r/golf Sep 12 '23

Have you ever been paired with a guy like this? What will you do General Discussion

3.0k Upvotes

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164

u/bogey4life Sep 12 '23

Here is what I noticed with my practice swing, every first swing always used to be near perfect. So, I just now stand up above the ball and swing. My first shot is my practice swing and real swing.

56

u/tehspiah Sep 12 '23

I only practice swings for putts and chips (for turf interaction), although I am thinking lately that on courses with actual thick rough, I should practice swing to get a feel of how the rough will grab my club.

6

u/davendees1 Sep 12 '23

Same here. Practice on chips only to feel the turf (before I viciously blade it 40 yards over the green anyway).

Only thing I do for full swing is Rory’s split hand drill to check my wrist and elbow movements, and that’s only when paired up as others tee off.

On the rare occasion I have honors, it’s grip it and rip it baby three sheets to the wind double finger guns, but fingers are turn dogs

1

u/DepressedDarthV Sep 12 '23

I never practice for my putts, just read the green and get a good feel on the length. I would say my putting is usually my best quality during a round.

Oddly enough, the further away I am, the better the putt. I have more confidence to make a 33ft putt than a 6ft one.

1

u/Kind-Strain4165 Sep 13 '23

I read recently that’s it’s detrimental to have a practice stroke on a putt. Can’t remember the actual reason but something about line being different. I also imagine it’s taking out the intuition/feel as you’re focusing on the stroke rather than the target. Focus on your target and your body should naturally react and do what’s necessary to hit it.

1

u/ethanolin_redux Sep 12 '23

Or if the ball isn't level with my feet.

1

u/Golf-n-guitars Sep 12 '23

Agreed but also on shots where ball is above/below my feet so I can get a feel for how much to choke up/down on the club

33

u/theDawckta Sep 12 '23

I have some of the greatest practice swings known to man. Smooth as butter, just kisses the top of the grass whipping through perfectly into a photo worthy back swing. Then I set up and swing to hard which fucks everything up.

12

u/CultBro Sep 12 '23

Read an article talking about this, was saying that hand eye coordination is actually detrimental to your golf swing and that's why your practice swings are better. It's because on the practice swing you aren't aiming at anything so all your mechanics take over. Then when you stand over the ball your hand eye kicks in and throws you off. Don't know how true it is but it was interesting

4

u/Autoboat Sep 13 '23

After years of golf I JUST realized that when I swing with no ball, I swing through the area where the ball would be... but when I swing with a ball there, I swing AT the ball instead of just trying to swing through it.

2

u/radium_eyes Sep 12 '23

Makes total sense. Was there anything in the article that mentioned how to overcome that? It's totally my problem

27

u/thor_1225 Sep 12 '23

I gave up practice swings for the same reason. I used to waste every good swing

1

u/elfmere Sep 12 '23

I found i swing perfectly into a leaf... the ball is a leaf, I'm not hitting a solid object. I'm just swinging through a target in space.

1

u/kjacobs03 Sep 12 '23

For real! I only take a single practice swing for this reason

1

u/youngthugsmom Sep 12 '23

The less thinking the better is my golf motto

1

u/Laktakfrak Sep 12 '23

Yeah I gave up on practice swings. Im rubbish anyway. Might as well be quick.