My Swing (Lihu)

[Lihu]

Sorry, but I don't consider recreational time without deliberate practice to be training for anything. It's like saying someone driving a car for daily use is somehow preparing for an Indy 500. Totally different. If you want to compare apples to apples compare my last 1000 hours to his first 2000 hours***. Even so, what I'm doing now is just for fun, and I would not even consider it working very hard.

Also, my intent was not to say I'm better than Dan, I was just supporting Shorty's statement that any reasonably competent individual can get to his current level of play. I'm just one of many "reasonably competent" individuals.

However, you can compare my son at 16 years old and his teammates to Dan. That would be fair. Even my son who's not that serious plays to the level he claimed to play to at one point in time. He plays to a 3 while he's training daily.

 

***I don't think that I've actually spent 2000 hours of deliberate practice yet? More like <500?

[Lihu]

Trying to play some rounds where I take risky shots in practice rounds, and ones where I don't.

Seems to affect my short game more than my long game?

Also trying to find a better grip to allow me to hinge better.

[Lihu]

On 12/4/2015 at 11:02 AM, Lihu said:

My goal is to get 2.5 keys. Any combination or set of them, as long as they add up to 2.5 I'd be happy. Not sure how realistic this is, but it's a goal.

It's very realistic, but takes a lot of time and effort. . .

 

On 12/26/2015 at 7:53 AM, Lihu said:

Joined a really big club. Hope to play in the monthly tournaments in 3 months, and do reasonably well in my "flight", whichever one I am assigned, by the end of the year. Starting off as an associate member for as long as I can, because I want to establish my HC properly per the new rules. Play for slightly higher stakes to force me to focus on every stroke with a wider group of players. Try my best on every round, practice, scoring or otherwise all the time. No more "lazy" or joke rounds.

 

Working on getting key 2 incorporated into my key 1. There's always one or two steps back before any improvement, and I feel like improvement is possible and that it is taking a little more time than I hoped.

My 2 goals are get 2.5 keys in my on course swing and to start playing in tournaments with an established handicap this coming year.

So far, I have a bunch of 9 hole rounds that are adding up to 3 rounds counted in GHIN. 17 more rounds to go. Probably will take a couple more months to establish it. Once established I plan to participate in the weekly events at my club as a competing member. The competitions are usually early enough in the morning that I can spend time with my family when they wake up.

The plan is to post all my rounds using GG. Missed a couple this week only because left the phone in the car one time and forgot to charge it the other time. One was an 18 hole round too! Didn't post it because I couldn't get the cart GPS scorecard to register my score correctly. It was constantly telling me about pace of play and stubbornly telling me that I parred every hole. It would not let me edit the score because it kept prompting me that I was behind pace of play.

[bmartin461]

18 minutes ago, Lihu said:

So far, I have a bunch of 9 hole rounds that are adding up to 3 rounds counted in GHIN. 17 more rounds to go.

You will get an index once you post 5 rounds, that is the minimum, even with 20 rounds posted, only 10 are used.

Rounds Entered Differentials Used

5-6                        1 lowest

7-8                        2 lowest

9-10                      3 lowest

11-12                    4 lowest

13-14                    5 lowest

15-16                    6 lowest

17                         7 lowest

18                         8 lowest

19                         9 lowest

20                        10 lowest

http://golf.about.com/cs/handicapping/a/howcalculated.htm

[DaveP043]

18 minutes ago, Lihu said:

So far, I have a bunch of 9 hole rounds that are adding up to 3 rounds counted in GHIN. 17 more rounds to go. Probably will take a couple more months to establish it. Once established I plan to participate in the weekly events at my club as a competing member. The competitions are usually early enough in the morning that I can spend time with my family when they wake up.

Really, just two more 18-hole scores (or combinations adding up to two).  You'll have established a USGA handicap index after 5 scores are posted.  As you post more scores, a higher percentage of those scores are used in calculating your handicap, so the HI may go up a bit as you get closer to 20 rounds posted.  Keep on going!

[Lihu]

2 minutes ago, bmartin461 said:

You will get an index once you post 5 rounds, that is the minimum, even with 20 rounds posted, only 10 are used.

Rounds Entered Differentials Used

5-6                        1 lowest

7-8                        2 lowest

9-10                      3 lowest

11-12                    4 lowest

13-14                    5 lowest

15-16                    6 lowest

17                         7 lowest

18                         8 lowest

19                         9 lowest

20                        10 lowest

http://golf.about.com/cs/handicapping/a/howcalculated.htm

 

1 minute ago, DaveP043 said:

Really, just two more 18-hole scores (or combinations adding up to two).  You'll have established a USGA handicap index after 5 scores are posted.  As you post more scores, a higher percentage of those scores are used in calculating your handicap, so the HI may go up a bit as you get closer to 20 rounds posted.  Keep on going!

 

Cool, 2 more full rounds.That could be this weekend!

[Lihu]

Changing my clubs to a winter set. Longer shafts on woods and possibly steel shafts so I don't need to take off and put on head covers all the time to protect the graphite shafts. First round with them yesterday went okay. Pulled most of my driver shots.

[Lihu]

Well, another GHIN potential round turned into an invalid score on the last hole.

I sunk a ball other than what I teed off with into the hole.

Before you pass judgement, both balls were buried in 4" rough. So, here's the "story". Someone asked me if I was shooting a Callaway 3, and I said yes and told him that there is a Callaway where I was standing which I though was my ball. So, I used the ball he was standing next to. Next shot, I buried the ball into the bunker, and chipped to a few feet for a sand save. When I pulled the ball out of the hole, I noticed a logo on it that wasn't on my cheap "found it in the lake" ball. So, I'm pretty much not counting my score to GHIN because of this. So, in the end, I was right that the ball I was standing next to was mine. I also wondered how I got that extra 10 yard kick in that deep rough? He was insistent once I answered anything resembling "maybe" or yes. . .

I think he was hoping I would say "yes", because in retrospect, I think his ball would have been behind a tree going backwards on the next hole.

[iacas]

22 minutes ago, Lihu said:

Well, another GHIN potential round turned into an invalid score on the last hole.

That's not how it works.

You take Par + Handicap on that hole and post your score.

You played 13 or more holes under the Rules of Golf, yes? If so, you post.

Did you play alone (x)or with others?

[Lihu]

27 minutes ago, iacas said:

That's not how it works.

You take Par + Handicap on that hole and post your score.

You played 13 or more holes under the Rules of Golf, yes? If so, you post.

Did you play alone (x)or with others?

One other person, but I've never played golf with him before today.

It's the handicap 13 hole and I parred it with a sand save, anyway! Only played 9 holes though, but I can post 9 hole rounds for combined scores.

[iacas]

3 minutes ago, Lihu said:

One other person, but I've never played golf with him before today.

Then post your score.

[Lihu]

6 minutes ago, iacas said:

Then post your score.

Posted. . .

[DaveP043]

16 hours ago, iacas said:

You take Par + Handicap on that hole and post your score.

Lihu, I'm going to at least question @iacas on this bit of advice.  This goes back to a rather long and tedious discussion we had in the rules forum about similar circumstances, and whether Rule 4-1 or 4-2 should apply.  I don't believe we every reached a consensus on exactly the right procedure.  

 If you look at rules 4-1 and 4-2 in the USGA Handicap Manual, you see in 4-1 a procedure for a hole that you started and didn't complete, and in 4-2 a procedure for a hole that you either didn't play, or didn't play under the rules of golf.  Under 4-2, you take par plus handicap strokes, as @iacas has said.  Under 4-1, you'd take the score you most likely would have made, if you had completed the hole.  Since you started the hole by hitting your drive, but didn't finish the hole with the correct ball, you could claim that 4-1 should apply.  In that case, you'd have played one stroke, your drive, and then SHOULD have taken a two-stroke penalty (playing the wrong ball) and played from the correct location.  If its likely that you would have hit the green and two-putted, you could score the hole (for handicap purposes only) as x-6.  Like I said, I don't believe we ever had complete agreement by all the folks discussing this issue, and I'm not dead sure which rule should apply in this case, I just want to let you know that there are two potential ways of looking at a  hole you didn't finish.  On the other hand, good to remember that you CAN post a round, even if a hole goes screwy.

[iacas]

26 minutes ago, DaveP043 said:

Lihu, I'm going to at least question @iacas on this bit of advice.  This goes back to a rather long and tedious discussion we had in the rules forum about similar circumstances, and whether Rule 4-1 or 4-2 should apply.  I don't believe we every reached a consensus on exactly the right procedure.  

 If you look at rules 4-1 and 4-2 in the USGA Handicap Manual, you see in 4-1 a procedure for a hole that you started and didn't complete, and in 4-2 a procedure for a hole that you either didn't play, or didn't play under the rules of golf.  Under 4-2, you take par plus handicap strokes, as @iacas has said.  Under 4-1, you'd take the score you most likely would have made, if you had completed the hole.  Since you started the hole by hitting your drive, but didn't finish the hole with the correct ball, you could claim that 4-1 should apply.  In that case, you'd have played one stroke, your drive, and then SHOULD have taken a two-stroke penalty (playing the wrong ball) and played from the correct location.  If its likely that you would have hit the green and two-putted, you could score the hole (for handicap purposes only) as x-6.  Like I said, I don't believe we ever had complete agreement by all the folks discussing this issue, and I'm not dead sure which rule should apply in this case, I just want to let you know that there are two potential ways of looking at a  hole you didn't finish.  On the other hand, good to remember that you CAN post a round, even if a hole goes screwy.

Too much guesswork there. The "most likely" score is often used for conceded putts or something of that nature where you can guess a pretty likely score fairly accurately. I don't have a "rule" to cite to back that up, just the way I've always understood it.

He didn't play the hole under the Rules of Golf. He would have been DQed for a serious breach.

This is a hole not played under the Rules of Golf (4-2).

The issue we were discussing had to do far more with a player who quits playing a hole because he's already hit two balls OB. @Fourputt was among the few who said 4-2 applied. I was arguing that this was a case of 4-1 where the most likely score exceeded ESC, so you just take ESC as there was no possible way to better ESC.

@Lihu could have holed out for a par if he had replayed from the proper location. Because his actions would have DQed him, I see this as not playing a hole under the rules, and thus, 4-2.

[Lihu]

1 minute ago, iacas said:

Too much guesswork there.

He didn't play the hole under the Rules of Golf. He would have been DQed for a serious breach.

This is a hole not played under the Rules of Golf (4-2).

The issue we were discussing had to do far more with a player who quits playing a hole because he's already hit two balls OB. @Fourputt was among the few who said 4-2 applied. I was arguing that this was a case of 4-1 where the most likely score exceeded ESC, so you just take ESC as there was no possible way to better ESC.

@Lihu could have holed out for a par if he had replayed from the proper location. Because his actions would have DQed him, I see this as not playing a hole under the rules, and thus, 4-2.

Good, because I am not really sure how to unpost a round to GHIN and then re-post it. . .

The worst part is I had a better shot at the green with my original ball without the bunker being in my direct line with a "fuller" shot with my 52 wedge rather than the kind of 2/3rdsy partial shot I was left with. A full 60 was a little too risky in that deep rough.

[DaveP043]

3 minutes ago, iacas said:

He didn't play the hole under the Rules of Golf. He would have been DQed for a serious breach.

This is a hole not played under the Rules of Golf (4-2).

I don't disagree, but as @Lihu is in the beginning stages of establishing a handicap, I thought it was a good idea to explain a little further what the rules said about posting scores when a hole wasn't finished.  In a stroke play competition, if he'd picked up a ball 2 inches from the cup (someone said "That's good" and he just made a mistake), and didn't go back and replace it and hole it, he'd still be DQed, but I think 4-1 would apply.  

 

2 minutes ago, Lihu said:

Good, because I am not really sure how to unpost a round to GHIN and then re-post it. . .

If you ever notice a mistake after you've posted your score, call the pro shop and let them know.  They can delete and/or edit rounds posted in Ghin, but regular golfers can't.

[Lihu]

22 minutes ago, DaveP043 said:

I don't disagree, but as @Lihu is in the beginning stages of establishing a handicap, I thought it was a good idea to explain a little further what the rules said about posting scores when a hole wasn't finished.  In a stroke play competition, if he'd picked up a ball 2 inches from the cup (someone said "That's good" and he just made a mistake), and didn't go back and replace it and hole it, he'd still be DQed, but I think 4-1 would apply.  

 

If you ever notice a mistake after you've posted your score, call the pro shop and let them know.  They can delete and/or edit rounds posted in Ghin, but regular golfers can't.

Thanks for the information. If the pro shop can delete rounds, that's perfect!

[Lihu]

Went to RD to try out R flex shaft irons to see if the flights were better. Tried everything from R300s to whatever was marked R, and I ended up putting a lot of spin on them. So, I backed off to S flex which gave me better flight and spin numbers (about 1000rpm times the number printed on the bottom of the clubs). The Ping G irons are really easy to hit. Got very consistent results with them on the monitor and could hit everything up to 4i easily. I might consider getting them at some point in time. The distances were comparable to my best shots with my MP-32 blades (which are listed in my GG profile as Ping i20). I also tried full length i20s (the ones I own are cut down an inch from standard), and got similar distances to the G on the better shots. G are very forgiving. . .

Meanwhile, my son hit farther than Rick Shiels using a used set of TM RSI X-Stiff shafts at Roger Dunn. He carried the 7i 194 yards on average of 8 shots with nothing shorter than 189 yards. Plus, I've never seen anyone carry a 6i 206 yards on average of 6 shots before, and would never have guessed it would be my son to do it. It was the first time I've seen him on a GC2 launch monitor for months. In retrospect, the irons were virtually brand new, looked like someone hit the 7i once as there was lie tape on the bottom which we took off. Probably decided that it was too stiff or something? He also tried Titleist MB with Project X 6.0 and got roughly 185 carry with that 6i and a pretty decent dispersion. I might get him that used set.

My daughter got her Cobra Fly-Z R shaft driver cut down to her length and started hitting better with it on the course later that afternoon. She is getting only about 190 yards so far, but I think once she gets used to the heavier shaft she can get back to her 200 yard carry. If not, we'll go back and have them fit a 45-50gm senior flex shaft and cut it down to get an R type flex. We cut 1.5 inches off the R flex 60gm shaft. It might be close to S flex? We'll see over the next 2 months and change if need be.

Lots of fitting for my family might need to be done. In my son's case, it seems like anything we hand to him will "work" and I have no idea what would be optimal?