Swing videos: Driver and 5 iron...

Hey all. Just wanted to post these up to see what some of you think i can work on.

I'm 6'2", 200lbs and i started playing 3 years ago. Took lessons at a local range within my 1st year and went to a 3 day golf clinic last August. I hit my driver any where from 230-250.

As of now my ball flight with my driver and longer irons is a slight left to right if you couldn't tell already with the videos. I've been working on keeping some flex in my right leg on the back swing (i used to straighten it almost all the way), which in turn has restricted how far i can take back the club (I know, it is a good thing in a way as well). I think this is due to flexibility issues from my shoulder separation injury that i had 5 years ago, but i'm not quite sure. I want to see what you guys can pick out from these videos.

The good thing is that i've been playing the best golf i ever have with getting my HI down to a level i thought wouldn't be possible in the beginning of the season, so i don't know how good of an idea this is

Driver DTL:
http://www.swingacademy.com//SwingAn...l.aspx?id=1631

5 iron face on (shakey vid, sorry):
http://www.swingacademy.com//SwingAn...l.aspx?id=1630

Thanks in advance,
Tom

You have a nice swing, I would work on timming the big muscles of your shoulder and hips with the arms. making a full backswing and finish with your hips square to the target, continue to take the lessons to fine tune your swing.

Hi,

yours posture (spine) is "off". It should be more straight. Place a club on yours spine axis and try to have posture where lower back touching the club (or 1 finger distance).

regards,

It seems you get to the top of the backswing, and then immediately swing all out to hit the ball as hard as you can. This is turn makes your arms go over the top.

Try swing by slowly accelerating from the top of the backswing, feeling that your arms are being pulled through by your hips. Start your downswing by moving your left knee towards the target, in turn pulling your left hip around.

I'm sorry, but i'm going to have to disagree with my spine angle being to tilted at address.

I did a little analysis for you but as always keep in mind this disclaimer:

Beware, advice is being given by 18 handicapper who's understanding about the technical aspects of the game is obviously limited. Or at least his execution of the fundamentals he preaches is flawed.

I saw two things: An over the top move and a reverse pivot. Your setup and takeaway are not bad but you have problems completing the backswing and then taking the swing down. But you are not that far off. They are problems you should be able to fix with a little work. On the backswing you look pretty good when the club is parallel to the ground in the initial takeaway. But then you have what I call a false shoulder turn. The shoulders effectively stop rotating about your spine and the arms take over. Let the shoulders primarily rotate the arms to the top.

I know what you're saying about the false shoulder turn. I can see it as well. I've been working on keeping flex in my knee since i went to that golf school because i used to straighten it out almost all the way. Overall i've been good in keeping flex.

But i need to get keep moving my shoulders properly. What can i do to work on that? Also, speaking of your 18 handicap, as long as you're somewhere near me, i'm ok with that. Advice from someone over 25 and most of it goes in one eye and out the other. Any sub 10 HI players have anything to add?

I don't think he's talking about how tilted you are. If you drew a line from your head to your butt, your spine wouldn't be straight (regardless of how much your upper body is tilted). I'm a little sensitive to this issue because I apparently do the same thing. Last time at the range my gf told me "it looks like you're trying to stick your butt way out." My hips, similar to yours, were bent over farther than the rest of my upper body.

I'm not sure if this is good or bad, but since the pros don't do it, I'm trying to stop doing it.

ohhhh, that makes sense now. Very interesting.

Does anyone else think the same thing?

I had that false shoulder turn for many years myself along with a reverse pivot. It is amazing that I was able to hit the ball pretty decent for a long time until it all seemed to catch up to me later in life. The thing that has helped me the most in developing my swing is slow motion drills at home. I cut off a 5 iron to about 24" or a little less, regripped it, and use that sucker to practice my swing. You need to practice in slow motion to get how it feels to make certain motions, to practice what you've been told and feel it in the muscles. So for you, get to that initial takeaway point and stop the arms and bring them up with only a shoulder turn. Get used to the shoulders rotating fully. Keep that spine in place and feel the rotation. You can then take that to the range and work on it in real time.

That's what i usually do, but apparently I'm not following through on that.

anyway, based on some advice in here and from www.swingacademy.com , I really tried concentrating on the shoulder turn and reverse pivot situation today on 9 holes. Feels good. Shot a 45 Someone on swing academy said i was too upright and to focus on alignment with my feet. So, i gave myself a little extra lean, about ~10 degrees it felt like, and it made a big difference. Felt great. Felt easier to get my shoulder turn with focusing on not reverse pivoting. I can definitely work with this and hopefully i'll be able to break a 16 HI!