My Swing (Golfingdad)

[saevel25]

Ha!  It was the 10th hole, and I had been playing very mediocre-ly , and figured if there was ever a time to try something daring, that was the time.  Wasn't going to be a great round, wasn't playing for money, so what the heck, right?

So I did exactly what you would do.   Pulled out a 6 iron (because I was afraid a 5 iron would be too low) and tried to "kick" a field goal through this window right here:

The red "U" at the top were the goal posts, the blue line is the flag and the red box is the extent of the green.  I hit it well but pulled it a teeny bit, heard it clip a leaf, which didn't really affect it much, and it ended up just short of the green, front left.    I "two-putted" for par from there.

Obviously, it was a pretty stupid play, but sometimes playing smart is boring.    And it sure was fun to pull it off!  (Would never try it when it mattered though.  Would have punched out left - @mdl I don't think it was possible to hit a club under the first branches and over the second one - and just settled for the likely bogey.

I would have done the same thing. I would see that gap on the left and  go, "I can get that underneath that and run it up there." If you even want a lower ball flight, take a 3 wood and just do a chippy punch shot. Hinge and slap the ball, really produces a low runner. You learn to get creative were I have been.

[billchao]

Obviously, it was a pretty stupid play, but sometimes playing smart is boring.  :-P   And it sure was fun to pull it off!

On the contrary, it was obviously a brilliant play! Risky, but it paid off, and now you know you can hit this shot for the next time you need to make par and it does matter. Can't learn to hit heroic escape shots unless you try, right?

[bplewis24]

I probably never would have considered punching out.  I would have gone above and right of the tree the whole way, mostly because my natural shape is a high draw, and keeping it low is not something I'm good at.  Also, screwing up the punch-out and clipping a branch would have resulted in a worse "miss" than clipping one of the trees above, ...or at least no better.

[Golfingdad]

I'm not really sure what to think about my game lately.  I still feel like it's improving, however, it's not really showing up in the handicap.  The reason I think it's improving, though, is that what I now consider my "bad" rounds all seem to be a lot closer to my good rounds than they used to be.  I shot an 83 at a fairly difficult new course last week.  All in all, that doesn't seem bad.  But a couple of my misses were inexcusable.

-The first fairway I hit (5th hole) ended up being a double bogey.  I missed the green, like an idiot, from 130 yards.  Then followed that up by trying to get cute with a bunker shot, thus creating another bunker shot.

-On the following hole I had a 75 yard shot into a peninsula green, so, of course, I overcooked it into the water for another double.

-I snap hooked a drive on the next hole OB/lost for a third straight double.

-Then hooked another into the cacti on the 10th hole, leading to my fourth and final double of the day.

The reason why the hooks stopped is because I finally realized I was allowing my grip to creep a little strong, so I corrected it.

So, on one hand, an 83 with 4 double bogeys isn't bad, but on the other hand, take back those two approaches and two drives and, all of a sudden, that 83 is a 75, or even a 74.

I feel like I'm really close ..... and also really, really far.

[Golfingdad]

So I posted this in the "Best shot of the week" thread a few weeks ago:

Originally Posted by Golfingdad

520 yard par 5, dead into a 20-25 mph wind. For kicks I attempt a "stinger" shot off the tee. With driver, I put the ball back 6" in my stance, and I hit it perfectly as planned. It did not get more than 30-35 feet off the ground at any point, drew slightly, and finished dead in the middle of the fairway, 259 yards from the tee. :). (Made par)

Then in our outing last week I tried a similar shot on 17 heading dead into the wind.  Same result.  Again, on 18, same shot, this one not hit perfectly - a little too far back in my stance and it was about 2 feet off the ground for the first 50 yards - but still ended up in the middle of the fairway 230-250 yards out there.

So now I'm thinking:  If I can hit it this straight while keeping it low, then why am I ever trying to hit it high?  Since then, I've spent some time at the range comparing the two types of drives;

1. Normal shot, teed up high, out near my left toe, looking to catch it on the upswing for minimum spin and maximum distance.
2. "Stinger" shot, ball teed up much lower (the top of the ball is level with or just a pinch above the top of the driver at address) and back inside my left heel.

The results have been the same each time;  the "normal" shot flies much higher, and when struck well does go farther, but with the tendency for a wide dispersion.  The "Stinger" shot seems to go much straighter, obviously much lower, and a little shorter, however, and this is important, not nearly as much shorter as I'd have expected.  Good drives at my range tend to carry to 250-260, then roll out to 260-275; with the stinger shot they were carrying anywhere from 220-240, but rolling much further.  I'd estimate (if range balls are to be trusted) that the difference in the two styles when comparing really good shots might by 15 yards at most.  When comparing mediocre shots in even less, and poor shots its negligible.  When you compare the sideways dispersion of the mediocre and poor shots, it seems to me like I may have found a winner with this.

If it works out, I have Michelle Wie to thank (watching her do it at the Dinah Shore a few weeks ago put it in my head I think).  I'm hoping to give it a shot on the course this Thursday.

I tried to take some video of each so you guys could check out the difference in the swings, but my phone was misbehaving.

[Hammer 4]

Just a wild guess with regards to your dispersion when you hit off your left foot. Could it be possible that, when you hit the stinger, your club face is square to the target line, and when you move the ball up your club face may not be as square because the club is coming back to the inside, or possibly the face is to open..?

I know if I hit my longer irons, and don't swing in  to out, I get some nasty pull hooks from coming ott. Anyhow just thinking out loud here.

[Golfingdad]

Just a wild guess with regards to your dispersion when you hit off your left foot. Could it be possible that, when you hit the stinger, your club face is square to the target line, and when you move the ball up your club face may not be as square because the club is coming back to the inside, or possibly the face is to open..?

I know if I hit my longer irons, and don't swing in  to out, I get some nasty pull hooks from coming ott. Anyhow just thinking out loud here.

Yeah, most definitely.  Sometimes the face is a little open and I'm hitting a push-cut, and sometimes I slam it shut and hit an ugly low pull-hook.  Then the knees start to shake and I'm afraid to try and hit the driver at all because, like Crash Davis once famously said (skip to 1:19):

[Golfingdad]

Latest Evolvr submission videos (from yesterday).  Still kind of stuck in the mud with the "jumping" piece, trying to get the legs straighter sooner.  Also still trying to get the shaft flatter through the downswing.

The good thing currently going on is that I seem to be striking the ball really well when I just concentrate on trying to point the belt buckle to the sky in the follow through.

The bad thing is that for some reason I frequently forget to do that.

Hmmm ...

[iacas]

The bad thing is that for some reason I frequently forget to do that.

Hmmm ...

Hmmm, gonna have to start calling you Forrest.

[mvmac]

The bad thing is that for some reason I frequently forget to do that.

Hmmm ...

Tie a string around a finger lol

[Golfingdad]

Hmmm, gonna have to start calling you Forrest.

Tie a string around a finger lol

Haha, very funny.

So today while taking full swings I made a point to get the belt buckly feeling like its going up ... and I was striking it really well.  I had a pretty nice little shot cone from my target to about 10 yards right of my target.  I did still have a few push cuts that leaked right of that, but for the most part, everything was in there.  I thought I had pulled a couple, then went back and I think my alignment was all hinky.

One other thing:  I'm kind of fed up with how pronounced my silly "Kuchar" trigger move has become and I think it's a lot of silly wasted movement, so I tried to eliminate that today as well.  Pretty easy fix, that is, and it just makes everything else feel tighter. :)

[Dean Greene]

As you said your weight is on the balls of your feet. So your out of balance as seen when you lost your balance set your weight in your ankles and more in the heels.. Your stance is too wide narrow it up a bit. Your letting your right arm flex way too early, you want to swing with the feeling that the golf swing is wide,narrow, wide.keep the club out in front of you don't get it too deep behind you. This will cause you to hit pushes, blocks or higher handicappers come over the top to get the club back on plane. As far as the hips are concerned you need them to be more passive. At impact you want them to be about 30 degrees open and at that point they stop and the arms and hands come down and after you make impact the hips turn. You want to feel like your shoulders are closed and hips square at the target at impact even though they won't be. Hope this helps.

[Dean Greene]

Try and feel that your belt buckle is facing the ball at impact not pointing to the sky. This will keep your hips from spinning open too early. You also don't want to hang back on your right side and Change your spine angle(tilt). We want 80 percent of our weight on the left side(stacked)

[cipher]

As you said your weight is on the balls of your feet. So your out of balance as seen when you lost your balance set your weight in your ankles and more in the heels.. Your stance is too wide narrow it up a bit. Your letting your right arm flex way too early, you want to swing with the feeling that the golf swing is wide,narrow, wide.keep the club out in front of you don't get it too deep behind you. This will cause you to hit pushes, blocks or higher handicappers come over the top to get the club back on plane. As far as the hips are concerned you need them to be more passive. At impact you want them to be about 30 degrees open and at that point they stop and the arms and hands come down and after you make impact the hips turn. You want to feel like your shoulders are closed and hips square at the target at impact even though they won't be. Hope this helps.

Try and feel that your belt buckle is facing the ball at impact not pointing to the sky. This will keep your hips from spinning open too early. You also don't want to hang back on your right side and Change your spine angle(tilt). We want 80 percent of our weight on the left side(stacked)

This just not good advice here, I am sorry.

[jamo]

One other thing:  I'm kind of fed up with how pronounced my silly "Kuchar" trigger move has become and I think it's a lot of silly wasted movement, so I tried to eliminate that today as well.  Pretty easy fix, that is, and it just makes everything else feel tighter. :)

What's the Kuchar trigger thing? EDIT: Nevermind, I see it. You kind of gather your arms at the top during transition.

[Dean Greene]

Hey cipher it wasn't for you. Not sure what your swing is but these are correct.

[Golfingdad]

What's the Kuchar trigger thing? EDIT: Nevermind, I see it. You kind of gather your arms at the top during transition.

No ... It's just that move at the very beginning where the club comes up off the ground and goes away from me before I actually start the backswing. I don't know how much it affects my swing but it just seems like wasted movement. I also think it looks ugly when I do it. And to Matt Kuchar in my best Rodney Dangerfield voice: "It looks good on you though!" ;)

[jamo]

No ... It's just that move at the very beginning where the club comes up off the ground and goes away from me before I actually start the backswing. I don't know how much it affects my swing but it just seems like wasted movement. I also think it looks ugly when I do it. And to Matt Kuchar in my best Rodney Dangerfield voice: "It looks good on you though!" ;)

Oh, I thought that was a drill or something. :-O