My Swing (TN94z)

[TN94z]

Now that I am getting to actually play some golf again, I am going to bring this thread back so I can track my progress once again.  I played my first round this week and it felt like it has been forever.  The biggest thing I was doing with my driver was hitting it left.  It wasn't a bad flight, just started straight and had some draw.  So I wanted to make sure I still understand what's going on here.

-Starts straight and draws would indicate the face being square (with target line) at impact and closed to the path, right?

-Does this most likely indicate my path wasn't inside out enough? My thinking is that the only way for the ball to start straight at the target and draw would be with a path that was just outside target line and a closed clubface with that path.

-The same club face angle with a more inside out swing path would have the ball start to the right of target (because it would now be pointed to the right) and curved back to target?

Does this sound right or have I just confused myself on the ball flight laws?

Also, my (now 12 year old) has easily doubled his distance!!  It's amazing how much farther he hits it now.  We have to get his swing straightened out too but seeing him hit it has really got me excited to see how he progresses!

[TN94z]

We went to the range today to work on some things. I was puring the ball! All the way down to my 3i which I never hit pure. It was a great session until the heat got to us. Jacob is still fighting the push but makes good contact. He also has a problem getting his weight forward. I'm going to make us an appointment with a teacher in the next week or two.

[TN94z]

I figured I would drag this thread back up since I'm planning on getting back to golf. I thought we were starting to play a lot last year but many things happened that stopped those plans. But we are good to go now and I have a few goals in mind too.

 

I want to get as close to being back in single digits as I can by this time next year.

For sure back to single digits by the next Newport Cup

[TN94z]

So here are my first videos as I work on getting back to single digits.....

[TN94z]

DTL...

Edited October 10, 2015 by TN94z

[TN94z]

The things I see:

1) My head looks okay laterally but moves vertically quite a bit
2) My hips stop turning on the downswing which I think contributes to the "scoop" at impact and the chicken wing after
3) I think my path is more inside that it used to be.

My big problems in the past were the scoop, chicken wing, and rolling my forearms at the start of the back swing. I had a descent over the top move which caused my shots to start somewhat straight but cut quite a bit. Yesterday, my main miss was thin shots and shots that started right and either stayed there (straight push) or would start right and fade from there.
Also, the big issue (which obviously stems from the flaws above), is my swing arc bottoming out to soon and hitting the ground before the ball
 

[mvmac]

  On 10/10/2015 at 12:39 AM, TN94z said:

So here are my first videos as I work on getting back to single digits.....

Would like to see you turn your hips more "in place" and maintain some axis tilt (yellow) on the backswing. Hips are currently stalling and swaying back leading the spine to tilt towards the target. Get the hips more involved on the backswing and you'll see that impact improve. 

Edited October 10, 2015 by mvmac

[TN94z]

  On 10/10/2015 at 5:02 PM, mvmac said:

Would like to see you turn your hips more "in place" and maintain some axis tilt (yellow) on the backswing. Hips are currently stalling and swaying back leading the spine to tilt towards the target. Get the hips more involved on the backswing and you'll see that impact improve. 

Great explanation in that link. I will begin working on that immediately. I could feel it happening at the range, but didn't really "know" exactly what it was until the video. I can't wait to use the alignment stick drills! Thanks

[TN94z]

I didn't have a camera but I went to the range this week and really tried to focus on hip turn. I think I made some good improvements on the backswing hip turn, but I still feel like my hips are stopping on the way through to impact. The reason I say this is because I get that "cramped" feeling at impact which causes me to extend vertically and is the big reason for my wrist flip. I also noticed that when this happened, I pulled the ball which I "think" is because the hips stopping causes the swing path to become out to in?? It didn't happen every time, but I think I now have that as a cue to when my hips are stopping. I had quite a few thin shots, a couple fat shots, etc... Pretty much my expectation for working on a swing change. My next practice plan is to really feel that rotation through impact.

So, still working on the hip turn basically. I will say this, when I got the good hip turn on the backswing and the hips didn't stop on the way through, the shot was great. I took divots on many of those shots that I have never really taken. The ball started and finished pretty close to what should be expected from a good swing...start right of target with slight draw back. And it had a really good sound at impact.

[mvmac]

  On 10/21/2015 at 2:46 PM, TN94z said:

I didn't have a camera but I went to the range this week and really tried to focus on hip turn. I think I made some good improvements on the backswing hip turn, but I still feel like my hips are stopping on the way through to impact. The reason I say this is because I get that "cramped" feeling at impact which causes me to extend vertically and is the big reason for my wrist flip. I also noticed that when this happened, I pulled the ball which I "think" is because the hips stopping causes the swing path to become out to in?? 

When the hips stall the club "overtakes" the hands at a faster rate and the hands will be out of sync with the pivot. So yes, less control of the face and hand path.

[TN94z]

I finally got some time to get to the range. I have been working on the drills at home whenever I get a spare minute. In the video, it really looks like my back leg was locking out. I don't know if it was the pants or what but I never felt like it was reaching a locked position. I may have to work on that. My back swing was also quite a bit longer than it should be. I'll have to work on that as well. I have a DTL I may link but it was dark and kind of hard to see. All I was focused on today was getting more hip turn. In the initial video, my hips were stopping and sliding back more than turning.

 

[TN94z]

Here is the DTL.

 

[TN94z]

I want to list what I see to check on what I know of the swing.

A2-It looks like my right arm is actually moving away from my body some. It seems like I need more shoulder turn and less arm movement.

A4-Way too much back swing. My left arm breaks down which allows the club to continue past parallel. My back leg looks to be too close to locking out. I was exaggerating this movement while working on hip turn but I still need to watch that.

A6-I need to continue the hip turn throughout the downswing. My hips are stalling out which I believe is what leads to being cramped at impact and causing the flip and chicken wing.

[mvmac]

  On 12/21/2015 at 9:02 PM, TN94z said:

A4-Way too much back swing. My left arm breaks down which allows the club to continue past parallel. My back leg looks to be too close to locking out. I was exaggerating this movement while working on hip turn but I still need to watch that.

Expand  

Yeah I'd keep working on the hip turn and feeling a bit "flexed over" on the backswing. Almost like your chest is facing the ground at A4. I wouldn't worry about trail knee lessening in flex, just focus on the hips/torso.

More like the right pic here:

 

[TN94z]

  On 12/22/2015 at 5:26 AM, mvmac said:

Yeah I'd keep working on the hip turn and feeling a bit "flexed over" on the backswing. Almost like your chest is facing the ground at A4. I wouldn't worry about trail knee lessening in flex, just focus on the hips/torso.

More like the right pic here:

 

Expand  

Will do. I'll start working on that today. Thanks

[TN94z]

Man have I been busy lately. I haven't had much golf time it seems, which you can see from the lack of posts.  I'm hoping to change that soon as I have made my mind up to put 100% into practicing golf and getting back to where I once was.Anyway...

Recently, in the rounds I have played, I have hit the ball descent and scored okay, but can do nothing but shank my SW. I have tried everything to get rid of it but it's just not working. I can pick up any other wedge or short iron and have no issue. I don't have this issue with any other club in the bag. But when I pull the SW out, shank.  I can throw down 5 balls and every one will be shank. Any suggestions?  It's in my head now too.  I even avoid hitting the club because it will ruin any hole that I'm playing.

Any help is greatly appreciated. Unfortunately, I don't have any video of the issue yet. @iacas @mvmac

[amoline]

Full disclaimer:  not a teaching professional. Stupid question: Are you sure it's a shank (and not a bladed shot or anything)? Seemingly, any issue would get worse the longer the club you're using gets. And you don't notice any shanks or even heel strikes on other clubs? You are setup almost level over the ball, and it wouldn't hurt at least to sort out the address somewhat by having some spine tilt away from the target at address. 

Your body is smarter than your brain in this sense. It knows that you want spine tilt at impact, so you have to throw in a compensatory move to create it: 

However, throughout your swing it's not there. Because it's such a big move to compensate with, I wouldn't doubt if this is at least in part one of the reasons you are having issues with your sand wedge. One of the feels I used for much the same issue (losing my tilt) was turning with the feeling like I'm putting all of my weight into my right heel. Not sure how this may work for you, but it did OK for me and may be worth a shot. 

Beyond this, though I still think it could have something to do with it, my other guess would be that your wedge has a lot of bounce and would actually be topping the ball, though with your handicap going "back to single digits" you would certainly know the difference. Can you upload a video of you shanking one for us?

Hope some of this helps, even if a little bit...

Andrew.

[TN94z]

I got it figured out today, hopefully. I worked on hip turn and a full chest turn. I believe the issue was me sliding rather than turning. So far, so good. We will see if it continues