"5 Minutes Daily" Practice Challenge July 2016

[Rainmaker]

Drove to the range bright and early this am and it was closed!  I ended up doing some garage practice before it got hot.  About 40-50 7irons - working mostly on rhythm and balance. 

[nabzi]

I have a 12ft long fake grass in my garden I have been using to practice my pitching stroke while waiting for the Mrs to get out of the toilet :)

I feel the repetition is actually helping my game come on.

[woodzie264]

7/15 - more grip, stance, slow take aways. I firmly agree with nabzi, I have found just these few mins everyday to be very helpful and increases confidence when going to the course for a guy like me who doesn't play more than 1-2 time per month. 

[Rainmaker]

Finally - a decent practice session.  I hit about 30-40 8 irons with a feeling that I was going to rotate in my backswing until I could feel my left heel start to want to lift.  THEN I would step down on my left heel. 

I had a little thing a while back where I realized I wasn't rotating enough . .but I still am not rotating enough.  Well . .today I was doing better with it . .but in general.  I think that could be a good downswing trigger for me - the left heel wanting to lift.  We'll see. 

[onthehunt526]

7/15/16:

Hit some pitches and chips this morning with Alina... (even though she calls it flying the golf ball, and Mommy grounded her from golf for a week, long story)...

Trying to get some feeling in around the greens for tomorrow and Sunday...

I'm going to Facebook live a for a little bit both days during the Club Championship... and possibly during the outing if the guys are cool with doing a little video.... Because FaceTime is a pain.

[RandallT]

Lots of video at the range. Mainly worked on flexing wrist at the top to feel the club shallowing. Combined with a steeper backswing, this feel seemed to be effective. Reviewed video after each shot. A6 was better, but still some work to go to get the club inside my hands (even at slow speeds). I feel like it the club is where it should be at A6, but it is only there on practice swings- not when I swing slowly at a ball. But progress.

[Chilli Dipper]

I spent 20 minutes or so hitting foam balls in my backyard after work. Of all the things I could be working on, today I thought of the way Jack Nicklaus would turn his head back slightly before swinging. Jack was left-eye dominant, so that head move let him make a bigger shoulder turn while still being able to see the ball. Being a lefty golfer with a dominant right eye, I've known about Jack's head move for years, and it's worked for me when I've tried it out, but it's such a small detail that I always overlook it. I remembered it today.

[roamin]

7/15/2016:

Rainy day outside. Putting practice in the hallway this evening. Short 3-5 foot putts, want to make sure my starting line stays good.

[woodzie264]

7/16 - more of the same: grip, stance, take aways, slow swings with wedge

[onthehunt526]

7/16/16:

Round 1 Club Championship... Absolute crap... Shot 98... Made a 9 and a 10... Ugly round... Hopefully I'll play decent tomorrow.

[roamin]

7/16/2016:

Practiced short putts and spent a few minutes doing wall drill.

[RandallT]

20 minutes working on the transition. Hands should move less downward, and more toward the ball to promote shallowing. Also the left wrist flexing at the same time gives the feel of shallowing. Reviewed hand, arm, shoulder, hip positions at A5, A6, and impact. 

Key learning: flexing of the left wrist makes me feel that I need to really rotate my hips to get to a good impact position. If I don't turn enough and don't get my hips forward, I can't get square impact with hands inline.

[Rainmaker]

About 100 swings throughout the course of the day.  I've been working on my weight shift and I like this feeling of rotating until my left heel feels like it wants to lift . .or even letting it lift a tiny bit . .and then stepping down on it (ala squish the tomato). 

Rhythm and tempo are becoming more and more critical.  It can be the difference between a nastly little thin shot and a full on *smash*. 

My bad golfer tendencies are:

1.  Take it back too flat

2.  Rush the transition

3.  Under rotate/sway  

4.  Cast it  

5.  Move my upper body in the weight shift. 

Other than that, though . . I'm pretty naturally gifted. 

 

[Chilli Dipper]

Mirror work this evening; checking that I'm making a full 90° turn of the shoulders at the top of the swing.

[woodzie264]

7/17 - 10 mins on putting from 4-10ft and then 10 mins on lags of about 20 ft.  Hope to get out soon

Edited July 17, 2016 by woodzie264

[roamin]

7/17/2016:

Putting practice off an on today. It's a hot one out there. I marked the fall line on my little "practice green" (grass carpet on driveway), and put down 3 sets of balls in 1-2 foot increments down the line and practiced putting through them at various speeds. Also purposely hit several off the toe and heel to help me feel sweet-spot hits a little better. Noticed that minor heel-strikes don't go as far off-line as toe strikes with my putter.

[onthehunt526]

7/17/16:

Shot 92 in the 2nd Round of the Club Championship... The Driver was absolute shit... I had a couple of 3 chips on the front.... Then I finally said screw it when I was short sided on the back and just put it 20 feet past the hole. The back was ok except 14 and 15 making two doubles when I hit it under the tree on 15 and had to chip out... 16, 17, and 18 were really good though... On 16 (216 yards today)... I hit a 3h near the green... Ran a 7-iron up to 10 feet and canned the putt for par... Missed the fairway left on 17 hit a pitching wedge from 118 that I pushed a little right but caught the green and held 2 putt par... 18 I hit a good drive up the left... Still had 220 to the hole... Nailed a 4-hybrid up to the front fringe and just missed my birdie putt and tapped in for par... Now why in the hell can't I do that for 18 holes? Played the first 3 in +1 and the last 3 in Even par... The middle 12 were +19 with 3 triples, 3 doubles and 4 bogeys, (yes I mixed two pars in that mess...)

I did have quite possibly the two stinkest pars of my life today... Remember how I said Driver was off today... I hit 3h off of the 1st to avoid trouble... I hit it in the trees right, punched out, hit a 7-iron short of the ditch, chippy 8-iron to about 15 feet to make a par-5 at the first.

#6 for those who were there, was absolutely the most garbage par ever... 

I popped up my drive so far left it by a skinny pine about 70 yards left of the 6th fairway... I probably had maybe 200 or so in... I grabbed my 4-hybrid (just a hit and hope) knocked it just over the back, after an okay chip, I proceed to make a downhill fast 16 footer for par... 

That par was out of the garbage can... I also made a bogey with taking an unplayable from the cedars on 10...

[Chilli Dipper]

I hit a few foam balls aimlessly with a 7-iron, but then decided to grab my driver and a handful of tees to set up an inside-out path drill. I traced the path very slowly at the start, picking up the swing speed to something close to full for a couple of swings at the end.