Tell me something I don’t know…

[PracticeSwinger]

Useless background; high single capper that got back into golf this year (you guessed it Covid related) that wants to get better all around; ball striking / half shots / short game / putting / mental aspect / course management / equipment / any other subject…

 

Let’s suppose someone has read / watched / listened to everything that is ‘mainstream’… in to out path, shaft lean, shallow, bump and run, center of mass, aimpoint, spin axis, ulnar deviation, Decade, tempo, angle of attack, 3 piece ball, shaft types, sequencing, dynamic loft, rangefinders, moment of inertia… you get the idea…

 

Tell me something I don’t know, maybe a contrarian view or just your best kept secret… (let’s see where this goes, hoping sarcasm is not the clear winner here)

[Santiago Golf]

LEARN HOW TO CONTROL YOUR CLUB BY FOCUSING ON DISTANCE CONTROL!!!!

 

Hit a bunch shots with a wedge trying to hit it 15, 30, & 45 yards

 

Same with a 9 iron 80, 100, 120 yards

 

Same for putting ... putt to alignment stick (NOT A HOLE!!!) from 3 feet, 5 feet, 8 feet, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 25, 30, 40 ,50 just using one ball with your eyes closed ( you can putt eyes open on the course)

 

To gain distance ... on the range practice half swing (hip high to hip high) with foot spray on the face. Try to hit sweet spot and get the ball going through a 1 yard gate 10 yards in front of you (ball should go 150-175 yards max)

 

Then on the course ... if your playing along hit driver on every hole and swing as fast (not hard) as you can ... don't be afraid to lose balls

 

When your playing focus on the distance to the midpoint between the pin and the back of the green. You will score better playing to this distance then trying to leave it below the hole. 

 

Anytime you hit a short game shot on the course inside 10 feet give yourself a fistpump. Same thing you get any putt to the hole.

 

make sense

[juststeve]

Pitch the same way basketball players know how far to shoot a jump shot.  There eye tell them how much force to apply.

 

Same can be true in golf.  Learn to make make consistent contact with  a trail hand tossing motion and let your eyes tell you how hard to toss it.

 

Steve

[PracticeSwinger]

37 minutes ago, Santiago Golf said:

When your playing focus on the distance to the midpoint between the pin and the back of the green. You will score better playing to this distance then trying to leave it below the hole. 

Interesting - because most amateurs play the club that gets them to the hole on their pure shots - miss hits and it leaves it short... right?

[Santiago Golf]

1 minute ago, MtlJayMan said:

Interesting - because most amateurs play the club that gets them to the hole on their pure shots - miss hits and it leaves it short... right?

 

This is the reason ... Missing long is not in play on pure shots for most ams. 

[soonernick]

Love this topic idea!

 

My contribution: Develop a reasonably consistent 100-yard shot with both your 7-iron and 4-iron. It doesn't take long, can be as little as hitting 6-8 balls with each club at the 100 yard marker each time you go to the range, make it part of your practice routine and you'll have developed your own personal shot in no time.

And honestly, the 100-yard part is arbitrary, it will work if it's any number in the 70-120 yard range. It just needs to be a number that you know the ball will go to. 

 

Over the years I've added 4-iron punches that are the same swing as the 100-yard shot that I can bend both ways and hit in the 125 or 175 yard ranges. I can't create a sharp bend with the 7-iron and maintain consistent distance control, but I can put enough cut/draw spin on it to give myself a chance at a lucky bounce... and the more I hit those shots the more often I get lucky bounces.  Confidence in those shots saves me a minimum 1-2 strokes a round. 

[Krt22]

Progress is non-linear

1% improvement is still improvement

Ball flight alone can be deceptive 

Understanding core flaws vs compensations is paramount 

Don't practice putting a ton until you can start a straight 6 footer on line and have it roll perfectly end over end 

[scooterhd2]

The golf swing is not a swing. Instead it is a throw. 

 

We go to goodwill and buy a dozen cheap clubs. Find a park with some free space and literally try to throw the clubs as far as you can. A one handed, trail arm throw.

 

If you are reasonably athletic it wont take you long to figure out how to maximize your throwing distance. You take that motion to your 'golfswing' and everything that you have been reading about shallowing and OTT and lag and spine tilt, etc, will automatically be happening. 

 

 

[PracticeSwinger]

12 minutes ago, juststeve said:

Pitch the same way basketball players know how far to shoot a jump shot.  There eye tell them how much force to apply.

 

Same can be true in golf.  Learn to make make consistent contact with  a trail hand tossing motion and let your eyes tell you how hard to toss it.

Good stuff... had success with this (by 'using the bounce') and is an opposite view to the hinge-and-hold way of chipping

[PracticeSwinger]

10 minutes ago, soonernick said:

Love this topic idea!

 

My contribution: Develop a reasonably consistent 100-yard shot with both your 7-iron and 4-iron.

 

Over the years I've added 4-iron punches that are the same swing as the 100-yard shot that I can bend both ways and hit in the 125 or 175 yard ranges. I can't create a sharp bend with the 7-iron and maintain consistent distance control, but I can put enough cut/draw spin

Sweet... same distance control with 2 different clubs (other than wedges)... something to look forward to!

[parmark]

 Let’s suppose someone has read / watched / listened to everything that is ‘mainstream’

 

Just my two bits from the bleachers and my experience  - good luck with that!  Too much information can be harmful to your swing.

 

I like to get out and swing in my net every night.  Just what I do, some might suggest not the smartest thing to do, but no one accused me of being smart to begin with.  But I know when I found something on YT I liked one day, and then something else the next night, and so on, and so on, and so on. 

 

I'd just suggest choose ONE - and follow them. There's too much contradictory pieces of the puzzle. What works one day and then you try another piece the next day not fit.

 

I've learned it's about syncing up the pieces.  I just posted in another thread, as I'm getting my swing working well now, that I'm sending the parental controls to Monte so keep me from straying and losing my way during the next few months of hibernating here in the Midwest.

 

But good luck with what path  you choose.  Like they say - it's the journey, not the destination.

 

[PracticeSwinger]

11 minutes ago, Krt22 said:

Understanding core flaws vs compensations is paramount  

 

8 minutes ago, scooterhd2 said:

The golf swing is not a swing. Instead it is a throw. 

 

We go to goodwill and buy a dozen cheap clubs. Find a park with some free space and literally try to throw the clubs as far as you can. A one handed, trail arm throw.

 

If you are reasonably athletic it wont take you long to figure out how to maximize your throwing distance. You take that motion to your 'golfswing' and everything that you have been reading about shallowing and OTT and lag and spine tilt, etc, will automatically be happening. 

I've been looking at this all summer long / and they go hand in hand - swing is 'full' of compensations and I've been trying to identify underlying flaws; to make sure I've not hit a plateau   

[golfsticks]

Great topic, hope a lot that know how to control a ball will chime in.  

 

You only need to learn 2 shots in order to control all flight patterns.    I always crack up hearing Corgorno's advertisement saying he can fix a slice in 10 minutes.    The last thing one needs to do is learn how to fix a slice.   Own the slice pattern, learn it instead, and you'll own one side of the course because you reversed your natural instinct.

 

How about the other side? 

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

 

Edited November 25, 2020 by golfsticks
grammar

[Lefthook]

Golf is not a theoretical or intellectual game. There’s no secret hidden anywhere. If you want to improve you need to spend more time on playing and practicing golf. Quantity and continuity matters a lot.

[PracticeSwinger]

15 minutes ago, parmark said:

 Let’s suppose someone has read / watched / listened to everything that is ‘mainstream’

 

Just my two bits from the bleachers and my experience  - good luck with that!  Too much information can be harmful to your swing.

 

I've learned it's about syncing up the pieces. 

 

But good luck with what path  you choose.  Like they say - it's the journey, not the destination.

All good advices - especially the bolded one... as it is nearly impossible to lock in on one underlying flaw - without any collateral effect

[PracticeSwinger]

11 minutes ago, golfsticks said:

Great topic, hope a lot that know how to control a ball will chime in.  

 

You only need learn 2 shots in order to control all flight patterns.

I'm not there yet - unless you consider straight pull and fades as 2 shots! (I know they're not)... I can effectively 'cut one side' of the course that way but definitely not at a stage where I can pull a draw flight pattern on demand... keep grinding

[golfsticks]

11 minutes ago, MtlJayMan said:

I'm not there yet - unless you consider straight pull and fades as 2 shots! (I know they're not)... I can effectively 'cut one side' of the course that way but definitely not at a stage where I can pull a draw flight pattern on demand... keep grinding

 

Pull hooks, and push slices, from the inside are the shots to own.   Sides create a middle- without sides would there be a middle of the fairway?  No.  

[juststeve]

56 minutes ago, MtlJayMan said:

Good stuff... had success with this (by 'using the bounce') and is an opposite view to the hinge-and-hold way of chipping

Our game is way too hard if you don't use the bounce.  Maybe some of the pros who play and practice every day can make precise contact, but I can't.

 

Steve

[glk]

Understand cause and effect in the swing.  If one mistakes effects for causes they  end up chasing their tail.

 

nobody eliminates one side of the course - myth.   Folks might have a preferred shape but the real goal is to tighten dispersion not just miss to one side - not going to happen.

 

 

[Ri_Redneck]

Golf is hard. Focus on enjoyment.

 

BT

[SUPERG]

Hips aren’t the driver, they simply support the motion. I know a lot of guys that try the Alex Noren thing and try to jab the club in the ground but would be much better off just releasing it. I’ve played golf primarily swinging my arms and everything works well, I’ll always laugh when people try to tell me about “position” and stuff like that. Also another silly 2020 thing, is the g box aid 😂😂😂

[SUPERG]

1 hour ago, scooterhd2 said:

The golf swing is not a swing. Instead it is a throw. 

 

We go to goodwill and buy a dozen cheap clubs. Find a park with some free space and literally try to throw the clubs as far as you can. A one handed, trail arm throw.

 

If you are reasonably athletic it wont take you long to figure out how to maximize your throwing distance. You take that motion to your 'golfswing' and everything that you have been reading about shallowing and OTT and lag and spine tilt, etc, will automatically be happening. 

 

 

This X10000000 

[PracticeSwinger]

58 minutes ago, glk said:

Understand cause and effect in the swing.  If one mistakes effects for causes they  end up chasing their tail.

 

nobody eliminates one side of the course - myth.   Folks might have a preferred shape but the real goal is to tighten dispersion not just miss to one side - not going to happen.

Very interesting - thanks for that insight !

[Jimjam651]

You don't hit the ball well enough, improve your strike

[MtlJeff]

Is the MTL in your name also because you are from Montreal?

[PracticeSwinger]

12 minutes ago, Jimjam651 said:

You don't hit the ball well enough, improve your strike

And I thought it was one of the few things I did know... no worries, constantly working on it!

[Zitlow]

Forget everything you know and learn how to create energy and apply it to a golf ball. 

[PracticeSwinger]

Just now, MtlJeff said:

Is the MTL in your name also because you are from Montreal?

Yes it is!... saw your username more than a few times (always insightful posts); can't say my game is anywhere close to yours though - improvements!

[MtlJeff]

1 minute ago, MtlJayMan said:

Yes it is!... saw your username more than a few times (always insightful posts); can't say my game is anywhere close to yours though - improvements!

 

Thanks! And good luck in getting back into it. I play my most of my golf west of the city, at Whitlock for the past decade basically

[PracticeSwinger]

2 minutes ago, MtlJeff said:

 

Thanks! And good luck in getting back into it. I play my most of my golf west of the city, at Whitlock for the past decade basically

Nice course!... best track I played this year was : Laval sur le Lac / Blue course... all in all a good game (86 on 6690, 73.5, 137) can't play from the tips (7220, 76.0, 143)... yet!