My Swing (phillyk)

[phillyk]

Next round after that 72 was yesterday. I kept going with my same feels.  Driver once again started out a little hooky, but I played for it and it worked out. Ball flight was pretty consistent, a 5-8yd draw.  It's a little more than I want, but it's ok for right now. The tough part is trying to hit a cut.  My swing path is in to out a bit much so makes it hard but I made do. 

Ended up with a 69 (-3).  Made a few more putts. Short game wasn't as on point this round.  With everything a little wet all day, I couldn't get the ball to stop.  Overall, I am pleased with how things are going.  I have a few scramble events coming up next. 

[phillyk]

I played Snoqualmie Ridge Friday (site of Boeing Classic). It's my second round there but that didn't seem to help with club selection on the tricky holes.  Swing thoughts remain mostly the same as before: hands ahead, flat feeling takeaway, want squarer foot stance with chest feeling closed to produce a in to to path.

The round was one of the most up and down days, carding 6 birdies, 3 double bogies, and 2 bogies to finish at 74.  Wedges were on fire, sticking them tight and making my <10ft putts.  I had a few 15-30ft putts for birdie miss but I had no 3 putts which is good.  Putting felt solid for once.

One of my doubles came from me getting lazy in the middle of the round and I lost a drive out right (my only miss to the right that day).  The other 2 came from bad course management and not feeling comfortable over the ball.  They came on hole 9, par 3 over the pond, and hole 14, par 4 over the canyon.  Hole 9 was about 175yds into a 5-10mph wind, pin is front left, so no room to miss long or short and the green is only 10 steps long at most.  I tried to hit a little knock down 6iron and play for 185-190. I clipped it really well and it stayed under the wind and plugged into the back bunker. Nothing I could do from there.  Should've hit the 7 iron in the same way I did the 6, but I dreaded being short and in the water.  Hole 14, my plan was to hit 3 wood out to the right because I honestly have no idea how much I can take off because of the down hill tee shot. The green is a full 270yd carry but way down hill.  The first guy, who played there a lot, hits driver just right of the green and in decent shape. I hit driver 15yds further than that guy so I'm thinking maybe a gripped down driver at the green would be good. What an idiot I am.  I have never once bunted a driver well, why would this be the first time I succeed?  It duck hooked and then stick to my original plan.  3 wood out to the right and it's perfect in the middle of the fairway with 55yds to the pin.  Hopefully I can play those holes better next time.  An interesting note is that I birdied the the holes after those doubles.

Full swing plan continues to be a) work on the flatter back swing and then b) work on a bit more hip turn.  I like how the swing and game feels. Got to keep the momentum going.

[phillyk]

I have a good feel for getting a bit more hip turn around impact, which is to think about dropping my right shoulder in the beginning of the downswing.  I have to remember to keep my hands ahead though otherwise I get the hooks.  

I have also started doing the Super Speed training.  Club head speed when hitting balls was 115mph before starting this. I'd like it to be closer to 120mph.

Next tourney round is Monday at Sahalee.  Goal is to be conservative (for me) off the tee. Missing the fairways brings a ton of trouble.  So, 2iron will likely be used a bit more off the tee.

[Double Mocha Man]

2 minutes ago, phillyk said:

I have a good feel for getting a bit more hip turn around impact, which is to think about dropping my right shoulder in the beginning of the downswing.  I have to remember to keep my hands ahead though otherwise I get the hooks.  

I have also started doing the Super Speed training.  Club head speed when hitting balls was 115mph before starting this. I'd like it to be closer to 120mph.

Next tourney round is Monday at Sahalee.  Goal is to be conservative (for me) off the tee. Missing the fairways brings a ton of trouble.  So, 2iron will likely be used a bit more off the tee.

I have played all 3 nine hole courses at Sahalee but I can't remember many of the holes other than the downhill par 3 over the water.  Lots of trees lining the fairways.  Stay in the fairway.

[Mr22putt]

53 minutes ago, Double Mocha Man said:

I have played all 3 nine hole courses at Sahalee but I can't remember many of the holes other than the downhill par 3 over the water.  Lots of trees lining the fairways.  Stay in the fairway.

I have watched the 2010 USSO and 2016 LPGA KPMG at Sahalee....what a fantastic course....especially the back 9.

Beautiful tight tree lined parkland style private track.

[ncates00]

On 11/12/2019 at 1:33 PM, phillyk said:

Haven’t really taken a video in a while. Decided to record one while work is slow. 

The swing has been feeling pretty good of late. Main swing thought is getting hands and hips through earlier before impact. It’s not quite there yet but it’s definitely better. Secondary thoughts are rotating earlier in the backswing and following through towards target and “up”. 
 

Short game had been getting much better. Recent scores have all hovered at or below par. Putting is biggest factor. Some days I sink a few while other days I miss everything. Proximity to the hole is a factor, sure but some days I feel like my read is always below the hole. 

I like this swing here.  You really track the club up the elbow plane beautifully and then come down pretty much right on the elbow plane.  The videos after this one look like you are a bit under plane both on the backswing and especially the downswing.  Seems like on this video you could be really neutral in your delivery and basically hit straight bullets all day.  I get scared when someone is a bit underneath on the way down.  

Further, I don't understand why you would a flatter backswing.  I like the one like you see here where you track up the elbow plane.  I know you still come underneath on the way down, but seems like you could get into a bad habit if you go flatter on the backswing--you could easily come too steep down.  I like what you have in this video--up the elbow plane and right back down it.  The steeper/up the elbow plane backswing looks like money.  You basically set yourself up for a fantastic downswing where you can feel that plane and can come right down it for the straight ball, go underneath it for a bit of sling, or come across it for a fade.  That flat backswing stuff just doesn't jive with me--been there and done it and can't stand it.

Edited February 17, 2020 by ncates00

[phillyk]

40 minutes ago, ncates00 said:

I like this swing here.  You really track the club up the elbow plane beautifully and then come down pretty much right on the elbow plane.  The videos after this one look like you are a bit under plane both on the backswing and especially the downswing.  Seems like on this video you could be really neutral in your delivery and basically hit straight bullets all day.  I get scared when someone is a bit underneath on the way down.  

Further, I don't understand why you would a flatter backswing.  I like the one like you see here where you track up the elbow plane.  I know you still come underneath on the way down, but seems like you could get into a bad habit if you go flatter on the backswing--you could easily come too steep down.  I like what you have in this video--up the elbow plane and right back down it.  The steeper/up the elbow plane backswing looks like money.  You basically set yourself up for a fantastic downswing where you can feel that plane and can come right down it for the straight ball, go underneath it for a bit of sling, or come across it for a fade.  That flat backswing stuff just doesn't jive with me--been there and done it and can't stand it.

As i flattened my backswing to help with getting my hips going a bit more on the downswing, I started coming to the inside too much. I’ve mostly ignored the backswing now and am focusing more on controlling swing path and face at impact. The feel now is almost like releasing the club a bit earlier. The miss is a flip, unfortunately, but so long as I keep my target in mind, it keeps me straight. I shouldn’t say I’m ignoring the backswing, because it’s still important, but I switched the focus a bit. 

[phillyk]

Posting this even without hitting a ball so I can mark my thoughts from today. Tomorrow I’ll get ball footage to see if this holds.

I was swinging some free weights today (ones i found while cleaning the house, and yeah i promptly stopped what i was doing) and doing one handed swings, paying attention to hip rotation and where my arms/hands were going on the backswing. I noticed that once my hands got past a certain point, my left knee collapsed, which made it hard to rotate back. So, well, don’t go past that point. Sounds easy enough but I’d never gathered that feeling and specific point of no return before. I’ve always known some things needed changing but I could never find the feel to take me there. So this swing represents that feeling. I didn’t feel like it was slower speed either.

I don’t know, I’m sure it can’t be this easy, but I’m optimistic. 

Edited March 1, 2020 by phillyk

[Wanzo]

13 hours ago, phillyk said:

don’t go past that point.

Looks better to my untrained eye.  Seems more under control at top of backswing.  I’m trying to shorten my backswing and the feel I go back to is one @iacas gave me to have the arms stop when the pivot stops. 

[phillyk]

Well decided to play a quick 9 after work instead of range. I have to really think about hinging a lot earlier to make this swing work. When I get it right, it produces a piercing ball flight and so much straighter. Needs some work, especially driver, but I’m liking the feeling so far. 

[phillyk]

From this morning. Backswing looks simpler, but a touch longer than I wanted. One thing that I really notice is that there’s less “time” in the swing now. I can feel when I take too big a swing because the backswing almost takes too long. I adjusted ball position more towards left foot which seems to help. 

[phillyk]

Posting this for the swings I made because it shows, for some reason, that I make some really good swings when teaching.  Specifically the hip turn I make. Why I can’t do the same thing when I’m playing golf, I don’t know. But perhaps I’ll focus up a bit more on these drills for myself. Although I’m pleased with my progress thus far on my backswing being a bit simpler.

This video will be the first of several of Tuesday tips at eaglemontgolf instagram page that I help manage. We are doing other cool pictures and random stuff if you’re interested in following along. Just trying to make it entertaining as part of a media campaign for my course. 

[boogielicious]

10 hours ago, phillyk said:

Why I can’t do the same thing when I’m playing golf, I don’t know.

Now this is the $1,000,000 question for all of us, isn’t it?

[phillyk]

Hit a couple balls at the my old courses range yesterday. Had my kid with me, so couldn’t hit too many. But it felt good to finally get out. Staying home is tough when its 60 and sunny. Hit a lot of pure shots. Wasn’t trying anything funny, just swinging smooth. Hit a couple pitches, which is something I’ve been doing at home on the carpet, and that went really well. Haven’t been able to just nip the grass in a while, it was nice. Going back tomorrow, and I’ll bring my tripod so I can see what video looks like. 

[phillyk]

On 4/8/2020 at 9:37 AM, phillyk said:

Hit a couple balls at the my old courses range yesterday. Had my kid with me, so couldn’t hit too many. But it felt good to finally get out. Staying home is tough when its 60 and sunny. Hit a lot of pure shots. Wasn’t trying anything funny, just swinging smooth. Hit a couple pitches, which is something I’ve been doing at home on the carpet, and that went really well. Haven’t been able to just nip the grass in a while, it was nice. Going back tomorrow, and I’ll bring my tripod so I can see what video looks like. 

Got to get out, with my kid so not a lot of swings, but it was good. Short game felt so good. Iron swing felt really good, driver was a bit off. Backswing is definitely shorter and more precise. Im getting my weight forward on downswing, but still not turning much. It’s interesting, though, I’ve eliminated my hook miss and gained a slight fade miss. I’m ok with it though because all the shots are straighter. No swingers.

Not including the videos I took because they were on a weird lie and my buddy, who was out with me, didn’t quite get the angles right. BUT, I got my golf net a week early! Set it mostly up. Need to get the lie right. But I’ll get my LM and tripod and start working on swing a lot more now. Definitely something to spark excitement during this time. 

Going to work more on overall concise swing and do some work of moving my center early in swing to create some movement. I wonder if it’ll help get my hips a bit more active. 

[phillyk]

I have my net and es14 set up and I’m enjoying myself a bit finally, in this stay home situation. Working on the “flow” and it’s helping get my weight moving a bit and hips turning a little more. Swing thought is to sway a tiny bit and then swing “out.”

[phillyk]

I went out Friday to play a course that is closed, as did another 100 people by the looks of the parking lot. There are other courses that are not enforcing the closures but this one is an easier walk. Hole locations were marked by sticks so it was hard to really get a distance to holes. Also its been a while since I played the course, so didn’t know carries to water hazards and such.

I hit the ball as well as I expected to. Had a couple penalties because of lack of course knowledge. But I hit a lot of other great shots to make up for it. Managed a -3, 69! For being my first real round in a month, I’m pretty excited! I really hope I can keep this swing going. Thoughts are to work on the flow and keep my hands outside on backswing and “left” on follow through. 

[Mr22putt]

10 minutes ago, phillyk said:

There are other courses that are not enforcing the closures but this one is an easier walk. . 

One of the other courses you're referring to must be Shuksan....I like the course and have always walked much to the disdain of my wife who whines that we should cart it.