My Swing (Jimjam651)

[Jimjam651]

Hi all! First of all I'm definitely more of a browser than a contributor, so I apologise for that! Now that I've submitted this thread I'll make an effort to get more involved! 

This thread is part intended to be a bit of a swing diary but also part inspired by @iacas podcast with Mike Carroll (Fit for golf)

 

I've been Playing Golf for: 10+ years
My current handicap index: +1.5
My typical ball flight is: Honestly it varies, today was a fade pattern for sure!
The shot I hate or the "miss" I'm trying to reduce/eliminate is: I'm almost trying to reduce a 'feel' rather than a shot.  I really struggle to score when I 'feel' that I'm spinning / coming up and out of the shot.  Sometimes I struggle with both toe & heel strikes and can find it difficult to get in to the back of the ball with long iron / woods.    

What I'm currently working on with my coach: My swing gets a bit 'above plane' or pitches out a bit on the downswing and it all gets a bit flippy through impact.  We're trying to get a bit more slide / lateral movement of the hips towards the target on the downswing to give the myself a bit more room coming down and a lot of drills maintaining the right wrist angle 'right arm flying wedge' to try and reduce the flippy release

 

 

 

[DaveP043]

I'd say welcome to TST, but I see you've been a member for a few years, so welcome to being active here!  I edited your post to specifically mention @iacas.  You may want to review some of the "how to.." topics available, they'll help you navigate through the forum better.  The method to specifically mention a member is here:

https://thesandtrap.com/how-to/mention-members/

 

[Jimjam651]

2 minutes ago, DaveP043 said:

I'd say welcome to TST, but I see you've been a member for a few years, so welcome to being active here!  I edited your post to specifically mention @iacas.  You may want to review some of the "how to.." topics available, they'll help you navigate through the forum better.  The method to specifically mention a member is here:

https://thesandtrap.com/how-to/mention-members/

 

Thank you Dave!

If you could have seen the nightmare I had originally trying to write this post on my mobile you'd understand that tagging someone was the least of my problems 😂

[DaveP043]

2 minutes ago, Jimjam651 said:

Thank you Dave!

If you could have seen the nightmare I had originally trying to write this post on my mobile you'd understand that tagging someone was the least of my problems 😂

I find that using a proper computer is the easiest way to do things here, but I'm old.  There's a learning curve with everything, I just wanted to point out some of the resources available to all of us.

[woodzie264]

Swing looks great - I obviously have nothing to offer you in terms of critique, but hope to hear more from you!

[iacas]

1 minute ago, Jimjam651 said:

Thank you Dave!

If you could have seen the nightmare I had originally trying to write this post on my mobile you'd understand that tagging someone was the least of my problems 😂

I saw it. 😉

Heh heh.

Take this for what it's worth, and realize that I appreciate that you're working with someone AND that you play the game at a very high level already.

---

I'd talk with your instructor about a few things.

First, I think your setup could be more balanced. You shift back more over the balls of your feet during your backswing.

This is at impact but you're in a similar position at A4.

Hand path and stuff looks okay. But you can start to see the "spinny" thing you feel.

Because you haven't really quite gotten forward, and because the hands are kicking the clubhead out slightly, you have to kinda "jump" with even your right leg, rather than it getting "pulled" forward a little bit more. Your pressure is well right for too long.

Here's the backswing from FO. The center of your pelvis never really goes back much, which is going to lead to less momentum during the late backswing/early "fall" period. It may even be an inch forward here, and not all that dynamically.

Because you lack the momentum, it's tougher to get the knee and hip aligned somewhat over the ankle. Can work for a driver, not great for irons IMO.

You're then forced to turn around a still fairly bent left knee…

… which rather than propelling your left hip forward and around (green), pushes it back behind you, away from the target (white).

Did you see this topic?

Talk with your instructor about it, though. Use this as a journal if you want, and if you want to share what he says to these thoughts, feel free to (just tag me so I'll definitely see it).

[Jimjam651]

42 minutes ago, iacas said:

I saw it. 😉

Heh heh.

Take this for what it's worth, and realize that I appreciate that you're working with someone AND that you play the game at a very high level already.

---

I'd talk with your instructor about a few things.

First, I think your setup could be more balanced. You shift back more over the balls of your feet during your backswing.

This is at impact but you're in a similar position at A4.

Hand path and stuff looks okay. But you can start to see the "spinny" thing you feel.

Because you haven't really quite gotten forward, and because the hands are kicking the clubhead out slightly, you have to kinda "jump" with even your right leg, rather than it getting "pulled" forward a little bit more. Your pressure is well right for too long.

Here's the backswing from FO. The center of your pelvis never really goes back much, which is going to lead to less momentum during the late backswing/early "fall" period. It may even be an inch forward here, and not all that dynamically.

Because you lack the momentum, it's tougher to get the knee and hip aligned somewhat over the ankle. Can work for a driver, not great for irons IMO.

You're then forced to turn around a still fairly bent left knee…

… which rather than propelling your left hip forward and around (green), pushes it back behind you, away from the target (white).

Did you see this topic?

Talk with your instructor about it, though. Use this as a journal if you want, and if you want to share what he says to these thoughts, feel free to (just tag me so I'll definitely see it).

I was hoping you hadn't seen the first thread attempts! 

Thank you for your input, I love this stuff so will definitely bring it up with him! 

I think I've understood what you're saying having read your reply and the linked thread!

- Get a bit more 'in to the right heel' (How I think a touch more 'sway' will feel) on the back swing

- The lateral hip movement on the Downswing needs to be less of a slide and more of downward & left pressure movement

Hopefully that's not too terrible of a summary? If that isn't too wide of the mark then the only bit I was unsure about was the set up requiring more balance?

54 minutes ago, woodzie264 said:

Swing looks great - I obviously have nothing to offer you in terms of critique, but hope to hear more from you!

Thanks Woodzie! 

Looking forward to getting more involved for sure!

[iacas]

1 hour ago, Jimjam651 said:

If that isn't too wide of the mark then the only bit I was unsure about was the set up requiring more balance?

Your weight is back in the middle of your feet, so you re-balance toward the balls of your feet during your swing. Look at how you move off the walls/through the dots.

[Jimjam651]

22 hours ago, iacas said:

Your weight is back in the middle of your feet, so you re-balance toward the balls of your feet during your swing. Look at how you move off the walls/through the dots.

I'm with you, I really like the look of Rob Rocks set up in your attached post - its a great visual!

By the way, these informative posts that you're able to quickly direct people towards to further make your point really are fantastic!

I saw my coach today and although we were really focussing on short game stuff we spoke about the swing and how it feels.  I'd worked to tidy up the set up with some mirror work during my night shift last night (UK time here!) so that was improved with a bit of conscious thought today. 

We didn't do too much with the backswing but focused more on getting the pressure in to the lead foot on the downswing (these are just a summary of my feels, this move added more flow to my backswing as the shift starts before the back swing completes really).  The feeling was to shift the pressure enough left that my right foot could be dragged through a little bit, one swing I actually lost balance moving forward so that was fun! 

What was interesting was how much more aggressive / committed the swings felt, I was able to get in to the back of the ball a lot better. 

Some drills to aid the feel 

- Ball forward with long iron and move pressure shift enough to the left to hit punchy shots

- Step through drills 

No videos for this update however if any of the stuff he sends over in the Skillest summary really adds to what I've posted I'll add some screen shots to this post.

[Jimjam651]

Quick summary of today's lesson, I'm not as articulate at explaining some of the concepts and ideas as @iacas so I'll focus on explaining it with the feels ill be working on.

In the backswing we focused on staying more centred and shorter.  My coach didn't like the large chest turn moving me away from the target.  Rob Rocks position at the top is a nice visual for me.  The feel is keeping my weight left, if not moving left going back and stopping the arm swing when I feel tension in the core. 

In adding the image below I realise I'm wearing the same jumper, I have more clothes I promise...

Coming down the feel is to get in to my left side, not being afraid to flex the lead knee more to really get pressure down and left.  

The image below is obviously a feel, I can't get anywhere near it.

 

No DTL pictures of set up changes but I am consciously working on it.

Here's a full swing working on those thoughts, early days but nice changes! 

 

Plan for the next couple of weeks

- Technical work will focus on lots of slow motion / slow swings exaggerating the feels. 

- Filming myself for feedback 

- We're not far off the season starting now so far more time on the course with a score card.  I'll probably do 9 holes scoring and 9 holes playing games if time allows (Worst ball / Best Ball, different ball flights, wrong shot etc)

 

[Jimjam651]

Got some range work done and some time on the course yesterday.  

I suffer a bit from what I'd call 'instant doubt without instant results'.  I really struggle to believe I'm working on the right stuff if I don't see physical changes / performance changes straight away.  I really enjoyed a thread @iacasposted about the grind and agree with every word of it! Actually sticking to and trusting the process I find harder!

 

[Jimjam651]

7 hours ago, Jimjam651 said:

Got some range work done and some time on the course yesterday.  

I suffer a bit from what I'd call 'instant doubt without instant results'.  I really struggle to believe I'm working on the right stuff if I don't see physical changes / performance changes straight away.  I really enjoyed a thread @iacasposted about the grind and agree with every word of it! Actually sticking to and trusting the process I find harder!

 

Going to quote this post and add an update as I spent some time with my coach today.  

One of the things I was struggling with was the feeling that I had no room through the ball so I felt like I had to jump / straighten my legs at impact even though I was getting in to my left side more.

I was still moving too far right off of the ball going back so the feeling is almost to move left (towards the target) on the back swing.  

The down swing feel still had a bump towards the target to start but the main thing we worked on was clearing the hips, feeling like I get my left hip / backside as deep as possible coming down.

It resulted in some nice ball flight & strike changes and will be the focus of my work for the next few weeks

 

[Jimjam651]

Managed to play a couple of times recently which I really enjoyed despite the cold. 

Had a couple of really good driving rounds including playing eight holes shooting 3 under with a couple of missed putts inside 8 foot!

I went to watch to the Sunningdale Foursomes earlier todayand spent the day following Rob Rock! The Sunningdale foursomes is a very relaxed event & Rob was very nice guy so got to spend a bit of time talking to him during the round.

Of course I was motivated to get some practice in when I got home.

Drill feels were 

- Centered and short going back

- Right hip 'down' followed by clearing the left hip

 

The challenge for the rest of the week - trust the process and don't go down rabbit holes 😂

 

[mchepp]

50 minutes ago, Jimjam651 said:

The challenge for the rest of the week - trust the process and don't go down rabbit holes 😂

Yes, this is a big challenge. Social media has really been great for coaching but has certainly has created some man hole size rabbit holes for us golfers to fall into. 

[Jimjam651]

Very happy with this move today! 

Coach wanted me to tidy up my Backswing a little bit and work a bit more up / have less squat. 

The feeling from first parallel is that the chest lifts up to the sky so that you feel a big stretch in the left lat.

Look at the affect that had on the legs not straightening through impact, its exciting!

 

 

[saevel25]

It would help if you lowered that camera down to hand height. Hard to see how the clubhead travels in relation to the body when you are looking down from shoulder height. 

You can get a good tripod for like $30 bucks on amazon. Then get something like this to put your phone in to take video. 

Amazon.com

 

[Jimjam651]

25 minutes ago, saevel25 said:

It would help if you lowered that camera down to hand height. Hard to see how the clubhead travels in relation to the body when you are looking down from shoulder height. 

You can get a good tripod for like $30 bucks on amazon. Then get something like this to put your phone in to take video. 

Amazon.com

 

Thanks bud, I've got and used one in every other video in the thread 👍

Edited March 10, 2023 by Jimjam651

[iacas]

1 hour ago, Jimjam651 said:

bud

Wow. Aggressive.