Thread 46986

[iacas]

Originally Posted by scv76

Eric, in his video dated 11-12-11, what's your opinion on his early wrist hinge?

I used to do that, and was told it was detrimental. I assume that an early hinge won't matter as long as you wind up in the correct position at the top?

I have no problem with an "early" wrist set if it works for the golfer. That may sound like a cop-out but this is one of the things where there's no one answer. Ideally starting from P3.5 onward the shaft and hands don't jump around planes too much - how you get to a position where you can do that is up to you.

[playbridgestone]

You need to stop extending your right leg all the way on the backswing.  Keep some flex in it.  This is the reason why your left knee bends so much because it looks like your almost, if not locking your right knee completely on your backswing forcing your left knee to drop lower and throwing your whole body off.

[money]

Your left foot is too straight. Turn it outwards at a 45 degree angle.

[dsc123]

Originally Posted by money

Your left foot is too straight. Turn it outwards at a 45 degree angle.

It might be, but it might also appear that way because the video isn't really straight on.  I'm hitting at a green towards the right (from DTL perspective), so its probably flared a bit more than it looks, though perhaps still not enough.

[dsc123]

Here's the latest.  The video sucks because of the low light, and the gate was bolted to the floor so I couldn't move it away like i usually do, but its all I've got.   Just uploaded this on Evolvr last night and looking forward to Mike's thoughts.  The knee is more stable, but not quite stable yet. I'm closer to parrallel, but not quite there yet.  I find it hard to tell from range sessions whether the ball flight is improving or not.  It takes me 20-30 swings to get it going, and from there i'll have good and bad streaks.  I do think I'm striking it well with my wedges, but not so much with the mid-irons.  That's probably due to feeling like I have to swing harder.

When I get on a good run, it feels effortless.

[dsc123]

Here's the latest.  I worked with Mike to keep my left knee in position, shorten the backswing and weaken my grip.  Lately I've been working with James to try to get my hips to slide forward rather than spin open.  I'm still struggling with the slide, but I think I've finally gotten my right heel to roll instead of come off the ground.  That's helped me achieve better contact and ball flight that is both longer and straighter.

[ddalet]

hey, I love to watch the different videos and see your swing improve.

There was something glaringly obvious in your first video that is not so obvious in the last... you were coming way over the top because you only rotated your hips and had very little lateral motion.

I predict that if you keep working on lateral lower body motion, you will see your hcp drop significantly... then you'll be concerned only with what really makes the biggest difference in the game... 10ft and in!

congrats!

[Beachcomber]

DSC... You're swing looks a lot better than it did on the Golftec swing analysis you did back in September of 2011.  Nice job!  How has your scores looked over the last 6 months?  I would expect that your HDCP is trending downward?  Your swing at impact looks much better.

[dsc123]

Thanks for the kind words.  Stretch's thread showing his improvement over the past 2 years was the driving force for me to sign up for Evolvr.  I definitely feel like I'm striking the ball better, and hope to keep it going in the right direction.

As far as the handicap, I haven't played much in the last few months.  I think the Golftech video was from September 2011, a couple weeks before I got married.  I played a couple rounds at Mayakoba during the honeymoon, and signed up for evolvr when I got home.  Since then I played about twice, and that was two months ago.  I was striking the ball well but my short game was horrendous after months of neglect so my scores did not improve.  Weather permitting I'll get back to the course the first weekend in March.

[dsc123]

I've played three rounds this month and while my scores haven't been great, I feel like I'm hitting the ball much better.  MUCH better.

Shot a 43 on the front yesterday, despite starting with a triple on the first hole (pitched it over the green and into the weeds, then clipped a branch on the way back).  I don't think I made anything outside 5 feet, but always put it close and kept it to two putts, 18 on the front.  So in light of that, I was thrilled with a 43.  Then of course I start thinking that bogey golf on the back will put me at 86 (par 34 on the back), which is probably my course best, and I proceed to double, double, triple, triple.....16 over on the back.

I come away learning 2 things:

First, I have to trust my pitching.  I've been using the method in Erik's quickie video, but early in a round I dont trust it and get too handsy rather than letting the club just fall and end up blading it.  Conservatively, this cost me 3-4 strokes yesterday.

Second, I need to focus better.  I try to take it three holes at a time and shoot for 2 over every three holes, and at least 3 FIR+GIR.  But once I see that I'm playing well, i start projecting scores, lose my focus and start making bad swings. The once downside of using a scorekeeping app is that its impossible to not notice my total score

[dsc123]

Here's the latest.  I think my scores are slowly starting to come down.  My handicap has actually gone up because some of my good rounds from last summer are falling out of the calculation so my Oct-Feb slump is weighing heavy now.  After a couple of good scores in March and early April I regressed for about a month, shooting 95-105.  The culprit was that I thought I had the hip slide down pat, and stopped thinking about it.  Looked on video and saw I was spinning my hips again.  Since then I've shot 89-83-89, and the 89s were inflated by some blow ups.  The 83 on one my my home courses beat my personal course record by 4 and my previous low on any course by 1.

Specifically I've been working on the hip slide and trying to keep my right elbow in.  The change to the elbow makes swinging a golf club feel like a completely different motion.  In a nice way.

[dsc123]

About the time of my last post I bought a membership at a public course so I've been playing a ton but not spending much time at the range.  I plan to get back to the lessons in the coming months.

Working with mvmac I changed my putting stroke completely.  I stand up straighter, keep my elbows closer to my side, and don't rock the shoulders as much.  Here's the old stroke:

And the new one:

I need to start rotating my shirts better when I make these videos.

[dsc123]

And here's the full swing right now.  The focus right now is trying to keep the head still.  I tried to do it by turning a bit shallower, which I actually liked.  It felt like I was sweeping more, hitting the ball easier, and getting more right to left movement on it. It didn't do much for the head though.

I didn't see the glare until I uploaded the video :/

[dsc123]

I intended to write a focused thread but ended up with a brain dump, so I rejiggered it as an audit of the status of my game.

Over the past 18 months I think I've made huge strides in every aspect of my game.

• Putting  - I took an aimpoint class, made the changed noted above, and spent a lot of time hitting putts.  I've gone from 35.6 putts per round to 33.6 putts per round (Apr-Jul 2012).

• Pitching - I watched Erik's quickie pitching video, did some work with mvmac, and spent some time at the short game area.  In the past I tried the pelz dead hands clock stuff.  I went from hoping to simply hit the green to hoping to get it within 15 feet.  I think my chipping could use some work, but recently it has improved.

• Ball Striking -  My FIR before Jan 1, 2011 was 29%.  Since starting with evolvr I'm up to 39% (Oct 2011).  I probably hit one OB about every 27 holes where it used to be closer to 9 (or worse).  GIR prior to 1/1/11 was 18%, up to 26% since starting with evolvr.  A lot of room for improvement still, but it feels like night and day.

• Overall - 7 strokes off my handicap since Jan 1 2011.  Hope to take another stroke or two off this year.

• I actually think this understates the improvement because I follow the rules much more strictly now than before.

In April I started keeping some really detailed stats.  So here we go....

Putting stats:

I'm fairly satisfied with this.  I'd like to make a few more putts at just about every distance, but I'm not far from my goals.  Need to cut down on the three putts.

Approach shots:

Obviously, averages don't tell the whole story.  I can miss the pin by 15 feet but be off the green, or i can barely make the green and have a 100 foot putt.  I know I this happened to the 100-109 distance (100 ft putt) and the 110-119 (70 foot putt).  I also think I exercise poor club selection in the 140-169 range, and since I hit my LW about 85 and my AW about 115, the 90-109 range sucks mostly because I don't have a SW.  At least that's what I tell myself.  Also, the defining feature of my home course is elevation changes--10 of the holes play at least one club long/short due the elevation of the greens (2 are blind shots)--which doesn't help these numbers. 110-139 seems to be my sweet spot, which represents my AW, PW, and 9 iron.

All that being said, it really frustrates me to see distances where I'm usually missing the green.  I've made such huge strides with my ball striking.  I don't really know what these numbers "should" look like for a 14HC.

So going forward, I guess I'm going in the right direction by getting back to focusing on my full swing with the evolvr guys.  I was sending in about 2 videos and making about 8 trips to the range every month from Oct through April, but since then I've been playing a ton and practicing very little.  This will certainly help to refocus me.

I also plan on getting spending some cash on clubs next month.  I'll pick up a SW and get fit for a driver, 3w and maybe 3h.  Although I hit the 3w and 3h okay, I think i'm losing some accuracy by using a regular flex shafts.  I'll see if a new club with a professionally fit shaft will help.

[dsc123]

Shot a 79 yesterday, breaking 80 for the first time (68.9/126, par 71).  Hard to explain how exciting that is!  I hoped to do it this year but as the season is winding down and the closest I came was an 82, I didn't think it was going to happen.

Not a single birdie, and really only one makable birdie putt all day.  Not many tap in pars.  I probably made 4-5 12-20 foot par putts, and didn't have any blow up holes (until 18).  Solid but unspectacular all the way around.  I started off a bad (short) tee shot but made up with a 12 foot par putt.  On the second hole, a par 3, I hit an ugly low pull that bent back to the pin and landed at about 15 feet.  On three I hit a perfect tee shot, then skulled an 8 iron that rolled all the way to the green.  After 3 holes and three bad shots I was very lucky to be sitting even par.

I had a 73 standing on the 18 tee, a par 4, looking at a tee shot that I always struggle with when nearing a good score...and ripped a drive 270 right down the center.  Best drive of the day.  I felt really good about being able to do that knowing that a bad shot could ruin my day.  Left me with a 9 iron to the green and for the first time all day I couldn't keep thoughts of what score I was going to shoot out of my head while standing over the ball.  Of course I shanked it, the ball stopping behind a tree with no shot at the green.  Punched out close to the green, hit a nice looking pitch that didn't stop and rolled 25 feet past the hole.  Hit the first putt to about 3 feet and sunk that one for 79.

Looking back, I am most satisfied with the fact that I took 78 swings without thinking about the result, just focusing on 1 or 2 swing thoughts and hitting the ball.  That's not to say that I didn't pay attention to my score throughout the round, after parring 15 I starting thinking "I only have to bogey 16-18 to break 80," but I was able to focus on each shot when standing over the ball.

RedGate Golf Course
HOLE	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	OUT	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	IN	TOTAL
68.9/126 Middle	357	159	324	505	328	126	345	402	456	3,002	392	160	371	398	473	127	479	188	412	3,000	6,002
Handicap	7	16	13	1	11	17	9	5	3		10	15	12	8	6	18	2	14	4
Par	4	3	4	5	4	3	4	4	5	36	4	3	4	4	5	3	5	3	4	35	71
Score	4	3	4	6	5	3	4	5	6	40	5	3	4	4	6	3	5	3	6	39	79
+/-
Net Score	3	2	3	5	4	3	3	4	5	32	4	2	3	3	5	3	4	2	5	31	63
Fairway										71.4%										50%	61.5%
Club off Tee	3w	8i	Hy	5i	Dr	9i	Dr	Dr	Dr		Dr	6i	Dr	Dr	Dr	9i	5i	Hy	Dr
Distance off Tee																			270	270	270
Putts	1	2	2	3	3	2	2	2	2	2.1	2	2	1	2	2	2	1	1	2	1.7	1.9
1st Putt Dist	12	20	90	60	40	18	25	20	40	36.1	15		15	8	15	40	2	4	25	15.5	26.4
Made Putt Dist	12	3	15	2	4	2	17	1	4	6.7	3		15	1	4	2	2	4	3	4.3	5.5
Approach Length	148		143	155	90		95	112	195	134	165		105	140	85		85		139	119.8	127.5
Approach Club	7i		8i	7i	SW		GW	GW	Hy		7i		GW	9i	SW		GW		9i
Approach Shot										71.4%										16.7%	46.2%
Sand Saves										0%											0%
Up and Down										100%										60%	66.7%
GIR										66.7%										33.3%	50%

[dsc123]

I have not been very diligent about my range work and evolvr lately, mostly due to work, travel, and playing more rounds.  But I have been conscience of the instruction and putting it into practice.  Now that I've broken 80, I think I will have a renewed focus on the lessons again.  My course also just added unlimited range use to my membership, so I no longer have to choose paying $10 to practice over playing 18 holes for free.

That being said, I really dont think I could have achieved this without the help of Mike and James over the past year.  Thank you both!

Handicap at first post (May 2011) - 19

Handicap when signed up for evolvr (Oct 2011) - 16.5

Current handicap - 12.6

[dsc123]

Its been a while since I've posted here.  Last year I got down to a 10.6, breaking 80 twice in a month.  The following month we were blessed with the birth of healthy twins and between the lack of practice and sleep, my handicap drifted up to 11.9 where it stands now.  Hoping to get it back down and maybe into the singles this year.

I cringe when I see the lack of shaft lean at impact (close to flipping) and how early my wrist angles/lag are going on me.  But I'm working on other things at the moment.  My latest lesson from Stephan has me working on straightening my legs some more at impact and getting my belt buckle rising and facing the target sooner.

Swings from before my last lesson, then after.

It looks to me like the changes are coming along.  The straighter legs are more pronounced in the DTL view, I think.  My head is still moving too much, too.

BTW, these are all filmed with my phone (samsung S4).  Certainly not as good as a dedicated high speed camera, but in good light, it does pretty good.  And setting this up with a little gorilla pod on my bag couldn't be any easier.

[dsc123]

I haven't been spending as much time on the range as I should be, but I have done some work and I have played a lot of golf.  After struggling in the 86-89 range for most of this season (and even some in the 90s, ugh!), I shot 84, 85, 81, and 78 this past week.   The 78 actually happened while I was making a vlog so I should have that up soon--I'm trying to cut the length down.  Very cool to get my personal course record on video!

Anyway, I think strengthening my grip a bit and straightening the left leg some has really helped.  I still have mishits, and likely always will, but I've been hitting my irons much more consistently.  Playing more often has also helped me get my short game feel back.

One thing that sticks out to me is that I'm crossing the line more than before.  I had It looks like I"m crossing the line a bit more, which is something I had made progress on (compare 6/22/2012 post to 5/26/14).  I should be able to fix that so long as I keep my eye on it.