Hello all,
Apologies for the lack of posting this week, been quite busy and rethinking some ideas for the site. Going to try and get more exposure here with the help of some twitter friends and other bloggers.
The Enemies Mascot - "I'm Fat And Not At All Afraid Of You"
Upcoming to the site is going to be a new category called “The Enemies” in which we discuss some of the poor examples of behavior on the course. We will also be trying to describe some of the more challenging aspects of golf such as bunkers, poor lies and tree lines. Hopefully with some ideas of what has worked for us in our game.
As a quick note, the other day when I was playing at Los Verdes we had met up with another golfer who was watching my swing. Some areas that he mentioned I could improve on:
- Taking my time at address. He noticed that I was rushing my hit and did not let my body (and mind) relax. “No relaxation, no focus”, he said.
- “Watch your balance” was another issue he saw. This is another area I have been working on and still need to improve. The shifting of my body weight is still inconsistent. Likely as a result of me rushing in point 1.
- The point that was the most interesting was that he noticed that I was pushing with my right arm. Like I was trying to create momentum by extending my arm in the downswing. This point really struck home.
I had read long ago that the left arm needs to do most of the work in the golf swing. The right arm is key to guiding the club in a swing, but it is extension of the left arm that is what will define the momentum and contact of the swing. Since this point I have been just swinging a club in my backyard and trying to notice my “arm work”. Where are my elbows, how is my extension at addresswhere do they go in the follow through, etc. Once I get to a point that I am happy with what I am looking at, I take several more swings then do a “stop motion” type of movement where I freeze and review myself again and again. Basically, I am still looking for my muscle memorized, consistent swing which is what I believe to be the golden key to a great game.
I mentioned a few posts ago about one of my larger issues when playing golf is coming down too early. This could be a result of so many different negative parts of my golf swing that I find myself really just thinking way too much. In my head I am just going through a battle of “Remember to do this” and “Don’t do this!” it gets frustrating really quick and I end up just hitting the ball. The longer the club, the higher the tendency to come down too early and I just duff it.
To know me is to know that I am a research guy by nature, hooked on developing efficient methods to
Ball and Tee Positioning
quantify or positively identify faults. What this means is that I will try almost any drill or advice to assist myself in this learning process. Today I actually had the chance to hit a few balls in my backyard with the objective of “coming in clean” to the ball address. To do this I employed a couple of tips to try and stay focused and help my mind’s eye.
Since coming down too early was the issue I wanted to remain in balance and make sure I aim more forward of the ball. I read an article about just how far this should be and it made sense to me. Using the same height tee that is holding the ball, stick another tee at the same height above ground but at an angle to where it does not touch the ball. Focus on the tip and wham-o there is a good point to aim for. Now that the ball point is settled and it is indeed in front just how far should I continue my swing? I placed another tee about 6″ in front of the ball as an indicator. The thought process is that I wanted to make sure I hit the forward tee after impact.
I was able to actually hit about 85% of my shots using this kind of a setup. This is up from about 70% that I normally get. Keep in mind that my backyard is WAY more relaxed than on the course where I can actually keep track of these types of things.
Do any of you have any tips or practice methods that work? Please feel free to comment.
Today I wanted to give a couple of opinions. I had a different post for today but I thought I would write this one since I just experienced both and wanted to jot down my thoughts while they were still in my head.
I had a chance to head over to the Roger Dunn Golf Shop in Seal Beach on Friday. I’ve mentioned before that
I love this place since I am able to literally grab any used club I want and hit them in the practice stalls. This never gets old as I normally get to try some pretty high end clubs and just get an idea of the feel of them. Clubs that interest me are found by reading articles from Golf magazines or hear about just take note them on my phone for later reference. This last Friday, I was after a Ping G15 and a Taylor Made R9.
For those who don’t know I prefer a “crisper” feel to a club rather than a “thunk” that some of the larger, square clubs offer. I normally use a Taylor Made ’07 Burner as a result of this preference, and that that one day I would upgrade to something more like the R9 which is known for this type of feel. I have to say that the Ping G15 really felt great. It is a solid club that is lightweight but not too “whipy” or loose when swinging. In comparison to the R9, the R9 (430cc btw) felt a bit more heavy but I was told this could have been because the particular R9 that was there had been 1” elongated. When hit, the G15 felt very crisp and as if you were hitting completely through the ball with little resistance. You can absolutely still feel the impact but I felt that the head was made to really reduce the recoil and just impart as much of the momentum right to the ball. Additionally, the driver felt balanced in the follow through as if it had wings. The Ping G15 comes with a TFC 149 (5.8 torque) shaft that is basically a Ping proprietary shaft. I understand they also have an Aldila Serrano (4 torque) shaft option. If you have the chance and prefer the same type of driver action that I do, I would recommend giving it a try.
The Mystery Greens...
I had the chance to play at Los Verdes Golf Course in Rancho Palos Verdes yesterday. I am incredibly sore from it since I walk the courses but it was well worth it. For those of you who have been there I am sure you know, the course is absolutely beautiful. The scenery is right out of a sales brochure as it overlooks the ocean and beach on several holes. As far as the golf course itself, I believe that it is the hardest course I have ever played on. The fairways are of good size but they seem to “dogleg” a bit more than I am used to. The bunkers were strategically placed to protect the holes and randomly in the fairway to further the challenge. All in all the use of the driver was not extraordinary and I believe and incredible fun course. What made this course so difficult were the greens. Every bit of logic used in evaluating the slope and speed of the grass went right out the window. It was almost as if you were playing at the “Mystery Spot” in Santa Cruz where the ball would actually seem to go uphill. I took a picture of what I am talking about to the left. I felt that I was a good foot below the flag hole with the high side to the right of the picture. Since I was far, I putted relatively straight to gain a better position for the next putt. When I hit the ball it actually slanted and went what seemed to be uphill to the resting position you can see in the distance on the right of the flag. The greens were notoriously unforgiving and just boggled the mind. VERY cool but also very frustrating at the same time. The prices for the course are reasonable and if you have a chance you may want to go check it out. Be prepared though, you are playing elevated next to the beach the temperature changes very rapidly and it can get dang cold there.
