My swing (jangro)

I videoed my swing at the range yesterday.

There are a lot of swings here, some with a 7 iron and some with a 3-wood. Face-on view starts at about 1:08.

Most of the shots are fading or slicing, which I'm prone to do. Some days a lot. Some days not so much. This day a lot.



I've got some ideas from this that I want to try the next time, but before I do I thought I'd see if you guys have some suggestions.

thanks much.

Here's a link to a higher quality video: http://gallery.me.com/sjangro#100014

Definitely have a strong outside-in swing. Good setup, but once you get to the top of your swing, everything seems to become all arms, rather than hip and shoulder drive.

Thanks. This is the first time I've really taken a good look at my swing with software where I can go forward and backward frame-by-frame and it was enlightening.

I've been working on my swing all year making a lot of changes, and sometimes this slice sneaks in. One thing I've been working on is getting my hands to lead the club down in the "slot" and sometimes I can't believe that I'm still coming over the top. But here it is -- I am. And I think I see the culprit. I didn't realize it, but as I work to extend a big backswing, I'm straightening my right leg. It's most obvious on some of the 3-wood shots. I'm even locking it on a few of those swings. This is preventing my hip from getting a good start, and it's even pushing my hip up and over my straight leg as I start the downswing. I look like freakin' Charles Barkley on a few of those! Can't wait to get to the range again to work on this one and see what happens.

A tip that has worked for me has been to start the shift of hips through before the backswing is completely finished. This will help the hands fall (as they should) and develop more lag. If you try this, you might see your fade get worse initially as you develop your timing. One way or another, I agree that you need to change your initial motion on your downswing. You turn your shoulders open, which as I'm sure you know, means either a fade or a pull hook.

I noticed on a few of your swings that your weight does not seem to shift to your front foot as much as it should. As you get to the contact point, you should feel your weight on the ball of your left foot.

Check out the thread started by iacas about hip slide. Instead of sliding your hips forward, it seems you take your backswing and then just rotate the hips and shoulders. It does result in your weight not really getting to your front foot, but also it turns you open to the target line before you get to impact, throws the club over the top, and means your club has no way to hit the ball other than with an out-to-in swing.

See if you can find a photo or video showing Ernie Els at impact. See that his head is still behind the ball, but his hips are way in front of where they were at setup and through the backswing. That's a powerful impact position, and the result of his moving parts all moving in the proper order. It's why he has so much power with a swing that looks so smooth. If you rotate from the top as the first part of the move down, it's impossible to get to that position (and still hit the golf ball).

-Andrew

You guys are right about me not sliding my hips forward. Sometimes when I focus on weight shift (vs other stuff like my hands or keeping my head still), I hit the ball noticeably better. So many things to work on!

That right leg of mine (worse in this video than usual, I hope) is literally stopping my hips from sliding. They have to move UP first to get past the straight leg which is bending after I start the hips. I still can't get over that I've been doing that.

Thanks for the pointer to that post Andrew. Here it is for anyone else who hasn't seen it yet: http://thesandtrap.com/forum/threads...LIDE-Your-Hips

Check your left foot (heel) at impact.

What should my left foot be doing, not lifting the heel I assume?

I went back to the range yesterday and focused on keeping my right leg flexed enough so that my hip can start the forward swing uninhibited. It made a huge difference and my swing that I've been trying to get to inside-out seemed to get there. After spending 10 minutes hitting bad shots and finding the timing, I went from fades to draws almost immediately. The biggest feeling I can say that I had was to keep my body and head low through the swing, and to focus my weight shift forward rather than up (like maybe what I was doing in that frame above). By keeping my body compact and low, and making sure my right leg didn't become too straight lifting me up out of the swing plane, I was pretty well able to go between draw and straight by adjusting my backswing between flatter or taller. This is going to be an adjustment, lots of swing thoughts, but hopefully on the right track. I'll be making another video in the next few days. thanks for the help Chubbs.

Weight should be transfering to your the heel of your left foot at impact, at least 90% of the weight should be there.

If your own your toes, that means your probably setting up with weight on your toes. I had this issue. A nice little trick, is get a door stopper or a small wooden wedge, place it on the ground and put your left foot on it so it prop ups your toes. This will help keep you off your toe on your left foot and start to feel what its like to have your weight transfer to your left heel.

for me the standout flaw is the top hand on the grip, it needs to be rotated anticlockwise alot more in the set up..

changing this will help all the other aspects which others have pointed out, especically the outside / in swing pattern,

also, changing the grip will assist fixing your pivot

Glad you're seeing results with the weight shift! Sounds like you're on the right track. The heel raise will take care of itself if you are concentrating on shifting your weight correctly, so don't let your foot worry you. Just keep on with what you're doing, good work.

Your stance is MUCH too narrow.

It's a little narrow, I wouldn't say it's MUCH too narrow though.

You should have your feet shoulder width apart, it'll help you stay balanced

how?

His stance is a "little" narrow for a wedge or a 9-iron. But bordering on "much" for a driver (or whatever wood is being hit in the vid)

changing your grip will assist fixing your pivot

how?[/QUOTE]

Rotate your top hand 10 degclockwise and try and hit a ball!! it limits your flexability down your Left hand side

Practicing this week, I tried changing my grip to weaken my left hand. It felt really strange, but in the end I could swing with that grip. It's too soon to tell if that will help, but I'll stick with it.

I also widened my stance and tried to keep my left heel down. I can't tell while I'm swinging what the heck my left heel is doing, but by taking some more video, I am still lifting it on fully ripped swings.

And even though I'm feeling like I'm changing my swing a lot, video shows me that I'm really not. I have been able to get some swings closer to the right plane, I think. Though my heels were still up.



To get a feel for what my heels are doing, I put a golfball under my left toes, which did force me to keep my heel down (and all the other associated movement) and I was striking the ball well. Maybe I should do that for a while on the course.

The biggest thing, however, this week I rediscovered shoulder turn. It is amazing what your body does (and doesn't do) when you're not thinking about it. Once I really focused on getting my shoulders around, shots straightened out and short irons went 10 yards longer. I can't really tell what happened to the length on the long irons at the range.

The above picture was before I made this discovery. I didn't take any video on this last practice session, though I'm eager to see another shot with my focus on shoulder turn to see what's happening at this point in the swing.

So much to think about. ugh.

Thanks again for all the feedback, I appreciate it.

your clubhead is way too far inside on the backswing.