Well aren't you a ray.
Blew It Up, Trying To Piece it Back Together Again
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I’ve been there..it’s a very bad place to be.I hope his upcoming lessons get him out of the funk **** storm
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- #28
Lol yeah, it is not good right now.
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Focus on where you want to go. And do what it takes to get there. Listen first. And only ask questions once you gave what they told you to do a chance. Don’t get ahead of yourself.Enjoy the process.And please don’t be a Richard if you get confused
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A few weeks ago, I started changing to a 10 finger, base ball grip. Did this to help stay a head the approaching arthritis. I will be changing the actual grips on my clubs in a few weeks.
I started with chipping, then pitching and I'm now at longer approach shots. At no time did it ever occur to me to try and change my swing/stroke.
Earlier this week I played with a real deal, Natural Golfer. The guy was good.
During our play, we discussed his palm grip. At some point he had me try the NG grip. From there I went to a baseball, palm grip. (No 10 fingers)
i started using this bb, palm grip with my wedges up to 70 yards. Again, with no change in my golf swing, as I just continued to just swing the club head into the ball. Results so far, have been much better than I expected in both accuracy, and distance.
I will start using my short, mid, and long arms next week. From there if all goes well, I will work backwards from my 7w, to my driver.
My point is, working backwards from the shorter swings (chips) back to the tee (D) can make any change for some golfers easier.
I started with chipping, then pitching and I'm now at longer approach shots. At no time did it ever occur to me to try and change my swing/stroke.
Earlier this week I played with a real deal, Natural Golfer. The guy was good.
During our play, we discussed his palm grip. At some point he had me try the NG grip. From there I went to a baseball, palm grip. (No 10 fingers)
i started using this bb, palm grip with my wedges up to 70 yards. Again, with no change in my golf swing, as I just continued to just swing the club head into the ball. Results so far, have been much better than I expected in both accuracy, and distance.
I will start using my short, mid, and long arms next week. From there if all goes well, I will work backwards from my 7w, to my driver.
My point is, working backwards from the shorter swings (chips) back to the tee (D) can make any change for some golfers easier.
- Thread starter
- #31
Today was lesson #1 of 3 with a new instructor I am trying out. Working out of the facility I am currently practicing in, I figured it was time to look into some instruction that had the ability to look more precisely at what I am doing wrong, with cameras, club data, simulators.
To put it bluntly, I figure I have been wasting my time for the past year, trying to work with an instructor using old methods.
Where we left off last time, I had taken a lesson to fix my setup and change my grip (that I had used for 20ish years). Well we changed the grip, but with no guidance on what to do outside of that. I was frustrated, pretty let down, and I figured that this year was going to be a loss. Not something you want to think with a new set of gear from The Grandaddy to use and talk about.
We got right into it today, starting with a wedge combine to assess short game. It didn't go well. From 25 yds I thought I was ok, garnering 9 points through 3 shots.... and then not tallying a point at all for the rest of the session. 50 yd pitch? 3 straight shanks. 75 yd pitch? 3 more shanks. Embarassed, I finished up and was reassured we won't score a 9 again.
Next up, 7 iron was stickered up, and made some swings. Hook/Pull Hook over and over again. When I did finally hit a good one, if was swiftly followed by more mishits. Not what I wanted to put out there, but probably more helpful in diagnosing what was wrong than anything else I could do.
So super quick, what was good, what was bad?
Setup overall was good. The new grip, good. Stance, ball position, also good.
Bad? Head moving all over the place, putting me off balance.
Out to In path, with an impact position that was creating a double cross.
Does that make sense? I am terrible, but not completely terrible.
Is it affecting everything? Top to Bottom in the bag? Yes.
So what did we do?
A couple drills to work on a better turn, sequencing, and weight transfer. Stop the head movement.
Impact Bag, Swings working to correct the path while avoiding a pool noodle.
Path got better, impact got better, distances and accuracy crept back up to where I thought they should be again.
I have things to work on, and another lesson in 9 days.
More importantly? Optimism that what we are working on isn't completely starting from scratch but adequately addressing issues.
To put it bluntly, I figure I have been wasting my time for the past year, trying to work with an instructor using old methods.
Where we left off last time, I had taken a lesson to fix my setup and change my grip (that I had used for 20ish years). Well we changed the grip, but with no guidance on what to do outside of that. I was frustrated, pretty let down, and I figured that this year was going to be a loss. Not something you want to think with a new set of gear from The Grandaddy to use and talk about.
We got right into it today, starting with a wedge combine to assess short game. It didn't go well. From 25 yds I thought I was ok, garnering 9 points through 3 shots.... and then not tallying a point at all for the rest of the session. 50 yd pitch? 3 straight shanks. 75 yd pitch? 3 more shanks. Embarassed, I finished up and was reassured we won't score a 9 again.
Next up, 7 iron was stickered up, and made some swings. Hook/Pull Hook over and over again. When I did finally hit a good one, if was swiftly followed by more mishits. Not what I wanted to put out there, but probably more helpful in diagnosing what was wrong than anything else I could do.
So super quick, what was good, what was bad?
Setup overall was good. The new grip, good. Stance, ball position, also good.
Bad? Head moving all over the place, putting me off balance.
Out to In path, with an impact position that was creating a double cross.
Does that make sense? I am terrible, but not completely terrible.
Is it affecting everything? Top to Bottom in the bag? Yes.
So what did we do?
A couple drills to work on a better turn, sequencing, and weight transfer. Stop the head movement.
Impact Bag, Swings working to correct the path while avoiding a pool noodle.
Path got better, impact got better, distances and accuracy crept back up to where I thought they should be again.
I have things to work on, and another lesson in 9 days.
More importantly? Optimism that what we are working on isn't completely starting from scratch but adequately addressing issues.
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Glad to see the optimism. I'm on my own journey and got some from my lesson yesterday. My instructor told me that things were not as bad as they seemed and fixing a couple of things would go a long way to getting me back where I was and better. I'm also doing "drills to work on a better turn, sequencing, and weight transfer." I look forward to following along with your improvement.
- Thread starter
- #34
I find of all the things we are trying to work on right now, I am really digging working on Flat Left Wrist at Impact.
Something a bit addictive in the sound/feeling of hitting an impact bag/tire/whatever you are using.
Something a bit addictive in the sound/feeling of hitting an impact bag/tire/whatever you are using.
- Thread starter
- #35
So where were we? Trying to change path primarily, working on weight shift, and impact position.
Perhaps foolishly I booked my 2nd lesson 9 days after my first. I did drills every day, but only had a chance to actually hit balls once during that time.
2nd lesson was yesterday, and I had definitely made improvements to path overall. I tend to find though, as soon as training aids are moved out of the way, it is like a switch gets flipped and I am right back to old habits.
I had wanted to work on long game yesterday, with driver and woods being a massive issue for me right now, but we ended up doing short game for about 20 mins, and 40 mins of 7 iron.
Over the weekend, I hit new PBs on ball speed with a Chrome Soft and 7 iron, with a new max of 113 mph ball speed. Typically I hover around that 103ish ball speed, with previous best being around 106 iirc. Well, I topped that 106 multiple times on Saturday. My max carry/distance last lesson were around 160/175 yds. In lesson, I hit 112.9 ball speed with 184 yd total. Descent angle though, still slightly low, so hoping that better contact/impact help that.
I will say, after these last 2 lessons, I am absolutely dripping with sweat. My Saturday sessions? Typically not. So I must be working more lol.
I am going to take a couple days, hit the impact bag hard, and try and solidify some things, before scheduling my 3rd lesson. I want to make a bit more of a progression before going in again.
Perhaps foolishly I booked my 2nd lesson 9 days after my first. I did drills every day, but only had a chance to actually hit balls once during that time.
2nd lesson was yesterday, and I had definitely made improvements to path overall. I tend to find though, as soon as training aids are moved out of the way, it is like a switch gets flipped and I am right back to old habits.
I had wanted to work on long game yesterday, with driver and woods being a massive issue for me right now, but we ended up doing short game for about 20 mins, and 40 mins of 7 iron.
Over the weekend, I hit new PBs on ball speed with a Chrome Soft and 7 iron, with a new max of 113 mph ball speed. Typically I hover around that 103ish ball speed, with previous best being around 106 iirc. Well, I topped that 106 multiple times on Saturday. My max carry/distance last lesson were around 160/175 yds. In lesson, I hit 112.9 ball speed with 184 yd total. Descent angle though, still slightly low, so hoping that better contact/impact help that.
I will say, after these last 2 lessons, I am absolutely dripping with sweat. My Saturday sessions? Typically not. So I must be working more lol.
I am going to take a couple days, hit the impact bag hard, and try and solidify some things, before scheduling my 3rd lesson. I want to make a bit more of a progression before going in again.
- Thread starter
- #36
3rd lesson today, which hopefully is addressing Driver and Woods like I have requested.
At this point, having not been on a course since December, and having forgotten how to hit driver/woods months before, I need the help desperately.
At one point, I was happy that I had hit new PB#'s this year in ball speed at 136.8 mph, carry of 230 yds, and total of 251.8 yds.
Then things went haywire with changing my grip, and trying to refind my swing. Path got out of whack, and we have been working on that. I just need to start finding the speed (or what little amount I can).
Honestly, I have been waiting for a lesson to address driver and woods since probably July last year, I just need it to happen already.
At this point, having not been on a course since December, and having forgotten how to hit driver/woods months before, I need the help desperately.
At one point, I was happy that I had hit new PB#'s this year in ball speed at 136.8 mph, carry of 230 yds, and total of 251.8 yds.
Then things went haywire with changing my grip, and trying to refind my swing. Path got out of whack, and we have been working on that. I just need to start finding the speed (or what little amount I can).
Honestly, I have been waiting for a lesson to address driver and woods since probably July last year, I just need it to happen already.
Good luck with the lesson today.
I'm on a journey too... did too many lessons without actual practice in between for a bit. Keep at the drills, and actually hitting balls.
One piece of advice, be very clear with your instructor that you need a lesson to work on the driver/woods. By advocating for yourself, you'll come away from the lesson with some sort of advice to help with those clubs and you'll be able to stay engaged in the continued process. I've had a few instructors tell me "no, we need to work on xxx before we get to that". For me, that was discouraging and definitely slowed my progress.
My current instructor started this last 4 lesson series with Driver. We didn't hit anything else for 2 lessons. Might not have been his preferred path for my swing, but he understood how frustrated I was on the tee box. It's helped a ton, and he always makes sure to check on my driver swing even if we aren't working on it that day now.
- Thread starter
- #39
That is exactly where I am, and specifically scheduled this lesson for driver and woods.
I made the mistake last time out to just schedule a lesson with no specificity to it, and ended up with short game and more iron work. I wasn't against the iron work, which we had done first time out, but I recognize that off the tee if going to affect things far more than a flubbed iron shot at this point for me.
Shots gained (compared to tour pro) last year, before my lessons
-8.6 Driving, -16.4 approach, -5.3 short game, -9.2 putting
This year so far
-3.6 Driving, -15.5 approach, -5.1 short game, -4.2 putting
The numbers tell me that I need to now focus on irons, but picking up 4 shots off the tee is a big deal for me and my weak mind
Nice work on the improvements. Since it’s your third of 3 lessons it makes sense to do a long game lesson. It sounds like this facility is working for you and having a more complete view of your game should help you both come up with a plan for the future. For me, having a plan that we could work to was a big deal in how I approached my lessons and drills.
Reading through the thread, there are a couple things my coach has done in lessons that might be helpful to you on your journey, especially once you get out on the course.
First, he has sometimes said something like "work on [insert move], but don't be thinking about it on the course." Meaning, not all things I'm working on are helpful performance feels on the course for my swing. If your coach doesn't offer it up, you might ask him what's a singular swing though that might be helpful for you on the course to help with some of the clutter that happens when you are working on swing changes. Second, he's sometimes said something to the effect of "you'll have to live with pulls while you're working on this move" which sort of helps set my expectations on the course - it's better to accept some pulls in the short term rather than try to completely prevent them which is would likely be the opposite of the move I am trying to make. So it might be worth asking what a good miss looks like while working on X move.
Best of luck continuing on your journey!
First, he has sometimes said something like "work on [insert move], but don't be thinking about it on the course." Meaning, not all things I'm working on are helpful performance feels on the course for my swing. If your coach doesn't offer it up, you might ask him what's a singular swing though that might be helpful for you on the course to help with some of the clutter that happens when you are working on swing changes. Second, he's sometimes said something to the effect of "you'll have to live with pulls while you're working on this move" which sort of helps set my expectations on the course - it's better to accept some pulls in the short term rather than try to completely prevent them which is would likely be the opposite of the move I am trying to make. So it might be worth asking what a good miss looks like while working on X move.
Best of luck continuing on your journey!
Hoping the 3rd Lesson with Woods and Driver went well?
My 4th with my new pro was the same - Driver and woods (just started with a few minutes recap on previous short game lesson).
He keeps it simple setup correct and lower body set correctly and then synchronised correctly. It worked for the Woods and Driver yesterday - a few out of sync and he says - just do a 1/2 swing at 70% and the sync will come back.
A
- Thread starter
- #44
Today's lesson went well. Warmup wedge combine. 7 Iron work on shallowing and continuing to work on path and impact.
Then we got into driver. What was I doing wrong that convinced me that I needed lessons? I was hitting all sorts of big hooks, and could not get things straight. Carry distance dropped dramatically, contact was garbage, and I ended up missing the face more than I would hit it. Add in that around the same time I implemented a grip change, to finally fix my poor grip technique after 30+ years of playing.... and well we had a great combination of terrible.
First off, part of what we were working on to eliminate an out to in path with the irons was going to carry over to driver.
I got clarification on ball placement, which i had really been trying to figure out for ages.
Then we got to work on some movement changes, more on shallowing and getting on the right path.
And then how to build more speed by getting into a better impact position, and not flipping through impact.
The very first two balls I hit, were the longest and straightest drives I have ever hit, both charting as new personal bests. I was shocked.
The sound that ball made coming off the face is a sound I have been chasing. Dramatically different sounds than I was accustomed to.
The rest of the session, trying to work on shift, turn, etc.... well I didn't recreate those drives again, but I was somewhat ok with that. I need reps, I need to work on timing, and need just need to keep practicing the right things.
Chatted a bit afterwards with the instructor about goals and expectations. Time to get the net set up in the yard, get a ton of swings in, and start playing some golf!
Then we got into driver. What was I doing wrong that convinced me that I needed lessons? I was hitting all sorts of big hooks, and could not get things straight. Carry distance dropped dramatically, contact was garbage, and I ended up missing the face more than I would hit it. Add in that around the same time I implemented a grip change, to finally fix my poor grip technique after 30+ years of playing.... and well we had a great combination of terrible.
First off, part of what we were working on to eliminate an out to in path with the irons was going to carry over to driver.
I got clarification on ball placement, which i had really been trying to figure out for ages.
Then we got to work on some movement changes, more on shallowing and getting on the right path.
And then how to build more speed by getting into a better impact position, and not flipping through impact.
The very first two balls I hit, were the longest and straightest drives I have ever hit, both charting as new personal bests. I was shocked.
The sound that ball made coming off the face is a sound I have been chasing. Dramatically different sounds than I was accustomed to.
The rest of the session, trying to work on shift, turn, etc.... well I didn't recreate those drives again, but I was somewhat ok with that. I need reps, I need to work on timing, and need just need to keep practicing the right things.
Chatted a bit afterwards with the instructor about goals and expectations. Time to get the net set up in the yard, get a ton of swings in, and start playing some golf!
The golf swing is one of the most finicky things on the planet!
For me personally what I find works is that rather than focus on the specific thing (keep left wrist flat at impact) I'll find a drill where the only way to do it properly is to have a flat wrist at impact. For me it helps my swing stay more natural while still learning the new technique.
Now obviously you can't do that with every change and while reps are key... I have also had times where I feel like I've focused on one change for so long and barely gotten anywhere... Then I take a break but think through the mechanics without hitting a ball. Sometimes I'm shocked how much it can help me make a change.
I'm pretty excited for this year as I feel like I've had a bit of a light bulb moment. But it wouldn't be the first year I've said that and then gone out and golfed my usual game
For me personally what I find works is that rather than focus on the specific thing (keep left wrist flat at impact) I'll find a drill where the only way to do it properly is to have a flat wrist at impact. For me it helps my swing stay more natural while still learning the new technique.
Now obviously you can't do that with every change and while reps are key... I have also had times where I feel like I've focused on one change for so long and barely gotten anywhere... Then I take a break but think through the mechanics without hitting a ball. Sometimes I'm shocked how much it can help me make a change.
I'm pretty excited for this year as I feel like I've had a bit of a light bulb moment. But it wouldn't be the first year I've said that and then gone out and golfed my usual game
Knowing you CAN hit those drives with the right setup, moves, and practice is what’s important. Sounds like a productive day!