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The THP Range/Practice Thread

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Practice session tonight went good. Warmed up with some stretches, then 10x10 seconds on the Ground Force thing, then some indoor drills. Then to the garage for impact ball, hip bumping, step drills, and finally some full swings. Felt good. Still want to open that damn hip, but every time I open, I correct to get the feeling and the next time I can usually get where I want. Correcting and soaking it in is about the best way I can get the feeling I want.

Full swings felt really good. The combo of spending the time on the Ground Force and the swing thought of pushing toward the target with the inside of my right foot after I loaded it gave me lots of well struck balls that felt powerful.

Ha! Optimism. I always have it :)
 
Had a lesson on Saturday....not much has been sticking and working from the first couple lessons but as I got into the bay...the previous guy had left his last swing up on the screen. I played it a couple times and it looked good and I was trying to figure out what I was doing differently than him. I was sitting there stretching trying to figure it out when it hit me....His lower body was SOOOOOOOOOOO much quieter than mine. It was almost still, with only a little twist of the hips. So I tried that during my lesson and during a bit of practice afterwards. It really helped get me into position at the top. I wasn't as laid off and I was much more balanced on the down swing. I was pretty sick Saturday so I didn't stick around and practice as much as I normally would...but I'm chomping at the bit to get back there on Thursday and get swinging. Here's hoping that this is the key I've been looking for.
 
I had an awesome range session today with not one, but two EUREKA moments!

First, I warmed up with some wedges, then I moved on to a short iron. Those clubs have been great for me, and I was hitting them right where I was aiming. After I was good and loose, I moved on to my 5 iron, as my long irons were giving me some trouble in California. I was really focusing on not letting the club get too far inside on the takeaway, shortening the backswing, and keeping my weight centered. That was fine and dandy, but on the downswing, I was just swinging too hard and getting nowhere with it. I really felt like I was hitting at the ball, trying to get it up into the air. Eventually, it hit me that I just need to swing the club as if the ball isn't there and let the ball just get in the way. BOOM! Having that thought and carrying it through to my swing was like lightening. I was drilling the 5 iron high and straight at my target. Granted, this was in a golf dome and I could only trace the flight for 90 yards, but it was enough to tell I was getting some good results. I struggled with my 4 hybrid, again trying to hit it too hard. I again had to remind myself to just swing, and the results were much better. I just have to trust that the ball is going to go if I let it get in the way.

Hit some 5W and 3W off the deck, and 3W off the tee, and I moved on to my driver.

During my session, I laid an alignment rod down the target line as I usually do. This definitely helps make sure I'm lining up correctly to the target. Tonight, I also laid another rod perpendicular to the target line, with the end about 3 or 4 inches inside of the ball. This was huge because it was immediately apparent to me that I was never addressing the ball with the driver square to the target line. Everything else about the setup was fine, but I was noticeably open with the clubface. No wonder I was hitting high fades on the course and at the range. Once I made sure I was square with the face, I was hitting them great. Hard to tell exactly where they would end up with only 90 yards of range to work with, but they definitely weren't the weak fades I was hitting before.

It's crazy how something so simple could help me so much.
 
First lesson booked for Sunday at noon. Things are starting to get real for my drive to be the best I can be come July. #TheGrindIsReal
 
flog2424 said:
Had my first lesson in over three years today and I was absolutely blown away.

I went to see Ted Fort who is in Marietta, GA and came from the recommendation of a couple of friends and friend of THP, John Kim.
Ted was the the GA Teacher of the Year in 2010 and is often at the top of the section in terms of playing.

We used FlightScope for our lesson and it was so awesome to see. After my warm up we looked at the numbers and he asked me what my handicap was which I responded with a 2.6.... He was amazed, not at my handicap but he said of my ability to get around the golf course with FlightScope numbers that were that of most of his higher handicap students. For those that know a little about the technology, my swing path was hovering around 9-12 RIGHT with the occasional 3-4 LEFT.

He said typically he would just concentrate on one thing at a time but he could see my passion and my drive and decided to throw 3 things at me.

The first was to get the club going more up and down on my take away. He told me to visualize that I was trying to get the club in my ear on my take away but only by bending my right arm. It took a few tries but this got me down to around 7 RIGHT in the FlightScope.... Strides were being made.

Next we worked on getting my right shoulder to drop and cover the ball instead of being rounded. This literally felt like I was going to hit about 4 feet behind the ball but never did. This got the FlightScope numbers down to 4 RIGHT.... More strides were being made.

Last we worked on quieting my right hip while powering my left hip. We did a drill on a 2x4 where I took small swings and worked on keeping my right hip back and going down and clearing my hips with my left a la the Snead Squat..... This worked great and I felt I could start to really swing and use my new found leverage.

What happened next was truly remarkable. We worked on doing 60% swings to get the sync of all these moves and then slowly increased the speed. With each swing I started hitting it more and more solid. We finally got to full speed and the numbers we crazy.... I had a 10 shot average where my FlightScope numbers were between
.05 LEFT and 1 RIGHT. I started feeling shots off the face I haven't felt since my college golf days over 8 years ago.

Ted said he very rarely has a student that he can throw that much at but felt I could handle it and I took away a great respect for him after this first lesson.

I went ahead and signed up for a 5 lesson package as I feel this simple teaching style is what works best for me. He is very laid back and knows what lies before me and wants to help me get there


Proud Member of #TeamParadise
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Awesome writeup Flog. As someone that struggles with a rightward path (aka too much from the inside), I'm going to try to take some of these drills and apply them to my game. Looking forward to meeting up with you in Hilton Head.
 
dcbrad.... I am loving the strides you are making. Keep up the good work!
 
flog2424 said:
dcbrad.... I am loving the strides you are making. Keep up the good work!
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Thanks dude. It's been a long winter up here. Ready to get some outside work in.
 
dcbrad said:
Thanks dude. It's been a long winter up here. Ready to get some outside work in.
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I feel that. Taking a three hour round trip drive this weekend to see some balls fly. My sanity demands it.
 
I'm torn between going to practice this weekend or letting my back heal up some more before Hilton Head.
 
Lesson #3 today

Hoping to continue heading in the right direction and training my body to rid itself of that stupid old swing and its ugly habits.
Also excited to hit the Apex with the Tour 90s in them for the first time.

And hoping he can give me a quick tip or 2 with the driver with Hilton Head looming.

Decided that I will probably not take another lesson before HH and would rather save it for post the event and keep them at every 10-12 days or so to lead up to the MC
 
Good luck today Deano.
 
Hawk said:
I feel that. Taking a three hour round trip drive this weekend to see some balls fly. My sanity demands it.
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I just keep telling myself that FL is 10 days away. It has helped. Lol.
 
dcbrad said:
I just keep telling myself that FL is 10 days away. It has helped. Lol.
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I bet it has. Every day I wake up thinking I'm one day closer to grass. Then it snows :banghead:
 
Lesson 3 in the books.

Worked early on the take away and the hinge, after that he showed me how closed the club face was at the top, could fry and egg on it. Worked on stopping the bowing of my wrist.

The other main things were the usual suspects, rotating hips through the ball as well as the ol lower body slide. Worked on some drills for both.
It got tough after a while with trying to focus on too many things, I'd do 1 right then goof another. But repetition is key.

Also looked on video how bad my back shoulder drops. Goes back to proper hip rotation and not just flailing at the ball with my arms.

I did grab my 11.5 xhot to swing a few at the end. Ball pops off the face and was at least heading straight. Still can tell distance is being left on the table but he said he liked my driver swing and it's the same swing issues as the irons that hold me back.

All in all not too shabby. Really need weather to turn to be able to practice alot of these drills.

Pondering one more lesson before hilton head, regardless it's going to be an interesting event amongst a swing change.
 
ryebread said:
Wow. I am utterly shocked. There is hope for me at 6 ft 1.

I was thinking that you needed 12 feet at a minimum.
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It takes a bit to get used to, but once you realize you won't hit the ceiling, you can unleash the beast
 
Lesson #2 of 6 was taken this evening. Morgan Cup prep is seriously underway.

As carryovers from lesson #1 two weeks ago and the works I had done since, my setup, weight distribution, and grip were all showing improvement...but the other things I had worked on weren't sticking very well. Worked a lot on takeaway, shoulder turn, and shortening the backswing...as well as a mini-session on follow through. Finally felt a good feeling toward the end on how to get my takeaway started (apparently I need physical cues to learn anything), so I'll be interested to work on that some more at the range over the next two weeks.

This set of lessons is interesting for me. I'm using Des Mahoney at Centennial Golf Course in Oak Ridge, TN...which is a bit more than an hour away. He has a dedicated teaching facility near the range there, and has a nice technology setup (cameras and the like) and seems to reflect the quality of teaching his awards indicate. Also works a lot on drills and such where I probably end up swinging 4-5 times for every ball I hit. Definitely feels like a more effective lesson methodology that the instructor at the driving range I've seen in the past. Does make for a long day, but he seems positive about the improvements I've made even over only the first two lessons...he's got my money already, so he shouldn't have to lie anymore :act-up:
 
Donne and Mike getting some work in tonight. Great stuff guys. Keep it up.
 
Way to go Donne and Mike! You guys rock.
 
I just got done with 40 minutes of practice and 30 minutes of TRX. Found a golf specific TRX routine and that really was interesting. Focusing on range of motion and golf specific strength. I think I'll add it in at least once a week going forward just to stay limber. Still have to do a couple higher intensity workouts in addition to that one on a weekly basis.

Golf practice was good. Started on the Ground Force. After, working on shifting instead of opening the hips and had my little aha moment I was looking for. It I push from right foot into the left toe I am right where I want to be. Yay. I knew it would come, but had to be patient. After that some step drills. Then full swings. Contact was good, speed felt good.
 
I had a good session yesterday. I had a lesson last week and started working on some hand position changes to help promote a swing from the inside and a draw. I thought I was really over manipulating my hands because I was hitting huge hooks all of a sudden, as opposed to my typical fade to slice shots. I found that I was leaving the toe of the club up a little too much. Getting a little closer to the ball and flattening the club face out some got me more in the ball park of what the instructor wanted to see. I still had plenty of pulls, but knocked out the hooks.

I also couldn't even hit the hooks with the driver with the recent swing changes. I was still hitting horrible slices. Something that I did not do when I first started golfing. I found myself topping the ball alot with the driver and getting a lot of strikes out on the toe. I started working on being more aggressive in my stance and actually pushing the club head down into the ground a little to give me a sense of staying low. It help tremendously and I hit a couple draws with my driver for the first time. The majority of the shots were still small slices that were robbing me of distance. The few straight shots and draws were around 250 yards total, and the small slices and fades were between 200-220 yards. It's enough improvement to make me very happy though.
 
That's encouraging, CRW. I know that dealing with a weak floating fade/slice can make that right-left draw so rewarding when you finally pull it off.
 
Did some putting drills last night for about 45 mins. Feeling pretty confident about my stroke. Also confirmed my first lesson is scheduled for Sunday at noon. Going to set up a package deal with the teacher. I'm thinking maybe a 6 week package to start to hopefully carry me outside. Then go back after working on the things he wants me to. He also said I'm more than welcome to bring my iPad to film everything so I have swings to reference back on.
 
Six4three5 said:
Did some putting drills last night for about 45 mins. Feeling pretty confident about my stroke. Also confirmed my first lesson is scheduled for Sunday at noon. Going to set up a package deal with the teacher. I'm thinking maybe a 6 week package to start to hopefully carry me outside. Then go back after working on the things he wants me to. He also said I'm more than welcome to bring my iPad to film everything so I have swings to reference back on.
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Nice dude. Good to see you're starting some lessons
 
kc720 said:
Nice dude. Good to see you're starting some lessons
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Planned on starting them last month, but lost contact with the PGA pro I wanted to work with. Tried him again and we're all set to go.
 
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