Some Progress

We played with Sonny today, who is another teaching pro.  Has about a 2 index and hits a nice ball.

I'm still struggling with what I do on the course versus what I do at the driving range.  Sonny has seen me hit at both places and remarked that he would not recognize what I do on the course from what I do on the range. 

It's that different.  Usually golf swings are like finger prints and you can recognize them from 500 yards. 

So sad.  I can feel some of the stuff I'm doing wrong on occasion, but getting the sequence right continues to be a challenge. 

The problems Glenn saw are the still the issues. 

Sonny likes my hip turn and the ones he likes I can't feel.

I also saw a video that described the main difference between the good amateurs and the pros and that was that pros have hips that are very stable, don't move along the target path at all.  This keeps them from tilting in the back swing and in the down swing.  Something that ams like to do a lot. 

I have an unstructured day tomorrow, but time to do some practicing and playing. 

I think that being aware of what I'm doing at the range and on the course is the key to this mess. 

One of the differences between conditions is what one is thinking about when swinging.  On course it's much more target oriented and thoughts of "don't hit it right" and "uh oh, water left."  It might be that difference is blocking the smooth, proper sequence of a good swing.

I've not made a habit of picking a target on the range.  Too much interest and need to stay technical.  But when I've played holes at the range and laid out a course and played, it's been flawless.  I'll have to ponder this.

I also want to make sure I'm keeping the lower body in its proper position and not letting my interesting is hitting one for distance getting in the way doing it all properly.

I'll report back when the smoke clears.

Then Thursday we are off to SoCal and I'll get a round in Jay.  Need to hit the ball well there!

Answers!

This is a report on my hour long lesson with Glenn today.

As my faithful reader is well aware, the driver has been an issue in an otherwise fine game of golf.

Glenn uses Trackman to gather data.  For those who don't live and breath this stuff, this is a Doppler Radar unit that tracks club movement, ball flight, spin and then calculates distance carried, some of the roll out (which is a bit of guess -- depends on turf conditions, etc.).  Of course once you have all the numbers, a whole bunch of calculations are possible.  It's also doing movie grabs and such for replay and illustration.

I was under the impression that I was too far inside and needed to swing out at the ball to hit it properly.  Was it a lack of shallowing the club shaft that was causing my problems?

Adding to this was that this problem would only show up on the course.  At the range I could hit 50 drives in a row without my usual set of duck hooks and thin topped shots.

Frustrating?  Ah, yes it was.  It might have discouraged a lesser golfer.


What Glenn saw was that I was getting stuck by keeping the arms and hands too close my body.  That caused them to be trapped and if I was going to get close to the ball I was going to have to do hero moves with body and hands.  To improve the club needed to get outside of my top of backswing position.


The solution seemed strange:

1. Take normal backswing (nice that something was good!)
2. Spin the shoulders - nothing fancy required for my lower body.
3. This spinning feels like I am throwing the club well outside of the swing path and will cause me to come over the top.
4. Make no attempt to manipulate the club with arms or hands.
5. Mr. Trackman says that I am still presenting the club to the ball with an inside to outside line.
6. If things get worse, then spin the shoulders harder.  A solution that doesn't require gentleness and caution!
7. When the shoulders are spun, there must be the feeling that the club grip is being pulled into the body, left and eventually upwards.

As I was able to do this the ball flight was good.  TM (Trackman) showed about 3 degrees up on the swing.  The club is set to 8.5 degrees, so an effective loft of about 11.5 degrees.  

My club path was always in to out, but I was getting close to straight.  

Club path was deliciously straight; some times with a bit of draw, maybe due to gear effect of a toe hit.

Club head speed rose from about 90 to 97.  TM was suggesting carry distances above 240 yards, with total yardage in the 260 range.

I'll try to take this to the course tomorrow.  Since I am supposed to do this with all shots, there will be plenty of practice shots.  I wonder if it applies to putting?

Answers?

The usual Tuesday game has been at Wente thanks to the generosity of Phil.  We coaxed Glenn out for a round today.

Glenn teaches at the local driving range and has played some in qualifying events and Web.com events.  I'm not real sure of his CV.  But he hits the ball well and Phil and thought that it might be instructive and inspirational to see the game as it should be played.

About two holes in, Glenn pulls me aside and suggests he can fix all my faults in very little time.  Well, that's what I wanted to hear.

As my dear reader will remember, the stupid driver has been my nemesis for a number of years.  I thought I was coming over the top, but Glenn has stated that I'm too far inside due to dropping my hands from the top of my very fine backswing.

I'm going to spend some time with him and see what some instruction will do to fix this issue.  It's been a royal pain to not get off the tee and it is past time to do something about it.

I may see him tomorrow.

I'll pass on some of the technical details after the lesson.

All Those Years of Practice...

Me: It was a pretty good day.

Interested Party (IP): Did you play ok?

M: Not too bad.  Started to get it up and down a lot on the back nine.  Hit a couple of drives, it was nice weather, so yea, it was ok.

IP: So why a pretty good day?  Did you make a lot of birdies?

M: Nah, missed a coupe of short ones.

IP: Break 80?

M: Maybe, didn't really keep track.  Want me to add up the score?

IP: Nah, scores don't matter.  Hit the irons well?

M: Pretty well.

IP:  So what was the big deal?

M: Second eagle of the year.

IP: OK, but you have had them before.

M: Yes, but this was the first time on a par three.

IP: Oooh, so hole in one?

M: Yep, first one.  Holed out on the 8th, 160 yards over the water and traps.

IP: Exciting?

M: Sadly, no, as the green is elevated and behind the reeds.  We just got up to the green and it was "Where's my ball?"  I wandered over to the cup and looked in.  Initially I could only see about 1/2 the cup and it was empty, but there, peeking out, was the guy.

IP:  Did you save the ball?

M:  Well, it was a water ball as I've been known to hit one in the water on the 8th.  It was a Hyper Ti ball, might be 10 years old.  But it still flew ok.  It's still in my bag.  I may pull it out, but it's just a ball.

IP:  Did you buy drinks?

M: Nah, no one wanted one.  I offered a frozen yogurt at lunch, but my golf buddy didn't feel the need to be treated to one.

IP:  Is that it?

M: Probably.  It was fun, how often do you get to write a "1" on the score card?  But since I don't keep score...

Things I'm Thinking About

I have this bad habit of not using a lot of my lower body.  And not moving it first in the sequence of the down swing.

To move the lower body is one thing, but then the next question is, how fast to do this?

To generate a lot of speed and who doesn't want to hit the ball further, it would "make sense" to spin the hips as fast as one could.  But it seemed to me worthwhile to try just turning them with no undo effort. 

Reasons for this might be to just start the unwind of the upper body and secondly, to get the left side braced to allow more effort from the upper body without disturbing the posture.  We want to be in the proper position to give the ball a whack.  If not, direction will be more "challenging."

So armed with this thought and several others -- why not keep the game as complex as possible?   I played 18 on the short course today.  The big course was full and slow, and I was not in the mood for slow golf.  The short course was empty and I went around twice and practiced a bit with chipping with a pitching wedge.  I usually use a 60 degree lob wedge, but thought it might be useful to have another weapon for longer shots that don't require elevation complexities.

I found using the hips gently, slowly as the initiation of the swing, worked pretty well.  I found I was pushing a bit, but my distance control was pretty good.  My back didn't complain, which is a good thing.

Post lunch I wandered to the driving range and after my stomach emptied a bit of Polish Sausage and soda pops, I tried some full shots.

I was trying to initiate the down swing with early hip movement, and to be in a neutral position at impact.  I think I get the upper body racing ahead, then try to catch up the with hands -- it's not good from there.

Well, as I mentioned, it all works at the range.

I played at Wente on Tuesday (thanks Phil!), which is a course that requires the driver on all par 4s.  I was pretty good off the tee.  Not real long, but they were all in play.

So all this is feeling pretty good to me.  I just have to make sure I can do it under pressure.  There is reason to suggest this is possible, because the motions involved are not fast and the sequence  makes sense.

Will I remember this all tomorrow?

Year End Equipment Review -- updated 10/10

I've bought a few things over the year and thought I'd jot down my reactions to them.

Under Armour Shorts and Slacks -- I've been using the shorts all year long.  They stretch in all directions, including the waistband, don't stain too badly.  The long pants are very comfortable too.  My only issue with these is the cost.  The shorts go for about $60 a pair and the pants are $65 or so.  Occasionally they are on sale via Golf Galaxy, not Under Armour!

Izod Golf Shorts -- These are the poor cousin to the UA Shorts.  But they cost about 1/3 of the UA's.  That's a bit of a stretch as I opened a Belk card to get an extra 20% off.  They don't fit me as well as the UA, but they are serviceable.  When I found them, I bought a lot, so I have a many years supply.

Ping S56 Irons with new 9 iron -- I've not updated my irons.  I don't expect there is much to be gained in new gear.  I did replace the 9 iron as I had pounded the grooves flat on that club.  I use it to warm up at the range and it gets a lot of action.  I've retired the longer irons to add in hybrids.  But as I swing better, I may rethink this.

Club distance markers -- this were plastic clip on the club with distances printed on them.  I like(d) them a lot.  However they don't always stay on and on some the numbers have warn completely away.  But they did their job and I don't really need them anymore!  $10.

Tectectec range finder -- I'm pretty happy with this.  On my course, where there is no slope issue, they work about as well as my old Bushnell.  The slope is interesting when it matters, but the yardages turn out to be pretty small.  Might be better if they incorporated altimeter correction.  $200.

New Balance 1701 golf shoes -- I've played three rounds and am quite happy with them.  My toes are not banging on the top of the toe box.  The ball on my right foot, while still sore, is doing ok with the padding in the shoe.  They are built on a cross trainer type shoe which provides a lot of structure and support.  $70.

Sun Mountain 3.5 III bag -- My earlier bag was dying and I went back to Sun Mountain (SM) because I couldn't find a new one of the type I had.  It was a Mizuno limited edition Japan only bag.  The SM bag added a little weight, but has the perfect number of pockets and a water bottle holder.  The strapping system works well and SM tells me that if I need to replace parts, they are available and the bag is designed to replace the wearing parts.  I thought the water bottle pocket could use a port to allow rain or condensation to go through.  I sent that suggestion to SM.  They sent me a thank you email.  If you look for one of these, look around, as closeouts can be found.  About $150 full pop, I think I got it for about $80.

Greg Norman wicking Golf shirts -- I wear a lot of the wicking shirts these days.  More than the cotton shirts I wore for the preceding 40 decades.  They are great in a breeze, but quite warm under a jacket.  However, every time I put on cotton, I'm reminded how nice the shirts are.  I got most of them from Belk's, where the prices are pretty good.

Tilley Hat -- While not a purchase this year, there is a not a round where I'm not wearing my Tilley!  The nice design features are a semi-stiff brim that can stand up to most winds without bending up and it's made of sail cloth and can shed a fair amount of water before it begins to get soaked.  The sweat band works pretty well, but it could use a port to the outer air to aid in cooling.  I sent that suggestion into Tilley, they said thanks.  They are washable, which is a good thing as the sweat will start to stink after a while.  Retains its shape post washing too.  I'm starting to see some of the inside material wear out, so I may be replacing it at some point.  There are a lot of models of the hat out there, if one is in the market, so look around.  I've not found anyone who discounts them. If you find such a place, please drop a comment with the location.

Water Bottle --  I bought an $8 dollar vacuum bottle from Walmart.  Shaped like a soda bottle, it holds probably 16 ounces.  The top comes off with a nice coarse thread that doesn't require a lot of effort to unscrew, good size mouth for easy gulping, o-ring seal for no leaks and it does a great job of keeping the water cold.  It's fully stainless steel construction and doesn't seem to support mildew much.  I use this 5 times a round and would not want to be without it.

That's about all that comes to mind.  I suppose I could talk about balls and tees, but that's not very universal.

An interesting two days

I've gotten back from the UK and it took a few rounds to get back to my "tap in pars" game.

Thursday and Friday we started early and by the turn I was hitting on most cylinders.  I shot one over on each of the back nines.  Since I started on the front Friday and the back Thursday, I can claim that I was able to handle most of what the course had to offer.

Well, there is one caveat there, we played the forward tees Friday, which makes the course about 3 strokes easier for me as a couple of possible bogey holes become short iron birdie opportunities.

But still, one must hit the greens and putt reasonably.

The greens have had some problems recently.  They got too wet, then the weather turned really hot and it looks like the greens caught a fungus or something.  Putting was difficult as greens had uneven speed and could be pretty patchy as to surface conditions.

They reseeded the chipping green completely.  Interesting that they decided they couldn't rescue it with extra care.


One other swing thought and ability came to me in the back round today.  There is a lot of talk about pulling the club down and not pulling it towards the ball.  Something that doesn't make a lot of sense as the arms should just walk the club handle around.

I also watched one of the "gear" videos where they talked about hand speed in various parts of the swing.  Interesting is that the maximum speed of the hands is at about hip high on the down swing.  Oh, you don't try to slow down, but the club is coming out of alignment with the swing path and energy is moving outward and slowing the hands. 

The pro golfer they had measured had a maximum hand speed of about 23 MPH and it slowed to about 12 MPH as the transfer took place.  The club maxed out at 123 MPH -- there was about a 5 to one mechanical advantage in speed from the hands to the club head.

What I found I could do was to actually pull down the club and not instigate any motion towards to the ball.  It felt weird as I think I like to torque my body towards the ball and ruin my setup and alignment.  This new method seemed quite neutral and balanced.

I think this is very useful as it keeps me behind the ball and that allows for a more solid ball contact and better balance when the smoke has cleared.

I only about 5 shots with this, but they were all keepers. 

So I'll continue to test this.  It solves a lot of my problems if it's the proper thing to do.

I thought I might do an end of year equipment review.  I haven't bought that much, but I've formed the odd opinion about a lot of what I'm using.

Golf in England

England is probably too broad.  I can talk a little bit about golf at the Gog Magog golf course in Cambridge, so let's plunge on...

The Gogs is the nicest course in the Cambridge area, per my host, David.  I can't argue with that much as I didn't see another course.

The terrain is rolling and has more altitude variation that I am used to.  A couple of tee shots are straight down hill. 

There are no water hazards on the courses.  Yes, they have two.  The Old Course from 1900, the new course was done in the mid 80s.

The styles of the two courses are very close.  So close that I wouldn't have noticed that there was large difference in design, which I think one would expect over 80 some years of golf club design history.

The fairways are quite wide.  There are no trees commonly in play.  You have to hit it quite a bit off line for them to come into play.  Likewise the bramble bushes and plum trees.  You can nibble your way along the course, season permitting. 

There is some rough, but it was wispy when I was there.  I'm told it's different in different seasons.

The holes are quite long.  The par 4s are almost all in the 400 yard range.  There was one short hole of 320 or so.  There were also a couple near 450.  The par 3s are 170-ish.

No one in the group I played in could get to any of the par 4s.  So we played a lot of pitch and putt.

The course is modestly trapped, but generally there was room to run a ball on from the front of the greens.  My home course has some forced carries over bunkers to get to some pins.

The sand in the bunkers is very coarse.  More rock like than I am used to.  David says that the rains will drain the sand portion into the soils and constant maintenance is required.  I was in one and got out ok.  One could explode from them without too much trouble.

The ground under the course is called Chalk Downs.  This is quite porous and water and apparently sand will drain well.

A lot of the greens have some slope to them.  They also seemed to have a bit of grain. If you've played on bent grass, it is a lot that that.  But it didn't seem to come into play as much as bent.

The greens are pretty furry and I had trouble with the slow speed.  I was using an Anser Ping putter than was lighter than I am used to.  No excuse, mind you, but I was leaving everything short.

There is a bunker, on the 18th on the old course, where if you hit a ball in it, you are asked to toss in a pound into the Captain's Charity jar. 

Bottom line, long course, not much run out and slow greens proved too tough for me. 

It's an old fashioned club, so no blue jeans!  And no trainers in the club house or spikes!  And no track suits either.  So I spent some money to get some Under Armour pants at the outlet mall.  (It's trousers in the UK!)  They turned out to be very comfortable and I'm expecting to get some use out of them.

I also traveled with more shoes that I normally do.  The suitcase was stuffed with pair after pair. 

The club house was nice in that understated British way.  It looked fairly new, but there were plaques of names of the Captains going back to 1900 on the wall.

They had a large bar, sadly no real beer (see the beer blog), but several beers and lagers on tap.  The chips were good.  Other than that, not too much to say.

There was a nice practice area, but I think I talked about that already, so I won't repeat myself.

I would have liked to get in another round or two, but we ran out of time.

Thanks to David for sharing his club.