"5 Minutes Daily" Practice Challenge June 2016

[Lihu]

Swing thoughts:

1) Tightened up my feet. Set flair to about 5 degrees.

2) Set the feet much closer together (about 1.5 feet apart).

3) Stand a little more upright, bend the knees only a little bit. (1:30 position)

4) Pronate the lead wrist a little bit. (Pronate on takeaway, keep relaxed and loose at setup)

5) Turn only as far as I can when still comfortably looking at the ball. Slowing down my back swing helps this.

6) "Hold" my lag and set the wrist as much as possible. Try to keep it the same as when I first "cock it back" on the takeaway.

7) Limit the back swing to the same spot every time. Found that just slowing down the back swing a lot helps.

8) Weight distribution 40/60 setup weight, 80/20 Top of swing, 5/95 at impact.

9) Setup my hands centered instead of pressed forward. They're relaxed and dropping forward. Takes tension out of them at setup.

Drills:

a) Half swing slow turn from A3 to A6

b) Clip a rubber tee with driver while comfortably keeping my eyes on the ball

c) Wrist cock drills with a mock swing from A3 to A6 with an exaggerated wrist set.

d) Back swing transition drills with a stick or mirror to limit the length of the swing.

Going to focus on form and timing on the range, practice putt and chipping for at least 35% of the time, then focus on my scoring and shot zones with GG on the course.

 

Did more of "d" this morning.

Going to the range again with my new less effort swing.

Also, I have no idea how my handicap dropped from 9.6 to 9.4? I've been playing terrible. . .

 

[RandallT]

Went to driving range to test out the back (hurt from moving lots of boxes and perhaps too much gardening to go with it). Nice easy swings. Lots of A4-A6 slow motions. 50% full swings to see if I could get decent contact. After a few days off, it feels ok.

[boogielicious]

15 minutes mirror work before my workout.

[Valleygolfer]

6/15/16

Practiced putting for an hour plus since my wrist was acting up ?

[Rainmaker]

Lesson today.  It had been several weeks since my previous lesson and I have made some pretty big changes in between. 

I improved my Key 1, eliminating more sway, getting into a much more coiled position at the top of my backswing. 

I changed my downswing motion to one that feels more "squished".  In my transition, I feel like I'm "squishing" my club and arms into my body before I start rotating.  I have no idea what it really feels like . . "squished" is definitely an approximation, lol.

To facilitate that - I started standing quite a bit closer to the ball . .and that changed my "top of the backswing" location to one that felt less "behind me" . . .

It was also the first time I had taken these changes out of my garage. 

I passed on all my changes!  I didn't have to go back and change anything.  Instead we went back to one of my old nemesis, the whippy legs in the downswing.  I have improved them but they still need a lot of work.  We spent the entire hour, just about, doing slow motion transitions making my left knee "run away" from my right one while feeling a coil build under my left shoulder.  Then we did a few where I hit punch type shots from around parallel.  That was really me that made us spend the entire hour doing that - I feel like I've really started to change the way I practice as well as take lessons.  More narrow in my focus . .although still holistic in my overall approach, lol.   

I don't get a chance to hit off grass much.  The biggest thing I noticed today was that my divots are travelling much father - although the only full shots I hit were the 10 or so to warm up the lesson.  I've always been a picker/sweeper but that is definitely starting to change.  I looked like more of a gouger today.       

I feel like I'm on a mission to get to this impact position I think I want/can get/should have.  I never really work on it directly but everything else I work on . .I'm trying to improve this impact position and always checking my swing on video to see if it's making it better or not.  All these things are moving it ever so much closer - but it's a long process!  

 

[Lihu]

On 6/15/2016 at 9:10 AM, Lihu said:

Swing thoughts:

1) Tightened up my feet. Set flair to about 5 degrees.

2) Set the feet much closer together (about 1.5 feet apart).

3) Stand a little more upright, bend the knees only a little bit. (1:30 position)

4) Pronate the lead wrist a little bit. (Pronate on takeaway, keep relaxed and loose at setup)

5) Turn only as far as I can when still comfortably looking at the ball. Slowing down my back swing helps this.

6) "Hold" my lag and set the wrist as much as possible. Try to keep it the same as when I first "cock it back" on the takeaway.

7) Limit the back swing to the same spot every time. Found that just slowing down the back swing a lot helps.

8) Weight distribution 40/60 setup weight, 80/20 Top of swing, 5/95 at impact.

9) Setup my hands centered instead of pressed forward. They're relaxed and dropping forward. Takes tension out of them at setup.

Drills:

a) Half swing slow turn from A3 to A6

b) Clip a rubber tee with driver while comfortably keeping my eyes on the ball

c) Wrist cock drills with a mock swing from A3 to A6 with an exaggerated wrist set.

d) Back swing transition drills with a stick or mirror to limit the length of the swing.

Going to focus on form and timing on the range, practice putt and chipping for at least 35% of the time, then focus on my scoring and shot zones with GG on the course.

 

Did more of "d" this morning.

Going to the range again with my new less effort swing.

Also, I have no idea how my handicap dropped from 9.6 to 9.4? I've been playing terrible. . .

 

Did some of b) using a PVC pipe "club" grazing the floor slightly.

[onthehunt526]

6/16/16:

Played 9 Today...  Not for score... Trying the motions I've been working on for the last few days. I stink at golf period... I have little consistency right now... I can do what I'm working on over and over when I practice, having trouble when I play actual golf. 

I think when I golf again on Sunday and Monday I'll try to engrain all of what I've been working on again.

[RandallT]

15 minutes easy swings in the foyer. Feeling the club fall behind from the top as my hands move toward the ball, not downward. Feeling hips slightly open at A6, shoulders level. Nice and easy, lots of reps- making sure back not tweaked. Improvement. Maybe range time tomorrow.

[Valleygolfer]

6/16/16

Hour on the range and new swing vids! Played 14 holes after.

Edited June 16, 2016 by Valleygolfer

[Lihu]

11 hours ago, Lihu said:

Did some of b) using a PVC pipe "club" grazing the floor slightly.

Hit some balls at a local range this evening with my daughter. Practiced the restricted swing and the finish was very nice and easy. Need to make sure I relax the neck muscles more, they were getting "worked" a little too much.

[boogielicious]

Mirror work yesterday then I did a bunch of stretching. I played my league nine in the PM.

[Lihu]

On 6/15/2016 at 9:10 AM, Lihu said:

Swing thoughts:

1) Tightened up my feet. Set flair to about 5 degrees.

2) Set the feet much closer together (about 1.5 feet apart).

3) Stand a little more upright, bend the knees only a little bit. (1:30 position)

4) Pronate the lead wrist a little bit. (Pronate on takeaway, keep relaxed and loose at setup)

5) Turn only as far as I can when still comfortably looking at the ball. Slowing down my back swing helps this.

6) "Hold" my lag and set the wrist as much as possible. Try to keep it the same as when I first "cock it back" on the takeaway.

7) Limit the back swing to the same spot every time. Found that just slowing down the back swing a lot helps.

8) Weight distribution 40/60 setup weight, 80/20 Top of swing, 5/95 at impact.

9) Setup my hands centered instead of pressed forward. They're relaxed and dropping forward. Takes tension out of them at setup.

Drills:

a) Half swing slow turn from A3 to A6

b) Clip a rubber tee with driver while comfortably keeping my eyes on the ball

c) Wrist cock drills with a mock swing from A3 to A6 with an exaggerated wrist set.

d) Back swing transition drills with a stick or mirror to limit the length of the swing.

Going to focus on form and timing on the range, practice putt and chipping for at least 35% of the time, then focus on my scoring and shot zones with GG on the course.

Did some of A in the mirror and a little bit of B. Work is making it difficult to blog and exercise. . .

Planning on going out later this evening to chip and putt with my daughter.

[Valleygolfer]

6/17/16

Hit two buckets of range. Worked on spine angle and diving. Spend the second bucket hitting wedges.

[Rainmaker]

Quite a bit of practicing today - all short sessions in my garage w/mat and net.  Each session working on the contents of my last lesson - the movement of my legs and knees in weight shift/transition. 

A hilarious thing happened last night.  I was "demonstrating" to my wife (a former college softball player) the move my teacher wants me to make.  I'm just describing as I'm going along with all these, to me, very disconnected, almost nonsensical movements.  "I'm supposed to make my left knee move away from my right, and out and around and my right knee should not move laterally but bend and my hands yada yada" . .and she goes "oh - like the step you take when you hit a baseball except not moving your feet". 

Is it possible to love somebody and hate them all at the same time?, lol.  Ok so, Yes, very much although maybe not exactly like the step you take when you hit a baseball except not moving your feet.  Edit: and, furthermore, not the way *I* hit a baseball .. but the way you'd imagine a baseball player hitting a baseball.  I never hit baseballs, lol.  Haven't hit one since I was 12. 

I worked on that feeling today and it's moving me in the right direction - video says so.  But there's still more to go . .something with my arms undoubtedly and opposite forces. 

I gained another 2 inches in the quest to move my hands at impact from behind my trail leg to in front of my lead leg.  I'm still dumping that lag, though.  I'm going to change my screenname to either:  LagHater or KastMaster, lol.  

 

 

 

Edited June 17, 2016 by Rainmaker

[onthehunt526]

6/17/16:

Played 18 holes... Sucky first nine... Great second nine played the final nine with nothing longer than a 3/4 swing... Mostly 1/2 shot 41 on the second nine.. 

[RandallT]

Mirror work only today. Same old stuff with A5/A6 positions, verifying in slow motion. Need to get to the range and validate with video that I'm making any progress. Hopefully tomorrow or Sunday. Back feeling better.

[onthehunt526]

6/18/16:

Dialed in distances with 1/2, 3/4 and sort of full swings with all clubs today....

My most consistent strikes though about 5-8 yards shorter with my irons are with a 3/4 swing.... For whatever reason, it seems my timing is better with a shorter swing... I think even with Driver it works better.... I'm more in balance and feel as if I can keep my weight moving forward.

[Valleygolfer]

6/18/16

Half a bucket on the range and played 18 holes.