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

[pusb365]

Your carry numbers seem a little low for your SS, did the fitter comment on that at all? Launch is a touch low maybe?

 

Do they? Thought my carry seemed in line for the speed going by this article?

 

http://www.golfwrx.c...ng-speed-chart/

 

 

Those carry numbers in your TM fitting post look much more like it!

 

Good stuff

[Dave D]

Your carry numbers seem a little low for your SS, did the fitter comment on that at all? Launch is a touch low maybe?

 

Do they? Thought my carry seemed in line for the speed going by this article?

 

http://www.golfwrx.c...ng-speed-chart/

 

 

Those carry numbers in your TM fitting post look much more like it!

 

Good stuff

yeah you were right, even on the course the ping was flying further than what that fitting was throwing up numbers wise. Thanks for helping sow a seed of doubt, can't wait to get my m2 now.

 

Got a scratch semi final knockout Saturday and a 36 hole county competition sunday so am hoping to get it for this weekend. Not sure if it will arrive in time though, we had a bank holiday here on Monday in the UK too which costs a day delivery.

[Dave D]

Every now and then, generally after not picking a club up for a week or so, has occasionally happened a day after a good range session too, my grip feels really weird and gets too strong.

 

Tonight was one of those days, full swings were just hook city and couldn't get my hands comfy. So I stopped. Went home and got my grip training club:

 

 

Sat at home doing some gripping and swings for half hour or so and then went back to the range.... and voila hitting it good again.

 

I post this not as an advertisement or boasting or anything but as a reminder that IMO a key part of being able to play consistent golf over a long period is realising what tendencies you have in your game and knowing how and when to fix them.

 

I could've easily started videoing swings trying to pinpoint mechanics and try and change a piece of my swing. But it was just 1 of my habits I creep into occasionally. Knowing this saved me a lot of anger at the poor session and also the risk of damaging my swing by working on pieces that don't fit just to hit the ball well at that time.

 

I ordered another one when I got home to leave in my bag permanently.

[Dave D]

Driver delivery date is 20th September so a week today! hopefully it'll be worth the wait!

 

In the mean time I've been busy on ebay, I love the stable feel of the hzrdous, managed to pick up an M1 3HL with Hzrdus black 6.0 75g shaft in great condition for £139, £110 off rrp.

 

I tried the m1, m2 and m2 tour at a local range with stock shafts and much preferred how the m1 sat, it also has a flat lie angle and adjustability loft wise. My old 3 wood was a 16* XR Pro, this being 17* turning it down to 16* also opens the face a hair, which I love. it also looks and is much easier to hit off the ground, I really struggled with the callaway off a slight downslope and was useless out of rough. I walked down onto the empty range at my club last night and was getting the m1 up in the air out of all sorts of lies which I really like. I feel like I've been losing shots on Par 5s when I end up in not a perfect lie or just off the fairway. With the weight set in neutral I was hitting it extremely straight, almost a small fade, I tried moving the weight one mark over towards draw and it changed it to a small draw, which I prefer. Will be interesting to see how it performs distance wise as it was hard to tell on the range but I think it will be very similar to the callaway.

 

 

A comparison of the 2, m1 to me looks a lot easier to get up in the air and I also really like the fact the face looks a tad more open:

 

 

I have also picked up an m1 rescue with hzrdus black 85g to try, never got on with hybrids but figured I'd give them another try now I've found a stable shaft I like. Jury is still out on it, will require some more testing as got dark and didn't have much time after hitting lots of 3 woods. The main reason for wanting a hybrid is for when I've got an imperfect lie/stance which I can't hit 2 iron out of. However, with the 3 wood seemingly being very easy to hit, when I do get in such situations maybe a 3/4 3 wood could be the play and i'll keep the 2 iron. we will see.

[Dave D]

Also working on a better weight shift and pivot in the swing, have reverted to my old issue of hips turning and loading too much over left leg.

 

 

My belly hides the edge of my right hip and doesn't appear too bad at a glance in a picture, but in reality it's more where the red line is.

 

So I thought back to Monte telling me I need to get my weight more in my right heel at the top, to help this I thought I'd try the step drill, which would hopefully also help my transition of not getting the left shoulder moving and tilting too quick:

 

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what proceeded to follow was a flush show, and on video one of the best downswings I've made, hardly any upper body back out of the shot, and rolling up onto the right toe correctly not spinning out with the heel.

 

 

It also felt like I had a lot more room through the ball. one of the noticeable things is the stance being wider, but a big improvement at impact in that my left hip isn't outside my left foot like normal. Will be experiementing with this drill and a wider stance. I used to have a wider stance and had thought about widening it again as I'd noticed when I turn my right toes come up a bit as I rotate. this doesn't happen to me in a wider stance. It also feels like I can get more turn, odd as I always thought narrower helped with turn.

 

What are peoples thoughts?

[dg_1983]

I think I'd fall over doing that drill....

 

I'm not educated enough to say if it's good or bad technically but it looks a nice motion through the ball.

[robbohank]

Looks really good Dave. Visually it seems to produce a greater level of "dynamic balance".

 

Nice work.

[Dave D]

Had an interesting round in a 4bbb match yesterday,

 

1st hole, par 4, bombed a drive downwind approx. 325 and had 50 yards in, pitched to 6 foot and rolled it in for birdie

2nd hole, par 4, 5 iron gap wedge to 12 foot, rolled it in for birdie.

3rd hole, par 4, blocked 2 OB and made an 8

4th hole, par 4, 3 wood then 3/4 7 iron to 4 foot, birdie

5th hole, par 4, 3 wood LW to 15 feet, rolled it in for birdie.

6th hole, par 3, 9 iron to 15 feet, missed putt

7th hole, par 5 3 wood 3 wood 2 putt for birdie.

8th hole, par 3, blocked 7 iron into right bunker, splash out to 5 foot and holed for par

9th hole, par 5 ,driver to right semi, hybrid to 5 yards short from 250, chip to 5 foot and hole for birdie.

10th hole, par 5, driver 6 iron, 2 putt birdie.

11th hole, par 4, 5 iron 7 iron, up and down from side of the green

12th hole, par 3, PW to 12 foot, pulled the putt

13th hole, par 4, hybrid SW to 10 foot and rolled in for birdie.

 

And that was the match, lots of birdies (a new record for me of 8 in 13 holes!) and good shots which was very encouraging. Just 2 random huge miss rights with the driver. Should hopefully get the M2 on Wednesday, can't wait!

 

the new 3 wood performed well and I enjoy how stable the shaft feels.

 

I was particularly impressed with the hybrid. I hit 2 shots today that I wouldn't have normally been able to hit, 1 on 9 out of the semi, where I would normally have hit an 8 or 7 iron out and left myself 90ish yards, the hybrid got straight through the lie and I ended up 5 yards short of the green from 250. a shot that would never happen with the 2 iron. And the other was on 17 after that match had finished. 3 shot par 5 and I often end up on a slight downslope for the 2nd shot, 2 iron was hopeless from here, but the hybrid ripped it and got me way down there, normally would have had to hit 5 iron and probably had a 5 or 6 iron left in, yesterday the hybrid left me 130 in.

 

Certainly encouraging signs from the hybrid and those sorts of shots were the exact reason I wanted to find one that works. I also hit a very good tee shot on 13 with it, with water all down the left I split the fairway. No hint of a big miss left with it so far.

[Dave D]

Been working hard the last week on getting my left arm off my chest (http://www.golfwrx.com/forums/topic/1539708-great-clip-showing-left-arm-off-chest-in-downswing/) and combining that with the step drill. I've worked on the arms off the chest before and always struggled and ended up with no rotation, but I think what I was actually doing is just straightening the right arm and not actually getting the left arm off the chest.

 

Zane is away playing some Mena tour events currently but am going to have a lesson when he gets back, be interested to hear his thoughts in what I'm working on, it's certainly got me hitting the ball better than I have in a while.

[dg_1983]

8 birds in 13 is class - and pretty much unplayable!

 

Good work. That is really some achievement. I think my very best is 7 in 18!

[Dave D]

8 birds in 13 is class - and pretty much unplayable!

 

Good work. That is really some achievement. I think my very best is 7 in 18!

thanks, yeah it was quite funny really, the opponents just kept looking at eachother being like what on earth is going on :lol:

 

my partner and I couldn't stop laughing about it in the latter parts of the match.

 

7 in 18 is still damn good!

[BeTheBall_]

That's about my total for the season ?

[Dave D]

That's about my total for the season

:lol:

[dg_1983]

I should add I think 7 in 18 happened once! In 20 years of playing!

 

1-3 is more common with good rounds containing 4or5

 

5 plus I'd rare for me

[Dave D]

I should add I think 7 in 18 happened once! In 20 years of playing!

 

1-3 is more common with good rounds containing 4or5

 

5 plus I'd rare for me

I'm the same normally, probably only a handful of times I can remember more than 5 in a round.

 

I'm trying to really commit to hitting my putts a bit firmer, anything inside 5 feet hasn't been an issue but I've been missing a lot of makeable 10-15 footers by either leaving them just short or they just die of pace and miss on the low side.

 

I played in an open at a club the other week and left a few like this over 36 holes, the guy I was playing with was really struggling with his short putts and was asking me for advice (as I was holing out really well, as I have been for a while now especially since switching to the spider) and he made the comment when I left another 15 footer just short of pace saying I'd make a lot more putts if I gave them a bit more speed, and why didn't I as I hadn't missed from 3 feet.

 

Now I highlighted this before, at the start of the year I think, as something I wanted to work on but had forgotten about it. So I started looking at a spot a foot past the hole/target point and rolled the ball at a much better pace, and have been for a couple of weeks now and have been holing a few more putts as a result.

 

I think it stems from when I wasn't putting well and didn't have a lot of confidence that if I missed I wanted a tap in, and quite often would lag it, even 10 footers. Whereas now I'm not worried about a 2-3 footer coming back, so I have no reason not to be more aggressive. And I certainly seem to be making a few more and more look like going in.

[Hawkeye77]

Had 7 in 18 on Sunday - 3 person scramble, lol, plus a bogey (we aren't wrx worthy).

 

Love reading these reports and seeing the things you are working on. Always practice with a purpose is what you seem to do and the vids/photos bear that out.

 

Now back to waiting for Monte's next instagram vids from Scotland.

[Dave D]

Had 7 in 18 on Sunday - 3 person scramble, lol, plus a bogey (we aren't wrx worthy).

 

Love reading these reports and seeing the things you are working on. Always practice with a purpose is what you seem to do and the vids/photos bear that out.

 

Now back to waiting for Monte's next instagram vids from Scotland.

 

haha

 

thanks, yeah I always try and have purpose, even if it does seem like I'm tinkering at times, must be method in the madness though as my handicap is lower than it's ever been :D

 

yeah been very jealous watching those videos, I need to do a Scotland trip soon

[Dave D]

Bit of putting work this morning on my indoor "green"

 

https://www.instagra...by=davedunlop87

 

need to work on keeping the followthrough a similar length to backswing, much easier to control distance that way. when my tempo is off I can have distance control issues. I've been doing the tempo drill keeping a coin on the back of the putter which certainly smooths my stroke out, but feel like this is masking the issue slightly. Certainly many of the greats have had equidistant strokes.

 

Edit: end of the month is my last competition for a while so I am planning on then removing the head of the spider s and getting it sandblasted to remove the ghost finish.

[Dave D]

Better looking stroke doing the equidistance drill:

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/BZRvlOnlx4Y/?taken-by=davedunlop87

 

note the high tech amazon packaging being used to adjust the break on the putt :lol:

[flog2]

Bit of putting work this morning on my indoor "green"

 

https://www.instagra...by=davedunlop87

 

need to work on keeping the followthrough a similar length to backswing, much easier to control distance that way. when my tempo is off I can have distance control issues. I've been doing the tempo drill keeping a coin on the back of the putter which certainly smooths my stroke out, but feel like this is masking the issue slightly. Certainly many of the greats have had equidistant strokes.

 

Edit: end of the month is my last competition for a while so I am planning on then removing the head of the spider s and getting it sandblasted to remove the ghost finish.

 

why? you've already hit it. One of the greatest putters ever had little to no follow through

[Dave D]

Bit of putting work this morning on my indoor "green"

 

https://www.instagra...by=davedunlop87

 

need to work on keeping the followthrough a similar length to backswing, much easier to control distance that way. when my tempo is off I can have distance control issues. I've been doing the tempo drill keeping a coin on the back of the putter which certainly smooths my stroke out, but feel like this is masking the issue slightly. Certainly many of the greats have had equidistant strokes.

 

Edit: end of the month is my last competition for a while so I am planning on then removing the head of the spider s and getting it sandblasted to remove the ghost finish.

 

why? you've already hit it. One of the greatest putters ever had little to no follow through

 

Because a long follow through means I've accelerated a lot through the ball, and it can be hard to manage distance control that way. It's easier when this variable is somewhat removed. Most of the greats are the similar length back and through

[Dave D]

Went and collected it this morning:

 

 

First shot with it may well be my opening tee shot in our foursomes knockout semi final this afternoon as I've got to leg it to the course straight from work.

[Dave D]

 

First round in the books and I love it. Also hit some great tee shots with the 3 wood. Really like how stable the Hzrdus black feels

[dg_1983]

Dave - talk me through the ball!! Black and White LOVE IT

[Dave D]

Dave - talk me through the ball!! Black and White LOVE IT

Through the ball?

[pusb365]

I have the HZRDUS Black 6.5 75g in my M1 3 wood, that thing is a cannon off the tee!

 

For whatever reason I couldn't hit the TM drivers to save my life but I do love my 3 wood.

[dg_1983]

You have half the ball entirely blacked out

[Dave D]

You have half the ball entirely blacked out

Oh the putting video! Yeah just used a sharpie to colour in one half of the ball, makes it easy to see if you're putting a pure roll on the ball. If it wobbles then no bueno. That is all dependant on how straight your line is though :lol:

[Dave D]

I have the HZRDUS Black 6.5 75g in my M1 3 wood, that thing is a cannon off the tee!

 

For whatever reason I couldn't hit the TM drivers to save my life but I do love my 3 wood.

 

Yeah I really do like the feel of the 3 wood. Have u got the 15* or HL?

[pusb365]

You have half the ball entirely blacked out

Oh the putting video! Yeah just used a sharpie to colour in one half of the ball, makes it easy to see if you're putting a pure roll on the ball. If it wobbles then no bueno. That is all dependant on how straight your line is though :lol:

 

You might want to check out "The Pill", pretty good training aid that shows you clearly whether you've put a good roll on the ball.

 

I have the HZRDUS Black 6.5 75g in my M1 3 wood, that thing is a cannon off the tee!

 

For whatever reason I couldn't hit the TM drivers to save my life but I do love my 3 wood.

 

Yeah I really do like the feel of the 3 wood. Have u got the 15* or HL?

 

I have the standard 15 degree, adjusted to 14 degrees or something. May explain why it goes so far! :)