"5 Minutes Daily" Practice Challenge August 2017

[onthehunt526]

8/26/17:

Putted for a bit this morning, focusing on read, bead, and speed.

Today is the start of this year's Ithaca City Golf Championship. I will be playing 18 today, and hopefully more than 10 holes tomorrow (unless I win 10 & 8 or 9 & 8 tomorrow).

I will update in this thread later today, and perhaps the Member Tournament play thread in the coming hours. 

Yes, I'm posting twice today and probably tomorrow in this thread.

[dennyjones]

8/26:

Swung the Orange Whip for about 10 minutes.  I really was just looking to stay loose and swinging it for the exercise and tempo.

[WUTiger]

Aug. 26

Chipped and hit some balls today to warm up for 18 holes.

I decided to be a contrarian, and went to tee it backwards. I teed it up with White tees instead of the Silver/Senior tees, and shot a 49 + 43 = 92.

For some reason, I don't get much advantage from playing the Silvers (too many 11/16th  wedges if I  hit a good drive). A couple of Silver tees give you a blind shot from low tees, while on others you have to lay back so you don't hit through landing area into trouble.

Also, the Silvers hurt me in the local Amateur circuit, where I usually play from the 5,800-6,000 yard tees. (Our Whites are 5,820... close to what I face on circuit.)

Monday is final round of local Amateur circuit.

[Shindig]

Five minutes with the medicine ball doing the driver at home exercise.  I really should do that one more.

Also I may need to clean the ball or something, as it nearly slipped out of my hands a few times today.

[WUTiger]

Aug. 27

Practiced for about a half hour after church. Getting ready for tomorrow's Round 6 of the local Amateur circuit.

Followed-up after yesterday's encouraging round. Did some half-swing contact drills, and hit some 5i and 6i shots. Need to make sure hands are in front of ball at address. I had two double bogies yesterday after splitting fairway with solid drive.

Hit some solid drives: Need to make sure I set up with flat left wrist, neutral grip both hands, and relax right arm.

My 4.Hybrid is in time out. Was excellent until about a month ago. Now, I have terrible misses half the time, on course or on the range. May need a swing check. If I need a tight tee shot, I will go with 4 iron - it's great off the tee, but iffy off of the fairway.

Swing thoughts - take a very deep breath before swings, and make sure to kick the hips forward to start downswing. (Lazy hips lead to pull shots).

Also got in some practice on 8i chip shots.... use bounce, and focus on landing point.

And, I violated the 13th Law of TST: I practiced 30- and 40-foot putts.  Tomorrow's course has very large, undulating greens, and a GIR doesn't mean much if you misclub and have a 50-foot putt. 

[onthehunt526]

8/27/17:

Got a bye into the semifinals of my flight of the City Championship. So I didn't play today.

I did demo a few clubs at Dick's. I found if I swing "easier" I hit the ball much better. So while I was demoing. I just was swinging easy. That was my focus. 

[dennyjones]

8/27:

Putting with the metal ruler.

[Shindig]

10 hours ago, WUTiger said:

Swing thoughts - take a very deep breath before swings, and make sure to kick the hips forward to start downswing. (Lazy hips lead to pull shots).

Also got in some practice on 8i chip shots.... use bounce, and focus on landing point.

And, I violated the 13th Law of TST: I practiced 30- and 40-foot putts.  Tomorrow's course has very large, undulating greens, and a GIR doesn't mean much if you misclub and have a 50-foot putt. 

Do lazy hips lead to pull shots?  That's my dreaded miss, and if that turns out to be the cause of my pulls, I'm going to be focusing on that for the shots where I worry the most about pulls.

I thought the law about long putts was to not practice between 15' and 25'.  I practice 30' regularly (especially when I was not even getting them remotely within 5' often).

In any case, August 27.  My day today included both some A1->A5 practice (at a ball, but no completed swings -- I need to track down the UPS package with my mat that was supposed to come in on Friday, and was supposed to have been re-attempted on Saturday, to no avail) with a focus on the angle on the way down, along with the medicine ball drill.  I haven't hit a "live" ball in a week though.  Was hoping the mat would change that, but it's not here.  

[WUTiger]

7 hours ago, Shindig said:

Do lazy hips lead to pull shots?  That's my dreaded miss, and if that turns out to be the cause of my pulls, I'm going to be focusing on that for the shots where I worry the most about pulls. ...

I have an arthritic right hip, and I have to make sure I kick the hips forward to start the downswing. I tended to be a little "spinny" with the hips in the past, so I make sure it's a kick rather than a discus thrower's pivot.

The whole idea is to clear the hips and let the arms pull through. Check with your pro if this is a problem, different body types need different tweaks.

Tee off in 2 hours... more later.

[dennyjones]

8/28:

Took my 7 iron to Carl's go change the loft.   I hit balls for about 10 minutes.   Good to go!

[Lihu]

Did some swings using my practice setup here at work. Mirror work focusing on the hands and lead arm.

[WUTiger]

Aug. 28

HEAVEN and HELL Day!!!

Played in Round 6 of local Amateur circuit at a course I played for the first time. Had a ho-hum first few holes, and then hit a buzz saw on 7, 8 and 9 = Triple bogie, double digit, triple bogie.

No. 7 is a watery 320-yard Par 4 that demands a fade. I tried to draw it, and a partner and me both chunked our drives. I chopped out 50 yards, and had to lay up to the water... etc... Both bad drivers got a 7.

No. 8 is a 480 Par 5. I split the fairway with one of my best drives, 240 yd. total, while the other two dump their drives. When it's time for me to hit, we get word we're "on the clock" and should hurry up. I promptly slap slice three shots into the lateral water hazard, advancing 50 yards at at time. And it gets worse...

No. 9 is a 360-yard par 4, I get on in three and a 40-foot triple breaker leads to a 4-putt. (I had pushed my approach into a hazard, and used a hinge-and-hold 7i shot to run it up on the green in three! That really made the 4-putt hurt.)

So, that shoots me out of anything but show-up points for the day.

Things quiet down on the back nine, and I play the last seven holes in just +3. Finish off with three one-putts, set up by: a SW chip from behind the green to 2 feet / a 56-yd. half SW to 1 foot / and an 8i chip from in front of green to 3 feet. (I par the last two)

Fairway woods hit off the deck just sucked. A couple of 180-yard half tops was all I got out of my 3W. Even 7W was flaky, which is scary.

Ended up with a 95, could have been a lot better.

Old business: the 4H is still in time out, never leaving the bag today. In its place I used a 4i twice for tee shots on longer par 3 holes. Hit one green and three putted, and left ball on fringe of the second green and got up and down for par. 4i is solid off the tee, I'm just not good enough to hit it of the turf.

LATE NEWS -  It looks like I may have snuck into the back door for the season-ending tournament in October. With almost half my points this season scored as +5s for showing up, I'm in 17th place out of 36 golfers. The top 18 in each division get to play in the tournament. (This assumes No. 19 is not a professional politician who will demand a recount.)

Edited August 29, 2017 by WUTiger
Add LATE NEWS!

[Shindig]

Friends, I'm glad I made it this far, but I have so little energy right now I don't think I can even muster five meaningful minutes.  But I did manage to get the golf mat from the UPS pickup center to home and then up to the golf room.  It isn't fully assembled yet... better luck for me in September!

[WUTiger]

On 8/28/2017 at 0:24 AM, Shindig said:

On 8/27/2017 at 1:49 PM, WUTiger said:

Swing thoughts - take a very deep breath before swings, and make sure to kick the hips forward to start downswing. (Lazy hips lead to pull shots).

Read more  

Do lazy hips lead to pull shots?  That's my dreaded miss, and if that turns out to be the cause of my pulls, I'm going to be focusing on that for the shots where I worry the most about pulls.

I gave you an earlier reply on this, but I wanted to clarify. Kicking the hips forward does come with some unwinding of the lower body. If your hands are about even with your right trouser pocket at impact, you're on the right track.

@mvmac had an excellent thread with videos on this topic: Importance of the Hips

Also, consider which of the two broad categories of modern golf swings you tend toward:

• X Factor: Minimal lower body rotation on takeaway, with lots of explosion and turning through ball at impact. This swing often correlates to a large incidence of  lower back injuries in 30-something pro golfers. (Used by Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and others)
• Swinging Gate: This was the dominant pre-2000 mode for shaping a golf swing. It allows more uncoiling of the hips during the backswing, and emphasizes tempo over raw power. (Used by Ben Hogan, Payne Stewart, many Champions Tour players)

Edited August 29, 2017 by WUTiger

[dennyjones]

8/29:

Played a practice round in the rain.   Another good learning experience.   Always carry an extra glove and an extra dry towel.   

[WUTiger]

Aug. 29

Taking it light after three days of play / practice / play.

Worked on takeaway motion using office door for a mirror. Need to make sure right elbow hinges gently and naturally - I had a couple of chicken wing pulls yesterday.

Also working on softer grip with right hand - I don't need to strangle club on downswing.

[onthehunt526]

8/29/17:

Worked on my shorter swing is my full swing today. Focus on timing.

[Lihu]

On 8/28/2017 at 0:01 PM, Lihu said:

Did some swings using my practice setup here at work. Mirror work focusing on the hands and lead arm.

Same thing. Except the focus was on keeping the lead arm straighter.

Nice and slow/steady swings.

Edited August 29, 2017 by Lihu