Throw a bag of balls

Throw a bag of balls (video) toward the target.

Divot Past the Ball

Bobby Clampet's general observation that the further past the ball one's divot, the lower his handicap seems to hold true. An interesting little graphic illustrates the idea.

Three Points

I'm not sure of the merit of this idea, but I'm applying it to my practice lately. I hope to test it out in the real world soon. Here's the idea:

1. Keep my feet planted. Left foot/right foot.
2. Keep my head still: Little lateral or vertical movement.

Three points: left foot, right foot, and head.

The idea is that it will help stabalize my whole swing. Less movement should equal better spine angle and crisper contact.

Thats the idea anyway.

Another 9

My buddy Ryan showed up today with his family. We went and played the Willow's Run par-3. I'm certain I was coming over the top.

1. Keep your right elbow in.


2. Swing the club around your body.

WITB (Today)

Driver: Titleist 905R 9.5°
3W: Titleist 904F 15°
Hybrids: Adams a3 3-5
Irons: Adams a3 6-PW
Wedges: Titleist 54° and 58° Oil Can
Putter: Yes! Olivia

13 Clubs

Incidentally, I realized that my bag consists of 13 clubs now. I pulled the Adams a3 "Boxers" out of retirement and they performed well. I wish I could have swung the hybrids but I didn't have enough yardage for that.

I'm missing a gap wedge. The PW is 45° and my SW is 54°. I'm just choking down on the PW at the moment but it can be a bit awkward. The 54° is a 95-yard club and the 45° is a 130-yard club off the tee. That's quite a difference. I wish modern club-makers would get a grip on that problem. I suppose the answer is a $125 gap wedge.

/whine.

The Swing

I had a great time today. I was only out for a couple of hours but enjoyed being outside and using the clubs again.

I think I've moved toward a one-plane movement in recent months. The most important thing I can do is simplify my action. I get twisted into a pretzel trying to replicate good feelings. I've discovered simplicity is the best.

I've watched myself in a mirror and feel that "one-plane" is a good way to describe my swing. It's close to that anyway. Here are a few thoughts:

1. I believe I am bent a bit more at the waist at address.


2. My hands are lower at the apex of my back-swing. I am striving for this.


3. I am keeping my right elbow down in the back-swing and making an effort at keeping it close to me throughout the back- and down-swing.


4. My swing has flattened some. Its easier for me to pick the ball and I am not quite as prone to dig.


5. I'm making an effort to retain spine angle (good for any plane).


6. I'm overlapping my grip instead of interlocking. That feels much more secure.

I don't think of all those things but I do refer to them when I feel I'm missing something. When I do swing the club all I think is "go." It is much easier to pull the club away and let it go through the follow-through with my new swing.

Part of it might be that I'm not hung up after too much swinging but I do believe I've made a significant change based on today's performance. I hacked it up a bit but that's all part of the fun. Good shots seemed easier to come by given the fact that I haven't properly hit a ball in six+ months.

Lots of fun. :-)

Par-3

Got out and played a par-3 course this afternoon. It was the first golf since August 2007. Birdied the first, had a handful of pars, a couple bogies, and one or two worse. I felt like it was a great return after so long away.

I've been working on positions a bit flatter swing in the living room (the ceiling doesn't allow a Furyk-like swing. When I stayed with the swing and maintained spin angle I got very good results. I backed a few up… a choked-down PW sucked back ten feet.

I wasn't digging as much… flatter swing means more picking. I think it was a needed change for me.

All-in-all it was fun to get out again. I'm going to try to do that more often from now on. It's too difficult not having any golf fun.

Swing Thoughts (for two years from now)

I'm putting my swing in a time capsule because I'm going to graduate school.

1. Keep your stinking feet on the ground.


2. Restrict your hip movement on the backswing.