My Swing (Holstein30)

Howdy Y'all.  My name is Dale and this is my current golf swing.  Any feedback would be much appreciated.  I have a general idea of what to fix such as my posture and stance width.  I just recently started playing golf again this past summer after a 5 year lapse.  I originally played in the 7th grade or so for about a year or 2 and then got away from the game.  I wasn't half bad back then but I never took it seriously and mainly just goofed around.  I picked the game up again this past spring/summer to try and feel the empty feeling of not playing baseball since I decided not to play college baseball after high school.  To my surprise I fell in love with the game and truly enjoy playing it.  I'm a very competitive person and love a challenge.  I am looking to improve my game as much as possible to see how good I can get.  I'm a high handicapper (idk my exact handicap), as my average score is around 90.  Alright sorry I wrote so much thanks for reading.

looks very nice, some little things i think you could do to improve your overall consistency would be #1 moving the ball more forward in your stance, just inside your left heel, and #2 slowing down your backswing, and not trying to kill the ball. at the end of the swing you seem to loose balance, this is why i think you may be swinging a little to hard. overall very nice swing, and i'm suprised its a 20 handicap, looks like it could be much lower with only a few minor changes.

Welcome to the forum.

There is quite a bit going on in that swing, but a few things jump out immediately that should help you.

Give this thread a read, and compare the concepts with your swing:

http://thesandtrap.com/forum/thread/29616/the-biggest-secret-slide-your-hips

Getting your weight onto your right side (lefty) through impact will help with many of the balance and flipping issues you've currently got.

Other things to work on would be moving your ball position farther forward (inside your right heel for driver), and limiting your backswing by working on extension and wrist hinge.

If any of these terms are unclear, please ask for clarification :)

Good Luck.

Thanks for the reply.  I'll def try to move the ball foward some and see how that goes.  I'll also try slowing down my backswing.  I am also currently working on my balance.  I know I swing pretty hard but I used to swing harder so I have toned it down a little.  And I struggle with being consistent, that is why my handicap is high.  Plus it took me til about the end of summer to truly start to develop a rythm and I was actually starting to shoot mid-80's fairly consistently during the last few weeks that I got to play before heading back to college.  I mainly just struggle with hitting my irons and driver well at the same time.  It seems that my driver is either really on or my irons are.  I'm going to be working hard to improve this year and I really appreciate the feedback :).    p.s.  I'm a lefty so I'm assuming that you meant to move it more towards my right foot to move it more foward in my stance?

@Delav - I think I understand everything your saying except for what you mean by flipping.  Thanks for the feedback and I am looking into the link you posted.

Flipping refers to improper impact position.  Take a look at the last page of the 'My Swing (jamo)' thread on the front page of the instruction forum.  There's a good example of flipping versus solid impact position, the some visuals that should help conceptualize a flip.

In general, we want to hit the ball with our lead hand (your right hand) leading the shaft and clubhead, rather than trailing behind and 'rolling' the club through impact.

Ok thanks for clarifying.  I appreciate the feedback and I plan on posting more and more videos as I make progress.

I don't think my last post worked so I'll try again.

Thanks for the feedback, it is much appreciated.  I believe I fully understand what you mean by flipping now.  I will be posting more videos about my progress and I will keep in mind the things you all have pointed out to me.

Also I welcome anyone else to analyze my swing and all feedback will be much appreciated.

What stiffness is your shaft?

I would suggest shortening your swing....your over swinging and swinging too hard which = losing your balance ( plus too much weight on you toes )

I can't believe no one picked up on your grip!

First of all, great to see a fellow lefty out here (I know there are plenty of us, but I relish each one!)

But seriously, get a grip!!! haha. Looks to me like you have a typical 'beginners' grip. I had one, most (good) golfers I know had one. Basically, your left hand is really "under" the club. You're using a baseball type grip, which is fine! But you've really got to get that left hand more rotated to the right, so that it is "on top" of the shaft.

Do this on your next range session - The gap between your left thumb and index finger when gripping the club will resemble a V. Line that V directly up the top of the shaft. As it is right now, you will be able to see your two middle fingers of your left hand whilst gripping the club. You need to get your left hand around, into a position where you can see AT LEAST the first 2 knuckles!

Start from there. This will help eradicate the 'flipping' I saw mentioned here in previous posts.

I have a stiff shaft flex.  And my swing is already slower than it used to be but every time I try to go slower it causes a host of problems. (I basically start shanking everything, maybe its cause I over think it but idk)   I will try to shorten my backswing, and I'll work on making it slower too but that also just feels weird and gives me too much time to over think what I'm doing.  Overall, I will say that I like my tempo as far as my backswing goes, it just feels right.  Having said that I am still up for trying to slow it down.  I've never had a lesson or anything before so this is my "natural" swing that I have developed.

And wow I see what you mean by my grip.  I feel that baseball has carried over in quite a few ways to golf but I didn't notice how much it carried over in my grip.  I've been trying to do what you said this morning (in my room can't go to the range cause it is flooded :/  )  and I can see a big difference...for some reason I do find it a little hard to grip it that way (I interlock my fingers, idk if that makes any difference) but when I grip it right and take a little practice swing I feel like I have more control or feel for where the club is at in my swing.  Once again thanks for the help guys and keep it coming!

edit:  I have been messing around with my grip today and I have trouble interlocking while moving my left hand more on top of the shaft.  Overlapping my grip feels horrible to me and kinda feels like I'm going to lose the club when I swing (I usually grip pretty hard so that shouldn't be the problem).  So far the ten finger grip feels the best for having my left hand on top of the shaft.  I'm unsure of when I'll be able to get to the range to fully test all this out as it is currently flooded and it is supposed to start raining again tomorrow :/  I'll post so more vids asap for you all to see my progress (or lack thereof lol)

Forgot to add, you're falling towards the ball on the backswing....again, too much weight on the toes.

Ok I see what you mean.  I guess I never realized how much weight I had on my toes.  I'll work on that the next time I can get out to the range.

Also I was just wondering why you wanted to know the stiffness of my shaft?

Thanks for the feedback!

It just looks like it is really bending, but the video can do that. Stiff should be fine for you, do you know your swing speed?

Ohh ok.  No I do not know my swing speed.  I tried to get it tested at Dick's just the other day, but it couldn't pick up a lefty :/...Also when I watch the video in my sony vegas going frame by frame it looks like (to me at least) the shaft is bending quite a bit.  Maybe I'll try to get some still images from it and then post em to see if it is bending too much or is just right cause I honestly do not know how far the shaft is supposed to bend and whatnot.

It would be best to have your swing speed measured and then you will know what shaft you need....you may need an extra stiff

Ok I just got it checked and my clubhead speed is around 115-118, average around 116.7...I was using my new grip and I think a shortened back swing (it felt shorter) ...I also had my feet a lil closer together my back straighter and I kept my balance throughout the entire swing...according to the machine my carry was around 270 and total distance around 295 or so...My worst miss according to the machine was 7 yards left of the center, my spin rate was low so no hooking or slicing (or very little of it) my ball speed was 165 or so...I can't wait to get to the range and get some videos to post when the weather clears up