Getting off the struggle bus...

I'm going to admit it, even though I was still having fun with the stack, I was a little irked that over the last few sessions my performance had dropped off somewhat. However, I knew I wasn't alone in this battle as others had seen similar results over the course of their programs too.

Another day, another session then and to be fair it's probably the most amped I've been in a number of sessions heading into this latest one, with it also being the last in this phase of the foundation program before moving onto a different set type.

I was faced with 8 reps at 205g, 8 reps at 135g and 8 reps at 105g all with full intent (your on course max swing), followed by 4 reps at 195g with max intent (swinging your absolute maximum swing).

I started out with a new set record on the 205g at 88mph, then followed that up with a PB of 97mph on the 135g (x3) which also led to a new set record of 95mph. Set 3 saw me hit 100 twice for a PB and nudged the needle on the set record to 99mph too. Then to top things off I hit 94mph with the 195g weight and had a set record at 92mph.

Overall I gained 1mph again which now pushes me out to 13mph overall and a potential distance gain of 38 yards.

As you'll see from the opening image, my handicap has also dropped further, taking me to a flat 13 handicap with the introduction of another card of 81 that toppled an 84.

And, whilst we're talking about 84's I'd be remiss not to note the 84 I also carded after this stack session. Now, I know what you're thinking, well that's not a great score compared with what you've been carding of late and you'd be right. However, take a closer look, below and you'll note that I had two snowmen on that card due to losing a ball off each tee and scrambling badly on those holes as a I recovered.

Take those out of the equation and in the context of the rest of the round and you'll see how good a card it could have been. Also, the one on 16 is galling as it wasn't that bad a tee shot, it looked fine off the tee but just leaked into the deep rough and then disappeared. Both my playing partners helped to look for it but it was nowhere to be found.

Let's keep it up!

Comments

Hanging in there...

Not quite up there with the big ole 97mph that I recorded a few sessions ago but I'm still hanging on in there with the 195g with a 95mph average which equates to 290 yard distance potential. However, once again, perhaps it's not all about that driver equivalent number, rather it's about improving on the other weights too, which is precisely what I did in session 15. There was also a couple of other things to consider for this session too, as I started the day with a migraine, which is never good and when I got to the course, the bay I use was sopping wet, as we've had a lot of rain over the last few days. Anyway, I had my grippier wet weather shoes on so I tried to act like it wasn't going to bother me. Over to the records for the session and the first came with the 65g with the step movement and it was a huge gain on the previous best, which I set in session 12, with a 7mph improvement from 101mph to 107mph. The average has also jumped significantly, with a set ...

A steady ship

Third session in the full speed spectrum program and the last portion of this phase (which I hadn't realised was so short), meaning we'll be faced with a new challenge in the next session, which we'll get to shortly. I was enjoying the full, full, max, max scenario but, it's clear to see that whilst I've maintained well over those last three sessions I haven't really pushed on either. I've averaged 90mph on the 195g weight in all three sessions which as I've noted before is a good few mph quicker than my full (on course) swing. The good thing, whilst not gaining any ground, is that I feel as if I I'd be able to maintain that swing consistency throughout a round, rather than maybe having peaks and troughs throughout. As mentioned already, the next session see's me moving into a new phase and what appears to be a very interesting one (lower right, above). As not only is it a five set routine, the first three sets have plenty of reps at weight on...

Progress Check

I'm 6 or so weeks into speed training with the Stack System and as we know I have made gains with driver, both in the stack sessions and out on the course. But, it was time to validate that with some data and so I performed the progress check, which is the same program as the original baseline. I've put those two sessions side-by-side in the images above and we can see the results speak for themselves across the board - 5mph quicker with driver, 9mph quicker with the 195kg, 5mph up on the 280kg, 4mph up on the 145g, 6mph on the 95g, 2mph on the trail arm and 5mph on the lead arm. These are all averages set with full swings, which whilst you all know I've gained much more (15mph) those swings were based on max intent, so are not really a far comparison, they're just there as a means to help increase my ceiling. As we can see 5mph out on course has the potential to increase distance by 29 yards, which is not only a healthy gain, it's something I think I'm actual...

Somers Golf

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