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The THP Range/Practice Thread

Had a good range session tonight, but wanted to get some video on what my coach asked me to change in my takeaway. Practice swings - not perfect, but nice. Then as soon as I put the ball down to hit one, I do the old inside move. :banghead:
 
I've been dicking around with the drivers too much this month and needed to work on other parts of the game before the season starts. Despite the cold temps, I spent 20 minutes on my intermediate approach and pitching with the GW today afterwork. Starting to get the feel back as well as the mechanics. Wasn't pretty at first... was even shanking shots. But by the end of the session, I start getting better contact and dialing in distances. Still a lot of work to do.
 
I feel you guys. My take away has been/is pretty decent; good alignment at the top of the swing, then SUPER shallow, in-to-out path on the downswing. It's causing me all sorts of headache. Too much input from the trailing arm and getting a bit of chicken wing at the point of impact = not good! Inconsistent strikes with a predominant hook as a result. When I can remember to relax and let the lead arm lead, I get a nice solid strike with a little baby draw.

Golf I tell ya....GOLF!
 
Went out early this morning to get the longer shots at the short game area.

Hit 70+/- balls using my 52-56-60 wedges, my #2 Ironwood, and Mizuno 5 wood I recently picked up.

Most of my swings provided decent yardages, and dispersions. Hit a few fatties, and some pushes. The pushed shots were not that far off. I was really happy with the 2 Ironwood ball flights.

Made it a daily double practice day. Went back to the putting green with the broom sticks Rail Gun, and STX. putters. I just purchased these clubs today.

I'm not a broom stick putter guy. That said, I was happy to give them a try. Both rolled the ball well, especially the Rail Gun.
putter. I attribute that to the Rail Gun putter having a zero loft face.

Town is crowded this weekend. Big Car Show in town.
 
My backswing has been getting off and went back to some drills from a previous lesson. I think I'm going to do another video lesson this week. When I can get to a decent top position it makes the swing so much easier
 
3 hour practice session. Not all on the range and I spent some time with my short game and finished up the last 45 putting

Overalls. Good session and helped me dial in some mental swing thoughts. I like where I’m at after a 3 week layoff

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Got some work in while doing some grilling today.

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Just more early am chipping, pitching and putting to beat the the weekend crowds. Also more swings with the Nickent 9w with the Gold 65 shaft on it.

My big focus was working with my new palm,, reverse over lap grip. I keep waiting for it to stop working, like most new ideas do, but so far it's still working quite well for me, both in accuracy, abd distance.
 
So these are the keys from my last lesson. Really been focusing on pointing the tee/butt end of the club, behind me at the top of the swing.... Which has put me in a MUCH better position.

The left shift is hard, and I just purchased a pressure plate to help with that move.

Overall, practice swing looks better.... But there's still PLENTY of work to do. Getting a real ball in front of me is the tell all... But hopefully it'll tell good things! 🤞

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First range/practice session (and first time golfing outdoors in general) of the year. Columbia learning center. The winds were CRAZY! I worked mainly on my shallowing and alignment in my quest for improved shot shaping. When I did my full shot routine, everything felt flush and accurate. The only thing I was worried about was using my driver, because I just installed and repaired a few shafts and didn't want to break them. They seem fine, so the next range session will be focused on that. Overall, I'm very confident in my swing.
 
I'd give one of my wife's kidneys to not have to play golf with a moderate strong grip...... I'm getting tired of working on it. If I don't use it, the ball flight is just way to high and fades. If I do it, it will stay down and have a really tight draw to straight flight. If it wasn't for graphite right now I wouldn't be able to play due to elbow issues
 
Did a bunch of short game work then hit balls after work yesterday. Was fun that the local range had this small pin flags on the putting greens20240417_175313.jpg
 
Found my driver swing again, was rushing the downswing. Needed to work on the transition, get the weight shift right.

Funny enough it was an unsolicited tip from someone we were paired up with that nailed the problem.
 
Went from the best ball striking round in recent memory to a round where I didn't feel like I got through the ball at all. Maybe I need to take a few nights off of work.. might be over-doing it
 
Went to the range on Monday, after thinking about it, I better shoot my personal best this year.
 
I haven’t played a round of golf in almost 2 years due to health issues (now all sorted) and the deaths of three close family members. But i went to the range Monday and was really surprised how well i hit using my nephew’s clubs. Today i went out with my 9i and did even better. I am going to do a few more range sessions (6i, 3i, hybrid, driver) and then go play a round. I missed being out there.
 
Work is paying off. Tempo is king, and with that I’ve been able to find the bottom of my swing again AND stay inside off the tee, which I struggled with at Briggs.

Drill work. Wedge work. Release work.

Getting there.
 
Got some good and much needed work in at the range. It is amazing to me how one round I felt like everything came together and golf was easy and fun. The next 2 rounds were a grind and I felt like I was fighting the swing. I love this sport but it is a battle at times!!
 
Warning, this is probably the longest post I have ever written on here. You might want grab a snack, and a drink.

One if the things I like about practicing and playing is that sometimes I learn something about a piece of equipment

This last road trip we took, I brought along 3 clubs I had never put in play before. Practiced with them, but never played them for a score.

Right off the bat, I found that the broom stick Rail Gun putter was a poor choice for slower greens. Every course I played had slower than normal greens. It played well for shorter putts of 5 feet or shorter. Anything longer, I was going to be short. I wasn't going to change my putting stroke to make it work. I also had my #1 gamer in my bag.

Another club I brought was an old Nickent 4 wood. This club had a senior shaft on it. I figured with my slower swing, the senior shaft was going to be a good thing. I was kind of 50/50 with it. My good shots were really good. My poor shots were tops. Even though I topped a few balls, I still made up some good, usable yardage .Every ball flew towards my intended target. I never pulled my 3w, or 5w the whole trip.

My third club was an old Nickent 9 wood, with the same senior shaft. This club replaced my 5 Ironwood for this trip. From fairway lies it played quite well for me. With a lower ball flight, it was a little longer than my 5i. This can save me some in between club issues I sometimes run into, especially on windy days. This is the one club of the three that will probably see more playing time.

Another observation was my new grip and swing used under playing conditions. I've been working on this swing change for a few weeks.

Due to an arthritic/damaged right knee, I needed something to put less stress on that knee. This per the doctor. I didn't want to lose the rest of the year for r & r, nor were pain killers, or injections a thought.

What I did was was adopt some of Moe Norman's swing. His single plane swing, coupled with his palm grip. My clubs are already the proper lie angle for this change.

My grip is a his palm grip, with my reverse over lap hands. My left fore finger over laps my right pinkie, and ring fingers. This sends every ball straighter than before. Even my driver has a new lease on life. Actually gained a few yards with each club.

This swing has me swinging more with my upper body, and puts kess strain on my knees. I also turned my right foot inward at set up to help protect the right knee

I still hit poor shots, but those mis hits are still closer to center if my club face than with my old swing. My poor shots are not as bad as with my old swing. Hitting balls closer to the center of the club face, everytime has also gave me a few extra yards per club.

I had a shot yesterday, that needed to clear a tree. I couldn't go under it due to tall grass. My 60* would clear the tree, but leave me short of the green. My 56* would give me the distance, but probably not clear the tree. I decided to go with my 60* and put my "swing for the fence" swing on the ball. It worked out great for me, leaving a 6 footer for a bird. After repairing my ball crater, I made the putt. The only bird I made the entire trip.

I owe this whole shot to my new swing/grip changes.
 
Big time work week for me on the swing and the mental part of my game. It seems I dropped all the extra chromosomes I acquired somewhere along the way and got a swing path and face angle that matches up to allow some very good golf shots. Can't wait to get on the couse and do this great set of clubs a full run at full speed tomorrow morning
 
Hit a large bucket to prep for the tournament tomorrow.
 
Had a good session practicing today. Went to GOLFTEC after daughter’s softball game and drilled what we’ve been working on. Having the camera replay is so helpful.

Stuff we’ve been working on is starting to sync in. Didn’t get along with the drill from last session as well as the couple from the previous ones.

I spent the last 20-25 minutes going through my bag just to kind of figure out my stock yardages is. Definitely something I need to work on and discuss with my instructor. I had about a 15-20 yard gap from PW to 9 to 8. Then I was about 8 after that with my 7-6-5. Probably should go get a lift lie check on them because I haven’t done that since I changed the shafts to the DART V which was about 6 months ago. And I’m not positive they did it then because I just asked them to make sure they were to the srixon specs on their website.
 
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