Golf Notes

Anything related to understanding golf (swing or otherwise)

Guiding Principals

1. The setup is always in service of the impact position

The Tree

Yardages

┌─────────────┬──────────────┬─────────────┬──────────────┐
│ Avg_Yardage ┆ Club         ┆ Wrist_Hinge ┆ Swing_Degree │
│ ---         ┆ ---          ┆ ---         ┆ ---          │
╞═════════════╪══════════════╪═════════════╪══════════════╡
│ 12.0        ┆ 60 deg Wedge ┆ No Hinge    ┆ 30           │
├╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌┼╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌┼╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌┼╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌┤
│ 16.0        ┆ 60 deg Wedge ┆ No Hinge    ┆ 45           │
├╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌┼╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌┼╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌┼╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌┤
│ 18.0        ┆ 52 deg Wedge ┆ No Hinge    ┆ 30           │
├╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌┼╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌┼╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌┼╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌┤
│ 25.0        ┆ 52 deg Wedge ┆ No Hinge    ┆ 45           │
├╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌┼╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌┼╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌┼╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌┤
│ 42.0        ┆ 60 deg Wedge ┆ Hinge       ┆ 45           │
├╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌┼╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌┼╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌┼╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌┤
│ 56.0        ┆ 60 deg Wedge ┆ Hinge       ┆ 90           │
├╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌┼╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌┼╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌┼╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌┤
│ 63.0        ┆ 52 deg Wedge ┆ Hinge       ┆ 45           │
├╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌┼╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌┼╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌┼╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌┤
│ 84.0        ┆ P Wedge      ┆ Hinge       ┆ 45           │
├╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌┼╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌┼╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌┼╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌┤
│ 89.0        ┆ 52 deg Wedge ┆ Hinge       ┆ 90           │
├╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌┼╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌┼╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌┼╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌┤
│ 122.0       ┆ P Wedge      ┆ Hinge       ┆ 90           │
└─────────────┴──────────────┴─────────────┴──────────────┘

Grip Thoughts

• quadrant 1: Non 100%, "control the wrist" shots (e.g. pitch shots)
• quadrant 3: 100%, "free the wrist" shots

Swing Thoughts

"Down the Line" Club Plane Differences:

• The angle between your forearm and the shaft of the club should become smaller as you move from shorter clubs to longer clubs; adjust your grip accordingly.
• The angle between the swing plane and your torso plane should vary as you move from shorter clubs to longer clubs.
• The angle between the swing plane and your torso can feel like < 90 degrees for longer clubs (e.g. 5 iron and longer).
• If you are consistently hitting it fat with longer clubs, it could just be that you need to move the bar further away from you and flatten the swing plane.

Birds Eye View - Swing Plane

Different Ball Position == Different Shot Shapes

• "Bend it a lot in order to learn out to bend it a little"
  • Consider the red part of the swing plane the "No Fly" zone; the spot in the swing where you shouldn't be positioning the ball. As you get better, this will/can become smaller (to produce smaller fades/draws) but it is best to start out with a large margin of safety.

Vertical Swing Plane == Smaller Misses

• The ball travels in 3D space, yet most big misses are in the horizontal plane. A more vertical swing plane is
  geometrically less likely to have large misses.

$$ \text{Let } \thetai \text{ represent the angle between the forward ball position (red) and the back ball position (green):} \ \ \theta{0} > \theta{1} > \theta{2} > \theta_{3} $$

Small Thoughts

• (2022-07-20): Pitch Shots
  • On uphill lies, use your hands more and be stronger with it.
• (2022-07-07): Tee Shots
  • Use a ball with lines and use the lines on the ball as a visual cue to help define the plane on which the club and your shoulders should rotate (flatter).