Help with my horrible swing? (Video linked)

[Iowa Hawkeye]

Sorry for the poor production value and that I couldnt get lower body footage, but if you could take a look and tell me what things I could work on I would appreciate it very much.

Club is a six Iron
I'm 6'3 ~260lbs
I use +1/2 Mizuno T-Zoid Pro's
Ground has just a tad of slope, falling directly away from the camera

http://tinypic.com/player.php?v=o5b2m8&s;=5




Thanks Guys.

[GDWindowpane]

I'm not really an expert but I think the first thing you need to work on is your camera angle. Without seeing what the lower body/grip is doing I would think it would be difficult at best to make any suggestions...

[becksfan2185]

Agree with the above post, it's very hard comment without getting the entire swing. In terms of upper body, you have a ton of head movement. Take a look at some professionals' Swingvision on Youtube... and notice how little their head moves, especially on the backswing. As your head moves up and down, it pulls the rest of your upper body. Fewer moving parts on the backswing means fewer parts to move back into place by the time you hit the ball.

[$2 Nassau]

Need better angle and also you should go to a range where you can actually hit a ball. Our swings are much different when that little white ball is on the ground in front of us and we actually have to hit it.

But based on what you posted, lots of excess body movement, your entire body seems to be following the club back and then through. Cut down on the excess movement and work towards more of a shoulder turn instead of a sway.

Also, your left arm/elbow is completely bent on the backswing, tough to deliver the club back to the ball like that. Try to keep the left elbow/arm a little more straight throughout the swing.

[Iowa Hawkeye]

Thanks. I'll post a better video when I have someone to help me out. I think that I jerk too much, is that what it looks like to you?

[Mr3Putt]

As others have noted, it looks like there's too much up and down action with your head. Or for that matter your entire upper body.

Whenever I start to struggle during a round, one of my first "go to" fixes is to focus on a steady head. It really cures many faults. (not all of them though)



Good Luck

[Iowa Hawkeye]

Haha will do

[flanagan]

Wow, at least the top half of your swing looks familiar.

Had the same issues, on a smaller scale. Your head, shoulders, everything is lifting up, rather than making a backswing. Guessing there may be a bit of sway in the right leg, etc. as well.

Go directly to a teaching pro, pass "GO" if you want, but go directly to a teaching pro. He can take a video from the proper angles, get you set up to the ball correctly, and help you start to feel what it is like to maintain that spine angle and make a solid turn.

Been there. When the timing was good I could play, but not being gifted athletically the timing wasn't good all that often. Like I said, had same issues, but not as severe, but they crept in over time and took some solid, professional help to get going back in the right direction.

Getting that fixed will really help your ball striking become more solid.

[Big_M]

Need better angle and also you should go to a range where you can actually hit a ball. Our swings are much different when that little white ball is on the ground in front of us and we actually have to hit it.

I agree with this... better videography would be nice.

Left arm is bent and causing chicken wing syndrome... need to straighten it out. Tempo looked pretty bad... watch Ernie Els and duplicate such... or find a tempo that works for you, but mainly just stay more smoooooth. You also look to be comming over the top, so you may want to work on swingplane a bit.

Go directly to a teaching pro, pass "GO" if you want, but go directly to a teaching pro. He can take a video from the proper angles, get you set up to the ball correctly, and help you start to feel what it is like to maintain that spine angle and make a solid turn.

I am self taught, and I think that it IS possible to learn yourself... but it will take time, practice, and dedication to learning. Read a few books, learn what different swingpaths and such will cause ballfight wise, and you can begin to build your swing. If you WANT to go to a pro, by all means do so... I'm just saying it is NOT the ONLY way to learn. And surely with a good tripod and some time, you can take your own videos from the two key positions and analyze your own swing. You can even get some software to compare to pros or other golfers.

[ted dibiase]

if you really want to get better, go get lessons. It looks like you aren't opening the club face and are swinging with just your arms. Torque is created by the twist in your torso, not necessarily how high you take the club. You need more extension of your hands away from your body, you are chicken winging it. Make sure your back is pointed at the target and then just turn your torso and have your sternum pointing towards the target. Don't worry about taking the club really high. Just take it back and hinge your wrists. When you turn your torso back towards the target everything will come together.

I'm guessing you are probably missing some basics too. What does your grip look like? How about ball position with the 6 iron?

[tm22721]

Your chest gets in the way. I know because I have the same problem. We are called 'width' players in the book 'Laws of the Golf Swing'. It addresses the problem of having too much upper body mass to effectively swing the club in a normal arc. To start with, you want to have a more bent over posture at address to keep your arms away from the upper body. There are other fixes in the book.

[imtomtomim]

First thing I noticed besides the extra body movement was the extra club movement. You're coming inside really early, making this huge ripple in your back swing and it gets hard to be consistent when your swing paths keep changing. Try focusing on taking the club head in one consistent line, set at the top, then go ahead and swing. This kind of swing works for jim furyk but you gotta make sure you set at the top, catch your bodyweight in balance instead of off.