My Swing (aevans410)

I've been Playing Golf for: 3 weeks (haven't played in 12 years, used to play a lot as a kid

My current handicap index or average score is: 120 on 18

My typical ball flight is: straight, but no distance

The shot I hate or the "miss" I'm trying to reduce/eliminate is: lack of distance

Videos:

Hello everyone, new to the forum, hoping to get some help.

My normal flight path is straight for the most part (occasional slice, usually due to overswinging I believe), however I get no distance. I've had a few people look at my swing, a few have said it looks good and they can't believe (unless my short game is horrible) that I shoot 120's, and one person told me that I need more weight shift/hip turn in my downswing. Any and all advice/comments/criticism is welcome.

Not a bad looking swing, man.  I'm also trying to dial in the right amount of hip turn and torque on my swing, I went from shooting in the low 100's (can't tell you how many times I've shot a 101) to shooting in the low 90's and even high 80's a couple of times.  Keep in mind, I'm still very much an amateur golfer.  But two things I see right off the bat are:

* More hips.  Your swing looks to be alot of arms and not enough hips.  Turn more in your backswing.  I recently read that you want to try and point your back to the target.  I haven't tried this on the range yet, but I would imagine stepping back from the ball and taking a few very slow backswings will tell you how far you can turn comfortably.  A buddy of mine helped me alot with this analogy:  Pretend your standing in a barrel as you go into your backswing.  You don't want to sway side-to-side in an unconscious effort to generate power.  It's there.  You just have to tap into it.

* Push your body through after making contact with your right foot.  It should completely turn and point at the target, along with your hips.  Right heel up after impact, pushing with your toes.  But remember the 'barrel' analogy... you don't want to propel your body forward and create a sway.  You're simply aiding your hips in turning towards the target.

You seem to be keeping your left arm fairly straight, which is excellent.  Left arm straight (I've heard a slight natural bend is ok), and push the club away from your body with your right hand.  This has greatly improved my accuracy.

Last but not least, clubs make a HUGE difference.  I've played with crap clubs until a few months ago.  They can only take you so far.  I'm not sure what's in your bag, I'm just throwing that out there.

These tips have worked wonders for me.  If anyone sees any bad information, please correct me, because I'm currently utilizing these tips as well.

My clubs are crap, (Callaway Big Bertha Warbird driver, its not necessarily crap, just ancient, Arnold Palmer oversized fairway woods and irons, cavity backed irons), but unfortunately it's what I have to work with. I may be getting custom fitted for clubs for Christmas though :D

Worked on getting my hips forward last night, to no avail. I seem to have found a way to slide my hip forwards without moving my weight too much, and I felt what a reverse pivot feels like. Silver lining, I know what to avoid now.

Today's game plan is working on :

Feeling as I'm pushing off of my right foot as I move forward to keep the reverse pivot out.

Tempo work (I'm a drummer, and a fairly decent one, tempo shouldn't be one of my issues, but it is).

Working on contact with my driver (if the first two points go well, if they don't I'll keep working on them)

When I video recorded my swings, no they weren't. My head was staying in place, but hips weren't moving. I was working on setting my knee 6 inches from a wall, taking my backswing and pressing through to the wall. I felt like I was getting forward in slow motion, however during practice swings/hitting practice balls it was just not there. I'm going to keep working on it, but I agree, feel ain't real at all.

Thanks for the link on the drills, I'll work them into my practice and let you know how they go.

8/9/2013 and my quest for a better golf swing.

Latest video after working all day long on Eric and Mike's preloading drill -

Note that my hip doesn't get too much further out than it had been, but I did find another flaw. My hips are swaying back away from the ball. I can't get my hips forward because they first go back, or at least that's what I see.

I did get a good feel off of the preloading drill, however I need to fix that backwards hip sway before any power can be put in the downswing, or am I off track here?

Tomorrow's game plan :  Work on shifting my weight back without letting the back hip sway off of the ball.

Even in a failure to produce proper hip movement, I feel like I made progress. I'm really excited to get this hip problem taken care of to see what happens.

I'm not sure why the vids keep going private. I set them to unlisted but it never seems to take.

Its no longer private now I believe.

Thanks, I think I'm getting there, but have quite a way to go.

I appreciate the encouragement though :)

No new video tonight, simply because I worked on nothing but drills tonight and didn't hit any practice balls. That's ok though, I've been able to find a few flaws that I need to get fixed. I'm on a time schedule though, I'm playing in a scramble at the beginning of september, and I'm hoping to have a better and more consistent swing before that time. I don't know if a month is enough time, but I'm gonna give it my best shot!

Flaws I need to fix -

Right knee straightens on backswing, effectively lifting my swing arc to the point that I pick the ball clean/skull the ball, when I do this I leave no type of divot.

Hips sway back on the backswing (I worked on this today, I'm making progress with this one)

Weight transfer through the ball to get as much energy into the ball as possible

Tendency to look up when hitting a real ball as opposed to practice swing/practice ball

Nailing down my tempo

I know the list looks daunting, but I'm going to attack one thing at a time and cross it off of this list when I get it.

I have to say I wish a group of people like this one was around when I was learning to play golf when I was younger. You all are very helpful and knowledgeable. I have learned more in this last week being on these forums than I have in 3 weeks scouring the internet for information. I wish I had money for some lessons (and maybe next year I will. Medical bills are no fun) but this forum is the next best thing IMO. Thank all of you who have chimed in with tips and encouragement. The people here are a class act.

Found another flaw, My head is moving back a few inches at the top of my backswing. Going to work on fixing this one first!

Frustration is starting to kick in. I worked all week on drills, felt like I was making progress, then go to the range tonight, and I still have no distance. The funny thing is I can hit a hip high swing with a 7 iron 75 to 100 yards, but a 3/4 to full swing goes the same distance or maybe even shorter. I think I'm in information overload, and I need to get the "stupid monkey" method going. I just don't seem to know where to start. I felt like giving up at the range tonight. I know it will come, and I know that its too soon to expect results, but I feel like I'm spinning my wheels. I don't know.

I'm considering relearning my swing as a stack and tilt. Maybe that's the answer.

Thanks Erik, I really needed to hear this to refocus me from making a huge mistake.

Clutch,

My ball striking can be called inconsistent at best. I frequently am all over the place, sometimes hitting thin, mostly hitting fat, every once in a while I hit the ground so hard (before the ball) that I feel like I just chopped into a nice big oak log.  Also after waking up at 2 a.m. thinking about all this crap, I thought that it was interesting that my half swings that were going 100 yards had a nice low trajectory and my full swings that go 100 yards look more like wedges. That led me to look at my swing vids. I don't have a high speed camera, but I'm pretty sure I'm casting my hands late and de-lofting the club. I'm definitely not getting my hands out in front of the ball on impact. Erik suggested prioritizing my faults, and I guess no amount of perfect weight shift will do me any good if I don't strike the ball properly. That is now my focus, honing in on impact.

Thanks for your input :)