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The THP Range/Practice Thread

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Worked on my chipping for a while today. I am trying to take out variables and make everything as simple as possible. I have a solid idea of what I need to do and now I just need some reps to get the muscle memory down.
 
Another range session and another time out with some solid results. Really working hard to get my tee game back to where it was last fall, and the results are definitely paying off.
Going to take some time this week and get some strict short game work going.
 
I was just swinging in my backyard hitting whiffle balls, but I feel like I'm stuck in between swings. I'm either interlocking and get it to around 45* vertical on the back swing or I'm overlapping and going to parallel of the target at the top. I usually interlock, but overlapping feels more comfortable for a full back swing. I'm getting more power with the full swing, but the miss is more wild, while interlocking is less distance yet better with the short irons for some reason. Anyways, I'm wondering if being sore from starting to work out again has any role in this. I suppose I should figure this out, maybe brig it up with my teacher. But I'm kinda leaning towards overlapping with the full swing. I think if I learn how to groove it more, it could be a more powerful swing.


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Spent a few hours working on my short game from poor maintained and bare lies. Struggled with them in LA, figured I could use the work.

Finished with hitting a bucket and worked on a slower transition and overall rhythm.
 
Mward said:
Spent a few hours working on my short game from poor maintained and bare lies. Struggled with them in LA, figured I could use the work.

Finished with hitting a bucket and worked on a slower transition and overall rhythm.
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U take the training ball thingy out there to help?
 
mikedean441 said:
U take the training ball thingy out there to help?
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I did yes. I usually do unless I forget to put it in the bag before heading out. Didn't hit driver but did fairway woods. At the side of the range that had the least chewed turf is a tree with branches that come out a lot as well as a pretty tall tree about 100yds out and I typically can't hit driver over it without some manipulation and that defeats the purpose.

Fairway woods though typically don't cause an issue unless it's a mishit. I was a big fan of using my 21 degree wood with the ball, as the flight seemed to get up with a higher peak trajectory downrange. Unfortunately, I couldn't tell how far it went. One day I'll bring it out on course and see what happens with the same club. I really liked the height I was seeing with the flight.
 
There are woods way off to the side of the range I go to and I decided to wander off into them today. I tried to hit some knockdown shots and shape a few things. Just worked on getting myself out of trouble as it will inevitably happen most rounds. I've only practiced that way a couple of times. I also worked on short sided chips over bunkers. I had three of my best shots ever in a row. I dropped a few balls in random spots and was hitting 25-30 yards over a bunker to a pin that was about 4 paces off the fringe. Jarred the first one, put the second within 2 inches, and the third was 2 feet. I decided to go home after that. Have to end on a high note.
 
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Smithfaced said:
There is woods way off to the side of the range I go to and I decided to wander off into them today. I tried to hit some knockdown shots and shape a few things. Just worked on getting myself out of trouble as it will inevitably happen most rounds. I've only practiced that way a couple of times. I also worked on short sided chips over bunkers. I had three of my best shots ever in a row. I dropped a few balls in random spots and was hitting 25-30 yards over a bunker to a pin that was about 6 paces off the fringe. Jarred the first one, put the second within 2 inches, and the third was 2 feet. I decided to go home after that. Have to end on a high note.
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Well done. That is what I intend to work on this week. Short game is in order for the next week or so!
 
So yesterday was my first day executing my practice routine at the par 3 course after work for 9 holes. Took my new Bag Boy Quad for a spin for the first time - works like a champ - and I got a season pass to this place so I can play all I want after work and the payback is very quick.

Hit every club from 3 hybrid down. Got to work on a ton of shots between 30 and 80 yards. Got a great feel for how to control my new wedges in this area. Also got to chip a bunch. Putting was good and bad and Ball striking was good and bad. The biggest reason I wanted to do this was the real world conditions I would be in. Ball above my feet. Cool, drop 3 balls and get some reps. Green side bunker, drop another 5 and get some reps. I had a really steep green side stance. After a few shots from this area it made me so happy that I have the chance to practice that shot instead of spending the money on the range. Hope it pays off sticking with this. They do have the course setup so that I could play a 3 hole loop at lunch from time to time.

The one thing I didn't like is after several holes I lost some focus. The importance of hitting a shot to a specific point on the green was lost because I was playing several balls. Need to stay focused and maintain that through the whole practice
 
I have so much to update in this thread over the last two to three days. I can't wait to get out of work today.
 
Gonna be 70 today and I have swing thoughts running through my head. Hoping to get to the range after work. I think I have gone back to opening the face on my take away and that is causing my slice issues lately.

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Mward said:
Spent a few hours working on my short game from poor maintained and bare lies. Struggled with them in LA, figured I could use the work.

Finished with hitting a bucket and worked on a slower transition and overall rhythm.
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And got interrupted by some dude from NJ...hahah Do you every use the "training ball thingy" to actually hit shots?
 
i hit about 175 balls yesterday...man im sore i need to get in golf shape.

i am working on a more bent over poisture and making sure my downswing is under my backswing plane. more around the body low left exit of the club.

i was hitting these little drifter fades that start at my target and drift right. they seemed very repeatable just need to have my target a little left of where i want the ball to end.
 
Lesson last night.

Now that I've reflected a bit I can say it was ok. Last night I was pretty steamed about it. Not the lesson itself, but just that I hadn't made progress on the latest item we'd worked on at all. There's not really a good drill for it and that'll be my excuse lol. Just working stupid I guess, because I did put in the time, so I was pretty annoyed with myself. My ball speed to swing speed ratio with the driver was just embarassing to me. Launch angles were terrible. EFF. Not to say I'm chasing numbers, but there are things I can see that are instant indicators of what I'm doing right and wrong. That said, some things take me a while longer to nail down and we talked about ways to practice this a little more focused.

Discussed my tendency to push the ball at the moment. He took a look at my grip and my low hand was really weak I guess. Another thing that was likely a compensation for the big left miss last year. Just was trying to hang on to it too much. Anyway, that worked really well and the 5-10 yard right circle moved more towards the center basically right away. It feels really really weird though.

So, after sulking for awhile after getting home I went out to the garage and worked on it in the mirror. My issue is that my upper body is moving towards the target too much and it's sapping that stored up energy right before impact. So, I took one of those big brown paper yard bags full of leaves and put it on my left side. The idea is to hit it with my left hip, but keep my upper body behind it if that makes sense. One thing he said that stood out to me was regarding my hip bump. "It doesn't do any good to get your weight to the front if it's not on a stable base." In other words, there is a point that I have to use that weight transfer as platform to rotate against rather than just tyring to throw it all forward, because my upper body says "I'm coming too."

Going to be a pretty focused two weeks of practice to get this sorted out, though I felt like I got a good start last night at home.
 
Hawk said:
Lesson last night.

Now that I've reflected a bit I can say it was ok. Last night I was pretty steamed about it. Not the lesson itself, but just that I hadn't made progress on the latest item we'd worked on at all. There's not really a good drill for it and that'll be my excuse lol. Just working stupid I guess, because I did put in the time, so I was pretty annoyed with myself. My ball speed to swing speed ratio with the driver was just embarassing to me. Launch angles were terrible. EFF. Not to say I'm chasing numbers, but there are things I can see that are instant indicators of what I'm doing right and wrong. That said, some things take me a while longer to nail down and we talked about ways to practice this a little more focused.

Discussed my tendency to push the ball at the moment. He took a look at my grip and my low hand was really weak I guess. Another thing that was likely a compensation for the big left miss last year. Just was trying to hang on to it too much. Anyway, that worked really well and the 5-10 yard right circle moved more towards the center basically right away. It feels really really weird though.

So, after sulking for awhile after getting home I went out to the garage and worked on it in the mirror. My issue is that my upper body is moving towards the target too much and it's sapping that stored up energy right before impact. So, I took one of those big brown paper yard bags full of leaves and put it on my left side. The idea is to hit it with my left hip, but keep my upper body behind it if that makes sense. One thing he said that stood out to me was regarding my hip bump. "It doesn't do any good to get your weight to the front if it's not on a stable base." In other words, there is a point that I have to use that weight transfer as platform to rotate against rather than just tyring to throw it all forward, because my upper body says "I'm coming too."

Going to be a pretty focused two weeks of practice to get this sorted out, though I felt like I got a good start last night at home.
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You know I thought you might have been joking when you said we have the same teacher/problems but I realize now that it may be possible that we are the same person, posting as two different screen names on THP.

I struggle with the exact same thing that you are talking about. The parts are all right, (takeaway, hip bump, weight transfer, downswing) by themselves, but the sequencing is all off and it means nothing if that's not right. It sounds like we struggle with the same thing. The hip bump is great, but the downswing can't happen at the same time and if it does, it does nothing to fix path and everything just goes nuts.

I've found that I have to be very deliberate about it at the beginning, taking less swings and just continually pound the new motion into my brain. Keep at it dude. The valleys suck big time, but when you are peaking in July, and I know it feels somewhat impossible right now, it will be worth it. This process isn't fun, but the results are. Keep it up dude.
 
I spent an hour last night on chipping fundamentals in the backyard. Didnt hit a single ball just worked on posture, ball placement and engraining the proper swjng/followthrough.

Then I didnt the same thing with some pitch shots. Hitt waffle balls but the main focus was the same as chipping. Just getting myself in the right position and swinging right..
 
dcbrad said:
You know I thought you might have been joking when you said we have the same teacher/problems but I realize now that it may be possible that we are the same person, posting as two different screen names on THP.

I struggle with the exact same thing that you are talking about. The parts are all right, (takeaway, hip bump, weight transfer, downswing) by themselves, but the sequencing is all off and it means nothing if that's not right. It sounds like we struggle with the same thing. The hip bump is great, but the downswing can't happen at the same time and if it does, it does nothing to fix path and everything just goes nuts.

I've found that I have to be very deliberate about it at the beginning, taking less swings and just continually pound the new motion into my brain. Keep at it dude. The valleys suck big time, but when you are peaking in July, and I know it feels somewhat impossible right now, it will be worth it. This process isn't fun, but the results are. Keep it up dude.
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I think it's scary! Plus we have the QC thing in common. *cue creepy music*

When I sequence well it's effortless. When I don't, it's still better than it was and my path is actually fine, especially if we're talking contact and shot shape, but I'm losing all my power and eventually doing a very last minute flip. It's not a huge one like it was two months ago, but just enough to suck. It's just not where I want it. I don't want to be mediocre and that's what it is. Just average crap.

However, I'm ready to keep at it. That big old leaf bag and mirror seemed to help last night.
 
Hawk said:
I think it's scary! Plus we have the QC thing in common. *cue creepy music*

When I sequence well it's effortless. When I don't, it's still better than it was and my path is actually fine, especially if we're talking contact and shot shape, but I'm losing all my power and eventually doing a very last minute flip. It's not a huge one like it was two months ago, but just enough to suck. It's just not where I want it. I don't want to be mediocre and that's what it is. Just average crap.

However, I'm ready to keep at it. That big old leaf bag and mirror seemed to help last night.
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That's all it is, and you are right, when it sequences properly, it is so easy and effortless. For me, allowing the club head to drop a bit before I start the downswing helps me sequence correctly. I may still always have a bit of a left path, but hell, a lot of guys on tour have a left path. Just have to keep the face angle between path and target and not let it get outside path, or bad things happen.
 
I know I'm getting some range time in on Thursday, and my first lesson of the year is Saturday. To say that I'm excited is an understatement, I can't wait to get out there and have something to contribute to this thread.

I started making some changes to my swing last year after the Morgan Cup to get it shorter and eliminate some of the moving parts, but all of that work went away after my son was born and I have barely touched a club since he was born 5 months ago. I think I want to go into my lesson with the goal to get back to those changes, even if it means that the short term is pretty painful. In a way, being in the MC over the past 3 summers made me a little nervous to mess with my swing, but now I don't have any big tournaments on my calendar so I think this is the year to really commit to it. Would love some input on whether I'm crazy to try to make bigger changes to my swing this year, or just try to stay with what I have given that I have a baby at home. I think that the way this year is looking, 1 round per week is going to be a good goal with 1-2 range sessions per week. The nice part is that our range is lighted, I can see myself having a bunch of evening range sessions in the summer after the baby goes to sleep.
 
DevRickus said:
And got interrupted by some dude from NJ...hahah Do you every use the "training ball thingy" to actually hit shots?
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All the time. Even better motivation is that there's a pond of sorts about 40yds off the tee so if it somehow slipped out and rolled down the hill, it's getting a bath. Needless to say, that ball has never slipped out
 
So I decided to take advantage of the warm weather on my lunch break today. Luckily I just happen to be working from home this week. So I opened up some practice balls, grabbed a sleeve of the BirdieBalls and my daughter, and off we went.

Since my focus for the next week or so will be working on my short game, I set up targets at different yardages (in the backyard of course) and with one club tried to hit different shots. After speaking with my captain, and his passing along of JB's strategy for short game, it only made sense to take the guess work, and sometimes confusion out of the short game. So I hit about 40 - 50 shots working on keeping my watch pointing up towards the sky, while at the same time driving through the ball, instead of decelerating (which is my nemesis). Out of those 50 shots I think I only hit 3 of them poorly. Much more work on distance control, but at least it was a start.
 
mmaynard11 said:
So I decided to take advantage of the warm weather on my lunch break today. Luckily I just happen to be working from home this week. So I opened up some practice balls, grabbed a sleeve of the BirdieBalls and my daughter, and off we went.

Since my focus for the next week or so will be working on my short game, I set up targets at different yardages (in the backyard of course) and with one club tried to hit different shots. After speaking with my captain, and his passing along of JB's strategy for short game, it only made sense to take the guess work, and sometimes confusion out of the short game. So I hit about 40 - 50 shots working on keeping my watch pointing up towards the sky, while at the same time driving through the ball, instead of decelerating (which is my nemesis). Out of those 50 shots I think I only hit 3 of them poorly. Much more work on distance control, but at least it was a start.
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Interesting. This distance control will take some getting used to. Were you hitting them like you would a putt?
 
Howzat said:
Interesting. This distance control will take some getting used to. Were you hitting them like you would a putt?
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I was with a slightly larger backswing, maybe a 1/4 swing. Granted the ball was hoping all over the place due to the 6 inch winter rough and pits. I was aiming from 15yds to 25yds, then going to dial it in for close distances. Wonder if my wife would kill me should i drop the lawnmower on the back yard?
 
I was really struggling with my ott swing today, so that was my main focus. Old habits die hard!
 
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