"5 Minutes Daily" Practice Challenge July 2016

[RandallT]

Welcome to the "5 Minutes Daily" Practice Challenge for July, 2016! The rules are the same as always:

• Make a somewhat detailed post describing your practice every day during the month.
• No back-dating or pre-dating posts or practice sessions.
• On the last day of the month, if you completed the challenge, post about it, preferably in red text or something so I can notice it and give you the award.
• Detail what you did for at least five minutes of practice (indoors or out, with or without golf balls, etc.).

Enjoy and practice hard!

[woodzie264]

Practiced putting today at work for approx 15mins - (carpet has stimp of approx 9), with emphasis on distance control on lag putts from 25-30ft using small Gatorade caps as targets. 

[RandallT]

30 minutes range work.  Really slowed down the pace I hit balls, due to camera review each time I made contact. Slow motion (continuous swing with now stops) first. Then hit ball to about 50-75yds using best technique I could muster. Getting the form to translate from a practice swing to actually being over the ball is my goal (plus improve form based on instructor feedback!). A4-A6 primarily what I was reviewing on playback each swing.

[saevel25]

I went out this evening and practiced some distance wedges. 

I dropped about 5-6 balls for each number on my club. My LW is 25-50-75-100. I just worked on making sure my backswing length got me those distances. They are pretty close to where I thought it should be if I executed my correct backswing length. 

[Chilli Dipper]

(I won't forget to post after just a few days this month, I swear.)

I played a round this morning: shot 97. My takeaway from the round is that I need to find a way to become more consistent with the driver, and I need to improve my ball striking, especially from uneven lies. I feel like a lot of that comes down to ball position.

[onthehunt526]

7/1/16:

Pitching and chipping this morning. Focusing on the "dealing cards" feeling while I was working on pitching. 

I don't know if this counts but I also plotted my strategy with my shot zones for the club championship. The greens are not holding at this point... I hit a GW from 77 yards on #4 that landed on a decently hit trajectory 4 inches from the hole on a front pin and rolled over the green... It's drier than a popcorn fart out there... When I'm hitting a partial wedge and it lands literally 15 or so feet on the green and rolls through... I shake my head every time.

I have met the June practice challenge... As I have practiced and posted every day in June 2016.

[iacas]

9 minutes ago, onthehunt526 said:

I have met the June practice challenge... As I have practiced and posted every day in June 2016.

Post it there.

[roamin]

Spent about 30 minutes at the range today before my round. Only hit about a dozen balls or so, worked on Key #1 drills with my longer irons since I can't really do that at home like I can with the shorter ones. Then played a round by myself and hit a few "practice shots" here and there. 

[woodzie264]

Went to course this morning to chip & putt.  With chipping, my main focus was simple: watch the ball (I've had the tendency lately to chunk my chips as I pull my head).  With putting, still making progress with reading (AimPoint Express).  

[Rainmaker]

Oh man, I'm hitting it good right now.  I wish I could go play instead of what I actually have to go do . .which is get ready to go out of town and not touch a golf club for a whole week! 

I hit about 50 8irons into my net - working on my rhythm, tempo, etc.  To best describe my latest change in the quest for "my ideal impact picture" - I start my takeaway with my arms and shoulders.  As soon as the clubhead starts to get off the target line, I lift my arms *straight up* while I keep turning. 

Then I'm not super aware of what's going on in the transition right now - but I'm focusing my arm energy *down* . .almost like I'm going to hit right into the ground by my right foot.  Then, when I feel my arms get "caught" in the hip turn and the club starts to feel heavy, I pull the handle more "forward" to the target.  

With a parallel to parallel swing, I've got my impact position.  With a big turn, I lose it still.  The biggest difference in feel - from the start of this whole thing to now . .has been having my swing feel more and more "in front of me".  Now it feels in front of me all the way into the follow through - I can feel the club turning over "in front me . .about shoulder high".  That's what it feels like, anyway.  In the videos, I'm keeping the shaft in line with my arms until past waist high.  In a full swing, though, it doesn't feel as much "in front of me" so that's something I need to get ahold of.  Also my key 2 ideas are out the window . .I need to re-assess that entirely.  I feel like I'm getting enough key 2 to support what I'm doing - but it really needs a lot of work.      

[onthehunt526]

7/2/16:

Worked on my putting grip for about 10 minutes at work... When you shoot 41 hitting 6 out of 9 greens and have 18 putts... Something is wrong... It needs work... At least on 8-15 feet.

[saevel25]

I went to the range and short game area. 

I worked on my driver trying to work on my new priority piece. I also worked on distance wedges and pitching. 

[roamin]

7/2/2016:

Spent about 5 minutes warming up with a key #1 drill, trying to make sure my head never starts moving again like it used to. Then spent another 30 minutes on key #5 with an alignment stick stuck in the ground about 10 yards in front of me and practiced hitting balls to either side or over the top of it. Had my daughter calling "left" or "right" for about 6 or 7 balls, but she got bored with that. 

Edited July 3, 2016 by roamin
spelling

[RandallT]

Just 10 minutes at home today of mirror work. Worked specifically on take-away getting club to point less toward the sky, also keeping club outside hands for longer. Then pointing a bit inside the ball up on the way to the top. Helps with shallowing club on downswing. Felt natural.  Also reviewed last lesson from instructor and took notes on things to do at range.

[Nateinventura]

30 minutes with a wedge and 8 iron at the range. Used video. Still steep on the downswing.  15 minutes with 10 yard chips. 

[Rainmaker]

12 hours ago, Rainmaker said:

Oh man, I'm hitting it good right now.  I wish I could go play instead of what I actually have to go do . .which is get ready to go out of town and not touch a golf club for a whole week!

Strange - our dinner plans got cancelled so out of the blue my wife asks "Wanna go play 9 holes"?  So I did actually get to play, lol.  The weird thing is - I hit it really well but I just didn't score.  On my first hole, a short par 4, I hit a 4w to about 110 yards - dead center fairway.  I slightly thinned the approach and came up barely short.  Then made a crappy chip and 2 putted. 

On the next hole I hit my drive into the trees!  I found it and made a ridiculous hero shot - 140 yards, over some tall trees, hits the fringe and rolls off.  This time a good chip, a bad putt and another putt. 

So it went - with my bogeying every hole - except 1 par.  And all the bogeys, except maybe 2, were basically "unforced errors" . botching a shot I probably should have made. 

I hit one "perfect" short iron shot (on the hole I parred) - where it came off exactly the way my "good swings" in practice do.  The rest were varying degrees of "off" but still pretty workable.  I piped one drive on the last hole really far.  My longest "on course" drive ever for sure.  I have no idea how far because it rolled a ton and I had no real way to measure it, anyway.  I guess I carried it 240-ish, though.  

My number one problem, score-wise, is still missing GIR.  Next up is my bad chipping.  I really am bad at chipping.  I never really gave it much thought - I thought I was doing good to just "get it on" . . but I almost always 2 putt after a chip . .and it's usually not my putting that's the stand-out issue . .it's that the chip is 10-15 or more feet away all the time.   

[Chilli Dipper]

No time to spend outdoors to practice today, but I did spend a few minutes practicing my grip, and also checking the orientation of the clubface while posing at the top of the backswing.

[woodzie264]

Will be playing Wed on greens that run about 12. That's a bit faster than what I normally play on. Worked on putting speed/pace control in prep for that on the linoleum. It's prob faster than 12, but at least Wed the greens may feel slower instead of quicker!  Gonna try to hit the range tomorrow...