My Swing (robinoso)

EDIT:  New upload is a couple down.

I like many beginners am working on my swing and would like to get some outside input other than people I play with.  When I look it still seems my downswing is worse than backswing.  Any input is appreciated.

I don't have an account with the two supported video sites yet, but I just registered Swing Reader on my phone and what better place to test it than here.

I'm not sure if you will be able to view it, but it worked on Chrome.

http://www.swingreader.com/video/view?id=JStfTxi6

I couldn't open, Robin!  Sorry...the video won't load

Yeah I think it only works in Chrome..at least it was free!

Hi Robinoso,

I think you have a nice swing! You're starting the downswing with your hips, keeping your head back, and your hands are slightly in front of the ball

at impact. Good work!

I see a few problems.

1) At the top (left image,)  you look too upright. I can't tell too well from this "face on" perspective, but it appears as though you've straightened up

your posture too much during your back swing. I placed an arrow on your left shoulder. I believe that you'd be better off getting that shoulder to the

tip of the green arrow or over the inside of your right knee. With your current takeaway, your downswing will be too flat and your follow thru, too vertical.

2) It's fine to allow the inside of your back foot to roll forward on its instep during the downswing however, keep your right heel down until after ball impact. Allow your follow thru swing momentum to lift your heel.

3) It's difficult to say because of the missing "Down the line" video, but I'd focus on tilting your spine more, and keeping it tilted throughout your swing

in order to promote an effective torso pivot. See the 2nd video for details.

Take a look at this video at 1:40s. The instructor shows where to rotate your shoulder in the back swing.

Thanks for taking the time to do that.  I'll be in the back yard tonight.  I know what you mean w/ the shoulder on the backswing, but I've yet to find the downswing that allows me to get through.  I think with the shoulder turned, I dip or something and chunk pretty hard when trying.  There is no doubt that I stand up in my stance and my downswing is the nemesis for me.  Here is a down the line.  I had it, but wanted to make sure that the other worked.

Hi Robinoso,

I believe you may be chunking because IMHO, you're not rotating your hips and upper body around effectively.

Here's a video that I'd like you to analyze, especially around 37 seconds in. In the "behind the line" view, notice how Fred Couples initiates the downswing with a hip shift & rotation that looks almost parallel to the ground? When the hips turn like this and move simultaneously forward , the upper body gets pulled and pivots around the spine. If you look at image no.4, try to turn your hips forward and around like shown with the blue circle. If you maintain your spine angle posture from address and keep your butt back against the imaginary blue line (shown in images 1,2, & 3,) your upper body (torso) will pivot around effectively. I drew a green circle in image no.4 that indicates how it lays in space. It looks like a line because it's laying (projected) flat in image no.4's perspective. What I think you're doing instead is leveraging your upper body against your legs and then rotating in the direction of the circle in image no.5. Look at the "Slide Drill" video from before (post#5) and at 40 seconds in where the guy talks about clearing your hips and rotating them to position over the rod in between his feet. Look at the 2nd to last video where Hogan insists that a golfer must learn to rotate. The video contains a nice set of images that show how the hips turn and clear while the upper torso gets rotated to the hitting area.

By the way, in your "down the line" video, I didn't see you stand up too much at all. But you're guilty of an early hip extension. The gap between your butt and the vertical line in image no.3 shows this. Look at the last video for a drill to reduce this fault.

I see two more issues.

1) Try not to let your right knee to move towards the ball during the downswing. This is shown by the purple vertical line (knee position at address) and the partial purple circle (image no.3) that represents your knee position at impact. It is much better to instead, move your right knee towards the target.

2) It's fine to allow the inside of your back foot to roll forward on its instep during the downswing however, keep your right heel down until after ball impact. Allow your follow thru swing momentum to lift your heel.

Thanks again for the feedback.  I'll work on this in baby steps over the next bit and see what kind of trouble I can get into! :)

BTW, If I picture in my mind the rotate, there is no doubt that I do the yellow circle.  I can feel it in my mind doing it.  I think part of it is because I'm trying to somehow get in the slot and bump (at least what I see it should be in my mind), but I'm driving into my hips to then rotate.  I bet this is where my shoulder dip comes from and the chunks or thin shots come out of...

I've had a chance to work on a couple of things from the advice and the backswing piece has felt like the easiest to implement, but the keeping the right heel down is a nightmare!  This feels so unnatural.

I've managed to make solid contact with it doing half swings and I hit them more flush watching them go almost as far as my normal full swing.  So, of course I am eager to see what happens when I can do this with my full.  I don't have a new vid of working on this, but I seem to top or hit very thin rockets...

Do you have tips for keeping my heel down?