Faldo Institute Video Analysis

[montru]

Ok I think I got it right now, here is the video analysis of my golf swing taken at the Nick Faldo Golf Institute in Orlando last month.
There are one or two things the instructor said that I disagree with but take a look and let me know what you guys (& girls) think.
Maybe you might be able to pick up a few tips for yourself.

Click on each image to launch the video, to go full screen click on the spyglass at the top left.

[JackieTreehorn]

those were interesting videos. it sounds like you want to be a 1 plane swinger and she is forcing a 2 plane swing "on ya".

[worst_shot_ever]

Thanks for sharing. Just watching those was helpful to me. I dont know enough to venture any thoughts on mechanics, but I will say that I was surprised at how high Faldo brings his club on the backswing. I do that with my short irons, but tend to be a bit lower in the swing plane -- like you -- with my mid and long ones (rightly or wrongly, I dont know).

[TarDawg]

Less video of you and more video of her :)

[montru]

Since going to see them my short game (pitching, chipping & putting) has improved but the rest of my game has got worse I was playing to a low 16, shooting mid to low 80's now I'm shooting mid to low 90's and club handicap has gone up t0 17.4.

[jambalaya]

One thing I noticed is that the first vertical line she drew for you showing your ball position was drawn at an angle. Your ball wasn't set up at your right ear but probably right under your nose or a little forward of that. I didn't realize Nick was a two planer. The bit about getting your hands behind you probably was valid. I wouldn't get lessons there because I want one plane golf instruction. I was also surprised at how straight up and down the club was for Nick at address. What club was that? I guess if it was a 4 iron that wouldn't be bad.

[montru]

All the lessons we took for the video were with a 7 Iron, I think the reason being that is the club Nick was using, I may be wrong but that is what I believe.

[jambalaya]

Did she discuss ball position philosophy? I heard her say to put the ball two inches inside your left heal which leads me to believe that she was teaching the method whereby you widen and narrow your stance while keeping the ball in the same position relative to your left heal. This opposed to moving the ball back or forward in your stance. She was certainly right about you coming a little far inside and coming down inside the original plane. But she is definitely teaching a two plane swing. Is that what you wanted? Did you know the difference before you took the lessons there? Not that it matters but I think instructors should explain the difference so you understand around which method you are building your swing.

[montru]

She did speek briefly on ball position but didn't go through the stance widening etc, she basically said the stance should not be any wider than your shoulders.
She didn't say or explain about a two plane swing and to be honest I didn't know I was a one planer.
I have been working on not coming too far inside and shortening my backswing a little so I can keep it on plane coming back down.
That is probably why I have struggled so much to change and I have almost gone back to my old swing with a little tweek here and there.

I played today at Sarasota National (68.8/116 6034yds) here in southwest Florida and started out a little shaky, I had 47 on the front and 40 on the back with four three putts on the card, it looks like I am getting back to my old ways now which I am more that happy aboutas the last 6-8 weeks have been a nightmare!

Mike

[Avid Golfer]

Ok I think I got it right now, here is the video analysis of my golf swing taken at the Nick Faldo Golf Institute in Orlando last month.

I've had my swing analized by the Nick Faldo Golf Institute also (a year or two ago in California), and I think it can be time well spent. If you get a good (and knowlegable) instructor it can help, but like with all golf instruction if you get a less skilled instructor (or one with weaker communication skills) it may be counter productive (if you believe what the instructor tells you). Anyone interested in having videos of their swings examined can always send it in to the SandTrap Swing Check for analysis and request a favorite pro (or pros) to have it compared to for free.

Like you, montru, there are things I don't agree with that she says, and things that she fails to notice (or mention). I've made screen captures of your video and drawn a couple lines from things I see. (see the pictures in the spoiler tags below). I agree with her that your ball position is too far back, and the shaft angle at address (face on view) is leaning too much toward the target. One thing I think she failed to notice in that top frame is the position of your hips and legs. Your hips and legs look to be set away from the target (to the left from the camera view). If you look at Faldo in comparison you see his right knee bumped inside his right hip, and his left knee is stacked more on top of his left foot (instead of inside it). The position you're in can lead to excessive lower body movement on the backswing, but Faldo's is set to provide stability and resistance. Nick Faldo (from the down the line view) stands closer to the ball and sticks his butt out more at address. You stand father away from the ball with more forward tilt (toward the ball) of the upper body. (See the seperation between the red balls of feet/knee cap line and the edge of your shoulder?) That also encourages excessive lower body movement. As you swing back your back leg straightens and your hips turn excessively. That is why your club swings deep behind you as opposed to more in front of the chest like we see with Faldo (who has more contained hip rotation). The more stable lower body will lead to an a more Faldo like half way back position (what she is trying to get you to do sounds like it would be a compensation move, and not correct the cause). The bottom left comparison she made is pointless in my view since you are in to very different parts of the swing. (Your at the top of your swing in the left shirt image, and only half way back in the blue shirt image). As far as the downswing I suspect the reason why you loose your wrist hinge is because you have lost your posture (and spine angle). Faldo has done a good job of maintaining his angles (look at top middle image and bottom right image), and that is one of the reasons he is able to get to hip high on the downswing with his right wrist still hinged back, and approach from a shallow angle.

[montru]

Thank you very much for your input, I think some of the stuff she said was very valid and I think you have very valid points as well.
To answer a couple of points you made, I tend to hit a very high ball trajectory so trying to get it lower started playing it back and delofting the club, since going to Faldo's place I have moved it back more to the middle.

I think I tend to set up a little open with my hips etc because my ball flight is usually left to right so I set that way to cut it back to the target.
I have moved away from the ball slightly to try and flatten my swing plane out because my local pro told me to because my swing was far too steep.
The next time I'm out practicing I will try and work on some of the issues you raise to see if it makes any difference.

Thanks again

Mike

[Avid Golfer]

I tend to hit a very high ball trajectory so trying to get it lower started playing it back and delofting the club, since going to Faldo's place I have moved it back more to the middle.

My opinion is that it is best to keep the setup as simple and consistent as possible from one shot to the next. The pros tend to keep the ball consistently in line with the left ear regardless of what club they are hitting( excluding the driver - see image below). By changing the ball position balance, posture, swing plane, angle of attack, spin rate, and clubface angle are all altered leading to more variables that are going to make a repeating swing and contact much more difficult.

Some parts of the setup can be flexible to change and still result in good contact (alignment and grip being two), while others (like balance and posture) aren't as easy to change and still achieve solid and consistent contact. That is why for most pros you find that the edge of their shoulder, knees, and balls of the feet line up (again regardless of club -see image below). Standing father away from the ball (getting the upper body tilted too much toward the ball) makes it much more difficult to maintain balance and posture, and get back down to a solid impact position. If you have good setup fundamentals, and you don't have faulty motions (straightening back leg, over rotating hips, arms seperating and moving independantly) then you shouldn't have to worry about swing plane. (A good setup, stable lower body, and a coordinated arm/body motion will be the big determining factors of swing plane). Immelman iron setup:

Els, Goosen, Garcia, and Immelman driver setup:

Els, Elkington, Norman, and Price irons setup: