"5 Minutes Daily" Practice Challenge

[bwdial]

Day 25

Went out and hit some balls when I got home from work.  Spent about a half an hour with my Ram blades, focusing on my take-away, and the "back-to-target... face-the-target" swing thought.  Made really solid contact when I kept my swing-thought focus.

[DeadMan]

Day 36: Full swing mirror work. Working on the little move off the ball and soft wrists in transition.

[DrMJG]

Day 425

Worked again with the 7iw.

Much better in terms of consistent lift.  Still either what I was not seeing or I am expecting from of the club. Perhaps I am getting what I can expect from this club; I had not even practiced with it in the last 6 months. This weekend I will be using the Top Tracker so that I will have some statistics to really study.

As well, I just re-gripped my 7i and my 4h.  They really needed it.  As I was now using a grip which is better for my arthritic right hand, it was a new feel to get used to over a dozen shots.  Basically it had no negative affect; will go at it again to get it to feel totally melded into my hand.

[bwdial]

Day 26

More slow motion work on my takeaway with the weighted club.

[ALong17]

Day 5

Played 18, really tried to focus on the pre-shot routine and my short game.  Got fitted last night and learned some truths about my current clubs, which was on my mind a lot during the round.  Played horribly, but it was me not being as focused as I should have been and I made excuse for that the whole round.  Taking a few days off from the course to work on things at home.  Did watch the Phil Mickelson short game video so plan on working on putting and chipping over the next couple days.  

[Shindig]

Day 132.  This morning, before an appointment, I went to a putting green that has plenty of slope and tried the 6' drill (make all 12, eventually) there.  To say it took a while is an understatement.  I thought when I set up that the cup was at a decent but still breaking area, but ... either that or I got a lot worse in a hurry.

Anyway, I wasn't satisfied with that as practice, so tonight I went to a nearby late range, did my Speed Sticks (protocol 2), and during the break (not officially part of the protocol, but after all the shots from knees), I did a 9' version of the drill at that range's green.  I eventually made them all, but my first three go-arounds I think I sank 4 total.

I am wondering if I should do that drill differently when further out than 4'.  I would consult LSW but I packed my copy in anticipation of my coming move. 

[DrMJG]

Day 446

The 7i/w is starting hit its stride.  

I was getting a nice, for now, 85-90 speed with the loft solid at, I would surmise, 15' - 20'. Direction was good enough to finally be something not to worry about this morning.

As to my re-gripped clubs, they are feeling good enough that the re-grip seems almost a non-issue.  I felt I had more control with no real club motion or shift in the hands.  I had been feeling some shift in the older grips.  I did not need to hold on quite as hard to keep the shift/spinning in the hands from happening.  I will re-grip the 9i, 5h and driver. The following week will be the wedges.

The practice today was in short, results I expected (hoped for), minimal tension in hands and swings. I left, in a quest to obtain more coffee, a fairly happy golfer.

Edited September 14, 2019 by DrMJG

[DeadMan]

Day 37: Full swing mirror work today. Working on the same things: little move off the ball and soft wrists in transition.

[ALong17]

Day 6

Spent time putting at a cigarette pack from 15 feet out.  Was trying to get within 3 feet and work on distance control to bring down my 3 putts.  

[bwdial]

Day 27

Worked with my weighted club, but this time, I placed a football between my arms and held it in place as I focused on my takeaway.  Really trying to keep my width, and prevent my arms from folding as I have had a tendency to allow in the past.

[Shindig]

Day 133.  Had a little bit of time, wish I had more.  Did the 6' putting drill I've been doing;  this time, I hit 7/12 on the first go-around!  And then 3 of 5 the second one.  It was fantastic.  

I then set up 8 roughly equidistant stations from 9' out.  First go-around, sank none.  Second go-around, sank 4.  Hey, 4/8 from that distance is great, and for that matter, 4/16 isn't bad from that distance for me.  Took me a bit more time to sink the rest.  

You might wonder why I'm doing so much putting lately.  It was an emergency and I only have n=1 rounds where it has looked good since declaring the emergency.  Also, I had to pack up my home golf room so I can't practice full swing in limited time as I used to (yes, there are drills I could do that don't involve hitting a ball).  Not worry, plenty of full swing work before too long.  

[bwdial]

Day 28

Before going on a walk with my family, I took the weighted club out in the front yard and swung for a few minutes.  Then, I grabbed an old 7 iron that I carry on walks (to deal with snakes... and practice my grip) and took some full swings at the nutsedge that our lawn service doesn't seem able to get rid of, all the while repeating my "back-to-target... face-the-target" (BTTFTT) swing thought.  On the walk, I worked on my grip and rolling my hands through the impact area.

Once we got home, I went out back with an 8 iron and ripped shots into my net.  As I did, I kept repeating BTTFTT, and I made really good contact with all but a few.  Furthermore, the few that I made less that perfect contact with were a little thin, so they would have been decent shots anyway.  After I finished, I went into our gym in the basement and did two sets of of ten kettlebell swings, each set being ten two-handed, ten right-handed, and ten left-handed, and then worked out arms, shoulders, and lats on the Bowflex.

This daily practice is really making a difference.  I feel like I am developing a swing that doesn't feel like a collection of different, mismatched parts.  Practicing my pre-shot routine on every shot and focusing on my BTTFTT swing thought is really making me more confident over the ball.  Hopefully I can get onto a golf course soon, even if it is the little spot-lit Par 3 course after work one evening.

[DrMJG]

Day 427

Only a few (5) minutes or so available today.

Quick work on my hip turn and weight shift actions.  Able to do about 25 reps in front of a mirror.  Added a few shoulder turns while holding a club.

[DeadMan]

Day 38: Full swing mirror work again. Working on my little move off the ball and soft wrists in transition.

[ALong17]

Day 7

Worked with my 58° on getting the ball to stop as soon as it hits the ground.  Starting to understand how to open up the face.  Spent about 15 minutes on this.  

[Shindig]

Day 134.  Played 18 holes, will post Game Golf at some point.  I played an afternoon round and watched football in the morning with a friend and drank too much iced coffee during football, and I think I was jittery because of it early in the round.  Shot 45 front 41 back for 86.  I usually avoid caffeine and alcohol before rounds, so oops.  Closed with four pars (all from GIR), which was nice.  7 GIR, six were on the back. 

[bwdial]

Day 29

Was hoping to play a lighted par three course after work and dinner with the family this evening, but that didn't work out.  Worked with my weighted club on my takeaway and impact position in slow motion.

[ALong17]

Day 8

Played a practice round of 9 today.  Everything seemed off.  Wasn't until the last couple holes that things seemed to click.  Going back to work on grip and setup tomorrow.