Once again, I was feeling great about my game, things are really coming around and my index has finally creeped below 11. After a day of 36 holes, a 79 and an 80, I was leaving the course, when I noticed that there was a "range party"...1$ beers and beat the pro contests...at any rate I went over to the range to give my pro a hard time... and one of the other pro's comes up to me and wants to play a 5 dollar double up chip game...immediately he didn't like my setup, said lucky shot and then proceeded to hole his chip from a downhill lie, to an elevated green, over a sand trap...from 18yards...
After the miracle shot he said well, lets get you your moneys worth... he said lets go to the range and hit a few balls, we chatted, I told him about my game(s) that day and he congratulated me on the hard work that seems to be starting to pay off... then he has me hit some shots with my 7 iron at the 150 flag... I land about 8 feet from the stick, and I say, see its coming around... then he says lucky shot, set up again, I do, and I do it again...again he says lucky shot, set up again but don't hit... so I do, he lays a shaft down at my toes and says come back here...I was pointed about 20 to 30 degrees to the right of my target line...I felt like an idiot this is something I had struggled with prior to lessons, and it was also a good sign that I was probably getting to upright in my swing again... I was lucky to have bumped into rob that night or this could have easily ballooned into a very large problem with time...
So after the alignment issue, he says and you are way over turning your shoulders and letting the shaft come over the top again. So I start feeling all Butt hurt, and feel like he is just being overly critical... so we start hitting some shots... he puts me onto a new drill...stand at address, put the club butt end pointing at the target, accross the elbow folds and the bring your hands flat to your chest one laying on top of the other, then point the butt end of the shaft at the ball, while keeping your hands on your chest... as soon as the butt end points at the ball, this is all the shoulder turn that your backswing position needs to achieve, and let me tell you, it felt well short of where I was turning to before...the best way I know to equate it, is like drag cars...or hot rods...if you have to much power and you let it all out from the starting line, you probably won't go anywhere fast... you will just sit there doing a burnout...I was probably getting really close, to start doing burnouts... and its a good thing I bumped into rob, even though i have been scoring better, that doesn't mean I was doing things correctly...at least now I can continue to work at my goal... and I have some more tools in my box to help me achieve them...
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Friday, August 7, 2009
Blades versus Cavity backs...oh no
I traded my taylormade lt irons for a set of taylormade muscle back rac blades yesterday. I went and played a round and I really like them. If I miss hit the shot, I get instant feedback. It seems to help me slow my tempo down and focus on swinging with my hips. The distance loss is only about 6 yards, and I think that as I get better and find the sweetspot more...I will get that six yards back. I did hit all my par three greens in one yesterday, but only made par on all of them... I had a horrible time putting yesterday. I think my putting has suffered because the bulk of my focus has been on chipping on up...putting was typically the strongest part of my game...I feel like it will come back soon.
The blades are great, all it takes is one shot just a touch off center to slow me back down and make me focus on clearing my hips, finding my center, and releasing through impact. The cavity backs never punished me, and I would constantly "swing for the fences".
The blades are great, all it takes is one shot just a touch off center to slow me back down and make me focus on clearing my hips, finding my center, and releasing through impact. The cavity backs never punished me, and I would constantly "swing for the fences".
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Wrist Angle for straight shots
I played great yesterday, Only had one shot yesterday that I didn't like. It was a hook I hit with a 7 iron. I went to the range after playing...and could hit nothing but hooks...pitching wedge through driver....I was getting very frustrated. Halfway through the bucket I started checking down everything... my setup was good, my alignment was good, my shoulders and hips were square... so I started my swing went all the way to the top, paused, and looked at my wrists... they were collapsing , the arm was falling into the wrist and the knuckles were protruding towards my head... so I corrected there (maintaining a nice flat line along the outside of the arm, through the wrist all the way to the knuckles, wrist hinged 90* to my arm) almost like a preset hinge, bounced my arms a few times then finished the swing... I had to do this several times before that wrist feeling became or is becoming another part of my swing routine. I would absolutely hate to have to be thinking about something like this while playing...but it was good knowledge to have incase I hit that shot while playing...with a few swing rehearsals... I could hopefully fix a problem like this in the middle of a round if it creaps up on me again.
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Spine Angle, remove the suck factor increase the luck factor
I have great spine angle on my irons up to my 5 iron, 4 iron is something I am working on maintaining... on the course its not something you want to be thinking about... but it is what sets up the coil and lets your hips unwind properly through the impact area making it much easier to maintain the target line and swing plane through the finish. For me its more of a feeling, than an effort to get good spine angle... and it helps to have a good set up routine to achieve the same spine angle everytime. Just a touch loss of focus during setup can cause me to get to close, or to far away, or off line, causing me to unconsciously make up for the poor setup with a bad spine angle...I might be able to hit the shot flush, but the ball is going to have a much harder time finding my target and if it does, it will be by luck alone... There is a lot of luck in golf... but taking away bad shots and alignment will definately increase my luck factor... remove the suck factor and increase the luck factor... might be a good address thought for a round or two to help me keep my mind clear while executing my setup routine.
Comforting Round
I am starting to get a dislocated right index finger...probably from hitting 500 balls a day. At any rate it has made me slow my foreswing down a little and has improved my ball striking...it is helping me to let my hips drive the swing more, specifically with woods and long irons. I did notice a tendency to over read the break on my short chips, i kept missing them on the high side of the cup...i like to play a running chip that has enough to get at least 2 feet past the pin but no more than 5 feet. My putting was on point, no three putts and several nice long putts dropped for me yesterday... I went back to more overlap between my hands and less grip pressure, allowing me to release the putter through the stroke, which helps for distance feel and line maintenance.
The scores were not what I wanted... little stupid trouble off a couple par fours and two unlucky bounces put me in bad positions...totaled a loss of 8 strokes that I never made... had a 41 on the front and a 44 on the back...
Halfway through the round I started gripping my woods just a little strong with my left hand, which was a kind of a cheat to keep the ball on line... but if I nutted it, it would yield a block to the left...off line by about 25* to the left but long and straight flight.
All in all it was much more encouraging than my last round, starting to see the benefits of hitting all these balls. A little reminder to self is to get all the way through on my chips, i.e. complete the wieght transfer in order to get all the distance out of the open faced chips.
The scores were not what I wanted... little stupid trouble off a couple par fours and two unlucky bounces put me in bad positions...totaled a loss of 8 strokes that I never made... had a 41 on the front and a 44 on the back...
Halfway through the round I started gripping my woods just a little strong with my left hand, which was a kind of a cheat to keep the ball on line... but if I nutted it, it would yield a block to the left...off line by about 25* to the left but long and straight flight.
All in all it was much more encouraging than my last round, starting to see the benefits of hitting all these balls. A little reminder to self is to get all the way through on my chips, i.e. complete the wieght transfer in order to get all the distance out of the open faced chips.
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Good Range day bad Golf Day
Day started well...went to range and was able to hit every shot exactly like I wanted and where I wanted, had the high straight, low draw, and low fade working...did not hit one bad shot on the range... first hole had a putt for birdie that didn't break in... easy clean up par... second hole... crushed an eight iron about 13 yards long of target... poor chip left me two putting for a bogey...next tee... stuck it in the trees, left of the fairway... another poor chip left me putting for a bogey....next tee trouble ensued... felt mechanical and frustrated... I ended the first 9 with an embarrassing 55...at the turn I grabbed a few beers and decided to just have some fun... shot a 41 on the next 9.... played an additional 9 and shot a 38...but at that point had a pretty good buzz going...I am just going to chalk it up as I am working on to many things and need to save the practice for the range and do what is routine on the course...if I have learned one thing... remember the good in golf and develop a severe case of amnesia for the bad...
Friday, July 31, 2009
Early wrist cock
I have noticed a lot of pros have swing triggers... a waggle, a snort, a head movement...but typically something that tells the body to begin the swing... particularly with woods...last night I was dropping 747's ... straight, climbing ball flight by triggering my swing with setting my wrists in a correct backswing finish position then swinging along the target line... with great success... we will see if it lasts.
Cheap Lessons chipping and putting
Don't be afraid to gamble with your pro...you will be surprised at how well you hold your ground...we played short game challenge last night... buck a ball closest to the pin, winner picks the next shot. After about 50 shots I was down seven bucks....not bad...
I did learn that I had some shots, I didn't know I had... such as straight up over a 20 foot tree and still carry 25 yards forward...I watched my pro hit the shot first...then I did the same...opened the face of a 53* wedge to about 55-70* open...keeping the sternum over the ball swing easy back on the target line to a full swing position and follow all the way through to a full finish...
I did have trouble with severe downhill lies from 45 yards in thick rough... I learned quickly after it cost me three bucks in a row...for mild downhill lies I used to always keep... my weight on my front foot when chipping and would sometimes hold the heel of my right foot off the ground...I couldn't do that and still get over the tree about 12 yards in front of us...I had to open my body and my clubface, stand mostly feet together...and kind of visually swing along the hill if you will on my target line... by the fourth shot I had it down.
Putting:
We went to the putting green after 50 bucks and played a game my pro calls, don't be short... typically all 8-10 foot putts from various locations around the putting green matches are of course 18 holes at a time...the rules are simple...if u are short measured 90* from center of cup from last pin to current pin... then u owe a buck... if get an ace, u win a buck... any difference in strokes the higher scoring person pays difference...
At one point I was down 13 dollars... ended up only owing 4. I had a good run of aces when everyone else was two and sometimes three putting... its easy to get back in the game 3 and 4 bucks a whack...
I did learn that I had some shots, I didn't know I had... such as straight up over a 20 foot tree and still carry 25 yards forward...I watched my pro hit the shot first...then I did the same...opened the face of a 53* wedge to about 55-70* open...keeping the sternum over the ball swing easy back on the target line to a full swing position and follow all the way through to a full finish...
I did have trouble with severe downhill lies from 45 yards in thick rough... I learned quickly after it cost me three bucks in a row...for mild downhill lies I used to always keep... my weight on my front foot when chipping and would sometimes hold the heel of my right foot off the ground...I couldn't do that and still get over the tree about 12 yards in front of us...I had to open my body and my clubface, stand mostly feet together...and kind of visually swing along the hill if you will on my target line... by the fourth shot I had it down.
Putting:
We went to the putting green after 50 bucks and played a game my pro calls, don't be short... typically all 8-10 foot putts from various locations around the putting green matches are of course 18 holes at a time...the rules are simple...if u are short measured 90* from center of cup from last pin to current pin... then u owe a buck... if get an ace, u win a buck... any difference in strokes the higher scoring person pays difference...
At one point I was down 13 dollars... ended up only owing 4. I had a good run of aces when everyone else was two and sometimes three putting... its easy to get back in the game 3 and 4 bucks a whack...
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Beer Money for Short Game
Playing short game against my pro this afternoon for beer money... I must be crazy right...no...wrong... my short game is great.
I swing on a simple targe line keep club face position on target line the entire time...i do not use my hands, i use my hips only. 25 yards 56*wedge, i open the face 45* from square in my stance, i align the grooves of my club face to perpendicular and on my target line, feet together...it leaves my body aimed about 45* to the left of my target...at this point, the ball is centered between my feet which are still side by side... I step out with my right foot visualizing a straight line back from my toes which were previously together... to about shoulder width, maybe a touch inside shoulder width but definately no outside... from here I keep the face on the targe line, using my hips and shoulders to execute the swing...on the back swing the right elbow does bend some and stays relatively the same as at address... mostly next to my right rib cage... i bring the club back to parrallel with my shoulders and hips and then turn through the ball with my shoulders and hips allowing the club to continue to a full finish by my left ear... I can hit with about 85% accuracy three foot from the left or right of pin... and typically hole 2 shots out of every thirty on the range. I use the same swing from 50 yards I just don't open the club face at address...and from that range I hit to about 6 yards either side of the pin with about 90% accuracy. I use this same swing with my varying wedges... 53* open from 33-35 yards... square to target from 65 yards.... my 50* open from 40-45 yards...square to target from 70 to 75 yards... I close the gap between seventy five and 100 in this order... full swing no wrist hinge with 56* 75-80 yards...53* full swing no wrist hinge from 80 to 95 yards...50* full swing no wrist hinge from 95 to 105 yards...Pitching wedge 105 to 120 no wrist hinge... 120-130 no wrist hinge with 9 iron.... at this point I am only using no wrist hinge for accuracy... I tend to be less accurate with a wrist hinge... and since this is a math contest not an art contest...I do what it takes to score, not look good.
please share your technique as there are thousands of different ways to get the job done and I would like to hear some more...
I swing on a simple targe line keep club face position on target line the entire time...i do not use my hands, i use my hips only. 25 yards 56*wedge, i open the face 45* from square in my stance, i align the grooves of my club face to perpendicular and on my target line, feet together...it leaves my body aimed about 45* to the left of my target...at this point, the ball is centered between my feet which are still side by side... I step out with my right foot visualizing a straight line back from my toes which were previously together... to about shoulder width, maybe a touch inside shoulder width but definately no outside... from here I keep the face on the targe line, using my hips and shoulders to execute the swing...on the back swing the right elbow does bend some and stays relatively the same as at address... mostly next to my right rib cage... i bring the club back to parrallel with my shoulders and hips and then turn through the ball with my shoulders and hips allowing the club to continue to a full finish by my left ear... I can hit with about 85% accuracy three foot from the left or right of pin... and typically hole 2 shots out of every thirty on the range. I use the same swing from 50 yards I just don't open the club face at address...and from that range I hit to about 6 yards either side of the pin with about 90% accuracy. I use this same swing with my varying wedges... 53* open from 33-35 yards... square to target from 65 yards.... my 50* open from 40-45 yards...square to target from 70 to 75 yards... I close the gap between seventy five and 100 in this order... full swing no wrist hinge with 56* 75-80 yards...53* full swing no wrist hinge from 80 to 95 yards...50* full swing no wrist hinge from 95 to 105 yards...Pitching wedge 105 to 120 no wrist hinge... 120-130 no wrist hinge with 9 iron.... at this point I am only using no wrist hinge for accuracy... I tend to be less accurate with a wrist hinge... and since this is a math contest not an art contest...I do what it takes to score, not look good.
please share your technique as there are thousands of different ways to get the job done and I would like to hear some more...
In the Beginning
I decided to start this blog to recieve and share what I have learned and what others have learned about the game of golf...to catalogue the things that work and the things that don't. I am currently a 14.3 handicap. I have been playing for three years and was self taught, my low round is a 66... I followed that round one day later with a 92...three days later I decided to start getting lessons, to be more consistent. This is a catalogue of my instruction and my fight to get to a single digit handicap...in no way do I imply or encourage you to try the things that are working for me. I am however paying good money for this advice... this is an avenue for me to sort of journal my instruction and my woes along the way.
Lesson 1:
We started with grip... I am right handed... first we set a pitching wedge on the ground square in front of us feet together butt end of the club about a fists width from crotch... left hand club resting in the first knuckle, thumb on top shaft laying pretty close along the "life line" in the palm of the hand. Right hand club rests in between knuckle one and two, closest to end of finger, right hand thumb barely touching end of index finger... not squeezing much harder than holding an open tube of new toothpaste without squeezing anything out.
addressing the ball... first we stand perpendicular to target line after grip has already been taken on the club (nuetral grip club face is square to body...very important)...we aim the club square on target line... then observe target line three foot in front of ball and three foot behind the ball.
after visualizing target line we stand feet together...ball in dead center between both feet...then we step out with the right foot to just barely outside the width of the shoulders.
we ground the club in the center of the stance on the target line... we check for square feet...then knees...then hips then shoulders... all square to targe line... maintaining these square lines... most importantly at this point hips and shoulders we reach to ground the club behind the ball... at this point it becomes awkward ... the feeling of being behind the ball with everything square...you immediately feel how the right shoulder has to drop a bit and left has to raise a bit to keep shoulders, and hips square to target line, all while maintaining your even balance between feet...
at this point my pro lays a club shaft about three feet behind the ball, dead on the target line... and tells me to open the club face along that shaft until the shaft of my wedge is parrallel to the ground maintaining square feet, hips... shoulders are turning... farthest back I can go is barely hip height...while maintaing square hips... now I continue using, "loading" hips ....and reaching away(feels like) from my body on that shaft thats on my target line until the club reaches parrallel... from here I swing down with my hips (not my arms) almost letting the club collide with the ball and then swing thru to a full finish, hands up by my left ear.
I do this over and over and over for about a week with moderate success...in the mean time I am not allowed to hit any club higher than a six iron until I can hit up to that six iron consistently and straight in excess of 85% of the time.... about day seven of hitting about 500 balls a day... the setup and the feeling became natural and I finally started leading with my hips...I had all my old distance back... 130 yds with a pitching wedge and still wasn't using a wrist cock...
Lesson 2:
Wrist cock... I am now having great success... with my short irons hitting up to my six iron... dead straight....with relative back spin... we start adding the wrist cock today... as soon as I feel the face of the club open I begin the wrist cock... 90 degrees from parrallel and start back down with my hips... chaos ensues... I start chunking and hitting the ground... so for another week, we go back and forth... one shot no wrist cock...then next shot with... about 600 to 700 balls a day for about three days... the feeling is becoming more routine...(it has never felt natural)....finally start hitting shots with good percentage and straight... i do now fight a tendency to pull, if I swing to aggressively... and I fight a slice if i try to swing with my arms...rather than leading with my hips...
Lesson 3:
Woods...all my god I want to hang somebody... all I can do is go right... i can't even play a round of golf without embarrassing myself... i feel like there is one less golfer in the world... about three days in, I realize i am swinging way to hard... so I start alternating between 4 iron and 5 wood... until i can finally hit shots... with ease and straight... I must take great care to swing the club painfully slow on the back swing, loading my body , cocking my wrist and letting my hips swing the club... finally starting to feel that pulling torque in my left shoulder as my hips lead the swing... some people might refer to this as "lag" it generates incredible club head speed, but requires little effort from the arms... it is important to feel the left elbow in, rather than to "pull" it in on the downswing...also with the club being longer, to stay on the target line it feels as if I am taking the club way away from my body as I am executing my back swing via opening the face on the target line until parrallel... also... parrallel is much closer to the ground with the longer club than it is the shorter ones... so there is a real easy tendency to come to high, yeilding and over the top swing... I am still swinging about 300 wood shots per day and about 300 iron shots per day... trying to make this swing a habit, and have been doing so for 3 days at this point... right now I am only at about 40% success rate for a straight shot on target line...it has been a real fight to control the urge to over swing.
Lesson 1:
We started with grip... I am right handed... first we set a pitching wedge on the ground square in front of us feet together butt end of the club about a fists width from crotch... left hand club resting in the first knuckle, thumb on top shaft laying pretty close along the "life line" in the palm of the hand. Right hand club rests in between knuckle one and two, closest to end of finger, right hand thumb barely touching end of index finger... not squeezing much harder than holding an open tube of new toothpaste without squeezing anything out.
addressing the ball... first we stand perpendicular to target line after grip has already been taken on the club (nuetral grip club face is square to body...very important)...we aim the club square on target line... then observe target line three foot in front of ball and three foot behind the ball.
after visualizing target line we stand feet together...ball in dead center between both feet...then we step out with the right foot to just barely outside the width of the shoulders.
we ground the club in the center of the stance on the target line... we check for square feet...then knees...then hips then shoulders... all square to targe line... maintaining these square lines... most importantly at this point hips and shoulders we reach to ground the club behind the ball... at this point it becomes awkward ... the feeling of being behind the ball with everything square...you immediately feel how the right shoulder has to drop a bit and left has to raise a bit to keep shoulders, and hips square to target line, all while maintaining your even balance between feet...
at this point my pro lays a club shaft about three feet behind the ball, dead on the target line... and tells me to open the club face along that shaft until the shaft of my wedge is parrallel to the ground maintaining square feet, hips... shoulders are turning... farthest back I can go is barely hip height...while maintaing square hips... now I continue using, "loading" hips ....and reaching away(feels like) from my body on that shaft thats on my target line until the club reaches parrallel... from here I swing down with my hips (not my arms) almost letting the club collide with the ball and then swing thru to a full finish, hands up by my left ear.
I do this over and over and over for about a week with moderate success...in the mean time I am not allowed to hit any club higher than a six iron until I can hit up to that six iron consistently and straight in excess of 85% of the time.... about day seven of hitting about 500 balls a day... the setup and the feeling became natural and I finally started leading with my hips...I had all my old distance back... 130 yds with a pitching wedge and still wasn't using a wrist cock...
Lesson 2:
Wrist cock... I am now having great success... with my short irons hitting up to my six iron... dead straight....with relative back spin... we start adding the wrist cock today... as soon as I feel the face of the club open I begin the wrist cock... 90 degrees from parrallel and start back down with my hips... chaos ensues... I start chunking and hitting the ground... so for another week, we go back and forth... one shot no wrist cock...then next shot with... about 600 to 700 balls a day for about three days... the feeling is becoming more routine...(it has never felt natural)....finally start hitting shots with good percentage and straight... i do now fight a tendency to pull, if I swing to aggressively... and I fight a slice if i try to swing with my arms...rather than leading with my hips...
Lesson 3:
Woods...all my god I want to hang somebody... all I can do is go right... i can't even play a round of golf without embarrassing myself... i feel like there is one less golfer in the world... about three days in, I realize i am swinging way to hard... so I start alternating between 4 iron and 5 wood... until i can finally hit shots... with ease and straight... I must take great care to swing the club painfully slow on the back swing, loading my body , cocking my wrist and letting my hips swing the club... finally starting to feel that pulling torque in my left shoulder as my hips lead the swing... some people might refer to this as "lag" it generates incredible club head speed, but requires little effort from the arms... it is important to feel the left elbow in, rather than to "pull" it in on the downswing...also with the club being longer, to stay on the target line it feels as if I am taking the club way away from my body as I am executing my back swing via opening the face on the target line until parrallel... also... parrallel is much closer to the ground with the longer club than it is the shorter ones... so there is a real easy tendency to come to high, yeilding and over the top swing... I am still swinging about 300 wood shots per day and about 300 iron shots per day... trying to make this swing a habit, and have been doing so for 3 days at this point... right now I am only at about 40% success rate for a straight shot on target line...it has been a real fight to control the urge to over swing.
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