Zeph

Rory is crushing it with the driver, but less than sharp with the wedges, leaving them out to the right.

Go on, lad!

Say what you want about Bryson, but he’s entertaining to watch.

If a group is put on the clock and they keep playing slow, will a penalty hit them both equally, even if one player is sluggish and the other fast? I know they don’t deal out a lot of penalties, but it could happen.

Very cool to see how they work at that level. Do they get more, different or better data from their own equipment with all the cables than you do with GEARS? Both systems must be very useful in instruction, getting numbers on what is going on and not having to rely on slow-motion video footage from various angles. I saw it mentioned in another forum that some PGA pro was struggling with the swing, so they recorded new data, compared it to data from when he was hitting it better and quickly found the solution, like they did with Jamie here. I like how he used basic athletic motion to improve Jamie’s speed by jumping around and throwing stuff. I can see some pros getting lost in numbers and details, but if they got a good coach that deals with all that stuff and just tell the player what they need to so different, the technology has incredible potential. I also love how all the technology helps dispel myths and ideas people got from Hogan and Nicklaus decades ago. You can’t argue with data (as long as it’s accurate enough).

They can’t pick players to highlight based on who’s a fan in here. I didn’t see that part, but it can’t have been that long? Bryson is fine, except for the LIV part. He’s more entertaining than many others and having some LIV representatives up there stirs the pot a little.

If you don't think this course is difficult enough you should just stop watching golf. Hovland is out, Scheffler just made the cut, Tiger has a lot of grinding to do to avoid an early weekend. I'm rooting for Ludvig or Rory. Cantlay can find a bush.

If you got space for it, a hitting net is also a good option that allows you to hit real balls. I do most of my full swing practice on a net st home these days. I find it very valuable to hit balls. I can do something different in ten rehersal swings and on the next full swing just do my normal swing. Muscle memory and having done something thousands of time is difficult to overcome. A combination of slow swings, testing new feelings and full swings is better than only swinging without a club. The better players and instructors can probably get more value out of swinging without hitting anything.

I noticed something during practice today. I had some trouble getting the hands where I wanted them, and think that from A1 to A2, my hands move off the chest, even if I don't lift my arms or bend the back elbow. When doing some practice swings to A2 focusing on not lifting the arms, then just turning the torso back to A1, my hands had now moved from a little forward of center at A1 to back of center. Erik mentioned the elbow sliding behind me at the top, but it may have started the journey in that direction right from the takeaway.

Only got in six holes (short six hole course), but played them to par with one birdie and one bogey. A couple of lucky breaks, but mostly decent play from tee to cup. Seeing some distance increase from the Evolvr work due to better contact. Hit a choked up 6i 190 yards on a hole I usually hit a full 6i 5-10 yards shorter. Short game was good and saved some pars. I had planned to continue with another 6-12 holes, but as I got back to hole one, a high school class was there to spend some time before summer since their exams are done, and the guys from the club pulled me in as instructor. After that I was hungry and never got back on the course. Perhaps for the better, as I don't think I'd be able to shoot another six on par.

Rory McIlroy calls off divorce from Erica Stoll: 'We have resolved our differences' Nearly one month after Rory McIlroy filed for divorce from Erica Stoll, he confirmed they have reconciled after the pair "resolved our differences." Good for them, and their kid, but how does his game react to an almost divorce?

He turned a corner in 2020. Doesn't help that he rarely plays tournaments anymore. He could also be putting worse partly because the rest of the game has gone downhill.

Goal: Get the hands deeper early by not lifting the arms early in the backswing, then more straight up from there. More difficult than I'd have imagined. From A1 to A2 is the most critical part. I found an app called APowerMirror on iOS which is very useful. With it, you can link up two phones or a phone and an iPad and cast the screen on one device onto the next. I cast my iPhone to the iPad, then launch the OnForm app and set it to Auto-Detect. The OnForm app will automatically register a swing, record it and display it in a loop after. If you make a new swing, it'll record and display that, etc. OnForm has a limit to the number of videos you can store without paying, but if you start recording and don't leave that screen, I haven't hit a limit yet. It's only if you leave the recording screen, go to the folder and then try to record again it will say you can't because of the limit. Then you'll have to delete enough recordings first. With this setup and the iPad right in front of me, I can see what's going on without looking behind me into a mirror. You can also draw lines and stuff on the app which will stay there for all recordings. I've had a line on my spine angle, vertically on the middle of the hips and verically on the hands. Makes it a lot easier and quicker to try different things and find the positions you are looking for. Make a swing, look at the iPad, see what happened, then go again. What I do on a practice move seconds before a full swing is rarely what the full swing looks like if I don't really focus on it. At the moment, working on backswing stuff, it might be a good thing that I'm not on a range and get too caught up with the ball flight. I can do my backswing perfectly and still hit a terrible shot, but be happy with what I was trying to achieve. It's easier to get distracted by the ball flight on the range and lose focus. Ball contact will still give some feedback on the strike.

Greens are hard and fast. Can make for an entertaining tournament.

Even the forum software knows it’s not “The Open”. 😀 I like these eastern locations. With only six hours time difference the broadcast is on in the evening and usually done around midnight.

This is a 203 yard par 5…, but the direct line is covered by tall trees. I pulled the tee shot left, giving me only a narrow gap to advance the ball down to the next segment of the hole. Was left with 170 yards, sidehill and uphill in some first-cut-ish rough to an elevated green. Tried to line up to the right of the green with a choked up 4i. It was good all the way and landed on the middle of the green. Hit the first putt 10 feet past and made the return.

I preferred it that way. And to take on Chamblee of all people. He’s paid to do that stuff.

"Who do you stand with?" I'm going with "neither". The entire feud is stupid.

Grip, grip grip. This weekend I had more epiphanies about the grip. It's a small visual change, but dynamically and swingwise it's huge. The biggest one was the right hand this time, which I hadn't given enough attention, but Erik wanted it stronger. When making it a little bit stronger, the V pointing more towards the back shoulder, it felt like it actually made sense. My grip used to be palmy and weak, and I never felt comfortable with how the hands moved in the swing. I didn't adjust the left hand this time, but here I also had a realization. When Erik said in his grip video to wrap the pinkie pad on the grip, I missed the part when he said "on top of the club". I'd started wrapping the palm all the way around the grip, over to the backside of the grip, which felt completely wrong and confused me. A quick feedback on Sunday made it click. Now I think the grip can allow me to achieve an impact position with the shaft pointing towards the forward shoulder. Something I don't recall ever having been able to do before. There's still work to be done, but just the small grip change dramatically improved contact. I now always grip the club while holding it up with the right hand. My main focus points are where the hands attach to the grip. Left hand: Place the the grip near the base of the fingers, centered on the first pads of the middle and ring finger. Wrap the pinkie-side pad on top of the grip. Right hand: Place the first pad of the index finger on the backside of the grip. On the range the launch angle was finally lower and ball curve better. My default swing is still out-in, but when focusing on the backswing and path, I was able to hit straight shots and some pull-draws. I had more pull-draws than straight-fades. Cleaner contact is everything. On the course I also hit it much better, but it'll take more time and work to get things sorted. My short game was already moving in the right direction, but the grip change is also a big deal here. With a palmy weak grip and clubhead moving off plane right from the start, it's no wonder it was a struggle. Need to pratice more, but these changes are absolute gold. Hit some really good pitches today. One lovely 58º from a downhill lie, over a bunker to a green running away from me. Got it to two feet. Here's the aftermath of a partial 58º wedge. I placed a tee at the middle of the ball before hitting. Decent contact, out-in path. On a short 110 yard par 3 I almost dunked a 52º.

The course did its job well. Eagles and doubles in play, single digit winning score. Scottie even made it interesting on Sunday. He made a few mistakes that nearly cost him the tournament and the putter got cold on Sunday with -1.33 SG. A lot of burned edges.

Look at at golf swing next time if you want to compare athletic movement. Every RH player transfer weight to the left foot during the swing and ends up there at the finish. Bill covered the rest.

Getting closer. Both looks and feels better. Still working on the grip. I don’t think I ever put this much effort into the grip before, or realized how important it is. I’ve gotten an ache in the back the past week. Middle-upper area or something. Maybe from trying different stuff and hitting a lot of fat shots. I’ve hit a lot of balls earlier this year without issues. I’ll take it easy the next couple of days and see what happens (said that three days in a row now). I also realize that I need to find a new hitting net. The one I got is more of a driving range net I think, because it’s getting holey. I’ll probably order an archery net which I’ve seen recommended in here and place it in front of the other net.

I have used the intermediate target a few feet in front of the ball for a long time. I sometimes place the clubhead behind the ball, so the intermediate target, ball and my clubhead are all aligned on the target line, then position my feet parallel to that the best I can. I also find that clubs are not the best to check my alignment since they are somewhat cone shaped, or tapered. If I place the club down along my feet, the outside of the shaft will point in the direction of target, but if I trace the middle of the club, it's pointing right of the target line. For that purpose I prefer an alignment stick.

A look at setup changes. Erik may want to adjust a little more on Evolvr, but it's closer now. Making tiny changes is difficult. I've moved the ball position back and forth so many times. It looks and feels a bit forward here maybe, but we're getting there. Baby steps. Also working on the backswing and trying to lift the arms later. Feels so weird to let the hands get deeper early, especially since one goal is to avoid the hands getting too deep at the top. I think my mind has imagined the arms moving in a straight line (in plane) back, when they should be going first in a bit and then more straight up than around. Feeling the hands more in front of the chest seems like a good thought.

Day 18 - Upper back ached a bit, probably from practice that led to some tremendously fat shots. More backswing work today. Really need to feel like I'm overdoing it to actually do what I'm trying to do. Feels so weird compared to my normal swing. Still working on setup and distance to the ball. Golf is hard.