This is a topic that will irritate you, but make your handicap go down.

[leekgolf]

7 hours ago, dhacker56 said:

I didn't know who he was..  BTW I totally misunderstood the meaning of his thread and I have privately apologized to him... 

So it's ok if you didn't know who he was? I guess it's ok to be snarky if you don't know someone?

 

My comment was based on you claiming to probably be old enough to be his grandfather.

[EddieEdwards]

250/120

 

I hit every club with a short swing.

[TwistedSister]

17 minutes ago, leekgolf said:

So it's ok if you didn't know who he was? I guess it's ok to be snarky if you don't know someone?

 

My comment was based on you claiming to probably be old enough to be his grandfather.

I was not snarky when I asked my first question.  He got snarky with me first.  I got the impression he was a wet nosed kid!  I was wrong.  If you can't see that then It is not worth beating it around any longer.  Go back and read my first post and then his reply.  Thank you and hope can can find a great evening.

[Cwing]

Good drive about 235-240 carry 
PW = about 120-125 

[GolfTurkey]

13 hours ago, Jose c. said:

Love this stretch do it regularly.  Another thing I've found that helps is Olive's I never liked them but have been eating green olives for a couple yrs. I swear it took away my tendinitis in shoulder and elbow. My goto snack now.

If that was 100% guaranteed to work I would still prefer to eat my tendons than an olive.

[LeftyMatt24]

Thank you Monte! I just read through this whole thread and I know my scores would go down if I took this approach with my 50, PW, 9, 8 and 7 to have secondary shots. 
 

I do this with my 54 and never take more than half with my 60 and it’s no wonder my 54 is my most accurate club because I can actually control trajectory. I know what I’ll be working on the next season is having a right arm parallel shot for all my clubs down to a 7 and then work my way all the way down. I know this will help my scores go down quickly. Holy cow why didn’t I think of trying this. Thank you again. 

[TrendingLower2]

D- 250

PW- 100-120

 

Monte, thanks for your teachings, freely sharing your knowledge, and stirring up the pot. Your left arm parallel started me on the road to lowering my handicap from last year. I struggled with partial wedges, anything inside 90 yards. For my warmups on the driving range, I would start with what felt like left arm parallel 52 degree wedges, and it was a perfect 75 yards. Now it is my favorite yardage. It opened my eyes to changing my wedge setup from 46-52-58 to 46-52-56-60 to give me a bigger variety of shots. My handicap dropped from 11 index to 7, and is trending lower (now if I could putt...). I am starting to flight my irons, which is HUGE for a long time flipper/high ball hitter like me. It has definitely changed my swing overall for the better. These partial shots with all kinds of clubs has opened up my mind to a whole new world of creativity on the course. THANK YOU!

[Obee]

4 hours ago, DLev45 said:

@MonteScheinblum, would you and the other more seasoned players (@Obee, @RichieHunt@Dan Drake) say that there is a law of diminishing returns when it comes to the left-arm parallel swing through the bag?

 

I'm in the average range where my stock full-swing carry under normal conditions is:

 

Driver: 250-260

4W: 215-220

3H: 200-205

4H: 190-195

5i: 180-185

6i: 170-175

7i: 160-165

8i: 145-150

9i: 135-140

PW: 125-130

GW: 110-115

SW: 95-100

LW: 85-90

 

I see the obvious value in a controlled left-arm parallel feel swing for a 110 yard shot with a PW when my full shot usually goes 125 yards.

 

But what about faced with 170 yards and it's between a full swing 6-iron, or using that same left-arm parallel feel shot with a 5-iron. Or deciding a shortened 4W from 190 is preferable to the all-out 4H?

 

I feel like there would generally be a drop-off where 3/4 shots with wedges are preferable to full swings, but using that same 3/4 feel with a mid-iron/long-iron/hybrid is suboptimal.

 

You speak of the "left-arm parallel" as if it's an "option." For me, it's all I gotz -- even with driver!

 

 

[b.helts]

1 minute ago, Obee said:

 

You speak of the "left-arm parallel" as if it's an "option." For me, it's all I gotz -- even with driver!

 

 

club twirl sighting!!!!!!!

 

with driver, no less. Very rare bird. 
 

( ;

[Obee]

Just now, b.helts said:

club twirl sighting!!!!!!!

 

with driver, no less. Very rare bird. 
 

( ;

 

I can't help it!!! It has a mind of its own!!!

[Kazfury]

@MonteScheinblum Thanks, Monty.  Took the 3/4 approach to the course today and it helped me on the tight par 4s and the 3 shot par 5s.  Later in the round it got me thinking when to use a full swing or a 3/4 swing.
Could you please provide guidance on when to use a full swing?

[MonteScheinblum]

1 hour ago, Kazfury said:

@MonteScheinblum Thanks, Monty.  Took the 3/4 approach to the course today and it helped me on the tight par 4s and the 3 shot par 5s.  Later in the round it got me thinking when to use a full swing or a 3/4 swing.
Could you please provide guidance on when to use a full swing?

That’s a personal preference you learn from playing. 

[aswile]

32 minutes ago, MonteScheinblum said:

That’s a personal preference you learn from playing. 

I used this concept to shoot my career low round during a "competition" of sorts. I was a sketchy 11 or 12 hcp and shot 74 and hit all but two greens in regulation using the "1 or 2 extra club" thought. I know that my thought process was to use a full motion without the extreme effort on my full swing shots which gave me almost the same distance through the bag, but much better accuracy.  I also proceeded to play the next round with my full swing and came right back to my normal scoring...you can't fix stupid, I guess.

[hagimihale]

Used the 3/4 swing + club up concept on Friday.  Came up short on many holes, but was right in front of the green so I avoided all the bunkers and any danger past the hole. 

 

Got up and down 5 times in the round as I had an easy chip or bump-and-run on almost every short approach.  My scoring did not suffer and I got a lot of (needed) practice around the greens.  Good stuff.

[scott_Donald]

1 hour ago, hagimihale said:

Used the 3/4 swing + club up concept on Friday.  Came up short on many holes, but was right in front of the green so I avoided all the bunkers and any danger past the hole. 

 

Got up and down 5 times in the round as I had an easy chip or bump-and-run on almost every short approach.  My scoring did not suffer and I got a lot of (needed) practice around the greens.  Good stuff.

 

To me that sounds like you needed more club going with the 3/4 feel. Or hitting the shots when needed more than just for the sake of it. 

[hagimihale]

Agreed on both counts.  There were some holes where I probably could have taken 2 extra clubs. But all the danger was past the hole; I didnt mind being short as it left me an easy chip.

 

And I did try the 3/4 approach on almost every (non-par-3) hole on purpose, just to see what would happen.  

 

I wasn't disappointed with the outcome.  Just posting my observations about how this theory worked out on the course...

[acekun]

Finau hit a hole in one yesterday on a 103 yard hole. He hit a GW.

[Jeselnik]

Greatest modern wedge player had a sh!t swing, a 105 pw and made more money than he had a right to while playing against Tiger & Phil.

[Obee]

47 minutes ago, acekun said:

Finau hit a hole in one yesterday on a 103 yard hole. He hit a GW.

 

Link or it didn't happen .... 😉

[Obee]

32 minutes ago, Jeselnik said:

Greatest modern wedge player had a sh!t swing, a 105 pw and made more money than he had a right to while playing against Tiger & Phil.

 

Stricker? Zach? Who? Zach is crazy good with the wedges. Or was during his prime.

[Jeselnik]

3 minutes ago, Obee said:

 

Stricker? Zach? Who? Zach is crazy good with the wedges. Or was during his prime.

Zach, Strick had an OK swing.

[Obee]

51 minutes ago, acekun said:

Finau hit a hole in one yesterday on a 103 yard hole. He hit a GW.

 

Just saw it. Love it. Bunty little sawed-off cut(ish) swing.

[PureStrikes54]

1 hour ago, Jeselnik said:

Zach, Strick had an OK swing.

 

Can you expand on this? Other than being compact and not a distance maximizing move I see a lot more good than bad going on.

 

Zach Johnson DL Slow Motion Golf Swing 300 FPS - YouTube

Edited December 6, 2020 by PureStrikes54

[GoTime]

Only one club in the bag is a max distance club, everything else is a precision instrument. Guys need to worry less about hitting 7 iron 180+ or PW 150+ and worry more putting it in birdie range more often than not. Doesn't matter what club it takes to do that.

[RSinSG]

I thought of this thread last Thursday during league play. I had 115 to an uphill par 5. Slope put it at 119 which is a standard PW for me. I actually thought about using a 9i as this thread was in my mind but as the green has two tiers and hitting it long is a guarantee your first putt is going to go off the green I hit a PW.  It was beautiful - tracking straight at the flag, annnd it came up 6-8 feet short of the green and rolled back.  Next time I'm going light on the longer club. I do this all the time with my SW with pretty good success. Not sure why I'm reluctant to use more club more often. Ego I suppose.

[Petethreeput]

On 12/5/2020 at 10:08 AM, Obee said:

 

You speak of the "left-arm parallel" as if it's an "option." For me, it's all I gotz -- even with driver!

 

 

Obee, excepting our handicaps, we could be the same. Our distances are the same, and dang it, our backswings are too.

[biffstix]

I wouldn’t know how far I hit my pw, I changed irons 6 times this season.🤣

But really, the only way I can control my junky closed face to path swing is with the knockdown. Watching pitching wedges fly 30 yards left will humble you. 

 

[JLo_73]

Met Monte several years ago when we lived in So Cal.  Took a few lessons with him and always walked away feeling good about his advice.  Flew out to Tampa area to visit family and read this thread on the plane.  I answered the question in my head, 265-270 and stock PW at 140.  Played twice including Streamsong Red and took his advice.  Wow!!! Purposely played a club less on almost every iron shot from what I would have in the past.  Shot 37 on first nine at my moms club and hit the ball better than I have in awhile.  Round 2 on the Red Course, Shot 83 with 3 sevens from combo tips and haven’t hit my irons that well in a long time. One bad driver swing and one brain fart on playing tight lies (been to Bandon several times, I should know!). Even though I know live in No Cal (for the time being:)), I’ll chalk those swings up to another great Monte experience.  Cheers to you Monte!

 

Edited December 7, 2020 by JLo_73

[DaveGoodrich]

On 12/4/2020 at 12:18 PM, DLev45 said:

On 12/4/2020 at 12:10 PM, MonteScheinblum said:

For regular play, yes, but being able to hit a left arm parallel 5 iron low, with low spin, is a huge weapon.

Where would you usually draw that line?

 

PW (45*)?

9-iron (41*)?

7-iron (33*)?

 

Just depends?

 

Unless its windy, I'm generally hitting my mid irons and longer full, because I need the speed to generate enough spin.  But whenever the group's consensus is "were into a one club wind," I'm taking 2 (or 3) extra clubs, and hitting the "9 - 3" swing.

 

I especially love the left arm parallel swing with my hybrids as a wind cheater.   I approach this shot exactly like flighting a wedge  - choke up some, shortened backswing, focus on contact.   My buddies laugh at my 24* hybrid from 150 (my normal 180 club), until I'm dancing, and they are 15 yards short and 20 yards left after wailing on their 8 irons.

 

As others have said, the key to this shot is to ingrain the intent to "finish your swing," even with a short "left arm-parallel" swing.  

 

[TheDeanAbides]

11 minutes ago, DaveGoodrich said:

 

Unless its windy, I'm generally hitting my mid irons and longer full, because I need the speed to generate enough spin.  But whenever the group's consensus is "were into a one club wind," I'm taking 2 (or 3) extra clubs, and hitting the "9 - 3" swing.

 

I especially love the left arm parallel swing with my hybrids as a wind cheater.   I approach this shot exactly like flighting a wedge  - choke up some, shortened backswing, focus on contact.   My buddies laugh at my 24* hybrid from 150 (my normal 180 club), until I'm dancing, and they are 15 yards short and 20 yards left after wailing on their 8 irons.

 

As others have said, the key to this shot is to ingrain the intent to "finish your swing," even with a short "left arm-parallel" swing.  

 

Totally feeling this.

 

I took this swing to the range today whilst working on the NTC, and it's becoming so consistent. I now have shots with everything up to 4 iron that are like low lasers. I've noticed that if I add more intent to my ground forces I get loads more zip, but if I just hit the ball with a lazy minivan speed swing (like Monte's short game stuff) I have low spin wind beaters that I'll be able to use for all sorts of situations. Golf feels exciting right now.