The THP Range/Practice Thread
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- #77
I'm trying, just not sure its possible with family in town.
Good session last night working mostly on wedges and mid irons. Recently I've been working on a shorter backswing and it is helping my accuracy with some distance gains. This is a 6 iron which I'm now hitting around 175 yds. It literally feels like I'm only taking the club halfway back but definitely getting used to it.
I took a month off to let some soreness in my left forearm and elbow calm down and weirdly, my ring finger on my trailing hand has been very sore. I got a XL bucket of about 200 balls and it was about 45*F out today, which is nice for this time of the year. I warmed up with stretching and the orange whip. It was mats in a 3 sided shelter. Started off with wedges. Long story short... I noticed I was starting to hit shots off the face towards the toe. This is an old problem from August and I can't believe I'm seeing this again. Went through my positions and takeaway and switched to longer irons. 5 iron through 8 iron, hitting shots and things straightened out. I focused on feeling the big arc, not letting my right arm collapse too soon and making sure I had the full wrist cock at the top of the backswing and then accelerating hard with a full release through impact. I had a flagstick on a green that measured 163 yds, that was my target. I was hitting that green with my 7 iron. These shots felt great. Excellent ascending mid launch ball flight. I switched to 5W, then 3W hitting those center face dead straight and finished with Driver. 90% of these were perfect. The misses were straight generally but not hit in the center of the face. The last ball off the driver was so pure. Straight, excellent ascending launch angle and carried ~270. I was thrilled because I'm an old guy that used to be able to play this game. It's starting to come back to me.
short game practice with the md4 54 yesterday. something about club just doesn’t work for me. i was hitting some ok shots, but i don’t trust it at all. maybe it’s the w grind, although lord knows i need the help and forgiveness. i’m so excited for the wedge fitting at ecpc as a part of the grandaddy!
full swing work today. and it was freaking GOOD. full turn, not rushing the downswing, inside path to impact, club exits low and left. impact felt so good and pure. it was awesome! also hit some dead hand waist high pitches with the sw that were money. seriously impact felt amazing throughout the bag, except for driver. not feeling that club right now. some wipes, some hooks, just don’t have a clear visual for what i’m trying to do.
then to the short game area. it went ok. had it clicking for a hot minute, then lost it at the end. the biggest thing i have to be mindful of is good alignment.
i think one more short game session, maybe another driver session, and some putting over the next couple days. then the grandaddy begins!!!
then to the short game area. it went ok. had it clicking for a hot minute, then lost it at the end. the biggest thing i have to be mindful of is good alignment.
i think one more short game session, maybe another driver session, and some putting over the next couple days. then the grandaddy begins!!!
that's what i worked on today...did a quick 7 afterward and it helped a lot with the drives...didn't hit for a lot of distance but all my drives were easy plays
I'm not sure I'll ever know what it's like to get the proper weight shift, forward shaft lean at contact, and a descending angle of attack (or at least ball then ground contact). Worked on it today and just couldn't do it. I can do it all day long inside hitting into a net, but fail miserably outside.
I can handle physical limitations that prevent a higher club head speed, but failing to accomplish proper weight shift even with slow, easy practice swings is mental and every bit as frustrating as high scores on the course. If I can't do this while practicing, there's no way it's going to become part of my full swing.
This is the kind of stuff that makes me wonder why I try. And of course the more years I invest in working at it, the harder it becomes to just cut my losses.
I can handle physical limitations that prevent a higher club head speed, but failing to accomplish proper weight shift even with slow, easy practice swings is mental and every bit as frustrating as high scores on the course. If I can't do this while practicing, there's no way it's going to become part of my full swing.
This is the kind of stuff that makes me wonder why I try. And of course the more years I invest in working at it, the harder it becomes to just cut my losses.
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Weather cleared up enough to go to short game practice area. Finally.
Today I found a hillside which allowed me to practice shots from uneven lies. Uphill, downhill, and both side hill situations. I was able to hit shots about 30 yards.
My cousin gave me this idea, to practice actual golf shots. His reasoning is to be prepared, and never surprised by differene ball lie situations when playing.
Knowing how to hit out of different situations will save strokes. Knowing what the ball will do when hit out of those situations will also save strokes.
Today I found a hillside which allowed me to practice shots from uneven lies. Uphill, downhill, and both side hill situations. I was able to hit shots about 30 yards.
My cousin gave me this idea, to practice actual golf shots. His reasoning is to be prepared, and never surprised by differene ball lie situations when playing.
Knowing how to hit out of different situations will save strokes. Knowing what the ball will do when hit out of those situations will also save strokes.
an update to the above.
it feels/sounds like a mid iron. launches like a driver. appears to spin like a 3wood. very interesting
otherwise range session went good, it's been a few weeks due to some injuries. worked on a different approach to pitches and had some progress there
it feels/sounds like a mid iron. launches like a driver. appears to spin like a 3wood. very interesting
otherwise range session went good, it's been a few weeks due to some injuries. worked on a different approach to pitches and had some progress there
- Admin
- #90
Have you checked out that video drill I posted yesterday?
I worked on the full swing with the 4i, driver and 4h outside yesterday. I'm not sure why or how I fall into these funks, but I just couldn't make good swings. I used impact tape and for the most part, strikes were fairly center of face.
At the end of practicing, I felt physically tired. I will sometimes feel that way after a round when I've struggled. I know my weight is staying back when I get like this, it's something I can't seem to correct. Another problem - which I'm sure is related - the bottom of my arc is almost always too far back. Another poor result is an inability to get the ball to move right to left. Trying to make compensations by aiming left just isn't fun golf.
On those days when I'm doing something right, the difference is day and night. There's the feeling of a different angle of attack, of getting my hands forward, and pulling the club through instead of trying to push it. My tempo is usually slower and there's little effort or thought into swinging faster. I know things are better when finishing with far more weight on my lead foot and a ball flight that's anywhere between a slight fade to a slight draw.
Finally, I hit the 4h. The swing still felt weak, but oddly enough the results were much better. I walked away from that practice without a clue as to what I was doing wrong or how to fix it. If I slow everything down to like 30%, the mechanics, contact and ball flight get back to normal but with a substantial loss of distance.
I like practicing, but crappy efforts like this result in treading water at best.
At the end of practicing, I felt physically tired. I will sometimes feel that way after a round when I've struggled. I know my weight is staying back when I get like this, it's something I can't seem to correct. Another problem - which I'm sure is related - the bottom of my arc is almost always too far back. Another poor result is an inability to get the ball to move right to left. Trying to make compensations by aiming left just isn't fun golf.
On those days when I'm doing something right, the difference is day and night. There's the feeling of a different angle of attack, of getting my hands forward, and pulling the club through instead of trying to push it. My tempo is usually slower and there's little effort or thought into swinging faster. I know things are better when finishing with far more weight on my lead foot and a ball flight that's anywhere between a slight fade to a slight draw.
Finally, I hit the 4h. The swing still felt weak, but oddly enough the results were much better. I walked away from that practice without a clue as to what I was doing wrong or how to fix it. If I slow everything down to like 30%, the mechanics, contact and ball flight get back to normal but with a substantial loss of distance.
I like practicing, but crappy efforts like this result in treading water at best.
Hit a few balls on the range today. Mostly been working on 2 vastly different ends the last few range trips. I work on some nice smooth pitches to start. Take a few short or mid iron swings to make sure I am good and loose after that then move straight long irons and up. I have seen huge gains in my pitching, long irons, and hybrids lately. Woods are iffy but when its there its money. Those 2 places are really what needed the most work for me and its been paying off. I usually practice chipping at home and have been doing that some lately too. I am seeing a lot of improvement there as well.
Got outside today for a good practice session. I keep leaving shots short into the green. I hit 30 shots at 90/63/45 yards. Working on alignment and keeping my head still I had great results today. I then hit 20 shots at 136 yards. I had about 8 on the green but 4 of those were right and the rest were left and right. Good progress and a confidence boost before tomorrow’s round.
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Been reading a lot of posts from @LouStagner on Twitter - He's the Golf Stat Pro - Great follow.
Made a post yesterday about the Average Score based on the number of GIR on Tour:
Really woke me up about the importance of the approach shot and making GIR.
I mean to go from 1 to 3 GIR drops your score by 6 strokes!!!
So at the dome, which is 75 yards, I've been working on pitch shots with 8 and 9 irons and landing them just to the back or before it. It's a shot I really don't practice enough but would really help my game instead of going "UP" all the time with the wedge.
Made a post yesterday about the Average Score based on the number of GIR on Tour:
Really woke me up about the importance of the approach shot and making GIR.
I mean to go from 1 to 3 GIR drops your score by 6 strokes!!!
So at the dome, which is 75 yards, I've been working on pitch shots with 8 and 9 irons and landing them just to the back or before it. It's a shot I really don't practice enough but would really help my game instead of going "UP" all the time with the wedge.
Ugggg.....shows me just how bad my putting is now. Thanks! LOL. Is that based on the PGA tour or just in general? Couldn't find where the info was gathered from.
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PGA Tour, so if those guys have higher scores are really having bad days.
Same guy did the a spread sheet on whether you should Bomb and Gauge or Layup on a hole. Really cool.
Microsoft Power BI
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