Call me lame, but....

[Rockford35]

I just spent the better part of 3 hours hitting balls in my basement. Sure, it's saturday night, and I should be doing something more invigorating, but this suits me just fine tonight. I don't feel very social, and it's pretty cold out tonight.

I found myself hitting balls with the Golf Channel on for background noise. They had the Top 10 appearances on the GC from players and instructors like Butch, Moe Norman, Tiger, Phil, amoung others.

I found myself not watching the television as much as I was "feeling" the television. I didn't watch the swings that each great spoke of, I only tried to mimic them in my mind and with the club I had in my hands.

When Moe Norman spoke, he makes the game seem so easy. But that's to him. I really got nothing from Moe, and never have. He hits the ball as straight as an arrow, but he really isn't the best to model a swing after. His descriptions seem vague and oversimplified almost to an arrogant degree. The man was great and still is, but he's not the model player to start after.

The next great that got me thinking was Sam Snead. The man has the complete opposite feel for the game when compared to Moe Norman. Light grip vs strong grip, left hand dominant vs no hand dominant. These two would be the worst to sit with at a banquet, especially with a few drinks in them.

Tiger came up last, back in 2000 when he and Butch were hugging and everything. Tiger had just gone through his swing changes and went on to win just about everything for 3 straight years. I listened intently although I started out biased as I don't like Tiger's swing anymore. But then, the man knew his game inside and out. Zero hesitation, go for the kill, know your swing.

He went through all the changes and the "language" that Tiger used seemed to appeal to my game and my level. When Butch started to talk, all it sounded to me was like the parents on a Charlie Brown special. Tiger would reiterate Butch's point in a simple language that any competent player could understand....

"What I try to do is mimic the same arc on my downswing to where the bottom is at the golf ball....."

"My hands have to beat my body on the downswing...."

"I don't concern myself with the swing after impact...."

"Knowing what your body wants to do is the key. If my body and mind want to hit a cut, I hit a cut. Don't force yourself to hit shots that you really don't want to hit...."

Those statements are taken out of context obviously, but you get the picture. This was the first time in a long time that I was on the same page technically with Tiger. I spent the next 45 minutes visualizing those key points when hitting balls and felt extremely comfortable doing so.

Now, If I could just learn how to wrangle up a blond like he did....

R35

[Silver]

Your Saturday night sounds better than mine. I've been working on writing a respondent's factum for a moot coming up that's due on Tuesday. Keep in mind that I've been working on this since 1:00pm or so - it's now 9 hours later and I've got about two paragraphs more than I had at 1:00. But...I know LOTS about promissory estoppel and injurious reliance and waiver.

How high are your basement ceilings? Isn't it risky to be hitting balls down there? I understand that you have a net set up...but still.


Just be glad you're hitting golf balls and not doing what I'm doing.

[Silver]

Oh, and I've seen that top ten Academy Live moments thing and I was totally down with what Tiger had to say. As much as I think Moe was great...he was too nutty to follow.

[Loop]

I'd be more into the esoteric like Bagger Vance would say: "Find your true authentic swing....".

But then again, technic is pretty important for me also, as I'm working for some months now on my axis.
And I don't like having multiple swing thoughts, just one is more than enough for me. Ingraining them one at a time may be possible, but I know myself and tend to forget those thoughts the very next day...

[Rockford35]

Originally Posted by Silver

How high are your basement ceilings? Isn't it risky to be hitting balls down there? I understand that you have a net set up...but still.


Just be glad you're hitting golf balls and not doing what I'm doing.

The ceilings are just over 8.5 feet. I use a cut down 6 iron (about 1/4" shorter than my stock 7 iron). If I lift my head at all, i hit the ceiling with my release. Then the GF yells at me. So, I don't lift my head.

I'm not so much worried about hitting balls as hard as I can so much as I am at learning my body. I use mirrors and a setup key to keep myself aligned, foused and aware of anything that I'm doing wrong.

A perfect swing results in a pured feeling in my hands through the clubface and no yelling from upstairs.....

R35

[Golfbum]

My ceilings are not high enough swing any club. However since it was +8C here today I went out to the local golf store and hit some demo irons to help cure the itch.
Tested a Titleist 690CB with the 6.0 Rifle shaft and one with the DG S300 shaft.Nice feeling irons and the Rifle shaft was great.
Also hit a MP33, and for the first time hitting ever hitting a blade it felt good. But I was hitting Top Flights etc so kind of hard to tell.
Oh how I wish it was spring!

[Silver]

Hmm, I think the only room in my place with a bedroom that high is the bedroom (live in a basement suite)...my gf did suggest setting one up on our patio though, and after looking out back, I think it might work. I could set up a net by where the landlord's dog craps and get a mat like the ones at the range and set it up right in front of our door and I probably won't hit the bottom of the upstairs deck.

My friend's always getting in trouble from his gf for denting their ceiling - he's 6'4 with freakishly long arms in a standar 8 foot high room.


Oh, and I finished my first draft of the factum last night at 3:45am...yech.

[DaveE]

I ended up passing on the net and getting a new 3 wood at Christmas. Now I'm kinda thinking the net would've been a good choice. I can always sneek a new club in the bag without notice, but it's tough to hide a 10' net.

Of course mine would have to be outside, so no tv or mirrors. The only ceilings high enough are in the kitchen/dining and living room. Not much chance of that happening, but then again there's no snow outside here.

[Silver]

I asked at the indoor training place that I go to about getting a mat - apparently the ones there cost about $150 each! Forget that. I'm better off just going down to the range, unless I can get a mat for cheaper than that.

Although now that I got my imitation Inside Approach off of eBay....it'll be easier to play around with that while not at the range. Home is a good place to do it, I think.

[Rockford35]

150 bucks?

I can get you a mat like the one I use for 30 bucks including 3 sizes of tees.

It's about 16 inches wide and about 28 inches long. That's basically all you need. Unless you plan on taking divots.

Put some no slip stuff for under throw rugs on hardwood floors under it and you're good to go.

R35

[Bravo]

A practice mat for that price would interest me.

I have an Ironic situation because my den has 11' ceiling and is very large length and width - so I can swing away with no concern for hitting the wall with the club.

The wife though forbids practice swings there because of the oriental rugs.

So an inexpensive mat would be perfect.

Send info along...

[Silver]

I'll check locally to see what I can find, I'd prefer to be standing on the mat as opposed to just having a mat under the ball as otherwise I'm standing on big (broken) cement tiles.

[Rockford35]

Here's a pic of what i use. The tees come in various lengths. You just push them through the hole that's pre cut for them.

I stand on a large area rug and use this mat as my impact area. It cleans up quick and doesn't take up much room. The net folds down so that i can hide it behind the couch downstairs. I just throw the net between the folds in the net and it's away.

Works like a charm. I put a ball in the photo for scale. The tees come in packs of 3 for like 3 bucks CDN, and the mat was like 25 bucks, including one tee.

R35

[Silver]

Looks good, maybe I'll go that route and just stand on the doormat. Seems like a more cost efficient and viable propsition.

Now I just need to find a net that'll fit the area properly.