We've launched the new forums! Read more here

Dhartmann34's Swing Battle and Journey....

ShotScope
Weather got to just above 40 so I hit the range to hit a few balls today. Not swinging for a couple of weeks has taken a little bit of a toll on things. I'm not quite as smooth or solid with the swing or ball contact, but it wasn't too bad.

I have to say it was nice to swing a bit, even with some layers on. I have to constantly remind myself to go back and watch the lesson review videos so that I don't forget about the important drills or ideas that, while basic and early on in my first few lessons, are still important today.

I'm hoping to get some more swings in tomorrow in prep for Florida over Christmas. Here's hoping things come together for a few good rounds down there.

Until then, my practice will focus on keeping "width" in the backswing and back at impact as well.

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk
 
Sooooooooooo this thread head been quiet as of late.... But this Sunday I've got my first lesson since September. Should be interesting. I've definitely increased my flexibility with stretching which should be a positive. I believe I know where my swing is at right now. Hoping to reinforce some concepts and go from there.

I'm going to go back over my previous lessons and make sure I remember all the things I should have going on and should be doing. The end of 2017 was very positive in regards to my golf game.... especially off of the tee. Struggled with my irons so I took my brothers cf16's to Florida which were pretty fun.

I'm working to piece together my fitted specs from Club Champion so that's hopefully going to lead to positive things in terms of ball striking. I really love the adjustment to my putter. Lots of things to feel good about.

While golf season is still a bit away.... Preparation starts now. I've already got my list of goals that I intend to reach in 2018.

It's game time....

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk
 
My February 4th lesson got delayed due to snow so the next won't won't be until March as my instructor is out of town. Until then I'm focusing on piecing together my new clubs from my Club Champion fitting and continuing on the stretching.

I'm also rolling a LOT of putts on my birdieball. The new putter loft seems like it's going to be unbelievable this year. I could honestly see 2-3 strokes dropping just from putts staying on line and not skipping anymore. Really excited for that.



Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk
 
On March 27th I had my first lesson for the year. Let me say that the refresher was EXACTLY what I needed. I hadn't been in since August of last year and while I finished the year out pretty strong, I hadn't done much over the winter, but rest my body and hit some putts. Not sure if I needed the break, but I've been pretty occupied with some other personal things in life and they have taken precedent.

So on to the lesson. It was apparent right away that I let my old swing sink back in. I was getting WAAAAAAAAAAAY inside on the takeaway. Then I was extending way past parallel and getting flat/laid off at the top. Tim has stressed how much I need to stop once that left arm has achieved parallel on the back swing. While it won't be that way in my actual swing, he believes it'll help put me in the right position and keep me on plane. He calls this the "Punch" position...Where I just punch that left arm back...and it's in the top position of my back swing.

First was the takeaway from setup. I need to get into my setup and let my arms be loose and comfortable. The first move is where the arms get a little more tight (tightening of the arm pits is how he was describing it) and right palm down, which starts my takeaway and puts me in a decent position to start. Obviously, it's hard to explain it exactly on here, but thankfully it makes sense in my head.

Next was the back-swing. As I said before, it was getting to the 'punch' position. This is key to keep me from over extending my backswing...and losing my posture and power. I have plenty of power when I work on the 'punch' position.

Last was the down swing. We worked on a couple things. First was the 'swiss ball drill'. It's to work on getting me to the correct position in the downswing....where my butt and hips should be moving backwards a little bit. This makes room for my arms coming down. I also need to maintain a bit more 'sit' in my swing as I tend to get too 'stand-upish' which throws me off balance. Looking at the pros swing this weekend, they really do consistently have their butt/hips areas moving back a little bit on the downswing and the club moving a tad left.

He recorded a video lesson while I was still there, but for some reason, the left side of the video froze...which is unfortunate because it showed the before and after really well and gave a few nice vantage points of where we came in a very short period of time. It was a fantastic refresher to what I need to work on and where I need to go. He then did another one which goes over a bit of what we worked on as well, more direct and to the point, mostly because it was a couple days later when he had to put it together. I'll post both because I think there is good information in each.





I will say I feel REALLY positive about these lessons. I played a few rounds over the next couple of days and while it was chilly, I really was hitting the ball well. Friday I even shot 73, which was great considering not many putts dropped for me. I was bombing the driver and really hitting my irons pretty well....not to mention longer. I had a nice 5 yard draw going on. My wedges were off. Hitting partial wedges takes time to groove in the beginning of the season, so while that was off....the full swing was really a positive for me. Would have been even lower without a nasty plug in a bunker that turned into a double bogey.

Going to take the next month and keep practicing and see where things go! But really happy with the refresher lesson and the start to the season...although snow and cold temps are in the forecast here.
 
Got in a range session yesterday. It was inside and into a net because the temps are pretty freaking cold. But I really worked on two of the moves. The takeaway, when I get my palm down and the backswing where I'm taking out back to parallel. I need to work on the medicine ball drill, but I feel like the first two are most important for me at the moment.

Even on my chips, I'm starting relaxed, and then getting the arm pits squeezed, which forms up my left arm. It's been really solid contact on the short chips I've been hitting in the house.

The takeaway move really makes me think of Stenson, where his first move is getting his hands set... Which puts the right palm down. Which is fun to think about. Distance and precision are a great combo.

I have to say it's getting much more comfortable. The ball send to be exploding off of the face... Which is nice. Great impact feel. Really solid hits. The new clubs will add to it.

Excitingly, I'm starting to get that "feeling". The one where I can just pick up the club and it feels right in my hands and I'm confident starting the swing. Like I can honestly hit it where I want, when I want. And while it'll take time to Groove that on the course, it's been a long long long time since I've felt this good holding the club, especially this early in the season.

I'll get back to the range today... Maybe even hit some outside... Or hang out with the Flightscope if it's not being used.

Warmer temps coming this week.... Can't wait to play





Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk
 
Last edited:
So it's been a month since my last lesson and I've been working on a few things that obviously needed to be shored up.

1. The takeaway --> This is difficult for me. I've been working on just the first "Palm Down" move, and then turning out to the "punch", which is essentially my left arm being parallel. In the actual swing, it goes past that mark, but keeping it short helps.

I've also been trying to focus on keeping the head of the club low to the ground to prevent me from getting the club up too steep. This really helps slow things down and also with keeping it short....and I believe also from coming over the top.

2. The swiss ball drill --> This is working on coming through the ball. This is hard for me....especially keeping the left hand lower than the right. But I'm working on it. I feel like keeping a 'sitting position' through the swing helps me accomplish this. We'll see next month at my next lesson if it's getting better.

Overall, I feel like I've been swinging the club much better. Driver is DEFINITELY coming around. Not that I don't have my 'bad' swings, but for the most part, it's feeling comfortable and flying really well...and in the fairway.

Irons have been good, but my wedges need work. I keep losing them right....and these are the clubs I need to score with.

Chipping and putting has been stellar. I couldn't be any happier with that aspect.

My last few rounds (some are 9 holes) since my lesson are as follows:

39, 77, 75, 37, 72, 81, 80, 38, 36, 77 and 72. My handicap is trending to 2.7 from 3.2....

My goal is to sign up for a few tournaments to get that experience and go from there.

The journey continues....
 
I've been a slacker with lessons since May. Got burnt out on golf through mid summer. Had a couple times where a few bad weeks of golf crept in and made playing meh. Probably just because I was burnt out. Got my game somewhat back in order near late summer, but lost in the first round of playoffs with a round of even par... And the fall was a pretty short season compared to years past. Snow hit right before Thanksgiving. So I've just been chipping and putting a little bit and working with the Tour Striker Smartball I picked up 6 weeks ago. Been pretty happy with how things look using it. We'll see how it carries over to the swing on the course. Still gotta work on keeping down and butt back during the downswing, but it has certainly helped me shorten things up. Really enjoying it.

https://youtu.be/nBg_lmpO0NM

Thankfully I'm heading to Arizona and Florida over the next few months and I hope to get in some rounds. So that'll definitely give me some feedback.

I'm going to try and get a lesson scheduled before vacation.




Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk
 
dhartmann34 said:
I've been a slacker with lessons since May. Got burnt out on golf through mid summer. Had a couple times where a few bad weeks of golf crept in and made playing meh. Probably just because I was burnt out. Got my game somewhat back in order near late summer, but lost in the first round of playoffs with a round of even par... And the fall was a pretty short season compared to years past. Snow hit right before Thanksgiving. So I've just been chipping and putting a little bit and working with the Tour Striker Smartball I picked up 6 weeks ago. Been pretty happy with how things look using it. We'll see how it carries over to the swing on the course. Still gotta work on keeping down and butt back during the downswing, but it has certainly helped me shorten things up. Really enjoying it.

https://youtu.be/nBg_lmpO0NM

Thankfully I'm heading to Arizona and Florida over the next few months and I hope to get in some rounds. So that'll definitely give me some feedback.

I'm going to try and get a lesson scheduled before vacation.




Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

IMO what you will find, and maybe you have already, is there's a "wall" that everyone hits in all kinds of sports or even when playing musical instruments. The beginning stages in golf, if done / learned properly, are really not that hard. What's hard is not starting to assume "you got' all the basics down. I know pro's who still work on the most basic moves. They run thru a "pre-flight" checklist before they hit a ball.
 
This has been a great read, thanks for sharing and I'm now following along!
 
Keep up the good work! I like the Smartball. My problem... Forcing myself to schedule a regular practice time & using it consistently.
 
So I've gotten back to the same bad crap I was dealing with before I started seeing my instructor. While I still had some of it, I was doing better with the lessons and striking the ball well. Last year I only had 1 or 2 lessons... My own fault. Got a little burnt out on golf. Kept playing. Sputtered out for the year.

But I picked up a smart ball and with it came a free swing analysis. I wasn't able to get swings for Martin until I was down in Arizona a few weeks back, but once he got the videos (you'll see them - ugh are they fugly) he turned things around quickly. Really not sure how I hit the ball as well as I do sometimes. Frustrating and wonderful all at the same time.

So here's his analysis if you're interested. It was intriguing to me and I worked on getting shallower in the down swing and it started to help. Of course I have a long way to go, but I've gotta start somewhere. I will be getting a lesson with my instructor here soon, but I'd highly suggest Chuck if you're in the Arizona area. Really love this analysis. Imagine if I was actually there in person for the fixes....

https://youtu.be/YhPgCWvfSsE

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk
 
Grins said:
Keep up the good work! I like the Smartball. My problem... Forcing myself to schedule a regular practice time & using it consistently.
Click to expand...
Posted it for you. Don't mind the fugly swing

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk
 
I would love to take a lesson or two from Martin Chuck- I like his approach to the game.
 
If you like Martin Chuck's way of teaching and philosophy, you may want to look into seeing my instructor Jake Thurm (he's a Golf Digest Top 40 under 40) in Oak Brook... Martin & Jake are friends and have similar teaching methods.
 
Been working with the Power Package more the past few weeks. Got in a bunch of swings with and without it today as well. Didn't record many of them. But the practice swing looks solid. Full swing still has a bit of a bounce at the top. That being said.... Strikes were really good feeling and sounding. Thinking I need a launch monitor to give me some real data since the snow and cold is going to be around for a while....

https://youtu.be/WR3cnEpFjnY

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk
 
dhartmann34 said:
Been working with the Power Package more the past few weeks. Got in a bunch of swings with and without it today as well. Didn't record many of them. But the practice swing looks solid. Full swing still has a bit of a bounce at the top. That being said.... Strikes were really good feeling and sounding. Thinking I need a launch monitor to give me some real data since the snow and cold is going to be around for a while....

https://youtu.be/WR3cnEpFjnY

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Are you a fader of the ball? Path looks slightly out to in right ?
 
erock9174 said:
Are you a fader of the ball? Path looks slightly out to in right ?
Click to expand...
Yeah I do fade the ball. Gotta work on getting the path a little more from inside to out. It's a process

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk
 
Well today I finally had another lesson. It's been a long long time. The big focus was shoulder plane by opening up the right rib and maintaining width in the golf swing.

It was crazy because looking at the swings I took at the beginning of the lesson and comparing it to the positions as I go through the drills.... It's unbelievable. It's like they replaced me with someone else. It's encouraging and fun. Not easy....but fun.

The steps are working on what I've been dealing with regarding the power package, but in more appropriate positions.

Here's the lesson overview of you'd like to take a look.

https://youtu.be/wTsJmMQXlSw

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk
 
dhartmann34 said:
Well today I finally had another lesson. It's been a long long time. The big focus was shoulder plane by opening up the right rib and maintaining width in the golf swing.

It was crazy because looking at the swings I took at the beginning of the lesson and comparing it to the positions as I go through the drills.... It's unbelievable. It's like they replaced me with someone else. It's encouraging and fun. Not easy....but fun.

The steps are working on what I've been dealing with regarding the power package, but in more appropriate positions.

Here's the lesson overview of you'd like to take a look.

https://youtu.be/wTsJmMQXlSw

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

That is some good stuff Derek! Love the progression of drills. I'm working on a lot of the same stuff on my own, so this is good validation for me too.
Did the coach have you use the Power Package? Or was that on your own?
 
Grins said:
That is some good stuff Derek! Love the progression of drills. I'm working on a lot of the same stuff on my own, so this is good validation for me too.
Did the coach have you use the Power Package? Or was that on your own?
Click to expand...
Thanks!

Power Package was on my own. He had never seen it before.

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk
 
Worked on my drills a lot yesterday. Did at least 20 reps of each one. My sides and other muscles are definitely sore....most likely from not using them much previously.

Getting the shoulder plane more more vertical is key. By doing that, the club will get up and not behind me...which in turn takes the club from trying to fall behind me to falling into the slot on the downswing. Physics is rough. Using the alignment stick to work on that has been good. Lots of stretching while building up the repetitions.

The ball drill focuses on keeping me compact, but adding that width into the golf swing...which is what you see when I'm extending the ball out.

I love seeing the 'strength and stability' of my base during the ball drill.

Lots of work to do. I'm going to try to do 20 reps of each every single day. Not really worried about hitting balls at the moment.
 
Sounds like a plan! It's pretty amazing to think how much you can improve without actually hitting a ball.
 
Grins said:
Sounds like a plan! It's pretty amazing to think how much you can improve without actually hitting a ball.
Click to expand...
True story! My instructor highly suggest not hitting one for a week or two while working on these.

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk
 
dhartmann34 said:
True story! My instructor highly suggest not hitting one for a week or two while working on these.

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

I watched that lesson overview from 3/3/19 again. I will start doing some of those same progressions. I really like the "start the club outside the R Foot" drill to get the correct shallow path.

Your instructor is a hoot! Who is he?
 
Grins said:
I watched that lesson overview from 3/3/19 again. I will start doing some of those same progressions. I really like the "start the club outside the R Foot" drill to get the correct shallow path.

Your instructor is a hoot! Who is he?
Click to expand...
Yeah he's a good dude. His name is Tim Overman. Owns Golf In Motion in Chicago. I drive an hour and 20 mins to see him.

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top