The THP Range/Practice Thread
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I had a lesson today and was told that my takeaway is getting a bit better. Still sliding, but that is coming later. The goal for me is to stop taking it away so far inside, so I have been working on straight back like I am shaking hands with someone behind me. Im still inside, but getting better and for the 1st time the instructor liked what he saw and said the work is starting to pay off.
mikedean441
6X HOF
Id say in the past its been 1 AND 2.
Really made a conscious effort of not breaking the wrists and "keeping the triangle" which I think I drastically improved on especially yesterday. The good thing now is I recognize when Im doing it and can yell at myself to stop.
If I was a betting man I think its more #2, which has haunted me forever with not just wedges but all clubs and is something I want to continue to work on.
Wasnt expecting a miracle yesterday but there certainly was some promise and a renewed sense that my short game isnt a lost cause. Im going to keep at it and nonstop, and then in a few weeks have my first ever short game lesson and see where things stand.
Your short game thread has been motivation, thats for sure
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Mike,
Next time out, put a ball down and get setup. Take the wedge of your choice and just pretend its the putter. Do nothing different with the wedge, as if its a putter. See what happens and it will give you something to work with.
Next time out, put a ball down and get setup. Take the wedge of your choice and just pretend its the putter. Do nothing different with the wedge, as if its a putter. See what happens and it will give you something to work with.
Golferbest
New member
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- #5,306
Learn to do it with a few clubs and you've got a whole bunch of options too.
mikedean441
6X HOF
mikedean441
6X HOF
yeah I wanna try it with a few and from a few different distances too
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- #5,309
If you've got some room to cover there is nothing wrong with even choking down and using a 7 iron. Sounds like you've got good touch, so you can learn distances pretty quickly.
JConn
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Pretty awesome when the instructor says he liked what he saw JB.
I'm going to practice for a couple hours this afternoon. Grip will be a little different because of my hurt finger, but I plan on primarily working on the short game so it shouldn't be a big issue.
I'm going to practice for a couple hours this afternoon. Grip will be a little different because of my hurt finger, but I plan on primarily working on the short game so it shouldn't be a big issue.
JConn
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I agree with the others Mike, that a nice putting stroke with a wedge or iron, is a very easily repeatable stroke and can be deadly. You should do well with it because you are such an experienced chutter!
mikedean441
6X HOF
Haha one would think, but my "flip" is just downright bad sometimes even when Im yelling at myself to make a putting stroke with irons
DevRickus
The Dirty Jerz
http://www.thehackersparadise.com/forum/showthread.php?55248-Impact-Ball-training-aid
I know it seems a bit hokey and whatnot but it will really help with flipping, especially around the greens. I spent a few hours last week in my backyard with just the impact ball, my 56 degree wedge and some birdie balls just constantly chipping and when I played Saturday didnt have a single thinned or chunked chip/pitch.
I've mentioned it here before that chipping with a 9i or PW around the greens has been a game changer. It's like a putting stroke and so reliable.
ohio_striker
striped it
have you ever tried left hand only chipping? pulling the back of the left hand through the chip is an anti flip drill that has helped me in the past.
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It looks like its going to be another day practicing inside or I may try to get up to the dome later. Ughhh if it isn't snow it's rain!
I wanted to work on tempo today, and I did, but I think I had an ah-ha moment.
I've always been a fader/slicer which is tempo and OTT related. But today I kept going slow on my swing and realized that when my wrists were setting, my left hand was severely cupping. So I started thinking about my right hand going back, rather than setting my wrists up. I was doing an exaggerated version of that with my driver last time at the range. I hit a few 6 irons nice and solid, 160 with an easy swing and a baby fade. What I thought was me really manipulating my hands was really just me getting my left wrist flat. I moved that feeling to driver with success, then went back to irons. Same thing - thinking about right wrist back instead of "c0cking" led to really solid shots, no weak fades or high shots.
Now, if I can repeat that, we'll be in business. We all know how those range breakthroughs go sometimes, though...
Sent from my ADR6400L using Tapatalk
I've always been a fader/slicer which is tempo and OTT related. But today I kept going slow on my swing and realized that when my wrists were setting, my left hand was severely cupping. So I started thinking about my right hand going back, rather than setting my wrists up. I was doing an exaggerated version of that with my driver last time at the range. I hit a few 6 irons nice and solid, 160 with an easy swing and a baby fade. What I thought was me really manipulating my hands was really just me getting my left wrist flat. I moved that feeling to driver with success, then went back to irons. Same thing - thinking about right wrist back instead of "c0cking" led to really solid shots, no weak fades or high shots.
Now, if I can repeat that, we'll be in business. We all know how those range breakthroughs go sometimes, though...
Sent from my ADR6400L using Tapatalk
jhoefer99
#MerinoMarauder
Kind of a generic question, but anyone have any simple tips to improve ball striking? Mine has gone to hell the last month, really frustrating. I'm pretty sure I'm getting flippy through impact and not compressing the ball but can't seem to fix it on my own. Might be time for a lesson, or two or 8
Jersey Nate
#JourneyToBetter #THPMC
Yesterday marked my first ever formal lesson. Got to the range and saw my instructor, Frank, having casual chit chat with a friend of his. He was taking a quick look at his swing, and introduced me to him. I talked to the man about THP (he said he had heard about THP), and the Morgan Cup. Before I started warming up for the lesson, Frank's friend said to me, "You're in great hands, he'll get you dialed in by tournament time."
Frank then lit his pipe and watched me warm up. I pulled my PW and was a little nervous to start, but Frank reminded me: "Quit over thinking or thinking about the lesson, just swing." Started catching a few pretty nicely, and he noticed that the grip change that he suggested earlier in the year was helping me not turn the club face over too soon. He videoed a few swings of mine using his tablet, and asked for me to take a pause while he showed me a few things.
He first noticed my impact position and follow through. I had developed a tendency to strike at the ball with my left/rear hand and my right side was getting stuck. Instead of both of my arms extending through the impact zone, my right side broke down and hugged my body...which also promoted me to "flip" my hands at impact.
Here's an shot of my usual position at / just after impact:
Here is exactly what he noticed - right side is stuck against my body and I am not extending both arms through the zone. "You've got a good swing, and I don't want to bog you down in swing thoughts." He said. He then pulled a golf digest from his bag and showed me a picture:
"Being a lefty, you're probably a Phil fan." He pointed out his impact position (#4). He wanted me to focus on that kind of extension with the arms, trying to keep the shaft in line with my right hand. I took a few more swings, trying to feel like I was reaching out and through the ball. Before this suggestion, I was seeing my now-typical draw that could turn into a hook miss. After a couple weird swings, I flushed one high and STRAIGHT. Dead straight. I proceeded to hit the next 4 out of 5 well, and the same thing happened...dead straight, high flight. I went to my 9 iron, then my 8, seeing the same results on well struck shots...high and straight. I also noticed that I had only hit one chunk out of the past 15 balls that I hit.
Took another little break as he wanted to talk to me about my weight transfer. I wasn't getting to my right side enough...I put too much weight on my back foot during the swing and follow through, which hampered my ability to sync my upper and lower body in the swing (a problem pointed out by our very own Panda). He showed me another picture of Phil, showing his finish, a picture very similar to this:
He noted how upright his finish was, and how his weight was almost fully on his right foot. I took more swings with the 8i while he videoed some of them, thinking about the two things he focused on - extension of the arms through the hitting zone, and a proper weight transfer through to my right side. I then took out my 5i, and told him about my struggles with it in the recent past. "Try it again, with the same focus as when you were just hitting your short irons." he said. I breathed deeply, set up, and proceeded to flush my first ball down my target line. I started to giggle. Worked with the 5i for a bit, with only small reminders here and there from Frank, and we finished the lesson. He told me that I had a good swing, and that he doesn't want to change it drastically for fear of me thinking too much about little things...just to focus on a couple simple concepts (extension and weight transfer) for the next few weeks.
Here are a couple stills and the video of one of my better swings. The quality is lower because we couldn't figure out how to export the video file from the V1 app to my phone directly, so I had to video his tablet screen with my phone:
My impact position and extension are better in this video/stills, as is my weight transfer. It's nice to have a couple things to focus my practice, especially when it comes to better ball striking. I cannot wait to get back on the range and continue my #JourneyToBetter. I'm also incredibly happy that Frank is laid-back, friendly, and is trying to simplify my improvement.
Frank then lit his pipe and watched me warm up. I pulled my PW and was a little nervous to start, but Frank reminded me: "Quit over thinking or thinking about the lesson, just swing." Started catching a few pretty nicely, and he noticed that the grip change that he suggested earlier in the year was helping me not turn the club face over too soon. He videoed a few swings of mine using his tablet, and asked for me to take a pause while he showed me a few things.
He first noticed my impact position and follow through. I had developed a tendency to strike at the ball with my left/rear hand and my right side was getting stuck. Instead of both of my arms extending through the impact zone, my right side broke down and hugged my body...which also promoted me to "flip" my hands at impact.
Here's an shot of my usual position at / just after impact:
Spoiler
Here is exactly what he noticed - right side is stuck against my body and I am not extending both arms through the zone. "You've got a good swing, and I don't want to bog you down in swing thoughts." He said. He then pulled a golf digest from his bag and showed me a picture:
Spoiler
"Being a lefty, you're probably a Phil fan." He pointed out his impact position (#4). He wanted me to focus on that kind of extension with the arms, trying to keep the shaft in line with my right hand. I took a few more swings, trying to feel like I was reaching out and through the ball. Before this suggestion, I was seeing my now-typical draw that could turn into a hook miss. After a couple weird swings, I flushed one high and STRAIGHT. Dead straight. I proceeded to hit the next 4 out of 5 well, and the same thing happened...dead straight, high flight. I went to my 9 iron, then my 8, seeing the same results on well struck shots...high and straight. I also noticed that I had only hit one chunk out of the past 15 balls that I hit.
Took another little break as he wanted to talk to me about my weight transfer. I wasn't getting to my right side enough...I put too much weight on my back foot during the swing and follow through, which hampered my ability to sync my upper and lower body in the swing (a problem pointed out by our very own Panda). He showed me another picture of Phil, showing his finish, a picture very similar to this:
Spoiler
He noted how upright his finish was, and how his weight was almost fully on his right foot. I took more swings with the 8i while he videoed some of them, thinking about the two things he focused on - extension of the arms through the hitting zone, and a proper weight transfer through to my right side. I then took out my 5i, and told him about my struggles with it in the recent past. "Try it again, with the same focus as when you were just hitting your short irons." he said. I breathed deeply, set up, and proceeded to flush my first ball down my target line. I started to giggle. Worked with the 5i for a bit, with only small reminders here and there from Frank, and we finished the lesson. He told me that I had a good swing, and that he doesn't want to change it drastically for fear of me thinking too much about little things...just to focus on a couple simple concepts (extension and weight transfer) for the next few weeks.
Here are a couple stills and the video of one of my better swings. The quality is lower because we couldn't figure out how to export the video file from the V1 app to my phone directly, so I had to video his tablet screen with my phone:
Spoiler
My impact position and extension are better in this video/stills, as is my weight transfer. It's nice to have a couple things to focus my practice, especially when it comes to better ball striking. I cannot wait to get back on the range and continue my #JourneyToBetter. I'm also incredibly happy that Frank is laid-back, friendly, and is trying to simplify my improvement.
T2GRN18
Active member
Just had a lesson....just when I thought it was making a turn for the better.....it's back to the drawing board! Freaking golf swing is kicking my a$$. I won't let up, I won't fail, I will get this down come hell or high water!
Jersey Nate
#JourneyToBetter #THPMC
This lesson just raised my excitement level even more for my practice. Having these improvements feel so tangible so quickly really lets me know how ingraining these improvements into my swing will make my ball striking miles better and more consistent than before.
dcbrad
locked and reloaded
Peaks and valleys dude, that's what I love about this thread, guys lift you up when you're struggling and celebrate your peak moments. Keep at it dude.
Howzat
I'd Rather Be At The Hideaway
Your swing just looks fluid and effortless. I could hear the excitement in your voice in the video and it seems like you have some good chemistry with your instructor.
T2GRN18
Active member
It's a heartless game in which I simply love! But you're right this thread help keep things in perspective. As I head to the range lol
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