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?
Wednesday, October 11, 2017
Sunday, October 8, 2017
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.
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.
Friday, October 6, 2017
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.
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.
Monday, October 2, 2017
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.
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.
Saturday, September 30, 2017
Energy or Efficiency?
A former German professor suggest rhetorical questions were not the way start anything...
I keep pondering the ability of long hitting golfers of slight stature to move the ball long distances.
I'm guessing that there is required a blend of two things, that of efficient energy transfer to the club and some amount of power to move the body prior to this transfer.
I would think that I have as much muscle mass as a 160 pound professional golfer. I could be wrong about that, but I ought to get within some 20% or so. Sadly that is not the current case. I can't get the driver much above the low 90s, units being MPH. The pros are at 120+, long distance specialists are 130 and up.
Back to the main point. If I can't provide the raw horse power, then can I improve my efficiency?
For a total transfer of energy the body and hands would stop as all energy is passed to the club. Think of crack the whip on ice skates, the inner guys stop, then the middle guys and so on until the final body is at maximum speed.
With this in mind, I was thinking that I should be stopping somewhat as I come into the hitting area. This helps me in a couple of ways. One being that I'm not sliding forward as I'm stopping before I get to the hit and then if true, I'll provide more energy to the club.
This occurred to me on Friday morning lying in bed. We'd come back from 8 times zones and sleep was not an easy thing. On Friday I took it to the course without any range time to see if it was doable.
I was able to do this for the most part. I didn't see any distance increases, but they didn't seem to be much shorter either. What I did see was a much higher ball flight. My effective loft of the clubs was going up and by a lot. I was also hitting it very straight.
It was a very different swing than that which I normally produce. As I was willing to just stop at impact, there seemed to be very little effort, the swing felt slow.
I was happy with the ball flight. I was moving the ball pretty well. The greens were newly punched and very rough, which made scoring tough. I did manage to play the back 9 in one over with two birdies and a couple of other chances.
I should get some time at the range this weekend and I want to continue to explore this method some more. It required very little effort on my part, my back was not real happy with it, but I'm not sure I was getting hips out of the way as I was coming out of the hit.
Part of a proper swing is to let the club pull the hands up and around to the follow through, another indication that the body ought to be doing close to nothing at the hit.
I also bit the bullet and ordered some New Balance golf shoes. They have one built on their cross trainer shoe platform that while a bit heavy, provides support and I've always found them comfortable. The ball of my right foot has been unhappy lately. There is a tendon or something that runs across it and this tendon can get unhappy.
I looked around for shoes on sale and found some for $90, but they wanted $7 for shipping and I thought "let me check Amazon." They had the same shoe for $70 with free shipping and tax of $7. They will be here on Monday -- Tuesday tryouts!
I will miss Amazon when they are gone. Gone? I hear you ask. The profit margin at Amazon continues to decrease. Soon they will sell everything at a profit of 0. A trend that cannot continue. But for the moment, Yeah Amazon!
I want to write up the differences between play in Cambridge and playing at home. There are not a lot of differences, but I think I can expound a bit.
I keep pondering the ability of long hitting golfers of slight stature to move the ball long distances.
I'm guessing that there is required a blend of two things, that of efficient energy transfer to the club and some amount of power to move the body prior to this transfer.
I would think that I have as much muscle mass as a 160 pound professional golfer. I could be wrong about that, but I ought to get within some 20% or so. Sadly that is not the current case. I can't get the driver much above the low 90s, units being MPH. The pros are at 120+, long distance specialists are 130 and up.
Back to the main point. If I can't provide the raw horse power, then can I improve my efficiency?
For a total transfer of energy the body and hands would stop as all energy is passed to the club. Think of crack the whip on ice skates, the inner guys stop, then the middle guys and so on until the final body is at maximum speed.
With this in mind, I was thinking that I should be stopping somewhat as I come into the hitting area. This helps me in a couple of ways. One being that I'm not sliding forward as I'm stopping before I get to the hit and then if true, I'll provide more energy to the club.
This occurred to me on Friday morning lying in bed. We'd come back from 8 times zones and sleep was not an easy thing. On Friday I took it to the course without any range time to see if it was doable.
I was able to do this for the most part. I didn't see any distance increases, but they didn't seem to be much shorter either. What I did see was a much higher ball flight. My effective loft of the clubs was going up and by a lot. I was also hitting it very straight.
It was a very different swing than that which I normally produce. As I was willing to just stop at impact, there seemed to be very little effort, the swing felt slow.
I was happy with the ball flight. I was moving the ball pretty well. The greens were newly punched and very rough, which made scoring tough. I did manage to play the back 9 in one over with two birdies and a couple of other chances.
I should get some time at the range this weekend and I want to continue to explore this method some more. It required very little effort on my part, my back was not real happy with it, but I'm not sure I was getting hips out of the way as I was coming out of the hit.
Part of a proper swing is to let the club pull the hands up and around to the follow through, another indication that the body ought to be doing close to nothing at the hit.
I also bit the bullet and ordered some New Balance golf shoes. They have one built on their cross trainer shoe platform that while a bit heavy, provides support and I've always found them comfortable. The ball of my right foot has been unhappy lately. There is a tendon or something that runs across it and this tendon can get unhappy.
I looked around for shoes on sale and found some for $90, but they wanted $7 for shipping and I thought "let me check Amazon." They had the same shoe for $70 with free shipping and tax of $7. They will be here on Monday -- Tuesday tryouts!
I will miss Amazon when they are gone. Gone? I hear you ask. The profit margin at Amazon continues to decrease. Soon they will sell everything at a profit of 0. A trend that cannot continue. But for the moment, Yeah Amazon!
I want to write up the differences between play in Cambridge and playing at home. There are not a lot of differences, but I think I can expound a bit.
Saturday, September 9, 2017
Some Thoughts
I've played ok for the last couple of rounds. Played from the back tees two out of three times.
With my painfully inept driver, the back tees represent extraordinary challenges. Getting to the greens after an 80 yard drive is not possible, so I've become somewhat of an "up and down Expert."
My short game and putting have been saving the day.
I've also noticed a number of divots heading left while the ball is going right of target. It looks, from that evidence, that I'm above the proper swing plane on everything. I've seen commentary that the over the top swing is what you want with a short iron. Provides a crisper contact, more spin and keeps the ball down a bit. If this is what I'm truly doing, my abilities with the short irons bears this out.
This is the opposite of the swing you want for a longer club. The approved path is in to out?
What I have to do is figure out why I'm doing this. Is it setup or transition or lower body action.
I must admit that I'm getting pretty tired of it. One of the big problems is that I cannot replicate this at the range. Should I put it all down to nervous tension? Or that on the course one is more (or fully) target oriented and at the range, just swinging away?
Barb is busy for the most of the weekend and I'll see if I can be target oriented at the range and replicate some of this. If not, then I'll take a careful look at my range setup and make sure I do that on the course.
A smart golfer would take some notes and then read them before each round!
Oh, well, I can still putt for the nonce. (Putting details: I've found that relaxing the hands, arms and shoulders allows me to smoothly stroke the little beasty-ball. Keeps it on line and the longer putts are less of a "hit and hope" swing.)
On Tuesday we are off to the UK. There will be some golf there with David. We will be playing his private course, the "Gogs." It's outside of Cambridge. David tells me the greens are slower than Las Po -- a transition that is hard to adjust to usually for me. Also the greens are hard and you can't throw darts at the pins. I'm expecting to have to change my style of play. The course is long by my standards, but if the fairways are hard, there may be a lot of run out. Also hard greens make it easier to get to, as you hit short and let them run up. I'm looking forward to a different style of play and the odd pint in the club house afterwards!
I was thinking of shutting down this blog as I don't have much more to say. But I'll see if I'm inspired by the differences with the UK course and good old Los Positas.
I'll create a travel blog for the trip. If you're interested, then clicking on RSH At Large profile will get you to the other blogs. Here is the blog address: HumesUKTrip2017.blogspot.com
With my painfully inept driver, the back tees represent extraordinary challenges. Getting to the greens after an 80 yard drive is not possible, so I've become somewhat of an "up and down Expert."
My short game and putting have been saving the day.
I've also noticed a number of divots heading left while the ball is going right of target. It looks, from that evidence, that I'm above the proper swing plane on everything. I've seen commentary that the over the top swing is what you want with a short iron. Provides a crisper contact, more spin and keeps the ball down a bit. If this is what I'm truly doing, my abilities with the short irons bears this out.
This is the opposite of the swing you want for a longer club. The approved path is in to out?
What I have to do is figure out why I'm doing this. Is it setup or transition or lower body action.
I must admit that I'm getting pretty tired of it. One of the big problems is that I cannot replicate this at the range. Should I put it all down to nervous tension? Or that on the course one is more (or fully) target oriented and at the range, just swinging away?
Barb is busy for the most of the weekend and I'll see if I can be target oriented at the range and replicate some of this. If not, then I'll take a careful look at my range setup and make sure I do that on the course.
A smart golfer would take some notes and then read them before each round!
Oh, well, I can still putt for the nonce. (Putting details: I've found that relaxing the hands, arms and shoulders allows me to smoothly stroke the little beasty-ball. Keeps it on line and the longer putts are less of a "hit and hope" swing.)
On Tuesday we are off to the UK. There will be some golf there with David. We will be playing his private course, the "Gogs." It's outside of Cambridge. David tells me the greens are slower than Las Po -- a transition that is hard to adjust to usually for me. Also the greens are hard and you can't throw darts at the pins. I'm expecting to have to change my style of play. The course is long by my standards, but if the fairways are hard, there may be a lot of run out. Also hard greens make it easier to get to, as you hit short and let them run up. I'm looking forward to a different style of play and the odd pint in the club house afterwards!
I was thinking of shutting down this blog as I don't have much more to say. But I'll see if I'm inspired by the differences with the UK course and good old Los Positas.
I'll create a travel blog for the trip. If you're interested, then clicking on RSH At Large profile will get you to the other blogs. Here is the blog address: HumesUKTrip2017.blogspot.com
Friday, September 1, 2017
Playing Golf
A couple of posts ago, I mentioned a couple of guys who played with loose/happy rules and gave putts and moved the ball when the lie was bad; and generally had a comfortable enjoyable round of something. Maybe we can't call it golf, but let's call it entertainment on a golf course.
Then I ran across some youtube vids that talked about playing without thinking about any technical stuff. As in, don't hit a ball until you've decided how to do it, then think no more about what and just do it.
I've also thought about this before it all came up via these other sources. What if I just played golf and let the ball go where the today's swing let it?
I've played a round today where I did mostly that. It's tough to do when the driver does its usual thing (it is getting better! A bit...).
I found that I can putt very well with the lack of thoughts in my head. I'm not thinking about line much, nor setup nor the speed of my swing.
I found I was taking the putter back further and probably swinging through the ball a touch slower. My distance control was very good. There were no three putts. I lagged nicely. I had a bunch of up and downs - mostly due to the chipping, but hey those putts dropped, and two birdies.
Playing in this manner was very relaxing mentally. I was not having to think about much, just line up and go.
Now if only the driver would come around... The 18th hole is a 500 yard par 5 and for some reason the drive on this hole is seldom a problem. I take a long back swing and rip at it. Yes, the fairway is wide, but there are trees and water and sand out there, but they rarely come into play.
Ah, the eternal mystery of the game. Every shot is unique as is every situation. Lovely, as I think it would become boring rather quickly.
We're having a hot spell this week. I played Thursday and Friday, Off the course by 11:30 or so, with temps in the 90s. It reached 112 by 3 or so. I was home with a cold Old Milwaukee to keep me hydrated. Ok, ok, there were some Popsicles too.
Then I ran across some youtube vids that talked about playing without thinking about any technical stuff. As in, don't hit a ball until you've decided how to do it, then think no more about what and just do it.
I've also thought about this before it all came up via these other sources. What if I just played golf and let the ball go where the today's swing let it?
I've played a round today where I did mostly that. It's tough to do when the driver does its usual thing (it is getting better! A bit...).
I found that I can putt very well with the lack of thoughts in my head. I'm not thinking about line much, nor setup nor the speed of my swing.
I found I was taking the putter back further and probably swinging through the ball a touch slower. My distance control was very good. There were no three putts. I lagged nicely. I had a bunch of up and downs - mostly due to the chipping, but hey those putts dropped, and two birdies.
Playing in this manner was very relaxing mentally. I was not having to think about much, just line up and go.
Now if only the driver would come around... The 18th hole is a 500 yard par 5 and for some reason the drive on this hole is seldom a problem. I take a long back swing and rip at it. Yes, the fairway is wide, but there are trees and water and sand out there, but they rarely come into play.
Ah, the eternal mystery of the game. Every shot is unique as is every situation. Lovely, as I think it would become boring rather quickly.
We're having a hot spell this week. I played Thursday and Friday, Off the course by 11:30 or so, with temps in the 90s. It reached 112 by 3 or so. I was home with a cold Old Milwaukee to keep me hydrated. Ok, ok, there were some Popsicles too.
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