What Are You Working On? - Page 44

Update

 

I'm still undecided on how to hit my driver.  Playing yesterday morning, all morning I was hitting my driver like I hit my irons, and I was getting decent results.  Not very long, my best might have been 250, but even my slices didn't get me into too much trouble.  On 18, I decided to try and really get after it, and of course I annihilate it.  I hit it right down the middle with a slight draw, and rolled out to just over 300.  I'll definitely keep hitting my 3 wood like I hit irons, but I'm going to be experimenting and working on my driver a lot.

 

Also figured out last week that I let my backswing get way too long for my iron shots.  I was getting more and more inconsistent until I realized that.  Now I've been focusing on hitting what feels like about 80% for a full swing.  I'm making solid contact on almost every shot again.

I have to work on my greenside shot from 50yards in. i bought wedges because i hated the feel of my pitching and gap that came with my set for anything less than a full shot, but i just haven't put in the time with them.

 

i always use the 58* under 100 yards, but i have a problem getting a consistent hit on the ball. i'll come under it a lot, especially in the rough, and just spin it about 10 feet in front of me when i'm trying a 20-30 yard shot. i just end up using an 8 iron to chip now.

 

i have a piece of turf with rough and fairway astroturf and a 5 gallon bucket with a bunch of found balls, i just have to go out and start working.

 

but there is no more frustrating event for me on the course than what happened last week:

 

i am 30 yards out on a par 4 after a 300 yard drive that i aimed incorrectly (because i usually hit ~230-250) so i'm slightly in the rough, but not in bad shape. from here it takes me 2 shots to get on the green, followed by two putts because i can't relax after my two wedge shots. so i bogey a hole that should realistically be a birdie or par at the absolute worst.

Working on ball flight, especially with driver.  No problems with distance at all and I seem like I'm striking it pretty good.  Just can't consistently control it.  Driver is worst, the gets a little better as I move through short irons.  Hit a fade into green with my PW, which I really can't complain about.  But with driver, that fade becomes more like a pull-slice. (I hesitate to say slice, because I never start out right of target)

 

My ball flight with driver ranges from Pull to Fade to OverFade.  Ball always starts to left of target even when I think I am aiming more at target.  I am guessing that my swing path varies for all these shots, probably from my hips not getting back to the ball the same way each time.  I thought my push fades were from an open clubface, but I notice that with my clubface adjusted open on my driver, the fade is reduced.

 

So what I am I working on today?  I'm starting back at square 1.  Going to go back to Neutral grip, or maybe a little strong, and am going to re-adjust my driver clubface to neutral.  Going to focus on 3/4 swings, and going to try and emphasize forward hip slide.  Going to drop my arms into slot on downswing and we will see what happens.  I will probably also put a box outside the line to help me understand my swing path.

 

We'll see what happens.

Saving up for lessons, cant do anything but top/fat/shank/hhook my irons, and slice the crap out of my woods

Will be a 28 handicap in no time at this rate

Working on swinging inside-out instead of outside-in.

 UPDATE:

 

I may have just achieved a Golf Breakthrough, only time will tell.

 

As I mentioned above, I was going to go back to square 1, start from a Neutral position, don't do anything crazy, and swing slow and easy.  Well, I did this, and it helped a little, but still not really under control.  But while I was working on the range before I played, I was watching another guy a few bays down and he was drawing every shot, sometimes hooking them a little.  I noticed that he was bending over quite noticeably from the waist, and his swing was quite a bit flatter.  I went through a couple more swings and it suddenly hit me how upright I was.  I had very little bend at the waist.  So I bent over just a little bit.  I took a few practice swings, and I realized that my swing became a little flatter, and actually felt more natural and consistent.  When I started hitting the ball, I found it very difficult to hit anything other than a straight shot or draw the ball.  It looks like bending over slightly (combining this with my normal smooth takeaway, and keeping my back elbow close to the back hip when I drop down on backswing) has completely taken away my OTT swing path.

 

I went out and played my league round and shot 9 straight bogeys, the most consistent round I have had all year.  I should also mention that I tweaked my irons swing the same way, slighty bending a little more from the waist, and I felt alot more solid and in control with my irons and hybrids.

 

I'll update this as I move forward, but today I am a happy man!

I'm working on healing my intercostal muscle strain so I can get back on the freaking course! It's been 10 weeks!

Im working on:

 

• Consistency with irons
• Hitting down on the ball with my irons

 

I have a tendency once or twice a round to hit my irons like id be hitting a 3 wood and try and scoop it a little. Its not overly bad accuracy wise just comes out low with no spin.

Driver accuracy and putting.

 

I have my long, mid, and short irons down pretty good. It's the putting and driving that cost me the most strokes.

I'm working on my takeaway with a view to it promoting the correct hand and wrist action throughout the swing.

 

My drill is to do the takeaway thinking to get my watch-face looking directly away from me at the end of the takeaway.  This prevents the error of rolling the wrists in the takeaway.  I also find that towards the end of the takeaway my left wrist feels a little 'bowed'.  (This may be just a feel and it may actually just be flat rather than bowed - i'm not sure).

 

I have been very encouraged by my shots at the range.  If it is indeed making me do something right, here's what i think it is:  i have achieved the flat wrist position and from here my shaft hinges up and down in the plane of the left arm and flat left wrist.   In effect, i have already set my wrist, arm and club impact alignments by the end of the takeaway.  Martin Chuck explains it better in his videos for his Tour Striker Educator training aid designed to educated the hands.  (I haven't got the training aid - shipping to UK is WAY too expensive - but i think i can relate what i'm doing to his explanations):

 

http://www.tourstriker.com/shop/product_details.aspx?p=170

Edited by GaryH - 6/23/12 at 9:20am

1. Keeping my head, middle of my shoulders and hips over the ball in my takeback,

2. Maintaining a straight left arm throughout,

3. Sliding my hips sufficiently in front of the ball before contact,

4. Keeping my head and upper body at the same height (not dipping), in the downswing,

4. Maintaining my lag through contact,

5. Better balance in my finish. 

Rotating the shoulders on their plane.

Just watched some video of my swing yesterday and noticed that I'm starting with a half-decent take-away (left shoulder is down, hands are deep), but then I flatten my shoulders a bit during the rest of the swing and then actually lift my arms a bit off plane at the top to compensate and get them higher. I'm pretty sure I used to be better, I think I've slowly morphed back toward my old form.

Flat shoulders tend to cause unintended pulls, fades, and slices for me. And I've been fighting that recently. You'd think I'd have clued in faster...

had a nice draw working last year on my driver - a slice has crept back in.   Working on S&T again - seems to be helping with getting rid of it.   

I hope to get a membership at my home course again soon, and this time membership includes unlimited range balls!

 

Here in North and West Texas, the wind can get rough at times. I will be working on low-stinger shot with my 3-6 irons (I just don't think I can hit a stinger with a higher lofted club than a 6) with the main focus being my 5 iron. 

My two biggest things are dropping my arms into the slot on the downswing and also not casting. I've been trying every lag drill I can, I saw on some other posts that people had luck with creating a 'lag stick'. Has anyone done this and have any tips on how to create it?

 

Also any tips on dropping my arms into the slot, I'm trying to both jam my right elbow into my side and also feel my left arm go down my chest but when I swing I just conveniently forget all that. 

Also someone wrote one time about lag that if you put the ball at your front foot for every club, it forces you to not cast early and when I tried that at the driving range a few times I am actually hitting the ball solid (it goes a mile in the air but the same distance and even farther than I would hit with the ball in its regular spot). Am I just getting lucky or is there some reasoning to this?

 

Thanks in advance!

I see it's been a few days since anyone has posted here.

I've been practicing keeping my head down - Accuracy - Distance control - Smooth backswing

I have finally graduated to something new to work on after a year and a half on stopping raising up and lifting my arms too much on the backswing.  Now I am working on maintaining pressure of my right heel pad on my left thumb to better drive my hands forward on the downswing. 

Been working on

1) Better strike with my long irons, I have been fatting them, Ive changed my set-up so that my hands are slightly more forward and much higher but on video it looks completely normal even though it feels terrible. I'm getting a very straight ball-flight when I do this as opposed to my usual soft draw, so I'm also trying to incorporate this set up into my shorter irons aswell for consistency

2)  Putting less with my hands, I struggle to get the distance right on long putts, so I'm working on keeping my arm and hand muscles from doing too much, concentrating on having hands positioned below my shoulders and just rocking my arms back and forth.