My Swing (Mailman)

The 2nd video isn't really a good angle for analysis I don't think. It needs to be more parallel to you face on.

I agree with @Jeremie Boop about the camera angle. You should check out this thread:

There is links to other things in there about camera angles and such. It is also helpful if your camera is oriented horizontally, not vertically.

Righto, swing videos updated (hopefully!!!).

Keep in mind that this is what my swing came from not so long ago!!! Considering where I was not that long ago I am really happy with how my swing has evolved over the last 12 months and am really looking forward to the improvements I can make over the next 12 months :)

Regards

Mailman

I'll leave the analysis to those better qualified for the task, but I will say that I agree, your swing is really coming along nicely!

There are a LOT of people who've been playing this silly game a LOT longer than you who would like to have that swing!

Totally agree. You have a nice swing mailman! I'm not a professional so like David said it's best they chime in about the mechanics but just from looking at your earlier swings it almost seems like you're really lifting or scooping the ball. Swing looks good and let us know how things change on the course!

Mailman,

I agree. For a year of golf, there's lots of great things in that swing, in my amateur's opinion.

Two things I think you may need to improve on (and the moderators of this forum have LOTS of things to say about these two swing "keys," so you have come to the right place for better advice than I can give, but I think they'd agree) are that your head seems to shift back laterally a great deal on the backswing. There's a lot of information on this site about why excessive head movement is detrimental to a golf swing, and it's something most pros have control over.

Second, I think your weight could be more forward at impact - that is, shifted to the left side. It's not like you are totally hanging back on your back (right) leg, but I would wager that not much more than 60% of your weight has shifted to your left side at impact whereas pros are generally between 80 and 90% there. You can do some drills to really exaggerate the feeling of getting your weight forward at impact. It feels awkward at first, but it's a huge key.

As to your flexibility comment - I have been told by @iacas that it p robably isn't an issue for me and I'm close to 300 pounds right now. I know that dropping 80 pounds and working on flexibility training will certainly help my swing (congratulations to you for losing the weight, BTW!), but you can have an excellent swing if other things are corrected. Look at videos of Craig Stadler right now. He's in his late 50s, I believe, and carries a lot of weight, yet can still play some serious golf. His backswing barely goes past PERPENDICULAR before he's done, but he still hits great shots.

Check out these:

http://thesandtrap.com/t/64993/weight-forward-using-swingcatalyst-and-sam-balance-lab-to-explain-pressure-throughout-the-swing

http://thesandtrap.com/t/54115/weight-forward-and-secondary-axis-tilt

I'll probably be working on something similar this weekend at the range myself!

Swing update. So one of the things that Ive noticed from video Ive shot at the range and on the course is that my left arm becomes quite bent at the top of my backswing and as a result when I start the down swing it looks like the first action is to cast the club out like a fishing rod which I think helps promote the out to in swing and results in slices? Also after @mmoan2 suggestion in September I think in the below video my head is more stable than in last months video and as I can slow the video down on my desktop (but can't export it to my completed video) I can see my legs being more engaged in the swing because I can literally see the individual muscle groups working to drive through the shot. The before image is from a month ago and the after image is from this afternoon. I think these changes have been flowing in to my game as three weeks ago I broke 90 for the first time with an 89, that could easily have been an 85 if it wasn't for a lost ball on the second to last hole of the round, the a 92 a week after that and then a week ago I shot a 91 to win my very first ever individual club competition AND, more importantly, won a handicap cut of 3 shots! [VIDEO]http://youtu.be/LUPO0gZPzbc[/VIDEO] Regards Mailman

Nice progress getting rid of the lead arm break. That's pretty hard to do.

Take this for what it's worth (given my high handicap)... If you line up the side of your head (the side closer to the target), line it up to the clouds in the background and watch what happens during your swing.  You have lateral movement of your head during the swing, especially the last swing.  I have learned from reading the 5SK's that key number one is keeping your head steady.  Just an observation as I'm certainly not qualified enough to tell you why it's happening or how to fix it.

Nice athletic looking swing.

@No Mulligans ,

Some excellent thoughts there so thank you very much.

I headed back down to the club this morning during lunch time and had another session with plans to head out and play a cheeky three or four holes...sadly the Gold Society had other plans and the course was chocka full so I didn't manage to get past the pro shop!

However I did work on eliminating the swaying in my shot and think that Im starting to really make progress now. While I wasnt getting more POWAAAAR in to the ball my bad shots were less bad than they normally would be!

The mistake I was making was trying to bend the club around the body. A quick chat with the pro this morning gave me a few more swing thoughts to play around with, specifically the path of the club in the take away...as well as a couple exercises I can practice with at home.

Learning golf must be what its like to be a gold fish...everything is new and just so god damn exciting even if its been covered off a hundred times before! :)

Regards

Mailman

Ive updated the video with footage from down the line.

Regards

Mailman