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RyanG’s Road to a 5

Fun one tonight. Decided to throw caution into the wind and hit driver more, and just trust the wrist set. Pummeled a few with the ZX5/ProForce combo, and put some really aggressive swings on the UW with positive results. Feeling good about the way things are trending to end the year, I have another 4 rounds booked for this week, and I think after that I’ll be calling it a season.
Tees: Blue
Green lights: 6
GIR: 2
Putts: 13
Score: 40 (+4)
 
Snuck out of work a bit early for 9 yesterday, and had a pretty solid feeling round with some great people. It was calm all day, and as soon as I got to #2, it was like the wind started howling 🙄. I had the Z-forged in the bag, and was struggling a bit with club selection as I’m pretty sure they are a bit shorter than the SMS, and it’s probably ridiculous for me to ever play blades, but 🤷. My game occasionally shows that Jekyll and Hyde flash again, especially when you follow a double up with hitting 2 straight utilities off the tee, then the deck for a look at eagle. One penalty off the tee on a real ugly pull swing on #4, but other than that some pretty solid results in the conditions. Playing everyday this weekend with the holiday, and excited to have the opportunity to do so.
Tees: Blue
Green lights: 4
GIR: 3
Putts: 15
Score: 42 (+6)
Wasn’t expecting an adjustment, but this one happened to knock off a higher differential and combine with another low 9, taking me to 9.7.
 
Fun one yesterday. Got partnered up on the tee sheet with a pair of older ladies who were great to play with, one of them insisted on using a chrome/silver ball which was nearly impossible to find in the leaves so it made for an interesting afternoon 😂. One of those days where just about everything was firing except the putter, I had 3x 3-putts on the day on the plinko boards, and burned the edge or lipped out just about everywhere. Looking forward to getting back out there today, the course is not really in prime condition but I feel like I’m playing really well right now.
Tees: Blue
Green lights: 11
GIR: 9
Putts: Lots 😢
Score: 42/41
 
Great work, it takes dedication to drop your cap.
 
Round #49 was one for the memory books. Hit some great tee shots with the U505/7W/TSR2, and my iron and wedge play was really solid. I’ve gotten into the habit of not checking the scorecard at the turn, just flipping it over in my yardage book and carrying on. Had a couple of real promising holes on the back, and really tried to just take things one swing at a time. Finished up #18 with a big 30’ birdie putt, which ended up finishing me at -1 for the back 9, and a new PB.
Tees: Blue
Green Lights: 12
GIR: 8
Putts: 28
Score: 40/35 (+3)
This one knocked a chunk off, and I now sit at 9.0.
 
Wrapped up the season with another 18 at home today. Didn’t feel like I hit the ball very well, but the short game kind of kept things from getting out of hand. Bit of a tough go on the greens today, with another handful of burned edges and lip-outs, which was a little frustrating in the moment but in hindsight seems silly as I ended up scoring pretty decently. All in all I’m happy with the way things ended, I hit a passable tee shot on #18, and a great wedge in allowed me to finish strong with 3 straight pars.
Tees: Blue
Green lights: 10
GIR: 8
Putts: 35
Score: 44/40
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I’ve had a couple of days to reflect on this season, and wanted to recap the goals I set for this season.
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1. ✅ rounds played worked out to be 50+ with what we played in Texas.
2. He loved operation 36, and we’ll be back for next year. It was pretty special for me as a dad to see him out there doing his best and encouraging the other kids.
3. I think this one was a success, I played quite a lot as a solo this year and for the most part had some opportunities to play and converse with some awesome people. I think my view of the game is a lot different this season, and I’m a bit more patient.
4. I did my best on this one. I’m still pretty new to reviewing clubs, and hopefully the feedback I provided on the SMS Pro irons and the SMS wedges was informative and entertaining.
5. Off-season swing work paid off, and there’s holes on my home course now that driver is not the play on.
6. This one is kind of a wash, as my views on hitting fairways has changed a bit. I don’t necessarily think this is something I need to chase a ton right now, as being off the fairway into the rough wasn’t crazy penal for me this season, but that may change.
7. As far as the limited data set I collected before giving up on the X5 goes, this is a success, as I dropped to 12%. Putting will be a big focus of my off-season work with the big goofy spaceship mallet.
8. Stars didn’t align for this one unfortunately, my work schedule over the summer was kind of crazy.
9. Success to a point. I didn’t have a ton of time to take video/edit but this is something I’ll potentially exploring more in the future. Shoutout to @That post for the suggestion about filming to begin with, as I think I got some really helpful feedback from it on my swing work 🙏
 
Goals part 2:
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- first one is really important to me, as being a part of the Quest Cup was huge for me in this journey. I’m super excited that this is returning for another year, and that more THPers will get a chance to experience some Edel equipment and an unreal couple of days.
- I knew that this was going to happen at some point this year, I just didn’t think it was going to happen multiple times.
- didn’t have an even par 9 holes on the bingo card for this season, and definitely not -1.
- I’m pretty stoked on the progress as far as the handicap goes, but it doesn’t feel like I’m that far removed from the guy who started this thread. I’m still prepping a few things to plan out the off-season work and start grinding away towards the next goal.

For now, I have a club tune-up booked for next weekend and there could be a few changes coming there, and will probably book some time with Rob to take a look at where my swing is at.
 
Temps are dropping here, it’s officially hoodie season in the garage. Back at it today focused on staying down through the ball and a strong, balanced finish.

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Got over to my local preferred fitting shop for a club tune-up this morning.
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Not a ton of changes to report, but a potential big one as it pertains to the goal for next season and how I hope to get there. We took a look at my bag, and made some slight tweaks, including:
- regripping the SMS Pros and a loft/lie adjustment (2° flat, 1° weak)
- wedge fitting (won’t be ordering anything new until January)
- flattening the lie angle on my FW’s
- driving iron loft/lie check (no adjustment needed - “Don’t change a thing!”
- tentatively scheduled an iron fitting for January when a few new things hit the market
- biggest change was adding head weight to the TSR2, and a shaft change. We compared the Ventus Blue, Tensei Blue, and the HZRDUS Black, before trying the Graphite Design AD-DI and finding some magic. Loved this combo, and having confidence in the driver slot could be huge for me next season.
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Looking forward to getting back in in a few months and seeing if there are more changes for 2024, I hit a few interesting things today that might prove to be a good combo for me.
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Not really working on much here to be honest. Just kind of missing being out there playing, and hearing that ball sizzle through the air. Ponder on irons is really heavy for some reason.

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You killed it this year dude!
 
I haven't updated with a lesson in a minute, but I snuck over to Rob's place on Tuesday night to get some eyes on the swing and see where he thought things were at. It was nice catching up with him and discussing how the season went and where my struggles were. I warmed up for a few minutes and hit a few balls, and we began:

Lesson 16 - New Feels/"I'm not fixing that"

I've been working pretty hard over the past few months really trying to nail down some swing feels, and it showed up. Saw some really powerful ball flights, and he was really complimentary on the consistency and some of the things he had highlighted from past lessons as things to watch to make sure I don't backslide into bad habits (big turn, strong finish, weight shift). I mentioned to him that at my recent tune-up, my fitter had mentioned that I was pretty low-spin with irons and wedges, and Rob had some interesting feedback about that. He said some of my issues with spin is due to the fact that we have changed up my path significantly (much more inside to out now), and that we could "spend the time neutralizing your path, or you could keep hitting that big high draw and we'll get your short game so good it doesn't matter if you're not spinning the ball enough". He had me hit a few different irons that he had in the bay for fitting (from GI right to MB), and the most my spin went up was 500 or so RPM. Long story short, no changes are coming to the swing, and he suggested not changing irons either if I was comfortable playing what's in the bag ("Your hitting the ball high, with a steep descent - it's going to stop").

We did some short game work, and changed up a couple of things there - trying to get a more DTL feel, and opening the face what feels like a million degrees open, but much less digging with the leading edge, and a lot more spin. He encouraged me to practice this feel and get used to rotating through the ball (something I tend to forget with the short game). We may do another lesson in a few weeks, and play a few holes on the sim so he can get a feel for where my game is at in terms of planning/strategy, but encouraged a new plan of attack going into next season. He told me to start getting really comfortable hitting driver now that we have a stock (ish) shot shape, and try to get as close to the green as possible, and then put the wedges to work. I've got some practicing to do.
 
Some more cold garage grinding, just focusing on a big turn and keeping that downswing inside. I’ve been training for a fitness goal I’ve got coming up next month and my back has been on fire for most of last week so I’ve tempered the pitch count a little bit. Excited for the new shaft to arrive for the TSR 😍.

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🔥
congrats on that under par 9!
Amazing job this season
 
Gonna be a good 2024 for ya. I can feel it!
 
ryang13 said:
Right back at you my man. Looking forward to seeing what you have planned for the winter work 👊.
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Thanks. Coach has started a bulk phase over winter. I should be able to play for the most part through the winter, but garage is filling up from prepping for this build that is starting in February, so I'll be freezing my tail off at the range working drills for the most part. Speed training will continue. I probably won't play a ton over winter just because I want to push through some things, but don't want to lose the course management progress I've made.
 
ttucliffhanger said:
Thanks. Coach has started a bulk phase over winter. I should be able to play for the most part through the winter, but garage is filling up from prepping for this build that is starting in February, so I'll be freezing my tail off at the range working drills for the most part. Speed training will continue. I probably won't play a ton over winter just because I want to push through some things, but don't want to lose the course management progress I've made.
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I'll be following alone with this part for sure. I'm still very intrigued by this but still kind of hesitant to jump in for whatever reason.
 
Swing is looking good!
 
ryang13 said:
I'll be following alone with this part for sure. I'm still very intrigued by this but still kind of hesitant to jump in for whatever reason.
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Which part are you hesitant about? The speed training or the coaching?
 
ttucliffhanger said:
Which part are you hesitant about? The speed training or the coaching?
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Speed training. Don't necessarily want to get out of sorts with timing/technique chasing some more distance if that makes sense.
 
ryang13 said:
Speed training. Don't necessarily want to get out of sorts with timing/technique chasing some more distance if that makes sense.
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Gotcha. I'm not really chasing distance per say if that make sense. I just know if I hit it farther, it gives me shorter clubs into greens, which means dispersion will be better (for me that is).
 
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