Big Question?
How difficult do you make your practice sessions?
Feels
My feeling this week is one of gratitude and confidence.
2 more check in’s with Ryan has left me feeling confident. Not in my ability to make the changes necessary but more in the sense of direction I have. I am confident that reflecting on my learning, lessons and practice will enable me to be honest with myself (and Ryan). Being honest with myself and my progress will be key to making changes. I am confident in the process and in my ability to work hard at it!
Practice
I have hit 70 balls this week across 2 sessions. What I have noticed is an increased intensity and improved concentration with each ball. When I started this journey, I’d get a large basket of balls, blast through them 2 or 3 balls per minute and head home feeling like I’d practiced. With my current sense of direction, I am practicing in a smarter way. I’m starting to live by ‘quality over quantity’ rather than just ‘understanding’ it. I can still improve but it has improved over the last 6 weeks. A big part of that improvement is cycling through each phase of Plan, Do, Review.
My practice sessions are currently structured in three blocks.
Block 1 - Technical drill from Ryan (e.g. flat lead wrist, higher hands, closing my legs ha)
Block 2 - Variable/differentiated practice (e.g. start the ball to the right of the stick, start the ball to the left of the stick, repeat. Draw/fade, hook, slice, repeat. Different clubs, same target)
Block 3 - Game/competitive practice - (e.g. points based, challenging, high level of difficulty, fun game)
Block 1 will always be led by feedback from Ryan. I focus on ONE thing. ONE outcome or technical thought at a time. I try to practice with an analytical coldness rather than emotion. Frustration is inevitable but golf swing changes are tough! This is difficult but I am improving!
Blocks 2 and 3 will utilise some practice ideas from The Practice Manual (Adam Young), The Four Foundations of Golf (Jon Sherman) and some creativity. 2 and 3 will also incorporate some form of feedback such as points/success criteria/face spray. This enables me to track my progress and try to beat my previous score, next time!
I came across an interesting post from Hutch (@hutch_golf) this week on Twitter. He described the use of foam balls and removing the outcome of the shots when making swing changes. Ryan alluded to a similar thing and suggested having a small batch of ‘no-outcome’ shots. This would involve performing the movement with a ball but paying no attention to the outcome of the shot. This is something for me to reflect on and consider moving forward!
Lessons
My third golf lesson was a near-perfect repeat of my first. Working on several elements of the swing proved to be one step too far, at this point. Putting it all together was challenging. Despite showing some success in performing the drills, hitting full shots raised a similar issue; an open club face. Here is the lesson where Ryan discusses the problem and talks through the issue and what it causes;
My lead wrist was still carrying some extension, causing the club face to be weaker/more open. This leads to many issues including a lack of rotation, early extension, an out-to-in path and a ‘casting’ of the club to make a functional shot. (Yikes!)
Block one of my next practice session was spent exaggerating my wrist position and hitting some smooth swings, trying to replicate that feeling of a flexed lead wrist. You can see the result in the image below. A key reflection from attempting a change is how different they ‘feel’ versus how different they are. This felt like my wrist was fully flexed but on reviewing the video, it was only straight.
For a full review of the flexed wrist drill and the impact on my swing, it is linked on the green button below.
What’s next?
At the end of the review above, Ryan suggested we look at some rotation drills. This will hopefully get me turning through the shot a little more. With my clubface in a better position, this should be an easier proposition but I’m sure it will have its own series of challenges.
Weather permitting, I have a Winter Matchplay game arranged for Thursday. I am excited to play a round and test out some of the learning through play. My expectations are low but I will not be having any technical thoughts during the round.
Reflective Questions
What parts of your game are you confident in?
How do you structure your practice?
Do you KNOW your current technical issues?
1. I am very confident in my irons from 100-200
2. I typically do some pitching/strike work, followed by random shots to various targets, finishing with some type of performance game with a consequence associated
3. In the past it's been that I get the club head inside my hands on the takeaway which caused me to get steep in transition then slide to shallow the club. I've worked hard on keeping the club head outside my hands in the takeaway and it's paid dividends.
Keep up the great posts!