My Swing (billchao)

[billchao]

LOL, you'd be surprised. I know a few pros who felt like they were swinging to A2 and had to do that for a while in order to shorten their swings.  Andy Plummer actually told me a story how when he was a mini-tour player, he struggled like crazy. One day, before a tourney, he was hitting it terribly warming up on the range. So he decided he was just going to swing to hip height for the tourney because that was the only way he could keep the ball going straight.  At the end of the round, he actually played pretty well. But, feeling embarrassed, he went up to his playing partners and apologized for "hitting chip shots around the course all day." They all gave him a confused look. "Your swing looked normal to me. I didn't noticed anything." That was the day he realized feel wasn't real. This was before filming your swing was a thing, like the 1980s and early 90s I guess.

That's a great story, thanks for sharing! Yea, feel isn't real. I get reminders everyday.

[billchao]

Was going to play today, then forgot to set my alarm

Settled for a practice session. No self analysis today, because I'm trying to be "stupider."

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Putting:

I'm not sure what compelled me to practice putting with one hand, and I'm not sure what exactly it does for me, but I guess I'm pretty decent at it. If nothing else, it was at least fun to do.

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Pitching:

I think I'm getting the technique down better, but the results are erratic. I have consistency issues with height and distance control, and even skulled a few (the last FO shot). Maybe I just need more time with it?

When I hit it well, it's like throwing darts: the ball just sits right around where it lands. Now I need to hit it closer to the hole.

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Full Swing:

I hit the ball pretty well, but the inconsistency is there, too. Sometimes I hit a draw, sometimes I hit a fade. Hard to play golf with a two way miss.

[billchao]

I'm having a bad monkey moment... but I wanted to address this:

Sorry, I can't help it; it's a compulsion. I need an intervention.

[Abu3baid]

I don't see anything wron with doing swing analysis and this shouldn't impact your stupid monkey status either.. As long as you don't start trying to work on something other than your priority that is! ;)

[billchao]

I don't see anything wron with doing swing analysis and this shouldn't impact your stupid monkey status either.. As long as you don't start trying to work on something other than your priority that is! ;)

Thanks, that's a good way of looking at it.

[billchao]

Played around with a deeper hands feel. Forgot to stop at A2.5

[billchao]

Also, hands too far back at address again. Need to push that handle forward. Again.

[boogielicious]

Played around with a deeper hands feel. Forgot to stop at A2.5

It is looking pretty good Bill.  Very similar to a drill I am doing with my Evolvr lesson.

[billchao]

It is looking pretty good Bill.  Very similar to a drill I am doing with my Evolvr lesson.

Thanks. I just wished I didn't forget to do the old changes when I start working on new things, but maybe that's just a sign that I haven't gotten the old things down, yet.

[billchao]

Played Clearbrook Golf Club again. The course is too short for me and some of the holes play funky (driver-pitch, reachable par 5s, I cut a dogleg with my 4H on one hole). Despite that fact, I still managed to suck. Shot 94 (51-43), ESC 93. 40 putts, really need to get back to work on putting. Had 1 fairway hit and 1 GIR on the front with 1 penalty, 4 fairways and 5 GIR on the back. Doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out how to score better.

Actually hit my driver fairly consistently today. No wow shots, but no huge misses, either.

Iron play was meh. Hooked a couple of shots and hit some fat and thin. A lot of my problems arise when I feel like I'm too active in the downswing with my lower body, instead of feeling like my arms are swinging out away from me. Anytime I feel my hips leading and spinning out, contact is a crapshoot. That's just going to take more time. Didn't hit any push fades with the irons, though.

Short game sucked. Distance control is still the main issue, but I bladed a couple, too. I'm kind of in that transition phase where I'm blending new techniques with old compensations, so not much more I think I can do there.

Like I said, putting needs work. I think I'm pretty good at nailing my start lines, but my distance control is still an issue, and sometimes I make mistakes reading the greens. I played with the Bridgestone True Balance putter, too. Not sure if that has anything to do with it.

Conclusion: starting to see some improvements make their way to the scorecard, need more time for other changes to become more permanent. Can't expect to shoot drastically lower scores overnight. Gotta keep practicing the right things and the scores will come down.

[billchao]

Went to the 5SK clinic this morning with @david_wedzik . It was awesome! I'm really excited about the things I have to work on, and I'm looking forward to shooting some low scores soon. Apparently, I hit the ball fairly straight, and the reason I miss my start lines 10° to the right is because I have a tendency to line up that way. Here I thought I was just hitting the occasional straight push :8) As for the actual swing mechanics, Dave showed me how I should feel PP#4 actually move down my chest as I make my backswing to get my hands deeper. Then I have to feel like I'm bowing my left wrist while I swing to the top (which is somewhere around my half swing feel). On the downswing, the idea is to exaggerate the in to out path and lay the shaft down by overdoing the bowed wrist feeling, like I'm turning the back of my left hand down to the ground as if I were dragging my knuckles. My practice feels are to really exaggerate and overdo everything. Honestly, it all felt really alien to me, but the results were there. It felt like I was swinging pretty flat and much more around myself. I hit draw after draw, with the occasional "straight push" (I really need to pay attention to my alignment). No push fades of any kind. Even the mishits drew (or hooked). I'll be working on this for a while, I'm sure. Dave also had some time to look at my pitching motion. Setup change is my feet closer together so that I'm standing taller, more relaxed, and my left shoulder more down. Mechanically, I'm apparently overdoing the wrist movements. I need to feel like my shoulder turn brings the club back, and I'm holding off the throw going forward (hinge and hold, anyone?). I'm not actually holding anything, though, it's just a feel. The idea is to feel more like the club is following along with my pivot, and the butt of the club stays pointing at my belt buckle through the entire swing. I hit some really nice pitches after the adjustments, and they were effortless. Definitely easier than pitching has ever been, but then again that's my own fault. Dave also showed me how to hit high flop shots by setting the clubface to my target and letting the club dictate my stance. It was a great day, and I had a lot of fun. I'd like to thank Dave and Paul for setting everything up, and Preston, too, who dropped in and hung out. I'll post videos when I get them.

[boogielicious]

Great post Bill.

[14ledo81]

Cool. Sounds like a fun time. I would really like to get a lesson in person from Erik, Mike, or Dave.

[mvmac]

Very cool, thx for sharing @billchao

[billchao]

Great post Bill.

Thanks, Scott. It made a world of difference to have someone show me what I should be doing, in person, and physically put me in the positions I needed to be in. [quote name="14ledo81" url="/t/70666/my-swing-billchao/90#post_1012687"]Cool. Sounds like a fun time. I would really like to get a lesson in person from Erik, Mike, or Dave.[/quote][CONTENTEMBED=/t/74714/2014-erie-cleveland-pittsburgh-buffalo-summer-get-together-august-16-17 layout=inline]​[/CONTENTEMBED] [quote name="mvmac" url="/t/70666/my-swing-billchao/90#post_1012727"]Very cool, thx for sharing @billchao [/quote]Wait until you see the video :-D

[iacas]

Seriously, @14ledo81 . Come on down! You're the next contestant on… the Swing is Right!

[14ledo81]

[QUOTE name="billchao" url="/t/70666/my-swing-billchao/90#post_1012748"] [CONTENTEMBED=/t/74714/2014-erie-cleveland-pittsburgh-buffalo-summer-get-together-august-16-17 layout=inline]​[/CONTENTEMBED][/QUOTE] Seriously, @14ledo81 . Come on down! You're the next contestant on… the Swing is Right!

Oh man... I'd love to. Not happening any time soon though. Young family, bills... Not complaining though. I wouldn't trade the kids for anything. Actually though, my parents live in MD. Next time we road trip there, I am going to try to convince the wife to sidetrack through Erie. Even if I only had time for a short lesson, I would like to.

[iacas]

Oh man... I'd love to. Not happening any time soon though. Young family, bills... Not complaining though. I wouldn't trade the kids for anything. Actually though, my parents live in MD. Next time we road trip there, I am going to try to convince the wife to sidetrack through Erie. Even if I only had time for a short lesson, I would like to.

We have nice beaches. And wine. ;-)