My Swing (Lihu)

[Torres9]

Thanks, but I've seen yours and realize I have quite some ways to go. . .

Thank you for the kind words. I was a very good scorer some time ago, played occasionally, then didn't play for years. I am motivated to become a good player again and appreciate any feedback.

[Lihu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lihu

Quote:

Good news is that I hit 20 yards farther with all my clubs, and bad news is that I hit 20 yards farther with all my clubs

Well, new pitching method, new swing, new putting stroke. Felt like a beginner again.

I just tallied up my rough carry distance averages for this week (estimated by taking readings over what I think to be my ball marks up to 7i):

60 degree: 90 FS (only a couple times)

52 degree:110 FS

PW (49 degree MP-32): 127

9i: 138

8i: 152

7i: 160-ish

6i: 170 on good shots and thinned shanks roll out to about 170 (do not use much)

5i: 150 (180 with good contact) Haven't used much, but off the tee it's 180-ish

4i: can get one or two to 190-ish

3i: hit one shot to 200 and don't use too much.

21 degree (have not used)

Hybrid : more than 193 forced carry over water anyway.

Driver 12 degree setting: 235 carry, I hook a lot of shots. (one partial round yesterday was over 250 carry which I would say represent my good shots)

This is the longest I've ever hit my MP-32 irons, I wonder how much gain I can expect in summer conditions? It sure feels good thinking to myself, "I'm at the 150 marker, should I use a 9i or the 8i? The 8i might be a little too much club?"

Dispersion is a big issue. Another issue is even if I land the greens, I am not getting enough spin to hold the greens.

EDIT: Going to have to play an all iron round again.

I think I gained more than 10% in my swing speed by loading my wrists, even so I still don't feel that efficient with my driver. The shots don't feel as "powerful" as with my 8i yet.

[Lihu]

However, today I hit the ball far, but I mishit every single shot. Heel shots, thin shots, hooks and all in combination at times. I'm hitting the bottom of my driver and getting these low penetrating long rolling (carry something like 190-240 and rolling out to 260+ yards). I hit a duck hook with a 5i off a tee that a couple months ago was my 3i shot, and it rolled sideways 15 yards past the green centered about 175 yards away today (carried 160-ish and rolled another 30-40 yards or so to the red tees on the next tee box). Made a 503 yard par 5 with driver/worm burner 3i/9i landing pin high 20 yards to the right. I still feel pretty good about my new distance, even though I shot like crap today. If I made good contact with the ball, I would have felt even better.

At this point, I'll just be happy being the longer "20+ handicapper" (luckily playing only practice rounds) until I get used to these new distances and figure out how to calm my body down after "running" to the greens like an excited schoolboy.

Got on the longest course this morning, it feel so much more comfortable not having to worry about all the tight fairways, trees, bushes, barranca, tight water hazards.

I was driving a lot further in 45F-50F temperatures when I didn't hook my shots. I now have a hook/draw miss. The balls go out with a lot of force and duck hook and roll on the ground with a lot of energy and roll. About half of my drives were straight, but lower than I would expect.

I passed up three sets of players this morning playing the back 9 of course 1. They just let me hit and go on. This kind of set the stage for me to rush everything on the approaches and around the greens. My adrenaline was still running when I got to the greens and I was out of breath on three of them. I saw some of the people who work at the pro shop playing 4 holes behind me (we started about the same time), and we all laughed that I was walking (running) the course way too fast (1:15 hours for 3661 yards of golf even after I slowed down on 15-18).

Hole 10, I hooked it past the first bunker on the right side into the start of the wood chips area to the right. I hit an 8i flying the green and hit the side of tee box on the next hole. Chipped back onto the green. Missed the 15 foot putt by less than a foot. Passed up a nice lady who let me by, but I needed to putt while she waited at the normal layup position (which I am happy to say I no longer need). Bogey.

Hole 11, I asked the guy who just teed off if I could join him. He reluctantly agreed. I hit my drive right next to the pond on the right. I hit a worm burner 3i about 100 yards. My 9i hooks 140 yards over the right side green side bunker pin high, but 20 yards right. The guy waved me to pass him. Chip on and 2 putt. Bogey.

Hole 12, two guys let me pass because their partner was using the bathroom. I hit a nice drive, although not as long as the previous two. Hybrid topped about 100 yards. Left me with about 150 yards to the green. 9i to the green approach. Chip on and putt from 10 feet. Bogey.

Hole 13, par 3 the gold tees were moved up to only 175 yards to the center. Back pin placement, so maybe 185 total? I hit a 5i and the duck hook carries about 160 yards and rolls another 40 yards to the white tee box on the next hole. Pitched back onto the green. I thinned the pitch but it hit the island green bank and double bounces 8 feet from the pin. 2 putts for Bogey.

Hole 14, Hit a drive into the last tree on the left side just before a big hump. Pretty long drive and it hit the middle of the tree, which I could hear. Hit a PW past the green. Pitch one, too short, second pitch landed the green and I 3 putt with my wedge because I was pissed that I missed the first pitch and didn't get close enough to the pin on the second one. Triple.

Hole 15, I slowed down after nailing a long drive which left me something like 240-250 to the pin. I pulled out my hybrid and took a few breaths and proceed to hit a worm burner 170 yards. Next, I hit with my 60 degree and the ball drops into the right green side bunker, and I needed 2 to get out. Then I proceeded to 2 putt from 10 feet. Double.

Hole 16, Drove a duck hook which ended up at the 150 marker. 8i because I was probably closer to 155 at the place I landed and it is a steep uphill green with center pin placement. I ended up 7 feet from the pin. 3 putt. 1st putt rolls right and down the steep slope off the green. Second putt to get back to the pin and last one finally drops. Bogey.

Hole 17, Drop into the green side bunker on the right pin high front pin with my 6i. 2 to get out and 1 putt, Bogey.

Hole 18, I put everything into the drive, and against a slight breeze managing a disheartening 240 yards. I shank my hybrid into the next fairway. 8i over some trees to the edge of the right green side bunker. Pitch and 2 putt. Double.

My putting is more controlled and I feel like I can putt better, even though today's results showed otherwise. My putting stroke is a "pendulum" movement. I let the club swing naturally rather than isometrically forced it into position. Kind of like the new pitching stroke I learned from Mike. I think it has a lot of hope if I can learn it well enough (going to peruse the putting threads when I get rid of the thin/hook/shank/draws).

If I scored it would be 49. I shot a practice 18 hole round of 87 on the 6000 yard course yesterday with equally bad dispersion and playing. This was a drop from 92 where I even came close to hitting the wrong green from the tee on the 14th course 2.

So, if someone asked me what my miss is it's thin shanks, hooking, hooking worm burners, duck hooks. Yippee, I have a single miss type.

Still enjoyed myself, though. Not really discouraging to me, partially because I am almost (definitely not the 506 yard par 4) getting the distances I need to actually play this distance comfortably. Most (but not all ) of my stupid shots happened around the green. Conditioning is going to be a major part of it so I am not as out of breath at the green.

One good thing is that I figured out that I need to straighten out my neck again, and my shoulder is not as painful now. I think I was straining my neck and resisting the swing movement.

The bad news is that I have a lot more playing to do to lower my scores. I feel like I am starting from the beginning.

[Lihu]

erratum to above inside quoted post. Hole 11 is 548 yards and not 503. Going to do some mirror work with my hip turn to be less stressful on my neck.

[Lihu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lihu

1) Getting key 2 with a full swing, sans injury.

2) Hope to get to 2 keys this year.

3) Start working on "ball striking".

4) Practice my short game 35% of the time I plan to practice.

5) Spend a lot more time actually playing golf.

Amending this.

Get past the first three chapters in LSW. I no longer have the haphazard wrist loading phenomenon, so it makes sense to plan my rounds at this point. Previously, I might have one week or month where I hit one distance and another would be yet another distance. At this point, it seems like I am swinging pretty much as fast as I can, and my wrists are loading the shafts as nearly the same way as I can every time.

Get both of the first two keys to an acceptable level, and start working on key 3 then work from item 3 and on.

My short game is pretty terrible at this point. I have no "feel" as to how far I need to hit. The pitches, bunker shots and putts are much smoother and easier, but I need to spend at least a month of playing to get a feel for their distances. I don't mishit any of the short game shots, but have no idea how much to put behind any shot.

Ball striking is my bane. I hit too thin at this point. I think I need to aim down into the ground more after the ball. I get no spin to speak of either, probably because I am sweeping the ball more than striking down.

I hope to be playing some decent golf before the end of the year.

2015 goals. I think they are realistic.

The expression on Dana's face, when he told me why I am not getting the distances I should be capable, is burned into my memory. It was almost a look of complete and utter disgust mixed with empathy. Well, I think I'm finally on my way. More of the drill in Mike's last post to get this phase of my swing development behind me. . .

[Lihu]

Irons seem pretty good, but I am getting too much spin on the driver on some shots. I can see the ball "thinning" out but the distance is not that long. Will need to figure this out.

Played the first 8 holes yesterday on the shortest course shot 9 over (lost many shots around the green with one birdie and par), played 9 holes this morning on the 6800 yard course with 6 over consisting of 2 triples, 1 bogey, 5 par, 1 birdie. Putting is so much easier on the long course, pretty conclusive.

Triple number 1 (14th): Drove into the last tree on the left. Bouncing into the next fairway, and was right behind another tree. Hit my 6i in an attempt to punch it out, in retrospect over the tree would have been better. Hits the tree and bounces back into the bunker behind and right of the tree. Hit out of the bunker into the green side bunker about 50 yards away. Hit out again onto the fringe. Chip and putt.

Triple number 2 (17th): Hooked my 7i 168 yard tee shot into the water pin high. Dropped from the lateral, chipped and 2 putt.

Bogey (12th): 468 yards, 30 yards short with driver/hybrid. I thinned the hybrid.

Par on the second hole (11th): Drove next to the pond again, hybrid past the left bunker pitched on near the pin. Missed the 6 footer. Tap in par.

Best recovery par (16th): Drive a high spinning drive about 220-ish yards (hit too far down on it and it went really high). Hit a 4i punch shot hitting the trunk of tree in the way. Hit my LW 50 yards 4 feet from the pin. I make the putt.

Best par (18th): Drive into a tree 200+ yards away on the left and it bounces back 20 yards? Nut the hybrid to the stand of trees next to the pin (must have rolled 40 yards in the hard pan?). Pitch 8 feet from the pin. I make the putt!

I feel almost ready for regular scoring rounds, trying one or two after this week or the following.

[Abu3baid]

Irons seem pretty good, but I am getting too much spin on the driver. I can see the ball "thinning" out but the distance is not that long. Will need to figure this out. Played the first 8 holes yesterday on the shortest course shot 9 over (lost many shots around the green with one birdie and par), played 9 holes this morning on the 6800 yard course with 6 over consisting of 2 triples, 1 bogey, 5 par, 1 birdie. Putting is so much easier on the long course, pretty conclusive. Triple number 1 (14th): Drove into the last tree on the left. Bouncing into the next fairway, and was right behind another tree. Hit my 6i in an attempt to punch it out, in retrospect over the tree would have been better. Hits the tree and bounces back into the bunker behind the tree. Hit out of the bunker into the green side bunker about 50 yards away. Hit out again onto the fringe. Chip and putt. Triple number 2 (17th): Hooked my 7i 168 yard tee shot into the water pin high. Dropped from the lateral, 2 chipped and 2 putt. Bogey (12th): 468 yards, 30 yards short with driver/hybrid. I thinned the hybrid. Par on the second hole (11th): Drove next to the pond again, hybrid past the left bunker pitched on near the pin. Missed the 6 footer. Tap in par. Best recovery par (16th): Drive a high spinning drive about 220-ish yards (hit too far down on it and it went really high). Hit a 4i punch shot hitting the trunk of tree in the way. Hit my LW 50 yards 4 feet from the pin. I make the putt. Best par (18th): Drive into a tree 200+ yards away on the left and it bounces back 20 yards? Nut the hybrid to the stand of trees next to the pin (must have rolled 40 yards in the hard pan?). Pitch 8 feet from the pin. I make the putt! I feel almost ready for regular scoring rounds, trying one or two after this week or the following.

I know you are keeping a handicap, but it seems to me that you have way too many practice rounds.. I mean you can do what ever you want and you can simply ignore what I'm saying since it's not like Im keeping a HC right now. However, aren't you really just fudging your HC the other way? ie the opposite of sandbagging? In my opinion you should make every round you play (9 or 18) count towards your HC and "practice rounds" should be far and few in between. This is how you will appreciate your improvement over time and I hope to be able to do this once I start going to the actual real course more often. Keep it up with the nice scoring!

[Lihu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lihu

Irons seem pretty good, but I am getting too much spin on the driver. I can see the ball "thinning" out but the distance is not that long. Will need to figure this out.

Played the first 8 holes yesterday on the shortest course shot 9 over (lost many shots around the green with one birdie and par), played 9 holes this morning on the 6800 yard course with 6 over consisting of 2 triples, 1 bogey, 5 par, 1 birdie. Putting is so much easier on the long course, pretty conclusive.

Triple number 1 (14th): Drove into the last tree on the left. Bouncing into the next fairway, and was right behind another tree. Hit my 6i in an attempt to punch it out, in retrospect over the tree would have been better. Hits the tree and bounces back into the bunker behind the tree. Hit out of the bunker into the green side bunker about 50 yards away. Hit out again onto the fringe. Chip and putt.

Triple number 2 (17th): Hooked my 7i 168 yard tee shot into the water pin high. Dropped from the lateral, chipped and 2 putt.

Bogey (12th): 468 yards, 30 yards short with driver/hybrid. I thinned the hybrid.

Par on the second hole (11th): Drove next to the pond again, hybrid past the left bunker pitched on near the pin. Missed the 6 footer. Tap in par.

Best recovery par (16th): Drive a high spinning drive about 220-ish yards (hit too far down on it and it went really high). Hit a 4i punch shot hitting the trunk of tree in the way. Hit my LW 50 yards 4 feet from the pin. I make the putt.

Best par (18th): Drive into a tree 200+ yards away on the left and it bounces back 20 yards? Nut the hybrid to the stand of trees next to the pin (must have rolled 40 yards in the hard pan?). Pitch 8 feet from the pin. I make the putt!

I feel almost ready for regular scoring rounds, trying one or two after this week or the following.

I know you are keeping a handicap, but it seems to me that you have way too many practice rounds.. I mean you can do what ever you want and you can simply ignore what I'm saying since it's not like Im keeping a HC right now. However, aren't you really just fudging your HC the other way? ie the opposite of sandbagging?

In my opinion you should make every round you play (9 or 18) count towards your HC and "practice rounds" should be far and few in between.

This is how you will appreciate your improvement over time and I hope to be able to do this once I start going to the actual real course more often.

Keep it up with the nice scoring!

First of all, I don't really feel like I am scoring all that well. I left a lot of shots to bewilderment leaving myself asking "Why did I do that?"

That's a really tough one to answer, and I think it might be worthwhile waiting a couple more weeks for my swing/pitch/putt changes to solidify a bit before scoring for handicap.

FWIW: I shot to a 17 handicap yesterday and to a 10 today while all last week I was essentially playing like an 18 handicap. Hoping that 12.8 is not all that far off.

[DrvFrShow]

Hey, that first triple sounds like one of mine. lol.

I agree. You're working on things right now, and these are practice rounds. Yes, I could be playing right now, too, and scoring like crap. We even have a couple of courses that have very good drainage and are pretty dry. Enter our scores? Not up here. Washington is considered "out of season." I could even score well, too. Same deal.

[Lihu]

Hey, that first triple sounds like one of mine. lol.

I agree. You're working on things right now, and these are practice rounds. Yes, I could be playing right now, too, and scoring like crap. We even have a couple of courses that have very good drainage and are pretty dry. Enter our scores? Not up here. Washington is considered "out of season." I could even score well, too. Same deal.

LOL. The funny thing is I looked up at the tree and it was only about 20 yards high and about 20 yards away. I was thinking to myself WTF? Why the heck did I even try to go under it? To top it off, I had only about 110 yards left to the pin. My 52 would have been an infinitely better choice, and I might have made the green near the pin. Instead, I gave myself 10 more yards from inside a bunker.

I had just joined a couple of ladies on this hole, plus it was clearly too early in the morning for me to think properly.

Yeah, this seems to be a wise use of practice rounds. I don't score bad or good rounds. Too bad about not scoring today's. I actually shot pretty well and even missed one 6 foot birdie opportunity. I've never had 2 real birdie chances on this course for 9 holes before or even 18 holes for that matter.

[Lihu]

Yuck, I hit one good drive today, and it was just to see if I could still drive.

44F starting out, and I only had one ball with me. No practice, like I wanted. I thinned the first two drives and thinned a lot more shots to start off a miserable morning. Finally, I hit a 5i off the tee 186 yards to the pin on the 13th hole. 14th was a disaster. 15th, I bought some prov1/x balls from a ball monger (8 for $5 in almost new condition). So, I practiced driving on the 16th. I skyed all the balls. Looked my club face and they were about half an inch high from the target center of the club and toe by quarter inch. I reset my driver to 9 degrees, with better performance. All my drives were anemic compared to yesterday.

After the 18th I decided to do some stretch turns and "actively" relax all my muscles during the swing. I hit two drives off the back of the "blue" tee box on the 10th. One drive bounced off the top of a tree upwards into the next fairway, but felt pretty powerful. The second one went 10 yards past the right bunker. My second shot "felt" like a 9i or 8i to the green over the water. Good way to end an otherwise miserable day.

The cold must have tensed my muscles and by the time I hit the "good" drive, the temperature rose to 58F. I'll have to to some relaxation exercises on cold mornings like this one.

[bmartin461]

14th was a disaster.

I've been following your recaps of your rounds and it seems like #14 always gives you trouble.  Off the top of my head I think you hit a tree at least twice on the left and I assume today was something similar.

Given this is a short par 4 at 358yds from the blues, why not change your strategy on that hole and hit a 3W or 3H or even a 5i?

It's downhill so you should get some roll out of it.

I'll have to say I played there last week and the conditions were just horrendous, has it improved any?

[Lihu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lihu

14th was a disaster.

I've been following your recaps of your rounds and it seems like #14 always gives you trouble.  Off the top of my head I think you hit a tree at least twice on the left and I assume today was something similar.

Given this is a short par 4 at 358yds from the blues, why not change your strategy on that hole and hit a 3W or 3H or even a 5i?

It's downhill so you should get some roll out of it.

I'll have to say I played there last week and the conditions were just horrendous, has it improved any?

Hi Brad, thanks for suggesting this. This hole really has it in for me.

I was thinking on the same lines, but was tempted once again. I had this bright idea to start the drive high and over the trees on the right, but the wind must have caught it (or I faded it or both) left into that stupid tree, again. I feel like Charlie Brown and his kite. Next time out, I'm going with the 5i next time and if I can catch that bump just right get some serious roll a little towards the hole?

Great to hear from you again!

[Lihu]

I noticed that when I used the launch monitor today. . .

I tried out some used S56 with PX6.0 shafts that were +1" and upright 3 degrees total for my height. My carry distances were really disappointing:  S56:PX6.0- 7i (145-153 yards), 4i (172-180 yards), PW (110-127 yards). The monitor was probably setup incorrectly as the SM was always reading 1.36 with irons while I know some of my strikes were pretty bad more like 1.2 or worse (shanks with 1.36 SM? ). Plus, I was only getting 21 yards height.

So, the main issue is that the clubs did not feel like they were reaching their "peak power" like when using my own clubs at impact. I should check the swing weight on my MP-32 clubs.

I know I can get more out of those clubs, but my timing or something is all off.

[Lihu]

Played the blue tees on the shorter course today and brought more balls today (the ones I purchased yesterday). Hit a lot of balls after the 11th hole. There were tournaments on both courses and the parking lot was pretty full at 7:00am!

My strike of the day was a 9i on the 17th, but unfortunately it landed the tee box behind my green. It was really solid, long, high and loud. I think it carried 140+ it went over the trees behind the green. I need to replicate this swing more often and with all my clubs. Tried to hit my 3i from about 200 yards on the 15th short par 5 hole. It was pretty abysmal. I was on wet muddy hard pan and tried three times to get out of the muck. All three attempts put me 30-80 yards short of the green. I didn't get splashed though because my inside out swing tended to spray the mud away from me. Drove the 14th green. Unfortunately, it rolled off the other side. My first one hit the tee box on the par 3 to the left. These were my longest drives of the day, and my finish was good on both of them. Most of the other ones were in the 240 yard range with maybe a couple others in the 250 range, and my finish was more upright (which might also explain the fade).

Need to do more mirror work.

[billchao]

I don't have any comments on your round, @Lihu , but what's "wet muddy hard pan"? :-P

[Abu3baid]

I don't have any comments on your round, @Lihu , but what's "wet muddy hard pan"? :-P

Isn't that as close as it gets to an oxymoron?

[Lihu]

I don't have any comments on your round, @Lihu, but what's "wet muddy hard pan"?

Yeah, that was a hard one to describe.

It's "hard pan", but with a 1cm layer of wet soppy mud on it?