trackman/new ball flight understanding impact on your game.

[golfdad]

hello folks, survived couple days in maryland (whiskey creek) walking my younger kid in a junior tournament. seems that only kids play in the 30s and over 100s like soldiers while everybody else whines boy, was it cold!

anyway, this site, thanks to brian's leadership and many others' contributions, has been big on trackman, the theories, the data, the understanding, the attempts to the understanding (like me, haha). while i am drilling holes through my thick skull, i wonder if people can share what they have done differently with this new paradigm of info and wisdom.

how exactly are you practicing differently? where are you,,,still trying to get comfortable, or in the midth of it, or already cruising with the new approach?

have you seen a change in your game, say, technical stability wise, score wise?

and more important of all, since most people do not have access to trackman on a daily basis, or every time during practice, how do you manage your time/practice with trackman and without trackman?

 

[finncox]

Personally, I find it hard to implement minute changes from shot to shot without the watchful eye of someone like Brian. However, in a lesson w/ Brian, and with Trackman actually spitting out numbers to you, it's really incredible how much you understand the causes of each shot/ball flight.

That being said, when you're on your own, I think it's easy to interpret an open clubface, inside-out path, for example, as an OTT fade. Since we're only talking about a few degrees one way or the other, it's difficult to know exactly what's happening.

But, Brian's Trackman info and vids have really given me the confidence to try something that really feels extreme, all the while knowing what's going to happen, even though it feels foreign.

 

[cwdlaw223]

I've seen a massive increase in my golfing confidence after using Trackman and understanding the new ball flight laws. Also, I fought a hook for 25+ years (I'm a 5 handicap) and nobody could tell me why except for Brian this year. (Brian's Never Hook Again video was earth shattering for me!!!) The biggest change to my game is that I swing LEFT to stop the hooks. I used to be paralyzed by the hooks and would aim way right (>50 yards). Now I don't aim that far right and can stop the hooks by swinging left. Also, I know how to fade the ball on a semi consistent basis which I couldn't do before Trackman and the new ball flight laws. (I still don't like to fade the ball).

Why would anyone want to continue playing this game with bad cause/effect information (which is what existed prior to Trackman/New Ball Flight Laws)????? Knowing the cause of the problem is the first step to solving the problem. Trackman shows the cause and if you don't have a Trackman, look at your ball flight and analyze the ball flight under the new ball flight laws.

Trackman doesn't guarantee you'll become a pro, however, at an elite level you need this information to compete. There is more to the game then just hitting good shots and pros "went low" long before Trackman.

I bet that >98% of most teaching pros don't know that a 7 iron hit with an attack angle of 5* and clubface square to the target line will cause the ball to start on the target line and go left. The typical answer is that the shot goes straight (which is incorrect). Most pros don't know the cause/effect of a shot or how one tilts the axis of a golf ball.

 

[ekennedy]

Brian's insight and Trackman's info has been invaluable to me, as both a teacher and a player. I have a better, clearer picture of what caused the ball to fly AFTER the fact. To put this information into play and be able to rely on a certain ball flight BEFORE the fact will take time. There is no substitute for practice.

Many of the people that post on this site have great theories on how to make the ball do whatever is required and the D Plane is irrefutable proof as to why every ball flies the way it does. But without consistent solid contact which only comes from practice, knowledge alone is not going to make anyone the next Moe Norman or Ben Hogan.

Anyone can swing left with an open face or swing right with a closed face and work the ball around a course and do reasonably well. What I like best about listening to Brian's teaching is that hitting the ball straight is the ultimate goal and the reason why teacher's don't attempt it (and claim its virtually impossible) is that they don't possess the knowledge or wherewithal to make it happen.

IMHO, if we all want to get better at the game (and understand why) zeroing out your swing is the only way to make it happen, with or without Trackman.

 

[softconsult]

Candidly. Not much, but I am not suffering from a consistent hook or slice.


It's not that I'm not interested. I am. I believe that if I had regular access to
Trackman and an instructor, I could really improve my swing. Without access,
my opinion is you are guessing.

My lesson with Brian was pre-trackman. He helped me, but we didn't discuss D-Plane stuff.
Mike Jacobs has Flightscope. We worked on flattening my VSP. Turned out the I was simply
aiming too far left with too narrow a stance. We changed the outside in path back to more
neutral. Has it stuck? Somewhat, but old habits are hard to break.

During my Trackman Driver fitting, not a lesson, the fitter was calling out the numbers. I was
changing my swing to achieve a less negative angle of attack. Feedback. I can picture working
on my swing with that feedback. Pipedream in my locality. Maybe someone will surprise me.

It's not going to be the ranges. They are struggling. It's not going to be the upscale clubs.
They are struggling. One of our very high cotton clubs just went through a re-organization and
name change. Another very old and well regarded club, Donald Ross design, is being auctioned
off on December 1 on the courthouse steps. Tough times.

 

[ZAP]

It has given me enough information to know how a small change can make a huge difference. I also approach trouble shots from a ball flight perspective now versus simply trying to "feel" the shot which gave me mixed results.

I want to find somewhere to rent some trackman time this winter.

 

[Richie3Jack]

Understanding things clearly and correctly is a huge relief over not understanding things clearly and correctly. I know that the ball flight can lie to a golfer and that's why Trackman is a key tool. But generally a trend develops in ball flight, particularly with your poor shots and now it's easier for me to understand what is going on at impact.

Trackman in itself is much like a detective taking evidence to a forensics lab and getting back the hard data. Trackman in itself won't solve your problems, but it starts you with getting the accurate 'forensics' of your impact and then you or your teacher can start to work on what is going on biomechanically to cause those impact conditions.

I also understand the circle better now and understand the possible pitfalls of doing something like hitting up with the driver (you need to swing out to the right to square up the path) vs. the pitfalls of hitting down with a club.

If anything, understanding D-Plane has made the game more *FUN* because it's cleared up a lot of the mystery in hitting the ball.






3JACK

 

[duckjr78]

It has given me enough information to know how a small change can make a huge difference. I also approach trouble shots from a ball flight perspective now versus simply trying to "feel" the shot which gave me mixed results.

I want to find somewhere to rent some trackman time this winter.

I agree, trouble shots are now much better, thanks to an understanding (work in progress) of the D-plane.

Of course, I can't figure out how to hit a simple little stock 8 iron from the center of the fairway to the center of the green, but that's why I need to go see Brian and get on the Trackman.

 

[ScottRob]

Knowing is a salve to tortured mind!

What is helpful to me is that I can execute (resonably well) a myriad of shot shapes that was unavailable to me before, including a straight ball. If I am leaking oil can set up for a push (easy for me to match the face with an underplane path!) I am having a lot of fun hitting lower flighted controlled "pulls" into the wind etc. I have a far better idea of how to aim. Execution is still...well execution, but if i botch a shot or two I am not suddenly gripped by the sickening fear of being "lost." That uncertainty toys with your confidence and can turn the game into a mind numbing torment That was most observable after my lowest round EVER! I did not know what had "worked" on that particular day...it was hell! That was 15 years ago, and I know have a better idea. In that instance I "failed" to square my clubface to the target and must have had it slightly open to the target line. With my normal into out path I hit beautiful little push-draws all day long and knocked the pins down. Very soon after I was back to hitting quack hooks every few holes!

 

[golfdad]

very interesting and helpful insights and experiences.

i wonder when you guys get good at it, right after the impact, if you can "guess" your numbers before looking at the trackman screen. or, before looking out for the ball flight, can you have a good sense on the path and face...may be an interesting exercise, to eventually self diagnose.