My Swing (billchao)

[billchao]

6 minutes ago, iacas said:

I'm still not sure how you're not a lower handicap than I am.

#PushForNewportCup2K19

Inferior mental game and putting 

I'd like to make that Newport Cup. Going to spend more time this year working on scoring and less on the swing.

[Valleygolfer]

What did you do to your finger @billchao

[billchao]

1 hour ago, Valleygolfer said:

What did you do to your finger @billchao

Banged it on something around Thanksgiving. The middle joint on my left middle finger is still swollen. It strains the ligaments and tendons I think because there's some discomfort when I make a fist or grip something. It's worse when it's cold.

I was worried about hitting balls because I thought the force of the club on my hands and impact would hurt it, but it doesn't, really. I don't remember my fingers taking this long to heal but honestly haven't injured one since I was a teenager, so either I'm misremembering or just healing slower now.

[Lihu]

2 minutes ago, billchao said:

Banged it on something around Thanksgiving. The middle joint on my left middle finger is still swollen. It strains the ligaments and tendons I think because there's some discomfort when I make a fist or grip something. It's worse when it's cold.

I was worried about hitting balls because I thought the force of the club on my hands and impact would hurt it, but it doesn't, really. I don't remember my fingers taking this long to heal but honestly haven't injured one since I was a teenager, so either I'm misremembering or just healing slower now.

Have you gotten it diagnosed? Swollen for months doesn’t sound good.

[billchao]

8 minutes ago, Lihu said:

Have you gotten it diagnosed?

No. It's not broken and I don't think there's much a doctor can do with it. I had it buddy taped to another finger for a while when it was really tender but now it's just slight discomfort.

10 minutes ago, Lihu said:

Swollen for months doesn’t sound good.

Ad I understand it, finger injuries can take a long time to heal and I'm using my hands everyday for work probably slowing the process down.

A friend of mine jammed his finger playing beach volleyball and he said it took months to heal, too, and he doesn't work with his hands like I do. He doesn't have the full range of motion with that finger anymore either.

[iacas]

14 minutes ago, billchao said:

He doesn't have the full range of motion with that finger anymore either.

That's why you go to see a doctor now.

Seriously, even if they give you a shot to reduce swelling and put it in a little metal splint type thing, go.

[Lihu]

22 minutes ago, billchao said:

No. It's not broken and I don't think there's much a doctor can do with it. I had it buddy taped to another finger for a while when it was really tender but now it's just slight discomfort.

Ad I understand it, finger injuries can take a long time to heal and I'm using my hands everyday for work probably slowing the process down.

A friend of mine jammed his finger playing beach volleyball and he said it took months to heal, too, and he doesn't work with his hands like I do. He doesn't have the full range of motion with that finger anymore either.

There are lots of sports doctors and PT who might be able to help?

This just sounds really bad, I’d hate to see you go untreated if there’s something that can be done about it.

You're still too young to have lifelong type issues.

[DeadMan]

Swing looks really nice. The FO view at A4 is really solid. It looks textbook to my untrained eye.

Also, add me the chorus of people to go see a doctor. An event you can remember as the trigger plus not healing for two months means you probably should get it looked at. Even if the final recommendation is to do nothing.

[billchao]

27 minutes ago, iacas said:

That's why you go to see a doctor now.

Seriously, even if they give you a shot to reduce swelling and put it in a little metal splint type thing, go.

 

16 minutes ago, Lihu said:

There are lots of sports doctors and PT who might be able to help?

This just sounds really bad, I’d hate to see you go untreated if there’s something that can be done about it.

You're still too young to have lifelong type issues.

 

10 minutes ago, DeadMan said:

Also, add me the chorus of people to go see a doctor. An event you can remember as the trigger plus not healing for two months means you probably should get it looked at. Even if the final recommendation is to do nothing.

I appreciate the concern. Maybe I'm not describing it correctly, but I don't think it's as bad as you guys seem to. My finger isn't still swollen like from a fresh sprain, it's more like I banged up the actual bone and there's a bump on it.

I'll have to see if there's somewhere I can get it checked out that's not going to charge me an arm and a leg.

14 minutes ago, DeadMan said:

Swing looks really nice. The FO view at A4 is really solid. It looks textbook to my untrained eye.

Thanks for the compliment. Actually if there's one other thing I wanted to address, it's how I move my head and torso away from the target in the backswing. I shift everything forward in the downswing, but the extra movement is undesirable and leads to inconsistencies.

[billchao]

Got to use the Mevo today (finally!). Just hit my 7i into my net. I had some Bluetooth issues at first, but seemed to solve that by just leaving the phone on the ground next to the Mevo. That's why the data is in different sessions at first. Also, I stupidly left it in video capture mode before I finally changed it to data only. It also occasionally misses a shot either partially or completely, but the limited flight might have been a factor. I lined up the unit slightly outside the target line as @Lihu suggested from his discussions with FlightScope.

The numbers seem accurate based on what I know of my swing, but I'll have to try at an actual range sometime and compare. Hit a Pro V1x with a metallic sticker on it, 7' or so of flight.

The shots are all over the place, indicating my ballstriking needs work. I knew the club saves some mis-hits but it's interesting to see the numbers.

Just for fun and comparison's sake, I hit a few with my Ben Hogan Apex 2 6i (because it's more similar to my Callaway Apex CF16 7i than the Apex 2 7i) and proved myself right about the technology and the club.

That's so all over the place, it's straight up unplayable.

When the weather gets warmer for good, I'll be able to work with the Mevo more. For now it's just a fun toy to bring out once in a while.

[Valleygolfer]

8 hours ago, billchao said:

Banged it on something around Thanksgiving. The middle joint on my left middle finger is still swollen. It strains the ligaments and tendons I think because there's some discomfort when I make a fist or grip something. It's worse when it's cold.

I was worried about hitting balls because I thought the force of the club on my hands and impact would hurt it, but it doesn't, really. I don't remember my fingers taking this long to heal but honestly haven't injured one since I was a teenager, so either I'm misremembering or just healing slower now.

I feel you. I hyperextended my right index finger the same day I tore my bicep and it still affects me. That was at the beginning of September.

[billchao]

14 hours ago, Valleygolfer said:

I feel you. I hyperextended my right index finger the same day I tore my bicep and it still affects me. That was at the beginning of September.

When it rains, it pours, right? How's your arm?

[billchao]

One more nice day so I got on the Mevo with my driver. Took some video, too:

 

I guess I need more work on shortening the swing. 

Mevo data:

Launched two shots way up, noticed it right away on the net. I deleted a fat shot in there somewhere, too. Mevo also didn't pick up a few shots again, one being a pull (they stated in the manual that may happen). Again, the numbers seem right based on what I know about my swing and being on other launch monitors. Smash factor is all over the place, telling me what I already knew - that I hit the ball all over the face.

[Valleygolfer]

On 1/23/2018 at 9:55 AM, billchao said:

When it rains, it pours, right? How's your arm?

My arm is doing pretty well, thanks for asking. Unfortunately, I had some superficial nerve damage is regularly uncomfortable causing me a wide array of sensations, especially pain if it is cold. Strength wise it is good and I expect to be swinging a club shortly. I am hoping the finger won't be a limiting factor, although it has been bothersome when playing prior.

[billchao]

All the cool people post videos of themselves practicing these days 

 

I didn't like what I saw on my last couple of videos with my pivot so I've been working on that. I did some mirror work to get the centered pivot feel back, then changed my downswing feel as well. It's a little hard to articulate: mostly that I'm engaging my core more, using my abdominal muscles. Feels like I'm transitioning from left side bend at A4 to forward bend to right side bend.

The swing at the end is full speed. It's a lot faster than I'd usually do when changing something but I wanted to see what it looks like on video at speed (also because when I do it slowly, I get some really severe negative shaft lean at A7). The swing still gets too long, so I adjusted:

 

I did the same swing feels only while trying to be mindful of length. You'll notice I started talking to myself at various points. I think part of the problem is I do a lot of work indoors without a club and have no gauge on what is an overswing with a club in my hands (momentum and direction of clubhead force, etc.), so I tend to just take my arms and turn as far as I can go which ends up being too far when actually hitting a ball. Going to incorporate this in my routine (because mock swinging wasn't weird enough, now I'll be talking to myself while I do it ). Still turn and slide my head off the ball a little bit, but I'm not going to worry about that. The downswing pivot is money and I'm not toeing the crap out of every shot 

I do nothing but this swing all year and I think I might hit a good shot or two 

[Kekeisen]

Hey, Bill-- Have you done any work with an external focus / strike intention?  Something like using foot spray or a dry erase marker to intentionally hit toe/heel/center/high/middle/low?  For someone whose swing looks A+ from a technique perspective, it seems like some skill work around strike would help settle down those Mevo numbers.

Kyle

[billchao]

30 minutes ago, Kekeisen said:

Have you done any work with an external focus / strike intention?  Something like using foot spray or a dry erase marker to intentionally hit toe/heel/center/high/middle/low?

In my regular practice? No. The most I have done is some gate stuff to work on hitting the center of the face, but the stuff I'm doing now with the swing doesn't have me hitting really far off the toe anymore.

I'm not at the point where I'm consistently hitting out of the middle of the clubface yet, so the clubface control isn't there. I can make some setup/focus changes to intentionally hit off the toe or heel, but height on the face isn't something I can control. I can't hit a stinger or thin anything on purpose, for example.

36 minutes ago, Kekeisen said:

For someone whose swing looks A+ from a technique perspective, it seems like some skill work around strike would help settle down those Mevo numbers.

Thanks, but it's no there yet, especially not on the course. Hopefully I'll have the extra time this year to really cement my moves.

[Kekeisen]

13 hours ago, billchao said:

In my regular practice? No. The most I have done is some gate stuff to work on hitting the center of the face, but the stuff I'm doing now with the swing doesn't have me hitting really far off the toe anymore.

I'm not at the point where I'm consistently hitting out of the middle of the clubface yet, so the clubface control isn't there. I can make some setup/focus changes to intentionally hit off the toe or heel, but height on the face isn't something I can control. I can't hit a stinger or thin anything on purpose, for example.

Thanks, but it's no there yet, especially not on the course. Hopefully I'll have the extra time this year to really cement my moves.

Interesting.  Well I'm an newbie/amateur, so I'll defer to pros like  @iacas and @mvmac , but it seems like once you have the picture reasonably close to where you'd like it, you would want to shift a decent amount of your practice to more external focuses.  I think you'd be surprised at your own ability to top/fat/thin/pure the ball with a little bit of skill practice.