Dusty23 wrote:

Where the hell does this guy live? Got out of work at 3:00. 5:30 and 6:00 tee times? Isn't it still getting dark around 7:00. Before you say, he must work the overnite. I 'm up at 5 a.m. everyday and by 6:00 its just light enough to go without headlights.

You read it wrong: got out of work (read: school) at 3:00.

Dusty23 wrote:

Where the hell does this guy live? Got out of work at 3:00. 5:30 and 6:00 tee times? Isn't it still getting dark around 7:00. Before you say, he must work the overnite. I 'm up at 5 a.m. everyday and by 6:00 its just light enough to go without headlights.

I recently played a morning round and the course manager said that people tee off at 5:30am and yes, it's still about 98% dark at that time. I don't know how people play golf in the dark, but another dude that I work with said that he used to do the same thing and they would use some kind of special flashing balls for the first 3 holes until it got light enough to play with a normal ball. That's just as nutty as the guys that play in icy blizzards and then romanticize about it on social golf website forums like modern day 9-iron wielding warrior poets.

Last edited by Duke of Hazards on Thu Mar 08, 2012 6:46 pm; edited 1 time in total

I have been playing in the dark lately too... the glowing balls work well... except when people steal them.

They cost more than prov1s too damn it.

Its hard enough at the range in the dark, the only positive is, your golf ball is the only ball on the course at that time in the morning.

Today I hit some balls into a stiff left to right wind--good practice for a hard draw. Some say beating balls into wind isn't good for your swing. On the other hand the wind shot is something you need on the course very often. So it's a push probably. It feels really good to rip one straight through a strong breeze. Looking forward to some actual golf this weekend.

Ok, no practice today but feel I need to sound off a little. The golf swing is such an elusive challenge. Every day the feel is different. One might know a lot about the mechanics of a proper swing in theory, but the day to day physical execution of it, achieving the feel of the proper mechanics, is a whole nother challenge.

I've always searched for a better swing but since last summer I've been going at it pretty hard. I strive to keep things very simple--Ben Hogan is about the only instruction that I consult. Yet as I say every day it feels different. Several occasions I've made changes and felt that I've "found it" only to eventually look back and scoff at my naivete and short-sightedness. And I'm pretty sure that these so-called changes are probably invisible to the naked eye.

But as Hogan wrote, the swing is a ongoing process of perpetual discovery and failure, as much detective work as it is science. That is reassuring coming from one of the all-time great swingers. I think you have to lead yourself down this path and that, and that includes the wrong paths. Arguably we learn more from mistakes than from successes.

I have always struggled with an upright swing path, a high right elbow. Only recently I am realizing that it's not so much a mechanical issue as it is mental. It is normal to stand over the ball and have the impulse to hit it as hard as reasonably possible. My problem was that I didn't really lag the club efficiently. So as a result I would tend to overswing, trying for as high and wide an arc as possible in an effort to generate force. I could produce a long ball sometimes, only I would sweat and nearly split my nutsack in the process. I would describe my backswing as angry and tense.

So finally now I'm learning to really swing with lag. I've read about "float loading" and now am starting to understand how it works. Understanding why when great players swing the club, it has a way of looking slow and nonchalant. Hip-high to hip-high is the only place in the swing where I need to feel speed. I need to feel a sense of ease and relaxation until well into the downswing. It's a new feel for me but when I get it right, the clubhead tears thru impact with unfathomable speed, when I get it right, I pivot nicely without much thinking about pivot--I end up on my front leg, knees close together, nice finish. It's a more compact, agile motion more like the kind seen on TV. When I get it right even the mishits are serviceable and not that far from the target. Swinging with lag means I don't have to twist my self into a knot trying to generate coil and power.

Ok I think i've said enough now.

Duke of Hazards wrote:

That's just as nutty as the guys that play in icy blizzards and then romanticize about it on social golf website forums like modern day 9-iron wielding warrior poets.

Wut??

legitimatebeef wrote:

Ok, no practice today but feel I need to sound off a little. The golf swing is such an elusive challenge. Every day the feel is different. One might know a lot about the mechanics of a proper swing in theory, but the day to day physical execution of it, achieving the feel of the proper mechanics, is a whole nother challenge. I've always searched for a better swing but since last summer I've been going at it pretty hard. I strive to keep things very simple--Ben Hogan is about the only instruction that I consult. Yet as I say every day it feels different. Several occasions I've made changes and felt that I've "found it" only to eventually look back and scoff at my naivete and short-sightedness. And I'm pretty sure that these so-called changes are probably invisible to the naked eye. But as Hogan wrote, the swing is a ongoing process of perpetual discovery and failure, as much detective work as it is science. That is reassuring coming from one of the all-time great swingers. I think you have to lead yourself down this path and that, and that includes the wrong paths. Arguably we learn more from mistakes than from successes. I have always struggled with an upright swing path, a high right elbow. Only recently I am realizing that it's not so much a mechanical issue as it is mental. It is normal to stand over the ball and have the impulse to hit it as hard as reasonably possible. My problem was that I didn't really lag the club efficiently. So as a result I would tend to overswing, trying for as high and wide an arc as possible in an effort to generate force. I could produce a long ball sometimes, only I would sweat and nearly split my nutsack in the process. I would describe my backswing as angry and tense. So finally now I'm learning to really swing with lag. I've read about "float loading" and now am starting to understand how it works. Understanding why when great players swing the club, it has a way of looking slow and nonchalant. Hip-high to hip-high is the only place in the swing where I need to feel speed. I need to feel a sense of ease and relaxation until well into the downswing. It's a new feel for me but when I get it right, the clubhead tears thru impact with unfathomable speed, when I get it right, I pivot nicely without much thinking about pivot--I end up on my front leg, knees close together, nice finish. It's a more compact, agile motion more like the kind seen on TV. When I get it right even the mishits are serviceable and not that far from the target. Swinging with lag means I don't have to twist my self into a knot trying to generate coil and power. Ok I think i've said enough now. Duke of Hazards wrote: That's just as nutty as the guys that play in icy blizzards and then romanticize about it on social golf website forums like modern day 9-iron wielding warrior poets. Wut??

It's funny you should mention lag and power. I've been taking lessons and reworking my swing and everyone i've gone to has said "shorten your swing and you'll hit it farther" so in an effort to do this i've tirelessly repeated the takeaway and backswing. What i've noticed is that i had lost about 15 yards on my best shots. I didn't know what was going on. then i found a teacher who said "you're so freaking athletic, why would you want to limit that? Are you spraying the ball? do you miss contact often?" when i replied "no" to all that, he said something that i will always remember. "find what is comfortable for you and build a repeating swing around that". Amazing. Let me say this - it works. My swing is past parallel, but it's repeatable, produces center strikes and allows me to hit how i want to hit. I call it a win.

Golf isn't about pretty. It's not about textbook. Golf is about repeating the same motion or nearly the same motion to produce a result. Once i stopped worrying about where things "Should" be and started worrying about where they felt right, things got better in a hurry. I'm diggin it now.

Edit: realized while typing this at work, i missed my whole point: When i shortened the swing, i couldn't lag the club. My lag was in my flexibility at the top and the pause. Getting short caused me to tense up. making it longer again allowed me to get my lag back and my length, for that matter.

Last edited by birdieXris on Mon Mar 12, 2012 6:10 pm; edited 1 time in total

Practicing putting since I'm horrible, simply through complete and utter neglect in my practice regiment. I mean, when you 3-putt 10 times in a round, it's time to hit the practice green.

I've searched around for different methods, and I like the Stockton method since I tend to open my stance naturally to see the line better anyway. I can read greens fine, but don't have enough practice and muscle memory to get the speed down consistently. Also, because I'm not confident in my putting, my tendency is to squeeze the putter too hard during rounds and cut off all feel. So I have a little routine now, see the line, step up and roll it on the line without hesitating too much and getting ball fixated.

Anybody have any suggestions on putting mini-games?

With the "real" golf season only a few weeks away up here in the Northeast and the winter hacking drawing to a close, I've decided that I need to implement some sort of schedule in order to show any improvement in my game. Like everyone else, work, family and life seem to get in the way of my golf. I've written up a weekly schedule to include my workouts, stretching and practice time. I figure that I will have about 1-1.5 hrs 2 days a week to practice. I will use the range at my home course for long game, 100 yd and sand practice and at my other "home course"(I wish) they have a great 40 yd short game area and practice green. Hopefully spend about 30-45 min on two parts of my game a day and alternate locations. I figure that writing down the schedule is the only way I will be able to stick with it and not end up just banging balls with no idea what I need to work on.

birdieXris wrote:

Edit: realized while typing this at work, i missed my whole point: When i shortened the swing, i couldn't lag the club. My lag was in my flexibility at the top and the pause. Getting short caused me to tense up. making it longer again allowed me to get my lag back and my length, for that matter.

I think shortening the swing is one of the hardest things to do. Yet its one of the "tips" that instructors always yap about as the easy answer to all your golf problems. Everyone has a their own tempo, back and thru, and to shorten the swing is to severely alter the basic instinctive timing of your back and thru, a tall order.

I have had a naturally long swing so I'm finding that I can shorten the backswing and hit it well, but I have to increase the lag on the downswing. (At this point I'm wondering if I'm even making sense here) Basically the feel is that of starting the downswing before the backswing is finished. I don't know where it's all headed. I'll hit some balls today and report back here.

legitimatebeef wrote:

birdieXris wrote: Edit: realized while typing this at work, i missed my whole point: When i shortened the swing, i couldn't lag the club. My lag was in my flexibility at the top and the pause. Getting short caused me to tense up. making it longer again allowed me to get my lag back and my length, for that matter. I think shortening the swing is one of the hardest things to do. Yet its one of the "tips" that instructors always yap about as the easy answer to all your golf problems. Everyone has a their own tempo, back and thru, and to shorten the swing is to severely alter the basic instinctive timing of your back and thru, a tall order. I have had a naturally long swing so I'm finding that I can shorten the backswing and hit it well, but I have to increase the lag on the downswing. (At this point I'm wondering if I'm even making sense here) Basically the feel is that of starting the downswing before the backswing is finished. I don't know where it's all headed. I'll hit some balls today and report back here.

Good luck and keep notes. i spent all sorts of time on that. They kept telling me about "oh have the club here so you can feel the club head". I never understood that. the only thing a shorter swing got me is shorter distance and more pulls. I have a heck of a transition pause because i'm about 6 or so inches past parallel. Not a pause because i don't stop, but it looks like one because of all the gears changing direction. I"ll see if i can get a camera on it in the next couple days. When i made the swing shorter, it became a literal pause and that killed me.

I need to practice my putting after the many three-putts I had in my last round. Problem is that we're moving and there's no room in my garage for my practice matt!

Guess my wife will have to life with me putting in the living room

(sorry about the double post -- the forums were acting wacky and it didn't look like it had actually posted)

SteveMM wrote:

Guess my wife will have to life with me putting in the living room

She should be in the kitchen making dinner, anyway.

well instead of playing 9, i spent the time after work until dark on the windy driving range working on lowering my trajectory with my wedges. It was nice to have a breeze too because i could practice knocking down all my clubs into the wind and get really good with it. Not bad.

Not really practice but yesterday during the round I paid much attention to my right leg at setup. Because recently I noticed that during the backswing I was straightening it rather than maintaining flex, a lame move that saps power and gets you off-plane. As Ben Hogan puts it the knees ought to point in together--since the right knee works in toward the left, you might as well position them close at address.

Good progress lately. 41% GIR in the last two months...most of last year I hovered around 30%...improvement which I can hang my hat on. I could say I'm working on this thing or that, but really what's happening is I've started to assimilate the feel of the entire body working in unison to produce the swing. One move instead of a contrived sequence of individual movements. Maintaining leverage late into the swing, so that the downswing feeling is that of a simple turn, not a violent heave of a turn but a calm civilized turn, as if merely turning around and saying hello to someone who is behind you. All very difficult to put into words as you can see.