"5 Minutes Daily" Practice Challenge April 2017

[RandallT]

Back home from spring break trip and ready to get rolling again. Sprained my knee gardening just before the trip but seems ok to twist on it now.

10 minutes reviewing recent lessons. Worked on downswing and pulling left hip around, straightening left knee

[onthehunt526]

4/17/17:

Hit some 9-irons this morning, gripping down a bit and not changing anything else. Most of the focus was solid contact. Which seemed easier to obtain with gripping down. It's nice seeing a 9-iron FLY 145 yards without just a small change. I think I saw the practice flag change from checkered to white before I was through.

[b101]

17/4/17 - Played my last round of the Easter break and had a short range and chipping session beforehand. On the range session, I was working in the focus from the last few days of starting the downswing with the hips and that one thought makes a huge difference to my contact and flight - suddenly had the nice high draw back. Still working on it with the driver, as it leads to the occasional low hook which is pretty destructive.

As for the chipping, I didn't really use much of it on the course, but spent a good 20 minutes working on landing spots by creating a 'box' of about 1 square foot with 4 tees and trying to hit that with 58*, PW, 8i, and 6i and watching the various rollouts. I'm still not great with my chipping technique and feel I get too technical, so it was nice to just focus on the one landing spot. 

Round was decent - I'd give my driving a C, iron play a B+, short game a B-, putting a C and course management an A. I wasn't playing particularly well, but really minimised the damage and for the first time in ages, I felt like I was in control of where my miss was and where I shouldn't go. +8 off an 11 handicap when not playing well is definitely something I can get on board with!

https://www.gamegolf.com/player/benpage101/round/1504429

[boogielicious]

April 17 - Slow swings in the basement and some putting. Focused on turn from the top using a shaft with a tennis ball on the end to keep the weight down and take stress off my elbow. 

PM - Went to a local muni and worked on pitching, chipping and lag putting. Then played one ball for about 15 minutes from various points off the green.

[chris3putt]

18th April:- 15 mins outdoors, full swing. Keeping on with the plan I have for this month, namely working on the backswing. Starting to add in more dorsi flexion to the right wrist at A2. Slow swings to the top, checking the positions frequently.

[Mico]

38 min total

17 min. Sklz swing trainer, 7 iron and driver

stop at top, pump, step thru and full swings, followed by 3/3 alt 7i and driver

Swings felt slow and steady albeit no golf ball 

21 min

chipping to bucket drill. 4/11 was number to beat and got to 6/11 and then finished off the rest.

wife didn't like the "almost golf balls" in the house-- they sound pretty hard to me...we'll see how long indoor practice sessions last!

[BamaWade]

4/17:  65 total mins.
15 mins. putting session; same focus as yesterday (square setup with shaft slightly forward (levels putter head); worked on 5', 15', 25'
15 mins. conditioning work w/OW & wall drills w/Momentus (focus on maintaining spine/axis, and exaggerated weight shift)
20 mins. full swing work (w/foam balls); focus on covering ball a little better at setup and through impact, & weight shift (haven't been bottoming out ahead of ball / no divot)
15 mins. short pitch work (~35 yards); focused on relaxed hands and weight forward (my 2 keys); worked on my 3 flights (low, normal, high)

[roamin]

4/17: Re-watched a couple of my course vlogs to try and remember what a par looks like. 

Also about 20 minutes with my PW. Hit balls with slow swings, thinking about contact and start line. Forced myself to slow down and (tried to) shorten my swing as much as necessary to make sure I hit the sweet spot and started the ball on the correct line. Mostly starting it to the right, but alternated a bit just for the feel.

[onthehunt526]

4/18/17:

Swung a 6-iron just focusing on rhythm and tempo. It actually has helped my balance a lot. My ball striking has improved a bunch, and my game seems to be coming around... I guess I will see after work on Saturday.

[boogielicious]

April 18 - Mirror work at the gym. Still not ready to hit balls full speed but elbow getting better. May go to a practice green later and do some putting and chipping.

[b101]

18/4/17 - range session trying to speed up the swings with the hip-driven feel. Some success.

[chris3putt]

18th April (this time - previous post should have been for the 17th!):- Further full swing practice for 10 mins, working on the A2 and A4 positions.

[Mico]

30 min Sklz, 7i and driver

stop at top, pump, step thru and full swings. Extra pump drill to feel coming from inside. 3/3 7i and driver

chipping. 5/11 first and beat after two rounds of trying. Need to find a practice routine for chipping 

 

[RandallT]

5mins of backswing only. Reviewing basics since it has been a while! Full turn, left wrist flat, right elbow tucked.

[roamin]

4/18: Nice range session after work today. Started slow and kept it simple, just centered turn and good weight shift.  I tried to go through my pre-shot routine for most shots -- line up behind ball, pick target, pick spot in front of ball, yada, yada.

Noticed my typical balance issues immediately (I tend to fall towards the ball) and shanked one early on. Was the first time I've ever felt like I knew what caused the shank that just happened. I reset and thought just a *little* about having more weight towards my heels and feeling more centered/stable front-to-back.

Contact was really nice and crisp on most shots, and everything was much straighter than I've been hitting lately. I was able to work the ball left and right, but with a tighter curve than usual and a bit more predictability.

I don't want to go crazy over this or anything, but it's something I'll pay a bit more attention to from now on.

[BamaWade]

4/18:  45 min. session total:
15 mins. stretching and then conditioning drills with OW (turn, hinge/release, plane)
5 mins. wall drills w/club; focus on keeping backside into wall at A7 and just beyond (and proper weight shift)
25 mins. full swing drills w/foam balls & full routine; started with some struggles coming over top hitting hard pull draws--refocused by slowing swing down to 75% and dropping into slot (this did the trick, and really saved what looked to be a frustrating night's practice); at end of 20 ball rounds, would retrieve any outside acceptable dispersion and start a new round with those balls until all 20 were within good dispersion zone.

Should be able to go play tomorrow afternoon.  While the full swing seems a little off track at the moment, I'm really looking forward to my inside-50y and putting work paying off...feel confident, comfortable, and grooved now.  Just need to remember to slow things down to stay on track with the full whacks.

[RandallT]

4/19: Reviewed last lesson. Keep rotating hips. Pull left hip pocket back. Straighten left leg through impact- not so bent as i usually do. Slow motions from A6 through impact.

[onthehunt526]

4/19/17:

Hit a few PW, 7i, and 5i shots this morning focusing on timing and tempo this morning. Might try to go play 18 today.