The Sand Trap » Swing Check

Frank Razzaia Analysis

T.M. O'Connell — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 14:00:00 +0000

Frank Razzaia is a 4.0 index golfer hoping to build a more reliable, tournament ready swing. At normal speed, I am a big fan of Frank's swing. However, watch his swing frame by frame and you will notice he lacks one of the most important attributes in golf: lag.

Read on to see Frank's swing and the fixes I've outlined for him.
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Joe French Analysis

T.M. O'Connell — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 15:00:00 +0000

Joe French is what I would consider your slightly above average player. He consistently shoots in the mid-80s. He hits the ball an average to above-average distance. He even has days where he can hit as many as nine fairways and 13 greens. However, he has reached the point where it is time to take the next step. It is time for Joe to start consistently shooting in the 70s. With a few changes, I think we can get him there.

You could probably freeze frame at any point in Joe's swing and identify a problem. Even at full speed you could say that he takes the club back too far inside, creates no pivot, crosses at the top, casts during his down swing, comes inside, and then nearly jumps off the ground at impact. Ultimately, making a check list of faults is not going to help Joe. Our job is to identify which problem must be addressed next in order for him to achieve his goals.

Read on to see Joe's swing and the fixes I've outlined for him.
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Dave Koster Analysis

T.M. O'Connell — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 12:00:00 +0000

Dave Koster is very different than many of the players we analyzed in previous articles. Dave hits the ball 290 yards with a slight draw. He plays scratch golf. He has won his club championship. Simply stated, Dave Koster is not a beginner. The catch is that like all of us - including Tiger - as he can definitely improve.

Identifying problems in Dave's swing is not very hard. However, given the fact that several of his problems are clearly offsetting each other, our challenge will be to identify what problem is holding him back from going even lower.

Read on to see Dave's swing and the fixes I've outlined for him.(...)
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Patrick Conley Analysis

T.M. O'Connell — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 13:00:00 +0000

Patrick Conley has has been playing golf since he was 12 years old and has now reached a point where he is asking for help. He typically scores in the mid to high 90s but he is absolutely mortified of his driver. On his best shots, his drives will go 280 yards; on his worst, they will slice off the planet and go only 230 yards. His goal, like many golfers, is to improve.

For a golfer that shoots in the mid-90s your first thought might be that he has a pretty darn good swing. Unfortunately, in slow motion, you notice some enormous flaws that are truly holding Patrick back.

Read on to see Patrick's swing and the fixes I've outlined for him.
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David Baker Analysis

T.M. O'Connell — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 12:00:00 +0000

David Baker has been playing golf for nearly nine years but golf was never his primary sport. David's first love was baseball, at which he excelled enough to play in college. Now, for the first time, he is devoting himself to golf setting goals of playing competitively in tournaments and eventually winning his club championships. It will take a lot of hard work but I think we can send him in the right direction.

For an eight handicap, David has built himself a swing that I would describe as overcomplicated. Lots of players can survive with a swing like this but if you are truly looking to lower your handicap quickly, you need to give yourself a solid set up first.

Read on to see David's swing and the fixes I've outlined for him.
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Simon Johansson Analysis

T.M. O'Connell — Sat, 23 May 2009 12:00:00 +0000

Simon Johansson has been playing off an on for 20 years and has only recently rediscovered his passion for the game. Now, he practices for close to 20 hours a week hoping that he can one day:

become a scratch golfer.
win at least local tournaments.
turn pro.

Considering his ambitious goals I certainly have my work cut out for me.

I would describe Simon's swing as being very deliberate. He has a nice setup and hits a lot of good positions but his swing plane definitely leaves some room for improvement.

Read on to see Simon's swing and the fixes I've outlined for him.
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Eddy Butt Analysis

T.M. O'Connell — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 13:00:00 +0000

Eddy Butt has been playing for three years but already has made great strides to become a great player. After working on his short game and putting as well as increasing his driving average to around 280 yards, he has now turned his attention to becoming a more consistent player. Ultimately, he is hoping that all his hard work will be rewarded by winning his club championship.

While I do believe that Eddy's problems are fixable, I have identified three major swing plane problems that may all be attributable to one root cause.

Read on to see Eddy's swing and the fixes I've outlined for him.
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George Promenschenkel Analysis

T.M. O'Connell — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 12:00:00 +0000

George Promenschenkel is about a nine-handicap golfer, but his scorecard can include anywhere from birdies to snowmen. We need to change that - at least the snowmen part. His goal is to become a five handicap and based on his swing, I think he is a lot closer than he realizes.

After analyzing his swing I have identified two problems - one which we have seen before and one that we haven't - which must be dealt with simultaneously.

Read on to see George's swing and the fixes I've outlined for him.

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Luis Gonzalez Swing Analysis

T.M. O'Connell — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 12:00:00 +0000

Luis Gonzalez is a 12 handicap looking to drop his score into the low 80s by the beginning of this summer. To do this he is hoping that we can help him with two main problems: consistency and power.

After analyzing his swing I have identified two solutions - one relatively quick and easy and the other difficult and frustrating - that should provide him with an accurate jolt of power.

Read on to see Luis' swing and the fixes I've outlined for him.
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Dan Crotty Swing Analysis

T.M. O'Connell — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 13:00:00 +0000

Dan Crotty is an 18 handicapper who took up the game at the age of about 45. Now approaching 60, Dan - a lefty - fights either pulling the ball to the right or hitting large slices that don't go very far with the driver.

Having spent a lifetime doing a fair amount of manual labor, Dan's flexibility isn't always quite what it could be - stiff knees, hips, and a back impair the timing of his swing.

Dan says he works on his ball position as well as not collapsing his lead (right) arm at impact.
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