35YO Golfer's Plan: Buy a Trackman, Dedicate 7 Hours Daily, Get Good

[ZappyAd]

If I started from a position of 'I have one year and $25k to spend on improving my golf game' I don't think on day 1 I would be unwrapping a Trackman!  For me getting a good coach and practicing smart would get you a lot further with money left over. However, if the starting position is 'I have loads of spare cash and time and I quite like golf' then sure, why not? Trackman is a great idea.

Just looking at the schedule it seems like there is a lot of golf in there.  Maybe for a few weeks it would be ok but ultimately getting up every day and playing that much golf trying to improve all the time could get tiresome.  If you aren't a pro or doing it for recreation and 'all' you are going to get out of it is a 0 hcp then I think motivation might become an issue.

Also as others have said the practice plan doesn't seem to be balanced correctly.  It will be really interesting to see if and how that changes over the course of the year.  I guess that starting out with the wrong plan won't necessarily stop you from succeeding, but failing to change to the right plan probably will.

(I liked the comment in the edit of his initial post about how it was too windy to use his Trackman so he couldn't practice - very 21st century golf)

Edited April 26, 2017 by ZappyAd

[krupa]

On 4/24/2017 at 10:22 AM, David in FL said:

Probably lives in his mom's basement.  

If he also calls in rule violations, we may have found Joey Cheeto!

[TK26]

This was an interesting thread to read.  I just picked up the game last spring after 40 years of playing some form of baseball/softball and have been working with the same motivation I did playing ball.  I'm 46 now.  Unfortunately (maybe fortunately) I don't have 7 hours a day to work on it. 

I practice daily at the local range for about an hour and a half at lunch.  I buy a bucket of 84 balls, stretch, then practice full swings for about 45 minutes, 30 minutes on pitching/chipping/sand shots, then 15 minutes putting.  I occasionally fit 9 holes in at lunch instead of practice when I get tired of just practicing and to test my progress.  Last year it was GolfTec lessons once a week all summer.  This year I found a coach who played in the 2009 US Senior Open and have been doing weekly lesson with him.  (This year's lessons have been more beneficial.) 

Last spring I joined a league that plays tournaments every other weekend and have seen my scores drop from ~100 to under 80 on a par 62 course.  I'm still a struggler, but I drop the occasional birdie and don't hit many 8's.  It's mostly bogey golf at this point.  The transition from baseball to golf has been a challenging one.  (Natural slice.)  But my best money and time spent has been on proper instruction.

My goal is simple:  1.  Become a scratch golfer by the time I'm 50.

How I'll get there:  1.  Professional instruction.  2.  Focused practice.  3.  Competition.

Reading this board has also helped in immeasurable ways.  Thanks, Gents.  -TK

[poser]

I saw that and the dudes wife is in the military and I guess he is the stay at home dad.  SHe must be the most understanding wife in the history of wives.  I think he is an idiot he could have use that money alot better ways than all 25k right into a trackman.

[RangeGolfer]

Hello everyone,

Glad to see there was some interest in my project/experiment. I just randomly looked at this site and was wondering if I should join. Saw the title of the post and thought that sounds really familiar. I tried to read quickly all 37 posts and will try to answer some of them.

The website is not done yet. My swing data is not yet online. I am still trying to figure out the best way to present all the information without having to constantly copy and paste updates. Unfortunately, TrackMan and Arccos don't have very good sharing features implemented. TrackMan is a little bit better in that aspect, but I wanted to make sure I am efficient in the information transfer. Don't feel like spending every day an hour just for data updates.

I did post one of my driver swings on golfwxr.com and asked a question about it. So you can see some of my numbers and a video of my not yet satisfying driver swing. Here is the link: http://www.golfwrx.com/forums/topic/1478188-left-elbow-is-tucked-in-at-the-end-of-the-swing-driver/

To make a quick point. I am not running to the course and immediately pound blindly balls, run to play 18 and quickly run to the range after checking the Arccos system. If I take 2 hours for putting one morning I probably spend 30 minutes on research, analyzing, talking to the pros about what I am doing and so on. Last time I was working on trying to see what effects the roll %. I love to analyze things myself, sometimes quietly for myself and make an assumption. After that, I test it or compare it with information that is out there. This is not something everybody should do. This is something I came up with for myself, knowing myself really well. They way I work and the way I function.

Here is the deal. I just don't hire a coach to stand behind me all day saying good, yes or no that wasn't it. I know there are many awesome coaches around, unfortunately, due to my constant moving, I never feel like it makes sense for me to go down that route. As I mentioned before, I also really enjoy figuring things out by myself. It makes me feel accomplished and for some reason, it helps build almost like a library in my head that I have easy access to, to be able to fix myself on the course. Hey, that might not be the way your head and body works, but I can assure you this works best for me. 

One part of this experiment is to see if I can train myself using all the available data points I have access to. Don't think that I just bought a TrackMan, took it to the range and wondered what all those numbers mean. As soon as I got it, I signed up for their TrackMan university and studied their material every evening. Not saying that now I am the non-plus-ultra guru and now EVERYTHING about every number constellation and swing. But doing this every day and learning something new about a topic I have so much passion for is, to be honest, just purely beautiful.

I just want to make sure that you all understand that I am spending a lot of time now studying golf. And again I am not saying that I know it all and I hope I will learn every day something new and I hope you all help me along the path. Honestly, I already am learning new things and that makes me even more excited about it. 

The 7 hours are not as crazy as some want to think it is. It is just a full block I dedicate towards my goals. That is the time where I try to completely only focus on that and nothing else. No emails, no side things, nothing like that. Just my goals. After those 7 hours, I am focusing on my family life, a little bit of the business side and as I always say clean the house!

I do understand that some of you disagree with my approach and I am here to openly discuss that with you. As long as it is on a professional and respectful level I am open to it. If you just bluntly say that what I do sucks or is stupid, well, I won't really be able to go down that road. The lack of information behind such statements does not allow me to answer very efficiently. First I would have to respond and ask for you to elaborate why you think that way, after hat I would have to wait for your response, read it, think about it, answer it and who has time for that, right?  ;)

So again thx for everyone who showed interest in my project/experiment and I hope that most of you will follow me on my path.

[RandallT]

Welcome, @RangeGolfer!!! Hope you stick around and enjoy the conversations here- not just this thread on your journey, but just golf in general.  Many of us are on similar journeys (without the formality), and I have a feeling most of us have found golf rewarding not just because of our own progress, but through the friends we've met along the way. See you around

[RangeGolfer]

@RandallT thx for welcoming me and I am looking forward to being part of this community.

[dennyjones]

Welcome from Michigan.     I'm pulling for you to succeed.  

Around my circle ....pics or it didn't happen!

[RangeGolfer]

Thx @dennyjones. Always nice to hear that somebody supports you on a "crazy" mission  .  

[TN94z]

31 minutes ago, RangeGolfer said:

Hello everyone,

Glad to see there was some interest in my project/experiment. I just randomly looked at this site and was wondering if I should join. Saw the title of the post and thought that sounds really familiar. I tried to read quickly all 37 posts and will try to answer some of them.

The website is not done yet. My swing data is not yet online. I am still trying to figure out the best way to present all the information without having to constantly copy and paste updates. Unfortunately, TrackMan and Arccos don't have very good sharing features implemented. TrackMan is a little bit better in that aspect, but I wanted to make sure I am efficient in the information transfer. Don't feel like spending every day an hour just for data updates.

I did post one of my driver swings on golfwxr.com and asked a question about it. So you can see some of my numbers and a video of my not yet satisfying driver swing. Here is the link: http://www.golfwrx.com/forums/topic/1478188-left-elbow-is-tucked-in-at-the-end-of-the-swing-driver/

To make a quick point. I am not running to the course and immediately pound blindly balls, run to play 18 and quickly run to the range after checking the Arccos system. If I take 2 hours for putting one morning I probably spend 30 minutes on research, analyzing, talking to the pros about what I am doing and so on. Last time I was working on trying to see what effects the roll %. I love to analyze things myself, sometimes quietly for myself and make an assumption. After that, I test it or compare it with information that is out there. This is not something everybody should do. This is something I came up with for myself, knowing myself really well. They way I work and the way I function.

Here is the deal. I just don't hire a coach to stand behind me all day saying good, yes or no that wasn't it. I know there are many awesome coaches around, unfortunately, due to my constant moving, I never feel like it makes sense for me to go down that route. As I mentioned before, I also really enjoy figuring things out by myself. It makes me feel accomplished and for some reason, it helps build almost like a library in my head that I have easy access to, to be able to fix myself on the course. Hey, that might not be the way your head and body works, but I can assure you this works best for me. 

One part of this experiment is to see if I can train myself using all the available data points I have access to. Don't think that I just bought a TrackMan, took it to the range and wondered what all those numbers mean. As soon as I got it, I signed up for their TrackMan university and studied their material every evening. Not saying that now I am the non-plus-ultra guru and now EVERYTHING about every number constellation and swing. But doing this every day and learning something new about a topic I have so much passion for is, to be honest, just purely beautiful.

I just want to make sure that you all understand that I am spending a lot of time now studying golf. And again I am not saying that I know it all and I hope I will learn every day something new and I hope you all help me along the path. Honestly, I already am learning new things and that makes me even more excited about it. 

The 7 hours are not as crazy as some want to think it is. It is just a full block I dedicate towards my goals. That is the time where I try to completely only focus on that and nothing else. No emails, no side things, nothing like that. Just my goals. After those 7 hours, I am focusing on my family life, a little bit of the business side and as I always say clean the house!

I do understand that some of you disagree with my approach and I am here to openly discuss that with you. As long as it is on a professional and respectful level I am open to it. If you just bluntly say that what I do sucks or is stupid, well, I won't really be able to go down that road. The lack of information behind such statements does not allow me to answer very efficiently. First I would have to respond and ask for you to elaborate why you think that way, after hat I would have to wait for your response, read it, think about it, answer it and who has time for that, right?  ;)

So again thx for everyone who showed interest in my project/experiment and I hope that most of you will follow me on my path.

Well said. I look forward to following your progress!

[nevets88]

35 minutes ago, RangeGolfer said:

Hello everyone,

Glad to see there was some interest in my project/experiment. I just randomly looked at this site and was wondering if I should join. Saw the title of the post and thought that sounds really familiar. I tried to read quickly all 37 posts and will try to answer some of them.

The website is not done yet. My swing data is not yet online. I am still trying to figure out the best way to present all the information without having to constantly copy and paste updates. Unfortunately, TrackMan and Arccos don't have very good sharing features implemented. TrackMan is a little bit better in that aspect, but I wanted to make sure I am efficient in the information transfer. Don't feel like spending every day an hour just for data updates.

I did post one of my driver swings on golfwxr.com and asked a question about it. So you can see some of my numbers and a video of my not yet satisfying driver swing. Here is the link: http://www.golfwrx.com/forums/topic/1478188-left-elbow-is-tucked-in-at-the-end-of-the-swing-driver/

To make a quick point. I am not running to the course and immediately pound blindly balls, run to play 18 and quickly run to the range after checking the Arccos system. If I take 2 hours for putting one morning I probably spend 30 minutes on research, analyzing, talking to the pros about what I am doing and so on. Last time I was working on trying to see what effects the roll %. I love to analyze things myself, sometimes quietly for myself and make an assumption. After that, I test it or compare it with information that is out there. This is not something everybody should do. This is something I came up with for myself, knowing myself really well. They way I work and the way I function.

Here is the deal. I just don't hire a coach to stand behind me all day saying good, yes or no that wasn't it. I know there are many awesome coaches around, unfortunately, due to my constant moving, I never feel like it makes sense for me to go down that route. As I mentioned before, I also really enjoy figuring things out by myself. It makes me feel accomplished and for some reason, it helps build almost like a library in my head that I have easy access to, to be able to fix myself on the course. Hey, that might not be the way your head and body works, but I can assure you this works best for me. 

One part of this experiment is to see if I can train myself using all the available data points I have access to. Don't think that I just bought a TrackMan, took it to the range and wondered what all those numbers mean. As soon as I got it, I signed up for their TrackMan university and studied their material every evening. Not saying that now I am the non-plus-ultra guru and now EVERYTHING about every number constellation and swing. But doing this every day and learning something new about a topic I have so much passion for is, to be honest, just purely beautiful.

I just want to make sure that you all understand that I am spending a lot of time now studying golf. And again I am not saying that I know it all and I hope I will learn every day something new and I hope you all help me along the path. Honestly, I already am learning new things and that makes me even more excited about it. 

The 7 hours are not as crazy as some want to think it is. It is just a full block I dedicate towards my goals. That is the time where I try to completely only focus on that and nothing else. No emails, no side things, nothing like that. Just my goals. After those 7 hours, I am focusing on my family life, a little bit of the business side and as I always say clean the house!

I do understand that some of you disagree with my approach and I am here to openly discuss that with you. As long as it is on a professional and respectful level I am open to it. If you just bluntly say that what I do sucks or is stupid, well, I won't really be able to go down that road. The lack of information behind such statements does not allow me to answer very efficiently. First I would have to respond and ask for you to elaborate why you think that way, after hat I would have to wait for your response, read it, think about it, answer it and who has time for that, right?  ;)

So again thx for everyone who showed interest in my project/experiment and I hope that most of you will follow me on my path.

Read more  

Welcome to the site, @RangeGolfer, I think you're going to find a wealth of information here to figure things out, some of the people here are on the analytical side like you and there are a lot of epic posts that go into the nitty gritty about everything, from practice to full swing to putting to strategy. Since you travel a lot, did you consider online lessons? If a pro you like is far away, you can meet him once  in person and then use video the rest of the way. Also, I noticed the camera angle of your video, not sure if that's the angle you typically use, but getting the right camera angle is extremely helpful in analyzing the swing and and an easy thing to learn, this might help:

https://thesandtrap.com/b/playing_tips/filming_your_swing

Also, a lot of us here are heavily opinionated w/regards to getting outside help because we spent a long time struggling by ourselves and eventually found that good instruction really helps, and many of us here have worked with the instructors who are on the site, like @iacas and @mvmac and have gotten good results, so we're kind of biased when it comes to learning that way, I know I come across as heavily in favor of lessons, it's because I don't want to see others struggle like I did.

[RangeGolfer]

3 minutes ago, nevets88 said:

Welcome to the site, @RangeGolfer, I think you're going to find a wealth of information here to figure things out, some of the people here are on the analytical side like you and there are a lot of epic posts that go into the nitty gritty about everything, from practice to full swing to putting to strategy. Since you travel a lot, did you consider online lessons? If a pro you like is far away, you can meet him once  in person and then use video the rest of the way. Also, I noticed the camera angle of your video, not sure if that's the angle you typically use, but getting the right camera angle is extremely helpful in analyzing the swing and and an easy thing to learn, this might help:

https://thesandtrap.com/b/playing_tips/filming_your_swing

2

Hey @nevets88,

Thx for sharing the post. Yeah, the angle is crap if you only use the TrackMan camera. I have to get some extra battery pack for my iphone or use an old one that I can sync with the TrackMan. I bought a Tripod last season, so I can get better camera angles. 

[RangeGolfer]

11 hours ago, ZappyAd said:

If I started from a position of 'I have one year and $25k to spend on improving my golf game' I don't think on day 1 I would be unwrapping a Trackman!  For me getting a good coach and practicing smart would get you a lot further with money left over. However, if the starting position is 'I have loads of spare cash and time and I quite like golf' then sure, why not? Trackman is a great idea.

Just looking at the schedule it seems like there is a lot of golf in there.  Maybe for a few weeks it would be ok but ultimately getting up every day and playing that much golf trying to improve all the time could get tiresome.  If you aren't a pro or doing it for recreation and 'all' you are going to get out of it is a 0 hcp then I think motivation might become an issue.

Also as others have said the practice plan doesn't seem to be balanced correctly.  It will be really interesting to see if and how that changes over the course of the year.  I guess that starting out with the wrong plan won't necessarily stop you from succeeding, but failing to change to the right plan probably will.

(I liked the comment in the edit of his initial post about how it was too windy to use his Trackman so he couldn't practice - very 21st century golf)

3

Hey @ZappyAd,

I just wanted to comment real quick on the last sentence you wrote. My edit says the following "... I am getting not as many sessions on my TrackMan currently as I want to. We have almost daily winds between 20-30 mph and the last time the wind blew my launch monitor over. ..."

Nowhere in there it says that I couldn't practice. All I said was that I didn't want to use my TrackMan. I mean that makes sense, right? If 30 mph winds are blowing your $25k equipment over and it hits the ground several times, I think it is a wise decision to call it quits on the monitor and proceed without the tracking. 

Sry that you miss interpreted my sentence. To be honest, I am not a huge writer and English is my second language. I will try to make myself more clear in the future. 

[Valleygolfer]

On 4/24/2017 at 1:03 PM, dennyjones said:

At least it wasn't a Lamborghini !!

He would be better off with the Lambo.

[RangeGolfer]

19 hours ago, Jack Watson said:

Has he provided footage of his swing?  Quick look at the site showed nada.

My prediction is same as it was for Dan...burnout/fail.

 

Hey @Jack Watson,

Just wanted to let you know that most of my footage is still hidden in the data abyss of my TrackMan. I am working on figuring out what the best way is for me to put it online and keep it updated. I want to present the data in a nice way so I and other can see the progression or maybe even the regression! Who knows? 

I will gladly challenge your prediction  . I also want you to understand that the schedule is not a fixed one that will stay like that forever. It will dynamically adjust according to my data feedback and progression or regression. 

5 minutes ago, Valleygolfer said:

He would be better off with the Lambo.

Hm, don't think so. No passion in driving around, showing off and wasting gas. Maybe one day, at my second life crisis around 50 ... lol jk . Actually, before buying a lambo, I would much rather take flying lessons and fly around a little bit. Seems way cooler. 

Till then I will pursue my passion and happily golf, practice and study what I love.

[Valleygolfer]

10 minutes ago, RangeGolfer said:

Hm, don't think so. No passion in driving around, showing off and wasting gas. Maybe one day, at my second life crisis around 50 ... lol jk . Actually, before buying a lambo, I would much rather take flying lessons and fly around a little bit. Seems way cooler. 

Till then I will pursue my passion and happily golf, practice and study what I love.

Lambos actually increase in value, in most cases but flying would be fun too. Flying probably will cost you more than a Lamborghini.

[poser]

I think your time would be better spent just playing golf instead of the crazy over analyzing of data.  You could have rented a trackman for 30min to an hour once a week and got most of the information you needed.  Then used the money towards greens fees, tournaments, lessons , and alcohol.  Flightscope or GC4 and an ipad would have been half the price as well.  To each their own I guess.  Good luck hopefully you don't blow your back out like the Dan plan guy did.

Edited April 26, 2017 by poser

[RangeGolfer]

On 4/25/2017 at 9:40 AM, iacas said:

Too much play, not enough practice, and the practice ratios are really, really far out of whack.

Play is, what, hitting 80 different kinds of shots in 80 different situations over four hours? Hardly a great way to improve efficiently.

 

 

 

 

 

@iacas I am just going to go out on a limb here and assume that you are amazing at what you do and know way much more than me. So do not assume that I am directly challenging what you are saying. With that aside.

I have to personally disagree with you when it comes to the, too much playing time. If you look at my about on the website, you can see that I did not pick up golf when I was young. I think it is crucial for my development to get myself into as many situations as possible. It helps me to integrate what I am practicing and also to see where my weaknesses are. 

My rounds aren't 4 hours. They take me max 2.5 hours. My course is mostly empty. After my round I can analyze my round and think about the weaknesses I would like to address. 

Again, I am not saying this is the new golf for everyone method. Do it and follow it, EVERYONE. Buy my book and subscribe to my how to video. This is me, developing a plan and schedule that completely fits my body, my time, and my mind. It is also not a fixed schedule. Maybe I will go to only playing 9 holes in a few weeks or maybe none at all at certain days. The schedule will dynamically adjust to my game and will be developed by myself and with the input of others, but not hired professionals. 

I am trying to see how far I can get this by myself. By surrounding myself with as much data as possible and gathering information throughout the process that is freely available. This might be completely nuts to you and you would never approach such a thing, but luckily we are all not the same and great things come out of the differences in people.

So, let's see where this goes and I hope you will take a look at my progress here and there. 

Edited April 26, 2017 by RangeGolfer