My Swing (Mordan)

[Mordan]

This is the second time I've videoed my swing, and the first time with a high fps camera. I didn't quite get the angles right but hopefully it's good enough to get some feedback.



Until joining this forum and actually doing some reading about how to swing a golf club I was a swayer. While I never videoed it I'm pretty sure I was going back about the same amount on my backswing as I was going forward on my downswing. That meant for for any shot that thin, fat, top, blade, slice and hook were all possibilities as I was relying on wrists and timing to try and rescue swings. I think I've mostly managed to eliminate that by concentrating on keeping my head on the ball and leading with my hip on the downswing.

My swing looks better to me than I thought it was going to, and I'm not sure on what I should be looking at next. I've noticed many of my divots seem to be deeper at the toe than the heel of my club, am I too close to the ball? Or do I need to get my clubs checked?

[uttexas]

I like your swing a lot. You still sway a bit with your legs on the backswing. Really nice leg and arm extension into impact. You maintain the right wrist hinge (flying wedge) really well. You don't quite maintain the arm extension into follow through.

Here's a great picture representing maintaining extension into follow through.




You've got a very good swing for 20.0 H.I.

[motteler621]

yea you do have a nice swing for a 20 hc. It definitly has potential to be a great swing with some lessons. As for the divot being deeper in the toe than the heel, that sounds like a lie angle issue to me. Definitly get your lie angle checked at your local golf shop, its off right now for your swing

[bogeyhitter25]

Jesus. Your short game must suck.

[senorchipotle]

Jesus. Your short game must suck.

ditto... seriously man, you've got some really nice moves. i'd try and lengthen that back leg a bit more on the backswing to get some more leverage. and like ut was saying extension after the shot. it looks as though you may be hitting down too much on the ball, and then compensating by alligator arming it at the end. but seriously, that's one of the best 20 handi swings i've ever seen.

[Stretch]

Try moving off the ball a bit less on the way back. Think about not letting your left knee kick in so much -- instead try to consciously flex it toward the toe. This will keep your weight more forward, which will help move your swing bottom more forward.

Like the others have said, you have almost all the pieces there. If you can get the low point consistently in front of the ball, you'll be killing it.

[James_Black]

your left foot slides on the backswing.
Your left knee at the top is scaring me, I'd have dislocated mine if I did that.

Your impact position is really really good, you don't flip at all.

That left foot thing though, your sliding it only an inch or so but that's a lot in golf. I think that's where your inconsistency is going to come from.

[Zeph]

I'd never guess you were handicap 20, your swing looks really good.

Hand path is really solid, just keep doing what you do there. Backswing, bending the left arm a bit too much, but the length is good. Weight is moving too much back, but at impact it's pretty good, a bit more forward push with the hips and you're there. Your impact position is just money, big money, I'd kill for that impact position. If I was to point out two things to work on now, it would be the sway and perhaps right knee. It's primarily a little adjustment in the hips and left knee for the sway. Try to keep the left knee from moving in towards the right knee. Let it move more forward, instead of back. This will help in keeping your swing more centered. You still want the good forward push with the hips, but it's easier if the body don't shift as much weight back. It will give the left knee less distance to travel, which means you can get it more forward too. On the backswing it will probably feel like you got more weight on the left foot during the backswing. You kick the right knee in on the downswing. The right leg lessen the flex nicely on the backswing, but kicking the right knee in like that can cause some inconsistency. You do hit the ball great even with this action, because of your good sequencing and arms/hands action. It's just a little thing to make the swing more consistent and less unnecessary moving parts. Kicking the right knee in effectively spin the hips really, but I don't think there are any advantages in terms of speed. I like to think about the right foot tagging along from the top of the backswing, banking inwards and you get through the ball. Keep working on your swing, it's very very good.

I've noticed many of my divots seem to be deeper at the toe than the heel of my club, am I too close to the ball? Or do I need to get my clubs checked?

I'd get the clubs checked. You might be a hint too close to the ball, but your posture looks good. Of course, moving farther from the ball may mean the club will be even more upright.

How does the club lie at setup? It should have the toe pointing up. At impact, the shaft is at a slightly steeper plane, but mostly it's because of shaft droop. Which means that the shaft bends down towards the ground when we swing down. You can see on the DTL video that the shaft is bent down at impact. What is your ball position with the different clubs by the way?

[Mordan]

Thanks to everyone who has taken a look. I seem to be able to repeat this swing fairly consistently on the range but I'm not doing it consistently enough on the course yet. 2 months ago I was still doing a big sway back on my backswing and no real forward hip move on my downswing.

I've long been a 10 or 15 rounds a year player, always hoping that just a few more rounds would lead to consistency and better scores. Then I'd stop playing for a while and lose any progress I'd made by the next time I dragged the clubs out. I've now joined a club so I can keep playing year round and have realised that just repeating the same bad moves over and over isn't miraculously going to make them into good moves.

Jesus. Your short game must suck.

Unfortunately I seem to have all the touch and finesse of an elephant at the moment. I shot 94 this morning. I hit 50% of fairways (and only one of the misses was a bad one that left me without a decent second shot) and had 30 putts, so there's a lot of shots gone missing between my second and getting on the green. Many of them flubbed chips or bladed shots leaving me no closer just over the other side of the green.

I like your swing a lot. You still sway a bit with your legs on the backswing. Really nice leg and arm extension into impact. You maintain the right wrist hinge (flying wedge) really well. You don't quite maintain the arm extension into follow through.

Thanks uttexas. I can see a bit of a kink in my elbows during the follow through, is that what you mean by not maintaining my arm extension?

ditto... seriously man, you've got some really nice moves. i'd try and lengthen that back leg a bit more on the backswing to get some more leverage. and like ut was saying extension after the shot. it looks as though you may be hitting down too much on the ball, and then compensating by alligator arming it at the end. but seriously, that's one of the best 20 handi swings i've ever seen.

I'm taking a really deep divot, which would indicate hitting down too much. How do I control that? And what is the difference between alligator arming and maintaining the flying wedge?

your left foot slides on the backswing.

If you'd asked me if I moved my left foot during my swing without me having seen it on video I would have said no. I think it's part of the bigger problem of my legs being over-active. I think I need to concentrate on keeping my whole lower half much quieter during the backswing.

I'm taking such a deep divot that my club head is almost stalling completely at the bottom, I'm guessing that without that the club head might get ahead of my hands quite a bit quicker during my follow though. My bad miss with my driver is when I don't shift my weight forward (at all) and do a huge flip at the ball just to make contact leading to a high and wild slice that heads at least one fairway right. It's much less common since I've realised what I was doing wrong but it's pretty much been my biggest problem off the tee for as long as i can remember.

I'd never guess you were handicap 20, your swing looks really good.

Zeph, really appreciate you taking the time to take such a detailed look.

I noticed the bend in the left arm, I think I just run out of flexibility in my back and my shoulders stop but my hands keep going a little further meaning my left arm bends. I think it's probably just a matter of being aware of it and concentrating on keeping it straight. I think the weight shift back is a pretty big improvement on what it used to be, I never videoed it but I'm pretty sure it used to be worse. I'll keep working at it. With the left knee, when you say move forward rather than back, do you mean forward as in over my toes rather than forwards towards my target? I've been feeling like I've been putting too much pressure on my left knee, and looking at how it moves during my swing I'm not surprised it hasn't felt right. It seems that impact position is something that a lot of people struggle with, so I'm very happy to hear that mine looks good. I can't say it's something I consciously worked on, just seems to be a happy accident of the change to get my weight forward. I read somewhere that the lower body should really be passive in the swing and only do what it needs to do to allow the upper body to do it's work. I think that's what I need to work on, a more stable base will hopefully lead to a more consistent swing. Now that I've joined a club I will get the pro to check my clubs. I'd say they sit pretty much flat at address, I can see how they droop during the swing. They were an ebay purchase (Mizuno MX-17s with stiff shafts) and I've no idea how they were setup originally. I position the ball in the middle for my irons, about 2 inches further forward for hybrids, a little further forward for my 3 wood and just inside my left heel for the driver. I'm struggling to find a comfortable set up at address for my driver at the moment, but I watched the golf evolution youtube video and tried to copy that set up today and hit the ball really well so hopefully I'm on the right track there. Again thanks to everyone who has taken a look and given me some suggestions. Cheers.

[Zeph]

With the left knee, when you say move forward rather than back, do you mean forward as in over my toes rather than forwards towards my target? I've been feeling like I've been putting too much pressure on my left knee, and looking at how it moves during my swing I'm not surprised it hasn't felt right.

What I meant was towards the toes, but it might feel like it is moving towards the target too. Here is a good view on it. Don't pay attention to the red lines, I used this picture in another post earlier.

You can see it well on this swing. Compared to yours, there is a lot less movement from the knees, so in theory it should be an easier way to swing, but you won't lose distance.

I position the ball in the middle for my irons, about 2 inches further forward for hybrids, a little further forward for my 3 wood and just inside my left heel for the driver. I'm struggling to find a comfortable set up at address for my driver at the moment, but I watched the golf evolution youtube video and tried to copy that set up today and hit the ball really well so hopefully I'm on the right track there.

If you do start working on the weight shift forward, you might consider trying out a more forward ball position with the irons, at least the long ones. The logo of your shirt is often a good place.

[Mordan]

I spent some time this evening working on not shifting my weight back on the backswing, and eliminating the sway in my legs.

Below are three swings, the first I caught it thin and had a flip at the ball. Did I flip because I wasn't in a position to hit the ball cleanly and tried to compensate, or did I flip thus causing the poor contact? Or is that a bit of a chicken and the egg question?

The other two were towards the end of the session and I'm starting to do much better at stopping my left knee moving backwards. The last one I seem to rotate pretty well around my centre, even though there's a small kink inwards with my left knee.



I hit some lovely shots but there were still a few horrible hooks, one slice, some thin shots, some fat shots and one that only just made it 30 yards. Is that unusual? Most people talk of being hookers or slicers but I just don't seem to have a consistent miss.

[uttexas]

The swaying is improved here. You have such a nice swing, now that I take a closer look, I've noticed that your ball position changes and more often than not, is too far back in your stance. I also think your right hand is too far down on the grip, which separates the hands on the club. Try placing your right hand life line over your left thumb, so the hands are more of a single unit. I also agree with Zeph, get your clubs checked to make sure they fit you correctly. With your great swing and excellent impact positions, you should be more consistent, but it might be the little things like ball position, grip, and club length/lie angle that are causing some inconsistency.

[Mordan]

I had a chance today to take some new videos during a practice session. The things I've been working on have been eliminating my sway backwards during the backswing, being consistent with my ball position and recently trying to roll my back foot inwards rather than lifting the heel during the downswing in the hope it will promote more slide and less spin of my hips.

On the whole I'm making progress, I had what was probably my best round so far a few days ago with an 83 (and finished bogey, triple bogey, bogey too).

The really wild shots are less common, my most common miss now is the fat shot.



Any comments?

[walk18]

I'd have to agree that's the best 20hcp swing I've ever seen. Work on the short game. And who says they don't have nice weather in the UK? Looks like a great day there for golf.

[uttexas]

Excellent swing that does look improved and more centered. I think you could improve your hip turn a bit and keep your left arm a bit straighter at the top of the backswing. Improving your hip turn and getting your left arm straighter will get your hands in a deeper position at the top of the backswing.

All the recorded ball strikes, except one looked great. On the one thinned shot, you didn't extend your arms enough into impact.

I don't know how accurate your posted H.I. is, but, if it is accurate, definitely work some more on the short game.

[uttexas]

Another thing I just noticed, Zeph spoke on it. Your left heel leaves the ground in the backswing and your knee goes back and out. Try keeping your left foot more on the ground in the backswing and have your left knee flex more perpendicular (straight out) instead of bending back toward your right foot.

Your forward swing footwork looks good.

[Keep It Simple]

The shots you are hitting fat are because your head is well in front of the golf ball throughout the swing. Move the golf ball 1 inch forward from the center of your stance and keep your head just behind the golf ball (especially at impact) throughout your swing. Your head should never move forward in the golf swing. To make sure it doesn't, you could even practice having your head move a tiny bit backwards as you approach impact. I would be surprised if this doesn't cure your fat shots immediately.

[Mordan]

Excellent swing that does look improved and more centered. I think you could improve your hip turn a bit and keep your left arm a bit straighter at the top of the backswing. Improving your hip turn and getting your left arm straighter will get your hands in a deeper position at the top of the backswing.

Looking back at previous videos, my left arm seems to have more of a bend at the top now than it used to and my hands move higher at the end too. I think that's probably my next thing to look at, along with keeping my head still or at least not letting it move foward.

My handicap is my current official handicap, but it's only based on 4 rounds (3 to get my handicap and 1 qualifying competition on a frozen course) as the UK system only counts competition scores towards your handicap. My last 6 rounds have been 86, 96, 91, 88, 83 and 94 so it should start to come down as I play more competitions. My putting is pretty solid, I just need to get a little sharper with the short game and I think I will be able to start shooting pretty consistently in the 80s.