My Swing (WatchOutLeft)

I've been Playing Golf for: 2 years

My current handicap index or average score is: 30 (give or take. I haven't recorded enough rounds to really know. I've played as well as +7 on nine holes of par 35, and as poorly as 109 on a par 70)

My typical ball flight is: High

The shot I hate or the "miss" I'm trying to reduce/eliminate is: Primarily an extreme pull on all of my irons and 7 wood. My lower woods and driver I rarely hit because they slice as far right as they go down the fairway. Topping the ball is also a frequent problem.

Don't be afraid to talk to me like I don't know anything, because I pretty much don't. I'm not sure what other information is needed or helpful, but here's some anyway.

I've never received any instruction on my swing, so anything I get here will be my first help. I hit my irons within 10 yards long/short and left/right about 75% of the time. The rest of the time I either have a sever pull (short irons can go 30-40 yards left, long irons worse) or top the ball. I rarely hit my 3 wood or driver because I have a severe slice. I can aim way left and end up on the fairway but I end up getting as much distance with a straight shot from my 3 iron or 7 wood. I am more or less as comfortable hitting my 3 iron as my 9 iron and have the same problems with both (and everything in between) when things go wrong. When I get in closer to the green and use my 56 wedge I am more likely to chunk it from a conscious effort not to scull it and hit it 30 yards past the green.

My follow through both feels and looks weird to me. When I end my shot I often feel a little off balance like I want to take a step towards the target or step back with my left foot. One thing I've heard you are supposed to do that I don't feel like I'm doing is keeping my head down. I have tried this but it makes my follow through even more uncomfortable. I think I at least keep my head down through contact maybe?

Videos: Sorry for the close up view. It was raining and I was trying to keep myself and my phone dry so I was in a close space. I'll try to get a better video at some point if these are useless but hopefully something can be gleaned from these.

In this first video 1st and 3rd shots were fairly good. 2nd shot was topped. Not sure if any of that information is needed.

1st shot topped, 2nd shot pulled, 3rd shot fairly good.

Thanks for the advice! This is the first time I have seen my swing and it looks pretty funky to me. I'll definitely work on that for starters.

Thanks for the advice! I'll definitely check that out and work on getting my weight forward, among other things I'm sure. From a quick glance I noticed there was nothing in there about snap loading my power package or making sure my number 2 power accumulator doesn't break down. I was told there were 24 components of a golf swing, but 5 seems simpler.

So I've been reading through a lot of threads the past couple days since I joined. I was looking in the 5SK Video Thread and I found the post with the 1 Minute with 1 Office Chair drill for getting your weight forward and have been doing that for a few minutes a day. Then I was reading the Divots thread and realized your supposed to hit down on the ball and then hit the ground (I'm sure this is common knowledge for most people, but it wasn't for me). I've always tried to pick all my shots clean and I think that is part of why I was keeping my weight back so I could scoop the ball of the ground. I decided to go out back and hit 30 balls. My goal was to make sure I was keeping my weight forward. I had also read the thread on The Virtue of Being a Stupid Monkey , so I was just focusing on getting my weight forward. I wasn't going to think about anything else or worry how I was hitting the ball. If I felt myself get my weight forward it was a success regardless of how the shot turned out.

First of all, how much do I owe for the lesson? I was amazed how much more comfortable my swing felt and how I no longer felt completely off balance on my follow through. I was also amazed at how much more consistently I was hitting good shots. I know I said I wasn't going to worry about that, but I couldn't help but notice my shots looking very similar. I hit 30 balls and topped one and pulled 2 others. I was also taking divots on almost every shot. I have never successfully taken a divot in my life! Usually "taking a divot" for me has meant hitting the ground 3 inches in front of the ball.

Secondly, I might have taken being a stupid monkey too far. I was so focused on making sure to get my weight forward and not paying attention to anything else, that on my tenth or so shot I forgot to hold on to my club and threw it 20 yards into the woods. I'm just thankful I was in the back yard and not out on a range. That would have been a bit embarrassing.

Anyway, thanks again for the advice. I'm going to keep working on the chair drill and emphasizing getting my weight forward. I'll upload another video when I feel like I've got this one down better.

So I'm uploading my second video after working on Key #2 for a couple weeks. I by no means think I am done working on this, but I wanted to see if I could get some feedback on whether I am moving in the right direction. I think I am from what I can see, but I'm far from an expert on this. I don't really feel comfortable with this concept at full speed but I gave it a try just to see how much (if any) I had improved. I'm pretty confident at about 50% right now (as in it looks how I think it is supposed to, I hit the ball and the ground where I'm supposed to, and the ball goes roughly where I want it to go).

In any event, here's the video:

Here's a video of me practicing at about 50% speed. I know we're not supposed to use videos without a ball but I just want to make sure I have the concept right. If I'm not practicing correctly at half speed, obviously I'm not going to do it correctly at full speed.

Finally here are 2 pictures of my body position at impact from the first video (before practicing Key #2) and this second video (after practicing for 2 weeks).

Any and all feedback is greatly appreciated!

Thanks. I'm not exactly a wealth of golf knowledge right now, so I can't contribute too much in that sense, but I am trying to participate in as many threads as possible that don't require me to know too much.

Thanks @boogielicious ! I practiced that drill today for my five minutes (more like 20 minutes).

I do know I still need lots of work on the weight forward thing. I just wanted to get some feedback on if I was at least progressing at all and in the right direction. This is what I both love and hate about golf. I've always been fairly athletic and played sports growing up and found them easy. Golf is certainly different. I've spent 2+ weeks focusing on one thing and am nowhere near where I need to be just with that one part of the swing. I love the challenge! But at the same time it can be frustrating wanting something to show for all the work and it just not being there yet.

So maybe I should have included this information earlier but it's not something I really like talking about. But if it affects my swing I guess I should. I have scoliosis. My spine curves slightly to my right and my right shoulder naturally hangs about 1 1/2 to 2 inches lower than my left. It's not a major curve from what I have been told. I was watching a weight transfer video where a spine angle line was drawn that should remain the same through the back swing and it dawned on me that maybe my scoliosis was going to be something to overcome in my swing. I searched scoliosis and golf swing and got this.

Can anyone speak to the accuracy of this statement? The problem of too much weight on the back foot is what I'm working to get rid of so it fits with having a slightly rightward curving spine. If in fact this is good advice on how to alter my setup what does it mean to have my back hip slightly closed?

Thanks @boogielicious

Unfortunately I have been all over my yard looking for a flat spot with no success. I live on the crest of a mountain in Virginia. I am getting a hitting mat soon so I can practice on my deck which is the only level spot I have. I may try to record at the range but I'm not sure how to do that without someone else there.

Anywho, I played some golf today and did ok. I tried to focus on key 2 and my swing was kind of all over the place. I hit some of the better shots I have hit this year and some downright terrible ones. My driver was useless. I am going back to leaving that out of the bag. Oddly enough my short game seems to have improved (or more likely I had a fluky day).

Here's my round on GameGolf for anyone who is bored.

http://www.gamegolf.com/player/kylepatrickf/round/310137

Here's a couple of new videos with me on flatter ground after another week and a half of practicing Key #2. As always, any feedback is greatly appreciated. I can take (and want) the criticism, so if I am not improving at all or am getting worse instead of better I want to hear that.

That's a powerful looking swing.

You are getting your weight forward.  I'm wondering if it's too much though.  At 0:10 it seems your knee gets more forward of your hips than I'm use to seeing.  Also, note how your head moves forward by the time you get to impact... At set-up I can see most of that tree trunk to the left of your head, at impact the trunk is at about your right ear.

Yeah my head moving is an unfortunate development. I think that is one of the things I was doing right before.