Is Swinging This Way a Bad Thing?

[tlstarkk]

So i have been golfing for about 4 months and went to see a pro, and he corrected my grip, and told me to stand straighter.  I just dont feel at all comfortable with the grip he showed me and i stand straighter now but still not as straight as he said to.  If i hit the ball better with the swing i have now, is it bad to keep doing what i am doing? i shoot in the high 40's to early 50's for 9 holes.  I saw a commercial today on the golf channel that said "swing your swing" dont try to have the exact swing as a pro, make your swing work... then Arnold Palmer said "i know i did" (cause his swing wasnt like the others).

iron swing

Driver swing:

[mvmac]

Couple things,

- Don't worry about standing taller

- Turn the left foot out

- "Stretch" the right side A LOT more so you can turn more and keep the head steady.

Here's what I mean by stretch

Again the right side is "stretching" allowing the left shoulder to swing under the chin

[PirateJim]

It's up to you, of course.  If you go to a pro and tell them you want to be a better golfer they are probably going to try to get you to make a pretty standard golf swing (look at Tiger Woods, or Adam Scott).  Any time you practice something for a while and then someone tells you to do it different it will feel funny for a while.  Your current swing really isn't horrible or anything, but you look like you're young and athletic and proper coaching can help with golf even more than a lot of other sports.

For the record, I really like the swing your own swing commercial too, and it will always apply since the swing you bring to the course today is the one you have to work with.  Tomorrow you can try to tweak it and make it a little better maybe.  That's why Tiger spends hours on the range and still takes lessons from Sean Foley, his swing coach.

[Nutter]

I didn't watch any videos, but I'll tell you right now that if you expect swing or grip changes to "feel comfortable" right away you're going to be stuck where you are for a long time.  What you are doing may be wrong, but of course it's going to feel better if it's what you're used to.  When my dad and I first got lessons 10 years ago the guy scrapped our swings, changed our grips and setup (those are two things you should do right every time) and we worked from the ground up.  Believe me, nothing he made me do felt right to me at the time and I certainly hit the ball worse for long periods of time, but without that experience I would have never progressed past playing mediocre.  My advice is to continue to get lessons from a reputable teacher (do your research) and do whatever he tells you knowing that he knows better than you.  Most people that have had no formal teaching or have even seen their swing on video go to get a lesson and instead of practicing what they are told in range sessions after they just revert back to what feels comfortable out of frustration.  You see, if your grip, setup, swing etc. are fundamentally wrong you're subconsciously making tons of compensations to hit the ball, and when someone starts changes things that are wrong those compensations no longer work and that's why you hit the ball poorly at first.  Only when you start getting the right things (1 at a time) engrained will you strike the ball at a high level and it will feel easy.

I know that was long but I wish someone would have told me that before I wasted a year trying to hit the ball my way

[mvmac]

I didn't watch any videos, but I'll tell you right now that if you expect swing or grip changes to "feel comfortable" right away you're going to be stuck where you are for a long time.  What you are doing may be wrong, but of course it's going to feel better if it's what you're used to.  When my dad and I first got lessons 10 years ago the guy scrapped our swings, changed our grips and setup (those are two things you should do right every time) and we worked from the ground up.  Believe me, nothing he made me do felt right to me at the time and I certainly hit the ball worse for long periods of time, but without that experience I would have never progressed past playing mediocre.

Well said, I make sure students are aware of this.  You're basically changing a motor pattern and it's going to feel awful.  Even if it's only adjusting the grip 5-10* or placing it in a different part of the hand.  If it starts to feel "normal" after only a few reps, you ain't doing it enough.