Monday at US Open

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gaspasser1

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Walked the practice round today. Followed Graeme McDowell on the back and David Toms and Steve Stricker for the front. It was really fun watching DT play. His son was with him and was shooting yardages with his laser and rolling balls into the rough for his dad to play. DT busted one on hole 5 20 yards past his partners (Stricker, Tripplet, Lamaille?)

This was my first live tournament. Some observations:

-The swings are so rhythmic. Nothing is rushed. A lot of open hips and throwing the drunk off the back. I'll be working on these...

-The sound is so different from when I hit the ball. When I hit it solid, it's more of a "woosh." These guys "thwacked" it. It almost sounded thin. I guess I'm hitting it higher on the clubface. Or a softer ball. Amazing.

-Trajectory was really interesting. Seemed "flat" but the ball would go for miles.

I had a great time. I'm going back tomorrow and then Saturday and Sunday rounds. I'll try and post some pics from the practice rounds.
 
faux_maestro

faux_maestro

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dschultz6072 said:
Yea the impact you hear from an excellent ball striker sounds like rifle shots and you can hear it from a distance.
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I went to The Memorial about 5 years ago. Parked on the 11th hole down by the landing area. The sound from the tee shots even from that far away was unreal. Tiger hit the guy next to me with his tee shot, gave him a signed glove. Even his chip out was loud.
 
Erik_K

Erik_K

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I was there Tuesday and have some video to post (not super high quality, but video nonetheless).

I agree with the tempo - these guys could play 5 rounds in a row and not break a sweat. Their tempo is just perfectly smooth.

I also thought their contact was 'thin.' But maybe this is what solid contact is supposed to be like? Or maybe it's easier to work the ball when you don't take a shallow/small divot.

Some players had a noticeable dipping of the head on the downswing.

During the practice round, these were working on pitches from a number of locations and plugged bunker shots. The greens, as you'd might expect, are fast and we saw a lot of players working on pitches that were from the rough off the green and hit to various 'spots' all over the place.

Sergio can still bomb the ball.

I was impressed with the ball striking of Chris DeForest. Good Lord, he hit the ball a MILE on a number of holes.
 
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Jim Kobylinski

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i find it funny people forget about the phrase, thin to win :D.

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Also generally, the higher the ball speed a player produces the louder the impact sound.
 
dschultz6072

dschultz6072

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This is just a hunch, but I think it's a good one. The sound they make is because they are producing at the least about 15-20 more mph of clubhead speed than the average Joe. But...one of the pros I like to talk to (who coincidentally has a low 120s clubhead speed) tells me it's him compressing the ball. Hitting down on it. I know he's a feel player and a PGA apprentice, but this is his feeling. BTW, he's got a SICK looking trajectory for his stock shot. It's like he grew up playing in Texas winds and figured out how to get the ball to just bore right through it.
 
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aaron_lohan

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Compression certainly is one of the reasons why the sound is different for tour players, but compression doesn't automatically mean hitting down on the ball.
 
dschultz6072

dschultz6072

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aaron_lohan said:
Compression certainly is one of the reasons why the sound is different for tour players, but compression doesn't automatically mean hitting down on the ball.
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This is why I said it's his feeling :) It's crazy because he hits down on his driver about 2 degrees and still nuts all over it and sends it 300 yards stock. 7.75 degree Titleist 910D2.
 
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Jim Kobylinski

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The more you hit down, generally, the bigger the divot. The combination of the clubhead hitting the ball with a high mph and also take a decent size divot, the two COMBINED make a very unique solid. We could shallow him out and hit less down and he'd still compress the ball just as much.
 
birdie_man

birdie_man

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I thought a lot of em hit it low too.

And looked strangely more rhythmic in person. A Scott's swing in particular struck me as that. Usually don't think of aesthetic beauty so much, and not w Scott's swing either, but it did look somehow "prettier" in person.

Maybe during the practice rounds they go at it easier as well, btw.
 
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gaspasser1

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I went back for tuesday's practice round and followed a foursome made of Phil, Dustin J, Mahan, and Overton. I think Phil and DJ were playing a money game because they were marking putts and grinding over four footers. Phil even did a regulation drop after he hit his approach on 18 into the water. I saw him hit that driving iron only once off the tee.

I am still in awe of the trajectory. Was watching Charlie Hoffman hit some on the range and I kept thinking his ball would be short of the target. But it would climb on a flat trajectory and then drop out of the sky next to the pin. I imagine if you could see the ball flight from the sideview it would look like 90% gradual ascent with a quick drop off. He was swinging to a pin about 160 yds away. Really cool.

A lot of these guys, especially the new young guns, are thin and lanky. I think I only saw about 3 chubby guys all day. Kaymer stood out as kinda small and skinny. I wonder if there's a built-in advantage with this body type. Fast twitch muscle or greater flexibility...??

Still amazed at the rhythm and tempo that seemed so common. Nothing is rushed and the swings don't look fast.

So with all this fresh in my mind's eye, I went to the range last night after work and tried to mimic their tempo. tried to hit the ball with my pivot, open hips, and left shoulder moving up and back. I hit some crisp ones but I can really appreciate what sets a world class ball striker apart from the rest of us schlubs.
 
dschultz6072

dschultz6072

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Watching someone hit a 3 iron as high or higher than you can hit your 7 or 8 iron is pretty neat, too. You watch it just dart out and make an ascent right before their target and it just looks like it hits a wall and drops like a feather.
 
L

LENNON

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I thought Kaymer had broad shoulders and big forearms. He looked quite tall to me and not that skinny at the Open last year.
 
birdie_man

birdie_man

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Only event I ever went to was PGA Champioinship at Whistling Straits. It was really windy though. (terrible weather in August, even for WI) Maybe that was it?? Anyway, I remember thinking many of em were probably too low, at least under normal circumstances.

Also doing better since taking the lean out Jim.
 
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