Dave D's swing thread - Pg 39 new putter & swing update 9th April

[Dave D]

Since the win a couple of weeks ago my swing has felt very funky, felt a bit 'outside' on the backswing then very inside and dumped under coming down. Ball flight had gotten higher, driver hitting a lot of slight push fades, irons struggling with toe and slightly heavy strikes. But generally had managed it and the misses hadn't been too bad.

 

Until Saturday.... wow it was bad. all the misses amplified. the only good thing was that my short game was brilliant. I'm glad it happened now because ive got 3 weeks until club championship so gives me a short window to knuckle down and erase some sloppiness that has crept in.

 

I took video after the round and was shocked at how vertical the club was in the backswing, how across the line it was and how little depth I had. No wonder I was then having to massively get dumped under in order to try and hit the ball somewhat to target.

 

 

 

Is your depth really that bad at the top? How much more are you looking for?

 

For how much my hands and arms work out in transition I need them more over my right heel at the top than middle of the shoe

[ebrasmus21]

Since the win a couple of weeks ago my swing has felt very funky, felt a bit 'outside' on the backswing then very inside and dumped under coming down. Ball flight had gotten higher, driver hitting a lot of slight push fades, irons struggling with toe and slightly heavy strikes. But generally had managed it and the misses hadn't been too bad.

 

Until Saturday.... wow it was bad. all the misses amplified. the only good thing was that my short game was brilliant. I'm glad it happened now because ive got 3 weeks until club championship so gives me a short window to knuckle down and erase some sloppiness that has crept in.

 

I took video after the round and was shocked at how vertical the club was in the backswing, how across the line it was and how little depth I had. No wonder I was then having to massively get dumped under in order to try and hit the ball somewhat to target.

 

 

 

Is your depth really that bad at the top? How much more are you looking for?

 

For how much my hands and arms work out in transition I need them more over my right heel at the top than middle of the shoe

 

I see. Can you get that depth without working too hard or is this going to be a big change for you?

[Dave D]

2nd lesson with AMG

 

Foot pressures are looking a bit better but I've got way off with excessive tilt in the backswing. (not a common theme for me at all). As Mike explained it I basically move my left shoulder to where my right was, when in fact he wants me to feel as if I get my right shoulder behind me and to inline with where my left was (or over left foot). The key here also being to keep the pressure under the laces of my right foot still and not let it get too into my heels like before. Just working on a better pivot has got my hands a bit deeper at the top, left wrist flatter and clubface a touch more closed, a position I much prefer to be in and play better from.

 

 

 

Have tried a few ways to sort this issue and never found a key to really help me get it down, but this feel seems to really click for me. I also then need to get my arms working down sooner in transition, the best way to go about this is to get my left side working lower in transition. This is much easier from a more centered backswing. None of this is particularly new information but hearing a couple of different ways of fixing it is showing early promise. Sometimes you just need to hear the same thing but described in a different way?

 

I've really struggled before with trying to get the arms working down sooner/quicker etc. and often end up all arms and no rotation. I need to do it in combination with keeping my left side lower in transition.

 

So currently working on a couple of drills for downswing, one with alignment stick through belt loops, and swinging down trying to keep that pointing lower with the aim to have my hands at hip high when the stick is parallel to the ground, the other drill in the videos encourages not only a lower left side but also getting the body rotating. I really like this 2nd drill and find it's doing a great job of integrating all 3 moves of arms, left side lower and also rotating through.

 

[media=]

[/media]

 

[media=]

[/media]

 

continues in next post...

[Dave D]

continued due to too many media attachments?....

 

Strike and compression are much improved from the last 2 weeks. I've also been struggling with a very thin nearly top shot with 3 wood, I've suffered this before and it was from being too shallow, from excessive movement off the ball in backswing, bingo no wonder I've been struggling with it lately with my swing how it is. IDIOT! beggars belief how easy it is to forget things and get into bad habits. In the 3 wood video there is a backswing rehearsal im doing with a ball under my right outstep to help feel the pressure under my laces whilst I feel my right shoulder moving over my left foot. This 3 wood was smoked.

 

[media=]

[/media]

 

As I've said in a few recent posts my chipping and pitching has been a real strength lately. Since implementing some of the drills in Monte's use the bounce 2.0 video and really feeling like I'm just going to toss the ball with my right hand my distance control has been superb. The Mizuno T7 60* seems to be a perfect fit for me for this move. I just love the way the leading edge sits on the 54 & 60. Love hitting short game shots with them, just very confidence inspiring with a low leading edge for me. Not sure if the 50* will stay in the bag though.

 

[media=]

[/media]

 

Still no word about irons yet, starting to get a bit annoyed about it all, on the brightside I had an email from Gary @ Raybon Friday saying my putter was being sent out that day, watch this space.....

[Dave D]

I see. Can you get that depth without working too hard or is this going to be a big change for you?

 

Pretty easily, see 1st part of post above ^^

[CSagan]

 

 

Got me wondering whether I should start feeling my right hand controlling the speed putting too?

 

 

 

 

I like practicing right hand only putting. It seems so easy to hit it solid and so free. I think Tiger does it a lot to get the feel of the putter head and the feel of what he's talking about above. But yeah...right hand controlling (without flipping it or pushing it of you know what I mean) is the way to putt imo.

[Dave D]

Got me wondering whether I should start feeling my right hand controlling the speed putting too?

 

 

 

[media=]

[/media]

 

I like practicing right hand only putting. It seems so easy to hit it solid and so free. I think Tiger does it a lot to get the feel of the putter head and the feel of what he's talking about above. But yeah...right hand controlling (without flipping it or pushing it of you know what I mean) is the way to putt imo.

 

Yeah I certainly feel like it might be, tried some putts left hand low, always gives me best face control this way, and then just feeling the right hand rolling the ball to the hole like I do short game and it seemed to be working really well. I know I had been putting well reacting and trying to putt like faxon but the distance control I've had in my short game by using the right hand has been such a huge improvement I feel like I've got to give it a good go in putting

[Dave D]

I've always wanted to get a custom putter made and when my son Luca was born 8 weeks ago I thought this was the perfect opportunity to do so.

 

I umm'd and ahh'd between a few makers but settled on the guys at Raybon Putters. A relatively small, but growing fast, outfit from the Isle of Man in the British isles. I liked the fact they were British and loved their work and putters they'd posted on instagram. They generally offer 4 models which you can customise and they offer some other limited edition model shapes also in other finishes. It was one of the limited edition shapes I was after but with the customisation of the other putters. I contacted them at the start of June with my ideas and Gary quickly responded. A few emails back and forth and I sent a paypal payment over and things were underway. Normal lead time is 4-6 weeks but with my birthday being June 29th I cheekily asked if there was any chance it would be ready for my birthday, to my surprise Gary replied saying he thought they would be able to get it done for me.

 

They managed to get it finished on the 28th June, after a couple of issues getting the headweight right, and sent it on a next day before 11am delivery, something they do not normally do but a testament to their customer service and how they operate as a company.

 

I am absolutely thrilled with the finished product, it looks and feels amazing. The quality of the craftsmanship is exemplary. The headcover is magnetic, which I love, and also has such a quality feel to it. Also in the box was a pack containing a ball market & some care and maintenance items, they also produce a booklet with a certificate of authernticity and production photos of the putter build through various stages. This is a lovely after touch and again just goes to show the quality of care and customer service they put into their putters. I cannot recommend them enough.

 

My order:

 

Raybon Squareback model

Copper insert - milled to a medium firmness feel

Black finish

Black shaft

Custom stamping w/ copper paintfill

355g head weight

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Schnee]

Wow! That’s a gorgeous putter Dave! I hope it makes many birdies for you! Congrats!

[ebrasmus21]

Awesome!

[Dave D]

Awesome!

 

Wow! That's a gorgeous putter Dave! I hope it makes many birdies for you! Congrats!

 

Thanks guys, certainly feels lovely, can't wait to give it a roll on the course later today.

 

It came with a P2 classic tour grip (as Raybon don't offer my usual grip), which is a very interesting concept and feel. I like the very flat sides yet still pistol shape, will see how it feels on actual greens if not will just change it.

[Dave D]

Club championship was this weekend and unfortunately i came 2nd. Was going along nicely in the 1st round, wasn't hitting it great but birdied 13 to get back to level, then got a real bad break on par 3 14th, hit a draw and landed on left side of green but got a big kick forward and left into the very back left lip, had no shot at going for the flag, couldnt even play out backwards so took a drop then missed 6 footer for bogey. +2, not the end of the world still plenty of holes left. 15 i then made a foolish error, both my playing partners had made bogey missing a similar putt to what i had, concentrated so much on getting the line right i left it in the jaws 1/2 revolution short. Cleared my mind well and ripped a 2 iron down 16, which notoriously bounces right to left if not straight, somehow i got a kick 20 yards right and ended up blocked out behind a tree, another bogey. Very frustrated that i hadn't really hit a bad shot and was now 4 over par.

 

Then 17 happened, 644 yard par 5 that you can't hit driver on, hooked a 2 iron and lost it, then made double with my provisional, an absolute awful mental game display and a 9 on the scorecard. What a muppet. Par on the last for an 80 and 6 strokes back. 8 shots dropped in 4 holes. Very frustrating, can't really put it down to anything other than some bad luck then v. poor mental game.

 

So i knew i needed a good one in the 2nd round, sat eve i sent Mike an email regarding more of a dynamic move with trying to get arms away from my right shoulder coming down. Put it into practice and put on a ball striking clinic, 13/14 fairways and 15/18 greens. 3 birdies 2 bogeys for a 71. CSS was 74. That includes a 3 putt on a par 5 and calling a shot penalty on myself on the 5th, when as i was walking into the shot and had half stepped into my setup the club sort of slipped and knocked the ball forward a cm. No one saw it but obviously called my partners over and explained as we weren't 100% on the ruling. gave myself lots of looks at birdie although due to the pin placements they seemingly all had at least 6 inches of break. burned quite a few edges, how some of them didnt drop i dont know, another day and who knows it could've been a magical round.

 

-1 was good enough to get me into 2nd but finished 3 shots behind. Lots of ifs and maybes from the saturday round but thats golf isnt it! Glad with how i came out and played, especially with the pressure knowing i had to shoot a good score to have any chance of winning.

 

Handicap now down to +0.1, I'm in plus figures!! sort of :D

[dg_1983]

Great showing considering lack of sleep and practice!

 

Only another .5 to go!!

[Dave D]

Last night we won round 5 of the Daily Mail foursomes, game was solid had holed a couple of nice birdie putts including about a 40 footer for the win on 16 up and across a slope. Love my Raybon putter. Also enjoying the consistency of distance control switching to LHL and just trying to feel like im rolling the ball with my right hand, similar to short game imagining tossing it to target. Feels like I am a lot more in control of the pace and am able to match the speed to the picture in my head better.

 

Mizuno finally agreed to a full refund on my clubs, so have gone ahead and ordered the new X Forged, 5-pw pxi 6.0, 8-pw a degree weak, going with the MCC plus 4 grip as was very intrigued by this grip on the demo club I tried. Ordered a couple to try on my woods too. Also ordered a 24* UT bent a degree strong to fit in with the iron gapping better, not been enjoying the amount off offset and thickness of my x utilities of late.

 

Got a pxi 6.0 shaft to go in the UDI too, with the light hzrdus 6.0 it is just too inconsistent, its either absolute bomb or hook.

[Dave D]

Just had an email to say my new irons have arrived at my club!

[Millbrook]

Just had an email to say my new irons have arrived at my club!

 

Not your home address - does Mrs D know?

[Dave D]

Just had an email to say my new irons have arrived at my club!

 

Not your home address - does Mrs D know?

 

she does indeed, always get delivered to my club, good excuse to go there and practice while I pick them up

[Millbrook]

Just had an email to say my new irons have arrived at my club!

 

Not your home address - does Mrs D know?

 

she does indeed, always get delivered to my club, good excuse to go there and practice while I pick them up

 

I'm sure you appreciate it was a gentle tease. Hope they work out for you. My new clubs have been ready for 5 weeks 200 miles away but can't get them because of a busted knee.

[Dave D]

Just had an email to say my new irons have arrived at my club!

 

Not your home address - does Mrs D know?

 

she does indeed, always get delivered to my club, good excuse to go there and practice while I pick them up

 

I'm sure you appreciate it was a gentle tease. Hope they work out for you. My new clubs have been ready for 5 weeks 200 miles away but can't get them because of a busted knee.

 

oh absolutely realised. ah that must be a killer! what's waiting for you?

[Millbrook]

A set of Hiskei irons that I need to try then have biomatched - that's counter weights in the grip end. A new putter - Fisher, can't remember the model number except it's a mallet.

 

Then a fitting for woods and hybrids, was too tired after iron fitting to do it all in one day.

 

My ex neighbour came down with me and got some Grindwork irons and loves them.

 

From Designer Golf in Daventry.

[Dave D]

A set of Hiskei irons that I need to try then have biomatched - that's counter weights in the grip end. A new putter - Fisher, can't remember the model number except it's a mallet.

 

Then a fitting for woods and hybrids, was too tired after iron fitting to do it all in one day.

 

My ex neighbour came down with me and got some Grindwork irons and loves them.

 

From Designer Golf in Daventry.

 

just googled, very nice!

[Dave D]

Won my scratch ko quarter final on Monday, although didn't hit the ball well, have been struggling the last 2 weeks, especially the last week, with clubface control, generally very hooky and high, swing just feels awful, tried some of my rotation drills I normally fall back on when I start hitting it bad but didn't help. If I tried to hit a low shot, fairways very firm and its very windy at the minute, it was just hook city capital of hooksville. Just felt a bit lost and didn't know what to work on.

 

I organised a lesson yesterday with someone who was recommended to me, a former European tour player who coaches locally, although he is moving further away. Trackman showed path was too far right, no surpise, and swing was looking very inside, shallowed and dumped under coming down. We worked on getting path left through more upper body rotation earlier. Feeling full Noren. Which I took to quite quickly, but just couldn't get the face open to the path. We then delved into the backswing, which we quickly realised I was getting the face a bit too shut quite early in the swing, he had me put an alignment stick between left heel and right toe, hinge the right wrist so the face matched the angle of the stick then swung from there. Felt way open going back but also allowed me to rotate a lot more and keep the face squarer. I then switched back to one of my old irons with a normal grip and not the MCC +4 grip and straight away the face was then open to the path and I could hit fades.

 

This was very odd as generally a big grip should promote the opposite but clearly not for me. Strike was much better, more compressed, flight a lot lower and could hit it straight and hit fades. Should be obvious to me now that when I can't hit fades and hit it too high that I am suffering from being too under and in to out, lets hope I remember that!

 

So MCC+4 grips will be coming straight off my clubs and trusty tour velvets going on. Haven't been amazed by the new irons but think that has been hugely down to how I was swinging.

 

Me and 3 buddies are doing a longest day challenge on Friday, 72 holes in a day for Macmillan cancer, going to be roughly 15 solid hours with temperatures set to be around 30*c. lovely. This was one of the main reasons for getting a lesson so quick, as doing 72 holes with no idea what I am doing in my swing would have driven me nuts and made me very annoyed.

 

here is the link for our fundraising charity page if anyone is feeling super generous enough to donate, it's a truly great cause and will make the knackering & crippling day worth while if we raise a decent amount! https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/dadsontour2018

[Dave D]

I also need to feel like my hands and body are moving at the same speed, what in my head is fast is actually just hands. I remember realising this about 2 years ago. idiot. stupid game isn't it

[Dave D]

This is a post to everyone to get your lofts and lies checked. I knew the 9 iron from the new set was too upright and my 54 was too flat. I wanted to get all the lofts checked too as I don't trust a manufacturer to get it right.

 

Low and behold lie angles were all out although not by much, apart from 9 iron which was 2 degrees too upright. The 24* UT I had asked to be bent to 23 was at 21. My UDI was actually at 19* not 17*, had that bent to 18. The iron lofts weren't too bad but off a little here and there. 50* was also 2 strong.

 

Find a club guy and get your clubs checked!

[Hawkeye77]

Reading this with pure envy - after watching Monte hit 1 iron rockets and reading about you hitting 2 iron rockets I can only sip my extremely well made coffee (I fan do that, darn it!) this morning and reflect on my complete LOFT, lol.

 

Really enjoy reading about your progress, one of the great progress threads on here.

 

Heading for the UK next week, hoping just being there will just allow all things golf to be enhanced for me!

 

Glad you enjoy the read and there is something lovely about a well struck very low lofted iron!

 

Where abouts in the UK are you heading? playing over here?

 

Oops, missed this reply sorry, we left just a couple days later so it was a busy time, sorry. We were in Scotland for a couple weeks. First time to UK - beautiful place and got in plenty of golf. Already working out how/when to come back.

[Dave D]

The longest day challenge was tough but we completed it and have raised so far just over £1100. So well worth all the aching and odd blister we got. We teed off at 5.15am and finished the final round at 8.30pm. had about 40 mins total inbetween the 4 rounds so pretty constant playing.

 

We did have a good laugh but man was it tough. Thankfully I played some really good stuff most of the time, shot 3 over first round, then 1 under then 4 under, evidently it takes me 2 rounds to warm up fully :lol: Course is quite short and not too tricky. We then shot 11 under in the final round doing scramble.

 

Ball flight was much more controlled and lower, I was absolutely munching driver, had several drives over 350 over the course of the day. Also experimented a bit with tempo when putting and seemed to putt better when i had a slightly quicker tempo than I normally would. Something to experiment with for sure. Onwards and upwards

 

Edit:

 

In regards to the thread I started about punch shots near enough all of my problems was due to getting the face too shut going back, hit quite a few 2 iron "stingers" with much success. Speaking of 2 irons I'm going to be keeping the hzrdus black shaft in it for now, it's really performing.

 

The new x forged irons seem nice, quite like them being 1/2 inch shorter than my old set and performed quite well so far.*

 

*do find myself constantly searching on ebay for a set of P730 or P750s :D

[ebrasmus21]

The longest day challenge was tough but we completed it and have raised so far just over £1100. So well worth all the aching and odd blister we got. We teed off at 5.15am and finished the final round at 8.30pm. had about 40 mins total inbetween the 4 rounds so pretty constant playing.

 

We did have a good laugh but man was it tough. Thankfully I played some really good stuff most of the time, shot 3 over first round, then 1 under then 4 under, evidently it takes me 2 rounds to warm up fully :lol: Course is quite short and not too tricky. We then shot 11 under in the final round doing scramble.

 

Ball flight was much more controlled and lower, I was absolutely munching driver, had several drives over 350 over the course of the day. Also experimented a bit with tempo when putting and seemed to putt better when i had a slightly quicker tempo than I normally would. Something to experiment with for sure. Onwards and upwards

 

Edit:

 

In regards to the thread I started about punch shots near enough all of my problems was due to getting the face too shut going back, hit quite a few 2 iron "stingers" with much success. Speaking of 2 irons I'm going to be keeping the hzrdus black shaft in it for now, it's really performing.

 

The new x forged irons seem nice, quite like them being 1/2 inch shorter than my old set and performed quite well so far.*

 

*do find myself constantly searching on ebay for a set of P730 or P750s :D

 

I love that hzrdus black shaft.

 

Well done, Dave!

[Dave D]

http://www.golfwrx.com/forums/topic/1682316-early-right-arm-fold-lack-of-width-issues/

 

need to work on right shoulder movement in backswing

[Dave D]

oh hello.....

 

[Dave D]

oh hello.....

 

 

Hit some chips and pitches around the garden this morning with the hi-toe and the early signs are promising.

 

My issues with the T7s are that I struggled with opening the face on the 60 and hitting high shots, always felt that the club "bounced" too much for want of a better term.

I loved the look and the way the leading edge sat but not overly enamoured with the feel of the wedges, feel a bit firm for my liking.

 

Certainly seem to be able to hit higher shots easier with the hi-toe club straight off the bat, straight face shots seem just as easy as the T7, my only concern will be how it plays out of bunkers, I hated the PM grind I had out of bunkers.

 

This is certainly much nicer to look at than the PM grind, leading edge is much squarer and I love the colour.