"5 Minutes Daily" Practice Challenge

[DrMJG]

Day 315:

Interesting pre-round warm up.

I only want to discuss the bucket of balls I hit prior to a play at an executive course.  It was, simply put, not great at all.

Normally, I feel ready after 25 or so hits. But for some reason today I took their medium tub of ~50.

It took me around 15 smacks with my 6i to feel I had a good swing to the club. (This was after my normal physical warm-ups and 10 or so swings with the Orange Monster.  I felt nice and loose after those items.) 

In terms of what felt off about the 6i, it was everything from a good stance to hand position to weight shift.  Not off by a lot, but enough to feel uncomfortable.  I was able to end up with 3 or maybe even 4 more than good enough hits.

I then took 5 or so with my 50º and 56º wedges. Except for the typical "you hit it left" I almost always have with my wedges.  Today they were more left than usual; nothing I did seemed to make any true difference.  I always take time to do some wedge work with these two, as the come into play a lot on this course.

Time for my 7i and it was, at first, even a tad more unpredictable and uncomfortable than the 6i.  Again, after about 10 shots, I finally made needed adjustments, but it was frustrating to me that it took so many hits to feel somewhat comfortable.  Biggest problems were the pulls to the left.  They were long but would have clearly been OB on about 4 of the upcoming holes.

For the longer par 4s here, I usually use my GX-7.  While the wind was not as much of an issue as the other day, when I got a nice higher loft, all bets were off,  Above a certain level, the wind must have been swirling a bit.  The shot started off well, but all bets were off as to a draw or fade and how much of one there would be.

To correct the tee needs, I switched a bit to a 5h and was happier with the accuracy, as this club is easier to keep down. Both the driver and the GX-7 were relegated to the trunk of the car!

I felt this morning as if some older, very bad, habits were sneaking back.  I  foresaw a very mediocre to awful round. Just not comfortable and making too many mistakes with some really basic things in the warm-up.

A shock was that the round itself went quite well, only 5 over.  

Perhaps it was the very large coffee I took with me on the course that was the real improvement maker.  

[onthehunt526]

5/23/19:

Day Twenty-nine:

These foot action drills are getting monotonous. I know feel ain't real, but I'm beginning to understand the amount of foot action/weight shift required to hit different clubs through the bag. SW is mainly rolling ankles, 7i left heel comes up slightly, 4i it comes up a little more and Driver the most.

[JuanTheGolfer]

DAY 550     Stayed in today so I could knock off a lot of "Honey-dos!"  But, pulled out my shortened 7 iron and worked on my backswing for 10-15 minutes.  Worked on getting my left shoulder under my chin on the backswing.... so I am rotating not swaying.

[iacas]

Day 475 - May 23, 2019 - Took the 8-iron out with the kiddo in the massive winds at WW today.

[Shindig]

Day 22.  18 hole stroke play club outing at what I'd argue is the toughest course in the L.A. City system.   Lost a mere 2.63 strokes on approach, despite not hitting a single GIR.   I shot a 40 on the second nine.  Let's not talk about the first seven holes.  On a related note, I really need to learn how to do the driver drill on LSW p.81 (launching it high) -- the few SpeedStix drills I've done and looking at how far I hit my drives versus what the swing speed is means I know I'm hitting it wrong.

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View this round on GAME GOLF

 

[DeadMan]

Day 34: Full swing mirror work today. Working on my weight shift off the ball and keeping my head steady in the backswing and downswing.

[Patch]

Day 506. Pitch, lob, and punch shot practice on the driving range this morning. I tend to use these (approach) shots alot when playing.

Focuses were on set up, open stance for lobs,  club face aim, and ball placement. Also club selection for target distance required. 

Goals were to send the ball on a line, to my chosen target.  Near.misses were acceptable. 

On some of the lobs, I used various clubs, for different distances. I would just open the club face, my stance, and swing along my shoulder line. Club face would be square to my target. 

Good weather seems to be returning, which also means better golf scores. 

[JuanTheGolfer]

DAY 551    Started with making 25 consecutive 3 foot putts.  Rather than putting them all from one place, I placed 5 tees around the hole, and made one from a tee then moved to the next tee, etc.  So I made 5 trips around the circle of 5 tees.  I chose this approach since it makes it a little more difficult, than putting all the putts from one place.   Then hit 20 putts in a row, into this three foot circle from 20, 30 and 45 feet.  Then chipped 8/10 balls into this circle from 20 feet off the green.  The total time was about 2 hours.  As I get better, I am sure the time will go down, since I won't have to start over at any of these four stations.

Then headed to the elevated chipping/pitching/bunkered green.  Spent 2 hours working on technique and hitting shots from a range of 5 to 40 yards off the green...using my 52 degree wedge most of the time.  I hit shots from tight lies, in the rough, over a large bunker, ... etc. etc.  All to test my ability to hit the ball with proper technique and judge how to hit the shots.

[iacas]

Day 476 - May 24, 2019 - http://www.gamegolf.com/player/iacas/round/2604290

[HJJ003]

Day 5:

Another range session today. Focused mainly on full and Partial wedge shots. Mixed a few other clubs to change it up a bit and simulate actual golf. Hit the ball well on the full shots. Partials need work....

[DrMJG]

Day 316:

Arrived at the range with no real plan in mind; so a plan revealed itself to me.

After my usual physical warm-ups, I took the 50º to see if I were able to readily fix my wild drift left.  Between adjusting my aim and making sure body and weapon ended up in line with the target, I was able to get closer to my targets, be they 85 yards to 120 yards. Loft has never really been a problem with my wedges. So, to get the yardage and alignment I was shooting at it was a success.

I then decided to play the two clubs I would consider in situations where the 50º may be an option.

The 8i and 9i both responded very well within the situations I was playing out.  Both hit where I was aiming and at the distances I was planning to hit.  Again, far better than yesterday's mediocre range work.  Perhaps  it was because I was not going in a round on the course, I was simply more relaxed.

Because I did things well I decided to hit a a bunch with my driver, which I did not use yesterday at all.  I did have a bit of a draw, though not the usual amount off-line.  Distance was better than normal for me average 105 ball speed and 205 yards before landing. The distance was not adjusted for the range balls.

I had some time left over, so, I asked the management to set up a Ping 410 plus, set to draw and an Aldus CB red 55 SR flex to try out. I easily added 20 yards to the drive with great correction of line.  For some reason, the times I try this club, the easier my swing seems to be.  So this is the club I will get soon.  Only question will be if I get a 12º (same as my current G5) or if I will get the 10.5º which I could adjust to be a 12º.  Only 30% saved for; not planned for with no hesitation.

[DeadMan]

Day 35: played 18 holes and practiced short game and wedge game a bunch. 

[Shindig]

Day 23.  Went to the practice facility after work today.  I spent twenty minutes putting, primarily 10-15', focus on getting past the hole.  I spent maybe 10 minutes chipping, just form, and also trying a few really short chips (7-8 yards) for when I can't get a putter on the ball but I'm right there.  Gripped down, used a putting motion.

Then an hour at the range;  short irons with partial swings (I'm really digging how often I get great contact with this shot, by the way), full swings with 6-iron and hybrid and 4-wood, then driver shots, focusing on setup.  I played the ball a little more forward and a little higher teed than I used to and like the result.  Whether I am ready to use that tomorrow remains to be seen.

[onthehunt526]

5/24/19:

Day Thirty:

Played 9 holes this afternoon. I had a little case of the hooks with the driver (as opposed to the pull hooks) but still managed a 39. Playing well is fun. But I really don't add it up till the end anyway.

[Patch]

Day 507. Nothing fancy today. Just worked on 30 yard pitches with my sw.

Focuses were on set up, open stance, ball position, open club face aim, and an abbreviated back swing. 

Goal was, like any other golf shot, to land/stop the ball as near my target as possible.

Going to be a busy, non golf,  holiday weekend. 

[DrMJG]

Day 317:

Solid warm-up before the round. Excellent distances and loft, especially with driver and 3h and 4h, though tending to play a bit more left that I felt comfortable playing. Wedge warm-up us very comfortable.

Off to the course (67.20/110, 57350 from tees played) and it was a not too bad round.  91, 4 Parr, 9 Bogies, 5 double bogies with all double bogies being the result of penalties: 3 OB and 2 swimmers off the tee.  32 Putts,  6 GIR. Misses on the Fairways were hit left.  Ended up with more than a few playing tighter shots if I hit more fairways. Weather was calm, under 80º for most of the round.

Edited May 25, 2019 by DrMJG

[onthehunt526]

5/25/19:

Day 31:

More drills on footwork today. Main focus left foot right foot. Left up to right up. Simple drills just trying to get more feel of the weight shift.

[boogielicious]

Day 225, May 25

Neck is the a bit sore so all I did was more short game shots in the yard.