iacas

Day 339 - January 18, 2019 - Putted against @NatalieB for 15 minutes or so.

Hogan didn't do what the guy says he did at 4:15. His left wrist was cupped a bit at A1, still about the same at A2, and then cupped a little bit more (but not much) at the top. Hell, Hogan did more of the opposite than what this guy is saying. Hogan's right hand stayed on top more than the guy demonstrates; it didn't twist "under."

Almost certainly.

The Pats D vs. KC's O?

Those are excluded from the distance calculations. Many people have already said "yeah" to this one.

Yes. That's the better topic for actually discussing this stuff. This topic is more about the "fiasco" it may or may not cause.

At what distance? And what's the diameter of a golf ball got to do with anything? You guys can use SOHCAHTOA to figure this stuff out you know, right? sin(1) = x/y Plug in y as "ten feet" or something and you get: 120 * sin(1) = x; x = 2.09". Enough to miss a ten-footer if it's not hit with exactly dead weight.

Yes, I agree. Soccer is closer to walking down stairs than it is to golf.

Yeah, plus I suck at not getting the last word. 😄 But it's mostly what you said. Is it? I play rec soccer, and even then I'll diagnose my game and sometimes I get too "quick-pass-happy" and have to remind myself to take a touch, dribble a little, and not just immediately look for the quick pass. And sometimes (rarely for me though because I'm pretty good about this) I'll have the swing thought to keep my chest over the ball when I get into a little habit of leaning back, resulting in kicks that send the ball over the crossbar or too high on a corner kick. If you warm up on the range, do you try to figure out which one works best for you that day on the range? Or do you just go to the first tee, usually?

I'd shorten that to 30 or even 25 feet, Matt. Distance control will be improved, too, with better depth perception.

Let's get this back on track. And to do so, I'm going to quote from the first post: That's a "swing thought." It can be a focusing on hitting your start line (I do this quite often with shorter putts, because I know my speed will be pretty good). Justin Rose did the rehearsal to create a "feeling" that he then seeks to reproduce (though not as exaggerated as his pre-shot "rehearsal"). Does everyone play with a swing thought? No. But the topic is about getting rid of the idea that the best never have one. It turns out, they have swing thoughts quite often. So, you're not necessarily doing anything wrong if you have them, just because you've heard a few guys say "I was really in the zone, not thinking about much, and just hitting it great." That clarifies what a swing thought is - it's not words, it's a feeling. If you ask what my swing thought is, I might be able to put it into words, but it's not words. It's not a "mechanical" thought as much as it is a "feel" thought that produces better mechanics. There's not a lot of time to feel something during the downswing. When Tiger was rehearsing his "swinging left" feel, he knew that started just after the transition. He wasn't feeling something he had to do right at impact. Again, noting the importance that while the only way I can share them is by typing them out as words, they're "feelings," not words that I think to myself during my swing. Again, emphasizing the same thing. It's not for everyone. Some players aren't cut out to swing with a feeling. But… many are, and there's likely nothing wrong with you if you find that having a swing thought or two helps you play better golf. Just consider it. @Puttin4Dough, you've come on here and, IMO, completely misunderstood what a "swing thought" is. You've described them as "mechanical." You've called them "negative." You've said that no top players do this (despite ample evidence to the contrary). You've said that having any thoughts introduces "tension," even though someone's feeling/swing thought could be "soft" or "loose" or "free and easy" or something. Maybe swing thoughts don't work for you. But, they work for a lot of people, and golfers shouldn't be afraid to try them out because every great now and then, someone talks about how they were in the zone and playing golf without swing thoughts.

To be clear, it's not a benefit (nor the opposite of a benefit, really) on all putts, because it doesn't "benefit" putts that don't hit the flagstick with appreciable speed. It doesn't benefit a putt that, without the flagstick, would go in. It can only knock a ball out that would have gone in. It almost never does that, but that's the only possible alternative outcome to "that ball will go in 100% of the time." If you don't like to have it in, if the flag is flapping around and is distracting, or the shadow is nearby and distracting, or it's already taken out and you don't want to put it back in for your four-footer… etc. Maybe. That'd be about the only way the USGA/R&A would be right in saying it'll save time.

I don't know. The benefits of walking while pushing a push cart are only slightly smaller than when carrying, and the health benefits more than make up for it.

I've never seen anyone teaching Phil Mickelson's swing, and he's had a pretty successful time playing pro golf.

Day 338 - January 17, 2019 - Just a little putting work after a workout.