My Swing (Shindig)

[Shindig]

Full swing as of end of summer 2018.  Handicap:  12.9, lowest it has ever been.  Misses tend left, especially pulls with the driver.  Working on key #1 at the moment.  Club in the video is a 5-iron (Ping G400).  I sent these two videos to evolvr a few minutes ago.  I'm aware of the problem clearly visible in face-on video.  Mostly posting here as a swing diary.

 

 

[Shindig]

Okay, time for an update.  I just sent the 6-Iron videos to Evolvr, even though I know I haven't achieved what I was supposed to from my last session.  It feels right, but the video shows it isn't.  Still improving.

Note: all of these swings are intended to be a full speed, as if I were on the course.  Obviously when practicing we do these slower.  Maybe at some point I should take video of me at practice speed?

and down the line:

 

Bonus videos.  I didn't send these to evolvr (should I have?).  Driver, attempting to do the drill under "Launch it high" on p. 81 of LSW, along with the setup of p.28.  If I'm not doing the drill correctly, or the setup correctly, I'd like to hear about it.  During the swing stuff I'm going to wait to hear from evolvr on that (I think it is better that I am listening to one person instead of many on that sort of thing).

 

And lastly, my attempts at a partial 8-iron.   I am attempting to implement this thread's advice:

 

 

Anyway, this has been my all-too-irregular swing diary update.  Thanks for reading/watching this far!  

[Shindig]

I submitted these to Evolvr a week ago (and got a response I'm working on), but it dawns on me that as long as I'm uploading to YouTube anyway, I might as well post them in the "My Swing" diary thread.

I guess this is the swing I finished lockdown with.

 

 

 

[Shindig]

I'm now trying to figure out something from their insights tab.  Comparing my last handful of rounds to a 10 handicap, I got some practice suggestions in each area.  I'm sort of thinking aloud here, but I think it's more of making the most of my GG stats so I'm keeping it in this thread. 

* Putting, inside 10'.  Yep, I'm a bad putter, and I crammed for my most recent round and it improved for that round.  Of course I am going to continue practicing putting in this range, especially since it was a glaring weakness and probably still is.  GG says I can gain up to 1.4 strokes per round on this when I compare to my last 5 rounds compared to a 10hcp;  if I ignore my last round and do the 5 before that, it says 1.9 strokes can be improved.  Either way, gonna practice. 

* Short game, suggestion is within 25 yards from the "other."  I have so many shots from the "other," which I have come to realize is anything that isn't sand or the fairway (or the tee box, which it won't be for shots inside 25 yards).  I suppose they can't map the "light rough, heavy rough, dirt, bark" and so on.   I'm not sure how accurate I'm expected to be from inside 25 yards -- my short game practice, when I am able to, is the "get it inside your handicap in feet" drill from LSW.   Maybe I need to think more about how I attack these shots -- I think my form is fine and my club selection process makes sense.   But GG tells me it could improve it by .79 strokes per round -- that seems worth it, especially if it isn't a major swing change (which, for these shots, I doubt it will be).

Also I observe this tab (at least on the "show the shots" tab) doesn't include shots played with the putter.  It doesn't appear they're listed in the fairway selection either.

* Approach, 150-175 yards from the fairway, small benefit (0.22 shots), but it does indicate to me that maybe I should hit a few more good practice balls with those clubs (6-iron, 5-iron, 4 hybrid)

* Off the tee, par-4s between 350 and 400 yards for .36 strokes per round.  I am looking at my past few rounds and trying to figure out what I could do better on these -- other than just plain distance.  Maybe the answer is I need to get back to Speed Stix.  I mean, last round I hit 12 fairways (out of 14), without that being a focus of it, and one fairway was missed by about a foot on a 245 yard drive (I'd happily play my second shot from the first cut in my next round 14 times if it's 245 yards from the tee), which is well above my average.  

Any thoughts on what I wrote are very welcome.

Edited July 19, 2020 by Shindig

[billchao]

2 hours ago, Shindig said:

I'm now trying to figure out something from their insights tab.  Comparing my last handful of rounds to a 10 handicap, I got some practice suggestions in each area.  I'm sort of thinking aloud here, but I think it's more of making the most of my GG stats so I'm keeping it in this thread. 

* Putting, inside 10'.  Yep, I'm a bad putter, and I crammed for my most recent round and it improved for that round.  Of course I am going to continue practicing putting in this range, especially since it was a glaring weakness and probably still is.  GG says I can gain up to 1.4 strokes per round on this when I compare to my last 5 rounds compared to a 10hcp;  if I ignore my last round and do the 5 before that, it says 1.9 strokes can be improved.  Either way, gonna practice. 

* Short game, suggestion is within 25 yards from the "other."  I have so many shots from the "other," which I have come to realize is anything that isn't sand or the fairway (or the tee box, which it won't be for shots inside 25 yards).  I suppose they can't map the "light rough, heavy rough, dirt, bark" and so on.   I'm not sure how accurate I'm expected to be from inside 25 yards -- my short game practice, when I am able to, is the "get it inside your handicap in feet" drill from LSW.   Maybe I need to think more about how I attack these shots -- I think my form is fine and my club selection process makes sense.   But GG tells me it could improve it by .79 strokes per round -- that seems worth it, especially if it isn't a major swing change (which, for these shots, I doubt it will be).

Also I observe this tab (at least on the "show the shots" tab) doesn't include shots played with the putter.  It doesn't appear they're listed in the fairway selection either.

* Approach, 150-175 yards from the fairway, small benefit (0.22 shots), but it does indicate to me that maybe I should hit a few more good practice balls with those clubs (6-iron, 5-iron, 4 hybrid)

* Off the tee, par-4s between 350 and 400 yards for .36 strokes per round.  I am looking at my past few rounds and trying to figure out what I could do better on these -- other than just plain distance.  Maybe the answer is I need to get back to Speed Stix.  I mean, last round I hit 12 fairways (out of 14), without that being a focus of it, and one fairway was missed by about a foot on a 245 yard drive (I'd happily play my second shot from the first cut in my next round 14 times if it's 245 yards from the tee), which is well above my average.  

Any thoughts on what I wrote are very welcome.

I moved this post to your swing thread since it's about your game. For anyone wondering, @Shindig is talking about Game Golf.

[Shindig]

6 minutes ago, billchao said:

I moved this post to your swing thread since it's about your game. For anyone wondering, @Shindig is talking about Game Golf.

Thank you.  I forgot that this thread can be used for things other than videos of my actual swing and feedback on the same. 

[billchao]

8 minutes ago, Shindig said:

Thank you.  I forgot that this thread can be used for things other than videos of my actual swing and feedback on the same. 

Yea, it's an all encompassing topic for your golf game.

I honestly never liked the smart tips thing. One of mine says to improve my short game from inside 25 yards to lower my score up to 0.09 strokes per round. Seems like a worthy endeavor 🙃 

Mind you, I'm already 0.42 strokes better than a 10 handicap in short game in my last 10 rounds as it is.

I just use the dark background insights page comparison to my benchmark, see where I'm losing strokes and go from there. Even that I don't trust 100%. Game Golf doesn't map trees, so if I drive the ball 260 and 5 yards off the edge of the fairway but there's a tree in my way and I have to chip out sideways, it tells me I hit a good drive and a poor approach shot.

[TexasSR75070]

14 hours ago, Shindig said:

I'm now trying to figure out something from their insights tab.  Comparing my last handful of rounds to a 10 handicap, I got some practice suggestions in each area.  I'm sort of thinking aloud here, but I think it's more of making the most of my GG stats so I'm keeping it in this thread. 

* Putting, inside 10'.  Yep, I'm a bad putter, and I crammed for my most recent round and it improved for that round.  Of course I am going to continue practicing putting in this range, especially since it was a glaring weakness and probably still is.  GG says I can gain up to 1.4 strokes per round on this when I compare to my last 5 rounds compared to a 10hcp;  if I ignore my last round and do the 5 before that, it says 1.9 strokes can be improved.  Either way, gonna practice. 

* Short game, suggestion is within 25 yards from the "other."  I have so many shots from the "other," which I have come to realize is anything that isn't sand or the fairway (or the tee box, which it won't be for shots inside 25 yards).  I suppose they can't map the "light rough, heavy rough, dirt, bark" and so on.   I'm not sure how accurate I'm expected to be from inside 25 yards -- my short game practice, when I am able to, is the "get it inside your handicap in feet" drill from LSW.   Maybe I need to think more about how I attack these shots -- I think my form is fine and my club selection process makes sense.   But GG tells me it could improve it by .79 strokes per round -- that seems worth it, especially if it isn't a major swing change (which, for these shots, I doubt it will be).

Also I observe this tab (at least on the "show the shots" tab) doesn't include shots played with the putter.  It doesn't appear they're listed in the fairway selection either.

* Approach, 150-175 yards from the fairway, small benefit (0.22 shots), but it does indicate to me that maybe I should hit a few more good practice balls with those clubs (6-iron, 5-iron, 4 hybrid)

* Off the tee, par-4s between 350 and 400 yards for .36 strokes per round.  I am looking at my past few rounds and trying to figure out what I could do better on these -- other than just plain distance.  Maybe the answer is I need to get back to Speed Stix.  I mean, last round I hit 12 fairways (out of 14), without that being a focus of it, and one fairway was missed by about a foot on a 245 yard drive (I'd happily play my second shot from the first cut in my next round 14 times if it's 245 yards from the tee), which is well above my average.  

Any thoughts on what I wrote are very welcome.

I'm no instructor, but based on what you have posted your game off the tee and approach shots are pretty good if all you could gain is t he little bit mentioned for each. I don't know all the algorithms that Game Golf uses to come up with their Strokes Gained comparisons, but I have just used to it recognize the "glaring" weaknesses in my game. For you that appears to be in the putting and short game arenas. I think you recognize what parts of the game are holding you back and what you have to work on..

 

Good luck and play well!

[Shindig]

4 hours ago, TexasSR75070 said:

I'm no instructor, but based on what you have posted your game off the tee and approach shots are pretty good if all you could gain is t he little bit mentioned for each. I don't know all the algorithms that Game Golf uses to come up with their Strokes Gained comparisons, but I have just used to it recognize the "glaring" weaknesses in my game. For you that appears to be in the putting and short game arenas. I think you recognize what parts of the game are holding you back and what you have to work on..

 

Good luck and play well!

Thank you!  I think the "little to gain" is compared to a 10 handicap -- it makes sense that they have benchmarks, as telling a 30 handicap what they need to do to get to scratch isn't productive, but coaching them down to a 25 handicap (and then to a 20 from there) would be more helpful.  And the observation about it holding me back is certainly right. 

Your observation about using it to recognize glaring weaknesses is correct.  I'm now looking at the last five rounds, compared to handicap benchmarks.

If I ask the last 5 rounds vs a 10 handicap, I'm told to practice the short putts (under 10'), but compared to a 5 handicap or to scratch I'm told to practice 10'-33'  (that's quite a range...).   

By contrast, short game focus being told is <25 yards (vs 15 hcp it's .75 strokes, vs 10 hcp it's .79, then vs 5 it's .84, then .89 vs scratch -- which tells me there's some low hanging fruit I should be able to get quickly, and keep). 

Approach is 150-175 yard range, off the fairway (15,10,5) until we get to scratch, then it's par-3 tees at the same range.  But even at scratch it's .5 strokes per round (but I think that's just in that category, although of course improving at that range would likely improve other distance categories)

Off the tee keeps telling me at each range holes of length 350-400 for up to a stroke per round (vs scratch).  Given my fairways hit, I'm suspecting this is a distance thing. 

[Shindig]

No questions for TST;  I sent these to Evolvr a moment ago and figure I should keep the "swing diary" aspect going.

 

 

 

 

[iacas]

Like, Michael, what does a 1/2 swing look like for you?

What does it look like if you use the muscles in your arms and shoulders to feel like you stop them from going above horizontal? 🙂

[Shindig]

22 hours ago, iacas said:

Like, Michael, what does a 1/2 swing look like for you?

What does it look like if you use the muscles in your arms and shoulders to feel like you stop them from going above horizontal? 🙂

I'll aim to get some video in my golf room (or maybe at a driving range) in the next day or so.  I just got home from playing today and I'm playing again tomorrow.  I would have trouble getting the video at home from face-on / CV, but I can get a DTL video. 

I'm aware my backswing... goes quite a distance. 

[Shindig]

23 hours ago, iacas said:

Like, Michael, what does a 1/2 swing look like for you?

What does it look like if you use the muscles in your arms and shoulders to feel like you stop them from going above horizontal? 🙂

I can re-film this with a ball if you want;  I'm just trying to demonstrate how far back my hands/arms go when I think I'm hitting a half shot.  With my gap wedge (pictured here), I get about 45-50 yards on the course.

I'm still trying to figure out a good way to film things in this room...

 

[Double Mocha Man]

24 minutes ago, Shindig said:

I can re-film this with a ball if you want;  I'm just trying to demonstrate how far back my hands/arms go when I think I'm hitting a half shot.  With my gap wedge (pictured here), I get about 45-50 yards on the course.

I'm still trying to figure out a good way to film things in this room...

 

Film is Truth.

[iacas]

Yeah you only get that distance because you swing down so slowly.

I know you’re on Evolvr but the arms getting pinned against your chest is definitely a thing that needs work. Turn mostly. Arms do nothing (feel).

[Shindig]

14 minutes ago, iacas said:

Yeah you only get that distance because you swing down so slowly.

I know you’re on Evolvr but the arms getting pinned against your chest is definitely a thing that needs work. Turn mostly. Arms do nothing (feel).

Huh, it didn't occur to me I could get more distance with half shots, but in retrospect, looking at your distances in LSW, there's obviously a gap.  

My strategy for full swing practice (for quite some time) has been to focus on what the priority piece I get from Evolvr is.  Should I bring this up there, or is this something I would work on separately?

[Grizvok]

49 minutes ago, iacas said:

Yeah you only get that distance because you swing down so slowly.

I know you’re on Evolvr but the arms getting pinned against your chest is definitely a thing that needs work. Turn mostly. Arms do nothing (feel).

Absolutely. Typical pro on the left vs typical amateur on the right.

Edited July 26, 2020 by Grizvok

[Shindig]

8 minutes ago, Grizvok said:

Absolutely. Typical pro on the left vs  typical amateur on the right.

Thank you;  can you explain what's going on in the picture a bit more?