I didn't want to take enough club to fly into the bunker). Sand wedge from 84 yards left me 12 feet. Good stroke, just missed.

Driving (SV④) - 2

Trouble Shots (SV②) - 2

Approach Shots (SV④) - 2

Short Putts (SV①) - 2

Hole 13, 390 yards, par 4

Good hybrid to the fairway. Lousy 8-iron - a bit thin and heeled and just not good. Left me in an awkward spot where I pitched to only seven feet, then missed that putt.

Long Shots (SV②) - 2

Approach Shots (SV④) - 1

Greenside Shots (SV③) - 1

Short Putts (SV①) - 2

Hole 14, 185 yards, par 3

Hit the green and two-putted from about 30 feet.

Approach Shots (SV④) - 3

Long Putts (SV①) - 2

Hole 15, 560 yards, par 5

Good driver up the left side, plugged :D. 3W from a downhill lie was also good. A bit lucky to avoid the bunkers, but from that distance you're just happy to get it over and get close to the green. Pitch shot was so-so - it needed another yard to sit right by the hole - but left me a putt. Made an eight footer for birdie.

Driving (SV④) - 3

Long Shots (SV②) - 2

Short Shots (SV②) - 2

Short Putts ( SV② ) - 3

Hole 16, 310 yards, par 4

Driver followed the GamePlan and rolled back down to the base of the hill. Pitch was great but rolled out to 15 feet or so, as they do on that green. Two putts.

Driving (SV④) - 3

Short Shots (SV②) - 2

Medium Putts (SV①) - 2

Hole 17, 410 yards, par 4

Great drive over the bunker. Hit soft, somehow, or it would have kicked into the fairway. 9-iron pushed (toward the flag) a bit but just trickled off the green. Putted from the fringe.

Driving (SV④) - 2

Approach Shots (SV④) - 2

Greenside Shots (SV③) - 2

Hole 18, 425 yards, par 4

One of the best drives of the day (even though it too rolled a foot out of its plug mark), and I was planning to hit the 9-iron to the right, pulled it, and stiffed it to two-feet.

Driving (SV④) - 3

Approach Shots (SV④) - 2

---

Driving (SV④) - 1, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3
Avg (11): 2.36

Approach Shots (SV④) - 1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3
Avg (14): 2.21

Greenside Shots (SV③) - 1, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 3, 3
Avg (8): 2.13

Long Shots (SV②) - 1, 2, 2, 2, 2, 3
Avg (6): 2

Short Putts (SV②) - 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 3
Avg (6) 2.17

Short Shots (SV②) - 1, 2, 2, 2
Avg (4): 1.8

Trouble Shots (SV②) - 2
Avg (1): 2

Medium Putts (SV①) - 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 3
Avg (6) 2.17

Long Putts (SV①) - 2
Avg (1): 2

In looking at this, essentially, I had a good day driving the ball. My approach shots were pretty good. Literally every other skill was worse - including one skill (short shots, 20-60 yards) that was below average.

Some may look at this and say "but if you had done better at those four 20-60 yard shots you could have shot 67" and they'd be right. But… if I would have done worse with my driving and approach shots, I could have shot 77. Or 87.

I didn't putt particularly great. I stuffed (somewhat accidentally) two shots. I made two putts of any distance at all.

The other key stats:

- 0 penalties

- 17 nGIR (3 fringes) with 11 GIR

---

No, I won't be doing this for every round, or perhaps even any more rounds that I play. After all, I know beforehand what the results are going to be… that's why I wrote a book about it and shared it with all of you.

My hope in doing this is that you start to evaluate your game. At the end of the day, ask yourself how you did on the skills listed on pages xii and xiii of Lowest Score Wins and evaluate yourself. How many times did you have the skills listed (O-Value), and how well did you pull them off? Use your average play as a 2 (but be honest with yourself), and a better than average shot as a 3, and a poorer shot than average a 1. Try to leave luck out of the equation. That balances out. If you hit a good shot that hits a sprinkler head and bounces OB, that's still a 2 or a 3.

[CarlSpackler]

Great insight! I've been thinking about altering my scorecard tracking. Currently I'll use extra rows to track FW Hit/ML/MR, GIR, SS, U/D, #putts. The problem is that it hasn't given me much usable feedback. It doesn't tell me if I missed FW left by a yard or 20. I could hit a GIR with a 40' putt and it still looks good.

[saevel25]

Great insight! I've been thinking about altering my scorecard tracking. Currently I'll use extra rows to track FW Hit/ML/MR, GIR, SS, U/D, #putts. The problem is that it hasn't given me much usable feedback. It doesn't tell me if I missed FW left by a yard or 20. I could hit a GIR with a 40' putt and it still looks good.

When I do is just label the stats. Then I put in distance to the hole. So if I hit a FIR, I will mark down 120. So I know I have 120 yard shot as well as a FIR. If I hit the green on the next shot, I will put down 26 feet in the 25+ putt category. Lets me gain proximity stats and also count shots as well.

[Abu3baid]

Thanks for that.. I can't wait to read te book and apply.. Even though like you I know the result before hand because I can't pull the driver out of the bag as if yet!

[billchao]

@iacas , thanks for the analysis. I'm going to use that as a guide for my own rounds in the future. Are those Game Golf screenshots? They're pretty cool, I'm definitely going to have to get one of those.

[iacas]

Are those Game Golf screenshots? They're pretty cool, I'm definitely going to have to get one of those.

Yes.

[FooFader]

Thanks @iacas , Next time i get out to the course (probably not for a few weeks) I will take the time (i guess it took maybe 30mins or a bit more to google map the holes for me) to analysis my game in the same way. I think it will be pretty humbling to see my ratings for myself shooting a mid 80s round.

[mvmac]

Good stuff Erik, thanks for posting

[mchepp]

This is really excellent stuff. Thank you for posting to show us how it is done.

Have you considered to have a way to track our SV scores over time? Something like Scorecard but with SV analysis per round, per hole, etc.

[RandallT]

One of the best posts I've seen to solidify the book information. Perhaps this could be on the LSW website somehow as a tool to try for readers on their next round(s).