My Swing (Lihu)

[Lihu]

13 rounds posted to GHIN so far. I think another month or so, and I'll have an official "official" handicap. My trend is about a 10, which is within a stroke of my GG number. It's almost exactly the same as my self calculated one from this past 8-10 months. Not like I immediately improved just because I started using GG and posting to GHIN or anything.

GHIN- 13 rounds posted 8.7 (Trend 9.1L)

GG- 22 rounds with quite a few 9 hole 9.2

Well, it's spring and I just have to figure out if I can fork over the extra $150 (plus entry fees) to compete in my club events, with kid's tuition payments coming up for next year coming up fast and money is a little bit tight. Regardless, I'm sure to be playing with some of the members of the club on the course as I had been the past 3 months.

Now that my handicap is "officiating" I guess I can fix my profile, and start to figure out what I need to do to actually improve. (If even possible)

[JonMA1]

Nice work on your improvement @Lihu.

[Lihu]

 

Nice work on your improvement @Lihu.

Thanks, but there's a long way to go. . .

[iacas]

Any updates (with high-speed video)?

[Lihu]

2 hours ago, iacas said:

Any updates (with high-speed video)?

Yes, but it rained today. Maybe have my son take it this week.

Planning to get some video some time before leaving for China this Sunday night and after the rains.

[Lihu]

Swing videos are downloaded off my phone, still need editing.

Just switched to more forgiving clubs from MP-32 to MP-52 with S300 shafts rather than the steel rods I've been using hoping to get some height on the longer irons.

Replaced the 3i I never used with a used Mac Daddy 56.

Hoping to get on the course for 9 to test this new bag configuration out, if not today then in 2 weeks.

17 scores posted to GHIN. One or two more weeks after I come back from China and I should be official.

I'm really not sure how it's calculated because I shot 7 good holes on a short course and added 2 strokes to the remaining holes for 9, it combined with a 43 on the long course for a differential of 9.2 which dropped my handicap even though I shot an 89 the other day on a 6400 yard course with a differential of 17.9.

So, all I have to do is score 43 on the front 9 of the 6700 yard course and shoot 39 on the front 9 of the 6000 yard course and bam! Then I can shoot 90 half the time and still hit the single digits?

[Lihu]

Noticed that when my muscles are fresh, I hit farther and can control my backswing better. Going to only do range time like a "workout" rest a day then play. So alternating 3 days rather than trying to play, range, play, etc. Going to try range, rest, play, rest, etc.

Off days, I'll do cardio and stretching or something.

Muscles are getting rested. Will start the cycle again today. Playing a 9 hole round after work.

On 6/26/2016 at 5:38 AM, Lihu said:

Did some back swing drills in a mirror.

Spent the a few hours shooting, which I hadn't done in a while. My cousin and I rented all the firearms we shot for the day. It was one of those on the spur of the moment type of things. Favorites were SCAR 17 and P226 357Sig. The AR15/M4 and Glock19 were kind of weak in comparison. SCAR 17 had way more power with the 7.62/51 Winchester loads. The loads were almost as hot as the standard 30-06. All the M14 and M1 Garand were "broken" so we got the SCAR and we were not disappointed. We stopped guys shooting S&W 500 in their tracks with the high quality loads. Us and the 10 Gauge slug guys just a few lanes down changed the atmospheric pressure in the entire range at every discharge. Video to come in my swing thread. 

 

 

Actually, my iphone takes some decent video in high speed mode for things like golf I guess, but I am getting the high speed memory for the Action Cam that I am not afraid of hitting with a club. . .

 

 

[Lihu]

Was finally able to log in! Yeah!

Shot a round 2 over and another one 4 over with my kids watching. Handicap is now around an 8.5. I am only playing/practicing only about 2 times a week. My short game isn't all that stellar, but my long game is reasonable. Going to play just for exercise and to keep in reasonable golf shape.

I'd say that I met my golfing goals! Thanks Sand Trap and Mike and Erik!

Updated my profile! See you guys around!

@RandallT, will drop in every now and then to check up on your single digit progress!

 

Now, I'm focused on shooting Lapua Magnum 338 a mile or more. . .just got 4/10 hits on a silhouette sized AR500 steel target with a 230gr FMJ Fiocchi 45 ACP from 100 yards loading a single round at a time into a Glock 21SF.

[Lihu]

Got on the driving range with an old friend and hit more targets than he did. Too bad hitting well on the range doesn't directly translate into good scores, but he thought it did! I suppose that's enough to make them think it's easy for me. . .when we all know, otherwise. . .

Hit a steel plate 5/9 times with a cheap Remington 783 with factory scope 7mm Rem. Mag. 148 Gr. soft tips 8" plate 600 yards. Dropped the bolt on the cement while cleaning it, but I hope it doesn't affect the performance.

Getting into shotgun. I've gotten used to the Mossberg 930 JM Pro 12 gauge. Shot a 5 round burst in less than a second with 7.5/1.125oz 3 dram shot. Not too much recoil. . .

Hit only 10/25 clay in trap, man do I suck.

Looking for some way to use video feedback on my form. I think my weight is too far back, but as of yet there is no 5SK for shooting nor BEST method like in archery. Going to watch more instructional videos. Wish Erik was into trap and skeet. . .

[iacas]

4 hours ago, Lihu said:

Looking for some way to use video feedback on my form. I think my weight is too far back, but as of yet there is no 5SK for shooting nor BEST method like in archery. Going to watch more instructional videos. Wish Erik was into trap and skeet. . .

I am, but you'd have to visit my other forum, theclaypigeon.com (TCP) for info on that.

[Lihu]

12 hours ago, iacas said:

I am, but you'd have to visit my other forum, theclaypigeon.com (TCP) for info on that.

Cool, I'm all over that one! Thanks.

[Lihu]

Well, I'm still shooting in the mid to high teens, but I see myself getting better in terms of posture and sight control, etc. I'm practicing holding the shotgun steady with some weights tied to the front to build up some stamina.

On the golfing side of things, I played a quite a few 9 hole rounds and at least one 18 hole round the last 2 to 3 months. Shot 81 on the one 18 hole round where I scored with 1 OB and a few 3 putts. The other 18 hole score was kind of questionable as I was playing with a friend who had an interest in scoring me better than I actually played.

My driving is not particularly good, but the new stiffer shaft I switched to a few months ago is helping keep stuff in play and my long game seems to be not too bad these days. Most of my issues are with short game. My 9 holes rounds ranged everywhere from 46 down to a 39 yesterday.

The 39 even had 2 OB where I over shot and faded the downhill green about 317 yards away twice with my driver before using my hybrid off the tee. Well, downhill and with the wind at my back, not something I expected as it's been 3 years since playing this course. . .Too bad, because my short game happened to be pretty lucky that day.

Most of these were semi-solo rounds or solo rounds. If I were to look at my handicap, I would say that it's pretty much flat. I have some terrible scores and some decent ones. I'm only practicing about 2 times a week and playing once. Long game seems to be pretty much the one consistent thing about my game while my short game is all over the place. Not saying I don't hit bad long game shots, just that more of them seem to be okay.

I gained some distance, where I carry my 9i about 145 yards. Not with a lot of spin of course, but it does land there with anything from low flights to high ones. The higher spinnier ones that stick (I would say are the properly hit shots) are probably closer to only 135 yards.

[Lihu]

Finally took some video of my swing. It looks like crap, and it's really humbling.

Key 2 is my priority.

At first, I just figured my distances are shorter due to the lower temperatures, but no, once I did a few shots with the proper bend in my hips and shifted my weight properly all my irons carried 10 yards farther back to the "summer distances".

Bad habits really start to creep in without proper practice! Daily use of the mirror is required. Going to subscribe back into the daily practice thread!

[Lihu]

Played a round yesterday with both my kids. Perfect weather beautiful mountain backdrop.

We all struck the ball pretty decently, but our short games were awful. My daughter hit her shot of the day on the last hole and got her par on a long par 5.

My son couldn't hit driver, but made quite a few nice tee shots. He's getting even longer off the tee. If he could hit his driver, he'd be being questioned or grilled on this site.

I played a round with my oldest nephew today since he had a little time off from college, and both of us had a blast. 

On the last hole he pitches to within 2 feet and expected to take the hole, then I made my putt from off the fringe from something like 65 feet away on a high breaking putt. We left the flagstick in this time (I had one fringe putt go in and out today. If the stick were there for sure it would have stayed in "so I say"), and it plunked against the middle of the stick to match the hole and round. We tied up on 9 holes. My son joined us on the last hole, and the two of them gave me high fives for that putt! 

Cool beans.

This is the real reason I practiced so hard and worked to play this game to my current level. To play fun rounds with my kids and nephews...

 

[Lihu]

15 minutes ago, Lihu said:

 Adding A5 to my practice sequence. So, working on the movement from A2 to A5.

 

Going to add this with a deliberate pause at A4 for every practice swing and on the driving range.

Will likely continue this for the rest week or so. . .

My long game seems to be adequate for my handicap even though I duffed my hybrid twice. Once on the driving range and once on the course. I think I might have early extended? Both shots were topped with slightly more aggressive swings, which is why I need to stop making aggressive swings.

My 5W performed quite well this weekend, and got me near the green in 2 on a 509 yard par 5 two times. Could barely hit my driver. My push hook was coming back so I took it out of play the first day.

I overshot two greens leading me to doubles. The first one was when the ball landed on some pine needles and I moved the ball while setting up adding a penalty stroke. The other one landed in a bush and took an extra shot just to get it out of the bush before I could get it back in play. Clearly, I made a bad decision in that case.

Starting to work on short game. Need to get more distance control to save some pars or possibly make birdies. I think this is mainly a confidence thing. When I play daily, I don't even have to think about distance control. It's basically instinctive. When I take too much time off from playing, my short game is really bad. There's no feel nor confidence.

[Lihu]

I decided that the 5 minute challenge is going to be too challenging. . .

So, I'm going to post drills as they change here in my swing thread.

Doing the A2 to A4 transition, and holding at A4. My move from A4 down to A5 is initiated by the lateral hip movement then hip turn kind of "delayed" and kind of at the same time as the lateral movement. One thing I noticed is that when I initiate the lateral hip movement you have to be very conscious of not swaying on the back swing. It's got to be a separate movement type of feel. The delay is real, but everything is kind of mushed together so I need to be vigilant about "separating" the moves.

Doing the drills while at the shooting range this week between magazine loads, and tell everyone it's just yoga for shooting.

I'm kind of "golfed out" for the week. . .

So, I finally broke down and got a G17, and an Anderson lower which will be built up as a featureless "223/5.56". The G17 is sweet, accuracy is just as good as any 9mm I've ever fired. The P226 and 93R are superior contenders, but who wants to spend a grand on a 5" 9mm? I want to see what the all the fuss is about the G19 replacing the SS226? As far as I can tell after putting 100 rounds through the new G17 to break it in, it is about equal in accuracy and smoothness of action to my SS226 MK25. However, you really need the tritium sights as it gets a bit darker. Well worth the extra $80. The Anderson is being built up into a dual use 223/5.56 and going to get a 7.62x39 upper to play around a bit. The Thorsden stock is on back order, so legally, I can't finish the build for another month or so.

[CarlSpackler]

Not up to the challenge, eh? 

[Lihu]

52 minutes ago, CarlSpackler said:

Not up to the challenge, eh? 

Yup, too challenging to write every day.

The daily practice is really essential for progress, but I really have nothing to write daily other than "doing the same thing as yesterday. . ."

I'd say a weekly or even monthly update challenge is more appropriate for me these days. . .