"5 Minutes Daily" Practice Challenge

[Clemsonfan]

Day 1: 8/21/25

Current situation has me living 29 yards from the first tee; 51 yards from the chipping green; and 101 yards to the driving range. I have been able to practice daily since 8/11. Good chipping using the Joseph Mayo method. Try to make at least 2 chip-ins per night using a single ball. Made my 3rd and 5th tonight, but nothing afterwards! 

[5amZ]

Day 7 8-21

Practiced taking club back with momentum. Recorded from face on. Used heavy resistance band for same drill but with backswing and downswing. 

[DeadMan]

Day 26: practice night. Spent 30 minutes working on lag putting and then putts within 10 feet. Then went to the range to try to clean up contact with the driver. Good session. 

[iacas]

Day 326 - 2025-08-22

Practiced for almost an hour after cleaning my cabinets to account for the new GEARS cameras and helping @OBlum for a bit. Exaggerating the same old things.

[5amZ]

Day 8 8-22

Worked on backswing length and getting some speed in backswing. Recorded swings. Was happy with practice session tonight. 

[Shindig]

Context:  I am on vacation, so I don't have access to my indoor practice room, and I won't for about a month.

Day 12 (August 22).  Today's weather was not one where even I was going to be outside.  For whatever reason, I didn't do the putting drill today.  There was a drill I remembered from this site (the article was something akin to "five things you can do to improve that don't require talent") that involved having an iron along the back from stance, moving to backswing and holding, then moving to forward swing and holding.  So I did that for five minutes today.

I also spent 90 minutes at the gym;  my main motivation for getting stronger is golf related (and I really should get back to Fit For Golf  specific workouts;  I'm not sure when I lost that habit, a poor choice on my part that I did).  Funny story, I spent 20 minutes on the Stairmaster today at the gym (the rest was weights and rests), a device I started with shortly after I took up golf because I read something about it in a Butch Harmon book.  I should be following FFG Mike's fitness advice though, not some memory of someone else.  

[DeadMan]

Day 27: did a stack session. 

[Clemsonfan]

Day 2: 8/22/25

chipping practice late last night until dark. Only made one, but a good session.

[DeadMan]

Day 28: played 18 in the first round of my club championship. Really proud of this round. Started +5 after 3 and finished at +6. Also fixed bad toe strikes with the driver after my second drive went maybe 180. Now, I just need to cut out the stupid doubles…

[5amZ]

Day 9 8-23

Went to the range for an hour and worked on shorter backswing and getting speed in backswing. Was in a groove hitting really good shots then started chunking and shanking every shot . Worked on short game 30 yards and in for 30 minutes. I was happy that Im not focusing on the shot as much as the  "goal" of the session. Decent session overall. 

[Shindig]

Day 13 (August 23).  Played 18 today at a new-to-me course, Power Ranch Golf Club in Gilbert AZ.  It was a beautiful day for golf and I got out to a wonderful start;  I arrived at the course, checked in, was treated to a wonderful range, and took a few minutes to think about some of my recent priorities in practice.  I went to a nicely maintained putting green and tried to get a feel for distance, as I usually do before a round.  I went to the first tee and hit a wonderful shot, right into someone's swimming pool (fortunately, they weren't in it).  Hitting what the rules folks (myself included) will say is my third shot, I hit a great tee shot.   My day continued quite well, with that opening hole being one of the only two all day that I didn't get a GIRP (Broadie stat:  effectively, can you putt for par?). 

7 GIRs + 8 near-GIR + a par-5 where I popped up a tee shot and then duffed a fairway wood, only to hit a great hybrid and leave myself a 45 yard pitch (which I used to really like).  I hit the green with that one and two-putted for a six that felt like a victory.  

That opening hole, if you grant me a mulligan (and don't, because I don't grant myself them either), that would be a ninth near-GIR for the day.  

Strokes gained, compared to a 10 handicap baseline (because three of my four fit near that, and also I think getting to a 10 handicap in the coming months is a reasonable goal, especially since after this vacation I'm going to get back to taking lessons):

* -0.45 SG:D.  Considering I'm pretty sure that opening shot is -2,  and I had that pop up at #13, that means I had a good day driving otherwise.

* 0.59 SG:A.  That tracks;  I didn't hit any approach shots into terrible situations, unless you count "you're on the green and now Shindig has to putt" as a bad situation  

* 0.87 SG:SG.  However, a good number of these were putts from just off the green -- five of my near-GIRs were collars, and I'm actually not that bad at longer putts (at least, compared to my level).  I also hit a nice chip, albeit a chip for par (the other not-GIRP hole), to 6' from about 27 yards out.

* -4.80 SG:P.  Of this, -4.37 is putts inside 10'.  I really do practice these, although this probably could be described as a "glaring weakness."  After this vacation, I am going to give them a fair bit more priority than they have been lately, in hopes of improving here.  Putts inside 10', when I'm this bad compared to the rest, really is low hanging fruit.

Oh yeah, the final score was an 87 (posts as an 86).   I forget how to link the ShotScope round for if anyone wants to see it.

[iacas]

Day 327 - 2025-08-23

Got some work in before lessons. Made a few swings on GEARS afterward, too.

[DeadMan]

Day 29: played 18. Solid -2!! Broke par and 70 for the first time. Got to wait a while, but probably won the club championship as well. 

[5amZ]

Day 10 8-24

Worked on setup,backswing and grip in mirror. Hit a few foam balls at very slow speeds. Focused on backswing length and making sure grip is correct distance from me. 

[Shindig]

Day 14 (August 24).  Ruler drill on carpet, with a focus on strokes that I'd take to hit a short putt (inside 6' or so, where I miss a lot).  I figured this would likely confirm my belief that at least I was starting them correctly, and I must be missing subtle breaks on short putts or something.  Nope... of the 25, missed 4 right and 2 left.  Still fewer misses on this drill than my miss rate within 6', but somewhat illuminating.   

Over my last 10 rounds, my average strokes gained: putting, inside 10', compared to a 10hcp baseline, is -2.54 -- and that isn't just because (at a 15 hcp myself at the moment) I'm comparing to 10hcp.  If I compare to a 25 hcp, I'm at -1.84.   I'm actually gaining small amounts (compared to the same 10 hcp) outside 10'.

[iacas]

Day 328 - 2025-08-24

Mirror work. I played 18 holes today, too, but it was disc golf. 😄 

[Clemsonfan]

Day 1: 8/24/25

Chipping practice tonight. Made my first two and could not make another over the next 25 minutes! Used three balls tonight and chipped to a hole in sets of three.

[WillieT]

Day 1 (25 Aug 25) - Back into daily drills after a week of being on a cruise with my bride. Started with some easy 1/2 swings with the 7i in the backyard (after mowing and string trimming) focused on setup process and getting the muscles working.  Amazingly the dispersion of the hard foam balls was very tight.