My Swing (Carl3)

[Carl3]

I've been Playing Golf for: 40 years
My current handicap index or average score is: 9.6
My typical ball flight is: Straight
The shot I hate or the "miss" I'm trying to reduce/eliminate is: Fat/Thin

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Videos: 

 

 

[iacas]

Pause that DL view at about A5.3 and look at that leading edge.

Glad to see you have a Member Swing now!

[Carl3]

Here?

I am guessing that it is a little open? 

I was a bit over the top too, I think. Have adopted the strong grip you showed me at Chautauqua for my irons and it has helped a bunch. Need to focus on a closed take away and not taking it inside so quick.

I need to work on my setup for hybrids and woods with my strong grip so that the ball does not fly left. Really feeling more powerful and confident on iron set up for sure. 

Edited December 28, 2020 by Carl3

[Carl3]

With 22" of snow, was itching to go to a local golf dome. Here is the best I could do under the circumstances:

 

 

[iacas]

7 hours ago, Carl3 said:

Here?

I am guessing that it is a little open? 

I was a bit over the top too, I think.

Yes, and the open face leads directly to the "over the top" move.

[Carl3]

A funny story about swing videos. About 10  years ago my daughter had finished up her journalism degree and was real good with video and editing. (She has since completed two law degrees, but is still good with the camera). For my June birthday she joined me at the driving range for a video session. I was a bogey golfer at the time, very happy with a nine hole round in the low 40's or an 18 hole round in the high 80's. A couple of weeks later my high definition video arrives. I am very excited as I had never seen my swing. There were caddy and down the line views as well as slo mo.

I watched it and was so horrified that I quit golf.  My verbal response was that "I can't believe that I do that in public". So from the end of June and the remainder of that year I never picked up a golf club. I found other things to do. 

Well, spring came to Ohio and the pull of golf got me out to the course. I vowed to get better and decided that if I do not break 80 in 3 years that I will quit golf for good. I took a couple of lessons and spent a lot of time at the range which paid off as I broke 80 for the first time that year. Spending time on 25 yards and in really helped my score not only for the short game, but making consistent contact and developing a FOCUS for a target started to take hold. It Is amazing that I played golf for so many years with only a vague, notional target at the top of my mind.

Two summers ago I played about 75 rounds with a competitive group that had Saturday and Sunday pot games. I was able to get down to a 5.4 index and flirted with breaking par a couple of times. This year I moved to a new state and played about half that many rounds with very few of them being competitive. I am up to a 9.6 index, which would be higher if it were not for the soft-capping. If you don't know what that is, look it up. Now that I am not so horrified with my swing, here are things I see that I would like to fix in no particular order:

• My lead arm breaks down most likely due to may age (55), being out of shape and not very flexible. I will work on losing weight, stretching and using a mirror and repetition to help keep that lead arm straight.
• Poor lag. It has gotten better, but the club head is leaking forward quite a bit on the downswing. I am losing a lot of power/clubhead speed. I can consciously try to hold the lag plus work on the flexibility of my wrists and forearms or maybe I can get my hips to move faster and open more. Not sure what is causing this or how to fix it, but I will be trying all sorts of things.
• My legs are bent at the finish and it seems that they should be extended. I don't think I can blame it on practicing in the basement for the past few weeks. My finish does not look strong and my belt buckle is not looking up towards the sky. I finish like a hunchback. I have noticed that if I come into the ball from my downswing with what seems like a super-closed face that it forces my body get get ahead for what could be a better impact position.
• The videos don't seem to reveal much about my impact position, but my sense is that it is still pretty weak. I was a huge flipper, but I think that has gotten better since my session with Erik at Chautauqua this past summer. I know that my impact position is less than ideal.
• On one video I noticed a bit of what looked like early extension where I moved vertically near impact and maybe a little towards the ball. This was huge on the videos from 10 years ago, so it has gotten a lot better.  

I would like to get beyond where I was two summers ago and knw that my swing needs a lot of work. Not sure where to start.

 

Edited December 29, 2020 by Carl3

[iacas]

IMO your single biggest issue right now is the face on the downswing. It's better than it was in CHQ, but now we've got to specifically work on the downswing.

• First, redouble efforts on the grip, particularly how far in the fingers your grip is, otherwise this video will be more difficult for you.
• Second, film some videos and see what you can do to get the face pointing more toward the sky at the top. Something is happening there. It's toe "down" a little during the takeaway, but then rotates to very open late in the backswing. I'd love to see some video of you doing this slowly (put the camera by a mirror so you can see what you're doing too) and even talk out loud about what things feel like. Have the face pointing toward the sky instead of horizontally or even downward.
• Third… watch this video. It may be the next step, because you lay the face back even more during the downswing.

But, word of caution: you won't be able to do step 3 without having done 1 and 2. DO NOT do step 2 by palmar flexing during the backswing, even really late. You should be able to have the face less open at the top (A4) even with a little cupping. Do not palmar flex at the top or you'll cup on the downswing.

Everything in your swing stems from the face being open at the top and early in the downswing.

It's gonna feel like the one on the left (see what it takes for you to be able to get to the top with the face that shut - the left is actually shut/closed), but if you can end up even somewhat close to the right… great. Then you can work on #3.

[Carl3]

After working on this for four days I think there are some incremental improvements:

I think that I have a slightly closed face at the top. I might lose it some on the way down. I think that my lag is good. On the downswing when my hands are waist high, the shaft still looks vertical. I have done a lot of mirror work trying to get my wrists and forearms to do things that they are not used to doing. One thing I noticed was that bringing back the club at a shallower plane allowed me to get my hands and consequently the clubface closed at the top. 

I think that I maybe taking my clubs up steeper than necessary on the backswing (?)  

 

[Carl3]

Definitely still over the top. The arc of my hands on the downswing is more vertical than that of the backswing. I know that it should be the opposite. My had position looks only slightly higher at impact than at address, so I have to be coming from outside to in. 

Will keep working on trying to keep the clubface closed on the downswing.

[boogielicious]

1 hour ago, Carl3 said:

Definitely still over the top. The arc of my hands on the downswing is more vertical than that of the backswing. I know that it should be the opposite. My had position looks only slightly higher at impact than at address, so I have to be coming from outside to in. 

Will keep working on trying to keep the clubface closed on the downswing.

Do it slower and finish at A8 or A9. Think steep to shallow from A3 to A5 and rehearse that feel. Post a video of you doing it at 50%. Doing it slow will reinforce the feel.

[iacas]

On 12/29/2020 at 9:32 AM, iacas said:

• First, redouble efforts on the grip, particularly how far in the fingers your grip is, otherwise this video will be more difficult for you.
• Second, film some videos and see what you can do to get the face pointing more toward the sky at the top. Something is happening there. It's toe "down" a little during the takeaway, but then rotates to very open late in the backswing. I'd love to see some video of you doing this slowly (put the camera by a mirror so you can see what you're doing too) and even talk out loud about what things feel like. Have the face pointing toward the sky instead of horizontally or even downward.

@Carl3…

5 hours ago, Carl3 said:

Definitely still over the top.

Because of how you get to the top.

Please do the bold.

[Carl3]

OK, how about this?

Edited January 2, 2021 by Carl3

[iacas]

That's better!

[Carl3]

A couple of years later... feel like I am hitting my irons much crisper,but can get some hooking problems with the strong grip. Working on turning through and not stopping at impact.

8 iron

4 iron

 

Driver

Maybe standing up a bit near impact? A little goat humping on the driver? Wife made these and couldn't get a caddy view, but was anxious to post these.

[iacas]

No FO video, but I think you're likely VERY late getting forward. It should start partway during the backswing. I think you almost start everything down/forward only after you finish your backswing.

[Carl3]

On 3/27/2023 at 9:19 PM, iacas said:

No FO video, but I think you're likely VERY late getting forward. It should start partway during the backswing. I think you almost start everything down/forward only after you finish your backswing.

I am thinking step and rope drills might help me with getting forward sooner and making a more athletic move on the ball.

I feel like I have solved the open face issue at the top with the irons. I feel like the flipping is gone and at times I need to keep from trapping and over-flighting the irons.

 

[iacas]

13 hours ago, Carl3 said:

I am thinking step and rope drills might help me with getting forward sooner and making a more athletic move on the ball.

Couldn't hurt.

13 hours ago, Carl3 said:

I feel like I have solved the open face issue at the top with the irons. I feel like the flipping is gone and at times I need to keep from trapping and over-flighting the irons.

That's good!

[Carl3]

On 3/29/2023 at 9:34 PM, iacas said:

That's good!

So although the irons are a world of difference, I am now struggling with driver, 3w, 3h. They don't sail anywhere near as high and I am often hooking them, especially the 3h. I will to to get some video up, but was wondering if you had any thoughts. 

I obviously have a closed face at impact and am probably delofting these woods. A few years ago I often hit these clubs as good or better that the irons.