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About ajw426
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Personal Information
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Your Location
Indiana
Your Golf Game
- Index: 6
- Plays: Righty
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ajw426's Achievements
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That's incredibly helpful, thank you! I've been working on my posture quite a bit based upon your lengthy posture post from years back. Here is a picture of my old posture - hopefully it's better now compared to then. I've been trying not to stick my butt out and trying to get rid of the arch in my lower back. It does feel a bit too upright at times, so the idea of engaging the legs more might do wonders. I used to have a terribly unbalanced sway to my right. When I'm struggling and hitting the ball thin, it really feels like my low point is behind the ball at impact. I end up flipping to reach the ball and still hit thin with lower back pain. I was afraid of my old habit of swaying too far back and not being able to get fully recentered, so I'm focusing on maintaining a centered pivot. That being said, I still feel like I'm hanging back too much on my right foot at impact, but when I try to get further left at impact, I just can't do it. Is it correct to say that shifting right early in the backswing can actually make it easier to properly finish with my weight left? I'll give it a try tonight on my simulator and see how it goes. Thanks a million for the input, it's so greatly appreciated!
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ajw426 started following My Swing (Ajw426)
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I've been Playing Golf for: 30 years My current handicap index or average score is: 9 My typical ball flight is: Draw The shot I hate or the "miss" I'm trying to reduce/eliminate is: Thin hits where I have to hurt my lower back to barely reach the ball (contact near heel - occasionally bad enough to shank). Secondary to that is a low hook. Lower back pain is an issue when my swing is off as I have to use my (waning) flexibility to try to recover and make contact. Videos:
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I agree with Erik that this was correctly handled based upon the current rules. I also feel that some improvements could be made to the rules with regards to PGA/LPGA tournaments. I'm going to use some terminology a bit loosely, but you should grasp my general ideas, nonetheless. - I think that they could finalize a scorecard on a daily basis rather than at the end of the tournament. No changes in the middle of the next round. - No viewer call-ins, but introduce a way to monitor players more closely. Additional Rules Officials (give them a different name, if you prefer) present (1-2 per group) to watch players, or possibly do this via video surveillance. Make it equal and across the board. I agree with Erik that we need to have accuracy and strict adherence to the rules, but I feel that it would be best done by professionals rather than home viewers. - I wouldn't be against loosening the signing of the scorecard rules in professional golf. Aside from tradition, I find it somewhat unnecessary that professional players keep their own score. We don't ask basketball or football teams to record and submit their scores at the end of the game, and I don't see much reason that golfers need to do the same. Even if you keep the signing of a scorecard, a rule could be added allowing amendments of some variety. Rules are rules, and they should be followed. I, however, think that the rules could be altered to improve situations such as this. I haven't spent a ton of time thinking these changes through, so my opinion could change based upon sound counterargurments.
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One. It was on my birthday this past April. I had the day off of work, and no one to play with, so I took a local course for an early morning round. 175 yard 6-iron over water. It hit into the slope about 18 inches behind the hole and spun back down and in. Not a soul was around to witness, but I cherish it nonetheless!
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(Feel free to move if this isn't an appropriate location) I purchased a SkyTrak launch monitor, and I have been very pleased with the product thus far. I feel that my review/experiences over the past few years may be able to help some or create good discussion on practicing. I don't have practice facilities readily accessible (25 min drive), so I've spent countless hours refining my swing in my garage with a mat/net. 3 years ago I was a 12 hcp and often struggled to make consistent solid contact, but have since lowered my hcp to the 4-6 range. It took a little while to learn the "feel" of different hits/misses while hitting into a net, but I was soon able to identify many different misses (fat, thin, toe, big slice, duck hook, etc) as well as a relatively solid hit. It was easy to make improvements to my swing, because the difference between my "better" shots and my "worse" shots was easy to determine. As I continued to improve my ball striking on the mat, I saw positive (although somewhat delayed) results on the course. Last year, I had finally eliminated the majority of major mis-hits, and my "worse" shots turned into smaller draws and slices as well as small errors in distance control and starting flight path. I found that my mat/net practice sessions mostly consisted of solid feeling hits that went in the general vicinity of my target. I was no longer getting specific enough feedback to further hone my ball striking. I would spend a full week practicing what felt great at home, but when I took it to the course, I realized that I actually had a mild-moderate slice/draw that I wasn't aware of. Basically, it was like hitting an 8 iron and knowing that my ball likely landed somewhere on the green or fringe, but, but not knowing if it was left, right, short, or long. I spent more time going to the range and hitting the course, but my schedule just doesn't allow me to go more than once or twice per week. My improvement plateaued. I did some research, and ultimately settled on the $2k SkyTrak instead of the variety of different options. I considered the Optishot2 and GC2 based on other reviews, but ultimately settled with an in-between. It was easy to setup, and after 5 minutes of experimenting with different ball positions, I've found it to be very accurate and consistent to the best that I can tell. I can't attest to the accuracy of the more specific measurements (spin, launch angle, club head speed, etc), but what I "feel" seems to be very consistent with what I see. The only thing that doesn't "feel" like what I see, is that my stock standard "good" feeling shot has a decent draw to it instead of being straight (remember my problem above?). Adjusting my baseline "feel" to what is reality, any shots that feel like a draw actually show up as a bigger draw, and what feels like a fade is actually a straight shot. I can consistently judge a fade, draw, flighted, flop, and my carry to within ~5 yards after I strike the ball. It truly feels like I'm hitting on the range but with more specific information at my disposal (carry, launch angle, max height, spin). Even if the numbers aren't perfectly accurate, they seem to be accurate relative to other shots within the same launch monitor (aka spin numbers increase and decrease as would be expected based on swing/club, even if I can't confirm their overall accuracy). I have no clue if SkyTrak was the best bang-for-buck, or if there are better products out there. I also haven't been able to take it outdoors to confirm flight patterns. It seems like a very poor setup for anyone wanting to take it to the range - indoor mat/net setup is its niche from my understanding. I'm only a week in to using it, so my feeling may change over time, but I thought I would share my experience and offer to answer any questions if anyone has them. Happy golfing!
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Thanks! Yeah, I've gone through that info multiple times over. I always take info in golf with a grain of salt. When I see similar ideas echoing from multiple different (reliable) sources, I then start to consider the weight it may or may not hold. I'm pretty fluent in you guys' general themes and feeling, and I love the way that you both use sound analysis and video to support your thoughts. I'm a medical guy, so evidence based reasoning is important to me. I feel like most of the recommendations that you give people on here are repeating the same ideas, because their priority pieces are usually the common ones (be a stupid monkey, centered pivot, proper setup, etc), but I know that there are more intricate nuggets of info that you have, and I think I would enjoy learning those too! I am fearful (like you mentioned) to dive in to information which isn't sound. That's why I am asking you, any other recommendations on how to learn more? My only reasonable thought is to sift through "my swing" threads and see what "I" would recommend, and compare/contrast to what "you" recommend. My suspicion is that what I'm looking for isn't out there, but I just can't help but ask!
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I feel like you all have done such a great job teaching me more about the golf swing as well as how to improve my golf game. On top of improving my game, I have picked up a strong desire to learn more and more about the intricacies of the golf swing. This isn't necessarily out of desire to improve my game more (I will likely sign up for evolvr once it warms up to achieve that), and it's definitely not out of desire to start coaching others (I only do that when my less skilled friends ask for tips - I may give them some small pointers, but I always just point them here). Ultimately, I feel like I've soaked up (almost) as much as I can on this forum over the past 2-3 years (I mainly lurk), and I've read most of the top books mentioned on here (Hogan, Pennick, Nicklaus, Clampett, Hardy, Stockton, Utley, Peltz, McClean, and more - not golf machine, though). However, my understanding falls so thoroughly below iacas and mvmac's level that I figure there may be some other resources out there to satiate my hunger for knowledge. Let me be very clear. I don't expect to understand the swing at a professional instructors level. I understand that takes a lot of time and dedication, just like any profession. I feel like I'm up to maybe a 4 on a scale of 10, while Erik is a 9.5. I'm wondering if there are any other resources out there, possibly ones designed to teach instructors their craft, that could get me up to a 5 or 6. The PGA has a $900 study manual for becoming a PGA pro, but it seems to spend a lot of time on business and how to teach. I'm looking for raw swing mechanics which more thoroughly teach ideal positioning and its effects etc. (I don't understand a lot of these nuances). I know this won't make me a better golfer necessarily, but that doesn't take away from my desire to learn it. I want to be a stupid monkey with MY golf game, but the intellectual in me wants to understand the swing better than I currently do, out of curiosity. Any recommendations?
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Can it be a bad thing to hit Irons "too" far?
ajw426 replied to ajw426's topic in Instruction and Playing Tips
I've never had trouble with fliers or balls coming out hot in the past. I've always heard about it, but never experienced it often. Can it happen out of the fairway as well as the rough (the first one was on the short stuff, and the second very light rough)? I always thought it happened out of the rough. Yeah, obviously the 7 iron didnt work out and went too far. In order to keep things more brief, i didnt mention that i really needed to advance the ball at least 160 to keep from being blocked out by another tree (i had an odd angle after a misdirected tee shot). 160-200 was my range, and i picked what WAS my 180 based on prior rounds, but today seemingly was 190 + flier distance. Maybe an 8 would have been better, but i was afraid it might not get me 160 if i mishit. I could have never imagined my 7 going that far, but now i can prepare for the possibility. Holding greens was one of my concerns. I think my trajectory was normal, although not really high like it has been at times. Greens were very soft today and everthing was sticking. I'm a little afraid that i will have trouble holding firm greens, so i will keep the possible spin factor in mind as well. Thanks! -
I have a bit of a story, but it will get to a serious question before long. So, partially in thanks to the resources here at TST, my swing and ball striking has come a long way. My Handicap Index is down to 5.1 from 8-10, and I have been hitting the ball with consistency and distance with driver and irons like never before. Driver carry is up from approximately 220-30 to 250-60 (about 10-15 yards of roll right now in soft conditions), and I started hitting 1 and then 2 clubs longer as I started grooving my swing more and more. This took a lot of adjusting to, and it was both frustrating (lots of flying the whole green) and fun at the same time. I DO swing at a controlled 90-95% (as i have my whole golfing career), and i never try to crush the ball with any club. I simply try to hit full swing shots with a tad of "umpf" to get good distance and keep timing. This morning I was even par through 12 holes and I had been striking the ball very well. As the round went on, I had a few approach shots bounce over the green (no short approach shots all day) even when considering my new found distance during club selection. On hole 13, I found myself 163 out with a 5 yd breeze in my face, and decided to hit an 8 iron (8 iron used to be my 150, and i would typically hit a 6 in this situation last year). With seemingly good trajectory from an 8 iron (i usually hit the ball high), I flew the green and ended up 28 yards past the pin (and no, it didn't kick off of back of the green. It landed in a flat rough area and actually climbed up onto a teebox in what was soft/wet ground conditions). 195 in total with my club that used to go 150. Fast forward to 16, I'm hitting my second shot on a par 5 out of light rough. I have 210 to the edge of a water hazard and want to keep my ball in the 180-190 range for a 50 yard approach to the green over the water. I pull out a 7 iron and smoke it 215 into the hazard (200 on the fly) - that slight breeze was at my back this time, but it really was slight. I fail to get out of the hazard, then take a drop and end up with a triple bogey. I finished +4 on the round. I know i won't hit the ball that far consistently, but lets say I can swing "firmly" and hit my 8 iron 180 and my 7 190, is this even a good thing? Based on trajectory of my irons (4-PW), it doesnt appear that I am turning my 7 down into a 4 or anything like that. My 190yd 7 iron still had a higher trajectory compared to when i used to hit a 190yd 4 iron. I have concerns about consistency at this point. I definitely don't feel like I'm swinging any harder than ever (and I have never had issues with over swinging), but i am having trouble figuring out how far my clubs really do go now. My iron distance is truly fluctuating (although mostly with an upwarf trajectory) based on how well I'm swinging that particular round. I'm also seemingly getting a few balls which come off unexpectedly hot and get me in to trouble (although this could still just be me not selecting the right clubs as I'm learning to generate more club speed). The way I see it, I can embrace my new distance and try to hone and make it as consistent as possible. I can start trying to swing easier (I did this a few times today out of fear of blowing it over). Or, I can hit more flighted shots (I probably hit them half the time from 150 and in currently). I dont think the flighted shots are as much of an option for my longer irons though. 1. Is there any reason why I shouldn't try to keep hitting my irons as far as possible as long as I'm not over swinging? 2. If so, how do you recommend one go about toning things back in an accurate and consistent manner? (Note: these distances were all shot with a rangefinder, and I'm not bragging in any way - no one on the internet knows me and no one really cares if I hit the ball far. All that I care about is shooting low scores. Sorry for the long post and thanks in advance).
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Same. For me it is a slight extension of the GIR stat in order to account for situations where I leave myself in very good position to get up and down for par. GIR is an important stat, but being 1 yard off of the green and 15-20 feet away deserves as much "credit" as a GIR leaving you 30+ feet away. I follow my GIRs to tell myself how many opportunities I gave myself for easy pars (and birdie chances), and I add a few "just off the green, but in great position" nGIRs to follow those opportunities even more accurately.
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MB's Centripetal Force Thread
ajw426 replied to Mike Boatright's topic in Instruction and Playing Tips
And here I thought I might be able to put my popcorn down and do something productive... it's just too good though!