My Swing (Bonvivant)

[Bonvivant]

I've been Playing Golf for: I played lots as a youngster (from age 4 to 15), but haven't ever taken golf seriously until this season. I had played ~6 rounds in the last 10 years. I am 30 years old
My current handicap index or average score is: If the course is 6500 yards, I tend to play in the upper 90s.
My typical ball flight is: either a high fade or a mid-high pull on bad contact. When I feel that I have hit it good, it goes straight
The shot I hate or the "miss" I'm trying to reduce/eliminate is: pulling mid to mid-short iron shots

I've put off doing this because I was afraid of what I might see, and I generally like how I strike the ball when it is good. I finally busted out the tripod today to get some clips for review and to post here especially. I hope I can get some good info out of this and will hopefully be updating this regularly (maybe 1 time per week). Thanks, and Cheers!

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Videos: 

 

[Bonvivant]

I left out important information in that intial post. I have never had any lessons that I can remember. My dad might have had some guidance when I first started swinging a plastic club (age 2 I think) but other than that it was mostly just playing regularly when I was younger. This year I have been trying to go to the range a minimum of 2 times per week and play at least 45 holes a week. I've been enjoying it loads, but want to score better. Thats why I've taken the video plunge. 

[iacas]

I recommend you spend some time doing the Wall Drill to get a good feeling:

 

[Cantankerish]

45 holes a week seems like a lot.  I can see that your downswing is rather vertical.  I would be interested to see how you do with a consciously more horizontal downswing.  I bet the fade will go straighter.

[Bonvivant]

4 hours ago, Cantankerish said:

45 holes a week seems like a lot.  I can see that your downswing is rather vertical.  I would be interested to see how you do with a consciously more horizontal downswing.  I bet the fade will go straighter.

I almost always get 18 in on Saturday, and 18 on Sunday. Sometimes its 36 on one of those days. Range sessions during the week and maybe 9 after work one day. I haven't had a chance to get the tripod back out since this, but I have had my record rounds on the 2 courses that I play the most since then.

 

7 hours ago, iacas said:

I recommend you spend some time doing the Wall Drill to get a good feeling:

 

Thanks for the tip. After reading through the first two sections of LSW, my range sessions (2 60 ball buckets) have been focused on key 1. I will have to get video of it soon to see how much, if any, progress is being made. 

[Bonvivant]

Haven't had a chance to get out to the range in the last week because of OT at work. Luckily I am still getting to golf on the weekends (54 holes has become a norm) as long as the weather holds. Irons were not great this past weekend, but the driver and short game kept me feeling positive. Hopefully I will be back on a normal schedule on Friday, and will get a chance to do a range session with more video. I will be trying to make sure head stays more steady and I can move my shoulders and hips a bit more. After reviewing these on numerous occasions, I think my weight is getting forward enough, but not early enough, so that will be another point to work on. I know I have the weird left heel up thing going on, so I will be trying to bring my right knee back, instead of swaying so much.

 

[Cantankerish]

I have found that it is an UNNATURAL amount of effort required to keep weight forward during the swing.  You are definitely swaying.  I think that the left heel up is no in-and-of itself an issue, though it is probably not ideal for amateurs trying to get the basics right.  But it is a part of your weight being all wrong.  The wall exercise is really what you want right now.  It should be the first order of business until it becomes the norm for you to stop swaying.  Your short-term outlook may be some cruddy strokes due to this reorganization.  But it is necessary.

 

caveat: If anyone contradicts me, they are probably right.

[Bonvivant]

Really really long time since I've posted here. From the TST outing and my first ever lesson. The biggest problems that I had were with grip and opening up the face immediately at take-away.

Grip got stronger and more in base of fingers instead of being more in the palm. I have to focus on this every single time, and as it is new to me, my hands/fingers are on fire with how many times I did this over the weekend.

My swing got way wider as I focused on keeping the face square through the swing. When I stopped opening it up immediately my right (trail) arm stopped bending to an extreme and was more manageable. Also, chilled out on the dance moves. Although it was mentioned, my mind wasn't there and it went away kind of own its own. I'll leave the heel lift for disco nights, I think.

This was the main drill for my lesson, focusing on keeping the club face more square to my line. It felt odd at first, but I think with a couple more decent sized range sessions dedicated to this, it will become more natural.

This last image just shows how different I was pre and post drill.

 

I honestly can't believe that these were taken on the same day. As soon as my hands feel good, it will be back to the range to really focus on all of this stuff and getting it ingrained in my muscle memory. Some of this stuff felt like it was coming for free just from focusing on a square/more closed club face.