My Swing (SauceFresh87)

Hey Guys,

I picked up golf at the beginning of the summer as a way of bonding with my brother and father. since then I have become addicted to this beautiful/agonizing game. In any event, my swing has progressed but is inconsistent.

For the most part my swing is straight on fluid 6-LW. However 4,5 iron is a inconsistent and over-swing draw or fade. I have had periods this summer where I have hit 150-200 balls in a session with these two clubs and shown signs of improvement but with other areas suffering. I have a slight problem understanding techniques so anyway to simplify an explanation is appreciated.

Below is a down-the-line and straight on of my swing with my 4-iron.

Thanks,

Doug.

Hi Doug,

Not a bad swing at all, considering you've just recently started.

However, you need to start the downswing by getting your weight forward with a hip & lower body movement.

If you look at the images below, you'll see that you start the down swing by sliding your upper body forward. Notice how your left shoulder

meets the red line while your hips move towards the target very little. In the 4th "face on" image Your right hip should be closer to the pink line.

So work on initiating the downswing with your lower body. Get the hips and weight forward while keeping your head back. Once you can do this

effectively, your upper body (including your arms,hands and club) will unwind/pivot around your inclined spine and then thru the ball.

A few other things...

1) Your heel is lifting a bit early. This early lifting of your heel allows your upper body to rotate too soon and creates an "over the top" condition.

Look at the third video for an "over the top" explanation. While practicing moving your weight forward from the "top" position with you hips, keep the

inside edge of your right foot planted on the ground until the momentum of your follow thru swing pulls it up your heel.

2) It's important to prevent your head from rotating and sliding forward when you practice a hip first downswing. Think of your left foot and head as

anchors or hinge points of the downswing from which the hips and upper body can pivot. I drew in an orange line on the last image that represents

your sight line and shows how your upper body movement is carrying along your head prematurely. So, keep the head still until the follow thru

momentum of your swing carries it up and around to your finish.

3) Your stance at address looks open and angled too far to the right. If I'm assuming correctly that you're aiming at the center of the brown canvas,

you'll want to align your feet and shoulders parallel to the target line.

MPS,

Thank You so much for your quick and in-depth reply! The videos are great and will definitely help. Will give it the old college try and post an update soon!

Doug.

Doug, you're welcome and I'm glad I could help.

Not a bad swing.

A few things I noticed are that you don't get much hip slide, your feet at setup is not exactly ideal(looks like a closed stance in baseball or you're aiming way right of the target), and your follow-through sorta wraps around your head and looks like it would cause a slicing issue.

Thanks bud. Ideally, where should my follow-through end up?

From what I've heard, it's an indication that you followed thru well if you see in the "down the line" view, the club shaft intersect the front shoulder while parallel to the shoulder line.

For your reference, I've set your image side by side to Anthony Kim's. Your follow thru looks pretty good - just a little too vertical. I believe you'll improve this position once you turn & shift your hips more effectively.

Thanks again for the illustration. They really have helped. I showed a lot of progress in my session yest and am trying to get out today to film a couple shots @ 240 fps.

I have been able to practice the drills you posted for me on here and made some good progress. I would like to be getting a little more of a hip slide but it has improved a bit from what I can see. Thanks again. Below is the updated swing in a much higher frame rate.

Hi Doug,

Good job so far!!!

Take a look at these images.

Image set #1 - You could improve your address position a little, which in turn, can help your takeaway. Compared to Tiger, your hands are pressed a little too forward. This forces your right shoulder down too much.

Image set #2 - I noticed a quirky move about 17 seconds into both of your recent videos. It looks like your initial move back is a small hand lift. Take a look at the video below of Shawn Clement explaining a good way of allowing momentum to carry the club up to the top. This goes along with what I see in image #5 . You're taking away the club too far inside and flat. I drew a line to represent where the club should instead lay. Your club face is also quite open here as well. It would be better for the face to lay parallel with your back line. One other problem I see in image #2 is that your heel line (red line) shows that you're not quite parallel with the stick that you laid down in front of you.

Image #6 - As you take the club back, try to get the hands in closer to your head and a little higher up. See the 3rd video about how to stay on plane.

Image set #3 - You've shown improvement, but I still see your upper body moving forward. The left image is you on the way up. Notice how your hat completely covers the window behind you. The right image is of you on the way down. The gap between the pink and blue lines represents how much you swayed your upper body towards the target. And also note how the window is now in view.

Image #7 & #8 - I agree, a better hip slide would help. You must let go of your tendencies to start the down swing with your upper body. Remember, shoulders to turn back - lower body forward. Only the lower body. Try this... Once you get to the top, only rotate your knees forward, around, and level. But not forward towards the golf ball, just forward towards the target. You must completely turn off the upper body. And while trying this, make sure you maintain your spine tilt and tush line (see 2nd video below.) The golfer in image #8 is Arnold Palmer. The rectangle represents how much his left knee slid forward from the top of his back swing. By sliding the knees forward and around, the hip will move forward as well.

I can't begin to thank you enough. If you are not already a teaching pro you damn well should be(and I should be paying you for lessons!)! As the two lessons/analysis you have sent me have helped tenfold compared to the lessons I have taken previously! Anyway, I took the previous post to the range with me today and hit some of the prettiest shot I have hit ever. The knee visualization work I was able to create lag and the ball was blasting cleanly off the face of the club! Will update soon! But as I have said thanks for everything! Golf is becoming much more fun everyday!

Doug.

Hi Doug,

Thanks for the kind words and I'm happy that I was able to help.

It's great to read of your good news! Starting down with the lower body can make all the difference.

Cheers,

Mark

Work on your takeaway to keep the club on a proper swing plane. Image #5 Mark posted above is a great resource, work on your takeaway until your club is in the same position as the yellow line he drew pointing directly away from your target.  This is what they mean by adding extension, or elongating your swing...plus it puts you on plane!

If you rewatch your DTL video, the position of the clubhead during takeaway is INSIDE the plane coming back down.  To be a more consistent golfer, you want to reverse this.  The plane coming down into the ball should be slightly inside the takeaway plane...or very close to it.  This is why I'm pointing out pic #5 because if you can get in that position at that point in your takeaway, you're halfway to success.  Try to visualize this concept in your waggle.

Always happy to see new excited golfers, best of luck!!

Okay,

So i posted the last two videos the other day without a explanation(these were taken a couple of weeks ago after a two-month layoff). After taking a look at the advice that was left for me in September I went out to the net and started working hard on my address posture, spin-outs, and finally hip-slide. I feel like I am making somewhat progress and looking for any help on where to go from here. I shot my first 89 from Championship tee's on my home course last week and looking to break 85 by the end of the summer. I love this sport! Thanks in advance!

HELP. PLEASE. I am in desperate need of help. I just got new irons and my natural draw has become a fade to a slice. I captured my recent swings. Can someone here give me an idea of what I am doing wrong.

Thanks in advance!