Is casting a problem that is fixable?

I see posts here and have read that casting from the top is an important thing to fix. I have the Everyday Golf Coach app and I can see that the pros hold a steep angle in the downswing until their hands are almost at their legs! My Swing (hrpschrd) clearly shows that I am not able to hold it any longer than half way down. I can see that the club is bending the wrong way that early so there is no energy getting to the ball.

The problem is that I have tried to hold that angle during the swing and I just can't seem to. The harder I try, the stiffer the swing and crazier the shots. There must be a swing thought or tip to keep from casting.

Anyone??

Bob

This video looks pretty good. Pretty much any swing flaw is fixable given enough effort unless you have some physical limitations. Casting is a problem because you lose your power and it prevents you from getting any real control over the ball, but its a problem a lot of people struggle with especially when they're first starting

Thanks guys.

I am not sure what is wrong with the video since I can see it on YouTube.

I am getting my hips moving first for sure. I am not casting from the top. Somehow I am casting from the middle to end even though I am keeping my grip pressure light and just letting it go. I have worked hard on getting the timing right on hips first, arms second, club last but the video shows that half way down the club is coming out.

Working on the video.

I hope you can see that I start the downswing without casting and with a hip turn. Everybody says that if you start your hip turn before swinging then a relaxed swing will result. Not for me. You can see the casting effects in the bottom half of my downswing. The club is actually bent towards the ball rather than staying stiff. Awful, and yet I am hitting the ball fairly well and straight. I know I am missing a lot of power and consistency though. Help please.

Hey, here is a possible solution! YouTube automatically showed this to me after I played my own video (spooky)!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQpvMwAOLwo

I will try this and let you know if it works. It is exactly my problem at least.

This is my first post here and I'll start by saying that I am very much a novice, having been playing for less than one year.  Yet, I am pretty enthusiastic about golf, have been taking lessons, reading what everyone has to say, watching YouTube videos, and, needless to say I have been working hard at trying to achieve a good impact position.  In my view, it is easy to recognize what a good impact position looks like, but explaining how to get there -- in a way that makes sense to me, at least -- seems to be difficult for most folks out there.  I think it's fair to say that anything I tried to do "actively"  (e.g., "pulling the butt end of the club,"  "leading with left elbow," "leading with the right hand," "trying to hold the lag") yielded poor results.

One of the greatest quotes from this forum is courtesy of Iacas, who at some point posted: "Lag happens."  For me, that was right on the money.  Getting closer to proper shaft lean, in my case, has been facilitated by two things that have been discussed at length in this and other forums: (1) Keeping your arms connected to your body throughout the swing; and, (2) Sliding your hips towards the target before you start your downswing.  Staying connected will keep everything in synch such that one doesn't have to rely on impeccable timing to make the shot, reducing the risk of having to "flip" at the last minute to make contact with the ball.  Sliding the hips towards the target before starting the downswing gets the body out of the way such that the shoulders can rotate and carry the arms, which in turn will "carry" the club.  If the body doesn't get out of the way, I found my shoulders would get stuck and the only way to keep things moving towards the target was to flip my hands.

I can think of a couple of things that helped me visualize the above and get a feel for making good contact with the ball: (1) Swinging with headcovers under both armpits, or feeling like my elbows had to stay close to one another; (2) Executing the backswing stopping at the top, then sliding the hips a good distance towards the target before finally starting the downswing.  I think the mechanics of the swing are such that you probably cannot physically cast if you do (1) and (2) above.

I'll take the opportunity to thank everyone who shares their knowledge and expertise here, you have helped me quite a bit.

Best,

Gil

OK, I tried the Me and My Golf lag drill and I think it helped. Video below.

It is often a good idea to over-emphasize a movement to get the feel of what is possible. Sure enough, by thinking about over "pushing" the shaft angle I was able to avoid hitting sharp hooks with a very closed face.

I think my lag is better since at impact the shaft is either straight or still slightly leaning. I am not scooping at all.

On the other hand, I do not have the 90 degree shaft angle when my hands are near my legs and I can see the club face getting in front of the shaft WAY before impact.

Gil, I have to say that it IS possible to have a hip shift starting the downswing, with arms tight and still cast. Never underestimate human incompetence!

Any suggestions welcome. This current swing feels very much like a punch rather than an athletic swing move.

I hear you, Hrpschrd, as I'm living proof of it.  :)  It seems to me that while you push your hips to the left, you lead that move with your left shoulder and all of your upper body moves left too.  Throwing the hips but keeping the head/upper body back will result in more of an axis tilt, which I think helps in order to achieve a proper shaft lean.  If I may make two more comments, it seems you may be swinging pretty hard as your balance is a bit compromised at the end of the swing, and your left arm chicken wings a pinch.

Gil

ya - you can definitely fix it and I think you're second vid is a lot better.  I'm no swing expert so I'll leave it at that . . .

The funny thing to me about casting is that it's not an isolated flaw . .ie . .everything I've done to improve my swing has helped me in not casting.  Obviously I don't have the insights of a golf instructor but, based on my own swing, it's more like casting is the result of a bunch of things that happen in a bad swing . .a lot of them, in my case, being fundamental misunderstandings of golf swing mechanics.  So, I would almost say "don't try to fix your casting - let your casting be fixed by doing  . .uhmm . .well, in my case, whatever your teacher tells you to do instead of trying to stop casting . .lol.

Thanks everybody! Obviously I changed my swing a lot to correct the casting and not for the better.

- In my first video I did have a shoulder turn and hip turn although I also have a reverse lean and buckled arm.

- In the second video I had neither a hip nor shoulder turn and lunged my hips left while throwing my whole body left to get the butt of the shaft leaning.

So it doesn't seem that the video by lacas addressed the casting problem except that I need to clean a lot up before worrying about casting. I like the comments that if you don't have the basics right, there are a lot of bad results that you can't correct either.

Seems like I need to work on :

- hip and shoulder rotation during backswing while not letting my left arm buckle.

- hip rotation NOT SLIDE early in forward swing while maintaining balance and letting my body tilt

- If I understand everybody, the casting should be less of a problem but honestly I am not convinced of that yet.

Question: Which forum should I be posting this in, Member Swings or Instruction and Playing Tips?

Hey MS256! Would you look at this video and stop it just as my hands get to my hips. Is that what you mean by shutter roll? So the club is not actually curved?

If so, then by trying to eliminate casting, I really messed up my swing. This video is the Before image. You can see that I have rotated my shoulder on the backswing, rotated my hips through the swing and am in balance at the end. I should forget casting maybe?

Thanks

Bob