Following on... Process v result!

I used to be the kind who keep dragging balls to the mat and wack. The ball just anyhow fly ,or i topped / skanked whatever with the ball. After reading this thread and changed my approach in the range.

I limit myself to just 50 balls. And i had a few practice swing and take a shot. After that did a short reflection and realign myself and repeat the process. For once 98% of my shot was imho decent. the last 2% was when i just wack the ball....

So i really wish to thank you guys for this thread.

Me too!!

Was contemplating on this last weekend. And at the same time, met Eden at the range on Sunday. He was telling me to do more practise swings (like bout 4) before u hit the ball.

For me, I dont really turn my body that much and depend a lot on hands. To groove in the body turn is such a pain! Best, i am not actually turning eventhough I feel like I am turning a lot.

So yesterday, I decided to follow this:-

3-4 practice swings : with emphasis on body turn (my marker is belly button facing the right), and inside-out swing.

After third practise swing, i will walk behind the ball to face the target i am hitting, walk back to address again.

I am happy to say, that my percentage of well struck shots increased. Best still, though this practise, I became increasingly more consistent.

Unfortunately, most of my errors came at the end of the session, cos this is seriously TIRING! Eventhough its just 60 balls, I have swung, with commitment, about 200+ times!!

Tried it again this morning at MBGC. I feel like I have managed to build on what i did yesterday.

Most impt note is the after-thought after hitting every ball. If good, why is it good. If bad, what happened? I think that is impt.

Thanks Shorthitter and Eden!!!!

nientsu wrote:

Most impt note is the after-though after hitting every ball. If good, why is it good. If bad, what happened? I think that is impt.

I really agree with this. I used to be guility of looking at the sole of the club. Wondering what went wrong, but never think about myself as the problem.

watermyforrest wrote:

shorthitter wrote:

watermyforrest wrote:

I find it really hard to align to the target, even by putting 2 clubs parallel on the ground and aligning my shoulder using the club that I am going to hit the ball with. Most misses are pull. Any tips on aligning properly?

I agree with you 100% it drive me nuts, I have trouble aiming when the angles are not correct....

The "chopsticks" help alot even LCB was using yesterday, but if I can I just turn the mat in the direction I want to hit.... just remember to put it back.....

The way you are doing with the 2 clubs is correct, if you are 100% sure they are pointing where you want, then you must learn to TRUST.... the hardest thing in golf......

Thanks Allen, it's true that the mat skew the alignment as well... looks like I have to keep turning the mat to the direction that I am aiming as well.

And yes, trust is the hardest thing, trusting the swing is difficult enough, trusting the club is even harder.

Just had my first golf lesson and one of my take away was how to align properly. I realized that my eyes are often confused by many optical illusions created by terrain and paralax error.

What I did was to stand behind the ball 2 m away with the ball between me and the target. Then I picked an intermediate target. Then I align my clubface and my stance parallel to the ball and intermediate target. But when I look at the real target.. EH..... how come target moves to the right?

I borrowed the coach eyes and helped to pick the correct intermediate target. I checked with both my left and right eyes... Then confirm that my left eye is the same with coach alignment...

Then do my stance again... the target is still on the right....

After few hits.... this is what I learn, TRUST what you see behind the ball...

Btw, I heard for some their target moves left... could it be because our primary eye is different?

taskie wrote:

watermyforrest wrote:

shorthitter wrote:

watermyforrest wrote:

I find it really hard to align to the target, even by putting 2 clubs parallel on the ground and aligning my shoulder using the club that I am going to hit the ball with. Most misses are pull. Any tips on aligning properly?

I agree with you 100% it drive me nuts, I have trouble aiming when the angles are not correct....

The "chopsticks" help alot even LCB was using yesterday, but if I can I just turn the mat in the direction I want to hit.... just remember to put it back.....

The way you are doing with the 2 clubs is correct, if you are 100% sure they are pointing where you want, then you must learn to TRUST.... the hardest thing in golf......

Thanks Allen, it's true that the mat skew the alignment as well... looks like I have to keep turning the mat to the direction that I am aiming as well.

And yes, trust is the hardest thing, trusting the swing is difficult enough, trusting the club is even harder.

Just had my first golf lesson and one of my take away was how to align properly. I realized that my eyes are often confused by many optical illusions created by terrain and paralax error.

What I did was to stand behind the ball 2 m away with the ball between me and the target. Then I picked an intermediate target. Then I align my clubface and my stance parallel to the ball and intermediate target. But when I look at the real target.. EH..... how come target moves to the right?

I borrowed the coach eyes and helped to pick the correct intermediate target. I checked with both my left and right eyes... Then confirm that my left eye is the same with coach alignment...

Then do my stance again... the target is still on the right....

After few hits.... this is what I learn, TRUST what you see behind the ball...

Btw, I heard for some their target moves left... could it be because our primary eye is different?

Your first lesson already taught how to choose a target and aim at it ? My first lesson until 5th lesson my pro keep telling me don't worry about where the ball lands. Get the swing right before moving onto selection of target. Maybe diff pro have diff teaching style

This is my first golf lesson after 2 years of golf....

Before that pick up from friend.....

ironstarz wrote:

Your first lesson already taught how to choose a target and aim at it ? My first lesson until 5th lesson my pro keep telling me don't worry about where the ball lands. Get the swing right before moving onto selection of target. Maybe diff pro have diff teaching style

I guess your pro does not want you to pick a target but none reach the target. sure no mood to learn liao.

taskie wrote:

Just had my first golf lesson and one of my take away was how to align properly. I realized that my eyes are often confused by many optical illusions created by terrain and paralax error.

What I did was to stand behind the ball 2 m away with the ball between me and the target. Then I picked an intermediate target. Then I align my clubface and my stance parallel to the ball and intermediate target. But when I look at the real target.. EH..... how come target moves to the right?

I borrowed the coach eyes and helped to pick the correct intermediate target. I checked with both my left and right eyes... Then confirm that my left eye is the same with coach alignment...

Then do my stance again... the target is still on the right....

After few hits.... this is what I learn, TRUST what you see behind the ball...

Btw, I heard for some their target moves left... could it be because our primary eye is different?

i have this problem when I stop for a while... when I address the ball, somehow it feels like I'm aiming to right/left. this makes me uncomfortable.

So for me not to have this uneasy feeling, as long as I align myself from the back, I will commit to it and address the ball. Trust myself that my alignment is not so screwed up. It puts me more at ease and not have the angel and devil talking in my head

shorthitter wrote:

jimmychoo wrote:

Shorthitter, you remind me of 1 person. Everytime I will see him standing on the mat and use the club to pull the ball towards him to hit. Without moving his feet, he will repeated the whole process again, ball after ball
And he will keep on complaining "Why I can't manage to hit the ball to the direction I want?"
I told him to look for David Copperfield

Crazy right.......

I tell my newbies if they want to learn, leave the balls in a basket on the seat behind the mat so they must walk from the mat, collect a ball and reposition themselves...

They do it while I am watching, as soon as I am gone......

hey shorthitter, thanks for the above reminder.......have not hit balls in this manner for a loongggggg time and boy, it is definitely more productive and satisfying.

I hit 30 balls earlier at Laguna with the above method and it was way better compared to my Wed session at MBGC where I was hitting balls from the tray.

Took 2-3 dry swings before hitting actual ball. Man, today's 30 balls session was superb!