Lesson Question

[Phana24JG]

Mike, I guess our recent lesson falls into the good news/bad news category. Obviously, the weather has been an issue, but one problem seems to be emerging. I played Friday and yesterday. In both cases I was all over the ball on the range. I "simulated" my rounds on the range and was probably hitting 6/9 and 12 or 13/18 GIRs with misses that would be good potential for saves. In both cases I started the first three holes very promising but by 5 or 6 it was gone. I had some video from Friday and it looked great. I was finishing most of my swings properly, with a slight tendency to throw away somewhat, but even those shots were tolerable.

I am having some back issues, but I do not think that was the cause, since my driver(s) at least were functional. My iron game just disappeared and along with it went my judgment. A couple of holes I played really well finished with a three-putt, I was opting for stupid lob shots to save par which left me scrambling for bogey. 41 on a nine rated for 33.5, and 81 on a 71 rating. Traveling home Sunday was difficult as I had to cross both the Mohawk and Hudson River and the urge to deposit my clubs in the river was tempting.

Iron misses were a menagerie from thins to heavy with good contact either dead on or hard right pushes. Any suggestions aside from the river?

[Michael Jacobs]

Mike, I guess our recent lesson falls into the good news/bad news category. Obviously, the weather has been an issue, but one problem seems to be emerging. I played Friday and yesterday. In both cases I was all over the ball on the range. I "simulated" my rounds on the range and was probably hitting 6/9 and 12 or 13/18 GIRs with misses that would be good potential for saves. In both cases I started the first three holes very promising but by 5 or 6 it was gone. I had some video from Friday and it looked great. I was finishing most of my swings properly, with a slight tendency to throw away somewhat, but even those shots were tolerable.

I am having some back issues, but I do not think that was the cause, since my driver(s) at least were functional. My iron game just disappeared and along with it went my judgment. A couple of holes I played really well finished with a three-putt, I was opting for stupid lob shots to save par which left me scrambling for bogey. 41 on a nine rated for 33.5, and 81 on a 71 rating. Traveling home Sunday was difficult as I had to cross both the Mohawk and Hudson River and the urge to deposit my clubs in the river was tempting.

Iron misses were a menagerie from thins to heavy with good contact either dead on or hard right pushes. Any suggestions aside from the river?

Phana,

If you throw the clubs in the river, I will be happy to fit you for a new set

Let's answer a few questions before I chime in with some advice:

When you were hitting your irons did you get an indication of any of the following:

Centered Hits?
Toe or hell hits?
Divot direction?

What would you think the path was with the irons? I have your Flightscope X2 info here on my computer, ok if I post it up screen shots for everyone to see??

[Phana24JG]

Phana,

If you throw the clubs in the river, I will be happy to fit you for a new set

Let's answer a few questions before I chime in with some advice:

When you were hitting your irons did you get an indication of any of the following:

Centered Hits?
Toe or hell hits?
Divot direction?

What would you think the path was with the irons? I have your Flightscope X2 info here on my computer, ok if I post it up screen shots for everyone to see??

The hits were centered with the misses toward the toe. Divots were slightly left of target. I have figured out part of the problem. On shots where accuracy was at a premium I was underclubbing trying hit 3/4 shots and not releasing. After I sprayed a drive, I got tight and was doing the same thing. Practiced/played last night with much better ball-striking in general, but was hitting pulls or pull-draws most of the time with every miss off the toe. The exceptions were, of course, when I played for the pull and the damn thing was right on target.

No video since it rained like hell while practicing and I am not sure how well the Casio tolerates rain. Feel free to post any portion of our first lesson.

[Phana24JG]

The Casio does not lie. I took off (very) early today and got a good range session in followed by 18 holes. I sure hope the owner of my company does not follow this forum. Damned if I was not doing EXACTLY what I had been doing prior to our lesson. It took me damn near an hour to figure out why I WOULD NOT release the club. With an assist from a guy who was fascinated with my Casio, it turned out I was holding the club too loosely (he noted my club was occasionally well past parallel). If I am not confident of holding and controlling the face, subconsciously I am afraid to release said club. I turned up the pressure from 1 on a scale of 10 to 3 and BOOM!

I was so psyched I decided to play. 75 on a course rated at 68.5, and that was with a marginal to abysmal short game. Still have an occasional case of the pulls, but not bad. 9/14 fairways hit with 3 in the first cut and 12 GIRs including two par fives in two. It is hard to aim right when you have been missing right, and I do not quite have the trust necessary, but that will come with time. Kind of windy today so distances were hard to gauge, but I played a 420 par 4 dead into a 2 club wind with a driver and 5 iron and barely stayed on the green. Of course, The Hands of Stone had to celebrate with a three-putt, but I was still delighted.

OMG, it was so nice to swing a golf club without a jacket and to actually experience perspiration on a golf course. The only new problems I experienced were a) realizing I have to break down and get some glasses as I lost track of three balls, fortunately they went where I thought and b) there was this bright yellow thing in the sky that occasionally got into my eyes on the back nine. Does anyone know what that bright yellow thing was?

Thanks Mike!!!! However, you did lose the chance to outfit me for a new set of clubs, they will not be going in the river. However, as a consolation prize you do get to sell me a new hybrid and putter since GG LOST my SeeMore that went in for reshafting (but that is another funny story for later). I still have a chance for new irons since I have been on my best behavior and my wife really liked you and Rock Hill. Finally, I shot said round in my new Rock Hill shirt that she bought for me while we were there.

[Michael Jacobs]

The Casio does not lie. I took off (very) early today and got a good range session in followed by 18 holes. I sure hope the owner of my company does not follow this forum. Damned if I was not doing EXACTLY what I had been doing prior to our lesson. It took me damn near an hour to figure out why I WOULD NOT release the club. With an assist from a guy who was fascinated with my Casio, it turned out I was holding the club too loosely (he noted my club was occasionally well past parallel). If I am not confident of holding and controlling the face, subconsciously I am afraid to release said club. I turned up the pressure from 1 on a scale of 10 to 3 and BOOM!

I was so psyched I decided to play. 75 on a course rated at 68.5, and that was with a marginal to abysmal short game. Still have an occasional case of the pulls, but not bad. 9/14 fairways hit with 3 in the first cut and 12 GIRs including two par fives in two. It is hard to aim right when you have been missing right, and I do not quite have the trust necessary, but that will come with time. Kind of windy today so distances were hard to gauge, but I played a 420 par 4 dead into a 2 club wind with a driver and 5 iron and barely stayed on the green. Of course, The Hands of Stone had to celebrate with a three-putt, but I was still delighted.

OMG, it was so nice to swing a golf club without a jacket and to actually experience perspiration on a golf course. The only new problems I experienced were a) realizing I have to break down and get some glasses as I lost track of three balls, fortunately they went where I thought and b) there was this bright yellow thing in the sky that occasionally got into my eyes on the back nine. Does anyone know what that bright yellow thing was?

Thanks Mike!!!! However, you did lose the chance to outfit me for a new set of clubs, they will not be going in the river. However, as a consolation prize you do get to sell me a new hybrid and putter since GG LOST my SeeMore that went in for reshafting (but that is another funny story for later). I still have a chance for new irons since I have been on my best behavior and my wife really liked you and Rock Hill. Finally, I shot said round in my new Rock Hill shirt that she bought for me while we were there.

Phana,

Great couple of posts and story. Glad you were able to assess what you were doing and were able to make the necessary adjustments. I always like to hear when a student comprehends to an extent where they are able to help themselves as time goes on. WHen we were working together a couple of weeks ago we were setting some benchmarks for you to be able to use as a swing reference.
The yellow thing in the sky is the SUN!!! It is finally nice weather, we have had the worst spring in the past 15 years. I am actually 14 lessons behind last year due to weather .. First time in my career, since 1999 I have entered May 1st with a lower lesson output than the previous year. I am ready to catch up, as long as the weather cooperates it will be a slam dunk

Keep us posted on your progress, we would love to see some video. Next time I am at the Flightscope computer I will print out some of your data and post it on the site

[Phana24JG]

Phana,

The yellow thing in the sky is the SUN!!! It is finally nice weather, we have had the worst spring in the past 15 years. I am actually 14 lessons behind last year due to weather .. First time in my career, since 1999 I have entered May 1st with a lower lesson output than the previous year. I am ready to catch up, as long as the weather cooperates it will be a slam dunk

Keep us posted on your progress, we would love to see some video. Next time I am at the Flightscope computer I will print out some of your data and post it on the site

Mike,

Thanks a lot for your weather forecast. LOLOL. I took today off to play in a charity tournament, but we were, of course, rained out. Got out Sun and Mon. My driving is almost midseason form already. Short game is atrocious, but it's lack of practice. I have a question about the iron swing versus the driver swing. I seem to have developed a problem thinning/pulling mid irons. With an iron I try to feel a release down to the ball, and am not nearly as aggressive with the weight shift to the right with an 8-iron on down.

I know it's hard to answer sans video, but do you think this idea of "separate" swings is a good one?

[Michael Jacobs]

Mike,

Thanks a lot for your weather forecast. LOLOL. I took today off to play in a charity tournament, but we were, of course, rained out. Got out Sun and Mon. My driving is almost midseason form already. Short game is atrocious, but it's lack of practice. I have a question about the iron swing versus the driver swing. I seem to have developed a problem thinning/pulling mid irons. With an iron I try to feel a release down to the ball, and am not nearly as aggressive with the weight shift to the right with an 8-iron on down.

I know it's hard to answer sans video, but do you think this idea of "separate" swings is a good one?

Phana,

Great set of questions...

As modern golf has progressed a need for some different set of swing parameters is necessary. A set of parameters with a driver, a slightly different set with an iron - hybrid - fairway metal, and a difference with the wedges.

As time has gone on, the driver has become very upright, large headed, and longer. The upright nature requires a so called 'club lowering' and the big head and deep face requires an upward hit. These parameters then require a swing direction to the right! The acceleration profile with a driver we will discuss at the end of this post..

Irons and mid fairway play require a downward strike which needs to be offset by a left swing direction. The acceleration profile with an iron we will discuss at the end of this post..

The wedges require different a different acceleration profile altogether

Let's get into the accelerations now:

Driver needs to have the sense that it is 'Lining Up' the earliest of all the clubs. This will be in the free explosive golf show D Plane and Simple. The driver is the lightest club, the longest club, and has a head that has the highest moment of inertia. The club head also has the center of gravity the most set back from the club face which will create the most amount of deflections during the swing. All of these factors are going to be factored in for a proper 'Line Up' of the club, the process of the lining up needs to begin far earlier than an iron or shot from the ground.

Irons and shots off the ground can have a later sense of lining up as the club has a lot less severe characteristics than a driver. Club heads and shafts have a different design as the center of gravity of the head and shaft have different characteristics. Appropriate 'line up time' must be mastered but will occur later than a driver

The wedges?? they have a different set of accelerations because you will hit all different kinds of shot sizes with them. Pivot timing and arm motions will be very unique and nothing like those in the driver or fairway full game. Did I confuse everyone?

[Phana24JG]

Phana,

Driver needs to have the sense that it is 'Lining Up' the earliest of all the clubs. This will be in the free explosive golf show D Plane and Simple. The driver is the lightest club, the longest club, and has a head that has the highest moment of inertia. The club head also has the center of gravity the most set back from the club face which will create the most amount of deflections during the swing. All of these factors are going to be factored in for a proper 'Line Up' of the club, the process of the lining up needs to begin far earlier than an iron or shot from the ground.

Irons and shots off the ground can have a later sense of lining up as the club has a lot less severe characteristics than a driver. Club heads and shafts have a different design as the center of gravity of the head and shaft have different characteristics. Appropriate 'line up time' must be mastered but will occur later than a driver

The wedges?? they have a different set of accelerations because you will hit all different kinds of shot sizes with them. Pivot timing and arm motions will be very unique and nothing like those in the driver or fairway full game. Did I confuse everyone?

That actually makes sense. Where I get in trouble is differentiating what I have to change in swing mechanics to accomplish said objectives. It seems as though when my driver on ON, my iron play suffers, and vice versa. I get that the change in length/lie of the clubs will accommodate some the changes automatically, but there has to be some definitive swing changes as well. I can separate the wedge game fairly well, but the full game just cannot seem to come together. I would love to see a video or thread on this subject, or perhaps it will incorporated into the D Plane and Simple video.