jfurr wrote:

Starting now I am going to make a notebook to keep in my bag or car or at home, and after every round or practice session I am going to write down what I was working on, how it felt, what was good or bad, etc. I think this might help

Fantastic idea.

Since I have not played since Thanksgiving, I have spent time in the basement working on chipping and putting. My chipping accuracy has greatly improved. Last night instead of chipping to a couple targets, I started doing a ladder drill to 5 different spots all in row about 3 feet apart. I used my PW, 52 and 58. I was getting great results. My longest string was hitting all 5 marks, 3 times in a row.

Today on the driving range someone playing the nearby 18th hole almost smacked me with a ball. I was warming up with my new nike wedge sets. Seem to work fine

In lesson mode. Last week did a nice lengthy private lesson with a master PGA teaching pro in town. Outside on the range with multi video camera angles, trackman launch monitor, misc aids and lots of great analysis and advice. We did 1.5 hrs on full swing, 30 mins on greenside bunker technique, and 45 mins on putting, including more slow motion video, aids, lasers, all kinds of neat stuff and again awesome information.

Just got home from another lesson situation - a group golf school at my home club. Last night we did a quick video of each golfers swing, and had a classroom type lesson/discussion of the mental side of the game. Got to the course this morning 8:30. They closed off one of the 9's for our group. Worked on greenside chipping - using various clubs. Then on to another hole and worked on 45y, 75y, 100y shots using a club more and holding it off, as in the technique and feel of this shot vs full swings. After lunch out to the range and worked on full swing. A lesson on putting and a group playing lesson around several of the holes. After this was over, I hit a few buckets back on the range, working more on the feel of the 50-100yd shots and the new stuff on full swing. Got home at dark.

Great stuff. I re-wrote my notes down into my official journal I have started keeping. Though it might seem like information overload, it's kind of the opposite for me - the more things I know to get into automatic mode and trust the feel of, the less thinking about technique I will do on the course I hope, and just play the game one shot at a time.

A few evenings of chipping and putting, then last three nights evening range working on getting the new swing moves into a groove. It is feeling great. Grip, footwork, and take-away plane. Panic feeling is going away, powerful and smooth feeling coming in. Misplaced my little video camera at the moment so haven't done any slo-mo video but I can just feel that it is getting better.

Managed to snatch about 30-35 minutes at my local practice area (there's nothing like hitting off grass!) yesterday to try more at The Wedge Guy's suggestion of moving the left, rear pocket towards the left heel to start off the lower body move.

Nice when it works but I'm still hitting a lot of fat shots.

Not quite sure what's going on (Not enough lag? Right foot splayed out? Still not enough lateral movement?) but have seen a couple of tips for this where it's suggested moving the ball to OUTSIDE the left foot to force one to exaggerate the lateral move in order to hit the ball. One for later...

Been working hard on my hand position and takeaway. More recently as i've gotten those two down well i've shifted my attention to my upper body weight shift. I've been too upright lately and it's causing me to sacrifice distance and consistency. I'm using a chair drill to get my upper body tilted and turned more rather than upright.

jpjeffery wrote:

Nice when it works but I'm still hitting a lot of fat shots. Not quite sure what's going on (Not enough lag? Right foot splayed out? Still not enough lateral movement?) but have seen a couple of tips for this where it's suggested moving the ball to OUTSIDE the left foot to force one to exaggerate the lateral move in order to hit the ball. One for later...

I would try moving the ball back, to see if that helps out with the fats. Not necessarily as a fix but at least to help you figure out what's up.

Also, its probably not a good idea to think too much about lag. Instead just focus on smacking into the ball good and hard. As long as you lead with the hips, then follow with the shoulders, arms, hands, etc.. the lag will take care of itself.

[quote="jpjeffery"]Managed to snatch about 30-35 minutes at my local practice area (there's nothing like hitting off grass!) yesterday to try more at The Wedge Guy's suggestion of moving the left, rear pocket towards the left heel to start off the lower body move.

Nice when it works but I'm still hitting a lot of fat shots.

Not quite sure what's going on (Not enough lag? Right foot splayed out? Still not enough lateral movement?) but have seen a couple of tips for this where it's suggested moving the ball to OUTSIDE the left foot to force one to exaggerate the lateral move in order to hit the ball. One for later...[/quote]

The question is... how fat is fat?? are you catching a little too much turf but still getting a decent distance or are you chunking the heck out of the shot?

Beef's suggestion is great for the former, but if you're chunky monkey you might wanna look at your angle of attack. trying to create more lag, a lot of people get too steep in trying to "hit down" on the ball. remember you're not hitting down (red) you're catching the ball on the way down just before the lowest part of the circle (green). Big difference.


http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z312/onf22atnight/Strikepath.jpg

[quote="jpjeffery"]Managed to snatch about 30-35 minutes at my local practice area (there's nothing like hitting off grass!) yesterday to try more at The Wedge Guy's suggestion of moving the left, rear pocket towards the left heel to start off the lower body move.

Nice when it works but I'm still hitting a lot of fat shots.

Not quite sure what's going on (Not enough lag? Right foot splayed out? Still not enough lateral movement?) but have seen a couple of tips for this where it's suggested moving the ball to OUTSIDE the left foot to force one to exaggerate the lateral move in order to hit the ball. One for later...[/quote]

Here MY quick fix when FAT happens to me. I use the Stack & Tilt idea of keeping my weight mostly on my front foot throughout the swing. Always solves the problem for me IF the reason is because I'm not moving my weight forward properly. Once I have things back under control, I move away from S&T, but not completely. I have found by not allowing my weight to shift too much onto my back foot during the backswing I am much more consistent with my irons, and frankly, have more distance.

If it's a tempo issue, then my fix is to pause more at the top and to not rush my downswing. To do this, I will find the correct tempo in a practice swing, then using that same tempo in my real swing, sometimes a use a mental "ding" when I get to the top. Once I hear the "ding" in my head, I can then move down. This little pause to wait for the "ding" is usually all that is necessary to allow your weight shift to get started, before you start the downswing. These work for me. May not work for everyone.

[quote="legitimatebeef"]I would try moving the ball back, to see if that helps out with the fats.[/quote]

That will certainly be my tactic to get me round the course should that start to happen while I'm playing.

[quote="legitimatebeef"]Also, its probably not a good idea to think too much about lag.[/quote]

But Michael Breed said to! At least I think it was him...maybe not...anyway, whoever it was said try as hard as you can to create the lag angle and that your body would work out when to release the club.

[quote="birdieXris"]The question is... how fat is fat??[/quote]

Oh, SO fat. How fat is fat? F-A-T! Clinically Obese! HUGE great clumps of earth flying down the target line. Think of videos of big divot-taking good players like Hogan or Trevino and that's what I'm doing but about 6-7" before the ball.

Proper fat.

So fat I doubt the club head actually made contact with the ball there was that much sod inbetween the two.

Had it been a green-side bunker shot it would have been a good shot.

That fat.

:)

[quote="DougE"]This little pause to wait for the "ding" is usually all that is necessary to allow your weight shift to get started, before you start the downswing.[/quote]

I like that idea. I certainly get better shots when I have paused.

By the way, has anyone emailed info at oobgolf.com to let them know the [quote] system and the smileys aren't working?

jpjeffery wrote:

By the way, has anyone emailed info at oobgolf.com to let them know the quote system and the smileys aren't working?

They're working, but for some reason the check box for "Disable BBCode in this post" is always checked by default these days, which is why the quotes aren't showing up. If you uncheck it, they work.

jpjeffery wrote:

birdieXris wrote: The question is... how fat is fat?? Oh, SO fat. How fat is fat? F-A-T! Clinically Obese! HUGE great clumps of earth flying down the target line. Think of videos of big divot-taking good players like Hogan or Trevino and that's what I'm doing but about 6-7" before the ball. Proper fat. So fat I doubt the club head actually made contact with the ball there was that much sod inbetween the two.

I like to refer to it as hitting the big ball first.

SteveMM wrote:

They're working, but for some reason the check box for "Disable BBCode in this post" is always checked by default these days, which is why the quotes aren't showing up. If you uncheck it, they work.

D'Oh! And to think I work in IT.

You know I'm going to have to repost now...

legitimatebeef wrote:

I would try moving the ball back, to see if that helps out with the fats.

That will certainly be my tactic to get me round the course should that start to happen while I'm playing.

legitimatebeef wrote:

Also, its probably not a good idea to think too much about lag.

But Michael Breed said to! At least I think it was him...maybe not...anyway, whoever it was said try as hard as you can to create the lag angle and that your body would work out when to release the club.

birdieXris wrote:

The question is... how fat is fat??

Oh, SO fat. How fat is fat? F-A-T! Clinically Obese! HUGE great clumps of earth flying down the target line. Think of videos of big divot-taking good players like Hogan or Trevino and that's what I'm doing but about 6-7" before the ball.

Proper fat.

So fat I doubt the club head actually made contact with the ball there was that much sod inbetween the two.

Had it been a green-side bunker shot it would have been a good shot.

That fat.

:)

DougE wrote:

This little pause to wait for the "ding" is usually all that is necessary to allow your weight shift to get started, before you start the downswing.

I like that idea. I certainly get better shots when I have paused.

(That's better)