My Swing (TN94z)

[TN94z]

My SW issues lead me to another question. These problems seem to have shown up since I've really been concentrating on an inside out swing path. What is the correct path for the SW? I have a feeling that maybe I was coming too much from inside out with this club..

[TN94z]

Just got back from the range. It was one of the most productive sessions I have had in a while. I finally got the SW consistent and got to actually work on distance control. I got pretty solid on short pitches (30-40 yards using the quickie pitching video), and 60-70 yard shots. I also worked on 100 yards shots which seem to favor my GW more than my SW like it used to....I'm sure that's a swing thing though,

I had very good contact all the way through my 3i. I wasn't as consistent with my driver, but I think that was a hip turn issue. I seem to fall back into sliding on the woods. And I still cannot hit my Titleist 3w whatsoever. I guess I need to pull my old 3w back out or shop for a new one. Nothing I do helps the 3w.

[TN94z]

My SW is still hit or miss. I will hit some good, but it never fails that this club costs me several strokes per round. I don't know if the bad shots are mentally making me have no confidence in this club or what. But I am going to make sure and get some video the next time I am at the range so you guys can point out my issues. The rest of my clubs are okay. I have a tendency to pull shots when I don't focus on inside out. I am scoring okay considering the issues going on. I will get some videos and go from there. I've got to get my swing straightened out before my 14 year old starts beating me..HAHA

[TN94z]

Okay, I am going to revive this old topic. I really haven't played consistently in a few years, but I have worked on my swing off and on. Well, I have decided to get rid of all of my hobbies, minus golf. With 2 kids now (although one is 15 now!) I just don't have as much time to have many hobbies. So I am going back to golf as my one and only hobby and I plan on making an honest and hard working run back to single digits.

I went to the range yesterday to mark my first practice session of my "comeback"...haha.  What I noticed from the video is that I have completely fallen back into my bad habits and my swing looks terrible. Not to mention I have plumped up quite a bit over the winter, but I am working on that as well.

So here are is a FO and DTL video from yesterday.

 

 

Sorry these aren't edited. I cannot seem to find the license for my analyzr, but I am working on that as well. So the obvious I see are:

1) It looks as though my head dips, but stays fairly steady side to side

2) While trying to get my weight forward, it looks like my hips are actually traveling toward the ball rather than toward the target

3) It looks like my hips stop turning at impact

4) These issues are leading to the lack of a flat left wrist and I have a feeling my swing path is off as well.

My misses right now tend to be fat, thin, and pretty much all have a fade that starts on different lines. Pretty much the erratic behavior I would expect from flipping at impact.

Later in the session I really worked hard on my hips moving toward target rather than toward the ball which helped me keep some knee bend throughout rather than the extension I am getting early in my swing.  So pick it apart guys! I'm ready to get this swing to a consistent single digit game

[Jack Watson]

Really good tempo.  Looks really nice on the tempo.  Overall a lot of good stuff going on.

I would say your ball position in the face on is way far back.  Try moving it way forward and see what happens.  You kind of have to do this (pic) with the ball so out of position...imo with it forward you  will be able to come through much better with the torso rotation which might help that save/flip stall thing

 

Edited March 25, 2017 by Jack Watson
Added detail/pic

[RandallT]

52 minutes ago, TN94z said:

With 2 kids now (although one is 15 now!) I just don't have as much time ...

Good idea to have the 15-yr-old join TST, so now golf can do double duty as family time!  

Good luck getting back on track!!

[mvmac]

Agree with @Jack Watson, ball looks too far back.

Play it further forward and instead of just standing up on the downswing, work on rotating the hips and torso more on the downswing.

Example so you can see the differences, not saying you have to look exactly like this but gives you an idea.

 

[TN94z]

Thanks guys. I can see in the video now that the ball was quite a bit further back than I like. I have no answer as to why though....

@mvmacI actually watched that video on Friday and was somewhat practicing it after my above videos were shot. I will continue working on this piece and post more videos afterward.

Edited March 25, 2017 by TN94z

[TN94z]

Me and Jacob went out today and played 18. I concentrated on trying to turn my hips more and not extend at impact. We took these videos after the round. I "felt" like I was doing great with the hip turn, but the video shows that I was not doing as well as I thought. I just need more range time.

I took the advice on ball placement along with watching the video @mvmac did on grip. I made a slight adjustment to my grip and moved the ball a bit forward. When I did this along with what I "felt" was better hip turn, the contact was MUCH more solid and made the clicking sound that results from good contact.

When I do what I think is better hip turn, my miss seems to be a straight pull. I know the hips and weight transfer needs a lot more work, but I did feel I made some progress today. We started on our back 9 and I hit the ball pretty bad for the most part and ended up with a 44...  On the front 9, I hit the ball as well as I have in a while. I was +1 going into #7 and some how made a bogey from 116 out. Then I made a bogey on the next hole which is a very short par 3 that was playing 114 today (we played from the white tees because that's where Jacob normally plays from in the high school matches). Then on the par 5 9th, I could have laid up and made an easy par but since I was pounding my 3w all day, I decided to pull it out. I then pulled it and ended up having to take an unplayable close to the green. Needless to say, I did not finish well, but still managed a 40 on the front. I could not hit my driver at all today. I hooked it every time trying to make the hip turn move. I hit it pretty good on the range afterwards once I figured out what I was doing. Anyway, here is the video from today to see if you guys think I am on the right track with the hip turn. The DTL video angle is a little off because of the sun...Jacob could barely see to line the camera up.

 

 

 

Edited March 29, 2017 by TN94z

[Jack Watson]

Total shot in the dark but I froze you at impact down the line and you had both arms and legs extended.

Its like your goal was maximum swing radius at impact.  You have a pretty dang solid bs.

So...one thing I have sometimes done is hit balls by taking a compact bs then hitting the ball with the intent to not extend my right arm but instead to use my right shoulder.  So my intent is a smaller than normal backswing with the feeling of pinching the ball with the right shoulder as if I am not trying to bring my right arm into it much.  The goal would be to pinch the ball with right arm bent and remaining on the right side of my torso but obviously still squaring the face.

For me with this drill my 150 club would be carrying maybe 135 or 140.  It should be slightly lower than normal too.  It's just my shot in the dark but I feel a drill like this could help you.

Essentially,  the swings radius would be MAINTAINED from the top through impact via rotation of the torso rather than feeling a sense of power from extending the arms and legs in a vertical fashion.

Jmo but I would try it.

Its a definite sense that you pinch the ball with the right shoulder driving while not extending the right arm.  The only way to do it right is a small bs with a good torso rotation.  Impact feels like it is off your right side a bit.

In the Dtl video posted you stand up and extend the right arm.  Basically I am saying imagine the right arm is very short what would you do to make good contact.

Just a shot in the dark...Love the backswing to top on the dtl video very compact but nice.

 

[TN94z]

We played 18 again today at a different course. For the first 6 holes, I could not get the hip feelings that I had the last round (still have not had the chance to work on this at the range, so I know I just need that practice time). But the one thing I figured out on the 7th hole (not sure why it took that long) is that when I try to get the hip turn and weight transfer correct, I have a tendency to swing quite a bit faster and harder. It completely throws everything out of sync and I cannot feel what my hips are actually doing. In turn, I hit the ball like crap. So on the 7th hole, I made sure to keep my tempo while working the hip movement and bingo. I started hitting it descent again. So the next few golf sessions for me will be spent at the range. The feeling of weight forward and hip turn is finally sinking in for me and I realize I have been trying to get to those positions all wrong for years. Even though I am not there yet, just the slight bit of doing it correctly has really improved my ball contact. Now I also know what my shot looks like with and without these corrections, so I know when I did not make the right movements.  I'm hoping my next set of videos will show some good improvements.

I ended up with an 87 today....on a short course at that...so I was pretty frustrated. But if you had seen how bad the first 7 holes were, it turned out okay. My putting usually makes up for bad holes, but it was even off today.

[TN94z]

Getting out of this habit with my hips is going to take a lot of practice. No matter how much I "feel" like I'm doing it much better, my videos are showing that it's only moving a fraction...but it is moving.

Is there any reason, other than just a mental thing, that makes this hip move seem so much harder with my driver than all other clubs? I have a feeling where, if I try this move with the driver, there is no way I can hit it descent. Now I know this is not true, but that's just the explanation of the feeling I get.

[TN94z]

Still working on these things. @mvmac when I do this (get my weight forward with hip turn while leaving my head still), is it normal to almost feel a "whipping" action with my head?  That's about the only way I can explain it. I will get some video the next practice session. I have just been trying to work on it and not post up a ton of videos that look the same. Trying to "change the picture" before posting a video.

[mvmac]

4 hours ago, TN94z said:

is it normal to almost feel a "whipping" action with my head?

Like the head is moving/whipping back?

[TN94z]

19 minutes ago, mvmac said:

Like the head is moving/whipping back?

So the sequence would be (this is all "feel" and we know how that goes), I make a centered pivot and get my weight forward with correct hip turn. My head is still centered so in essence is behind the hips, and after impact I "feel" a whip up...maybe forward a little.

And again, I'll get video of the swings the next time out. I was going to see if this explanation made any sense to you.

[mvmac]

10 hours ago, TN94z said:

And again, I'll get video of the swings the next time out. I was going to see if this explanation made any sense to you.

Yeah would be best to see the swing but in terms of the feel I think that's fine.

[TN94z]

We made it out to the range today (raining slightly) and I did manage to get some video but it wasn't clear because the camera had some water on the lens. I could see enough of the video to see I have made no improvement so there is no use in uploading it. Same things....good centered turn, steady head, but hips stop on the downswing causing early extension and flipping the wrist. I'll continue with shorter swings for a while and work my way up to full. The plan is to constantly work on the move any time I'm just sitting around the house.

The ball gate drill seemed to help a lot today. I'll continue to do that one as well. I also through in the flying wedge drill (which I did at the same time I was doing the gate) to check the flat left wrist. With the gate drill, the contact had a great sound and was very crisp.

[TN94z]

In looking through my recent videos, it seems like my body "wants" to get the weight forward as it should, but when my hips stop turning, it cannot get there. I am going to start working on some hip flexibility stuff. I remember years ago when I took a TPI assessment, I scored really low in hip flexibility. It may not be the main cause of the weight forward issue, but it is an issue in and of itself that needs to be resolved anyway.