"5 Minutes Daily" Practice Challenge

[Shindig]

Day 127.  At my lunch break (I took a long lunch break today), I hit 75 short game shots, all quarter shots, with my wedges (including my UW/PW, which are from my iron set).  These were roughly equal in proportion, but I wasn't exactly counting.  I was working on making solid contact and being set up correctly (I feel I was getting casual about this).  I did this indoors, off a mat, into a net, with real balls.  I know it was 75 because that's how many I have in the hopper at the moment.

I plan, later today, to do some putting practice and also to go somewhere where I can chip off of grass to figure out the typical carry distances of these shots, since I realized yesterday I don't actually know this and I had a brief moment of panic yesterday during the round (fourth shot on one of my two not-less-than-six holes, too) when I realized I didn't know if the short game shot I was about to hit was going to reach the green or not (it stopped at the collar, so I at least had putter in hand for my par attempt).   Just the same, as part of my goal of not leaving myself two short game shots on a hole again, I figure I should know that.

[iacas]

Day 252, July 11, 2022

Good 20 minutes today with several filmed swings. I'll post a little bit in my Member Swing topic eventually.

[Bob M]

Day 256 - Range today; medium bucket about 2/3 of which I hit with 9 to 3 swings split evenly between 7i and Driver. The rest of the bucket I hit full swings with 7i, Driver, Heavenwood and distance wedge swings (left arm parallel) with PW, SW and LW.

[boogielicious]

Day 623: Played 18 solo this morning at Fenner Hill. Played ok. Irons and approach shots were much better but driver was squirrelly. I couldn’t get the feel back that I had Sunday. 

[WillieT]

Day 28 (12 Jul 22) - played 18 with son and grandson.  We played back a set of tees (we lay the grandson call the color - only color he cannot call is the tips color), normally the golds, today the whites. Meant more opportunities for up and down to save par.  Best part of the round was being able to reliably hit solid wedges to 10’ or less from the pin at around 30 to 10 yds.  Had a good number of the one putts go in for par.  Good day of course management practice. 

[Shindig]

Day 128.   I spent 75 minutes on the putting green this evening.  There were two drills I did and measured:  4' around-the-clock (15 putts to pick them all up, did not get 12 in a row).  I also did a "get them all" from 6' but I didn't count, in part because I had just seen all the way around the hole so it wasn't really an accurate measurement.  Still, it's good to see 6' putts go in.   I also did the "25-40 yard speed drill" from LSW.  I did this at 8, 10, 12, and 14 steps instead of the 25-30-35-40, mostly because of my own inability to measure accurately.  First 3, went back to 30, then stayed at 30, then back to 35, then forward to 30, back to 35, stuck at 35, stuck at 35, made it to 40, stuck at 40, won.   So 33 putts to complete.  Great drill and I should do this more.

When I got home I did speed sticks, too, making 112 on the final green swing set.

If it seems I'm prioritizing short game + putting lately, I am, because my next match round is in a week.  

[iacas]

Day 253, July 12, 2022

More time with my "SwingStopper®" (not-®eally) training aid. Today I added a Hanger.

[Bob M]

Day 257 - Today did a few drills to better feel the head on my putter and wedges; did the putting pendulum drill.

[boogielicious]

Day 624: Worked a bit on my pieces this after with slow swings and filmed some swings.

[iacas]

Day 254, July 13, 2022

Stayed after lessons and did a little more work with the Hanger and the SwingStopper. 😉

[WillieT]

Day 29 (13 Jul 22) - bump and run drills in the back yard today switching between irons - 6i thru GW.  Wrapped up the day with some full swings with the 3w and hard foam balls (3/4 swings to control shape (dealing with push/fades)). 

[Shindig]

Day 129.  I hit two dozen balls (indoors, etc) - 18 with my 6-iron, 6 with my new hybrid.  Slow, rehearsals, all that.

Later in the day, I went to a nearby course.  The grass range was set for "Elin style" (no woods), and most of what I wanted to hit on the range was woods (it had dawned on me I've never really practiced the tee shots I use on par-3s at my home course... I just sort of put a ball on a tee and hit with a club, usually a wood of some sort), so I didn't hit full shots.  I did go to the chipping area, and I practiced (and measured) quarter shots with my 58, 54, and UI.  The chipping green isn't quite deep enough for the quarter W, at least without me traveling back a bit further before hitting (I should do that).   I also did the speed drill putting, at 8 10 12 and 14 steps away, and never had to move forward and only once (at 10) failed to move back.  Nice!  

I finished with the 4' "get them all" coin drill, but I wanted a larger sample size, so I put each coin face up, and when I made it after a face up coin, I flipped the coin.   If I made it when the coin was flipped, I picked it up (to indicate I've made two from here).  I continued regardless (so an ideal is 24 putts, two passes around the circle).  After two passes, I had seven coins picked up and four of the remaining five were tails up.  I took a total of 30 putts.  

I would be very happy if I could continue to make 80% of my 4-footers for a while.  I would really have to improve a lot of other aspects of my game to consider that a deficit. 

[Darkfrog]

Day 1:

Just got home from 5 days camping. Neck tweak seems better but pretty exhausted after packing up camp, driving, and unpacking. Just hit some full swing 8-irons trying to find some rhythm/athleticism after not touching a club for awhile. I’ll get back to drills and slower work on priority piece tomorrow. 

[WillieT]

Day 30 (14 Jul 22) - putting work today, worked on tempo, and speed.  Kept the putts to about 8’ in length, set up two balls to serve as gates to the hole.  Goal - to roll thru the gates and stopping less than 2’ past the hole.  

[Bob M]

Day 258 - Played 18 today at North Kingstown with @boogielicious. My round featured some good shots but was generally pretty poor. The hot weather didn't help. 

[boogielicious]

Day 625: Played 18 with @Bob M. Drank six bottles of water during the round. Didn’t pee until I got home.

[Shindig]

Day 130.  I hit a dozen slow shots with my 6-iron indoors (the usual) as a combination practice and warm-up. 

Why do I say warm-up?  I'm going to head out for a round in a bit but lately, especially at nearby courses without good ranges, I'd rather warm up at home and then take the short drive there and stretch once I'm there and chip and putt, maybe take some swings on the mats without a ball.

[iacas]

Day 255, July 14, 2022

Really good practice session at Lake View today. Really worked on throwing the club behind me. Familiar feelings, really. Finished with two slow hybrids that were pretty good.