Please evaluate my winter training plan

[Themightyoz]

Hi everyone,

Attached is my winter training plan (The attahcement is coloured in its full glory).  TI am working on changing my swing to a new style (Moe Norman style single plane) so need to work on putting, full swing and pitching.  I have set it up as block periodized with 7 week mesocycles.  In the weeks that say technical those will be primarily slow work trying to hammer down the finer points of the skill followed by a technique week where I add more constraints to make it more game like followed by a week that will primarily game like with lots of constraints (ie diff targets, hitting it shorter longer etc.)  My chipping and pitching is the best part of  my game so it got one cycle while full swing and putting got two.  Putting is the worst part of game so thats why put it closest to the start of the season so I could peak that right before the season starts.

If you are somebody who knows about periodization or just have some advice on whether what I have done here will work to improve all aspects of my game in the long term I would appreciate it.  I've thrown everything I know about periodization, distributed learning and interleaving at it from my teaching background.  I'm hoping others might give me their honest opinion on my plan.  I am only going on what I have read and researched so any comments and criticism is welcome.

Thanks.

Copy of Annual-Competitive-Plan-Blank-Template.xlsx

[Patch]

Question. Are also going with Norman's grip? If so, make sure to check the lie angles on your clubs. 

[Themightyoz]

Yeah I plan on using the grip.  Can you elaborate on the relationship with lie angle?

[klineka]

Assuming that the numbers you  have set in each cell are the percentages that you intend to spend practicing, here are the rough averages for the entire winter 

Full swing 39.5%

Putting 37.5%

Chipping/Pitching 24.6%

It is difficult to accurately assess without seeing your specific stats like putts per round, strokes gained/lost, etc. but in my opinion, you are spending way too much time on putting and chipping/pitching relative to the long game, especially since it sounds like you are trying to make a major swing change.

You might be correct when you state that putting is the worst part of your game, but without statistics to back that up it is difficult for us to assess that. Putting might be the worst part of your game, but it will also be the easiest place for you to see quick improvements. The full swing will take much much longer and has a bigger impact on your overall score than the short game does. 

This thread might help realign how you allocate your percentages of practice time.

Even if putting really is a glaring weakness, I still think a ratio of like 50% full swing, 20% chipping/pitching, and 30% putting would be better for you instead of spending basically equal time on full swing and putting.

[saevel25]

I agree with @klineka, spend more time on long game. Without stats, there is no way to tell were you need to work on. Being a 37 handicap, I would assume you need to work on your long game.

 

 

Edited September 22, 2017 by saevel25

[Themightyoz]

Thanks for the reply.  I'll look into that today on my lunch,  Very valuable.  

Here is my game golf profile to give you a sense of data.  This is for 2017 only.

https://www.gamegolf.com/player/wpgstriker

Edited September 22, 2017 by Themightyoz

[klineka]

5 minutes ago, Themightyoz said:

Thanks for the reply.  I'll look into that today on my lunch,  Very valuable.  

Here is my game golf profile to give you a sense of data.  This is for 2017 only.

https://www.gamegolf.com/player/wpgstriker

That helps alot. Thanks for linking that. Gamegolf is a great way to get objective feedback and stats. One thing I would recommend is to go back in after your round and edit your putting distances to accurately reflect the actual distances to the best that you remember. Looking at your most recent round, they dont look accurate, the first hole it says you were 64 feet away on the green, then 2 feet, then 1 foot then 3 feet. Correct me if I am wrong but I'm assuming you didnt 3 putt from 2 feet? Without accurate distances for the putts, the strokes gained charts under the insights section on gamegolf will be meaningless because I think it takes distance left after putts into consideration.

What do you struggle with in putting? Is it green reading, distance control, consistency, etc.? You could always start a swing thread focused on just your putting if you wanted some help with that, or you could also see if you can find a local AimPoint class near you. I have started incorporating some of the AimPoint ideas into my own putting even without taking a class and it is still beneficial.

For your putting specifically, try reading this article

That being said, I would agree that putting is a glaring weakness of your game, but I would still advocate for something closer to a 50% long, 30% putting, 20% short game split. It will be very difficult to score until you can consistently get your driver over 200 yards. Looking at your last round, it looked like there were a number of very short 2nd shots, probably mishits and flubbed shots, which would be fixed by improving the long swing.

[saevel25]

11 minutes ago, klineka said:

What do you struggle with in putting? Is it green reading, distance control, consistency, etc.?

Probably distance control. He's 3 putting or worse over 50% of the time.

 

[Themightyoz]

Great ingishts.  Jogging my memory here the guy who wrote the book and invented strokes gained proved that long game ecclipses short game when it comes to scoring contrary to popular opinion.  

 

In terms of the putting stats they are a bit out of whack because I tend to forget to tag them.  

Distance control is my biggest challenge.  I switched to an armlock putter last years because I have tremors in my hands 24/7 so my putting was spraying everywhere .  The putting is way better this year.  When I can lock in the distance I've been able to drop a few 20 and 35 footers.  

I'll definitely consider everything you've mentioned for v3.0.

 

Edited September 22, 2017 by Themightyoz

[Themightyoz]

Hi folks,

I had some time today to try and boil down a v 3.0 of the plan using the ratio above.  I still found a way to peak swing, chipping, and putting at different times.  Let me know what you think.

WInter Training v 3.0.xlsx

 

[RandallT]

Pretty in-depth spreadsheet for training! Kudos for trying to implement the practice theory in a real-life scenario. I found this page relevant to what you're trying to do by googling some of the keywords I didn't quite grasp the context of: accumulation/transmutation/realization: https://www.nsca.com/education/articles/understanding-the-conjugated-sequencing-model/

I'm interested to hear how it goes for you. I had a great winter last season with deliberate practice and I intend to get rolling on a plan again- but I tell you, my plan is to just do it. I like to log at least 5 minutes every day to this thread: 

 (there's one for every month).

I like to update my "Member Swing" thread- haven't done it in a while.

I like to focus on my full swing, but slide in putting and short game too. The percents are probably around 75% full swing, 25% in and around the green. Close enough, without assigning any real hours to it.

My practice is focused on exactly what my instructor tells me to do for my full swing, and the hope there is to seriously change the picture with the guidance of an expert. (FYI- I use evolvr.com for video lesson, but am waiting for my neck to fully heal before starting back up)

My point in telling you all that is that I get satisfaction in putting in the time, focusing, and then perhaps getting some small results.  That seems good enough for me as a program. 

The site above I found using the lingo in the spreadsheet says: "Advanced athletes may require a more sophisticated programming model to achieve their goals."  It seems like this might give the edge to high-performing athletes who need to peak at the right times in competitions. Forgive me for not understanding the methodology in-depth, but is it also valuable for high handicappers who are just seeking to become proficient at basic skills?

With that said, I'm impressed at the methodology you are trying out, even if it's not for me. I'm not trying to suggest you stop! Just thought you wanted some feedback. I hope you update us how it's going. Join us in the daily practice thread, if you like, and I'll see you there.

Here are some threads I've found EXTREMELY useful in my practice:

 

 

[Themightyoz]

Quote

@RandallT The site above I found using the lingo in the spreadsheet says: "Advanced athletes may require a more sophisticated programming model to achieve their goals."  It seems like this might give the edge to high-performing athletes who need to peak at the right times in competitions. Forgive me for not understanding the methodology in-depth, but is it also valuable for high handicappers who are just seeking to become proficient at basic skills?

Hey thanks for your comment.  This site might help you understand better why I chose block periodization.  https://academy.sportlyzer.com/wiki/block-periodization/

What I am planning the program around is the idea of residual effect.  

Essentially how long will the improvement last before it starts to dwindle again.  That's why you'll notice by the end I start turning the swing back on to get it back on par because the residual effect of the putting block will still be there.  

One site that puts it well puts it like this (http://iyca.org/periodization-for-young-athletes/)

Quote

 The problem with the traditional periodized model with respect to [...] athlete is that typically one physical quality is emphasized at the expense of previously trained qualities. For instance, when transitioning from strength to power, there is very little focus on retaining loads to maintain the previously developed levels of strength. In contrast, Issurin has suggested a modified "block periodization" model that is crafted to place a specific emphasis on one focal quality per mesocycle (i.e. maximal strength, power, endurance, etc.) but always includes retaining loads for the non-focal qualities of the mesocycle as well. Simply put, block periodization is intended to prevent detraining in physical qualities developed in previous cycles.

The idea being that by the time competition comes which for me is July-August as I would like to get into some provincial flighted tournaments all the skills have reached their peak and been maintained through the off season. In a nutshell here is the logic behind each phase. The decrease in volume and increase in intensity both keeps it fresh and lets me focus on game strategy a bit more.  Granted if I go to the range 2 times a week most of the winter I'll be hitting into snow.

 

Characteristics	Accumulation phase	Transmutation phase	Realization phase
Targeted motor and technical abilities	Basic abilities:   Aerobic endurance Basic coordination General strength	Sport-specific abilities:   Strength endurance Power Special endurance Anaerobic threshold ……	Tapering:   Modeled performance Speed Tactics Mental preparation
Recovery	Periods of recovery needed for adaptation. No accumulation of fatigue	Full recovery is not possible, fatigue accumulates	Decrease in training load to ensure full recovery at the end of the cycle
Training load	Average   High volume, reduced intensity.	High   Reduced volume, increased intensity	Low/average   Low volume, intensity high

 

I'll definitely check out the daily training page.  

Also to everyone, I'm loving all the discussion.  Awesome!

Edited September 23, 2017 by Themightyoz

[Themightyoz]

Another awesome piece that really breaks down how this can be applied to sport is below.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/310612785_Development_of_a_Skill_Acquisition_Periodisation_Framework_for_High-Performance_Sport

[Themightyoz]

I did some thinking last night and I might be extrapolating too much from strength periodization.  In reality motor skills generally are a three phase process of cognitive, associative and autonomus skating.  In reality learning a new swing will improve only with enough practice to detect errors automomously.  I ordered Adam Young tThe Practice Manual.  Hopefully that helps.