My Swing (hokie2009)

[hokie2009]

I've been Playing Golf for: 4 months
My current handicap index or average score is: I shoot 100-120 on a difficult course if nothing goes too horribly wrong
My typical ball flight is: a manageable fade
The shot I hate or the "miss" I'm trying to reduce/eliminate is: (severely) chunked/topped shots, sliced OB drives
 

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Videos: 

 

Edited August 8, 2019 by iacas
please embed videos

[Double_AA]

Nice swing!

[hokie2009]

Been hitting balls every day between the range of wiffle balls in the back yard ... have hit hundreds since the last time I actually hit a shot clean ... feel totally lost ... 7-iron carrying 100 yards, everything is fat or thin ... I am a beginner but have had several extended stretches where I was actually contacting the ball well on full shots- 160 yard carry draws with 7 iron, while using the same "Bryson / setup 4 impact" setup ... but cannot for the life of me get back to that ... starting to forget what that feeling of clean contact even is ...

been working primarily on swing plane, pivot, and keeping hands in front of the clubhead (lag / forward shaft lean) at impact. Have had conflicting advice from teaching pros ... one told me everything I have a problem with stems from having a "weak" left wrist at impact, not like strong/weak grip but like grip pressure strength, he's saying I need to hold the club with the strength of balling the first to throw a punch or I will not make good contact. But seemingly I was making good contact for SOME times - without doing this, and it feels quite unnatural and difficult for me as I have a lot of nerve damage in my hands and arms from thoracic outlet syndrome / computer neck postures ...

I feel like my swing is not THAT bad and have hesitated because if I post one swing here, it is different the next day and the next ... currently all I can think to do is to go back to just basic chipping motion and maybe dip toes into a pitching motion / "acquired motion" to use golfing machine terminology  ...

Don't really know what I'm doing wrong as even though I've made a lot of changes ... I am at the point where I cannot even contact the ball seemingly ... as bad or worse than when I first started 4 months ago, and I have been practicing a LOT every week since I started ...

any help much appreciated ...

[hokie2009]

 

took care to get the camera angle correct but picked up the club I had laid down before addressing the ball ...

this was the best contact of 4 or 5 swings I video'd but perhaps misleading hitting a wiffle ball off of a mat ... I often feel like I get mat-first and bounce into it which look "okay" but translate to 90yd chunks on the course 

this swing was emphasizing staying connected and making a body pivot instead of a disconnected arm swing ... seems like there are some things in this swing that I should try to build into muscle memory but still never certain ... and wondering if just laziness with grip/posture lead to most of my mis-hits ... but would they lead to total duffs?

 

[hokie2009]

Okay ... update time ... been spending a few months converting to a "normal" grip and therefore setup/address position (at least relative to my setup4impact / bryson type attempt at first) ... and mostly following a lot of George Gankas' information that I've parsed from hundreds of videos ...
 

 

 

I've always naturally WANTED to be across the line at the top of the backswing ... not too terribly worried about that right now (of course since I follow Gankas ...) ... really happy with how on-plane my takeaway is, and the contact here is phenomenal, for me ...

I shot a 45 today in 9 holes, but that is my best score ever, and mostly due to taking irons off most tees, taking my medicine, and putting and chipping well (by my standards) ...

A local pro insists that I am crowding the ball ... I spent some time in the past week trying to give it a little bit more space ... but I make unquestionably better contact standing like this. I do see my head dive in a little bit when I start the backswing, so I'm thinking maybe I could be an inch or two more balanced? But he was saying that I should be another 6 inches or some away from the ball the last time he saw me. Not sure if I've split the difference here or not ... but any feedback on that notion would be helpful.

My downswing is still steep, it seems, and I've had trouble hitting my woods, but made some progress there today (I thought if I gave myself more room I would go back to hitting those well ... I've had some great success with them pre-swing-change when I was dialed in with the single plane ... but have basically taken them away, and for a week I told myself "yeah I AM crowding the ball and that's why I can't get anything longer than a 5i to perform" which would have been convenient but I tried to back it up and just ... doesn't feel right. Maybe the adjustment I need to make is more subtle than what I was attempting.

Last but not least I feel like my trail knee is pointing almost directly at the camera at the top of the backswing. I've had somebody else point this out as not being "right" but ... I've fiddled with it and not sure how to not do it ... maybe I need to build stabilizing muscles that I just don't have right now? Am I turning my hips TOO much? Or should I be able to keep that knee "internally rotated" and just need to work on some drills or flexibility stuff to get there and still have a full turn?

Any input is much much much appreciated ... happy holidays!

[Salemite]

first of all, let’s go Hokies!

second, i’d like to hear about your gankas experience. interesting fellow, but clear as mud (to me) at times