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The THP Range/Practice Thread

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Funny thing happened today at the range; I found out that I can in fact hit rope hooks with the Altitudes. I was trying to hit the 4i off a short tee, like I might on really tight par4. All I could hit was huge sweeping hooks 40+yds off line. I was getting a little frustrated and beginning to wonder if maybe I was going to have to look at different shafts. This kind of made me sad because I really love the stock shafts, and my old back loves them too.


Turns out it was all me and not the clubs, go figure eh. I went back through the basics of single axis golf and found that my left hand grip was creeping back into a strong position. I got that corrected and the rest all went straight, even with the driver! Really nice to see the straight ball with the driver again!

I really need to check those things before just diving in to a large bucket.
 
Still can't finish a putting practice session without being in pain. What I did finish went well. Every putt had good speed and what didn't go in on the small holes was a lip out so most likely it was in on a regular hole

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The THP Range/Practice Thread

Some great range time with a couple of THPers - Shankosaurus and Six4Three5. Absolute gorgeous day and if we can get a few more like this, we will be on a course very shortly.

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I'll go into more detail later, but I'm about to drive home from my first lesson. The teaching pro was wonderful...relaxed, informative, and precise. Didn't want me to focus on too much - just on a few things to work on in the coming months. "I don't want you to over think about these improvements, I just want you to start to feel them in the swing."
 
Weather is gorgeous today, but couldn't get to the range with the kids' schedules. Chipped and pitched around the back yard for an hour, still working on using the bounce on my wedges. I was pretty happy with my bump and runs, though. My goal this year is to spend more time with wedges and putter than with driver when I'm practicing.

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Just had a great range session. Was hoping to play, but honestly this was better. Hit about 350 balls this afternoon on a nice 50 degree breezy afternoon. Took my SwingTip out to try and get some information about my swing. The range was busy with most people down in one area of it, so I moved as far left on the range as I could and essentially had my own area for majority of my time there. Warmed up by hitting some light 8 irons, which is how I normally start off. From there I started to stretch the swing out a bit and worked up to a full swing with the 8. Then I slowly moved down to the 5 iron. After feeling really good with the 5 I jumped down to the driver. I brought 2 shafts with me today, Kusala Black and B Asha 4s. I know, completely different animals, and I saw that. Started off with the Kusala, and got in to a nice rhythm with it. Set the loft at 11.5 and it was a nice low-mid flight. If I was playing on a firm, fast course, I would imagine this would be a killer combo. Switch to the 4s and the flight noticeably higher. However nothing really ballooning which was great. Even hitting in to a breeze, the ball was just carrying. Hard to tell distance, but I thought the ball was going well. Was really working knocking that spin down on the driver, and while I have no numbers, I think things were improving in that area.Back to the irons I went. Started hitting a nice high draw with the CB Tour 90 combo. I was hitting the ball higher than I can remember in the past. The last time I remember seeing a high ball like that from me was when I gamed the Razr X irons. Very encouraging sign.

As for the SwingTip. I quite like this thing. Can easily tell when it's ready and can look and see what the swing looks like. While they may not be pretty I saw some good numbers. One thing that jumped out to me was that according to this device, I hit the sweetspot 86% of the time today, with the 10% of the misses being on the toe. One annoying thing, I tried using this first with my phone in my pocket and headphones plugged in. Well after 1 swing it would start my music, after the next swing it would stop it. That went on and on. Quite annoying actually. I tried different pockets, having the screen on my phone facing in and facing out. Made no difference. Will try it on my old ipod touch next session to see if that still does it.

Overall things are feeling great after today. Love when you leave the range and you feel like things are in good shape.
 
I had a pretty disappointing range session today. Very inconsistent, but mostly think pulled shots. Ultimately, I think that I am getting too upright and laying the club flat. There's just not much that I can do from that position.

I have some thoughts on what is causing the issue, and I'll post them in the ask Freddie thread. For now, I'm going to put the long clubs away this week and focus on short game. I need to hit the reset button on my full swing and just relax. I'm starting to press a bit because I know the MC is looming. The short game work will be helpful this week while I regroup.
 
Canadan said:
that's an awesome group Aaron!! Wish I was there for that.
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We ended up being there for 3.5 hours as the range was packed and we were sharing one hitting area. A lot of laughter and great conversation.
 
Worked on my new bucket drill to get rid of inside-out swing. Hit some nice baby fades but most were left of the flag as my hands are still too active. Here my setup down the line and stance view. This is NOT easy!

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After running around with the wife this morning I decided that I wanted to go and play. Get to the course and it was packed. Tried two more same thing. Forget this Im hitting the range.

Had a terrific range session going back and forth from working on my full swing then going to the short game area.

Spent a good 2.5 hours and left feeling pretty good.


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3 hours at the range/practice green today. Warmed up a bit before my lesson. I am trying out a couple of the pros at my club to see which I like the best so I just scheduled a 30min lesson. To start Chris watched my hit roughly 10 shots. He made some general comments and took some video. He finally stopped me to show me a few of my swings. He commented that my grip and setup looked really good. Then came the ugly, I was taking the club back way inside and at the top my OTT move had me swinging out to in. I had seen this swing before and every time my hands start to move forward in the downswing I cringe. Chris said the move wasn't that bad and certainly something we can fix.

First change, take the club back more on the target line and keep the club head outside of my hands. We rehearsed this several time before taking some full swings. I wasn't seeing much improvement but Chris explained that the proper take away will blend into the full swing in a more natural way compared to how I was taking it away at the start.

Once the take away had been ingrained a bit Chris explained how a simple wrist hinge put me in the perfect position at the top. To help with the OTT move Chris guided my arms into the position to start the downswing and it was easy to understand how my arms should work through the swing. A drill we used to focus on swinging in to out was put a tee in front of the ball to the right and try to hit the tee after impact. This was a new drill for me and I think I like it better the avoiding an object placed behind the ball and outside.

When it was all said and done I definitely was making a different swing. On good strikes I was hitting the ball higher, farther and even with a little draw (only a couple times). I'm gonna schedule another lesson in a couple weeks and am very excited.

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Canes said:
Worked on my new bucket drill to get rid of inside-out swing. Hit some nice baby fades but most were left of the flag as my hands are still too active. Here my setup down the line and stance view. This is NOT easy!

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I've done that drill a bunch, but you are WAY harder on yourself than I am! Usually my bucket is a little further away from the ball and the target line. Might also have something to do with the bucket being metal at our range too. ;-)
 
Just had an amazing 2 hour range session. I am light years ahead of where I was at this point a year ago.
 
Wicked Cool Bearded Man said:
Just had an amazing 2 hour range session. I am light years ahead of where I was at this point a year ago.
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I feel the same way dude. My game is at entirely new level compared to April 2013.
 
arydolphin said:
I've done that drill a bunch, but you are WAY harder on yourself than I am! Usually my bucket is a little further away from the ball and the target line. Might also have something to do with the bucket being metal at our range too. ;-)
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I couldn't believe it when my instructor put the bucket along the edge of the target line. I must've hit it on almost every swing. Much better today but the hands still want to flip at impact so lots of straight pulls. Didn't hit one hook so thats a positive!
 
I worked on my take away for quite a while today. Focused on my left shoulder to make sure I was making a proper turn. Really got things in sync if I can manage to not rush things.
 
Rang session today.

Didn't hit a ton of balls because I wanted the time to be used for short game. For used on the issues from my last lesson. Started off slow but then progressed nicely.

Worked a little too on pausing at the top of my swing before the down swing. This really helped me get my hips moving and swinging through the ball. Some real solid contact but was missing a little left.

That leas to working on my alignment and with the help of my brother we noticed I'm aiming left of target more times than not. Something to work on I the future.

Short game work for an hour trying to hit shots within 5 feet. Was hot and cold with it as the green we were hitting to was beat up pretty bad and balls were bouncing and rolling a ton.

Not nearly as many thins as the past. Worked a little on both low liners and even a little with lobbing it up to the hole. Need more work on the distance control that's for sure.

All in all pretty happy with the time there.
 
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Absolutely awesome range session today with some THPers. Aaron was looking VERY good. He was absolutely killing the ball.
 
The Deanos taking advantage of the balmy weather. Good job gents.
 
Kids went to Target with their mom = bonus practice session. Short and sweet.
 
Worked on green side chips and pitches today while testing the project(a) ball and the wife putted them out.
 
Canadan said:
that's an awesome group Aaron!! Wish I was there for that.
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Would of loved to have you there Capt! It was a great time with some great THPers.
 
Went to the course today for some more short game work. The practice are has a very large, undulating green which makes it very easy to practice alot of different shots and scenarios. Worked on short chips and some delicate flops and pitches using three balls and putting each chip out. For the session, I averaged a little less than 50% conversions, which isnt bad because I was trying tougher shots, but still need to be better. Next I worked on longer pitches and spin control (which I suck at) then moved to long chips with my 8i and 9i.

I started weakly in every shot but improved as I kept at it. Still not comfortable putting. Putting a good but inconsistent stroke on the ball but having a tough go at reading the greens. I'll get there though. I'm likely still adjusting to my new contacts. Seeing all the detail now is kind of blowing my mind.
 
Hawk said:
The Deanos taking advantage of the balmy weather. Good job gents.
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I was happy with my contact on the chips. Way less scooping like normal. Definitely some work to do on distance control but that will come over time. Having course with range and short game area only a minute from my house is freaking awesome.
 
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