19HI-New Home Simulator-How Much Improvement?

[Eack]

Any new updates?

[NeedAJoker]

6 hours ago, Eack said:

Any new updates?

My coach cancelled our Friday as he was doing an interview presentation to go for the head pro spot at a course in town. So, didn't get a new piece to work on, but honestly the night before I started wishing I had more time to groove the new changes before adding any more complexity. 

I practiced on Friday, and was certainly getting my hands and club shaft in much much better positions at the top. I was having a problem trying to get my shaft to lay down a bit, and noticed my right thumb was really directing the club a lot, so now I all but keep it off the club and it is all the difference in the world.  There is still a lot of inconsistency, and it still feels a little weird, but it feels like everything is really beginning to click.  I still can't believe how such small little tweaks on one part of the swing(takeaway, top, etc) can impact so many parts later(follow through, rotations) if that makes sense.  Once you get on the right plane and the right axis, it all starts to work together and in such better balance.

Was out of town the past 2 nights so haven't done much since Friday.  I was itching to hit a couple shots tonight when I got home, and I was really impressed with them. I probably hit 20 shots, and 15 of them were stellar.  5, were not.  I will get in a solid session tomorrow and follow up with some pictures.  I will likely practice every day this week as I leave for Vegas Saturday morning first thing, with this waiting for me in one week, which is a far cry from the foot of snow I plowed off my driveway today, can't come soon enough...

[NeedAJoker]

Just hit about 200 balls and worked through the entire bag to try and get some distances before I leave for the trip on Saturday.  I started off fading the ball and I couldn't do anything to get it correct, while laying down the club as much as I wanted.  I don't have time to keep working on that before I leave, so I just went back to focusing on my left wrist all the way through my swing, and the shots started dropping nicely.  After I was warm, I ran through each club and hit 5 consecutive shots.  There were 2 shots that I deleted(a 5i and a 3W) that were total miss hits as to not screw with my averages, but besides that they were all consecutive.

It is odd to me that my long irons feel so much better to me than my short irons.  I attribute part of it to spending this entire last season teeing off with 4iron as I couldn't hit my woods, so it just feels right.  Regardless, I don't expect to break any course records next week down in LV, but my ball striking and flight path is getting better each week.  Below I will throw up the stats for Short/Mid/Long clubs, and the corresponding flight paths for each type.  Distance variation at the moment is going to be a real issue for me, especially with altering lies, but if my biggest problem is being a bit too short, or a bit too long to the green, that is 100000% better than searching for my ball in the woods(or I guess desert this week, never played in the desert.)

I will get in some swings on Friday as long as I don't hit the Bourbon too hard, then off to Vegas first thing Saturday.  I will upload the scorecards from the rounds here next week when I get back, and hopefully it will give us a decent idea of how much of a difference this simulator might make.

Kevin

Short:

Mid:

Long:

 

[Eack]

This just keeps me wanting a skytrak right now.  The ability to see real data is what I think I need to help my game over the winter.  Oh and BTW nice shot pictures,  doesn't look like your spraying everywhere.

[NeedAJoker]

I got back from Vegas yesterday and although the golf courses(especially Wolf) were beautiful, I didn't have the most enjoyable rounds.  We absolutely missed the boat on having good weather, and both days when we arrived to the course it was below 40 degrees, and never warmed up much.

TPC Summerlin: It was actually 34 degrees when we pulled in the parking lot and hit the range, but because there was no wind and the sun was out, it actually felt ok by the time we teed off.  The front 9 I couldn't really find my shot, but chipped and putted well.  I quickly realized there isn't a ton of margin of error on misses and with the greens being frozen, there was little chance I was going to score well at all.  I shot 100 on the dot, and it was one of those rounds where I chose to just remember the good shots and enjoy the day.  Something that was cool was Greg Maddux was hitting balls on the range with us that morning.

Paiute-Wolf: Even colder start, and that deep in the desert, the wind was blowing all day.  Stupidly pretty out there, but I knew on the practice range I was screwed.  Not sure if it was the fact I had to wear 2 jackets, or the fact I don't think it got over 40 all day with the wind chill, but it was super tough and not all that enjoyable as I am not sure I made clean contact once all day.  Never once did I feel "loose," and I would have been happy to walk off on the 4th hole.  I play in crap weather all the time and it doesn't bother me much, but on a course that tough, the frustration was mounting. I didn't even keep score, but know I had 2 pars all day and a lot of GIANT numbers and lost balls.  Wouldn't have sniffed 100.

Overall it didn't turn out to be the trip I wanted, but gave me a chance to see what top end courses play like which is great.  Wolf course to me seemed like trying to hit a shot and land it on a small frozen turtle shell.  A few times I hit what would be good shots for me, but if you miss by a couple feet on that course, you might be 30 yards down in a gully.  I am not good enough to play those course yet, far from it.

As mentioned earlier in this thread, there is no way to simulate the varying lies at home, so those obviously presented the biggest challenges for me.  Also, when I lost my swing out there, I had no ability to hit a few balls to get it back like I can in the garage.  When it was gone, I was lost, and there was no way to fix it mid-round.  This just makes me realize even more how I really need to get things a lot more consistent before this spring, but also that I need to spend a lot of time hitting on real grass as soon as I can.

I am going to take a week or so without even swinging a club, and be back at it in the new year.

Happy New Year everyone, on to 2016!

Kevin

[dennyjones]

Thanks for keeping us posted.  I'm enjoying reading about your journey to better Golf. 

[NeedAJoker]

I have to apologize for not keeping this thread updated the last 10 weeks, but now that my home course finally opened for the season, I will be back and active all season long.  I will recap a bit on the things I have been working on this year, and post a swing from today which was my first day at the range!

My last post was a summary of my Las Vegas golf trip, and I have to say I was a little disappointed when I came home that I really didn't play nearly as well as I wanted to.  I think there was a part of me that thought after 2 months of indoor practice that I would come out quite a bit ahead of where I ended up in September. In reality, my swing was better for sure, but I still had a lot longer way to go then I thought.  After a week of taking a break, I really started diving back into my practice, and beefed up my home simulator with some mirrors, training aids, a new tripod and camera.  Since the second week of January, I have hit balls(sometimes multiple times a day) every single day I have been home.  I travel a bit for work, so there were some 2-3 day periods of time when I didn't touch a club, but even then I was voraciously reading forums, magazines and books.  Where things really started to change for me was when I started reading some more advanced swing bio-mechanic books and really started understanding the positions that I need to be in and WHY.  After that, it has just been an effort to hit those positions as best I can, which is really tough, but when it comes together, everything feels like butter.  

My shot shape has changed from having quite a bit of movement to a much more straight ball flight, currently a bit of a fade.  I hit 100 balls at the range today and where that would have made me tired last year, I felt like I was just getting warmed up when the bucket was done.  Admittedly I didn't have the most perfect swing today, and I got away from a few of the main things I have been working on, but today I was just so happy to be hitting balls outside after so many thousands of swings into a screen 10 feet from me, I didn't care much and just was enjoying myself.

I did manage to get a few swings on camera and I will post one below.  Once again, I know I am a bit over the line and too much overswing due to my inside takeaway, but I can recover from the bad positions a lot better than last year and this was a nice 160 yard carry 8 iron with a 4-5 yard fade.  Of the 100 balls I hit with 8, 7, 6, just a handful would have been in really bad spots, when that number would have been closer to 20-30 out of 100 being trouble.  I can't wait to hopefully get out and play a round this Thursday or Friday.  I will update with the scorecard for sure then.  I have a business trip Mon-Weds and I plan on finishing Lowest Score Wins before my first round.

 

Thanks for following,

Kevin

Edited February 21, 2016 by NeedAJoker

[NeedAJoker]

Well the verdict is in...kind of.  Over the past 2 weeks since our golf courses have started opening, I have been able to get out to the range and start hitting off some real grass.  I wouldn't say I am hitting it amazing, but much much much better than last season, and my misses are so much smaller.  I am leaving tomorrow for 10 days staying on Kapalua Bay Course, and wanted to at least get out and play 9 holes so I could judge how many rounds at $100-$250 I really want to expose myself to over there.  

I can't tell you how hard it was for me to walk off at the turn after shooting the best 9 hole score I ever have, but for just trying to squeeze in 9 holes before my trip, I couldn't have asked for much better.  Overall I hit the ball well, had a little luck on two drives that I semi-topped and mishit badly, but both went straight as an arrow luckily, 180ish yards, even though they never got more than 2 feet off the ground.  Also had 2 lost balls, but was able to recover decently on both and avoid a big number.  I don't play the back 9 of this course as much, so I certainly wasn't guaranteed to break 90 for the first time ever, but I don't put up too many 50's on this course so the odds were certainly in my favor.

I am even more excited for my trip now, and plan to hit up the Kapalua Golf Academy for some range time each morning, and now that I see it will be worth it, likely a round, potentially Plantation Course, even though I know it will be similar to my Vegas trip and way over my skill level.  I will let you all know how that goes

Thanks,

Kevin

 

[divot dave]

On 3/1/2016 at 9:25 PM, NeedAJoker said:

Well the verdict is in...kind of.  Over the past 2 weeks since our golf courses have started opening, I have been able to get out to the range and start hitting off some real grass.  I wouldn't say I am hitting it amazing, but much much much better than last season, and my misses are so much smaller.  I am leaving tomorrow for 10 days staying on Kapalua Bay Course, and wanted to at least get out and play 9 holes so I could judge how many rounds at $100-$250 I really want to expose myself to over there.  

I can't tell you how hard it was for me to walk off at the turn after shooting the best 9 hole score I ever have, but for just trying to squeeze in 9 holes before my trip, I couldn't have asked for much better.  Overall I hit the ball well, had a little luck on two drives that I semi-topped and mishit badly, but both went straight as an arrow luckily, 180ish yards, even though they never got more than 2 feet off the ground.  Also had 2 lost balls, but was able to recover decently on both and avoid a big number.  I don't play the back 9 of this course as much, so I certainly wasn't guaranteed to break 90 for the first time ever, but I don't put up too many 50's on this course so the odds were certainly in my favor.

I am even more excited for my trip now, and plan to hit up the Kapalua Golf Academy for some range time each morning, and now that I see it will be worth it, likely a round, potentially Plantation Course, even though I know it will be similar to my Vegas trip and way over my skill level.  I will let you all know how that goes

Thanks,

Kevin

 

nice, just started reading thru this thread after searching about skytrak... keep up the good work and post back every  now and then. 

[BuckeyeNut]

Not a bad swing Joker.......... don't forget the short game!  Chipping and putting is key.........  You'll be averaging in the 80s in no time! 

 

 

[NeedAJoker]

I just got back from 10 days in Maui and it was amazing on all fronts.  We stayed in a condo on the 10th hole of the Kapalua Bay Course, and it was a perfect setting to be around golf.  I was able to get out and practice 4 times at the Kapalua Golf Academy range, and played a round on the Bay Course as well that went great!  

On the range I didn't try to make any swing changes, but just tried to dial in what I have to work with at the moment, and by the second day, I was hitting most shots from 3W-9i really well.  My wedges worked so well the days leading up to leaving, that I didn't spend any time on them, which proved to be costly in my round.  Here is the Academy area, the buckets aren't cheap but the views are unbeatable.

On Monday I was able to go out with my bro in law for a 9am tee time, where we got paired with two 50-60's "gentlemen", or so we thought.  I won't get into details and derail, but one guy was the biggest dick I have ever met, literally leaving and teeing off on the next hole, while we were still putting out each hole, among other things.  It was bizarre. I wasn't going to let it ruin my first $200 round though, so I ignored him mostly and went on to FINALLY BREAK 90!  I had 3 birds and 6 pars, and a bunch of others on my way to an 87.  I drilled 3 25+ foot putts, which I never do, but also duffed at a bare minimum of 10 shots greenside.  I have never played in clovers, long stringy rough, random thick grass I have never seen, etc, and it showed.  Where last Monday at home before I left, my 56SW was magical, in this mystery grass(to a noob like me), I was screwed.  Regardless, tee shots and approach shots are really dialing in, and the reason I am in all that greenside junk, is because I am finally getting the ball consistently nearGIR's. Super happy with the results and excited to get out on my familiar home course again to get in a full 18.  

Here is a picture from #9 where I hit a perfect drive and stuck the green from 205 with a dead straight 4i into the wind downhill. Those kind of perfect shots aren't incredibly common for me, and with that view it felt that much better.  Then I 3 putted. Oh well.  I am attaching my scorecard, this is one I re-wrote to keep as a souvenir and to make it somewhat legible.  PS "Derek" Bro in law apparently told my sister before the round, "He was going to smoke me.." so that made the day even that much better as up to this point, I rarely have been beating the guys I play with.

Thanks for the comments and for following,

Kevin

[colin007]

So jelly it's not even funny.

Keep up the good work dood.

[NeedAJoker]

Cliffs/TLDR: I broke 80 Sunday, game is in great shape, handicap is dropping fast.

 

My last post from Hawaii was about me breaking 90, and I am here to happily report that on my 8th full round this year, I JUST BROKE 80!!  I will explain.

Since I got back, I have really kept my practice up, and things had been up and down with my ball striking.  My misses weren't big, but I just wasn't able to make good contact frequently for some reason, so most shots had quite a bit of movement and it was actually hard for me to guess which way it was going to move.  I felt like I was falling back into where I was the end of last year and even started getting a bit depressed about it since I didn't feel like I should be regressing with how much I practice and how much time I put into it, and the fact that I just finally broke 90.  I wanted to stay in the 80's. 

I decided I wanted to change things up and give myself something to be happy about practicing so I went out and got 2 new Vokey SM6's to give me a solid reason to start practicing my short game.  I started trying to just take the wedges to left arm parallel, and then smoothly drop them through impact with chest to the target, letting the weight of the club do the work.  The shots were going high and straight, short, but that was fine.  I really like the wedges, but what happened to my overall swing was unexpected.  

Once I moved past the wedges and started hitting my irons, that smoothness carried over subconsciously, and with the smooth body rotation, I started hitting my irons like I never have before.  The sound, the feel, that shot that I used to hit once out of 20 shots and always in search of was here, over and over again. I started puring everything, to the point where I was literally laughing at the range after each shot, the others on the range probably thought I was nuts.  I couldn't believe it. Every iron shot was a piercing laser, 5-10 yards further than before, and my side spin numbers had to be almost zero as they just tracked to the flag or target and never left the path. Pure bliss.

This fired me up, so to the course I went, and the scores started dropping.  Another 87, 40/47. Then again, 40/47. The thing was even though I kept tying my best ever, I knew that I was playing way better than those scores.  I pretty much was 2 putting everything, burning edges on 6 foot bird putts, and missing out on a lot of strokes that should have dropped in.  I still can't hit a driver, so I tee off everything but Par 3's with my 3W, and it was going well, but everything was drawing jut a bit too much, leaving me blocked out on the left a lot, with the occasional hook setting up a punch out.

Finally on Sunday it all clicked.  I made a few adjustments Saturday night in the garage on the simulator, and told my wife, "If I hit 3W this well tomorrow, I will beat my best score." Sure enough, my 3W was on point, irons were perfect, short game was manageable, and putting once again was mediocre.  On my Arccos tracker, 3W distances were, 227, 219, 264, 230, 247, 271, 260, 268, 273, so even though I can't hit a driver to save my life, this thing was getting me in great range all day. When it was all said and done, I had 2 putts on 18 for a 79 and I left the first one about 3 inches short and tapped in for my 79!  I had just beat my best round by 8 strokes, and broke 80 without ever really even considering its since I didn't think I was quite there yet.  I struggled so long to break 90, thought about it for over a year, so it was almost weird to break 80 without much thought to that barrier.  I wasn't supposed to start thinking about 80 until mid summer. The drive home was all smiles to say the least.

Now that I knocked that off the list, the next goal is single digit handicap.  At the moment, I am trending at 15.4 for next revision, but as long as Sunday wasn't a fluke, I expect that to drop very fast as 6 of my 10 scores used are still in the 90's.  I certainly don't think I am going to go out now and start firing off high 70's again, but with some putter and chipping work, I feel like I am getting closer to consistent low 80's.

I was considering letting this thread die before Sunday as I didn't feel like there was very much left to talk about and I somewhat answered the original question of the thread, but now I am interested to see what the next few weeks look like and if I can follow up with some good scores, so if others are interested, I will keep updating.

Thanks for following,

Kevin

Everyone likes pictures so here are a few from a round at Newcastle Golf Club in Seattle a few weeks ago(I'm in TM hat):

[David in FL]

Congratulations!  Breaking 80 is an accomplishment a lot, hell, most golfers never achieve!

[Dave2512]

Sweet breaking 80 is definitely a good thing. Though it leads to other weirdness, like chasing it every time out if you're me.

[MasonAsher2014]

Congrats! Just read through the entire thread and thoroughly enjoyed it! Keep us posted.

[bm85]

Congrats man! It is no easy feat.

[NeedAJoker]

Thanks guys, appreciate the comments.

I wanted to go out yesterday and show my new found skills to my wife, so we popped out in the afternoon to a course that is pretty quiet and it was almost empty on a Tuesday afternoon.  We grabbed a cart as she is 7 months pregnant and headed out.  I treated it like a practice round and hit a few balls from most green side spots to work on my short game as I keep leaving the ball 10 feet short and it is making scoring impossible for me.  I have been going between my 58, 54 and AW to play around with higher chips vs bump and run and I am starting to get the feel for the rollout a bit more.  Putting I turned into a Sally lately and am leaving at least 10 putts a round short, so that has to change.  Overall I didn't hit the ball that well to be honest, which kind of sucked after telling my wife how well I did Sunday, but it is what it is.

I did hit a few really solid drives with 3W yesterday, the best being 278(measured, not internet big guy numbers) on a flat hole, and it got me realizing how stupid it is that I am still leaving driver in the garage at home.  If I am going to continue to take this game as serious as I am, I can't keep handicapping myself by leaving out arguably the most important club in the bag.  My friends keep telling me if you can keep consistently hitting 3W 260-280, you don't need a driver, but I am not sure I agree.  Hole 5 yesterday is a 610 yd Par 5, wide open landing area, and it is just begging for a driver, yet I don't have one.

I think I am going to go to the range today and get video of successful 3W swings, and then driver swings and I will post them in MySwing thread to see if anyone here can help me see what I am doing so differently.  I have read until my eyes bleed about the setup for driver, AoA, etc, but to no avail, so maybe some eyes on the swing will help with something I am missing.

Thanks,

Kevin