Here's my swing- Finally.....

[right handed phil mickelson]

Well here's my swing with my GW, 7 Iron, and driver. Be gentle.....


GW down the line:





7 Iron down the line:




Driver down the line, and straight on:

[iacas]

Don't take this the wrong way. I'll say it first, then explain it next.

Your swing should serve as evidence to the higher handicappers that you can get to a low single digit handicap while swinging like crap.

The softening part: I got to a 1.8 one year with a truly terrible swing... If you can get on a consistency streak, you can play golf with some pretty crappy swings. Of course, it's much easier to play better golf with a better swing, and there's a lot you can do to fix some major issues in your swing.



Obviously all this swaying is going to be difficult to time. You don't make very good contact consistently, I guarantee that.



The flip side of what I said above is this: if you can get to a 4.0 with THIS swing, imagine how low you can get once you fix these issues.

[mc0388]

Don't take this the wrong way. I'll say it first, then explain it next.

Wow Eric, talk about blunt! I respect the candor, but when someone takes the time to upload their swing for everyone to take a look at and point out some things to work on, not sure if making fun of that person helps much. Back to the swing. It seems you are trying to do 'to much' of everything: -Too wide of a stance -Too much grip (left hand is strong) -Too much lower body movement -Too much hip turn -Large transition -Too much of a 'slide' or 'bump' It seems you have the ability to make all the necessary moves in making a solid golf swing, I would try in limiting the things listed above to give yourself a more consistent swing... Loosen up and make a more compact swing...

[jamo]

you pick your head up
very strong(or weak, i forget which is which) grip
your upper body is nearly falling forward on the backswing
the club is very laid off at the beginning of the takeaway

[kafka01]

Shouldnt you actually hit a ball when taking a video of your swing, since this gives a complete different aspect to it? I can make the nicest "practice swings" but when it comes down to hitting the ball produce a different swing at it.

[KaiL]

Your swing is perfectly fine!

The key for a good swing is that you return your shoulder to your address position with a spine tilt away from the target at impact, which you somehow managed to do it.

Apparently, you sway away from the target necessitate that you rotate your right shoulder further back in order to bring it back to position at impact.

[iacas]

Wow Eric, talk about blunt!

I wasn't necessarily being blunt, and I wasn't making fun of RHPM. He's a 4.0 index - better than, what, 95% of golfers in the world? I'm not making fun of the guy.

I knew it would be tough to pull off, but I was trying to encourage those with higher handicappers by pointing out that it's possible to get to shoot in the 70s and still have major flaws. Golf is still a game of getting the ball in the hole, and the swings of people like RHPM and Jim Furyk or Jeev Milkha Singh should remind us all of that. Also, I was trying to lift RHPM a little. He's gotten to a 4.0 with - and yeah, it's blunt - some major swing flaws. Again, imagine how easy it will be for him to shoot better scores once he corrects them! Maybe I'm alone in that, but if I find something massively wrong, I'm excited, because I know when I fix it I'll see the big impact on my ball flight, scoring, etc. Besides, RHPM's been here awhile, and he knows me fairly well, I think. If this was a new person I might not have taken the same approach.

-Too much of a 'slide' or 'bump'

Well he has to do that because he's gotta not only get back to where he started, but get his hips ahead of the ball like good golfers to begin with.

The biggest two things I'd fix would be: a) Hands out/clubhead in on the takeaway (rolling the forearms/wrists - whatever you want to call it) b) The swaying on the backswing Oh, I'd work with the Swing Extender too to keep the backswing from going too long. We'll call that "b" part II...

Shouldnt you actually hit a ball when taking a video of your swing, since this gives a complete different aspect to it?

Yeah, that goes without saying. Get a buddy to film you on the course, RHPM.

[PingGolfer95]

Hey, where in Naples are you from? Im from Michigan and go to Naples twice a year to see cousins. They live in North Naples. I love to golf down there? What high school do you attend?

[right handed phil mickelson]

Sorry about that. I was at chili's peppering in some fun, so I couldn't reply. Thanks so much Iacas. I copy and pasted like everything you said haha. Yea I'll film myself hitting a ball tomorrow. Just to the left of those bushes in the video, are the tee boxes for hole 6 at my home course. I'll film it there. I honestly didn't realize that I was that flat on my swings. It feels normal.

I've been switching from too wide of a stance, to too narrow, to too wide again. I've been going from a long backswing, to a real short one (like J.B Holmes), and a good length to what I'm at now. I used to have a real real upright swing, and would stand rediculously close to the ball, and I was like a 15 handicap. I've changed all those things to what I'm at now and I'm a 4 handicap. It's kind of wierd to hear that I need to change back to almost what I was at before haha. But, I get where you're all coming from. I'll write down some of the things I need to do to get myself in a better position.

My instructor is working with me on getting steadier, but since he's also the coach of the golf team, we don't really have enough time to work on anything. I'm going to the range tomorrow for a nice long session of working some of these things out.

Some more stats:

I average around 102 SS with my driver. That's average though. When I try to bust one out, I think I get up to around 107. I don't know if that helps.

I'm assuming I'll get a higher SS, and I know more distance, with the Swing Extender? I showed my parents the Swing Extender, and I'm probably gonna get one soon.

Thanks for all your guys' help and advice. Is there anything else that I need to work on?

[right handed phil mickelson]

I really don't wanna say what school I go to?

I like stalkers as much as the next guy, but I'm really not in the mood today.....

[PingGolfer95]

Considering Im a kid. And if you dont believe me look at my video of my swing. But do you live in North Naples, South?

[Zeph]

Iacas pretty much pointed out the biggest parts, and I agree with him all the way. It's not being blunt, it's being honest, which I prefer. If someone had shown me the swing without telling the handicap, I would never have guessed he's a 4. Still, it's not a bad thing. He's young, flexible, there are flaws in his swing which will help him improve beyond his current limits. I'm impressed you got to 4 with that swing. I've seen better swings on players shooting in the high 80's.

It's difficult to spot out all the small details with a blurry video, but you should start out with the swaying, over-swinging and swing plane. More than enough to work at for some time there. You do get back in front of the ball with the lower body when you come down, but it's a lot of timing to do and you really don't gain anything from it in terms of speed. Same goes with the long backswing, it just makes it harder to get back to the ball. The swing should be purely rotational in the backswing, then the lower body make a lateral shift on the downswing. Any twisting, shifting or moving in the backswing will just have to be reversed on the downswing.

If you can borrow or use a better camera, that would help. If you don't have one accessible, the same you used for these is better than nothing of course. Try getting front and rear view of 7i and driver where you hit a ball. You could set the camera up more in line with your hips on the rear view as it give a better view of the movements and angles. The slow motion edit could well be even slower, frame by frame. What you're looking for there is angles and positions, if you can freeze one frame at a time, that is useful.

[iacas]

RHPM, you keep talking about swing plane. I wouldn't worry about that. Worrying about swing plane is likely what got you to the point where the clubhead is nearly four feet left of where it should be at parallel going back.

Worry more about where your hands and arms go, not the clubhead. If your hands and arms stay on plane, the clubhead pretty much will too. Eliminate any "lifting" move from your swing, because that'll get you off-plane.

I used to try to shove my arms back and away from me, kind of on a straight line back. Instead I flipped the club inside exactly like you do, went across the line at the top like you do (it's much easier to go across the line and have a swing that's too long when the clubhead gets way inside of your hands like that), etc. We had very similar swings except for your swaying. And again, I got down to 1.8 that way.

That's another reason I was being blunt with you... You need to fix these things immediately. You're as good as you're going to get right now. The swaying is probably the difference between the 4.0 and my 2.0-ish handicap, but the other two main issues you have is the difference between 2.0-ish and +1.0. And you know how big a leap that is.

Currently, my swing thought is to take my hands on what feels like a 45° angle back and inside. I try to get my hands very deep very quickly. When the hands go in, the clubhead stays out, and this also promotes a good full shoulder turn.

When you try to shove your hands straight back as you seem to be doing, the clubhead rotates way inside like yours. So do the opposite: pull your hands in a bit more quickly - kind of through and past where your right hip is at address - and the clubhead will stay outside just fine.

45 degrees back and to the inside is the feeling for me. This may help you with the swaying because it's tough to sway and rotate at the same time, and if you take your hands deeper more quickly, the right hip has to turn to make room and your right armpit will not be allowed to open up... in fact, put a tee under your right and left armpits. Keep those pressure points there all the way to the top and right through impact. If you push your hands straight back on the takeaway, the right armpit tee will fall out.

Don't focus on the clubhead. The clubhead is an effect, not a cause. Move your body (your hands/arms in this case) correctly and the clubhead will move correctly as well.

And what Zeph said: get a better camera, particularly if you're going to evaluate yourself a lot more frequently. The original Zi6 is under $100 now.

[GamerJG]

you need to post a swing where you actually hit a golf ball to really be able to critique the swing. nobody swings the same with their practice swing. and if you are a +4 handicap, why do you want feedback from anyone on here? i'll be honest, i'm a little skeptical that you are a +4 but that doesn't matter. if you really are a +4, then i want your advice. from what i saw on your practice swing, i see a lot of swaying back and through.

[iacas]

and if you are a +4 handicap, why do you want feedback from anyone on here? i'll be honest, i'm a little skeptical that you are a +4 but that doesn't matter. if you really are a +4, then i want your advice.

His profile says 4.0, not +4.

[jamo]

This might help you with the take-away issue, i've been working on the same thing- http://i664.photobucket.com/albums/v.../Untitled5.jpg

http://i664.photobucket.com/albums/v.../Untitled9.jpg

The top picture is one of my swing, and the bottom is your's. Our hands are at about the same point, but notice where the club is.

A drill my instructor gave me for this is to swing with your heels several inches away from a tarp at your back, and try to swing without hitting it

[GamerJG]

His profile says 4.0, not +4.

i misunderstood, i saw the avg for the golf team +3.5, thank you.

[right handed phil mickelson]

i misunderstood, i saw the avg for the golf team +3.5, thank you.

Well im trying to say that my average for the golf team so far this year is 3.5 over, but theres no room to say that. =/