My Swing (Golfingdad)

[Golfingdad]

Yeah, I see. I thought the site had switched to a 'just post the link and it'll put itself' thing, but that doesn't seem to be working very well. 

It did, but it seems to be finnicky, for me at least.

Edited October 23, 2015 by Golfingdad
Removed repetitiveness

[billchao]

Swing is looking great, @Golfingdad! You're going to need to invest in some smaller clothes soon.

[Mr. Desmond]

Keep this up, and you'll be able to quit your day job...

[Golfingdad]

On 10/24/2015, 4:16:50, billchao said:

Swing is looking great, @Golfingdad! You're going to need to invest in some smaller clothes soon.

Haha, thanks!  I'm actually quite a few sizes down already. 

---

Today I tried to plot a new shot zone for my driver, such that I'll be able to plan out my tee shots for my upcoming tournament.  I went to google maps and printed out the "earth" view of my range, then just plotted (as well as I could) 20 shots onto that printout.  Using a few of the aiming poles (that I've lasered) I should be able to get that PDF inserted to scale in autocad and plot the shots.  Hopefully I'll have some time this afternoon. ;)

[Golfingdad]

OK, here we go:

20 shots with the driver - lateral dispersion is fairly accurate, "north-south" is a bit more of a guesstimate.  Which is OK, because the side to side is what I'm more concerned with anyway.  Considering that the course I'm playing has a lot of holes with nothing but "Coastal Sage Scrub" outside of the rough areas (meaning lost balls are possible, and unplayables likely), this means I can't pull the driver out unless I have at least 75 (or is it 95?? - I can't remember if its a 10 yard or 20 yard buffer for penalty shots) yards of room in my landing area.

It's a generous, resort course, but I don't know if it's that generous.  Guess I need to shot zone my 3 wood and hybrid now as well. ;)

[Golfingdad]

Expanding on my "Daily 5 minutes" post, I played nine holes today with the swing thought of bowing the left wrist and firing open the hips.

I missed right one time and it was a straight push that was exacerbated by a left to right wind.  Basically, I BARELY missed right one time.

I played a solid 18 holes last week (shot 79) where I had one horrendous "toe shank" with a 6 iron on a par 3 that went far right, but otherwise, like today, I did not miss anything to the right.

To me, this is a big deal.  A really big deal to know that I can aim all the way down the right side and open up the fairway and green completely to my shots.

Its supposed to rain all week so probably not much outdoor practice happening but I'll get some video as soon as I can. :)

[Golfingdad]

Was thinking about taking another lesson soon, but before I bother with that, I went back through my last lesson video and there is plenty there still for me to work on.  So prior to going to see a coach again and have him tell me some stuff I already know, I'm going to continue to work on these same things; softer back and right elbow, steeper A3 to shallower A5, etc, etc.  Same old, same old.  Also going to incorporate "when practicing the backswing" and "exaggeration necessary" to this practice. ;)

 

 

[mchepp]

Who's that big fella getting a lesson in that video? 

[Golfingdad]

1 minute ago, mchepp said:

Who's that big fella getting a lesson in that video? 

My fat twin. 

[Golfingdad]

No video, but had a really good lunch time practice session today.  Keeping the right elbow in front, shoulders soft (although to be honest, this one is tough for me - I still don't know a feel for this), then the "draw path with cut pivot" idea for the downswing.  Lots of mapping followed by little "chip" shots, and then a handful of full swings at the end.

[Golfingdad]

Hey @mvmac, quick question:  you mentioned in the Waste Management thread that you were not a fan of Hideki Matsuyama's pause in his swing at A4.  (Pretty sure nobody likes his pause pre-A1 ... that's annoying as heck)  You also added a smiley to that so I don't know if you were kidding.

If you weren't kidding, is it SOLELY a cosmetic, personal preference type thing you don't like, or is there a functional reason why it might not be a good idea?  I ask because I feel like when I tend to make some bad swings, especially with the driver, it might have something to do with getting too quick or rushing the downswing.  So my thought was that, at least as a practice thought or feel, perhaps thinking about a pause like that wouldn't be a bad idea?

[GolfLug]

27 minutes ago, Golfingdad said:

Hey @mvmac, quick question:  you mentioned in the Waste Management thread that you were not a fan of Hideki Matsuyama's pause in his swing at A4.  (Pretty sure nobody likes his pause pre-A1 ... that's annoying as heck)  You also added a smiley to that so I don't know if you were kidding.

If you weren't kidding, is it SOLELY a cosmetic, personal preference type thing you don't like, or is there a functional reason why it might not be a good idea?  I ask because I feel like when I tend to make some bad swings, especially with the driver, it might have something to do with getting too quick or rushing the downswing.  So my thought was that, at least as a practice thought or feel, perhaps thinking about a pause like that wouldn't be a bad idea?

Actually I am curious about this too. Always thought the pause at top allowed enough time to ensure a lower body start. I hear commentators praising it all the time. Chamblee was explaining it the other day but can't recall what he said. Anyway, if so good, why don't we see it more often on tour.

[mvmac]

47 minutes ago, Golfingdad said:

If you weren't kidding, is it SOLELY a cosmetic, personal preference type thing you don't like, or is there a functional reason why it might not be a good idea?

Mostly a cosmetic thing, he obviously can play pretty golf golf doing it  

I also don't like how people think it's a great thing and try to copy it for the sake of copying it. I tend to prefer more "flow" and if you actually try to pause at 4 I think it can cause issues with your sequencing and even rob you of some speed.

[Golfingdad]

1 hour ago, mvmac said:

Mostly a cosmetic thing, he obviously can play pretty golf golf doing it  

I also don't like how people think it's a great thing and try to copy it for the sake of copying it. I tend to prefer more "flow" and if you actually try to pause at 4 I think it can cause issues with your sequencing and even rob you of some speed.

All makes perfect sense.  Thanks!

[Golfingdad]

On January 3, 2016 at 7:49 PM, Golfingdad said:

I missed right one time and it was a straight push that was exacerbated by a left to right wind.  Basically, I BARELY missed right one time.

I played a solid 18 holes last week (shot 79) where I had one horrendous "toe shank" with a 6 iron on a par 3 that went far right, but otherwise, like today, I did not miss anything to the right.

To me, this is a big deal.  A really big deal to know that I can aim all the way down the right side and open up the fairway and green completely to my shots.

Almost 3 months since this post and things have pretty much stayed like this.  I'm almost never missing right anymore.  I played 4 rounds in the last 7 days (lucky me!!) and I just tallied up my tee shots.  In those 4 rounds, I hit 54 tee shots on par 4s and 5s, and I missed to the right 4 times.  FOUR times.  One a pushed 4 iron, 2 push fades with a 3 wood, and one ugly slice with a driver.

29 times I hit it straight(ish), 10 times I missed left, and 9 times I missed left of left.

The funny (or frustrating, depending on the outlook) thing about it is that I think the "left of lefts" are very easily avoidable.  I believe that those are caused by getting out of sequence and letting the arms get ahead of the lower body.  And I think what helps cause that, is that I still haven't completely gotten over my fear of missing to the right - even though it's clear it's not really happening anymore.

A smooth swing, where everything is in sequence, often times "feels" ready to produce a slice.  So I'm still fighting it, even with so much evidence to the contrary.

It's been awhile since I've taken some video so I'll make sure to get on that this week. :)

[RFKFREAK]

3 hours ago, Golfingdad said:

Almost 3 months since this post and things have pretty much stayed like this.  I'm almost never missing right anymore.  I played 4 rounds in the last 7 days (lucky me!!) and I just tallied up my tee shots.  In those 4 rounds, I hit 54 tee shots on par 4s and 5s, and I missed to the right 4 times.  FOUR times.  One a pushed 4 iron, 2 push fades with a 3 wood, and one ugly slice with a driver.

29 times I hit it straight(ish), 10 times I missed left, and 9 times I missed left of left.

The funny (or frustrating, depending on the outlook) thing about it is that I think the "left of lefts" are very easily avoidable.  I believe that those are caused by getting out of sequence and letting the arms get ahead of the lower body.  And I think what helps cause that, is that I still haven't completely gotten over my fear of missing to the right - even though it's clear it's not really happening anymore.

A smooth swing, where everything is in sequence, often times "feels" ready to produce a slice.  So I'm still fighting it, even with so much evidence to the contrary.

It's been awhile since I've taken some video so I'll make sure to get on that this week. :)

 

Nice, Drew!  What happened, family go away on vacation leaving you kid-less?  

[saevel25]

5 hours ago, Golfingdad said:

A smooth swing, where everything is in sequence, often times "feels" ready to produce a slice.  So I'm still fighting it, even with so much evidence to the contrary.

I had a similar experience yesterday. A swing that felt closely similar to a big straight slice ended up being a slight straight fade (5-10 yard curve). I was looking up waiting for the ball to just start sailing off to the right and it didn't. I did hit a big of a slice but it was like a 20 yard cut shot over my 50 yard slice. It felt more like a slice swing. The ball ended up in the fairway.

Interesting how feels change and if the swing path changes certain shots are not as extreme.

[GolfLug]

9 hours ago, Golfingdad said:

A smooth swing, where everything is in sequence, often times "feels" ready to produce a slice.  So I'm still fighting it, even with so much evidence to the contrary.

 

I guess at A6 since shaft points right of target and movement from there up to A7 is naturally right (from our vision POV) it sure feels that way. I always thought that the trick would be let the left arm completely freewheel out to what feels like open club face AND right of target club path from A6 onwards (not attempt to pull up or actively rotate arm or hand, etc.) even after A7. Easier said than done. Hard to trust to let the damn thing square up face and path on its own and not to try to control both somewhat instinctively. Seems like you are winning the battle lately.