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Hit some balls at PGA Superstore today and felt great

I’m still not 100% and probably shouldn’t be hitting, but I had time to kill this afternoon. I wanted to try the RBZ fairway and Razr Fit. Obviously I’m thinking Razr Fit. But I also just wanted to see if my visualizing worked to keep my right leg/hip/foot more stable and on the ground during the swing.

I was pleasantly surprised. Really solid shots and balance after impact. I think it’s working.

I also like the RBZ Tour S 3W. 10 yards longer than the others I tested today with a few shots at 260y. Easy swings with a slight fade to straight and even some draws.

Also tried the Anser irons, 7i. 172-174y and felt amazing. Hit the Razr X 6i 199 w/ 192 carry.

Discounting for the indoor simulator which always will be a bit long, the contact and balance was the most important piece today. I haven’t hit balls in a month but I was able to pick right back up where I left off.

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Nice to be able to memorialize a few rounds so far this year

I’ve had some good milestones so far this year. Now it’s low scores, fun shots and rounds I simply want to remember.

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I really want to get back to hitting again

It’s been almost two weeks since I injured my left ribs. This is the second time this year an injury has kept me from playing or practicing. I guess it shouldn’t be a big deal since I’m not playing golf for a living. This is a cost center not a revenue producing hobby.

But not being able to practice is starting to really getting annoying. It’s also been a good thing. I’ve spent a lot of time working on putting. Inside, but even so I’ve been able to get a consistent setup, stroke and work on more mechanical aspects. I haven’t spent much time on putting so this was a good thing.

And I’ve been visualizing keeping my right foot more planting. Seems to be working. We will see when once I can start practicing again in a about a week or so.

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Went Fatso with the putter grip

What’s Going On

Since I can’t make full swings right now, I’m being “forced” to work on other aspects like alignment and putting. I’m actually happy about this, I need to be working on these things.

For a few months now I’ve been thinking about putting and the changes I need to make if I want to become a consistent sub-80s, single digit golfer. I need to putt well. I need to eliminate three putts. I need to make everything within 3 feet. I need to make the majority of 3-6 foot putts. It need to lag well. And none of this cant happen without a consistent setup and stroke.

I don’t think I’m far off, but what I do know is my putting stroke is handsy. My full swing is handsy so it’s no surprise. To take the hands out, I switched grips. I went with the SuperStroke Fatso. I love it. My hands are instantly softer and quieter. I was doing some drills inside trying to rolls 3 balls to the exact same spot bumping each other and was doing it consistently. Looking forward to trying it out on an actual green instead of artificial turf or carpet. But so far I’m loving it.

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What to work on

I think it’s clear what to work on now. 1) keep my right leg/hip/foot in check 2) trust the full shoulder turn 3) get alignment consistent and correct.

Not that there aren’t other areas to work on, but these are huge.

Look at how open my right hip is at this point. Foot is up, knee is over. Way early

MY NEXT GOAL

My next goal is to get my handicap down into the single digits. I’m at a 10.4 (10). But I’m right on the edge of going back up to 11. I was a 12 before Vegas. Looking at what I’d need to shoot to lower my handicap, its clear I’ll be a 10 for at least the next 5 rounds. My goal of breaking into the single digits by the end of the year might be really tough. I’m going to have to play well and play often.

Handicap over past year. From a 19 to a 10.

This is a great chart. You can see clearly where I’ve played better or worse than handicap. Cascata I played to an 8. Bear’s I played to an 18.

Can someone say “EXPECTATIONS!” Looking at the three rounds after Cascata, its clear that my expectations were high and my results suffered.
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And there you have it, my swing

Stop messing around

I shouldn’t have changed anything. I should’ve stuck with what I was doing. I’m not saying its perfect, far from it, but fundamentally, it looks good. The numbers look good, the video looks good. For the next month, I’m not making a major change to the swing.

What I’m allowing myself to work on are these two things:

  • My hands, especially during the takeaway and backswing making sure I don’t roll them and pull it inside.
  • My hips. Making sure I continue to bump them forward without picking them up (especially my right leg).

Other than that, I need to just keep working on ingraining this swing. No changes, none.

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All this tweaking isn’t helping

Frustrated

Just had to vent out some frustration with my swing this morning over IM with Chris. He listened politely which was nice. I’ve had this same chat with Andrea, too. I’ve been constantly tweaking and changing my swing. I’ve known since the beginning that constant tweaking isn’t constructive. But I found some videos from last year (Oct and Nov) where I had a really nice swing. From a technical perspective, I was putting myself in good positions. I was making a good turn and I was makign a good shift. I was even dropping the club down where it needs to be on the downswing.

I was practicing a lot, but I wasn’t playing. And so I’d go out and play, not have a consistent round, and believe it was because of a fundamental issue with my swing. Now my swing wasn’t perfect, but I shouldn’t have abandoned good work just because I played one time that month and didn’t play well. I should’ve played more, continued to work on the swing, but stayed on the right path.

I played a good couple of days in a row in FLorida after making a big change to my swing. It was great. But I went home and didn’t play, so I thought I needed to change. I thought my head moved off the ball too much on the backswing and so I tweaked my shoulder turn. I thought I needed to drop the club into the slot so to speak, so I worked on elbow abduction. I thought my backswing was too flat and inside, but it was just my hands, not the shoulder turn. I shouldn’t have abandoned one thing just because I thought it was another. Thats all fine. But you know what, Kane….. go back to what you were doing before, ingrain that and stop changing.

Shoulder turn with the felling of getting over my right foot – which creates a nice brace against the right leg. Bump the left hip left and pump the hands down toward the ball. This will keep the right hip from firing up and the right foot coming up off the ground. The pump will keep me connected and driving inside out. And go back to the grip you had, seriously, you changed your grip! Why?

UPDATE: After getting back to the shoulder turn and swing of last November, I’m going to try to go a month without a fundamental change to my swing.

The position at the top is much better
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Hips and right leg causing issues

Ive Known this for a year

This is a recurring problem. I have to solve this if I’m ever going to become consistent. I have to make sure my hips are moving correctly, not just moving.

Tonight with the Swingbyte and video, I want to confirm that I’m pulling and turning back the left hip from the start of the downswing. Hopefully that keeps me grounded and keep the right hip from popping up. It should also allow me to bring the shaft down closer to the plane line and hopefully allow me to deliver the club more consistently. Check all the numbers to ensure nothing has changed (for the worse).

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SloPro – 60fps Slow Motion Video – Just blew my mind

I just wanted to jot down a quick note about this app because its about to transform the way I analyze my golf swing. Until now, I was using V1 Golf, an awesome app for iOS, and I’ve also been using SwingReader. Both are great for being able to add plane lines, check angles and control slow motion video of your swing …. at 30 FPS.

30 is great and all I needed, until I found SloPro. With the iPhone 4S, it captures true 60 FPS video and the playback is like butter. With this app, I’m able to see things about my swing that I haven’t seen before. Doubling the frame count really does matter! And if I want to, I can crank up the Slo Mo, to 500FPS or even 1000 FPS, which a few optical tricks of course. But even at 60 FPS, I’ll be able to look at my swing, especially key areas such as transition, with a new lens. Unfortunately, the hardware on the iPad just isnt there yet to truly harness this app, but it still works just with a little more trickery.

You can check it out here: SloPro – 60fps Slow Motion Video

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Long range day, not gonna say a great one

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So I was curious if I could take it to the course, or in this case the range. Hitting inside can simulate a lot of things, but one thing it can’t is ball flight. And for me, that damn ball is a problem.

Lots of good things to take away from today. My new hybrid was excellent, very solid shots, some nice length and flight. My driver was consistent and that’s a good thing. In out swing, albeit 2-3d, but consistent. I’m still hanging the face open thru impact and that’s an issue.

But my irons were so so. My first few 8i after my warm up witht he lob wedge, we’re perfect. Smooth swing, nice ball flight and about 160 carry. I started thinking that today was going to be good. That’s the problem, I started thinking.

I’m making major changes to swing and I can’t expect miracles, but I hit some weird shots. I was more out in than in out. My average yesterday was a few degrees in out, today I’m guessing it was a few out in. I was rushing from the top, I didn’t have the same tempo, I wasn’t moving.

Part of it is endurance, I’ve hit a ton of balls lately and part of it is heat. But a big part is mental, I’m just not staying with the shot and I’m easily reverting back to old swing.

I need to take some positives, driver, hybrid, all good. I also hit some gorgeous shots with my irons, so it’s not like it was a total bust. I hit over 200 balls, there were good shots in there. I saw my rolling backswing creep back in, so I know I need more reps.

But I also need to keep my right arm in check. I’m not dropping the club or arms in that slot and I need to remember the keys. I need to feel I’m pulling but not from the top, I have to stay connected and I have to bump hips left and keep my right leg from flying around. It will happen, I jus have to keep working.

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