"5 Minutes Daily" Practice Challenge (April 2016)

[Avalanche]

10 minutes of stretching.  15 minutes of pitch shots at targets.  52 and 56 wedges, 20 to 40 yards. 

[Lihu]

Still working on key 2. Focus is on getting the hips cleared while keeping my wrists loaded as close to impact as possible.

[boogielicious]

10 minutes mirror work before my workout. Focused on my backswing and drill motion.

[Ernest Jones]

****ed around with my grip for a bit while waiting for a conference call. I think it's getting too strong but I won't really know until I can hit some balls on the range (which is currently under another ****ing snowfall). 

[Big Lex]

Ok I missed a few days while at the Masters.

Today: Office putting on a device to make sure you start on line.

Chips into the beanbag.

Working on backswing sequence move. I began a series of lessons yesterday with the new pro at my club. Looking forward to this!

[Lihu]

More mirror work. Decided to do more mirror work instead of the driving range.

[adam3553]

Hit balls at the range today. Im still working on my backswing and making sure my shoulders are at 90* at A3. I also made alot of slow half swings trying to feel some rotation in my downswing. This is something Im currently struggling with.

[WUTiger]

Worked 7:30 AM to 9 PM. Got in 5 minutes of work on takeaway (A1 to A4) and downswing move, using the glass in my office door as a mirror.

[Lihu]

4 hours ago, Lihu said:

More mirror work. Decided to do more mirror work instead of the driving range.

Driving range on grass. Rough grass in the worst stall with the deepest grass.

Well, I did get practice chunking and thinning shots on a really uneven set of lies.

My daughter hit some fantastic drives, she's getting used to the club I got her. The old man who was harassing her about being a "bad" golfer disappeared. Too bad, it would have been fun watching his face as she belted out drives that landed farther than his rolled to.

[Avalanche]

30 minutes practicing pitch shots to various holes from the rough above the green with my 56 wedge.  

[Big Lex]

Chips into the beanbag.

Putting practice, starting ball online.

Backswings using my instructor's sequencing drill.

Same sequence drill using a soccer ball or medicine ball to enhance building the motor pattern.

Specifics were requested by the OP....the sequence drill is something very simple that my instructor came up with for me. He said in my original testing before lessons began, I was very consistent with my path, but much less consistent with club face angle. He believed one way I could improve my motion to get more consistent face angle was to improve my motion sequencing. He felt I was rotating my hips too early in the backswing, and over-rotating them, causing compensations in the downswing. To improve this, he has me practice a three-part swing.

First move back is moving ONLY the hands/arms, and torso, until my hands are over my right shoe. Pause there. Make SURE I haven't moved the hips, legs, or feet at this point.

Second, complete the turn allowing the lower body to move. Pause again.

Third, make a slow-ish or relaxed downswing.

Do this with body alone, with a club, and with a weighted object.

Edited April 13, 2016 by Big Lex

[boogielicious]

15 minutes mirror work. Focusing on getting more hip and shoulder turn at impact per my Evolvr lesson.

[MiddleTees]

Played 9 hole practice round. Had some good iron shots from 80-100 yds in. Hit 3/7 fairways.

[Lihu]

More mirror work doing back swing transition and wrist loading drills.

[adam3553]

Spent time at the practice green today working on pitch shots. I hit numerous different shots from different lies and played an up and down game. I also worked a bit on my putting. I used the coin drill for this and hit nothing but some straight 5 footers.

[WUTiger]

Caught the afternoon sunshine for some close-in greenside practice. Got in over an hour.

Worked on short pitches with 54* and chips with 8i with four balls. Had two rounds where I got up-and-down with all four balls. (And, a couple where I chunked one, or skulled one).

I getting comfortable with the 54 from different grass lengths on the pitches.

I finished up with some half and 3/4 PWs. Used range finder, trying to get my distance yardstick for this year. Had a lot of trouble with distance control. The ones I missed long or short, I was too armsy rather than relying on the hip turn to control power. 

[Avalanche]

At the practice range for 40 minutes this morning.  Hit long irons and rescue 25 for 20 minutes.  Wedges for 20 minutes.  

[Lihu]

17 hours ago, Lihu said:

More mirror work doing back swing transition and wrist loading drills.

More of the same. The issue is that I feel like my maximum power is still in behind the ball. I feel like I can get just a bit more power into the ball.

Pretty happy with my current distances, but there's that nagging feeling that I'm "forgetting something" somewhere in the swing. Basically, I feel like my arms are still getting ahead of my body at impact, and the problem seems to originate from the top of the back swing. Working on my timing sequence alternating between slow motion and full speed before every hit.