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The THP Range/Practice Thread

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Another good evening on the range. Everything was working. A few slip ups here and there, of course, but overall some solid ball striking. Focusing on my grip with the left hand a lot, keeping the grip from going to much into my fingers. Making sure I don't regrip in my backswing to undo the fix I just made. Smooth in to out through the ball, making sure not to turn the wrists over trying to help the ball turn.

7i was straight and higher than usual, sitting down on the 166yd flag out at the range. 3i was nice and straight flying right over the top of the 192yd flag, probably carrying a bit over 200 with out really stepping on it. Didn't fat one 5w or 3w and both were essentially on target. Aside from a few being lost to the left, the driver went where I aimed it.

Again focusing on the left hand grip, and making a turn to square my shoulders to my lower body before starting the backswing, using it as a trigger. One drive in particular I saw roll to the base of the hill at the back of the range, roughly 285. I just need to keep it all together and in sync on the course. I can make the shots as long as I don't expect it to happen without doing my part.
 
I got on the monitor tonight and was pleased to see that (for the first time in months) I was launching my 7 iron in the 18's with ball speeds in the 118mph range. That means I'm close to the 170's again for the first time in so freaking long. It also means I've finally got some forward shaft lean at impact. I could tell the first time I hit the ball that it sounded different. Huge relief and I may have finally turned a little corner. I feel like I've floundered with my contact and flipping all summer and I was getting really down on myself for it. I needed a little good news today, so thanks for that golf gods.
 
Good for you, Hawk. Keep plugging away. The satisfaction is only that much greater when it comes after some struggles.
 
tequila4kapp said:
Good for you, Hawk. Keep plugging away. The satisfaction is only that much greater when it comes after some struggles.
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That's for sure. I've made do, but it's been a struggle and I'll be glad if it's past me for awhile.
 
Lunchtime range session today. I worked on a couple of tips that I got from Canadan before Sunday's round at TPC Vegas, and had one of the best practice sessions I've had in a very long time. One simple thing that I had been doing wrong was throwing a big old monkey wrench in the whole works.

Back on track baby!
 
Large bucket of just wedges, then spent 45 minutes working short game around the green.
 
hit the range for an hour+. worked on the driver mostly. been struggling with it. opened up my stance and it seemed to help.
 
More Canadan tip learning today after a round...so fun! Will get the hang of it soon!

Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 4
 
Good range session tonight, but I cracked the face of my X Hot 3 hybrid!!! I hope its still under warranty??
 
I'm sure it is Canes. Give em a call tomorrow.
 
Worked on alignment (a constant battle of mine) and staying connected through my takeaway and not starting the backswing all armsy. Result was my best tee day in a long long time.

Also focused on getting to my damn finish and trying to get beyond this sawed off finish that leads to such a low trajectory many times.

Work is being done.
 
Got on the monitor for a quick lesson yesterday and the resulted were great.

Working on my grip and takeaway and apart from a few pulls I was getting great distance. I was putting my 7i out to 175-180. My instructor had to take a look at my club to make sure I was using a 7i :banana:
 
Nice job Damoegan.
 
After another lack luster round, I decided to sulk over to the practice green and just chip and putt and think about how much more effort I wanted to put into this game. Anyway, I started playing around with a much shallower plane on my chipping, where basically the handle and shaft go back around to the point that when the shaft is parallel to the ground, the handle is in line with my right hip. Then I just rotated the whole thing back through making sure my chest faced the target when I was finished. I was chipping off of some very tight lies. The ball was really biting into the grooves and most of the shots were coming off medium low with one hop, a quick check up, then a slow roll out. Normally my chips just land on the green and roll, and roll, and roll. I practiced with a few clubs up to a 9 iron and got the same results. One hop, check, then roll. Can't say that my average chips were any closer to the hole than usual, but it was just cool to see the ball react the way it was. Plus, my normal 25% chunky chilli dip percentage was well below 10% with the shallower approach. Which would make sense being that the club is in a good contact position longer. Anyway, something to think about for those who may struggle with their chipping. Try swinging the club a little more around instead of up and down.
 
I should have came with you so I could have worked on my short game to, as you know I need some help. If your free saturday I got nothing going on incase you want to practice some more or play some golf.
BradMorris said:
After another lack luster round, I decided to sulk over to the practice green and just chip and putt and think about how much more effort I wanted to put into this game. Anyway, I started playing around with a much shallower plane on my chipping, where basically the handle and shaft go back around to the point that when the shaft is parallel to the ground, the handle is in line with my right hip. Then I just rotated the whole thing back through making sure my chest faced the target when I was finished. I was chipping off of some very tight lies. The ball was really biting into the grooves and most of the shots were coming off medium low with one hop, a quick check up, then a slow roll out. Normally my chips just land on the green and roll, and roll, and roll. I practiced with a few clubs up to a 9 iron and got the same results. One hop, check, then roll. Can't say that my average chips were any closer to the hole than usual, but it was just cool to see the ball react the way it was. Plus, my normal 25% chunky chilli dip percentage was well below 10% with the shallower approach. Which would make sense being that the club is in a good contact position longer. Anyway, something to think about for those who may struggle with their chipping. Try swinging the club a little more around instead of up and down.
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coers said:
I should have came with you so I could have worked on my short game to, as you know I need some help. If your free saturday I got nothing going on incase you want to practice some more or play some golf.
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I don't recall your short game being that bad. We had a foursome at Sunset Hills today. Stopping at Lick and practicing on the way home was a spur of the moment thing. Plus, I wasn't in the best of moods. Let's see how things pan out Saturday. My buddies are trying to talk me into playing in the Impossible Open (5 man scramble) at Lick Creek Saturday where they move all the tees back as far as they can go and put all the pins in the hardest positions they can find. It's absolutely brutal. And this after I tell them I only want to play cheap golf. They don't seem to understand how un-fun it is for me to shoot in the 90's all the time. Anyway, if they find somebody else to play, maybe I'll drop you a text or PM and we can go hit a few. I'll let you know.
 
Another night spent on the Vector and results similar to last night. I'm a happy camper.
 
Mward said:
Keep that going man!
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Thanks Wardy. It's been a while coming and now it all seems so simple. I got really used to seeing some very bad numbers there for a few months. I feel like a bit of a moran looking back.
 
Hawk said:
Thanks Wardy. It's been a while coming and now it all seems so simple. I got really used to seeing some very bad numbers there for a few months. I feel like a bit of a moran looking back.
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Consider it just a growing process. Can't grow muscle until you break it down a bit right?
 
I actually had a really good range session this evening while my son was in his First Tee class. Went through a large bucket and worked on a variety of things. Did a lot of pitching to different targets as well as briefly doing what I would call maintenance with my irons. Been hitting my irons fairly well lately. I seemed to have found a little bit of what I've been missing with my driver lately and hit it well enough tonight to consider putting it back in play for a few holes this weekend. We'll see...
 
Had a great range session, where I think I may have figured out how to hit the driver and 3wd with some consistency which is a huge huge plus to my game. Irons were great and wedges also, hybo still throws out the occasional hook(4i on the way).
 
I had a good session today. I'm around 75-80% consistently hitting playable shots with most being straight shots. I hit my driver more consistently, but mis-hits are usually rough slices. I can't hit the driver much over 220 most of the time though and can't figure out how to hit farther.

I spent a lot of time working on putting/pitching/chipping and am seeing some improvement.
 
-CRW- said:
I had a good session today. I'm around 75-80% consistently hitting playable shots with most being straight shots. I hit my driver more consistently, but mis-hits are usually rough slices. I can't hit the driver much over 220 most of the time though and can't figure out how to hit farther.

I spent a lot of time working on putting/pitching/chipping and am seeing some improvement.
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Ever had a lesson to see where your power leak is with the driver?
 
I started playing right around 2 months ago and have had 7 lessons. 5 with a current club pro and 2 with a former club pro who is in my current line of work now. The 5 with the current pro were paid and I felt like I got little out of them. The 2 with the friend were my 1st and 6th lessons taken. The first was really rough, a lot of flailing around. The next 4 lessons with the current pro were mostly grip and setup with little emphasis on swing. All the while I was going to the driving range several days a week hitting 100+ balls each time, using videos mostly from Shawn Clement to work on actually hitting the ball. Then the 6th lesson with my friend I was shown something I was doing wrong with my right arm and all of a sudden could start hitting 90% of my shots. Up until this point I couldn't hit the driver at all. He had my apply the same principle and fine tuned my setup/ball position and I could hit the driver close to 100% of the time. But we didn't have enough time that day to go any further with technique. Since then I consistently drive 220, occasionally as long as 260, with few mis-hits. The mis-hits usually result in rough slices, but all but 1 have been playable for me.

Since then I had my last/5th lesson with the paid pro. He went against what the other guy showed me and forced changes that left me unable to hit the ball. For him it was his way only (though he was nice about it), and I decided our relationship was over. My friend doesn't charge me, works full time, and has a new baby at home so I'm not going to ask him for help too often right now.

I think part of my problem is my build. I'm 5'10/250 pounds and athletic. I can lift a ton of weight but I'm fairly inflexible. I'm hoping with time and repetition that my swing speed will increase and improve my driving distance.

So in short, to answer your question - yes and no?

golfinFF said:
Ever had a lesson to see where your power leak is with the driver?
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