A while ago I was going to work on club head speed and that basically went nowhere as other issues and thoughts intruded.
But I was thinking in the shower about the prior post, it hadn't been written at that time, and the concepts of speed and power came up.
If you are swinging something and are going to hit something that is heavy, think axe and log, you brace for the impact and the body tightens up and as you hit the log the body is trying to drive the axe through the log.
This an example of power.
Now how about hitting dandelions with a golf club. There is no weight to the flower. We will whip the club through and not think about the hit much as there is nothing important going on at impact.
I think that we average golfers are more prone to think of impact as an axe and log and not cutting off flower heads.
I'm going to see if I can use this to speed things up.
I also ran across a video where the instructor was talking about speed. "If you want get faster then think about being fast past the ball and not at the top of the backswing." Apply the speed at the bottom and not at the top.
Saturday, September 29, 2018
More Plane Thoughts
I just reviewed my earlier thoughts on planes and it looks like I had most of it wrong.
I was watching a couple of videos by Athletic Motion Golf and they measure pros and amateurs and take a look at the differences between the two. And there are differences.
Let me go back to the the various planes. We have the shoulders that swing at a plane that basically intersects the ball. It's inclined to the ground. This angle is important. Too flat or too upright and you have issues getting your hands back to the ball. Oh, you'll do it, but the ball direction and speed will not be optimal. More on this in a moment.
In the prior post on planes I said that the arms which are below the shoulder plane will move up to join this plane and will follow it down as the down swing occurs.
That is not correct.
What Athletic Motion Golf (AMG) says is happening is that the arms will stay in their plane. It is more vertical that the shoulder plane. And it will cross the shoulder plane going back and coming down.
The cross occurs as the arms get over your shoulder on the backswing.
Now the next point is quite interesting. At the start of the down swing we have some minor lower body movement, then the arms will cross back under the shoulder plane. The shoulders will not move much until the arms are moving pretty good.
When the shoulders have rotated back to the setup position the hands will be close to the right thigh and moving into the hitting area. Basically the hands are close to their lowest point to the ground.
But note that the arms are well below the shoulder plane.
One more word on this. Since we are for the most part just moving arms, we can do it briskly, develop some speed (see next post!) and keep the body as a solid support structure to the arms.
The arms drop vertically and by that I mean straight down. There is very little angle towards the ball initially. There does seems to be a "corner" that aligns the arms to the ball. Remember that the club face is going to rotate at impact and the club has to be a bit below the impact plane. If it's not, then an adjustment will be made and inconsistencies will occur!
The hips and such will not be leading the arms through the hitting area. They are turning as the hands go by.
AMG shows that this is what the pros do. Amateurs on the other hand do other things. For example let me talk about a guy I play with a lot.
He lines up the shoulder and arm planes and keeps them together. As he comes down, the shoulders drive the direction of the arms. He hits a very consistent left to right ball flight. The shoulders drive the arms above the proper plane and leave the club face open. So the ball starts left as a pull, then the ball curves back to the right due to the club face.
If he would move the arms first, then shoulders this may all change. I think he'd hit everything straight.
One more example is another friend who has a shoulder plane that in the backswing flattens to become almost parallel to the ground. It is almost as if he has stood up straight and lost all of his initial posture.
Now what does he do to get back to the ball? He has a big problem and it is resolved into a characteristic dance of adjustments to get the club on the ball. It's costing him a lot of club speed. His dance is required to get his body out of the path to the ball.
---
Ok, I'm playing with this in the backyard. Note to self, it's really easy to get winded by swinging at top speed 20 times! It's very difficult to drop the arms. I'll have to try it at the range.
The other issue is to see impact as a dandelion head. If I do this, there is a lot less club manipulation and the speed seems to go up. I'm encouraged about this aspect.
---
This is long enough and we will see what happens when it's put into practice.
I was watching a couple of videos by Athletic Motion Golf and they measure pros and amateurs and take a look at the differences between the two. And there are differences.
Let me go back to the the various planes. We have the shoulders that swing at a plane that basically intersects the ball. It's inclined to the ground. This angle is important. Too flat or too upright and you have issues getting your hands back to the ball. Oh, you'll do it, but the ball direction and speed will not be optimal. More on this in a moment.
In the prior post on planes I said that the arms which are below the shoulder plane will move up to join this plane and will follow it down as the down swing occurs.
That is not correct.
What Athletic Motion Golf (AMG) says is happening is that the arms will stay in their plane. It is more vertical that the shoulder plane. And it will cross the shoulder plane going back and coming down.
The cross occurs as the arms get over your shoulder on the backswing.
Now the next point is quite interesting. At the start of the down swing we have some minor lower body movement, then the arms will cross back under the shoulder plane. The shoulders will not move much until the arms are moving pretty good.
When the shoulders have rotated back to the setup position the hands will be close to the right thigh and moving into the hitting area. Basically the hands are close to their lowest point to the ground.
But note that the arms are well below the shoulder plane.
One more word on this. Since we are for the most part just moving arms, we can do it briskly, develop some speed (see next post!) and keep the body as a solid support structure to the arms.
The arms drop vertically and by that I mean straight down. There is very little angle towards the ball initially. There does seems to be a "corner" that aligns the arms to the ball. Remember that the club face is going to rotate at impact and the club has to be a bit below the impact plane. If it's not, then an adjustment will be made and inconsistencies will occur!
The hips and such will not be leading the arms through the hitting area. They are turning as the hands go by.
AMG shows that this is what the pros do. Amateurs on the other hand do other things. For example let me talk about a guy I play with a lot.
He lines up the shoulder and arm planes and keeps them together. As he comes down, the shoulders drive the direction of the arms. He hits a very consistent left to right ball flight. The shoulders drive the arms above the proper plane and leave the club face open. So the ball starts left as a pull, then the ball curves back to the right due to the club face.
If he would move the arms first, then shoulders this may all change. I think he'd hit everything straight.
One more example is another friend who has a shoulder plane that in the backswing flattens to become almost parallel to the ground. It is almost as if he has stood up straight and lost all of his initial posture.
Now what does he do to get back to the ball? He has a big problem and it is resolved into a characteristic dance of adjustments to get the club on the ball. It's costing him a lot of club speed. His dance is required to get his body out of the path to the ball.
---
Ok, I'm playing with this in the backyard. Note to self, it's really easy to get winded by swinging at top speed 20 times! It's very difficult to drop the arms. I'll have to try it at the range.
The other issue is to see impact as a dandelion head. If I do this, there is a lot less club manipulation and the speed seems to go up. I'm encouraged about this aspect.
---
This is long enough and we will see what happens when it's put into practice.
Thursday, September 27, 2018
Catching Up
I've been lax with my postings lately. Not much new to impart. There have been the usual good rounds (2) and a round where it all seemed to regress to earlier days.
I took my usual Thursday off and did some around the house stuff and then went to the range to work on today's latest theory.
I wanted to make sure that my shoulders are staying on plane. I think that I've been getting flatter with the longer clubs. And then when the driver is in hand, I'm so flat that I can't get it on plane, I get outside and then we are talking the pushes and hooks.
So today I made sure I was pretty upright and shoulders were where they should be. Of course it all worked fine on the range, it always does. But I feel more comfortable over the ball with the longer clubs keeping this in mind.
I've updated my notes and all I'll have to do is read then before I go out and play tomorrow.
We had some 90+ weather the last few days and I came back from the range a bit soaked. It sure looks easier on TV.
The Ryder cup starts tonight. The recorder is setup to grab it and I'll look forward to seeing it tomorrow.
As a historical note the Kavanaugh hearing is today. I've got a few things to say about this. I've had a couple of other non-golf thoughts lately. I suspect I'll put then in one of the other blogs. But it seems to me that these are quite unique times in my life time. Lots of things happening and people getting angry and strangely quite a lot of things getting done on a national level. I never thought that I'd see a politician actually do what he promised to do pre-election. What an interesting precedent! Could we be in the position to demand that of future presidents? Might be quite comical. Ok, I won't dive into it here and I've not organized my thoughts totally in any case.
I've a round scheduled for tomorrow. Looking forward to playing. I hit it well on Wednesday with 15 GIRs, but no putts made. It was a 78. Greens were very fast. Long putts were fraught with tension and as the ball would just run out and out.
I took my usual Thursday off and did some around the house stuff and then went to the range to work on today's latest theory.
I wanted to make sure that my shoulders are staying on plane. I think that I've been getting flatter with the longer clubs. And then when the driver is in hand, I'm so flat that I can't get it on plane, I get outside and then we are talking the pushes and hooks.
So today I made sure I was pretty upright and shoulders were where they should be. Of course it all worked fine on the range, it always does. But I feel more comfortable over the ball with the longer clubs keeping this in mind.
I've updated my notes and all I'll have to do is read then before I go out and play tomorrow.
We had some 90+ weather the last few days and I came back from the range a bit soaked. It sure looks easier on TV.
The Ryder cup starts tonight. The recorder is setup to grab it and I'll look forward to seeing it tomorrow.
As a historical note the Kavanaugh hearing is today. I've got a few things to say about this. I've had a couple of other non-golf thoughts lately. I suspect I'll put then in one of the other blogs. But it seems to me that these are quite unique times in my life time. Lots of things happening and people getting angry and strangely quite a lot of things getting done on a national level. I never thought that I'd see a politician actually do what he promised to do pre-election. What an interesting precedent! Could we be in the position to demand that of future presidents? Might be quite comical. Ok, I won't dive into it here and I've not organized my thoughts totally in any case.
I've a round scheduled for tomorrow. Looking forward to playing. I hit it well on Wednesday with 15 GIRs, but no putts made. It was a 78. Greens were very fast. Long putts were fraught with tension and as the ball would just run out and out.
Sunday, September 23, 2018
One For the Ages
I've been looking at some videos by David Bull. He is a Canadian who moved to Japan and learned to be a wood block carver. The blocks, usually cherry wood, are then used to make prints.
I just watched a video where he was talking about the transitory nature of stuff. Cars and phones and washing machines have a life span, but art lasts. He sells prints made over 200 years ago. He is pushing gifts of prints for a very nominal cost that will outlast the giver. It's nice stuff and worth a look. He makes good videos and is an interesting talker.
But back to golf... Tiger has managed to return to a very high level of play. It was very entertaining to me to watch it play out over the last 4 days.
But what has this to do with old Japanese prints?
Ah, we come to the attraction of watching Tiger play. During the times when I've found golf to be of interest, I've seen Nicklaus and Tiger in their primes. I would have loved to have seen Sneed or Hogan or Jones when they were working miracles. There are some film and videos, but it's not the same as watching it occur in real time. The first golf I ever watched on TV was when Johnny Miller shot his 63 at the US Open. It was on an old black and white set we had up on the porch in Palatine. It was a good introduction to the game.
I find Tiger of interest as I am able to watch history in the making. Maybe he will pass Jack down the road. It seemed a sure thing not too long ago. Then it seemed impossible. But now, it just might unfold.
Every victory and well struck putt adds to what he has done. The mastery he controls is inspiring. The power and finesse is art and I look forward to more of it.
Tiger, the non-golfer, is of not much interest. I hope he is happy and enjoys what will come to him down the years. His retirement from competitive golf might be interesting depending what he may turn to. But I want to see the history book rewritten in my time.
Ok, here is a joke that came out when he was having marital troubles:
Tiger has crashed his car and the police have shown up. They look over the scene and talk to Elin, his wife.
"It seems like you hit him with the golf club a few times. How many times did you hit him?" asks the cop.
Elin thinks for a moment and uses her fingers to count out things as she remembers them.
"Put me down for a 6," she answers.
It's funny if you golf!
I just watched a video where he was talking about the transitory nature of stuff. Cars and phones and washing machines have a life span, but art lasts. He sells prints made over 200 years ago. He is pushing gifts of prints for a very nominal cost that will outlast the giver. It's nice stuff and worth a look. He makes good videos and is an interesting talker.
But back to golf... Tiger has managed to return to a very high level of play. It was very entertaining to me to watch it play out over the last 4 days.
But what has this to do with old Japanese prints?
Ah, we come to the attraction of watching Tiger play. During the times when I've found golf to be of interest, I've seen Nicklaus and Tiger in their primes. I would have loved to have seen Sneed or Hogan or Jones when they were working miracles. There are some film and videos, but it's not the same as watching it occur in real time. The first golf I ever watched on TV was when Johnny Miller shot his 63 at the US Open. It was on an old black and white set we had up on the porch in Palatine. It was a good introduction to the game.
I find Tiger of interest as I am able to watch history in the making. Maybe he will pass Jack down the road. It seemed a sure thing not too long ago. Then it seemed impossible. But now, it just might unfold.
Every victory and well struck putt adds to what he has done. The mastery he controls is inspiring. The power and finesse is art and I look forward to more of it.
Tiger, the non-golfer, is of not much interest. I hope he is happy and enjoys what will come to him down the years. His retirement from competitive golf might be interesting depending what he may turn to. But I want to see the history book rewritten in my time.
Ok, here is a joke that came out when he was having marital troubles:
Tiger has crashed his car and the police have shown up. They look over the scene and talk to Elin, his wife.
"It seems like you hit him with the golf club a few times. How many times did you hit him?" asks the cop.
Elin thinks for a moment and uses her fingers to count out things as she remembers them.
"Put me down for a 6," she answers.
It's funny if you golf!
Saturday, September 22, 2018
The Ongoing News
I'm about to conclude that I've been doing things incorrectly.
Now I've been able to move the ball pretty well this summer. But the driver is still the weak spot. Yes, it's gotten better, but it is nothing that I can rely on.
I have two things that I'm try out.
We can start with the easy item and it may be that this has been my algorithm all along. We are talking pitching here. The idea is that we swing a circle using arms and club with as large a radius as we can. Thus we don't hing the wrists and chop at it. We come back at the ball and allow a long flat spot in swing as we hit it. The idea being that we get a nice consistent contact with a consistent club face angle to the ball. I've been at the range for a couple of days and tried this. I'm pretty happy with the technique. The trajectory seems a bit low. I've not taken this to the course. Friday's round was lost to a memorial service for a friend. Monday is the next round and I'm eager to try this out on a course. If you watch the pros this week you will see a lot of this as they bump it along the fringes and greens.
The second swing thought is to make sure the hips are not too active. Get the hands in front of the body and then let the hips go. It's a different take on the swing. The hips don't pull anything around, but we want to get into a good position, close to the impact position before we drive hips around.
This can be thought of syncing the arms to the body. It feels slow, but I'm really happy with contact and distance. I was rolling shots up onto the 250 target at the range. The tees were about 15 yards up, but I am happy to hit the ball 235 or so with range balls.
What I've found is that to do the above, you have to use the torso more than the legs/hips. It may be that I've never really used the torso much. An untapped power source!
I looked for YouTube videos for syncing the driver swing. I ran across a gal who talked about pros having a very solid and stable platform from which to hit. I think this is an important thought. We amateurs are all over the place and have no balance. The pros are rock solid and balanced. If you can be in balance, you can be very consistent.
I've been trying to turn without moving my hips much. Then do not take a too long back swing and then get the arms moving and join the hips, then let the hips go.
I hit some nice shots. I have to think if I hit any bad ones. If they were, they were up in the air and out there. If I can move all of that to the course, I will be happy.
As I've been trying this, my calluses have started to move. I'm getting sore spots on the joints of the little finger on the left hand, The sore spot on the left thumb is in remission. This lines up with what Hogan had in his book. Since I started as hooker of the ball, this is probably a very good sign.
Sadly we have to wait for Monday. Since retirement, I have found weekends to be the bane of my existence. The roads are crowded and the golf course is closed to me!
Now I've been able to move the ball pretty well this summer. But the driver is still the weak spot. Yes, it's gotten better, but it is nothing that I can rely on.
I have two things that I'm try out.
We can start with the easy item and it may be that this has been my algorithm all along. We are talking pitching here. The idea is that we swing a circle using arms and club with as large a radius as we can. Thus we don't hing the wrists and chop at it. We come back at the ball and allow a long flat spot in swing as we hit it. The idea being that we get a nice consistent contact with a consistent club face angle to the ball. I've been at the range for a couple of days and tried this. I'm pretty happy with the technique. The trajectory seems a bit low. I've not taken this to the course. Friday's round was lost to a memorial service for a friend. Monday is the next round and I'm eager to try this out on a course. If you watch the pros this week you will see a lot of this as they bump it along the fringes and greens.
The second swing thought is to make sure the hips are not too active. Get the hands in front of the body and then let the hips go. It's a different take on the swing. The hips don't pull anything around, but we want to get into a good position, close to the impact position before we drive hips around.
This can be thought of syncing the arms to the body. It feels slow, but I'm really happy with contact and distance. I was rolling shots up onto the 250 target at the range. The tees were about 15 yards up, but I am happy to hit the ball 235 or so with range balls.
What I've found is that to do the above, you have to use the torso more than the legs/hips. It may be that I've never really used the torso much. An untapped power source!
I looked for YouTube videos for syncing the driver swing. I ran across a gal who talked about pros having a very solid and stable platform from which to hit. I think this is an important thought. We amateurs are all over the place and have no balance. The pros are rock solid and balanced. If you can be in balance, you can be very consistent.
I've been trying to turn without moving my hips much. Then do not take a too long back swing and then get the arms moving and join the hips, then let the hips go.
I hit some nice shots. I have to think if I hit any bad ones. If they were, they were up in the air and out there. If I can move all of that to the course, I will be happy.
As I've been trying this, my calluses have started to move. I'm getting sore spots on the joints of the little finger on the left hand, The sore spot on the left thumb is in remission. This lines up with what Hogan had in his book. Since I started as hooker of the ball, this is probably a very good sign.
Sadly we have to wait for Monday. Since retirement, I have found weekends to be the bane of my existence. The roads are crowded and the golf course is closed to me!
Thursday, September 20, 2018
The Club of High Confidence
That's what my father used to call his 5 wood. If he had a name for the club at the other end of the happiness spectrum, I never heard it.
I raised the question with the boys while we were having our after round hot dog and frozen yogurt. "Why are some clubs beloved and others tossed to a dark corner of the garage? It can't be that the untrusted club is so different that it cannot be playable?"
Sadly there was no insights from the boys. Just a gentle munching of hot dog, the odd slurp of the soda.
There is a tale about this. Back in the 70s they started frequency matching clubs. One of the first folks to have his clubs checked was Tom Weiskopf. It seems he had a 7 iron that wouldn't be friendly no matter how much he beat balls with it.
But in these days the quality and consistency of equipment is of a very high order. If there is a problem we have to look inward and not at the gear.
I have no other thoughts to pass on. But if there are thoughts out there, I'm happy to listen...
I raised the question with the boys while we were having our after round hot dog and frozen yogurt. "Why are some clubs beloved and others tossed to a dark corner of the garage? It can't be that the untrusted club is so different that it cannot be playable?"
Sadly there was no insights from the boys. Just a gentle munching of hot dog, the odd slurp of the soda.
There is a tale about this. Back in the 70s they started frequency matching clubs. One of the first folks to have his clubs checked was Tom Weiskopf. It seems he had a 7 iron that wouldn't be friendly no matter how much he beat balls with it.
But in these days the quality and consistency of equipment is of a very high order. If there is a problem we have to look inward and not at the gear.
I have no other thoughts to pass on. But if there are thoughts out there, I'm happy to listen...
The Return of Monte
Monte Scheinblum is a golf instructor. He's had some fame in the long driving world and has some interesting videos on YouTube and Instagram. Worth a look if you golf.
One of his drills is called the "Hinge, no turn and cast drill." To perform this you try to cock/hinge your wrists without taking the club back and then try to cast, which is to open the wrist angle as hard as you can.
What actually happens is that you will make a full shoulder turn by just cocking the wrists and when you try to cast, you will end up in the perfect impact position.
Monte's point in this and other things is that the body is incredibly reactive. It will do things to make sure we don't fall over (most of the time!) and get a club on a golf ball from very strange starting points. You can't anticipate what is going to happen, it just does what it needs to.
I've mentioned what 88% of the brain is doing while we think with the 12% left over, and it's how to do things very automatically. It's learned. Watch a two month old whose hands are all over the map as he learns to control them. It is not long and he will be able to grab and hold and reach and all that good stuff. But initially it's all training.
But early development is not high on my list of things to think about. Side note: an agendum is a list of things to do. Agenda is plural! Multiple lists as it were. Is there a Latin word for a list of things to think about?
So, back to golf. If we want to have a better swing then I think (and Monte thinks) we can't worry about the end positions. We want to learn the things that will make the body react to get us to the proper impact position. With this in mind we have the drill mentioned above.
I can attest that it works quite well. But it's not perfect. It's fine for irons, but the driver is still not where I want it to be. So let me dwell on that a moment.
The drill does a couple of things. By trying to cast the club we put a lot of effort into accelerating the right hand. That causes the body to brace against this. The arms move against the brace and we arrive at impact. The stress on using early movement of the arms is promoted by others instructors and I think the foundation for it is accurate. The body has actually started to move a bit too, but the reaction is due to arm movement and that provides the majority of the total reaction. And as I said, this gets you to a nice place with the arms and body synced up and happy and the ball is well launched.
I've just been in the backyard doing some experiments. With a sand wedge I can easily move the arms fast enough that my body can't get ahead of it. This is what I want.
In the drill it seems that there is a large component of moving the club down and not forwards. This also does not require the body to move forward, but maintains a balance. Trying to move the club towards the ball or target seems to activate the body to move in those directions and then we are out of sync.
What I suspect I do with the driver is not move the arms forward, but I'm trying to move the club head around. When I do this the body can get ahead and sometimes to the right and now I am doomed. Moving the club head and not the arms is not what I want to do. I want to move the arms and leave the club behind. That should freeze the body and allow me to be in position at impact.
I tried this in front of my swing mirror and it seems to work.
If my arms weigh 20 pounds and the body 200, then I can be in balance if the arms are moving 10 times the body speed; we have mass * speed to be equal for both parts. If there is an imbalance what will happen? Will the body get in front and keep going? We then stagger towards the fairway. If the arms are too fast, then the body falls backwards? I'm not sure about this stuff. I'll have to try somethings.
However from all of the above, I don't think the model of the body pulling the arms around is correct. We want to launch the arms just a bit ahead of the direction change by the body. The arm movement will force the body to brace and become stable. There will not be a lot of twist provided by the lower body.
There was a drill to hit balls with your feet together. That makes some sense as we want balanced forces. Trying this with irons and driver ought to point out some answers to me. Of course it's not that simple as the swing for an iron and one for the driver are quite different... Sheesh, this is getting complex. But let me try this.
----
After Monday's round: using the wrist cock to get to a full swing position. Then casting with the hands. Feeling the pressure shift to right foot on back swing and left foot early in forward swing. Trying to take as much or more time with the long clubs as with the short ones. Best ball striking in a long time -- maybe forever. Long and straight.
Curious about if the hips are staying level or going up in back swing and then falling forward to left in downswing. See Athletic Motion Golf video on "stop slide part 1".
----
Tuesday:
Trying to make a short backswing. That is, when the shoulders stop moving, the arms do too. Hit three shots like this and very happy with the solidity of them.
Wednesday:
Shot continue to be very good. Scoring ok, putts are not dropping, but there are a lot of easy pars to be had.
I find another Monte video where he talks about the drill for the driver. In this we can cock the wrists to get the backswing, but instead of trying to cast, we try to move the arm off the chest. We need to get the arms moving fast as we have to catch the hips. If the hips are too far in front of them, then we will have to slow them (stall) to wait for the arms to show up. It's not wrong to be slow with the hips and think about being fast with the arms.
I was at the range today. The object was to use the wrist cock and cast motion for all the irons up to the 7 iron, then use the "get the arm off the chest" drill for longer clubs. I'm also making sure that when the shoulders stop moving that the arms stop too.
Ball contact was very good and ball height was a lot higher. No more low 4 woods, everything towered.
I went to the course and played the par three course. This was all irons. The only greens I missed were due to hitting it over greens. I was very accurate and shot shape was excellent. Club ball interactions was of the highest order. Even the divots were objects of wonder.
I saw a graph today of the various parts of the body and how and when they move. The pro didn't more hips or torso or arms faster than the amateurs. His club head speed was 30% faster, but it came later in the swing and the highest speed was at impact. Both of the amateurs were slowing down at impact.
Interesting the amateurs' torsos and hips continued to move after impact while the pro was happy to stop them. The hips stopped first, then torso and then the arms whipped through. Also of note is that the arms and torso speeds were identical until the arms slowed and the club head kept getting faster.
I may play late tomorrow and see if I can take this to the course. Updates soon!
One of his drills is called the "Hinge, no turn and cast drill." To perform this you try to cock/hinge your wrists without taking the club back and then try to cast, which is to open the wrist angle as hard as you can.
What actually happens is that you will make a full shoulder turn by just cocking the wrists and when you try to cast, you will end up in the perfect impact position.
Monte's point in this and other things is that the body is incredibly reactive. It will do things to make sure we don't fall over (most of the time!) and get a club on a golf ball from very strange starting points. You can't anticipate what is going to happen, it just does what it needs to.
I've mentioned what 88% of the brain is doing while we think with the 12% left over, and it's how to do things very automatically. It's learned. Watch a two month old whose hands are all over the map as he learns to control them. It is not long and he will be able to grab and hold and reach and all that good stuff. But initially it's all training.
But early development is not high on my list of things to think about. Side note: an agendum is a list of things to do. Agenda is plural! Multiple lists as it were. Is there a Latin word for a list of things to think about?
So, back to golf. If we want to have a better swing then I think (and Monte thinks) we can't worry about the end positions. We want to learn the things that will make the body react to get us to the proper impact position. With this in mind we have the drill mentioned above.
I can attest that it works quite well. But it's not perfect. It's fine for irons, but the driver is still not where I want it to be. So let me dwell on that a moment.
The drill does a couple of things. By trying to cast the club we put a lot of effort into accelerating the right hand. That causes the body to brace against this. The arms move against the brace and we arrive at impact. The stress on using early movement of the arms is promoted by others instructors and I think the foundation for it is accurate. The body has actually started to move a bit too, but the reaction is due to arm movement and that provides the majority of the total reaction. And as I said, this gets you to a nice place with the arms and body synced up and happy and the ball is well launched.
I've just been in the backyard doing some experiments. With a sand wedge I can easily move the arms fast enough that my body can't get ahead of it. This is what I want.
In the drill it seems that there is a large component of moving the club down and not forwards. This also does not require the body to move forward, but maintains a balance. Trying to move the club towards the ball or target seems to activate the body to move in those directions and then we are out of sync.
What I suspect I do with the driver is not move the arms forward, but I'm trying to move the club head around. When I do this the body can get ahead and sometimes to the right and now I am doomed. Moving the club head and not the arms is not what I want to do. I want to move the arms and leave the club behind. That should freeze the body and allow me to be in position at impact.
I tried this in front of my swing mirror and it seems to work.
If my arms weigh 20 pounds and the body 200, then I can be in balance if the arms are moving 10 times the body speed; we have mass * speed to be equal for both parts. If there is an imbalance what will happen? Will the body get in front and keep going? We then stagger towards the fairway. If the arms are too fast, then the body falls backwards? I'm not sure about this stuff. I'll have to try somethings.
However from all of the above, I don't think the model of the body pulling the arms around is correct. We want to launch the arms just a bit ahead of the direction change by the body. The arm movement will force the body to brace and become stable. There will not be a lot of twist provided by the lower body.
There was a drill to hit balls with your feet together. That makes some sense as we want balanced forces. Trying this with irons and driver ought to point out some answers to me. Of course it's not that simple as the swing for an iron and one for the driver are quite different... Sheesh, this is getting complex. But let me try this.
----
After Monday's round: using the wrist cock to get to a full swing position. Then casting with the hands. Feeling the pressure shift to right foot on back swing and left foot early in forward swing. Trying to take as much or more time with the long clubs as with the short ones. Best ball striking in a long time -- maybe forever. Long and straight.
Curious about if the hips are staying level or going up in back swing and then falling forward to left in downswing. See Athletic Motion Golf video on "stop slide part 1".
----
Tuesday:
Trying to make a short backswing. That is, when the shoulders stop moving, the arms do too. Hit three shots like this and very happy with the solidity of them.
Wednesday:
Shot continue to be very good. Scoring ok, putts are not dropping, but there are a lot of easy pars to be had.
I find another Monte video where he talks about the drill for the driver. In this we can cock the wrists to get the backswing, but instead of trying to cast, we try to move the arm off the chest. We need to get the arms moving fast as we have to catch the hips. If the hips are too far in front of them, then we will have to slow them (stall) to wait for the arms to show up. It's not wrong to be slow with the hips and think about being fast with the arms.
I was at the range today. The object was to use the wrist cock and cast motion for all the irons up to the 7 iron, then use the "get the arm off the chest" drill for longer clubs. I'm also making sure that when the shoulders stop moving that the arms stop too.
Ball contact was very good and ball height was a lot higher. No more low 4 woods, everything towered.
I went to the course and played the par three course. This was all irons. The only greens I missed were due to hitting it over greens. I was very accurate and shot shape was excellent. Club ball interactions was of the highest order. Even the divots were objects of wonder.
I saw a graph today of the various parts of the body and how and when they move. The pro didn't more hips or torso or arms faster than the amateurs. His club head speed was 30% faster, but it came later in the swing and the highest speed was at impact. Both of the amateurs were slowing down at impact.
Interesting the amateurs' torsos and hips continued to move after impact while the pro was happy to stop them. The hips stopped first, then torso and then the arms whipped through. Also of note is that the arms and torso speeds were identical until the arms slowed and the club head kept getting faster.
I may play late tomorrow and see if I can take this to the course. Updates soon!
Monday, September 17, 2018
The Dream
I don't think I've had a golf dream before, but I had one last night.
It was the last day of the Ryder Cup and Nick Faldo and I were just playing along as the last group.
But then the word came that what we did might matter. We needed to play the last hole. It's a par 3 with water and goes straight down hill.
But I didn't have any clubs! So I'm wandering around trying to find something or get permission from the rules official to use something.
She said no to some scheme I had. I don't remember what it was.
Finally it looked like I could use her rule book as a club. It was hard back and might do the trick.
It was my turn on the tee and then... I woke up.
It was the last day of the Ryder Cup and Nick Faldo and I were just playing along as the last group.
But then the word came that what we did might matter. We needed to play the last hole. It's a par 3 with water and goes straight down hill.
But I didn't have any clubs! So I'm wandering around trying to find something or get permission from the rules official to use something.
She said no to some scheme I had. I don't remember what it was.
Finally it looked like I could use her rule book as a club. It was hard back and might do the trick.
It was my turn on the tee and then... I woke up.
Saturday, September 15, 2018
Can it be that Simple?
Hmm, starting with a rhetorical question... But if it's correct...
So I'm thinking to myself, no sense doing that out loud, it would only upset Barb and I'd have to talk loudly enough and clearly not to be asked for repetition, which seems like a lot of work and I can be lazy... But I'm thinking about the arc of a swing and the centrifugal effects that pull the club into the ball. Yes, the isochronic stuff still seems to be a part, but that's still up in the air.
I didn't have a tee time today and I had a few things to do this morning. I got all the stuff done and it was painting part of the house. It's complete and all the stuff is put away and the brush is washed and I won't have to think about it anymore. This is a very good thing.
Now I have more processing power for my golf swing.
The thought is that perhaps I should be thinking about a swing or whipping action and not any kind of hit. I've struggled to take my forearms and hands out of the mystery of what happens at impact. This is not as easy as it sounds.
The quest for speed is different than a quest for power. I want the club to be fast, not powerful. The difference between these two is not simple to realize, I think. When the club strikes the ball there is a transfer of momentum. The big deal here is the difference in masses between the ball and club. What happens with this is that the lighter (smaller mass) object will be moving faster than the more massive guy.
The clubs are the more massive and the ball is easily accelerated in the collision. I think the maximum is that the ball will move 1.5 times the speed of the club. This is called smash factor in the current vernacular.
This concept is useful and has to be trusted. Imagine we have a delicate pitch. We are close to the green, but need to loft the ball just a bit and then let roll out. We take back the club, we start the downswing. The swing is short; we don't need the ball to go too far. But the club is moving slowly! Panic sets in and we do something at impact to add a little speed. Oops. Not good and the ball will probably be sculled since we have to "fix" the shot by flipping our hands at the ball.
But if you trust this to work... We return to our slow swing or even a putting stroke, where the club is completely in sync with our arms and will not swing past them. We come into the ball at a slow speed and we are trusting that the ball will launch faster than the club was moving.
Now the ball accelerates due to the collision and its speed is nicely controlled by our delicate swing. There is no help provided, no panic and you too will be the envy of your playing partners.
Quiz: which club has the highest smash factor? That being the ratio of the club head speed to the ball speed... And the answer is the putter. Why? Because the lack of loft on the putter generates less loss of speed. It's all going into driving the ball forward and not much to lifting the ball in the air. The next up is the driver and then we move down through the bag.
The trade off for speed is loft and spin. So those are close to zero with the putter and around 10,000 rpm and 20+ degrees of loft for the wedges.
I seem to have wandered in my thoughts here, but let's return to a whip action.
The idea is that we take the club back, let the wrists break and get closer to the body and then we just spin out and let the arms and club move out and impact the ball. We don't try to do anything but spin. Yes, we have to be in the proper position. If we have moved the body then the brain will compensate to hit the ball.
This not a new thought, but I went out to the course to do this, not worry about score or direction or anything else. If I have to start the spin slowly to stay in position, then I will.
First tee is a short iron as they have the tee moved up. Until a week ago I normally bit a 6 iron here. But lately the 7 is the club. I've got a ball in the pond that led me to changing clubs.
I'm on the tee and I have to wait a bit. There is a single ahead of me and I want to play alone and hit a couple of balls if I want to. I try a couple of practice swings. I notice that at the start of the downswing I'm doing something strange with my arms. It looks like I've found an element that should not be there.
I kill the 7 iron and I'm 2 yards from the water. It's a solid hit and felt great. It was an effortless swing and impact required no adjustments.
A 5 iron to a back pin is next. Pretty much the acid test expect for the driver. I hit one and I push it. I drop another and make sure I'm square, I suppress the little action at the top and off it goes like a rocket. Well, this is fun. A solid 165 yard carry and on the green.
Off to the second hole. This is a par 5 and I've been known to hook one into the trees on the left. Of course that's pretty true for my entire group, but I'm over there more than my share.
I give it a whip and by great golfing gods it's in the air and miles down the middle of the fairway. I tee up another. Bang, same thing. I wander out and they are withing 5 yards of each other.
I can hit a 7 iron to get to the 100 yard marker - a good layup. I push these, but hit them well. Shots to the green are also effortless.
And off I go. Shot after shot and I'm not working real hard.
--- It's now a couple of days later and a couple of rounds later. The above stuff remains fairly true. But I'm thinking about other things. I don't want to bother finishing the story. I'd probably just dump this, but there is a bit of work here and as I mentioned, it's not all garbage. It may be of use to others or my biographer. (Ha!) So I'll publish and start on the next topic.
So I'm thinking to myself, no sense doing that out loud, it would only upset Barb and I'd have to talk loudly enough and clearly not to be asked for repetition, which seems like a lot of work and I can be lazy... But I'm thinking about the arc of a swing and the centrifugal effects that pull the club into the ball. Yes, the isochronic stuff still seems to be a part, but that's still up in the air.
I didn't have a tee time today and I had a few things to do this morning. I got all the stuff done and it was painting part of the house. It's complete and all the stuff is put away and the brush is washed and I won't have to think about it anymore. This is a very good thing.
Now I have more processing power for my golf swing.
The thought is that perhaps I should be thinking about a swing or whipping action and not any kind of hit. I've struggled to take my forearms and hands out of the mystery of what happens at impact. This is not as easy as it sounds.
The quest for speed is different than a quest for power. I want the club to be fast, not powerful. The difference between these two is not simple to realize, I think. When the club strikes the ball there is a transfer of momentum. The big deal here is the difference in masses between the ball and club. What happens with this is that the lighter (smaller mass) object will be moving faster than the more massive guy.
The clubs are the more massive and the ball is easily accelerated in the collision. I think the maximum is that the ball will move 1.5 times the speed of the club. This is called smash factor in the current vernacular.
This concept is useful and has to be trusted. Imagine we have a delicate pitch. We are close to the green, but need to loft the ball just a bit and then let roll out. We take back the club, we start the downswing. The swing is short; we don't need the ball to go too far. But the club is moving slowly! Panic sets in and we do something at impact to add a little speed. Oops. Not good and the ball will probably be sculled since we have to "fix" the shot by flipping our hands at the ball.
But if you trust this to work... We return to our slow swing or even a putting stroke, where the club is completely in sync with our arms and will not swing past them. We come into the ball at a slow speed and we are trusting that the ball will launch faster than the club was moving.
Now the ball accelerates due to the collision and its speed is nicely controlled by our delicate swing. There is no help provided, no panic and you too will be the envy of your playing partners.
Quiz: which club has the highest smash factor? That being the ratio of the club head speed to the ball speed... And the answer is the putter. Why? Because the lack of loft on the putter generates less loss of speed. It's all going into driving the ball forward and not much to lifting the ball in the air. The next up is the driver and then we move down through the bag.
The trade off for speed is loft and spin. So those are close to zero with the putter and around 10,000 rpm and 20+ degrees of loft for the wedges.
I seem to have wandered in my thoughts here, but let's return to a whip action.
The idea is that we take the club back, let the wrists break and get closer to the body and then we just spin out and let the arms and club move out and impact the ball. We don't try to do anything but spin. Yes, we have to be in the proper position. If we have moved the body then the brain will compensate to hit the ball.
This not a new thought, but I went out to the course to do this, not worry about score or direction or anything else. If I have to start the spin slowly to stay in position, then I will.
First tee is a short iron as they have the tee moved up. Until a week ago I normally bit a 6 iron here. But lately the 7 is the club. I've got a ball in the pond that led me to changing clubs.
I'm on the tee and I have to wait a bit. There is a single ahead of me and I want to play alone and hit a couple of balls if I want to. I try a couple of practice swings. I notice that at the start of the downswing I'm doing something strange with my arms. It looks like I've found an element that should not be there.
I kill the 7 iron and I'm 2 yards from the water. It's a solid hit and felt great. It was an effortless swing and impact required no adjustments.
A 5 iron to a back pin is next. Pretty much the acid test expect for the driver. I hit one and I push it. I drop another and make sure I'm square, I suppress the little action at the top and off it goes like a rocket. Well, this is fun. A solid 165 yard carry and on the green.
Off to the second hole. This is a par 5 and I've been known to hook one into the trees on the left. Of course that's pretty true for my entire group, but I'm over there more than my share.
I give it a whip and by great golfing gods it's in the air and miles down the middle of the fairway. I tee up another. Bang, same thing. I wander out and they are withing 5 yards of each other.
I can hit a 7 iron to get to the 100 yard marker - a good layup. I push these, but hit them well. Shots to the green are also effortless.
And off I go. Shot after shot and I'm not working real hard.
--- It's now a couple of days later and a couple of rounds later. The above stuff remains fairly true. But I'm thinking about other things. I don't want to bother finishing the story. I'd probably just dump this, but there is a bit of work here and as I mentioned, it's not all garbage. It may be of use to others or my biographer. (Ha!) So I'll publish and start on the next topic.
Tuesday, September 11, 2018
A Steady Round
I had a nice round yesterday. Everything was in reasonable form from the long game to the putting.
Hmm, now that I think about it, there were no sand shots. They usually show up if the iron game is weak.
I'll lay out the back nine. I think it was the best I've played on that nine.
10th is short par 4 and the tees are up. There is a creek and trap that requires an iron off the tee. I hit 6 iron to the end of the fairway. That leaves about 115 to the pin. I hit a pitching wedge to 10 feet and make the putt. One under for the nine.
11th is a moderate length par 3, about 150 the middle of the green. The green is small and surrounded by bunkers. A tee shot that lands on the green anywhere is good golf. I hit a 7 iron and it felt really good, but when I get there the ball is on the front edge and we have a back pin. I choose to putt it, though chipping was a consideration. I like to chip if I have a lot of green to cover. But this is not a huge green. I putt to about a foot and half and that gets kicked back to me as "good enough." There was a bit of right to left break at the end that I didn't play for properly. The putting speed was dead pin high.
12 is a moderate par 4. It would be considered short, but you have to go up a 30 foot hill to get to the green side of the fairway. There are trees to the right, from where you can be playing dead. There are trees left too, but they are not too dense and from there you have a good line to the green. I go with a 4 wood, a club of high confidence and hit right up the middle of the fairway. Dick hits his into a tree on the right and the ball bounces back to the fairway. Steve hits his into the same tree and his ball also bounces out and the two balls are all of 10 feet apart. Clean living perhaps? It's a front pin and I have about 110 in and hit a gap wedge. I'm a little short of the pin but on the green. I roll this one in. We're two under for the nine.
13 is a long par 5. The tees are back and we have about 550 yards to the green. I hit a hook that starts right, clips some leaves off the very top of a eucalyptus tree, but makes the fairway. Out comes a hybrid that I found in the garage and thought I'd try. I catch it off the toe a bit, but it looks like I'm in the fairway. I'm about 150 out or so and have done well to hit the narrow fairway. There is a high lipped trap to my right. Further right is the end of the driving range -- not the place to ever be. There are woods on the left and right. We teed off the highest point of the course and will be heading down hill for a couple of holes.
The pin is middle and this is the toughest green on the course. Lots of slope and it's fast. Long irons are difficult for me to hit high in the air and mine comes in low, short, and bounces to the back of the green. This is a downhill sliding fast chip, but I hit it well and it finished about 2 feet below the hole. I make this and I'm still two under for the nine.
The 14th is 380 yards and continues the downward slope. There are trees on both sides of the fairway and a bunker on the right. I'm still trying to control the driver and I push it right of the bunker into the trees. I'm forced to chip out and have about 110 to a back pin. Now, 110 is a very good yardage for me. It's a full pitching wedge and the wedge and I get along very well. I'm thinking that par is still quite atainable. But I hit the wedge too well. It's on line, but I'm over the pin about 8 feet from the hole. Sadly a well struck putt doesn't drop. We're now 1 under for the nine.
15th is a longer par 3. We cross the creek again and play to a long green with bunkers front right, right, and back. The pin is in the front about 155 yards. I hit a very nice, high 6 iron and it spins back a bit, but I'm putting and there isn't a lot of break. I lag it nicely for par.
The 16 is about 350 and we are heading west now. There are bunkers on both side of the fairway. The left one doesn't come unto play unless you hit a short hook. I hit a short hook. But I'm past the bunker and have a mild side hill lie and about 160 in. I hit a nice 5 iron that hits short and rolls up to 5 feet. I roll this is for the third birdie and I'm back to two under for the nine.
The 17 is somewhat parallel to the 16th. We cross the creek in front of the tee and play to a wide fairway with bunkers on the left and two ponds right. I like to play to the right side of the fairway and short of the second pond. This is a 4 wood or driver. 4 wood is more likely to be on line and the hole is not too long, so I don't need the extra 30 yards or so.
I hit it well and have about 130 to a back pin. There are traps right and left on this hole. At pin high going left putts you down a slope and back to the creek. Ok, they are arroyos out here and the one we have here helps to flood the course when the winter rains come and shelters the deer, turkey and other assorted forest animals in the summer. Beyond the green is more run off and trees if you are quite long. Most folks don't ever hit a ball over the green, so not a big deal. I do it on occasion and have to be a bit careful. I hit an 8 iron pin high about 6 inches off the green to a near pin. I have about 5 feet to the pin and choose to putt.
A couple of weeks ago I was in the same position and the putt dove left. I play for this break this time and of course the ball ducks right. Sheesh, but I'm close enough and no ones wants to watch me tap it in and it gets kicked back.
We cross the bridge over the arroyo and fill our water bottles for the last time. We are heading back to the west and have about 530 with two doglegs to negotiate. I hit an ugly low hook that sends an unwelcome vibration back to my left elbow. But I'm long enough to have missed the two bunkers that guard the left side of the fairway. I hit a nice hybrid over the next bunker with a bit of draw.
The pin is tucked in the front left corner and of course, it's guarded by more bunkers. But I'm 80 yards to the pin. I'd rather be 90 out, which is a full sand wedge. I try to take a bit off the wedge and hit it lower. My line is pretty good, but I don't get the 80 yards I want. I've got 6 feet or so up a slope and then a turn to the right. I hit a good putt, but it's not good enough. One more tap in and the nine and round are over.
I'm two under for the 9 and this is probably the best score I've shot on it. I have a lot of even par nine, but under is a bit different. We've had one bogey with the drive that was out of play. Putting was good. Didn't three putt and made a few of moderate length.
How was the front you ask? Not too bad. Very solid for the most part. I hit hybrid on the third that kicked down into a hazard and had to pitch out for a bogey and on the 4th hole misread a putt from off the green and ended up with a three putt bogey and otherwise hit every green in regulation and parred every hole.
Two over on the front and two under on the back for an even par 72. I'm very satisfied with that. I've lost two strokes due to tee shots and one with a misread. As a recreational golfer, I can't be unhappy about that either.
Hmm, now that I think about it, there were no sand shots. They usually show up if the iron game is weak.
I'll lay out the back nine. I think it was the best I've played on that nine.
10th is short par 4 and the tees are up. There is a creek and trap that requires an iron off the tee. I hit 6 iron to the end of the fairway. That leaves about 115 to the pin. I hit a pitching wedge to 10 feet and make the putt. One under for the nine.
11th is a moderate length par 3, about 150 the middle of the green. The green is small and surrounded by bunkers. A tee shot that lands on the green anywhere is good golf. I hit a 7 iron and it felt really good, but when I get there the ball is on the front edge and we have a back pin. I choose to putt it, though chipping was a consideration. I like to chip if I have a lot of green to cover. But this is not a huge green. I putt to about a foot and half and that gets kicked back to me as "good enough." There was a bit of right to left break at the end that I didn't play for properly. The putting speed was dead pin high.
12 is a moderate par 4. It would be considered short, but you have to go up a 30 foot hill to get to the green side of the fairway. There are trees to the right, from where you can be playing dead. There are trees left too, but they are not too dense and from there you have a good line to the green. I go with a 4 wood, a club of high confidence and hit right up the middle of the fairway. Dick hits his into a tree on the right and the ball bounces back to the fairway. Steve hits his into the same tree and his ball also bounces out and the two balls are all of 10 feet apart. Clean living perhaps? It's a front pin and I have about 110 in and hit a gap wedge. I'm a little short of the pin but on the green. I roll this one in. We're two under for the nine.
13 is a long par 5. The tees are back and we have about 550 yards to the green. I hit a hook that starts right, clips some leaves off the very top of a eucalyptus tree, but makes the fairway. Out comes a hybrid that I found in the garage and thought I'd try. I catch it off the toe a bit, but it looks like I'm in the fairway. I'm about 150 out or so and have done well to hit the narrow fairway. There is a high lipped trap to my right. Further right is the end of the driving range -- not the place to ever be. There are woods on the left and right. We teed off the highest point of the course and will be heading down hill for a couple of holes.
The pin is middle and this is the toughest green on the course. Lots of slope and it's fast. Long irons are difficult for me to hit high in the air and mine comes in low, short, and bounces to the back of the green. This is a downhill sliding fast chip, but I hit it well and it finished about 2 feet below the hole. I make this and I'm still two under for the nine.
The 14th is 380 yards and continues the downward slope. There are trees on both sides of the fairway and a bunker on the right. I'm still trying to control the driver and I push it right of the bunker into the trees. I'm forced to chip out and have about 110 to a back pin. Now, 110 is a very good yardage for me. It's a full pitching wedge and the wedge and I get along very well. I'm thinking that par is still quite atainable. But I hit the wedge too well. It's on line, but I'm over the pin about 8 feet from the hole. Sadly a well struck putt doesn't drop. We're now 1 under for the nine.
15th is a longer par 3. We cross the creek again and play to a long green with bunkers front right, right, and back. The pin is in the front about 155 yards. I hit a very nice, high 6 iron and it spins back a bit, but I'm putting and there isn't a lot of break. I lag it nicely for par.
The 16 is about 350 and we are heading west now. There are bunkers on both side of the fairway. The left one doesn't come unto play unless you hit a short hook. I hit a short hook. But I'm past the bunker and have a mild side hill lie and about 160 in. I hit a nice 5 iron that hits short and rolls up to 5 feet. I roll this is for the third birdie and I'm back to two under for the nine.
The 17 is somewhat parallel to the 16th. We cross the creek in front of the tee and play to a wide fairway with bunkers on the left and two ponds right. I like to play to the right side of the fairway and short of the second pond. This is a 4 wood or driver. 4 wood is more likely to be on line and the hole is not too long, so I don't need the extra 30 yards or so.
I hit it well and have about 130 to a back pin. There are traps right and left on this hole. At pin high going left putts you down a slope and back to the creek. Ok, they are arroyos out here and the one we have here helps to flood the course when the winter rains come and shelters the deer, turkey and other assorted forest animals in the summer. Beyond the green is more run off and trees if you are quite long. Most folks don't ever hit a ball over the green, so not a big deal. I do it on occasion and have to be a bit careful. I hit an 8 iron pin high about 6 inches off the green to a near pin. I have about 5 feet to the pin and choose to putt.
A couple of weeks ago I was in the same position and the putt dove left. I play for this break this time and of course the ball ducks right. Sheesh, but I'm close enough and no ones wants to watch me tap it in and it gets kicked back.
We cross the bridge over the arroyo and fill our water bottles for the last time. We are heading back to the west and have about 530 with two doglegs to negotiate. I hit an ugly low hook that sends an unwelcome vibration back to my left elbow. But I'm long enough to have missed the two bunkers that guard the left side of the fairway. I hit a nice hybrid over the next bunker with a bit of draw.
The pin is tucked in the front left corner and of course, it's guarded by more bunkers. But I'm 80 yards to the pin. I'd rather be 90 out, which is a full sand wedge. I try to take a bit off the wedge and hit it lower. My line is pretty good, but I don't get the 80 yards I want. I've got 6 feet or so up a slope and then a turn to the right. I hit a good putt, but it's not good enough. One more tap in and the nine and round are over.
I'm two under for the 9 and this is probably the best score I've shot on it. I have a lot of even par nine, but under is a bit different. We've had one bogey with the drive that was out of play. Putting was good. Didn't three putt and made a few of moderate length.
How was the front you ask? Not too bad. Very solid for the most part. I hit hybrid on the third that kicked down into a hazard and had to pitch out for a bogey and on the 4th hole misread a putt from off the green and ended up with a three putt bogey and otherwise hit every green in regulation and parred every hole.
Two over on the front and two under on the back for an even par 72. I'm very satisfied with that. I've lost two strokes due to tee shots and one with a misread. As a recreational golfer, I can't be unhappy about that either.
Sunday, September 9, 2018
Isochronic
Ah, a bit of a twist here. Let's talk isochronic curves.
"What's that?" I hear you say. If you were one of the enlightened back in the 16th or 17th century you would know about it. Indeed some of the old Greeks know of it.
Herman Melville mentioned it when describing the properly shaped pot in which to boil whale oil.
It is also known as a valve curve as it can be described as the path a bicycle valve takes as a wheel rolls.
One property of this curve is that when constructed as a ramp a ball released from any point on the curve will hit the bottom point at the same time. You can drop marbles from any heights, same or different, on the sides and the marbles will smack together at the bottom.
There is a video on YouTube to show you this. Quite interesting, I thought.
Now how does this fit into golf?
I've had a modest correspondence with a physicist, Dave Tutelman. He is also an avid golfer. He has modeled the swing and worked with golfing machines.
My earliest question to him was if the Iron Byron machines did anything special in re the wrist joint. He stated that it was a pivot and that there was no input from the wrists to square or rotate the club.
That's all well and good. But the next question I had was how is it that the club always squares up regardless of its speed or from where it is swung. You can take it back a long way or a short one and the club will perform its "magic." Dave remarked that this was an excellent question. But as I recall he didn't have an answer.
I found out about the isochronic curve Friday. It seems to me that it's playing a part in the club squaring regardless of its start point. But the time element is dependent on the speed of the club, so it's really possible that I'm wrong on this. And we are not letting the club drop, but actively trying to accelerate it along its path.
One more point would be that if you created a curve drawn from a larger wheel, there the marble is going to be moving faster. So the time would be shorter to get to the low point.
And we have the entire circle that might be used in a long swing. Hands are taken up almost above the head in some swings, particularly the long driver competitors.
In conclusion I have no answers. I think there are some interesting properties in this curve and it derives from a circle, so I think it has to be in there somewhere.
By the way, there are other curves out there with interesting properties. For more info, here's a link: http://www.2dcurves.com/roulette/roulettec.html#isochrone
The YouTube video is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBc827pwKf0
"What's that?" I hear you say. If you were one of the enlightened back in the 16th or 17th century you would know about it. Indeed some of the old Greeks know of it.
Herman Melville mentioned it when describing the properly shaped pot in which to boil whale oil.
It is also known as a valve curve as it can be described as the path a bicycle valve takes as a wheel rolls.
One property of this curve is that when constructed as a ramp a ball released from any point on the curve will hit the bottom point at the same time. You can drop marbles from any heights, same or different, on the sides and the marbles will smack together at the bottom.
There is a video on YouTube to show you this. Quite interesting, I thought.
Now how does this fit into golf?
I've had a modest correspondence with a physicist, Dave Tutelman. He is also an avid golfer. He has modeled the swing and worked with golfing machines.
My earliest question to him was if the Iron Byron machines did anything special in re the wrist joint. He stated that it was a pivot and that there was no input from the wrists to square or rotate the club.
That's all well and good. But the next question I had was how is it that the club always squares up regardless of its speed or from where it is swung. You can take it back a long way or a short one and the club will perform its "magic." Dave remarked that this was an excellent question. But as I recall he didn't have an answer.
I found out about the isochronic curve Friday. It seems to me that it's playing a part in the club squaring regardless of its start point. But the time element is dependent on the speed of the club, so it's really possible that I'm wrong on this. And we are not letting the club drop, but actively trying to accelerate it along its path.
One more point would be that if you created a curve drawn from a larger wheel, there the marble is going to be moving faster. So the time would be shorter to get to the low point.
And we have the entire circle that might be used in a long swing. Hands are taken up almost above the head in some swings, particularly the long driver competitors.
In conclusion I have no answers. I think there are some interesting properties in this curve and it derives from a circle, so I think it has to be in there somewhere.
By the way, there are other curves out there with interesting properties. For more info, here's a link: http://www.2dcurves.com/roulette/roulettec.html#isochrone
The YouTube video is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBc827pwKf0
Wednesday, September 5, 2018
Flux II
It was a wonderful day today on the course. Tee time was 7:08 and we were able to get away a bit early.
The seniors are starting their club championship and it was wise to get out early or take the day off. They can be a bit slow at play and with a championship at risk, they would be taking extra time lining up the second, third, and perhaps 4th putt on all the greens.
It was cool and damp and as I write this my feet are still wet. It would have been a good day for waterproof shoes, but I'm lazy and hate to change them. I'd love a pair of the Eccos with rubber spikes, but they don't come in my size and then they are expensive and I'm still a bit frugal. Barb is wrinkling her nose at me. It maybe that all the goose "goo" and reclaimed water has not left my shoes, socks, and feet with a favorable fragrance!
In re the blog title, I'm still considering what I am up to for a swing. I ran across a video on YouTube produced by Athletic Motion Golf. They have gathered a lot of data of good amateurs and professional golfers. They've found that there are a lot of stark differences between what the AMs do and the Pros.
The last video that I found last night was hip motion. The video had information in it that I've not seen before and it struck home.
The basic motion of the hips is almost opposite for pros and Ams. The Ams basically freeze their right hip joint and then move the left hip into the area when your arms will be coming during impact.
The Pros basically freeze their left hip joint and move their right hip backwards away from the ball and thus create more room for the swing.
When the backswing is finished, the Pros will slide the hips to the left - just a bit - and then rotate the hips back out of the way. This leaves the weight above the left foot and the rotation moves the left hip further away from the ball. A huge volume of space is now created for the arms to come down and impact the ball and then move out of the way.
Another image of this is that at address a pane of glass sits behind the player. As the hips move back, they break this plane and stay on the broken side of the plane. When the hips rotate, the left hip will then also move through the pane.
Now what do Ams do? And when they talk non-pros they are talking about very good, low single digit index players. They are not 20 handicappers. The typical Am is moving the left hip first and thrusting it towards the ball. The entire hip structure moves not through the pane of glass, but towards the ball. The space needed for a swing is now crowded.
On the downswing the Am tries to "fire the hips." But there is no time for this. To hit the ball at all a couple of things may happen. One of the common ones is to stand up a bit -- thus creating the area needed for impact. The other reaction is "hump the goat" -- a gross movement to get the lower body out of the way.
They've timed how long you have to fire the hips, etc., to get out of the way and it's 0.14 seconds. Sadly, not enough time to do something consistently and usefully.
Now contrast this with the pro movement. Their backswing does two things. The first is get the hands in a position to swing at the ball and the second is to create the space needed for the arms to come down without any body interference.
Now, how easy was this to do? Was it even possible? Is my back in traction now? Well, the heating pad is on; it just feels good.
I was able to do this. There was no real speed component to it. I just moved the right hip back and let all the other stuff take care of itself. The downswing was just a mild slide to the left then left hip moving out of the way. Arms came down and bang, off the ball went.
I was very straight and very long. One of the best ball striking sessions I've had. I was playing the irons to be 15 yards longer than last week and I was able to play to it. I could move the ball left or right if needed. Pin left? No problem, just hit it with a touch of draw!
I wasn't perfect, but it was a very enjoyable and productive round.
Add to all of that, a round which took the three of us a mere 3 hours and 20 minutes to play. Never had to wait the entire round.
Then off to Costco for a bit of inexpensive refreshment! A perfect morning.
The seniors are starting their club championship and it was wise to get out early or take the day off. They can be a bit slow at play and with a championship at risk, they would be taking extra time lining up the second, third, and perhaps 4th putt on all the greens.
It was cool and damp and as I write this my feet are still wet. It would have been a good day for waterproof shoes, but I'm lazy and hate to change them. I'd love a pair of the Eccos with rubber spikes, but they don't come in my size and then they are expensive and I'm still a bit frugal. Barb is wrinkling her nose at me. It maybe that all the goose "goo" and reclaimed water has not left my shoes, socks, and feet with a favorable fragrance!
In re the blog title, I'm still considering what I am up to for a swing. I ran across a video on YouTube produced by Athletic Motion Golf. They have gathered a lot of data of good amateurs and professional golfers. They've found that there are a lot of stark differences between what the AMs do and the Pros.
The last video that I found last night was hip motion. The video had information in it that I've not seen before and it struck home.
The basic motion of the hips is almost opposite for pros and Ams. The Ams basically freeze their right hip joint and then move the left hip into the area when your arms will be coming during impact.
The Pros basically freeze their left hip joint and move their right hip backwards away from the ball and thus create more room for the swing.
When the backswing is finished, the Pros will slide the hips to the left - just a bit - and then rotate the hips back out of the way. This leaves the weight above the left foot and the rotation moves the left hip further away from the ball. A huge volume of space is now created for the arms to come down and impact the ball and then move out of the way.
Another image of this is that at address a pane of glass sits behind the player. As the hips move back, they break this plane and stay on the broken side of the plane. When the hips rotate, the left hip will then also move through the pane.
Now what do Ams do? And when they talk non-pros they are talking about very good, low single digit index players. They are not 20 handicappers. The typical Am is moving the left hip first and thrusting it towards the ball. The entire hip structure moves not through the pane of glass, but towards the ball. The space needed for a swing is now crowded.
On the downswing the Am tries to "fire the hips." But there is no time for this. To hit the ball at all a couple of things may happen. One of the common ones is to stand up a bit -- thus creating the area needed for impact. The other reaction is "hump the goat" -- a gross movement to get the lower body out of the way.
They've timed how long you have to fire the hips, etc., to get out of the way and it's 0.14 seconds. Sadly, not enough time to do something consistently and usefully.
Now contrast this with the pro movement. Their backswing does two things. The first is get the hands in a position to swing at the ball and the second is to create the space needed for the arms to come down without any body interference.
Now, how easy was this to do? Was it even possible? Is my back in traction now? Well, the heating pad is on; it just feels good.
I was able to do this. There was no real speed component to it. I just moved the right hip back and let all the other stuff take care of itself. The downswing was just a mild slide to the left then left hip moving out of the way. Arms came down and bang, off the ball went.
I was very straight and very long. One of the best ball striking sessions I've had. I was playing the irons to be 15 yards longer than last week and I was able to play to it. I could move the ball left or right if needed. Pin left? No problem, just hit it with a touch of draw!
I wasn't perfect, but it was a very enjoyable and productive round.
Add to all of that, a round which took the three of us a mere 3 hours and 20 minutes to play. Never had to wait the entire round.
Then off to Costco for a bit of inexpensive refreshment! A perfect morning.
Sunday, September 2, 2018
In Flux
Per usual I'm making a few changes. The driver, which is working a lot better of late, is still the icon for inconsistency. While my average drive is much better and I'm hitting a lot of the fairways, often it is a bad tee shot that kills a par. A couple of those a round and it turns great rounds into so sos.
I play a lot of golf with Sonny, who suggested that I try to start the downswing by moving both the lower and upper body at the same time. This is an approach contra to getting the lower body moving first to provide a stable foundation from which to hit.
Now, we have to reconcile this approach with that of Bobby Lopez, et al., who suggest that you want to take the club back and then spin the shoulders. Trying to do this seems to energize the lower body as well as keeping the head back. Lopez also likens the swing to a marching band going around a corner. The band guys on the inside of the corner must move a lot slower than those who sweep the outside of the march. If we apply this to golf we have hips and such that don't move far, but they have to move a bit and then the arms which have to move a longer way. If everyone starts at the same time, then unequal speeds are required, but there is no need to try to move the hips at killer speeds. Arms however need to catch up and move on the outside arc. So be gentle with the hips and aggressive with shoulders.
As I think of my driver misses, the body gets ahead of the lower body and then my hands need to do major, heroic things to allow me to hit the ball at all. Modern golf theory suggests that your hands should not be called upon to do anything, much less something of note.
I go to the range this morning. Barb is off to the Scottish Games to help with a charity booth and I've got time to burn.
My first step is to hit the clubs that I hit very well. Those are the short irons. I'm wondering just what I am doing with my swing for these clubs that I don't do for the longer ones. When I have a short club, I think of just direction. There is no question about how far they will go. I'm pretty sure that when I want to hit the ball a long way, that I concentrate on power or speed and not direction. This might be a bad habit that will need to be addressed. :-) I try some pitches and it looks like a gentle hip movement with my normal shoulder/arm swings at the pitch, is working well. Very solid strikes and consistent height on the shots. I'm eager to move to full length clubs; I pack up and move to the full range from the pitching area.
I hit a few 9 irons and I'm hitting them well. Yes, it seems like the downswing consists of a synchronized movement of the lower and upper body. My contact is very good with this.
Ok, then let's move to the 6 iron and see what happens. That worked well. No thin shots which is my usual miss with this club. This club is the beginning of my problem clubs. I try to help these guys too much and don't let them swing like the shorter ones.
On to the 4 wood. These are going out quite well. Moving the lower body and upper feels easier on the back. My hands feel pretty good. I'm not having to make a lot of adjustments as I come into the ball.
Ok, time to unleash the big dog and see if he can run down the fairway. From the first shot I'm hitting the ball with center of the club face. Now this is not a common thing. It's easy to be on the toe or a bit thin. But my contact is very good.
The swing feels really good, the ball is going well and I'm not working too hard to make it all happen. Time to be cautiously optimistic.
Will this be the last blog post? We will have to wait for Tuesday!
One of the interesting thing that was happening on Friday was that my irons were going further than normal. You might think this is a good thing, but going over greens is a very hazardous approach to golf. I'm happy with more length, but I have to trust it and I'd like to know why it's suddenly happening.
It looks like some very interesting things are developing. Perhaps the golf gods are messing with my mind, but I feel good about all of this.
I play a lot of golf with Sonny, who suggested that I try to start the downswing by moving both the lower and upper body at the same time. This is an approach contra to getting the lower body moving first to provide a stable foundation from which to hit.
Now, we have to reconcile this approach with that of Bobby Lopez, et al., who suggest that you want to take the club back and then spin the shoulders. Trying to do this seems to energize the lower body as well as keeping the head back. Lopez also likens the swing to a marching band going around a corner. The band guys on the inside of the corner must move a lot slower than those who sweep the outside of the march. If we apply this to golf we have hips and such that don't move far, but they have to move a bit and then the arms which have to move a longer way. If everyone starts at the same time, then unequal speeds are required, but there is no need to try to move the hips at killer speeds. Arms however need to catch up and move on the outside arc. So be gentle with the hips and aggressive with shoulders.
As I think of my driver misses, the body gets ahead of the lower body and then my hands need to do major, heroic things to allow me to hit the ball at all. Modern golf theory suggests that your hands should not be called upon to do anything, much less something of note.
I go to the range this morning. Barb is off to the Scottish Games to help with a charity booth and I've got time to burn.
My first step is to hit the clubs that I hit very well. Those are the short irons. I'm wondering just what I am doing with my swing for these clubs that I don't do for the longer ones. When I have a short club, I think of just direction. There is no question about how far they will go. I'm pretty sure that when I want to hit the ball a long way, that I concentrate on power or speed and not direction. This might be a bad habit that will need to be addressed. :-) I try some pitches and it looks like a gentle hip movement with my normal shoulder/arm swings at the pitch, is working well. Very solid strikes and consistent height on the shots. I'm eager to move to full length clubs; I pack up and move to the full range from the pitching area.
I hit a few 9 irons and I'm hitting them well. Yes, it seems like the downswing consists of a synchronized movement of the lower and upper body. My contact is very good with this.
Ok, then let's move to the 6 iron and see what happens. That worked well. No thin shots which is my usual miss with this club. This club is the beginning of my problem clubs. I try to help these guys too much and don't let them swing like the shorter ones.
On to the 4 wood. These are going out quite well. Moving the lower body and upper feels easier on the back. My hands feel pretty good. I'm not having to make a lot of adjustments as I come into the ball.
Ok, time to unleash the big dog and see if he can run down the fairway. From the first shot I'm hitting the ball with center of the club face. Now this is not a common thing. It's easy to be on the toe or a bit thin. But my contact is very good.
The swing feels really good, the ball is going well and I'm not working too hard to make it all happen. Time to be cautiously optimistic.
Will this be the last blog post? We will have to wait for Tuesday!
One of the interesting thing that was happening on Friday was that my irons were going further than normal. You might think this is a good thing, but going over greens is a very hazardous approach to golf. I'm happy with more length, but I have to trust it and I'd like to know why it's suddenly happening.
It looks like some very interesting things are developing. Perhaps the golf gods are messing with my mind, but I feel good about all of this.
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