My swing is truly awful; I'm lost

[Hustle]

You're right, but I'm nervous about a "quick fix." It's pretty clear that I just need to work on shortening my backswing and taking my arms out of it. This should set me at a better top position, which hopefully will be the key to a proper downswing plane and impact path.

I totally disagree with everything he said, you stay far away from anyone who recommends a quick fix. You should never close your shoulders too the target, and you by no means have an over the top swing. You simply need to get your entire body aimed down your target line... I agree that everyone is going to offer advice, and I wander if sites should start setting up only certain users who can offer advice...

[JaY_B]

I totally disagree with everything he said, you stay far away from anyone who recommends a quick fix. You should never close your shoulders too the target, and you by no means have an over the top swing. You simply need to get your entire body aimed down your target line... I agree that everyone is going to offer advice, and I wander if sites should start setting up only certain users who can offer advice...

You seem too have taken a sudden hate to me? any particular reason?

Squaring up the shoulders is not a quick fix, its a fundamental part of the set up, did it not occur to you that I suggested that he closes his shoulders as that over exaggerated feeling would actually bring the shoulders square to the target line? If you watch the video closely the ball starts left and seems to hook (although as I have said earlier you can not see this from a 10 second video) which would obviously suggest and over the top move in the down swing and a closed club face at impact. Agreed every golfer should set up completely square to the target line, depending on the shot being played Any pearls of wisdom on how said golfer should achieve this? It's all very well saying you should do this, you should do that but it helps if you know what your talking about, instead of copying what you read from a magazine.

[iacas]

You seem too have taken a sudden hate to me? any particular reason?

Don't worry. Hustle is gone. He went off the deep end very quickly and started picking fights with several people. The Sand Trap is better in his absence.

[sonicblue]

I played yesterday, pretty tight course. I definitely made some progress with just a couple key working points. Unfortunately, my camcorder battery went dead. Basically, I really focused on posture, a comfortable arm hang at address and a short, arm-free, shoulder-focused backswing. I hit a lot of good tee shots. My iron game is shaky but I did hit a few on the button. I'm pretty optimistic but have a way to go to get my total scoring game back on track. Thx again to all who offered advice.

[BASHERBAKER69]

Have a lesson and just practice your fundamentals- Grip, posture, alignment. Patience is what is required here.

[steve8820]

Turning the shoulders to square or slightly right has helped me out a lot. I have a big problem at times with coming over the top and squaring my shoulders forces me to swing inside out and to get into the correct position at impact. Of course, I have only been playing a year so take advice from a 14.3 with a grain of salt.

[sonicblue]

I'm SO close. I've been using my Momentus religiously, working on taking my arms out of the swing, making a comfortable shoulder turn without overtorquing, staying connected in the transition and downswing, and coming from the inside-to-square at impact, with a special focus on balance through the finish. I can feel the change, and it feels really good already, but I'm JUST missing putting it all together. Shot 43 on nine in my league last night (par is like 34, I think?).

On a positive note, my short game feels great. I saved a couple great pars and rolled a lot of good putts. My biggest problems remain:

1) Pulling drives, which I think is just a balance thing. I'm just stopping my body when I get too concerned with the upper body part of my swing.

2) My irons. This is what's most frustrating, because I'm really making mistakes, mostly chunks. While my tee game isn't awesome, it's not hurting me. I have a lot of very feasible opportunities to hit greens, and I'm missing. It's like I'm starting out no better than a scrambling par and any other slips bring in bogey or double. I feel pretty good that it's just a hiccup as I work on my swing, but I'm still a little impatient for it to come along.

[SpacklersEdge]

I just found this post, after reading one of your responses to one of my posts. After seeing your swing, we have very similar problems. The club going past parallel at the top, and pointing well right of the target line look EXACTLY like my vids. How have things bee ngoing with shortening up your swing?

[sonicblue]

I just found this post, after reading one of your responses to one of my posts. After seeing your swing, we have very similar problems. The club going past parallel at the top, and pointing well right of the target line look EXACTLY like my vids. How have things bee ngoing with shortening up your swing?

In that case, I'm sorry......;). It's going well. I think I finally managed today to stumble upon the needed "quietness" in my hands that still will allow me to feel contact. I need to video again to see if I'm getting as short as I feel (like I said, the proper top of the backswing is likely far shorter than we think!), but that part feels really good.

[kc8kir]

I find one of the keys in my swing to stop going across the line is to always feel the momentum of the club. At a certain point, you loose that feel at the top of the swing from swinging too far. When you loose that, your wrists fall apart and there is a timing issue to get the feel back before applying power on the downswing. Think of pushing a child on a swing. Push to far, and the chains collapse. Same idea with the backswing. Take short swings and feel how if it is too short, the momentum is really jerky (the club still wants to go up!). Increase the length until you loose the feel (to far), then back off. The little bit of resistance will cock your wrists naturally and provide a cue to initiate your downswing and load the shaft properly.

This took me a long time to figure out, but was a huge deal in stopping overswinging.

Maybe this will help you.

[sonicblue]

I think you're dead-on and agree, but that's a very helpful analogy. Thanks.

[hkmp5]

I would kill to have a swing that nice , what do you want to look like Tiger woods ?

[CPHoya]

The only advice that's truly trustworthy - though I think Jay_B is basically right - is to get set up for some lessons with a good PGA teacher. You obviously love the game and have the mindset/physical aptitude for it. Let someone help make you better.

[sonicblue]

I'm very close to getting lessons, but for now, I think GIVING them actually helped. A girl I work with is interested in picking up the game. Some athletic experience but never held a club before. I told her I'd give her some rudimentary lessons, just to see if she liked it enough to buy equipment or pursue it further. We went to the range at lunch today. I borrowed a "mid-iron" from my wife's Callaway GES set for her to use. I showed her a basic grip and just told her to "just feel like you're in control of the club at setup, and just maintain it during the swing."

As far as the swing itself, I just tried to ingrain that the swing should be quiet and balanced. I didn't get into swing plane at all, just tried to get her swinging back with "the triangle," and not to fight it by either being too rigid or bending a lot of the wrists and elbows. Just "be quiet." She was able to get/look very comfortable at setup quickly, but her tendency is to let her wrists fall. She was swinging back by lifting with the elbows instead. I just kept having her "hand me" the club to the parallel point on the backswing, and would then reset her wrists. Soon, she was able to do it on her own, and could feel what right v. wrong was like at that point, but it will take some practice.

After some of that technical stuff, she asked if she could just try to hit some. I switched gears and said, "sure, but forget about all the technical stuff. Just setup and worry about doing whatever motion you do smoothly and quietly, and your only goal is just to hit the ball straight. Far's great, in the air is good, but straight is the goal." The swing was very loose, but she managed to keep it short, didn't overswing, balance was ok (little reverse pivot). She to hit probably 15 of her 20 balls dead straight, most airborne (some nicely so) and about 60-70 yards. I'm not sure I convinced her what a great result I thought that was.

OK, now the relevant part... ;) She asked to see me hit some balls. I had only brought my 8-iron out with me, more so I could just hold something in showing her some things. I hit probably 20 balls as well, and about 15 of them completely covered the 150 flag, with my swinging what I felt was about 75%. I still had to "think" on it every shot, fight some tendencies/thoughts, but I'm nearly out of this funk, methinks......

[phatone]

It looks like you lose a little of your spine angle through impact.

[jambalaya]

I find one of the keys in my swing to stop going across the line is to always feel the momentum of the club. At a certain point, you loose that feel at the top of the swing from swinging too far. When you loose that, your wrists fall apart and there is a timing issue to get the feel back before applying power on the downswing. Think of pushing a child on a swing. Push to far, and the chains collapse. Same idea with the backswing. Take short swings and feel how if it is too short, the momentum is really jerky (the club still wants to go up!). Increase the length until you loose the feel (to far), then back off. The little bit of resistance will cock your wrists naturally and provide a cue to initiate your downswing and load the shaft properly.

Excellent thought.

[sonicblue]

Uggghh...so close. Shot 83 at a course I'm very familiar with, par 70, 6400 yds. I hit so many good shots, but was scrambling nearly all day. I just can't get my tee game in line, as I think I still get loose at the top with my driver. My irons are really coming together, though. I also hit a ton of good putts, but nothing fell. Had one chip that was good the entire 60 feet, and lipped out. All in all, I played with good tempo and kept my head in the game. When I get this little physical bit ironed out, I'll be rolling. I have to get another video, I think...

[sonicblue]

I DID IT!! I broke through. Now, I'm aware that one good round doesn't always throw off good rounds, but it was the way I got there that has me excited. At my dad's course, a course I'm very familiar with, but it's tough, even from the whites (I just play where my dad does, he can't hit it far any more: par 72, 6350 yds or so, very hilly).

First day, we go out, and I still feel "off." Every hole, one shot just gets away from me. My short game was good, but not awesome, and I squirrel around for a frustrating 89. Later that evening, I head back out to play a few holes with my wife and 7 y/o son. While there, it just "hit me."

My problem was, in trying to shorten my backswing and minimize my hand action, I had been keeping my hands in a poor position. Although the "engine" of my swing felt short and strong, I just couldn't return my hands to square, so I was still pushing/pulling as I struggled with timing. However, with just a very small tweak to my grip, my hands went into the right position for my backswing. All I had to do was just let them naturally achieve their cocked position during the backswing, hold that angle on the downswing, and then just release them at impact, and they were square.

Although I still had swings where I had trouble trusting the whole thing - most often pulling up and hitting thin in those cases - my mistakes were far less severe. Plus, I was just much more relaxed knowing that I had the "fix," and knowing that the trust would come. I hit a flurry of solid, in-GIR-position tee shots and hit a lot of approaches right toward my green target (very windy, so GIRs still tough to come by). My chipping was actually not the best; although I had one long chip-in, I left a lot of shots 8-10 feet, where they were begging to be hit to 3-4 feet. Though my putting was excellent, I'm still not going to drop a ton of putts that length, but I did very well, in general (even draining one very snaky 20-footer for birdie.

Final tally, even with a bogey (par 3, missed a tough up/down) and double bogey (bad tee decision, unlucky clipped branch on the punch-out): 76 !