Love Golf?

[Kee]

I'm old school. There was a recent time where the pros dipped their heads and squated to explode up on the ball. That's good if you practice 8 hrs a day. Pros have recently backed away from this technique. So there is no final answer

That's something I've always had trouble wrapping my head around. Clubhead lag at impact position, properly done (since the clubhead will be higher), makes it necessary to lower the body or do something else to hit the ball flush. And good luck thinking about all that while hitting the ball.

I'm working on hitting a lot of half shots to get the feel for what I need to do, without overthinking it.

 

[TheDudeLebowski]

That's something I've always had trouble wrapping my head around. Clubhead lag at impact position, properly done (since the clubhead will be higher), makes it necessary to lower the body or do something else to hit the ball flush. And good luck thinking about all that while hitting the ball.

I'm working on hitting a lot of half shots to get the feel for what I need to do, without overthinking it.

I always stray from staying down and trapping the ball, getting more height which then makes distance control an issue. It never pays

 

[bkboiler]

Finally joined the "golf club" near my kids school...been taking vacation days once a week and playing after I drop them off!
Free range balls anytime and $10 off a round + a free beer.
I have to play 2 x a month and hit the range twice a month to make it worth it, but so far it has been!
Game isn't necessarily getting better, but I'm having a blast!

 

[TheDudeLebowski]

Oof! San Diego is a nice place to play. I bet u see improvement. Mostly due to the practice, putting green and the mental confidence to know how you hit the ball more consistently

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

Finally joined the "golf club" near my kids school...been taking vacation days once a week and playing after I drop them off!
Free range balls anytime and $10 off a round + a free beer.
I have to play 2 x a month and hit the range twice a month to make it worth it, but so far it has been!
Game isn't necessarily getting better, but I'm having a blast!

Yep, I do the same thing with the little course near me. It's only a SHORT executive course (1115 yards / par 29), but they've got the range, a nice putting green, and have a pitching / sand trap practice area too.

BTW, "bkboiler" -- Is the Boiler any reference to Purdue or is that related to the Burger King thing in your avatar?

 

[SouthBounds]

@bwarbiany Nice swing! With regards to your thin/fat comment try these 2 things:

1. Your left heel is coming up. You do a good job returning it to the same position so it works. Might add consistency for you.
2. Try a towel drill (especially good on mats). Put your golf towel flat on the ground one clubhead width (turned sideways) behind the ball. This will keep you from dragging the club ( it will kick the towel up) which usually causes thin and also fat shots (hitting the ground to soon before impact).

Anyway, they work for me. Good luck and keep at it!

 

[Kee]

Paddy's new video points out a swing flaw I hadn't thought about in a while. Not a new concept, but he sure has a certain flair when explaining things.

 

[bkboiler]

Yep, I do the same thing with the little course near me. It's only a SHORT executive course (1115 yards / par 29), but they've got the range, a nice putting green, and have a pitching / sand trap practice area too.

BTW, "bkboiler" -- Is the Boiler any reference to Purdue or is that related to the Burger King thing in your avatar?

Yep, exec course for me too, usually playing as a single...worth it for the practice and I just pay a la carte for fancier courses when friends are available to play.
I have some friends that went to Purdue, but my name isn't a ref to that. My initials are BK, so when burger king introduced the BK-Broiler hamburger, some friends gave me that nickname. When I joined this website I noticed that BK is an abbreviation for boil kettle, so it kinda made a nice pun

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

@bwarbiany Nice swing! With regards to your thin/fat comment try these 2 things:

1. Your left heel is coming up. You do a good job returning it to the same position so it works. Might add consistency for you.
2. Try a towel drill (especially good on mats). Put your golf towel flat on the ground one clubhead width (turned sideways) behind the ball. This will keep you from dragging the club ( it will kick the towel up) which usually causes thin and also fat shots (hitting the ground to soon before impact).

Anyway, they work for me. Good luck and keep at it!

I actually think the problem I'm having is explained in this video...



If I put the mouse pointer in line with my backside at address, I can see that through my backswing I'm turning the left hip forward but I'm not really pulling the right hip back, which ends up causing my to lose depth in my hips. That leads to me not having enough room to clear the hips on the downswing to impact and I'm stalling.

Yep, exec course for me too, usually playing as a single...worth it for the practice and I just pay a la carte for fancier courses when friends are available to play.
I have some friends that went to Purdue, but my name isn't a ref to that. My initials are BK, so when burger king introduced the BK-Broiler hamburger, some friends gave me that nickname. When I joined this website I noticed that BK is an abbreviation for boil kettle, so it kinda made a nice pun

Ahh cool...

 

[passedpawn]

Twilight round Tuesday Yours truly on the 18th, with lob in hand, watching my ball drop onto green. I barely cleared this little stream with my 3i from the fairway.

 

[Brooothru]

Twilight round Tuesday Yours truly on the 18th, with lob in hand, watching my ball drop onto green. I barely cleared this little stream with my 3i from the fairway.

View attachment 713567

Beautiful. Makes me want to ditch this cold 28F and head South for a round or two.

 

[TheDudeLebowski]

Now you got me itching.

I have to travel north to NH but I know a course is open. This time of the year, I call it pinball golf because the ground is usually frozen and you have to play as if the fairways and greens areconcrete. It can be fun. One of my buddies use to bring a drill to put the tee into the ground

Forecast is perfect

 

[Brooothru]

Now you got me itching.

I have to travel north to NH but I know a course is open. This time of the year, I call it pinball golf because the ground is usually frozen and you have to play as if the fairways and greens areconcrete. It can be fun. One of my buddies use to bring a drill to put the tee into the groundView attachment 713569

Forecast is perfect

Looks like the forecast here in Central Maryland. Years ago we spent three Winters in Maine. I enjoyed playing golf there in the summer, but usually had to work that day.

 

[TheDudeLebowski]

Looks like the forecast here in Central Maryland. Years ago we spent three Winters in Maine. I enjoyed playing golf there in the summer, but usually had to work that day.

Maine's become my favorite Vaca golf destination. You got the mountains and you got the sea. Add in incredible food, beer and other activities without the crowds? I also like to Vaca in the low seasons.

A couple of years ago I headed to their mountains to avoid a heat wave down here. It got below freezing the night I arrived

 

[Brooothru]

Maine's become my favorite Vaca golf destination. You got the mountains and you got the sea. Add in incredible food, beer and other activities without the crowds? I also like to Vaca in the low seasons.

A couple of years ago I headed to their mountains to avoid a heat wave down here. It got below freezing the night I arrived

Yeah, we joked alot about the winters since they can be brutal. Summers can also have extremes. There was a heat wave one year when the temperature reached 104F with high humidity and nary a whisp of a breeze. SWMBO was pregnant and none too happy, since our house wasn't air conditioned like most other homes as well. And then there are the mosquitoes. And Black Flies. It's like Alaska without the Polar Bears.

But the Spring, and especially the Fall. Makes life worth livin'. Ayuuup.

 

[TheDudeLebowski]

Yeah, we joked alot about the winters since they can be brutal. Summers can also have extremes. There was a heat wave one year when the temperature reached 104F with high humidity and nary a whisp of a breeze. SWMBO was pregnant and none too happy, since our house wasn't air conditioned like most other homes as well. And then there are the mosquitoes. And Black Flies. It's like Alaska without the Polar Bears.

But the Spring, and especially the Fall. Makes life worth livin'. Ayuuup.

One of the closest courses I can play next to my house is about 5 miles from the ocean. We like to play it during the summer. The course can be brutally hot but driving down to the ocean usually drops the temp by 15°. Again great food and views

 

[Brooothru]

One of the closest courses I can play next to my house is about 5 miles from the ocean. We like to play it during the summer. The course can be brutally hot but driving down to the ocean usually drops the temp by 15°. Again great food and viewsView attachment 713581

Rocky coast of Maine. Love it!

I'm guessing the pic is somewhere between Wiscasset and Boothbay 'Haabaaa'.

 

[TheDudeLebowski]

Rocky coast of Maine. Love it!

I'm guessing the pic is somewhere between Wiscasset and Boothbay 'Haabaaa'.

Nope. That's just over the bordah in Wells Maine. The course, The Ledges, is on the Western border of the town and that's east. There's a bunch of breweries and good bars in that neighborhood.

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

Next 7 days, highest high is 80 degrees and lowest low is 45 degrees.

Playing 18 on Sunday.

 

[TheDudeLebowski]

Definitely waaaay too hot

 

[Kee]

When I first started playing, the pro shop/starter shack would close during the rare freeze, but gave me permission to go out on the course. I'd walk 18 holes by myself, never see a soul, freeze my rear off but it was great. The pro told me there was one other guy crazy enough to do the same, but I never saw him.

 

[Novacor]

The cold doesn't bother me as much as the fact that when I'm wearing more than a light jacket, I need to adjust my swing to compensate for the extra bulk, and bad things happen.

 

[applescrap]

I am so close to pulling the trigger on a simulator. Do you see the package price. Ugh, no getting around the base unit at 2k plus case and software. And the net,....etc. more to come and will need some help.

Yep passed I have cracked a face on a tm r7, and years years later they gave me an r9 the one I still use! Bought the r7 used on ebay! My buddy says hard range balls, idk. They crack over time and they especially crack if you are powerful.

Bwarbiany nice swing bro. You look like a big strong athletic guy. Lots of good things. I recently watched the number one teacher in america, butch harmon give a 2 hour lecture. Thought I shared it, will, but he says he finds one thing, the cancer, fix that and all else comes into place often. He says better to work on one cancer then 20 things that could be fixed by fixing that one thing.

The potential in this swing is great and it is clear you are quite a stick. If you arent scoring also look at putting, short game, decision making on course and head game. Often I see a player like yourself make dramatic improvement by joining a 4 some and playing 18 3x a week. You might just need to get out and play more. I have a few thoughts on the swing.

Your swing is strong and athletic. Look at this awesome top position, what. Flat wrist and on plane club. I see and saw that little twist on takeaway but top looks good. I see no sway and a good powerful coil on face on. I do see a little perhaps on dtl but you look good there. Your stance is good, a little straighter back, you are slightly rounded and overall more athletic. Stand stronger and more athletically, not rounded and to stiff.

One issue and I do believe it is the main issue is the flip at impact. Here you can see your left arm and club in line with the ball well before impact. Ideally that would be where I drew the line. I will upload my swing, but warning its terrible. Keep swinging, I wouldnt mess to much with that. Work on the short game. Last draw those lines and use v1 to see spine and hip thrust.

 

[Kee]

I am so close to pulling the trigger on a simulator. Do you see the package price. Ugh, no getting around the base unit at 2k plus case and software. And the net,....etc. more to come and will need some help.

I recently watched the number one teacher in america, butch harmon give a 2 hour lecture. . . . he says he finds one thing, the cancer, fix that and all else comes into place often. He says better to work on one cancer then 20 things that could be fixed by fixing that one thing.

I'd love to have a simulator but yea, I can't get past the sticker shock. A couple of weeks ago I found out that there is a business with simulators within driving distance where you can play for $30 or $35 an hour, so I should at least try one out.

Harmon is right. Finding swing flaws is only step one. Then you have to sort out if a "flaw" is something primary, a result/compensation, etc. and prioritize, so you don't arrive at the range thinking "ok, I'm going to work on these 8 things". The final step, and perhaps the hardest, is to find a "feel" that will work for you. Even then (and Hogan talked about this) a swing feel/key/thought that works on the range may not work under pressure.

A couple of days ago I found something simple that lets me shallow the club or get the club into the slot (mainly just keeping my right wrist relaxed at the top of the backswing, but there is some timing involved). I think I'm on to something, but will it transfer to the course? I don't know. Even if it's something that works out, the process can take awhile. And feel a little different every day. Developing a repeatable swing is a challenge, but well worth it in my opinion.

 

[mullet6577]

I'd love to have a simulator but yea, I can't get past the sticker shock. A couple of weeks ago I found out that there is a business with simulators within driving distance where you can play for $30 or $35 an hour, so I should at least try one out.

I'm going to to Huntsville this weekend and they have a place like that that I'm hoping to try out. We usually go to TopGolf when we're there but it's a little cold outside and hitting targets gets kind of boring after a while. My wife doesn't play...at all...but she even thinks it looks like fun to swing a club "on a course" and have a few drinks.

https://www.xgolfhuntsville.com/
There's a place near home that has similar simulators but they only have 2 bays and I haven't had a chance to try it out yet

https://letitflymemphis.com/full-swing/

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

Bwarbiany nice swing bro. You look like a big strong athletic guy. Lots of good things. I recently watched the number one teacher in america, butch harmon give a 2 hour lecture. Thought I shared it, will, but he says he finds one thing, the cancer, fix that and all else comes into place often. He says better to work on one cancer then 20 things that could be fixed by fixing that one thing.

One issue and I do believe it is the main issue is the flip at impact. Here you can see your left arm and club in line with the ball well before impact. Ideally that would be where I drew the line. I will upload my swing, but warning its terrible. Keep swinging, I wouldnt mess to much with that. Work on the short game. Last draw those lines and use v1 to see spine and hip thrust.

There are advantages to being 6'5" and 265# lol. I spent ages 11-18 doing martial arts as well, so although I don't have the same flexibility I used to, I think I'm ahead of the typical 42 year old there.

That said, one of the disadvantages of being my size is that the clubs I was fitted for back when I was 22 feel like sledgehammers to swing. I've still got the paper from the fitter that has my 5 iron at 39.5", which is about 1.5" above "standard". Which equates to 9 additional swing weight points. Back in the day, I liked that extra weight because swinging something too light felt like swinging air and screwed up my tempo. Now that I'm 20 years older (and less strong/athletic than those days) I'm thinking my next set of clubs should either be closer to standard length, or should be deliberately built with lighter heads to reduce swing weight.

But I think I need lessons before another clubfitting to upgrade the clubs, so I get fitted with a more consistent swing.

Agree on the flip. That's what I'd like to get to a pro to get figured out. I think I'm stalling a little too much in the hip turn and am just a little too closed at impact, which doesn't allow me to get the hands to lead and keep that arm straight.

I'd love to have a simulator but yea, I can't get past the sticker shock. A couple of weeks ago I found out that there is a business with simulators within driving distance where you can play for $30 or $35 an hour, so I should at least try one out.

We've got a place like that nearby as well. It's where I ended up taking my 30 minute free "swing evaluation" and plan on going back to that pro for lessons. I found just in 30 minutes that the ability to correlate my own "feel" for what I thought I was doing with the video of my swing DTL, and the Trackman data showing exactly what the club was doing, was the way to get my engineer brain to understand what the pro was telling me.

For me the issue with a simulator isn't the sticker shock--although that's not exactly cheap. It's that being in SoCal with a 1200 sf house, there's no way I could actually find a place to set up a simulator. If I moved to someplace like CO, where I had plenty of house but had to deal with winter, I'd consider a simulator.

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

Played 18 yesterday at the par 60 course. Shot +15 to finish with a 75. The Grint tells me that my index dropped 1.3 strokes (from 24.3 to 23.0) after that round.

I was absolutely killing it through the front 9. I finished the front 9 at only +2, with 5 pars, one birdie, and three bogeys. No "blow up" holes (double or worse). What really felt good about that front 9 is that for once, it was my short game saving me, as I wasn't actually hitting the ball all that well. I only made 4 of 9 GIR, but my pitching game was absolutely on fire, leaving me short par putts on two of those 5 other holes and reasonable 2-putts for bogeys on the others. I actually had two more "reasonable" birdie opportunities, i.e. a but about 10-12 feet in length and one about 7-8 feet, but didn't sink them.

Of course, that means the back 9 was +13. Which wasn't even me playing like crap, actually. I had three more pars and one bogey 3-putt on making a green in regulation that I'd like to have back. What killed me was sand. I had three holes where I was in the sand. Two of them took me 3 strokes to get out of the damn bunker (triple bogeys on both), and one where it only took me two strokes to get out, but I had a penalty from putting one in the water hazard before that for quadruple-bogey. My pitching game killed me on both the 17th hole (chunked one, then had to save bogey with a 1-putt) and the 18th (dropped from a water hazard and just completely mishit my pitch which was supposed to be over a bunker--and put it right in the bunker).

So... Looks like I need to practice my bunker play!

But at least I can say I only had one shank on the day. While I wasn't hitting the ball great, at least I was making consistent enough contact to advance it.

 

[Kee]

For me the issue with a simulator isn't the sticker shock--although that's not exactly cheap. It's that being in SoCal with a 1200 sf house, there's no way I could actually find a place to set up a simulator. If I moved to someplace like CO, where I had plenty of house but had to deal with winter, I'd consider a simulator.

If I ever buy a simulator, I'd have to categorize the purchase more as entertainment than a tool for helping my swing (FOR ME). I'm not discounting the value it would have for some people, but right now I mainly just need to distinguish between a pretty good swing and a pretty bad swing, and I can usually do that. Except for the driver, I don't have the same feel for some reason so I don't use my backyard net much for hitting driver, I'll save that for the range.

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

Have any of you guys looked at the less expensive launch monitors? Seems like there are a few right in that $500 range that could probably help dial in consistency especially if just hitting into a net in the backyard.

Unfortunately at that price point they can't tell you direction left/right or side spin for draw/fade... And although I could use something like this at the range which would allow me to know direction/curve from watching the flight path, I'm pretty sure my range uses distance-limited balls so the distances would be completely off.

 

[bkboiler]

@bwarbiany that's crazy about the sand! My local course gives us a free drop from the sand due to covid (I suppose touching the rake is germy+ they don't want to have to maintain them).
Oh well, I take it as a strategic advantage!

 

[passedpawn]

@bwarbiany that's crazy about the sand! My local course gives us a free drop from the sand due to covid (I suppose touching the rake is germy+ they don't want to have to maintain them).
Oh well, I take it as a strategic advantage!

Courses around here have gotten rid of the rakes. I think it's dumb, but that goes for a lot of the knee-jerk these days. I love not having to rake, so win for me (I do a "foot-rake" though). Some have also gotten rid of the sand on the carts for divots, and some have not. Kinda random.

The UV in the sun kills all of it pretty quickly I think. For states that have sun

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

@bwarbiany that's crazy about the sand! My local course gives us a free drop from the sand due to covid (I suppose touching the rake is germy+ they don't want to have to maintain them).
Oh well, I take it as a strategic advantage!

Courses around here have gotten rid of the rakes. I think it's dumb, but that goes for a lot of the knee-jerk these days. I love not having to rake, so win for me (I do a "foot-rake" though). Some have also gotten rid of the sand on the carts for divots, and some have not. Kinda random.

The UV in the sun kills all of it pretty quickly I think. For states that have sun

Yeah, I can't really tell whether I'm just a terrible bunker player, or whether it's terrible bunker conditions. I seem to remember being halfway decent out of the sand before my 5 year layoff... And by "decent" meaning I'll get the ball out of it in one stroke, not that I actually expect it to finish close to the hole.

We don't have rakes either, so invariably my ball comes to rest in a divot or footprint. To be honest if I'm in something that doesn't look like it's a "natural" issue (i.e. my ball splashed into its own ball mark), I've not hesitated to move it, because unraked sand traps are not IMHO the way the game is supposed to be.

But the condition of the sand on this course isn't very good either... I assume because maybe it's not even getting raked daily in the early morning or evening? So I'm not sure that even with a decent lie whether the sand is really very playable.

'Course, I could just be making excuses for crappy sand play at this point.

 

[orionol73]

USGA R&A made this specification this summer...

If rakes have been removed from the course

• Introduce preferred lies in bunkers, for example allowing a place in the bunker within one club-length not nearer to the hole than where the ball came to rest.

 

[bkboiler]

Oof....I have been taking a drop outside the bunker since the sand is in such a poor state--was treating it as "grounds under repair"

 

[TheDudeLebowski]

Been a while since I've played golf in January. I use to make it a point to play every month of the year. I was itchy this year as weatherman forecasted 50° with sun. I woke up with fog, ice on my deck and 33°. Did get up to 40° by the time I teed off but sun disappeared. Weathermen lie!!! Phone died as I got there but never a good sign when I have to drive over snow. January punched tho and a couple of top notch breweries nesrby. I will return

 

[passedpawn]

That white stuff looks cold. Brrr.

Man, I kept meaning to get out to play this week, but decided to make some money instead. Definitely next week. I don't play on weekends, too many people out there. I really like wednesday or thurs afternoon.

 

[Novacor]

Sat at work for the last 3 days looking out the window at the 50 degree sunshine. It's currently raining and will be cold and windy all weekend. At least I got a putting mat for Christmas that I can roll out in my living room.

 

[bkboiler]

mother in law watching kids Monday when I am furloughed...I better remember to call in and schedule my tee time!

 

[aces-n-eights]

That white stuff looks cold. Brrr.

Man, I kept meaning to get out to play this week, but decided to make some money instead. Definitely next week. I don't play on weekends, too many people out there. I really like wednesday or thurs afternoon.

Hey Andrew, i've sent you a couple of PMs, can you please check your inbox and confirm you're getting those messages?

Thanks

 

[passedpawn]

Hey Andrew, i've sent you a couple of PMs, can you please check your inbox and confirm you're getting those messages?

Thanks

Got them! Will reply there.