Pete's Programme (Single Digit to Tour Player)

[rkim291968]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rkim291968

Very good.  Congrats to your effort (not so much for your teammate).   Am looking forward to your individual competition report.

He just had a bad day, he's normally a really steady player, probably less 'streaky' than me tbh. I guess it happens and in pairs matchplay if one of you is having a bad day it's tough to win the match. That said, if my iron play had matched my play off the tee we'd have done better too.

While I always want to win matches, for me this first year is just about getting out there. I guess everyone is different but for me I think there's more pressure in a team match as you don't want to let your playing partner or the rest of the team down. In individual play if you mess it up that day it only effects you so you can simply shrug your shoulders and walk away. I don't really get blowing up on a golf course like the guy in the group behind us. Just don't see how that's going to help your play afterwards.

Agree.  I was in alternate shot tournament yesterday.  I saw a golfer in front group throw his club after chipping, and a few holes later again after a short putt miss.   It could have been two different guys or one guy throwing it both times.  It was not easy to tell from afar.   But that kind of attitude not only effects him but his partner, too.   Golf is played better when one is relaxed whether he is playing as a team or for himself.

[Nosevi]

Did a quick gap testing today so thought I may as well post it. I was a little rushed at the end as I had a far more important engagement to make - kid's sports day - and didn't strike my 5 iron or 3 wood very well but hurried on as I needed to get done. It gives an idea of where I am though.

I've worked pretty hard on getting my driver spin numbers down as I used to 'fizz' it any time I tried to hit the ball even moderately hard and the ball would just stall. I now get a far more neutral ball flight and the carry numbers show that. I've also put in a lot of time in the gym ( a LOT of time) and it's just starting to pay off. Pretty pleased how this part of my programme is going.

Wedges I get a tonne more spin than I used to get. Previously I didn't  get the contact necessary to give 10,000 rpm or there abouts. Agreed sometimes you don't want the ball to zipp away from the flag but if you at least can generate the spin it shows a good contact and backing off the spin is easier than generating it if it's not there to start with.

Irons are still a work in progress. I've upped my available power since the start of my programme but I'm not quite compressing the ball as much as I should and the launch angle is a little high as a result. I'm launching it about a club higher than the tour pro I practice with and unsurprisingly the ball is going about a club shorter. It's a very playable ball flight but I do feel I'm wasting a bit of power here.

Anyway, just thought I'd post up. I know distance isn't everything and there have been several threads on here quite rightly pointing this out. But tour pros don't play on 6,000 yard courses. When the courses get to 7,200 or 7,400 yards you simply have to have the length off the tee to cope or you're going to be made to look very silly. I'd suggest that if you want to play on tour but are driving it under 270 yards you are going to struggle to the point where the it matters not a jot what your putting stats are - you're never going to make it. You have to nail this basic requirement to even stand an outside chance.

[Faksakes]

Great thread, enjoying it. How much weight have you lost? Cheers

[Nosevi]

Great thread, enjoying it. How much weight have you lost? Cheers

Hi there. I've lost about 22 pounds so I'm now just very chubby rather than very fat. As well as losing body fat I'm putting on a bit of muscle so it's slowing weight loss up a bit. To put it in perspective I've gone in 5 notches on my belt and trousers I wore at the start kind of fall to the floor  if I let go of them. Long way to go in this aspect of the programme but I am making progress

[Faksakes]

That's great progress in the time period, good work and I'll be following along. You seem to have a much better approach than Dan does to say the least. I'm rooting for you.

[Nosevi]

That's great progress in the time period, good work and I'll be following along. You seem to have a much better approach than Dan does to say the least. I'm rooting for you.

Thanks.

I've said a bunch of times I still think Dan could progress but I think he would need to realise that what's he's trying to do is really, really hard. Just going out and playing golf just isn't going to cut it. I'm aiming at a lower level to Dan, I'll call it a success if I can cut it at developmental tour level (one below Web.com sort of level) and a major success if I get any higher than that but I know to do that will take a bit of commitment and a whole heap of hard graft. I'm not talking commitment to spending a few years playing golf, I'm talking about commitment to do what it takes to get good and one area you need to nail is physical training.

It's been commented that Dan looks no different now than at the start of his plan. Can't say I've paid much attention but as power and length off the tee is part of the modern game you would expect a full physical programme to be a part of any plan. It certainly is of mine and the truth is I have changed shape a tad.

Now the next post comes with a bit of a health warning as it shows how out of shape I was before I started compared to more recently. Photos were not meant for public consumption but I think it probably makes the point. You have been warned .......

[Nosevi]

As I said, not really taken for public viewing but I think it does show what I said above about commitment to a physical training programme. They are not so much before and after shots, more before and during. I apologise again if anyone stumbles on them over breakfast...

Right, years of sitting in front of radar screens, drinking coffee and eating donuts hadn't put me in the best shape for what I wanted to try to do. This is before the plan after probably my first or second 'workout' - probably a walk round the garden followed by a sit up and an attempt at a push up or something:

Clearly a bit of work lay ahead.

This is a bit more recently. Sincere apologies for the pose, hadn't seen any muscle there in some years.....

If Dan does lack power off the tee but isn't engaged in an intensive physical programme to address this (both assumptions to an extent) I don't get it. It's something totally in your control

[garybbq]

Thanks for posting all this, I enjoy reading this thread.

I was wondering what specifically have you done to increase distance? I'm guessing it is probably a few things but what do you feel was the main factor, strength training, swing mechanics etc.

Thanks and good luck.

[Nosevi]

Thanks for posting all this, I enjoy reading this thread.

I was wondering what specifically have you done to increase distance? I'm guessing it is probably a few things but what do you feel was the main factor, strength training, swing mechanics etc.

Thanks and good luck.

Thanks. And thanks for not taking the mickey out of the 'before' photos - you've got to start somewhere

Regarding increasing distance off the tee I think the two sides of the equation - physical conditioning and swing mechanics - are to an extent linked, if you lack either one you will probably struggle. To start with I simply didn't have either the core stability or strength to generate and support high club head speed and even is I could there was no way I'd stay close to in balance. I had to address this in order to move forwards so it formed an important part of the programme right from the start.

This is a little demo which gives an idea of generating club head speed while remaining in balance. It's deliberately without a ball so you can hear the 'swish' if you turn your volume up. Originally I'd have fallen over if I tried to generate this sort of club head speed, I'd also have come up short.

BTW, I know the spot lights make me look bald in this vid

[garybbq]

Thanks, so this "swoosh" drill was just another drill you incorporated when working with your swing coach?

I really like how you stated previously something like "a required piece of todays game is distance" (sorry cant remember exact) so you had to address that. Do you have any more details on exactly what you did pertaining to distance? I'm just curious since there are some many stupid "gain 50 yards off the T" gimmicks and commercials that I would like to hear how someone actually does it.

Thanks,

[Nosevi]

Thanks, so this "swoosh" drill was just another drill you incorporated when working with your swing coach?

I really like how you stated previously something like "a required piece of todays game is distance" (sorry cant remember exact) so you had to address that. Do you have any more details on exactly what you did pertaining to distance? I'm just curious since there are some many stupid "gain 50 yards off the T" gimmicks and commercials that I would like to hear how someone actually does it.

Thanks,

Yep, I just use the swoosh drill to help with my rhythm and balance. It's just a practice swing really but inside where you can really hear it, it just helps to accelerate through impact rather than from the top.

Regarding increasing distance off the tee, I can only answer from my perspective and say what I have done. Like I said earlier, it's something that you need to do to play the game at a high level these days, ignoring it is pointless and you're setting yourself up to fail IMO.

This will be a little involved but I hope you can follow along ok. I basically looked at 3 things - the science behind getting a ball to go a long way, the swing mechanics I would need to do that and the physical conditioning I'd need to put those swing mechanics into place. I'll take each of those separately.

The Science - essentially you need to hit the ball on a reasonable trajectory, maybe 14-16 degrees, and with enough spin to keep it airborne but not too much as that creates drag. The magic number for spin is somewhere between about 2000 and 3000 rpm, lower and there's not enough lift, higher and there's too much drag. So armed with this I knew I needed a driver that would allow me to hit the ball hard without creating too much spin. After a bit of testing I opted for a Ping G30 9 degree dialled down to 8 degrees loft. It's not a lot of loft but I hit up on the ball with driver quite a bit and I'm pretty straight off the tee so it works for me. To keep the spin down I use a Project X 6.5 shaft. Essentially custom fitting really helps.

Next I needed to address the physical condition I was in in those first 2 pictures. In my youth at University in Oxford I played a lot of Rugby but also rowed in an 8 for the college and prior to that at high school age I competed in discus, javelin and swimming. The training we did for the rowing was a mixture of serious cardio and endurance training but also explosive power training. Personally I prefer using free weights to machines as they are better for dynamic strength in my opinion. I think if you are having to control the weight rather than just push it on a 'track' it's better for sports training as it builds your balance and proprioception as well as strength, has always been the case with me anyway. Whether I was training for rowing, Rugby or any of the sports I played at school we generally worked on strength training starting with core strength and working outwards so that's what I did this time round. The programme has some cardio, mainly on a bike, quite a bit of core work for stability and free weights for power. It's working so I guess I'm more or less on the right track.

Once I had a bit of core stability and strength I could work on starting to swing a little harder. IMO swinging hard is all about balance - if you can stay in balance you can swing as hard as your strength will allow and to work on balance I spent hours just swinging the driver backwards and forwards, sort of like the swoosh drill earlier but with no pause between. This built up my balance as eventually your body gets the idea of how to swing harder and harder yet stay balanced. It's also is a great exercise for the muscles you actually use to swing the club. On top of that I also looked at high speed video to see exactly what I was doing in the swing. Mine's not a textbook swing but it's functional and I know what tendencies I have to go off track.

So that was really it - work out how the ball had to fly, get the kit that would allow me to do it, build up strength and core stability and swing the club in balance. No short cuts really

[garybbq]

Thanks, really good stuff.

[PapaMatt]

Pete, this thread is fantastic. I greatly enjoyed the books on quests like these, such as Dream On, and it was a pleasure to read through this thread (although I should have been working).

I've dreamed of doing something like this but do not think I can realistically get where you did with the finances. My wife is a stay at home mom of 3 so someone has to feed all those people. My best chance would be throwing every spare second into various drills, cutting back on sleep, doing mirror drills while on conference calls...actually that last is not a bad idea. :)

Look forward to reading about your progress!!

[Nosevi]

Pete, this thread is fantastic. I greatly enjoyed the books on quests like these, such as Dream On, and it was a pleasure to read through this thread (although I should have been working).

I've dreamed of doing something like this but do not think I can realistically get where you did with the finances. My wife is a stay at home mom of 3 so someone has to feed all those people. My best chance would be throwing every spare second into various drills, cutting back on sleep, doing mirror drills while on conference calls...actually that last is not a bad idea. :)

Look forward to reading about your progress!!

Thanks. I was lucky in a way with the finances as I was in the military and on a pension scheme that pays out as you leave - nothing like that around these days. Did my time in hot and sandy places in Iraq towards the end of the war there and on the Afghanistan Campaign so don't feel the least bit guilty about it. Kind of wish the guys in now got the same sort of pension deals we got though.

Just as an aside I grew up not a million miles from you - Cherry Point US Marine Base over on the coast. My father was an AV8A pilot at the time and did an exchange tour over there. He was the US Marines' AV8A display pilot when we were there in fact.

[PapaMatt]

Just as an aside I grew up not a million miles from you - Cherry Point US Marine Base over on the coast. My father was an AV8A pilot at the time and did an exchange tour over there. He was the US Marines' AV8A display pilot when we were there in fact.

Very cool! I'm familiar with the area. My brother-in-law did a tour in Iraq (Marine). He is lucky to be alive as his Humvee hit an IED, seat covered in shrapnel but he just had a slight scratch where one piece cut his watch band off his wrist. My dad was also a Marine.

[Nosevi]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nosevi

Just as an aside I grew up not a million miles from you - Cherry Point US Marine Base over on the coast. My father was an AV8A pilot at the time and did an exchange tour over there. He was the US Marines' AV8A display pilot when we were there in fact.

Very cool! I'm familiar with the area. My brother-in-law did a tour in Iraq (Marine). He is lucky to be alive as his Humvee hit an IED, seat covered in shrapnel but he just had a slight scratch where one piece cut his watch band off his wrist. My dad was also a Marine.

Must confess, as an air trafficer we were normally tucked safely behind the lines with only the occasional mortar attack warning to bother us.

My old man saw a little action though - he commanded 617 Sqn (Dam busters) during Desert Storm flying the Tornado but prior to that flew Harriers in the Falklands. Totally off topic I know but he had a bit of a war story from that one as he was shot down. His Harrier was shot through the tail which on a Harrier is full of fuel so the jet more or less exploded. Luckily he ejected and then evaded capture (he was behind enemy lines) out on the moors in the dead of winter there for a couple of days and eventually got picked up by our Paras on 29th May. His name is Bob Iveson (hence my username). He was shot down on 27th May 1982 which is shown in here:

http://www.raf.mod.uk/history/HarrierDiary4.cfm

The pretty unusual bit though is if you look at the accounts just afterwards you see he was up flying in combat again literally a couple of days after ejecting and doing the escape and evasion bit. He flew a couple more combat sorties but eventually he was grounded due to being in too much pain and shipped back to the UK where it was found he had fractured his spine during the ejection. Bit of family history not really relating to golf but always been pretty proud of my old man.

http://www.raf.mod.uk/history/HarrierDiary5.cfm

[32quattro]

Thanks. I was lucky in a way with the finances as I was in the military and on a pension scheme that pays out as you leave - nothing like that around these days. Did my time in hot and sandy places in Iraq towards the end of the war there and on the Afghanistan Campaign so don't feel the least bit guilty about it. Kind of wish the guys in now got the same sort of pension deals we got though. Just as an aside I grew up not a million miles from you - Cherry Point US Marine Base over on the coast. My father was an AV8A pilot at the time and did an exchange tour over there. He was the US Marines' AV8A display pilot when we were there in fact.

Where are you in Uk ?

[Nosevi]

Where are you in Uk ?

Down in Lincolnshire