My Swing (TN94z)

[iacas]

Originally Posted by TN94z

Good point.  That is usually my process.  I start slow while making sure I "pass through those checkpoints."  Then I associate that with whatever feeling it takes to get me there in my full swing.

Oh, I think I know that you knew that. I was just posting my comments so other people reading didn't: a) think we teach "positions" in the swing, or b) try to learn to hit "positions."

Positions are important, but they're effects of a good motion, not something we should seek to "cause" per se.

Originally Posted by TN94z

Basically same drill.  I can see my impact bag coming in handy here as well.

I see SOOO many good things coming out of this Evolvr decision I made!

A heavy pillow works well too. Glad to hear, though not surprised about, the second part! ;-)

Originally Posted by The_Pharaoh

Speaking of which, what I dislike about the look of S&T; is the weight forward aspect as it looks suspiciously like a reverse pivot. The rest I'm fine with.

Really? :-P You should start a thread on that, perhaps... ;-) That strikes me as odd. It's a centered shoulder turn. But I don't want to threadjack, so I'll stop.

[The_Pharaoh]

Originally Posted by iacas

Really? :-P You should start a thread on that, perhaps... ;-) That strikes me as odd. It's a centered shoulder turn. But I don't want to threadjack, so I'll stop.

No, no!! I want this discussion to end here. All I'm saying is the weight forward part of S&T;, which I am 100% in favour of, is the part I find hard on the eye.

[TN94z]

Well, I went to the range today and worked on some drills.  Hands in and ascending quicker is going to take me a little bit to get used to.  I do have a question though.  I made a video once I got home and I wanted to know if the movements in this video are correct and if these are the feelings I am trying to feel:

I played 9 holes after my range session. It didn't go that well. I ended up with a 42 and the round wasn't that good at all.  I had some good shots here and there.  I did birdie the 9th hole though.  It was a par 5 and a group waved me through.  I ended up sticking my SW about 3 feet after a great tee shot and a 6i layup. One thing I did notice on one of the par 3's was my divot:

I took the picture from the side but it loaded like this.  The hole is obviously at the bottom.  I was happy about this.  That divot started well after the ball.

[The_Pharaoh]

Great work on the hands in and hinging! Can you do it at speed?! ;-) Careful with the right leg straightening too much as it looks as if you are locking it. Perhaps it's because you are overturning as you observe the movement of your hands and arms.

Congrats on mastering the number one fundamental of S&T; - hitting the ground after the ball! :-) Don't worry about your scores for now, keep working on getting in the right positions. Do that and the scores will come.

Love your quote at the bottom of your posts, btw.

[TN94z]

Originally Posted by The_Pharaoh

Great work on the hands in and hinging! Can you do it at speed?! ;-) Careful with the right leg straightening too much as it looks as if you are locking it. Perhaps it's because you are overturning as you observe the movement of your hands and arms.

Congrats on mastering the number one fundamental of S&T; - hitting the ground after the ball! :-) Don't worry about your scores for now, keep working on getting in the right positions. Do that and the scores will come.

Love your quote at the bottom of your posts, btw.

Well, my full speed swing still needs work to get it right. That's why I made this video in slow mo.  I wanted to make sure that I am thinking correctly before I work on the wrong things too much. The right leg may have been close there (it could be that my pants give that illusion as well). It was probably because I was turning my head around as I looked at my hands....like you said. I also exaggerate these movements (even the straight leg) because at full speed, it never gets that far.  I wasn't too focused on anything other than hands inside, wrist cock, and right hand hinge.

Yeah, I wasn't worried about my score really.  It sucked because I am used to being in the 70's, but I haven't been there in the past year....since I started messing with my swing.

I also have another question about flipping.  I understand that when you flip at impact, it turns the clubhead very quickly.  My question is, would this cause the ball to be pulled to the left or would it put side spin on the ball causing it to cut?  This would be assuming an inside out swing path coming into the flip.

[mvmac]

I understand that when you flip at impact, it turns the clubhead very quickly.  My question is, would this cause the ball to be pulled to the left or would it put side spin on the ball causing it to cut?  This would be assuming an inside out swing path coming into the flip.

Can cause both, depends on the face/path relationship. Straight pull is when the face and path match up, pull cut is lets say face 2* left and path 4-5* left. The more that handle backs up the more left the path gets, good visual here [VIDEO]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MRCgj_62lY[/VIDEO]

[iacas]

Originally Posted by TN94z

Well, I went to the range today and worked on some drills.  Hands in and ascending quicker is going to take me a little bit to get used to.  I do have a question though.  I made a video once I got home and I wanted to know if the movements in this video are correct and if these are the feelings I am trying to feel:

It's close. You'll want to feel it more as one move, not the two moves you have now. Hands in, clubhead ascending faster.

The best thing you can do is perhaps put a piece of masking tape on a mirror and practice in front of it. Or put two lines down.

[TN94z]

Originally Posted by iacas

It's close. You'll want to feel it more as one move, not the two moves you have now. Hands in, clubhead ascending faster.

The best thing you can do is perhaps put a piece of masking tape on a mirror and practice in front of it. Or put two lines down.

It is one move during the actual swing.  I did it in seperate parts for clarification purposes. Okay, I was wondering how early the wrist cock/hinge should occur. That makes perfect sense about the club trying to get back on plane. I could actually feel that today but didn't really know what I was doing wrong to make that happen.  The Rickie Fowler takeaway today almost gave me the feeling that I had a small loop to the swing.  The way it felt made me think of Furyk. It felt weird for sure.  But I know that's just because it's so much different that what I was doing.

The flying wedge drill felt good!!  When I first started doing it, I was shanking them like CRAZY!!  But it slowly started coming around and I was hitting them straight.  I wasn't really taking any divots....does that mean I wasn't doing it exactly right?

Straighten my knees?  You mean just stand a bit taller? Less flexion in the knees during setup?

[iacas]

Originally Posted by TN94z

It is one move during the actual swing.  I did it in seperate parts for clarification purposes.

Just be careful. If anything exaggerate it in slow motion. I'm guessing it's not nearly as different in the "actual swing" as you think... still probably "under and up."

Originally Posted by TN94z

The Rickie Fowler takeaway today almost gave me the feeling that I had a small loop to the swing.  The way it felt made me think of Furyk. It felt weird for sure.  But I know that's just because it's so much different that what I was doing.

I wouldn't be surprised if it feels like a loop for awhile. Eventually we'll attack the right elbow which will help the shaft "lay down" more, too. That can help stop the looping feeling a bit.

Originally Posted by TN94z

The flying wedge drill felt good!!  When I first started doing it, I was shanking them like CRAZY!!  But it slowly started coming around and I was hitting them straight.  I wasn't really taking any divots....does that mean I wasn't doing it exactly right?

Straighten my knees?  You mean just stand a bit taller? Less flexion in the knees during setup?

Yeah, straighter knees. Your weight gets back into your heels a bit too much. Butt sticks out.

You probably want to take some little divots, but I don't have the video so it could have been something as simple as your ball position.

[The_Pharaoh]

Originally Posted by mvmac

Can cause both, depends on the face/path relationship. Straight pull is when the face and path match up, pull cut is lets say face 2* left and path 4-5* left. The more that handle backs up the more left the path gets, good visual here[if IE]>

[TN94z]

Wow!!  It's been a while!  I have been busy busy and golf had to be put on the back burner. I now have MOST projects at the house complete and have gotten my wife into nursing school and it seems to be settling back down.  So I am getting back to golf.  I went to the range yesterday and hit some balls for the first time in what...7 months?  And it was not surprising at all that I hit the ball like crap.  I have been hitting the gym quite a bit lately and doing more of a power lifting style routine and it has killed some of my flexibility.  But the exercises are pretty much geared toward helping my golf swing as far as power.  I do the three major lifts and blast my back and core, so all in all, it should work for golf as well.

Back to my point though.  I feel like I am starting over with my swing.  I had just started making changes using evolver when I had to quit so the changes weren't really getting to a sticking point just yet.  I tried to go from memory yesterday as best I could and I did hit some good shots but I caught myself wanting to go back to my old swing just to be able to make better contact. I refused to really let myself do it though.  I figure with that long of a layoff, it would be a great time to really work on what the guys at evolver had me doing.  So, if I can swing it again, I am going to see about getting back with those guys fairly soon and getting this back on track.

On another note, I am going to buy my step son a new set of clubs as well.  He is only 10 but has out grown his first set.  He is one of the biggest reasons I want to get back on track.  He actually has a descent future in golf (in my opinion) and I want him playing as much as possible.  So I will be ordering him a set of something this week.  I'm not sure if I want to shell out the money for the junior Ping set or just stick with the US kids.  He would be tickled to death with a Ping setup though!

Anyway, I just wanted to "re-introduce" myself as being back to the game!

[TN94z]

Well, I finally played 18 holes yesterday after not playing in what seems like forever.  Overall, I was happy.  My irons were really close.  My contact was much better on them, but I just had a straight push most of the day with my irons.  I would close the club face a bit and get the draw but wouldn't think about it on the next iron shot.  I was really happy with my irons.  My distance hasn't gone anywhere....as a matter of fact, I have gained some.  I am sure this is from more compression and hands forward in my swing. I was hitting my 9i from 145-150 with my normal swing tempo.

My woods on the other hand were completely terrible!  I had one good drive all day and that was on a hole with a tree right in the middle of the fairway and I nailed the tree. I had no clue where my driver was going to end up.  I hit push slices, pull hooks, worm burners, etc....  Very inconsistent.  And that was one of the main things that hurt my score.  My 3w was the same.

I didn't have very good distance control but that was expected....especially since I thought my distances would be shorter.

My pitching and chipping were way off.  Good contact and path, but distance was off.  I contribute this to better contact as well.

My putting was pretty descent.  Putting has never really been a problem though.

I think in my latest practice session, I was really over doing the front knee toward the ball on my back swing.  I tried not to do that so much while playing and it seemed I made better contact. I'll have to get that and my woods on film.   All in all....I am definitely on to something and once I can more consistent and start hitting my woods correctly, OH BOY!!  I have a feeling I will be bombing some drives!

[TN94z]

I figured I would get this thread going again as I am starting to work on my swing again. As you can tell from the lack of posts, I haven't been in a position to play much this year either. My wife's school ended up causing her to not work much at all which meant I had to step it up.  That also meant taking away time from everything else.

So anyway, this will be the first post on my road back to single digits. I went to the range today and hit a large bucket of balls trying to work on a few keys.  WOW!!!  I mean WOOOOWWWWW!!!! did I ever hit the ball bad.  It was embarrassing being out there. I don't think I have hit the ball that bad in years and years.  I just played in a scramble to too long ago and actually hit the ball pretty good.  So I was expecting to have a nice range session.  Of course, I didn't have my camera so I really have no idea where the swing was going wrong.  Fat, thin, shanks, hooks, fades, etc....  I think my biggest issues were a lack of flat left wrist and and getting my weight forward.  Something just felt awkward. Maybe it's because it has been a while but man....I was expecting that.

[TN94z]

I hit the range again today and was mainly trying to work on flat left wrist and swing path.  I can do the pitching drill stopping after impact and see that my wrist seems to be flat.  The contact with the ball is good as well. But when I go full swing, nothing.  When I try to achieve flat left wrist in my full swing, I get shanks.   I am hitting the ball fat but I think that's mainly the wrist issue more than a not getting my weight forward issue. I can revert back to my old swing which has some issues and I can hit the ball at my target. It just cuts which I don't really want right now because I am trying to achieve the draw. I have full confidence that I can go out today and shoot in the 80s, but it won't be a swing that matches the 5 keys which is what I want.

On my bad shots when I'm working on wrist and swing path, the ball will start slightly right, and then slice off the range.  From my understanding, this means that my club face is pointed to the right (causing the ball to start to the right) but it is  still open to my swing path causing the slice....is that correct?  I'm really thinking that all of this comes from my wrist issues.

I know, I know a video will help here but my camera seems to be on vacation and does not want to work.  I'll get one as soon as I can

[TN94z]

I may be on to something.  Now I was just hitting foam balls in the yard today, but it made a big difference in the flight.  I noticed that my grip was so strong that it seemed almost awkward getting to a flat left wrist position...like I really had to force it.  So I decided to play with some weaker grips.  The result was that the weaker grip seemed to almost allow me to get into a flat left wrist position with a lot less effort.  Now I know this was just with the foam balls, but they started showing a flight of a small draw that started to the right.  Now I just need to take it to the range and see if that holds up.  The divots looked pretty good as much as I could tell with my grass not like a golf course.

[TN94z]

I won't have a chance to get to the range until tomorrow probably, but I hit some more in the yard yesterday with the same results.  Regardless of the ball flight, I may stick with this grip anyway.  It "feels" like it helps me get into better positions.  I don't "feel" like I am as tempted to rotate my forearms on the takeaway.   I don't know...it just feels a little more solid.  Of course this could just be in my head since it's something new.  I did hit 2 real balls out of my yard.  The flight was pretty good and the distance was great (it was smoked!!).  Contact felt good and had a nice divot.  I will update after the range.

I will probably be joining the golf club again within the next month (if not sooner), so I will get to practice more regular and play probably 3 times a week.

[TN94z]

Played 9 holes today. Par' d the first hole and then all down hill after that. I probably shanked 80% of my shots. By far the worst I've ever played. What really frustrated me was that I couldn't figure out what I was doing.

[TN94z]

I know that shanks are pretty much hosel contact first. And I know that out to in while closing the club face is a cause. I don't feel like that was my issue. Isn't it also possible that I'm coming from the inside and maybe standing too close or holding off the release causing the hosel to come through first? Just for reference, I have mainly been concentrating on flat left wrist and coming in to out. I'm trying for a slight draw.