My Swing (The Lemur)

[The Lemur]

I've been Playing Golf for: Been playing for about 6 months after a 10 year absence.
My current handicap index or average score is: I play around bogey golf
My typical ball flight is: If I hit it good it goes straight
The shot I hate or the "miss" I'm trying to reduce/eliminate is:  Shanking with wedges, shots off the heel with irons.  Sometimes I'll have a slice (especially with long irons)

Alright here are some videos from my range session today.  The driver video is from a month ago.  Some things I've noticed off the bat:

1.)  Going past parallel with my 6 iron

2.)  My setup (6 iron - face on view) - my shoulders are pointing upward.  I also do this weird thing with my left arm at setup where I hyper extend to try to keep the left arm straight through the backswing.  Clearly that's working....

3.)  Setup (6 iron - down the line) - alignment looks bad.  Looks like my feet are lined up to the right of my target possibly.

Corrections for Wednesday range session:

1.)  Don't go past parallel with irons.

2.)  Use an alignment stick to make sure my feet are lined up correctly.

I'll try to get some video of wedge shots and mid irons for tomorrow.  My goals right now are to improve ball striking/irons/wedges.

---

Videos: 

 

 

 

[hoselpalooza]

13 hours ago, The Lemur said:

I also do this weird thing with my left arm at setup where I hyper extend to try to keep the left arm straight through the backswing.  Clearly that's working...

nice swing for such a long layoff!

here's a video of rory mcilroy doing something similar to you, though a bit less pronounced: 

i think i do a decent job of keeping my left arm straight and seeing rory do this was a bit of a light bulb moment. however, i don't think about keeping the left arm straight or hyper-extending it, rather, i focus on keeping both elbows together. e.g. so at address i'll get this feeling by pushing them together, similar to what i think rory does in the above video.

in case you want to prioritize that left arm, here are a few other things i've done which could be of use to you:

1. better shoulder strength and mobility, and better overall flexibility, especially in the upper-back/thoracic spine. e.g. scapula, trapezii, etc.
2. finding a swing plane that suits my body.
3. focusing a lot on grip/grip pressure and wrist hinge, especially how the center of mass of the club feels at different points in the swing. e.g. sometimes i take practice swings in the mirror while varying tempo (fast vs. slow) so i can focus on the feel of the club's mass/momentum in my hands and arms between p2 and p4 and watch how it changes arm movement/swing plane. i have a naturally fast tempo and have learned that if i throw the club out and away from me the momentum of the club will take my body along for the ride. so if i start on plane, maintain correct grip pressure, and let my wrists hinge when they need to, the left arm will stay straight as long as the elbows are reasonably close together and i swing within myself while maintaining good tempo.

best of luck and have fun out there!

 

[trainsmokegolf]

deeper hip and shoulder turn, shaft working steeper in the upswing. good start with the tempo and downswing is good considering the abrupt backswing

[The Lemur]

thanks for the responses @trainsmokegolf and @hoselpalooza !  

17 hours ago, trainsmokegolf said:

deeper hip and shoulder turn, shaft working steeper in the upswing. good start with the tempo and downswing is good considering the abrupt backswing

any suggestions for the backswing in terms of achieving a deeper hip and shoulder turn?  And are you saying I need to flatten my swing plane out a little in my upswing?  Any suggestions/drills for that as well?

[trainsmokegolf]

1 hour ago, The Lemur said:

thanks for the responses @trainsmokegolf and @hoselpalooza !  

any suggestions for the backswing in terms of achieving a deeper hip and shoulder turn?  And are you saying I need to flatten my swing plane out a little in my upswing?  Any suggestions/drills for that as well?

I think the steepness of your shaft is mediocre in the backswing, it seems like your hands and arms are feeling like they are ready to shallow before the backswing is complete.   Check out tour players,  how they exaggerate completing their backswing,  with the right hip getting high and behind them, pause,  then unload everything

Edited May 23, 2019 by trainsmokegolf

[The Lemur]

Thanks again for the input @trainsmokegolf.  Any drill suggestions for improving shaft steepness/completing backswing?  For me at least, understanding something and executing are two very different things...

[trainsmokegolf]

2 minutes ago, The Lemur said:

Thanks again for the input @trainsmokegolf.  Any drill suggestions for improving shaft steepness/completing backswing?  For me at least, understanding something and executing are two very different things...

Adam Scott tee shot routine

 

I go through a similar drill with completing a backswing,  getting the depth and the shaft strongly in my arms

 

[DeadMan]

This is the first thing I would look:

Look at the position of your hips at address and when you complete the backswing. You're sliding off the ball quite a bit. Here's a video to take a look at:

 

[The Lemur]

Thanks for the response @DeadMan!  Looking back at my video, my hips are definitely sliding away from the ball.  I'll definitely work on this in my next driving range session.

[hoselpalooza]

On 5/22/2019 at 12:19 PM, trainsmokegolf said:

...shaft working steeper in the upswing. 

@trainsmokegolf, could you elaborate on what you mean by this?

i know the camera angle is off a bit but in both of the down-the-line videos i think @The Lemur's swing plane looks pretty good, especially during takeaway at p2. 

[ladders11]

It looks like feet a few inches too far apart in the driver video, that could limit your rotation in the backswing. And weight may be a bit too far forward in the 6 iron video, I would be starting with my weight more balanced with mid-irons.