The THP Range/Practice Thread

[golfinFF]

Just finished a lengthy practice session followed by 11 holes out on the course. After the disappointment in my game the past weekend I decided I better get these swing changes put into memory or suffer the consequences. I went to the range and hit about 150 balls working on slowing down my swing and keeping tempo. What I noticed was I
Was able to control the club face throughout the swing and hit some good shots.

After playing with Robman7 and his comment regarding my full swing wedge game I worked on dialing that back. I have always taken full swings so this would be new to me. I worked on my 56* and 60* and noticed better accuracy and control.

I then proceed to follow that up with an on course session. I still hit a few errand shots off the tee, however my misses didn't leave me in a bad position which allowed me to get up and down.
I still had putting issues more to getting the right line over speed.

Good work bud, you played well on sunday and both of us showed some highlights of what our games can be. We tackled some tough courses that really tested us and showed us what we need to work on.

Keep up the work and as the weather gets better here so will your game!

 

[AMart]

Range to tonight was very productive. Worked with every club in the bag with extended time on the 8i and 7i. With each iron I started with half swings to get a feeling for swinging to the right. I slowly worked into full swings at half speed then to full swings. I continue to see improvements since my lesson Saturday. If I hit a bad shot I would stop, take a couple easy practice swings concentrating on swinging to the right. I feel like my grip and posture are in a great place. I think I am gonna invest in an orange whip as well. The feeling it provides is something I kept thinking about during my time on the range. After 170 balls I hit some pitch shots for about 30 minutes. I wasn't working on any shot in particular, just getting a feel for the shot motion again.

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[Mmaynard11]

Good work bud, you played well on sunday and both of us showed some highlights of what our games can be. We tackled some tough courses that really tested us and showed us what we need to work on.

Keep up the work and as the weather gets better here so will your game!

I just couldn't leave those thoughts of poor ball striking in my mind. Plagued me all day. I may hit the range again first thing in the morning. This time hours of putting.

 

[golfinFF]

good work Andy the orange whip is awesome

 

[Hawk]

Lesson number four is in the books. Much more satisfying than the last one and sort of a big weight off my shoulders. Felt like the work I put in over the last two weeks really paid off and that's a good thing. I needed something to keep me going.

So, the hip bump is seemingly ingrained (for the most part) and we were able to move on to lengthening the swing a bit into a bigger finish position. My chest is sort of going more out than up, so he gave me some cues to look for to work on that, as well as a little homemade training aid of sorts to allow me to check myself. In the end, I really want to feel an exaggerated push out with the hips, with my upper body not so far forward. Not that I'm going to actually look like this, but he said think Johnny Miller. You can see in the last couple images what I'm talking about.

Again though, that's super exaggerated, but what he wants me to at least feel like I'm doing. By placing an object towards the target side of my left leg (either an exercise ball or a piece of furniture or something) I can check myself. If my upper body ends up over it then I'm going more out than up. If that makes sense.

Wants to me stick with smaller swings for now. As we all do, I had that moment of questioning why and he really made it all make sense. He basically said, I want you to see that you don't need that big turn back to generate speed. You'll eventually see that you can take a smaller swing and get the power you want. So yay to that. Very reassuring and gives me a ton of motivation to keep going.

 

[captaincaution]

I had a good range session today. I really needed it after the time I had over the weekend.

I warmed up with some PW and a couple of 7 irons, and I spent a lot of time on the 5 iron. 5 is the longest iron I have in the bag. I focused a lot on my set up, as I think I was just getting lazy with this on Saturday. Immediately I was making better contact than on Saturday. I still leave the ball out to the right when I swing too hard, so I focused on having the thought of letting the club do the work. I put some impact tape on the 5 iron, and I was catching the ball consistently, and pretty much on the sweet spot today. I'd lose control of the club face angle with harder swings, so I need to continue to make an effort to not swing out of my shoes.

I then worked on my hybrid and FW woods off of the deck, and had really good results with them. Pretty much a straight shot or a small cut with all of them.

Driver was acceptable. I'm finding it most difficult to get my weight to shift properly with the driver, so I will work on that this week. When I made a good turn with my hips to start the downswing, I was hitting it well.

Overall, I'm really happy that I went out today. I really needed to see some better results, and today sure did it.

If I remember to take my time, the good swings will be with me on the course as well.

 

[Hawk]

Good work cc. Days like that keep you coming back.

 

[WardF]

In travel mode again this week. This usually consists of me wandering in to some local golf mega store and putting for an hour as well as getting as much swing time in as possible on a simulator. Had a big store in LA which actually had full set demo's of most major brands--so I got to work over the potential MC bag. Right now the 588 TT set is winning the race. Spent some good time with the 4 iron after being inspired by Panda's post on long irons. Every time I let the club do the work on a smooth swing it performed wonderfully.

 

[DevRickus]

So I have been thinking about a post that Adwillingham made yesterday in the MC thread about making practice count. Don't just go out and beat balls without a plan. I have been guilty of that in the past as I never really gave much thought to a plan of action for practice. So I wrote down a few things over the last day that made sense to me.So here is where I am at right now.

Monday - Irons/Hybrids

Wednesday - Driver/Woods

Friday - Greens (Putting and chipping)

Instead of bringing my whole bag to the range I am going to just bring what I need for those days. In the past, if I went with a plan to just hit driver and hit a few bad shots, I would switch out to a hybrid or iron. I want to work through my issues and really start to see some consistency. Still going to continue my lessons but by being able to focus on certain aspects of my game and hone those each separately I feel is going to benefit me quite a bit. If anyone has any tips or feels I should maybe take a different route, please feel free to share.

 

[Hawk]

So I have been thinking about a post that Adwillingham made yesterday in the MC thread about making practice count. Don't just go out and beat balls without a plan. I have been guilty of that in the past as I never really gave much thought to a plan of action for practice. So I wrote down a few things over the last day that made sense to me.So here is where I am at right now.

Monday - Irons/Hybrids

Wednesday - Driver/Woods

Friday - Greens (Putting and chipping)

Instead of bringing my whole bag to the range I am going to just bring what I need for those days. In the past, if I went with a plan to just hit driver and hit a few bad shots, I would switch out to a hybrid or iron. I want to work through my issues and really start to see some consistency. Still going to continue my lessons but by being able to focus on certain aspects of my game and hone those each separately I feel is going to benefit me quite a bit. If anyone has any tips or feels I should maybe take a different route, please feel free to share.

I like the idea of focusing in a little more Ricky. The best advice I can think of is to take whatever club or shot it is in that category that you struggle the most with and work twice as much on it. I CONSTANTLY have to remind myself to do that, because it's so much more comfortable to grab that 8 iron and hit good shots.

Also, I think bringing your wedge and putter every time is a good way to go about it. Finish up your last 10-20 balls working on partial swings, regardless of the day.

 

[dcbrad]

Well, i am really glad I was able to get out to the range a couple of times while on vacation in FL.

I still have a few things to really work on, and my OTT move is still there, more than I thought it was when working over the winter. I'm not sure what is going on, but it's time to head back for another lesson when I get back and get a few things sorted out.

I was able to correct a few things, but still not where I want to be. First round of the year is tomorrow down here. Expectations have been drawn back just a bit.

Basically this little outside time has served me up a piece of humble pie. It's just gonna make me work harder. This game is funny sometimes. That's for sure.

 

[MWard]

Today is a bunch of mirror work. Swing got a little disconnected on me and I'm not a fan of the side effects of that. So, mirror work and impact ball are my new friends the next hour or so

 

[Hawk]

Well, i am really glad I was able to get out to the range a couple of times while on vacation in FL.

I still have a few things to really work on, and my OTT move is still there, more than I thought it was when working over the winter. I'm not sure what is going on, but it's time to head back for another lesson when I get back and get a few things sorted out.

I was able to correct a few things, but still not where I want to be. First round of the year is tomorrow down here. Expectations have been drawn back just a bit.

Basically this little outside time has served me up a piece of humble pie. It's just gonna make me work harder. This game is funny sometimes. That's for sure.

Big difference when that net goes away. I know this very well and have planned for it. You've got the tools and now you just need the time outdoors. It'll come.

 

[dcbrad]

Big difference when that net goes away. I know this very well and have planned for it. You've got the tools and now you just need the time outdoors. It'll come.

Just a bit of fine tuning I think. Nothing to panic over. I've made a bunch of changes this winter and to go out and expect that things will be working perfect the first time out is a bit unrealistic. We all strive for that instant satisfaction though. Lol

 

[Hawk]

Just a bit of fine tuning I think. Nothing to panic over. I've made a bunch of changes this winter and to go out and expect that things will be working perfect the first time out is a bit unrealistic. We all strive for that instant satisfaction though. Lol

I hear that. I had that hit me pretty strongly last year, and didn't have the time to let it develop/get to the fine tuning with baby coming. I've told myself that this was going to be a slow thing from day one in the hopes that I don't allow old comfortable habits to take over.

 

[MWard]

Just a bit of fine tuning I think. Nothing to panic over. I've made a bunch of changes this winter and to go out and expect that things will be working perfect the first time out is a bit unrealistic. We all strive for that instant satisfaction though. Lol

The instant satisfaction is tough though. You can hit good shots fast with new positions but they come and go. If your brain is a computer, you've got to rewrite the old, wrong code with this new stuff. Depending on the change, it could be quick or it could be longer than expected.

I think minute changes are harder than massive ones. They feel so subtle that you can slip out of it and not notice. The major ones are tough but it's such a big change that you're likely to start slow and small instead of go all out.

 

[Hawk]

The instant satisfaction is tough though. You can hit good shots fast with new positions but they come and go. If your brain is a computer, you've got to rewrite the old, wrong code with this new stuff. Depending on the change, it could be quick or it could be longer than expected.

I think minute changes are harder than massive ones. They feel so subtle that you can slip out of it and not notice. The major ones are tough but it's such a big change that you're likely to start slow and small instead of go all out.

Sort of what I've experienced this go-round. If I look back to the changes I made in 2012 I saw huge changes (and improvements to where I was at the time) so quickly, but these days it's just little nagging stupid things that are smaller and take much more work.

 

[ATLGolfer]

I like the idea of focusing in a little more Ricky. The best advice I can think of is to take whatever club or shot it is in that category that you struggle the most with and work twice as much on it. I CONSTANTLY have to remind myself to do that, because it's so much more comfortable to grab that 8 iron and hit good shots.

Also, I think bringing your wedge and putter every time is a good way to go about it. Finish up your last 10-20 balls working on partial swings, regardless of the day.

I followed this advice for my Grandaddy prep. I struggled with putting, and instead of focusing on putting, I hit driver at the range, because I was good at it. (Made total sense at the time.)


I went from being a miserably bad putter to a pretty serviceable one, mostly because I put some focus and time into it. It really pays off.

Same attention this year will be for chipping and pitching. I need to get much better at these before the MC.

 

[MWard]

Sort of what I've experienced this go-round. If I look back to the changes I made in 2012 I saw huge changes (and improvements to where I was at the time) so quickly, but these days it's just little nagging stupid things that are smaller and take much more work.

Right now mine is a setup change. My head is stupid and doesn't want to turn correctly with the rest of my body on the backswing until late. It leads to getting out of sync from the body. The move to fix it is tedious and incredibly boring and requires no hitting balls until I can figure out a way to do so.

 

[Canadan]

Reverse K like a @#$%^&%$# sir!!!!

Oh man.. I am already dying to get back on a launch monitor. Worked hard tonight on my driver, but kept going back to my irons because I want to clearly define them as different setups with very little bleed in.

Iron work was really crisp. Making a nice little move to keep contact flush, still striking dead center of the face after the decision to choke up on 1/2 long.

So.Flipping.Motivated.Right.Now.

 

[MWard]

Just know Dan that the same reverse K you'll have with a wedge won't be the same as with a driver. It's similar but it won't be 100% the same due to the wider stance, weight position etc. You'll hit some sad face drives if you try to.

 

[kc720]

Reverse K like a @#$%^&%$# sir!!!!

Oh man.. I am already dying to get back on a launch monitor. Worked hard tonight on my driver, but kept going back to my irons because I want to clearly define them as different setups with very little bleed in.

Iron work was really crisp. Making a nice little move to keep contact flush, still striking dead center of the face after the decision to choke up on 1/2 long.

So.Flipping.Motivated.Right.Now.

The "reverse k" is something I really struggle with too. When I try focus on that set up I struggle with my takeaway. Cant get it through my head, the set up makes me think I'm going to dig the club in the ground as I take away the club rotating around that tilted axis.

 

[Canadan]

Just know Dan that the same reverse K you'll have with a wedge won't be the same as with a driver. It's similar but it won't be 100% the same due to the wider stance, weight position etc. You'll hit some sad face drives if you try to.

the only club I'll be adapting it to is my driver. Everything else will retain my current setup. Fair point, absolutely, but I'm not looking to adjust the -3/-4 I've got on my irons right now.

 

[Smithfaced]

The range and course were closed today so I brought one ball some wedges and my putter out to the practice green. I picked a pin, threw my ball, and tried to get up and down from wherever it landed. Practicing short game is so much more enjoyable for me now that I'm not absolutely terrible at it. After that I practiced short sided chip shots as that is one of the worst shots in my bag right now. Ended the day working a little more on green reading.

 

[Canadan]

The "reverse k" is something I really struggle with too. When I try focus on that set up I struggle with my takeaway. Cant get it through my head, the set up makes me think I'm going to dig the club in the ground as I take away the club rotating around that tilted axis.

If you watch the video I posted in the Attack Angle thread, you'll see a wonderful move by @TrackmanMaestro that makes your head think a bit differently. If you're just tilting backwards, I can see how you'd want to bury the club into the ground on takeaway, but the concept of straightening your left leg and moving your hips forward doesn't give me that feeling.

What you need to think about in that setup, is that you are currently at the bottom of your swing. If you're burying the club, you're not really adjusting the swing just your body. Give me a call or shoot me a text if you want to talk more about it. I'm really only working on this because my attack angle is negative. Moving my weight forward on my hips rather than my left shoulder is a great way to stop bottoming out after contact.