Hacker's Unite!

Public Forum—Concepts in Advanced Ball Striking
121

I have been really stressed out this week and feeling a little overwhelmed, so this morning I decided to play 9 holes of golf at Ashlar GC before work.

It was a beautiful morning for golf and I took with me my Wilson’s and Tommy Armour Persimmons.

I scored 51 (+16) which is crap really however when I look back at my score card I had a +4 on 14 and a +5 on 15 so there are 9 strokes I could have saved right there. 14 is a 90degree dog leg left that I had to take a provisional on because I have no idea where my first ball ended up, I tried to cut across some trees and canal with a 4 iron so it’s probably in the canal somewhere. 15 is just a long, long left to right dog leg par 5 which is the kind of hole I hate most because of my tendency to hook and lack of length off the tee. Had I managed to double bogeyed these two holes I would have been looking at a more respectable (well for me anyway) score of 46.

My issues:

Persimmons - First time on course for 9 holes with them and I can’t hit them, the few I did connect with didn’t go very far. Now I know why my titanium driver doesn’t go far either, it’s because I think and feel like I’m centering it but in reality I’m hitting it anywhere but off the centre. I’m going to keep practising with the Persimmons because once I can figure out how to hit those my titanium driver should go further.

Chipping - I didn’t chip well at all but I got lucky so my score didn’t blow out because of it. It’s frustrating though because a couple of times I stayed behind at a green to practice my chipping so that I wouldn’t catch the group in front and all of my practice chips were gems…it’s as if once I know that the outcome of the chip actually means something my body tenses and I end up sculling them across the green.

Distance - I need to get at least 20 metres more on all my clubs from Driver thru to maybe a 7 iron. I only hit 1 GIR all morning.

Now to my biggest issue, I pull all of my shots from about 120 metres. Everything from PW thru to 8 iron is going left by about 5 - 10 metres. I could have hit a few more GIR’s and a lot less chips if it wasn’t for this problem. I’ve either got to get my irons bent flat (I read somewhere where Lag says that flat irons will help straighten out the pull) and/or I’ve got to get to module 3 (currently at the start of module 2) to learn how to straighten up.

At least my putting was excellent today with only one 3 putt and even then I may as well have hit the first of those putts with a driver because whilst I was on the green I was that far from the pin it’s not funny.

Anyway, I’m going to try and get my Hogans bent tomorrow. The only place around here that does it is Castle Hill GC but when I called them to ask about it they didn’t seem too interested. I really don’t know where to start with it all. I want to keep the lofts the same as original spec and I have those specs. I have no idea whether lies are standard or upright or whatever at the moment but I’m thinking 3 or 4 degrees flat from standard is a good place to start. Then I need to sort out the swing weight too. Rather than calling them to discuss it I might just bring the clubs into the pro shop and have a chat to them face to face about it - maybe they will have time to check the specs in front of me so that way I can decide exactly what I want them to do before leaving the clubs with them overnight. I just hope I’m that at my level and being on module 2 I’m not going to regret going flat.

122

Good to see you getting out there Anth, I love Thursday morning hits. It’s late enough in the week that the weekend is almost here, but also gives you a golfing fix to look forward to on Tuesday and Wednesday.

About the chipping, your fear is there because you are doing something you aren’t quite sure about and your mind is overly aware of that fact. Emotion starts to kick in and makes it even harder to get a clean hit on it. Get 100’s of solid chips in your backyard and the fear will be next to gone. Now you go up, and you can’t even think of what to fear, because you know how to hit this shot. Before long you are hitting your solid chips during a round, and suddenly you have “confidence”. But this all starts from a lot of solid hits during practice. Start off with Bradley’s fundamentals, then work out the feel that works for you. It really doesn’t take long if you stick with it.

I also hit up a few holes before work today. Score wise I probably would have done OK, but I also took my camera to the course and took a few videos of my swing, which I hope to upload somewhere in the next day or two. I took about 8 videos of drives, and 2 iron shots. I hit 7 of 8 fairways with the camera rolling (yeah persimmon is obviously hard to hit) and missed 2 greens with two 5 irons. No tricks behind this, I hit 4 drives off one tee for 3 fairways, recorded them all, then hit 2 off each of the final two holes and nailed all 4 down the middle. My irons were still quite patchy, so I’m sure there are still plenty of swing flaws. It must be about time to bend those Hogans too I think. My putting definitely improved a lot after the big session last Saturday, and I’ll follow that up with a big session this Saturday too. Even my 3 sand shots all got out easily enough, I think Bradley has reduced my fear of those a bit, so now I just need to throw practice at it to get a better feel for distances and technique.

All up, it’s been such an interesting week for this site, but when the price update forced me to think about how much this program has already done for me, I decided to take video proof of it. I think my last round before ABS I hit one fairway with my titanium, and today, just 4 months later I hit 7 of 8 fairways in a row, all of which longer than that one fairway with the titanium.

123

Good stuff SB. I’m planning a Friday morning hit next week.

I couldn’t wait until tomorrow so I took the Hogans to be bent today.

I gave them the original Hogan lofts and send check them out and adjust tthe irons accordingly. I also asked them to check out the swing weights for me so I can get some lead tape going if I need to.

As far as the lies are concerned, I asked to go 3deg flat from standard as they looked to have been set up 1deg upright so all up it’s a 4deg bend. Now I know this is not extreme as what some of you guys have done but let me take some baby steps…anyway at $5 per club it won’t cost much to go flatter if I need to.

I left the SW standard because I have never played with this particular SW and I want to see what I’m doing out of the sand with it first.

Hopefully this minimises my pulls. I hope I don’t regret it.

124

How’s the new clubhouse at Ashlar coming along Anthony?

125

The clubhouse is just a hole in the ground at the moment, the pro shop was untouched by the fire so it’s still operational but it still feels like a dungeon.

I played the back 9 this morning and with all the rain we’ve had lately I must say the course is in good nick. Some patchy fairways which they are re-laying grass on so it should be fine in a few weeks. Bunkers look hard (probably because of all the rain) but luckily I steered clear if them all this morning. The greens were magnificent, really nice to putt on, not a billiard table surface by any means but just nice.

I played Cumberland at Greystanes a few weeks a go for the first time and I must say that course is right up the ABS alley. Tight, tree lined, very undulating, small elevated greens, premium on accuracy over length. When I finally become a member somewhere it will be there…

Lag and Two, any chance we can get you guys out to Sydney for a hit???

126

Anth,

Nothing wrong with starting at 3 flat and going more from there. I don’t recall what Hogans you have, but if they are “all original” components (i.e. the original shafts) then I’d be very surprised if they’re too light. I’ve seen some threads about that but I would be surprised if those Hogans weren’t reshafted at some point. My multiple sets of PC’s all show a progression of D3 to D5 as you move from 2 iron thru the wedge. They all have the original Apex shafts in them and I have a hard time believing that Hogan made any sets that started out in the high C swingweight range.

Good luck,

robbo

127

Thanks Robbo, I didn’t know where to start with going flat so I thought it best to be conservative.

This stuff is all new to me so I’m learning as I go.

Irons are 82 Ben Hogan Sunburst Medallions with original Apex #4 shafts. I believe they are all in the D’s as they feel heavy however I’m not sure whether there is a constant progression or whether they jump around all over the place. We’ll see.

128

Anth,

I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised… I would be curious to know what each iron swingweights out at. If I remember now, you got the Medallions with the actual medallion part machined into the head right rather than the model that had the medallion that looked more like a penny that was glued to the back? If I’m right you have a very sweet looking set.

robbo

129

They are the ones, a very sweet looking set indeed. I’ll let you know what the swing weights come out at.

Full Vintage Set_in the bag 2.jpg
Full Vintage Set_in the bag 2.jpg3648×2736 1.96 MB

130

Here we are. Final video before joining ABS. I was really just poking the ball in a short innacurate way. This was only around 7 weeks after starting up, but I was doing a tonne of working after reading TGM stuff and Lag’s thread.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHlnHjdy2fw[/youtube]

Taken this morning at my home club. 4 drives in a row straight down the middle. There is still a lot wrong with this, but you can’t argue much with 7 of 8 fairways in a row, even in a practice round. Average distance was probably 215m, but I hit one 230m (2nd shot) and the final two were into a slight breeze and probably 220m about 1m from each other. Every shot is a fade, which is all I’m currently hitting.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3qYiioTeZ4[/youtube]

131

Great module 2 work there sb944!

Anth, I’d stay away from worrying about score. Your attitude is spot on with regard to continuing using the persimmons in order to learn to be more precise with center-faced contact; plus I’m glad you are getting the irons bent. The pulls are over-the-top casting stuff that’s easier to do with short irons. You just have to concentrate on your training and realize that module #3 will ingrain the cutting hands left motion in your swing to counter act the module #1 hooking motion. The both cancel each other out and offer solid compression with a grounded and supportive lower body from module #2.

Just keep at it and focus on playing golf while playing. I know…easier said than done.

Cheers,
Captain Chaos

132

Jebus SB!

What height are you? Whats the weather like up there! :laughing:

133

Hi SB - not sure how you you qualify for the Hackers thread with that swing. Lots of good looking stuff to my eye at least!

Cheers, Arnie

134

He is tall alright. I played 9 holes with him and we were standing at the tee of a left to right dog leg par 4. I couldn’t see the green but SB stood up on his tip toes and was able to ook over the top of some tall gum trees and point me in the right direction.

Seriously though, nice swing SB, I love the difference in your pivot between the 2 videos…

135

I agree, he is not a hacker.

When we played together he hit a par 5 in 2…Driver followed by 3 wood…two of the sweetest shots I have ever seen.

136

I can’t wait for Module 4 Captn!

137

They start at D3 Robbo.

138

Great stuff there, SB944… you’re a natural… I thought I was looking at Richard Green in that first video… I’d be intrigued to know what your bad shots were to begin with…
Nice job…

139

Thanks for that guys, I appreciate the feedback. I’m still officially a hacker with a 19 handicap. When I started this course 4 months ago I would have been very lucky to break 100, and very, very lucky to hit a fairway. Bom, bad shots were massive slices with driver and long irons, and straight pulls, everything was short as I had no idea how to attack the ball. It’s now the straight pull, alignment and poor contact with the longer irons that give me the most trouble, though to be honest I’ve hit very few balls for the last few weeks.

Module 2 is life to me. When I got through it, I’m guessing Lag was saying to himself “he could give more.” It was my least favourite module so far, as it’s the hardest and has little known effects on a golf swing if you are thinking too much about arms and hands. I did the bare minimum to make it through, then thought “OK, graduated, forget about module 2.” However, all I hear from Lag and others is “module 2, module 2, module 2” so I decided to stop being lazy and face my fears of module 2. It’s really hard work, but I’m starting to “get it”, it really is something very special, and my mind is now “module 2, module 2, module 2”.

Why is it life? It’s often the things I get lazy on that are the easiest wins if I set my mind to it and face my fears. If you get lazy on module 2, module 1, 3, 4 become really difficult. But if you focus hard on module 2, those modules fall into place a lot easier. It’s like in everyday situations, we avoid doing something we fear, then have to work around the problems that brings, which end up making our lives 10 times harder than if we just faced the fear and moved on. God I wish I knew all this when I was 18, guess I’ll have to start working on the kids.

Styles, I keep meaning to thank you for the putting drills and ideas, that means a lot to me that you continue to post quality information here rather than focusing on your ISG thread or other forums you may visit. I think you are up there as people who have spent a lot of time looking into different aspects of golf, and it’s great to hear your opinions on anything golf. I’m 6’5", and my physique is not the ideal one for golf, with narrow shoulders, hunched back, skinny chest and arms and big slow legs and hips. It’s pretty obvious though that the bag drills have helped me shed a few kgs and also strengthen up considerably, another under-rated bit of value in this course.

I’ll try to get one more video in before winter kicks in, so about May, then I’ll be head down for a few months practicing like buggery with ABS and the short game.

140

Excellent…

I can see how much now module #6 is going to really make a difference, because you have your ducks lined up nicely now…

We just keep building and building more and more good stuff… on top of more and more good stuff…

It’s really fun to see you guys getting better.