A former German professor suggest rhetorical questions were not the way start anything...
I keep pondering the ability of long hitting golfers of slight stature to move the ball long distances.
I'm guessing that there is required a blend of two things, that of efficient energy transfer to the club and some amount of power to move the body prior to this transfer.
I would think that I have as much muscle mass as a 160 pound professional golfer. I could be wrong about that, but I ought to get within some 20% or so. Sadly that is not the current case. I can't get the driver much above the low 90s, units being MPH. The pros are at 120+, long distance specialists are 130 and up.
Back to the main point. If I can't provide the raw horse power, then can I improve my efficiency?
For a total transfer of energy the body and hands would stop as all energy is passed to the club. Think of crack the whip on ice skates, the inner guys stop, then the middle guys and so on until the final body is at maximum speed.
With this in mind, I was thinking that I should be stopping somewhat as I come into the hitting area. This helps me in a couple of ways. One being that I'm not sliding forward as I'm stopping before I get to the hit and then if true, I'll provide more energy to the club.
This occurred to me on Friday morning lying in bed. We'd come back from 8 times zones and sleep was not an easy thing. On Friday I took it to the course without any range time to see if it was doable.
I was able to do this for the most part. I didn't see any distance increases, but they didn't seem to be much shorter either. What I did see was a much higher ball flight. My effective loft of the clubs was going up and by a lot. I was also hitting it very straight.
It was a very different swing than that which I normally produce. As I was willing to just stop at impact, there seemed to be very little effort, the swing felt slow.
I was happy with the ball flight. I was moving the ball pretty well. The greens were newly punched and very rough, which made scoring tough. I did manage to play the back 9 in one over with two birdies and a couple of other chances.
I should get some time at the range this weekend and I want to continue to explore this method some more. It required very little effort on my part, my back was not real happy with it, but I'm not sure I was getting hips out of the way as I was coming out of the hit.
Part of a proper swing is to let the club pull the hands up and around to the follow through, another indication that the body ought to be doing close to nothing at the hit.
I also bit the bullet and ordered some New Balance golf shoes. They have one built on their cross trainer shoe platform that while a bit heavy, provides support and I've always found them comfortable. The ball of my right foot has been unhappy lately. There is a tendon or something that runs across it and this tendon can get unhappy.
I looked around for shoes on sale and found some for $90, but they wanted $7 for shipping and I thought "let me check Amazon." They had the same shoe for $70 with free shipping and tax of $7. They will be here on Monday -- Tuesday tryouts!
I will miss Amazon when they are gone. Gone? I hear you ask. The profit margin at Amazon continues to decrease. Soon they will sell everything at a profit of 0. A trend that cannot continue. But for the moment, Yeah Amazon!
I want to write up the differences between play in Cambridge and playing at home. There are not a lot of differences, but I think I can expound a bit.
Saturday, September 30, 2017
Saturday, September 9, 2017
Some Thoughts
I've played ok for the last couple of rounds. Played from the back tees two out of three times.
With my painfully inept driver, the back tees represent extraordinary challenges. Getting to the greens after an 80 yard drive is not possible, so I've become somewhat of an "up and down Expert."
My short game and putting have been saving the day.
I've also noticed a number of divots heading left while the ball is going right of target. It looks, from that evidence, that I'm above the proper swing plane on everything. I've seen commentary that the over the top swing is what you want with a short iron. Provides a crisper contact, more spin and keeps the ball down a bit. If this is what I'm truly doing, my abilities with the short irons bears this out.
This is the opposite of the swing you want for a longer club. The approved path is in to out?
What I have to do is figure out why I'm doing this. Is it setup or transition or lower body action.
I must admit that I'm getting pretty tired of it. One of the big problems is that I cannot replicate this at the range. Should I put it all down to nervous tension? Or that on the course one is more (or fully) target oriented and at the range, just swinging away?
Barb is busy for the most of the weekend and I'll see if I can be target oriented at the range and replicate some of this. If not, then I'll take a careful look at my range setup and make sure I do that on the course.
A smart golfer would take some notes and then read them before each round!
Oh, well, I can still putt for the nonce. (Putting details: I've found that relaxing the hands, arms and shoulders allows me to smoothly stroke the little beasty-ball. Keeps it on line and the longer putts are less of a "hit and hope" swing.)
On Tuesday we are off to the UK. There will be some golf there with David. We will be playing his private course, the "Gogs." It's outside of Cambridge. David tells me the greens are slower than Las Po -- a transition that is hard to adjust to usually for me. Also the greens are hard and you can't throw darts at the pins. I'm expecting to have to change my style of play. The course is long by my standards, but if the fairways are hard, there may be a lot of run out. Also hard greens make it easier to get to, as you hit short and let them run up. I'm looking forward to a different style of play and the odd pint in the club house afterwards!
I was thinking of shutting down this blog as I don't have much more to say. But I'll see if I'm inspired by the differences with the UK course and good old Los Positas.
I'll create a travel blog for the trip. If you're interested, then clicking on RSH At Large profile will get you to the other blogs. Here is the blog address: HumesUKTrip2017.blogspot.com
With my painfully inept driver, the back tees represent extraordinary challenges. Getting to the greens after an 80 yard drive is not possible, so I've become somewhat of an "up and down Expert."
My short game and putting have been saving the day.
I've also noticed a number of divots heading left while the ball is going right of target. It looks, from that evidence, that I'm above the proper swing plane on everything. I've seen commentary that the over the top swing is what you want with a short iron. Provides a crisper contact, more spin and keeps the ball down a bit. If this is what I'm truly doing, my abilities with the short irons bears this out.
This is the opposite of the swing you want for a longer club. The approved path is in to out?
What I have to do is figure out why I'm doing this. Is it setup or transition or lower body action.
I must admit that I'm getting pretty tired of it. One of the big problems is that I cannot replicate this at the range. Should I put it all down to nervous tension? Or that on the course one is more (or fully) target oriented and at the range, just swinging away?
Barb is busy for the most of the weekend and I'll see if I can be target oriented at the range and replicate some of this. If not, then I'll take a careful look at my range setup and make sure I do that on the course.
A smart golfer would take some notes and then read them before each round!
Oh, well, I can still putt for the nonce. (Putting details: I've found that relaxing the hands, arms and shoulders allows me to smoothly stroke the little beasty-ball. Keeps it on line and the longer putts are less of a "hit and hope" swing.)
On Tuesday we are off to the UK. There will be some golf there with David. We will be playing his private course, the "Gogs." It's outside of Cambridge. David tells me the greens are slower than Las Po -- a transition that is hard to adjust to usually for me. Also the greens are hard and you can't throw darts at the pins. I'm expecting to have to change my style of play. The course is long by my standards, but if the fairways are hard, there may be a lot of run out. Also hard greens make it easier to get to, as you hit short and let them run up. I'm looking forward to a different style of play and the odd pint in the club house afterwards!
I was thinking of shutting down this blog as I don't have much more to say. But I'll see if I'm inspired by the differences with the UK course and good old Los Positas.
I'll create a travel blog for the trip. If you're interested, then clicking on RSH At Large profile will get you to the other blogs. Here is the blog address: HumesUKTrip2017.blogspot.com
Friday, September 1, 2017
Playing Golf
A couple of posts ago, I mentioned a couple of guys who played with loose/happy rules and gave putts and moved the ball when the lie was bad; and generally had a comfortable enjoyable round of something. Maybe we can't call it golf, but let's call it entertainment on a golf course.
Then I ran across some youtube vids that talked about playing without thinking about any technical stuff. As in, don't hit a ball until you've decided how to do it, then think no more about what and just do it.
I've also thought about this before it all came up via these other sources. What if I just played golf and let the ball go where the today's swing let it?
I've played a round today where I did mostly that. It's tough to do when the driver does its usual thing (it is getting better! A bit...).
I found that I can putt very well with the lack of thoughts in my head. I'm not thinking about line much, nor setup nor the speed of my swing.
I found I was taking the putter back further and probably swinging through the ball a touch slower. My distance control was very good. There were no three putts. I lagged nicely. I had a bunch of up and downs - mostly due to the chipping, but hey those putts dropped, and two birdies.
Playing in this manner was very relaxing mentally. I was not having to think about much, just line up and go.
Now if only the driver would come around... The 18th hole is a 500 yard par 5 and for some reason the drive on this hole is seldom a problem. I take a long back swing and rip at it. Yes, the fairway is wide, but there are trees and water and sand out there, but they rarely come into play.
Ah, the eternal mystery of the game. Every shot is unique as is every situation. Lovely, as I think it would become boring rather quickly.
We're having a hot spell this week. I played Thursday and Friday, Off the course by 11:30 or so, with temps in the 90s. It reached 112 by 3 or so. I was home with a cold Old Milwaukee to keep me hydrated. Ok, ok, there were some Popsicles too.
Then I ran across some youtube vids that talked about playing without thinking about any technical stuff. As in, don't hit a ball until you've decided how to do it, then think no more about what and just do it.
I've also thought about this before it all came up via these other sources. What if I just played golf and let the ball go where the today's swing let it?
I've played a round today where I did mostly that. It's tough to do when the driver does its usual thing (it is getting better! A bit...).
I found that I can putt very well with the lack of thoughts in my head. I'm not thinking about line much, nor setup nor the speed of my swing.
I found I was taking the putter back further and probably swinging through the ball a touch slower. My distance control was very good. There were no three putts. I lagged nicely. I had a bunch of up and downs - mostly due to the chipping, but hey those putts dropped, and two birdies.
Playing in this manner was very relaxing mentally. I was not having to think about much, just line up and go.
Now if only the driver would come around... The 18th hole is a 500 yard par 5 and for some reason the drive on this hole is seldom a problem. I take a long back swing and rip at it. Yes, the fairway is wide, but there are trees and water and sand out there, but they rarely come into play.
Ah, the eternal mystery of the game. Every shot is unique as is every situation. Lovely, as I think it would become boring rather quickly.
We're having a hot spell this week. I played Thursday and Friday, Off the course by 11:30 or so, with temps in the 90s. It reached 112 by 3 or so. I was home with a cold Old Milwaukee to keep me hydrated. Ok, ok, there were some Popsicles too.
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