My Swing (rudder97)

I've been Playing Golf for: I tried to play for a couple years from 1997-1999 timeframe, then re-prioritized things with the arrival of my first child in 2000.  Now, I'm living 10 timezones away from them due to a job for the next 18 months, so am trying to pick it up again.  I have been back at it for 5 months now

My current handicap index or average score is: 21 current handicap

My typical ball flight is: Is a high, push, slice.  I have hit my three wood higher then some of my partners Pitching wedge.  After making a couple changes to my swing (mainly trying to get more rotation on the backswing, I have now equaled my shots out to 1/3 down the middle, 1/3 push, and 1/3 pull  with no telling which one will present itself at anytime (has allowed me to see much more of this beautiful golf course)

The shot I hate or the "miss" I'm trying to reduce/eliminate is: The Push and then dreaded push-slice needs to go first.  My second objective is to be able to walk up to the ball and feel reasonably assured that the ball is going to go generally in the direction I aim.

Videos: I apologize for the 3rd and 4th videos...  Did not realize the lights were going to interfere that much.  Hopefully there is enough here that you can give me some pointers and some things to work on, and I'll improve my recording in the meantime as well.  Thank you in advanced for your time and assistance.

Great.  Thank you Mike.  I will adjust my setup and will try to focus on where my left knee if traveling. Of course I will have to wait a couple days because wouldn't you know it, today it rained for the first time in 13 months here!  Silly question for you: how long do people usually practice before they upload new videos?

Ok, spent a couple hours today at the range. Unfortunately, I am all over the place with way to much thinking :(  I did notice that after flaring my feet out, my left knee felt like it was twisting way into the center on my backswing to the point I felt I was collapsing on to my left side instead of shifting weight to the right (does that make any sense).  I slowed things way down and tried to do some repetition to train myself what it should feel like.  Unfort the weather moved in before I really had a break thru.  I will continue to work on this and will post update videos if I see an improvement... Thank you again for the help!!!

Thank you @21degreeloft You should have seen me when I first started back.  I was so worried about keeping everything straight that I was swinging with no wrist break and no release (imagine a pitch shot with a full swing of the driver.... was ugly)!  But I'm working on getting better release now, and though I don't think it is the main cause of the push-slice, the releasing of the wrist is important for me to get any distance!

Thank you @billchao .  I have been doing some work at home.  There was another article written by Mike about standing a foot away from the wall to make sure the club was in the correct position on the back swing, so I've been working that too.  Unfort, though things looked good at home, when I put a ball in front of me, things changed.  I think I just need some more time to get things "learned real good" :)

OK, so I almost was to the point of selling my clubs and cancelling my membership... I tried to work on all these swing changes and thoughts, spent hours at the range, then went out to play a round and it was awful!  Went from averaging around 95 to 110+ (stopped keeping score when it got really bad!).  I was frustrated and hated every minute of the rounds.  Then, halfway thru my round on the Garden Course, I decided to just swing the club.  What a difference that made!  Shots were better, rounds were more enjoyable, and yesterday in the club monthly tourney I shot a 95.  I've come to the realization that the range is for the swing adjustments, thinking thru the different parts of the swing, and repitition.  But when you step out on the tee box to play a round, just let your body swing the club and rely on the muscle memory to take over.  After the round, I now know what I need to work on, and will spend a few hours each night at the range to try and improve, but plan on next weekend just swinging the club again!

New videos from today.  The first 4 are from the beginning of my range time.  The last 6 are from the end of my practice session (re-did the end of session front shots since camera was too close, but included them in case they could help you some way in helping me).  Basically I was trying to work on the weight shift and getting weight more forward. Not sure if I made improvement or not, but I did know the shots were better.  They tended to go more where I was aiming and not as far right as they used to, though sometimes I would hit a wicked left hook.  Thank you in advance for any help you can provide.

OK, some self critique:

1) I think I'm moving my head too much on the back swing.  I kind of expected that to be a problem when I tried to focus on a single dimple on the golf ball and couldn't throughout the backswing.  Will try and do some mirror work tonight to work on that

2) I notice that it appears my wrists unhinge well before the contact area.  Do you agree?  If this is an issue, are there any drills I should work on that could help with this?  Could this be why my clubs seem to hit a lot shorter then what I would expect?

3) Though I am getting some weight shifting forward, i think there needs to be more.  I will keep working on the pre-loading hips forward drill that was in one of the video links earlier.

Anything else you notice?

Thank you @mvmac !  I think as I have worried about the other 100 swing thoughts, I forgot the basics of grip and positioning.  I'll take the photos in your link to the range tonight to try and match.

OK, latest video (lesson at an indoor simulator here).  Lots has changed.  My average score was dropping steadily, especially after I returned post-knee surgery.  But now that trend has revered, and my scores are getting higher post-golf lesson.  Think I have way too much going on in my head combined with conflicting direction between the two different instructors I've gone too.  This game was hard enough before I started fighting myself.  Getting a little frustrated at the moment :(

@billchao please try now.  I had it set to public, but have been having trouble with a lot of the google apps (gmail, Youtube, etc).

As far as the conflicting advice, its basically setup and grip.  One instructor wants me to do a very strong grip with a lot of press at address.  The other (simulator video above), is suggesting more of the 2-knuckle neutral grip with very little press at address.

I will say that yesterday I went to the driving range and spent an hour just working the basics again and trying to hit the different checkpoints... After about 30 minutes, things started working smoothly, and I felt at the end that I "got my swing back".  I am hoping to play a round later today so we will see.

Thanks again for y'all's help and lending a "virtual ear".