My Swing (Lihu)

[Golfingdad]

I hit the range and hit about 180 balls this morning over 2 and a half hours.

Are you trying to improve at golf or win a speed swinging contest?

I think you need to (re)read this thread:  http://thesandtrap.com/t/54840/simple-specific-slow-short-and-success-the-five-s-s-of-great-practice/0_30

And make special note of "S's" three and four.

[Lihu]

Actually, I've either never read that thread or forgotten about it. Thanks for bringing it to my attention. . .

[iacas]

Actually, I've either never read that thread or forgotten about it. Thanks for bringing it to my attention. . .

Did you read chapter 11 in Lowest Score Wins ? :)

[Lihu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lihu

Actually, I've either never read that thread or forgotten about it. Thanks for bringing it to my attention. . .

Did you read chapter 11 in Lowest Score Wins? :)

Yeah, probably time to re-read the practice chapters in LSW again, and apply it to my practice.

It was my first day back actually practicing (probably a little overzealous), and I did notice that the shots I took more time doing the drills just before were much better.

[bmartin461]

3i got out to maybe 220 (I think it rolled to the fence 225 yards away?). Did this a few times, but for the most part sliced/hooked/duffed more than 2/3 the shots.

So you have a club that you can execute on the range 33% of the time well, which means it will be even lower on the course.  I wonder why you want to carry a 3i instead of a 3h which should be much easier to hit consistently...

I might just do this for only a month or so, because I feel like 20 more range sessions like this one should be enough.

Should be enough for what?  I for one would like to see you just enjoying the game, rather than focusing on increasing distance (you have plenty) and HC index (yours is fine).

[Lihu]

So you have a club that you can execute on the range 33% of the time well, which means it will be even lower on the course.  I wonder why you want to carry a 3i instead of a 3h which should be much easier to hit consistently...

Should be enough for what?  I for one would like to see you just enjoying the game, rather than focusing on increasing distance (you have plenty) and HC index (yours is fine).

Thanks for the comments.

I carry a 3H, but lately I've been even worse with that club. I made three good shots with it the last few rounds, on the same hole too. They were really good, though. OTOH, I made less good shots with my 3i. However, the point is taken. . .

I'm not sure why I write incomplete thoughts all the time. The requirement is to feel more comfortable swinging all of my clubs so that my shots will go straighter. I miss greens from longer distances by much more than proportionately wider margins. For example, at 180 yards my miss can be 30 yards off line. Whereas from 130 yards my miss is much less than 20 yards. I feel like the swing is getting there, but it's still spotty. I'm not used to the feel of the correct sequence for every shot.

Plus, getting on the range a bit more will allow me to take swing videos.

I would also like for me to play more and spend more time enjoying the game, but the other people on the course are getting tired of me making my approach shots from their fairways.

BTW, Brookside has this "Player's Club" deal, you get 2 large buckets a day (240 balls) plus 2 clinics a week.

[bmartin461]

For example, at 180 yards my miss can be 30 yards off line. Whereas from 130 yards my miss is much less than 20 yards. I feel like the swing is getting there, but it's still spotty.

I understand what you are saying.  My goal is to be able to play any course and be able to not look like a hack.  What this means for me is solid off the tee, and solid iron shots.

If your approach from 180 is 30 left or right, this is good enough dispersion, if you are aiming at the middle of the green, most greens being 20 yards wide (guess?) give you an error of only 20 yards off the green, that is more than good enough.

I'm not trying to bust your ba$$s, just trying to give you a different perspective from a mid-HC, father of 3, who also plays Brookside.  :)

Take care.

[Lihu]

I understand what you are saying.  My goal is to be able to play any course and be able to not look like a hack.  What this means for me is solid off the tee, and solid iron shots. If your approach from 180 is 30 left or right, this is good enough dispersion, if you are aiming at the middle of the green, most greens being 20 yards wide (guess?) give you an error of only 20 yards off the green, that is more than good enough. I'm not trying to bust your ba$$s, just trying to give you a different perspective from a mid-HC, father of 3, who also plays Brookside.  :) Take care.

Yeah, I just want to hit straight enough not to look too bad, and the times I hit greens from 180 were really sweet. We should try to find time to play a round together. Other than this coming month, I am usually there every morning.

[Lihu]

I understand what you are saying.  My goal is to be able to play any course and be able to not look like a hack.  What this means for me is solid off the tee, and solid iron shots.

If your approach from 180 is 30 left or right, this is good enough dispersion, if you are aiming at the middle of the green, most greens being 20 yards wide (guess?) give you an error of only 20 yards off the green, that is more than good enough.

I'm not trying to bust your ba$$s, just trying to give you a different perspective from a mid-HC, father of 3, who also plays Brookside.  :)

Take care.

Well, I took your advice and renewed the monthly.

Played 9 random holes today, with better long game results. Still couldn't score from inside 20 yards, but it was fun. Just going to relax and enjoy golf for a while, and let the handicap fall where it may. That's way more relaxing anyway. . .

With a more relaxed attitude, I got a near green in 2 shots on hole 6 (509 yard par 5). Hit a decent drive, then a 3W that just flew off like a low rocket <20 yards short in 50F temperatures.

What's funny is that I score about the same at Altadena (A really short relatively easy 9 hole course 3000 yards?) versus 3400 yards of Brookside course 1 front 9. The CR is 72.9 versus 68 (playing Altadena 2 times).

[bmartin461]

Glad you decided to play more and enjoy the fruits of your labor.

Brad

[Lihu]

I know what you mean.  My tournament scores of late has been very bad relative to my HI.   E.g, 2 weeks ago Saturday, I shot 108 in a 2 men four ball tournament.  The next day in casual round, I shot 84 which would have won the tournament going away regardless of what my teammate did (way above his HI) on Saturday.   All my other recent scores have been much better than 108.  Geesh.

Hey, can you stop improving your HI (just noticed that you lowered it to 12)?   You need to give me some time to catch up.

@rkim291968 , thanks for the vote of sympathy. . .

Yeah, I think tournaments are out until all the parts of my swing are ingrained and my chipping and putting bulletproof against 3 and 4 putts.

BTW, my HC has always been 12.7, I just kicked it up to 13.2 as a ruse*** to throw off all the other 12 HC. . .not actually sand bagging per se. . .

Brookside Course 1 Blues (72.9/131) : 87 (46/41)

1 triple, 2 doubles, 8 bogey, 7 par, 10 FW hit (which is a bad thing actually), 6 GIR, 37 putts (21 on the front and 16 on the back).

I played the first two holes and the third drive on my own, then partnered with someone who just couldn't stop talking and belittling himself as if to belittle the others around him. I left him on the 6th hole tee box and continued my round alone until the turn where I joined a couple for the rest of the round. 3rd hole was a triple 4 putt, 4th was a double 2 putt, 5th I missed my tap in par. 6th I duck hooked barely on the fairway. 3 shots to get on and 2 putts for a bogey. The front was a pretty horrible horrible round. Played the back with a nice couple, and shot really well.

I play golf for fun, I don't think I'll ever really compete. The situations where I play well are without any expectations for performance. I even got my swing back on the 9th hole before enjoying the rest of the round.

Approach game: GIR are up without really trying that hard, but my other holes were really bad. It felt like I was a novice player on some of the holes on the front 9. My front 9 was shot to a 15.8 HC and my back 9 was shot like a 7 HC. It was the swing. I finally stopped fuming and relaxed enough on the 8th-9th holes to let my wrists release and consciously swing from inside out. I was really surprised that I hit my 6i past the green from the blue tees on the 8th par 3 hole. The flight and feel of the shot were kind of lackluster, but it landed just in front of the green and bounced/rolled past it.

Short game: I will note that the "claw method" for my putting is really good. When I don't tense my wrists, it's really nice! I'm also starting to do a lot more bump and run chips just like when I started golf. I switch between pitch/flop shots and bump and run. I think my low score on the back 9 reflects my re-adoption of this method. I even can bump and run from 40 yards reasonably well. Of course, I practiced this a lot while we waited on the tee box and around the green after holing out.

Driver and Long game: Really spotty, it's feast or famine. . .I hooked hybrid shot away from the hole about 200 yards and 40 yards right, and sliced my 3i from 200 yards ending about 175 yards and 30 yards left. Driver was feast or famine. The bad news is I hit more fairways, absolutely anemic drives. Needed to make 2 approach shots from these horrors. I really felt like a novice player again. . .at least I made "solid" contact just with an undesirable result. . .

***Plus, I was going through a slump.

[Lihu]

Well, I think I'm shooting 42s (72.9/134 divide by 2) on okay rounds, and for whatever reason can't put it together to shoot a decent 9 holes.

Of course, now I'm playing with other people it's hard for me to take any swing videos. I asked one person to take one, but it was a video of her face since I had the front facing camera selected. I'll figure out how to do it without obstructing PoP, and my partners shots.

I figured out how to bump and run again. It has it's place. I can imagine on faster greens how it could fail miserably, and need to work on flop shots as well as bump and run ones. Using the same "brush method" Mike taught be for both methods. Lot's more practice is required for me to get in the low 2 shot range from inside 40 yards. I am hovering around 3 shots from this distance.

The good news is that my near greens are a bit better today. I only completely messed up one hole this morning, and kind of messed up another 50 yards short/left. My nemesis hole on the front 9 is the 3rd. I made it within 20 yards of the green with driver 3i, but hooked the 3i out of light rough into some trees just short of the green.

[b101]

Good to hear you seem to be enjoying the game a bit more and the bump and run can be brilliant - some of the senior members at my course look like geniuses with it but it does take some judgement. Can you not get a video of your swing at the range? There's some cool gadgets that fix the iphone to your bag if need be...

[Lihu]

Good to hear you seem to be enjoying the game a bit more and the bump and run can be brilliant - some of the senior members at my course look like geniuses with it but it does take some judgement. Can you not get a video of your swing at the range? There's some cool gadgets that fix the iphone to your bag if need be...

I almost never go to the range anymore. . .

Tried to get a video this morning, and got the concentrated looking face of the person helping me take the video. I almost couldn't hold in the laughter, and was most likely the single biggest contributor to my double this morning. . .

I'm figuring out something that easily attaches my phone to the push cart. I'm busy at work and have not had time to design the adapter. Might take some time one of these late nights. . .

[Shindig]

I almost never go to the range anymore. . . Tried to get a video this morning,

You live close enough to me that if we end up practicing together at some point, or just otherwise meet up at a range, I'll be happy to help get swing video for you.

[Lihu]

You live close enough to me that if we end up practicing together at some point, or just otherwise meet up at a range, I'll be happy to help get swing video for you.

Conversely if you go on a morning round with me at Brookside, I would be more than happy for the company and very appreciative of any decent video filming. . .

I'm pretty much there every morning, unless I feel a need to rest or am really swamped at work. You'd need to let me know to reserve a tee time at least one day ahead. Usually, a single gets out there no problem, but 2 might take some slightly more formal arrangements. . .

[Lihu]

Just ran the statistics, I think I've improved despite myself. . .

6 month GIR average: 19.5%

2 month GIR average: 25.8%

1 month GIR average: 28%

[Lihu]

Changed to swing version 1.6 (which is now swing version 2.5).

My son mentioned that I was taking it too far back again. I shortened it up on Sunday morning, and did a 9 hole round with him Sunday late afternoon. I used the "half" swing mentality. Drives went a little shorter than with my OTT swing, but stayed mostly in the fairway. One issue was my right wrist (I'm a lefty) was not flat enough at the top. Now, I take it back and check it for "straightness". The swing is much shorter, and I turn my body around 40 degrees and the shoulders to almost 90 degrees. Still working on optimizing the body/shoulder turn.

Shot my lowest score to date even though it was under relatively easy conditions, or maybe it was because my swing was much more robust? In any case, I'll be using this V2.5 swing for the next month or two. Will try to take some interim videos, my son took some with his iphone 5S but they were non-ideal camera angles. They were just for him to explain to me what I was doing wrong.

BTW, I got to see my son hit his 5W 260 yards off the tee. Impressive, as it was nearly all carry. The sound was pretty amazing, and I could barely see the ball because it had so much speed and spin. Now, I know exactly what my nephews and daughter reported to me about it. . .

He couldn't hit his driver very well, so good thing he nails his 5W. According to the swing charts he should be able to carry 290 yards with a driver, and I just didn't see that kind of performance with his Titleist 912D2 Kaili regular flex shaft. On a couple decent shots he was getting only about 280 yards total distances. I'll probably need to get him fitted for the driver based on his 5W swing parameters? He's probably a candidate for the smaller driver heads? IDK, if anyone has any ideas?

EDIT: Just looked at the differential score, not that different than what I've already been scoring. . .bummer, I thought I had finally converged on the "perfect swing" for me.

GL:11.1 down to 10.4