My Swing (Coder)

[Coder]

I've been Playing Golf for: 3 years, just a few rounds per year, lots of range time, too much YouTube instruction, not enough actual instruction (none!)
My current handicap index or average score is: 110-120
My typical ball flight is: High slice, or worm-burner
The shot I hate or the "miss" I'm trying to reduce/eliminate is: Thins (mostly) and chunks... beginner stuff

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I finally got the courage to share my golf swing with TST...

I believe I started out with a big over-the-top plus early extension move - classic beginner stuff. I now, I think, have a better feel for how the club should shallow in the downswing but I still have the early extension which leads to a lot of thins and whiffs. Sometimes I overcompensate with a squat/crouch into impact that just leads to fat shots.

Interested in whether you guys agree that early extension is the priority fault, whether my downswing is in fact still too steep, and any other observations?

Thanks in advance.

 

 

[boogielicious]

  On 6/7/2019 at 6:45 PM, Coder said:

I've been Playing Golf for: 3 years, just a few rounds per year, lots of range time, too much YouTube instruction, not enough actual instruction (none!)
My current handicap index or average score is: 110-120
My typical ball flight is: High slice, or worm-burner
The shot I hate or the "miss" I'm trying to reduce/eliminate is: Thins (mostly) and chunks... beginner stuff

---

I finally got the courage to share my golf swing with TST...

I believe I started out with a big over-the-top plus early extension move - classic beginner stuff. I now, I think, have a better feel for how the club should shallow in the downswing but I still have the early extension which leads to a lot of thins and whiffs. Sometimes I overcompensate with a squat/crouch into impact that just leads to fat shots.

Interested in whether you guys agree that early extension is the priority fault, whether my downswing is in fact still too steep, and any other observations?

Thanks in advance.

 

 

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There are a lot of good things about your swing: your head is steady, you don’t sway back in your backswing and you are flexible. I would recommend working on making good contact.

Start with shorter swings, like 1/4 and 1/2 swings and just focus on good solid contact. Go to a range and don’t worry about which direction the ball goes. Just work on hitting the ball before the ground. You will develop a feel for what good contact feels like.

[Coder]

Thanks @boogielicious I will give that a try. I also plan to try out a couple of new feels -  bringing the left hip backwards into line with the right, and keeping the hands low through impact. I'll report back!

[Adam C]

You've got quite a few really good looking elements in your swing. I would say the biggest issue for you related to consistency is posture. Simplest way to see it is on your face on video, look at how your head moves. It's more than just your head but that's the easiest thing to track. It has some movement, which a little of is not a huge issue, however you can see it moving up into and through impact and that rarely has good results. From there it continues up as your whole body looses its posture and you end up basically in a standing position.

Fix or drill: If you have a stool this works great but you could also just use the back of a chair. You want the stool at a height where you can just rest your butt on the edge of it with good setup posture. Then you make some practice swings and try and keep contact with the stool. This does two things. First keeps your legs from bending more or straightening in order to keep the same contact point on the stool. Second, the slight sitting posture you need to just rest against the stool is the posture you want to keep throughout the swing especially through contact and into the finish. You can also do this drill against a wall without a club. Put your butt against the wall with good setup posture, and make half swings either mimicking holding a club or just independently hanging your arms down. Work on keeping contact with the wall through the entire movement. The contact point can move from middle to right cheek then to left. That is fine. Again most important is keeping consistent contact through the swing, aka not standing up at impact.

I fight this in my swing especially with longer clubs and harder swings, so I alway have the thought "posture through impact" as my key swing thought.

[trainsmokegolf]

Check out Louis oosthuizen swings,  you guys have similar flow. 

[Coder]

  On 6/12/2019 at 11:47 PM, Adam C said:

Again most important is keeping consistent contact through the swing, aka not standing up at impact.

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Thanks @Adam C for your detailed post and I will give the stool drill a try.

  On 6/13/2019 at 12:01 PM, trainsmokegolf said:

Check out Louis oosthuizen swings,  you guys have similar flow. 

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Thanks @trainsmokegolf for that nice compliment! I have just looked at Oosthuizen's swing and he does seem to extend his lead leg quite early, but maybe too early for an amateur like me to be copying!?

[Coder]

Hi everyone,

1 year since last update, and only 9 holes played in that time! Golf was put on hold for various reasons but I did still visit the range occasionally, and took my first proper lesson just before lockdown began. Looking forward to a lot more golf soon...

I think (?) I am getting better hip turn now. Swing feels much less cramped-up at impact compared to before.

Body weight falling back and staying back, tending to hit thin shots?? Not sure. All comments appreciated!

 

[Yossarian]

A comment from a fellow high handicapper: you have a very good swing for someone shooting in the 110s!

Unless you have a terrible short game, even without major improvements, just practicing to get good contact, you should be able to stay easily in the low 90s.

I guess you are hitting a foam/plastic ball (unless that's your neighbor house and you really hate him). If that's the case you should record when hitting a real ball. Just like people have different swings when swinging with and without ball, I noticed differences (at least in my case) also when hitting a lighter plastic ball, and you don't get the right feedback

 

 

[iacas]

Could you record and make a swing where you feel that you start your backswing with the hips turning a bunch?

Could you record a "swing" where you put a shaft across your shoulders and twist that back as far as possible during a "backswing"?

[Coder]

Hello @iacas - it's an honour to hear from the man himself!

Here is my "hips first" attempt. It definitely feels different, and I think looks different at top of backswing.

 

And here with shaft across shoulders, I realise now it should've been a full swing motion rather than stopping...

 

[iacas]

MUCH better.

Do that for awhile and then look for the next piece.

[Coder]

  On 6/9/2020 at 12:06 PM, iacas said:

MUCH better.

Do that for awhile and then look for the next piece.

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Thank you, I will!