Shaking off the Rust – A Different Kind of Practice

After a few weeks without playing, I’m heading back out and wanted to get ready with one practice session.  This is a different kind of practice than your regular weekly practice session.  I don’t want to walk on to Torrey Pines and spray golf balls all over and hit embarrassing bladed chips across the green and have a frustrating experience.  So what does practice look like and feel like to get back into golf?

What I’ve found to be missing is: the “feel” of the shot, pre-shot routine, proper visualization, and good execution.  I started off with some short pitch shots on the practice pitching area.

I’ll take a quick detour to show you how I use the 80BREAKR app to track my practice.

(download this same app for free here, if you want to follow along with how I used it today, described below)

Hit the new game button on the scorecard. (second from left top circle on scorecard)

 

 

It doesn’t matter what golf course you select or starting hole when practicing.  You’re going to use the game improvement feature but just characterize a whole bunch of the same shot type.

Select starting hole 1, and then pick the club you’re working on.  In my case, I started with my sand wedge pitch shots (typically 56 degree).

 

Select your shot type, then hit next, now simply characterize how that pitch turned out, good, ok, or bad.

 

(I typically hit 3 in a row, then record them in the app.)  Next, simply keep hitting next and characterize as many shots as you like to assess how you’re doing as below.

What I found today was my bad or ok pitch shots could be characterized with the following mistakes:

• quick backswing
• looking up, not staring down the ball throughout the swing, resulting in a shot that was not “crips”, hitting ground first, etc.
• not picking a target and thinking about “energy” to hit the landing spot
• too “armsy”, use a small swing, turn your shoulders some, it should feel easy

 

Today I was not set on improving my game, but rather just coming back from a break and getting comfortable with the clubs and getting my focus and feel back.  Here were my results:

 

I didn’t have a lot of time, and I’ve read you need to hit 20 or 30 shots with every club from wedges working up to driver.  That is great if you’re retired or a PGA pro, but not so much for family guys with full time jobs.  If you’re coming out of a spell of months without playing, this process might take a few weeks.

I did take a bunch of warm-up swings, but then used the 80BREAKR app to checkout my drives.

 

 

What I realized was that timing was missing.

• Too fast a backswing came out with slices, probably not focusing on the ball throughout the swing
• Too fast a downswing came out has duck hooks
• Just right timing and watching the ball throughout was a perfect drive with distance

Basically, I was getting my rhythm back.  Not a normal practice, but “getting back into the game” practice.

So I touched on some pitch shots, and driver, and needed to get some feel for putts.  There are lag putts, short putts, and medium range putts, and all kinds of slopes to consider.

I headed to the putting green to get a tune-up as quick as possible.  What I found was that 8-10 foot straight putts were perfect for a tune-up.  Why?  You’re coming back from some time off.  You want to groove the feel of the putts.

After a half hour of trying different things, I concluded I was wasting time judging right or left turning putts, lag putts, and short putts.  What was missing was the clean and pure straight putt swing, swing speed, and focus.  Here’s how you get to that quickly.

1. find a hole on the practice green and drop a couple balls 6 feet above the hole for a downhill putt.  Plan to hit them 8 to 10 feet past the hole.  Why?  Missing a slow-rolling downhill putt will automatically be a straight uphill come back putt.  (see previous experiments, physics requires all slow-rolling downhill putts will be straight putts coming back!)
2. Now line up the ball with your putter with your regular pre-shot putt routine.  Execute the putt but do NOT look up and see what happens.

 

• Tell yourself or say out loud if the putt was a push, a pull, too short, or too hard.  I found that I knew what happened without looking.  You’ll hear the ones that are good…
• What you’re striving for is the feel and speed of the backswing and a clean strike and use of the shoulders.  You’re not trying to improve, you’re trying to get your feel back.

Now, if I had been out of the game for months, I’d explore all my clubs in this manner.  I’m a strong proponent of measure, analyze, and adjust.  I’ve outlined a quick checkup after a few weeks away from golf.  Your mileage may vary.  I’ll let you know how it goes tomorrow at Torrey Pines!