Setup

[thenormankid]

I need help setting up to the golf ball. Every time someone watches me swing they say I need to bend more at the waist which ends up feeling tight in my lower back so I don't think I'm bending to good. Anyway can you guys help me with my setup? I know once I fix this issue I can work on my actual swing issues.
Here is a picture of my swing as well. Please help me out.

[sean_miller]

  thenormankid said:

. . . bend more at the waist

Somebody else can probably nail this better, but here's what I see:

Your posture is really good - almost. I think you need to squat a tiny bit more - that would naturally change your spine angle - bringing your body and head a bit closer to the ball. Don't think about tilting your back, just get your butt a smidgen lower and the rest will take care of itself. Hard to tell for sure though, all I really see is a head on top of gigantic shirt and pants.

[WUTiger]

You have on sweat pants so I can't tell for sure, but it looks like you don't bend much at the knees. You seem to lose direction for a second on your downswing, but have good followthrough. If you bent more at the knees and had your weight more on the balls of your feet than flatfooted, I think you'd have a better overall swing motion.

You don't come over the top, but it seems like you start the downswing with a tug of the right hand. This may be an attempt to reestablish balance, which you seem to lose momentarily at the top. Again, more knee flex might keep you more stable.

Caution: I have a 21 HDCP, so you may want a second opinion.

[ks8829]

You have a nice swing, looks pretty good to me. What does the ball do? What are working on ? What are you trying to correct?

[MiniMoe]

don't change your posture.... ever. The best golfers have found a way to address the ball in a very natural way.... almost like they just walk up and hit it. That is what you do. You can not go wrong from your starting position. If someone tells you to change, tell them to fark off.

Also, I noticed you are on plane very nicely. If you have directional problems, only slight adjustments are going to fix things. You don't need to make big changes. Very nice swing.

If you can't control the ball, you have to learn where the club is and where the hands are. Don't change things, just get a good understanding of your swing to learn how to control the ball in both distance and direction. It just takes correct practice.

I'll take that swing... if you don't want it.. just send it right over.

[thenormankid]

Thanks for the responses. My shots are all pulled. I'm getting pull hooks, pull slices or just straight pulls. Sorry for the sewat pants and over sized shirt but it was pretty cold out but I just had to start working on my swing for when the spring weather shows up. So if I wanted to fix a pull with my swing where else can I look to get it right. Also when I hit my irons my are to the left of my target this why I feel I get over the top. Can you guys help me look at things from a different angle.

[thenormankid]

Here is some new video I worked on more flex in my knees.
Driver Face On:
Driver Down The Line:
Iron Down The Line:
Iron Face On:

[sean_miller]

RE: my earlier comment (could have used more knee bend) - I think it was the pants.


Beyond that, I can't comment on a swing that's better than mine.

[The Recreational Golfer]

  thenormankid said:

I need help setting up to the golf ball. Every time someone watches me swing they say I need to bend more at the waist which ends up feeling tight in my lower back so I don't think I'm bending to good.

Don't bend from the waist. There's no joint there. Bend from the hips, while keeping the lower abdomen straight. The reason your back gets tight is that when you bend from the waist (at all) you throw weight to your lower back that it cannot support.

[Shanks A Million]

If there's anything wrong with that swing, it's the fact that you kind of "lash" out at the ball hard. That, and the haircut.

[thenormankid]

LOL at the haircut joke. Know when you say lash out do you mean I should let my body do more of the swinging? I've been working on the hip slide as of late letting my hips go forward which was easy to accomplish do to the fact I use to do it early on but people would always say that I should rotate and not slide. But I've also been letting my hands go for the ride then attack the ball last. Is that action helping defeat the lash at the ball?

[Gibby]

It's a really nice swing to be honest. I don't want to sound like a smart-ass, but have you ever just tried swinging a little softer? By the looks of it you get more than enough distance. Try to make sure your swing doesn't go past parallel on the backswing. You turn your shoulders so much on the way back that it actually turns your head as well. You don't want your head turning at all in the swing. Pause at the top of your backswing and you'll see your head get turned by your shoulders. Then on the follow through try holding off the finish after impact. Right now I kind of agree with the "lashing at the ball" comment as being the only flaw i can really see. You seem to go at the ball really hard with little control over your arms. You might be taking the "relax your forearms" advice a little too seriously. Your arms seem to be a little out of control and just along for the ride. Hope this helps.

-Gibby

[thenormankid]

  Gibby said:

It's a really nice swing to be honest. I don't want to sound like a smart-ass, but have you ever just tried swinging a little softer? By the looks of it you get more than enough distance. Try to make sure your swing doesn't go past parallel on the backswing. You turn your shoulders so much on the way back that it actually turns your head as well. You don't want your head turning at all in the swing. Pause at the top of your backswing and you'll see your head get turned by your shoulders. Then on the follow through try holding off the finish after impact. Right now I kind of agree with the "lashing at the ball" comment as being the only flaw i can really see. You seem to go at the ball really hard with little control over your arms. You might be taking the "relax your forearms" advice a little too seriously. Your arms seem to be a little out of control and just along for the ride. Hope this helps.

I would love to swing softer but I don't know how to go about it. When I try to not swing past parallel I feel like I rush forward or make myself out of position. I feel once I correct this I will stop pulling the ball.

[DavidFehertysBike]

You got a pretty sweet swing, there. But if youre expermenting, try imagining tucking in your belt buckle up and under. This will kick out your butt and automatically put your weight on the balls of your toes. Your arms will drop down naturally.

[Gibby]

Try keeping your left knee more still. You'll notice when you watch your vids that your left knee tends to "buckle" inwards on your backswing. Also like I said before, try to make sure your head doesn't rotate with your shoulders near the top. Focus on keeping your head perpendicular to the ground and your backswing should shorten just a bit.

It will feel like you're rushing when you shorten your backswing. I used to have the same problem - an overly long backswing. You just have to keep practicing making shorter swings. Make sure your takeaway is still the same slow smooth tempo. Don't worry about distance. When you shorten your backswing you will feel like you have to "make up" for lost power, but in reality, you won't be losing much power if at all. So don't try to power your way through. Shorten your backswing, and then just swing through naturally. It'll almost feel like you're chipping, but with a driver.

[Shanks A Million]

  thenormankid said:

LOL at the haircut joke. Know when you say lash out do you mean I should let my body do more of the swinging? I've been working on the hip slide as of late letting my hips go forward which was easy to accomplish do to the fact I use to do it early on but people would always say that I should rotate and not slide. But I've also been letting my hands go for the ride then attack the ball last. Is that action helping defeat the lash at the ball?

Exactly what I mean. The arms appear to be kind of rubbery, too active, or too passive, I can't really tell. The body should do the swinging though, that's 100% true. In a study of the golf swings of expert players, it was found the wrists and arms do about 15% of the work, and the body does the remaining 85%. Your arms seem to really reach in both directions.

[thenormankid]

Went to the range and I have some new video. Main thing I worked on was shorter backswing and keeping the left knee stable. The ballstriking feels so good ball fight was either straight, pull fade or pull slice which from looking at the video is all alignment issues. Please keep giving your input you guys are really helping me out.
Driver DTL:
Driver Face On:
Iron DTL:
Iron Face On:

[Shanks A Million]

Looks good. I'd say now, seeing the alignment stick (assuming that's where you're wanting to aim), the real problem is merely your alignment. You're aimed quite a bit right of where the stick is pointed, which is very, very common. You see, most people point their feet at the target, not left of it. Your feet should always aim left of your target because your feet are left of your aiming line.

When you set up properly, the target will often feel like it's at 1 o'clock to where you feel you're aimed. It can be a hard habit to fix, but it should cure the slight pulls and fades, because much of that is due to you making corrections for your alignment. Get properly aligned, swing easy, and it should be a great swing.