"5 Minutes Daily" Practice Challenge September 2017

[onthehunt526]

9/27/17:

I went to the practice area this morning. Focused on hitting 3/4 shots as my full swing, getting used to distances.... It's much more consistent, dispersion is less, and I actually hit it the same distance. I hit all of my irons... (4h is on timeout, actually thinking about putting "lumpy" back in).

[Lihu]

17 hours ago, Lihu said:

Tried changing my setup and swing sequence with my driver. I hit a bunch of balls with my irons to warm up them too many balls with driver. I was getting kind of excited consistently carrying the hill on the far back right side of the driving range into the grassy area in the corner. I've never really carried balls that high and consistently into that corner before. Had a range buddy film me at first but the camera was somehow in selfie mode. So, I got a video of his forehead. Then he went to the short game area. . .On the negative note, I'm still iffy with 5i and 4i. I also managed to top two 3W swings, until I slowed down then I made decent contact.

In the meantime, I'm going to be practicing this basic swing feel with a PVC pipe at home with mirrors.

Did some drills with a club substitute. I was filming at my work in a window before it got light out, so it was acting as a mirror. I noticed that my reverse-K position is much more pronounced after making the driver swing change. That basically puts the weight on my back leg more or less through impact. Not sure if it's a false "feel" thing or not yet, but I'll get some load cells out and test that early tomorrow morning to see if the weight is more in the back foot through impact. I'm in the process of synchronizing any data capture with video capture in my spare time.

 

15 hours ago, RandallT said:

Now that's funny!!!

[Lihu]

8 hours ago, Lihu said:

Did some drills with a club substitute. I was filming at my work in a window before it got light out, so it was acting as a mirror. I noticed that my reverse-K position is much more pronounced after making the driver swing change. That basically puts the weight on my back leg more or less through impact. Not sure if it's a false "feel" thing or not yet, but I'll get some load cells out and test that early tomorrow morning to see if the weight is more in the back foot through impact. I'm in the process of synchronizing any data capture with video capture in my spare time.

What an extremely unsatisfying range session. . .I knew I should have waited a day for my muscles to "reset themselves" from the new movements I did yesterday.

I only carried something like 1/4 of the balls out to that corner area, and I couldn't even hit my 6i. I kept hitting it thin for some reason. The flight was too low and the carry was probably carried 10 to 20 yards short and rolled wherever. I got so mad at my ball striking that I hit an entire large bucket of balls. Stupid.

Anyway, my body movement "felt" correct on the good shots. I have to say that the 25% of my drives that went to that corner area were pretty nice. I'm very happy with the trajectory, nice and high and even lost sight of a couple of them until they bounced on the ground in the corner. I'd feel really bad if they ended up plopping down where they land with no roll on the course, but that'll be another evaluation process.

The ones that were bad were pretty terrible. I was all over the map. I think I was getting too aggressive with the swing because I was too tired to swing properly from hitting a large bucket yesterday. My sequence was obviously off, and not being able to hit my 6i, 5i and 4i was not helping my attitude at all.

Going to practice both swings with 5S methodology using a club simulator the next two days and stay of the range and course until the weekend.

[WUTiger]

Sept. 27

Found photo of golfer at top with a good waiter tray right hand position. Wide sweep, but laid off somewhat.

Practiced takeaway for five minutes using my office-door glass as a mirror. Balanced position at top comes at top of R shoulder, not ear level; this position looks pretty close to waiter-tray position in pix. 

[onthehunt526]

9/28/17:

Worked on setup this morning. Continued work on my wedges. Slower takeaway and transistion.

[Lihu]

17 hours ago, Lihu said:

What an extremely unsatisfying range session. . .I knew I should have waited a day for my muscles to "reset themselves" from the new movements I did yesterday.

I only carried something like 1/4 of the balls out to that corner area, and I couldn't even hit my 6i. I kept hitting it thin for some reason. The flight was too low and the carry was probably carried 10 to 20 yards short and rolled wherever. I got so mad at my ball striking that I hit an entire large bucket of balls. Stupid.

Anyway, my body movement "felt" correct on the good shots. I have to say that the 25% of my drives that went to that corner area were pretty nice. I'm very happy with the trajectory, nice and high and even lost sight of a couple of them until they bounced on the ground in the corner. I'd feel really bad if they ended up plopping down where they land with no roll on the course, but that'll be another evaluation process.

The ones that were bad were pretty terrible. I was all over the map. I think I was getting too aggressive with the swing because I was too tired to swing properly from hitting a large bucket yesterday. My sequence was obviously off, and not being able to hit my 6i, 5i and 4i was not helping my attitude at all.

Going to practice both swings with 5S methodology using a club simulator the next two days and stay of the range and course until the weekend.

Practiced a bunch of slow swings to make sure I'm on plane in the mirror.

I knew I was going off plane yesterday because my butt muscles were too tired to keep the spine tilt.

[WUTiger]

Sept. 28

Took some comp time and had a real golf day!

Played a practice round at Aberdeen GC, where I will play in the 36-hole area Amateur tournament next weekend. It is a links-style course that I was playing for the first time. Several unusual-shaped greens, glad I got a look before crunch-time.

Had a throw-away round in terms of handicap, shot a 98. It was alternating heaven and hell throughout.

• Had 33 putts, including a 4-putt from 25 feet on a terraced green which I hit in regulation. (was quitting on some of my putts and missing right.)
• Had a drive go OB and two land in hazards, but also hit some excellent drives, including impressive ones on the water-lined No. 9 and No. 18 holes. 
• Had four of the longest and straightest 4W and 7W shots of the season, but still skip-sliced one into a hazard.
• Missed four approach shots because I rushed the set-up.
• Had two wedge or two chip shots on different five holes.

I got in some short-game practice after the round. I had talked an assistant pro after the round, and said that the fairway and rough were zoysia, and the greens and the areas surrounding the green were bent grass. If I tried to bounce one on links-style, the bent on the fringe would grab the ball like glue. He said you needed to land chip shots on the green to get good roll; bouncing a shot on the fringe to deaden it actually kills it.

I didn't use a LW during the round because a lot of the greenside or fairway shots were tight lies. But, I found if I give it a firm stroke and pretty much pick it clean, it lands and pretty much sticks like a dart.

Partials with a PW were tough this round - mostly either fat or thin.

I then ate lunch, rested, and practiced some full shots. Lots of scruffy rough grass of different textures behind the hitting line, so I hit about 10 shots. I just scattered the balls, and then adjusted club and shot for how they lay.

Finished with work on driver, FW and hybrid. Did double-check on ball position and tee height for driver. Hit several good shots - need to make set-up more automatic. I'm also getting to point I feel comfortable fading a tee shot, if a draw is risky.Key for FWs seems to be aligning where my swing bottoms out. This promotes a sweep swing. When season is over, I'll get some launch monitor time and figure out how to maximize my FW shots and distance.

Edited September 29, 2017 by WUTiger

[Lihu]

More on plane drills in front of a "mirror".

[onthehunt526]

9/29/17:

Played 9 holes this afternoon. I have been working on this three-quarter swing as my full swing. It really works better than what I've been using. Definitely needs some fine-tuning, however, I am pleased so far.

[WUTiger]

Sept. 29

Spent 15 minutes practicing putting after work; light was fading by time I arrived.

Had trouble at first, just couldn't get grooved. I'm not getting a consistent grip with the L hand; causes missing L and R on shorter putts. Had better results after focus on better grip, and taking time to envision the ball path. (Pressure against slow play causes me to rush my re-shot routine during rounds.)

Takeaway of recent rounds: ideal posture is more upright - stand closer to ball - and a laid-off (flatter) position at top.

[Lihu]

12 hours ago, Lihu said:

More on plane drills in front of a "mirror".

Worked on an “on plane drill”  @mvmac posted the other day.

Discussed this with the starter, who is a decent golfer and only talked with him and did on plane drills, because the range was closed.

The starter was having the same issues with his 6,5,4 irons. Low lackluster shots which are painful to watch. He described his fix which is basically “stay on plane”. I noted the video On a drill to fix this and he agreed that this is a sound solution. Interesting that I’m not unique. 

[onthehunt526]

9/30/17:

Slow three-quarter swings without a club in the mirror before work this morning. My focus was flat left wrist at the top.

This completes my September "5 Minutes Daily" Practice Challenge.

This is 6 months in a row for me.

 

[Lihu]

10 hours ago, Lihu said:

Worked on an “on plane drill”  @mvmac posted the other day.

Discussed this with the starter, who is a decent golfer and only talked with him and did on plane drills, because the range was closed.

The starter was having the same issues with his 6,5,4 irons. Low lackluster shots which are painful to watch. He described his fix which is basically “stay on plane”. I noted the video On a drill to fix this and he agreed that this is a sound solution. Interesting that I’m not unique. 

Have a shotgun start in a hour or so. Doing that and going to do that on plane drill prior to every shot, and see how it goes.

[Lihu]

6 hours ago, Lihu said:

Have a shotgun start in a hour or so. Doing that and going to do that on plane drill prior to every shot, and see how it goes.

Fast play was enforced, so no real time for the drills before each shot. I managed one decent drive and a couple decent 3W tee shots. I knew I was on plane for those shots because I follwed through with my shoulders tilted enough that it tool effort to bring them to horizontal on the finish. My bad shots all felt kind of "horizontal" shouldered.

My next practice session will focus on that. Still can't really hit my 6i well because I go off plane with that club as well.

Even this though my GIR was pretty decent today, my near greens were a mess leading to doubles and triples.

My chipping wasn't too bad, but 41 putts didn't help my score. 

Once I get this plane issue fixed good enough to play okay, I'll probably peruse through the putting section of LSW and putting drills on this site.

My tee shots of the day we're a solid feeling "Green patch corner shot" on the driving range drive that ended up a pretty nice distance, and a 3W shot that flew over some trees for a really nice distance. They were not center faced shots either. If I can keep on plane with proper sequencing and face angle, those should be closer to my normal tee shot with both clubs.

My iron shots were not particularly impressive. Kind of terrible. I also pulled a bunch of shots through bad sequencing.

Edited September 30, 2017 by Lihu

[WUTiger]

Sept. 30

Practiced short and long today.

Spent 15 minutes practicing 8i chip and run; went to more of a pitch stroke with some hip turn rather than arms only; too much arms causes problems on distance control.

Also worked some on form putting. Need to do some static work just on alignment; putter works best with a hands 1/4" in front of putter face.

Worked on 60° and 54° greenside. Then, worked on walking PW up and down range. Hit four each of quarter, half, 3/4 and full swing with 48°.

Then, finished up with about 15 driver shots. Works best when I set up with no verbal self-coaching and just let it happen. Got in some fades along with my normal draw. I usually need a faded tee shot a couple of times a round.°

This completes my September "5 Minutes Daily" Practice Challenge.

(Missed posting Sept. 5, although I got fitted for a new putter grip that day.)

[Lihu]

Doing some on plane drills with a metronome.