Help with Golf Swing, Videos Included.

[kilbyman]

Right knee seems like it may be flailing out on backswing, which can lead to problems... which others have noted (i.e. improper weight shift)

[Seanponders]

Right knee seems like it may be flailing out on backswing, which can lead to problems... which others have noted (i.e. improper weight shift)

Perhaps I should just try the stack and tilt approach, seems like it deals with the weight shift problem fairly well...

[Shanks A Million]

Perhaps I should just try the stack and tilt approach, seems like it deals with the weight shift problem fairly well...

That's up to you. I use a stack and tiltish weight shift, I.E. my weight stays forward for the whole swing. I will consider changing that, but to be honest, it works pretty well. I modeled that part of my swing after Zach Johnson, knowing he hit the ball so well with a shorter swing led me to look at his swing and what he did that I liked. I noticed he stayed over the ball the whole time, and he had a fairly cut off followthrough. I like both of those things, as it keeps me from moving off the ball and lifting up excessively.

You need to look around, and find players built like you, or whose swings you admire, and figure out what they do. I watch golf on Tivo, and use the pause and step forward key. I watch the swings in slow motion, and take note of what the players all do the same, and where there's variation. I then look at my own swing and try to find what moves I make that the tour pros don't make. I then work each kink out, one at a a time. This is what you need to do, like I had posted, you need to start with one thing, and change it... Work on only one thing at a time. If you try to change more than one thing at a time, you won't engrain it properly.

[RC]

But you will always have problems if you do not fix the first part (of what I said)... do not allow the clubhead to work inside ahead of your hands. When the club is parallel to the ground during the first part of the backswing, the club shaft should point along your target line or even left of the target for some, but never right of the line. When it points to the right, invariably your swing plane will change to something that tends to make you come over the ball or hit pull hooks. This is a very hard habit to break, but if you get that part down pat, some of the other things will be much easier.

[Zeph]

First things first.

Take-away: Your hands move out away from the body, club moves inside. You need to get the hands closer to your body. Obviously, if you flip the club inside with the hands moving deeper, you will get it too far inside. Get a mirror and try to mimic the positions of Charlie Wi. Try standing in the address position and just rotate your upper body, this will move the hands deeper. Don't let them move out and away. Using a mirror is highly recommended, as it is difficult to feel things like this.

Head movement: Your head moves a lot in the backswing, moving a lot of weight to the back foot. You do get the head back to its initial position by impact, but the timing is hard to be consistent with. This is also possibly why the left foot lifts on the backswing. You will feel more pressure on the left foot. Look at your legs and Tigers legs. Your right leg is straighter than the left, his left is straighter than the right. That's because he didn't shift his body back.



That's enough to work on for now.

[Seanponders]

First things first.

Wow thanks a lot for taking the time to explain these flaws a little better, those pictures really helped. Going to the driving range later today and I plan on working on what you, and other have suggested. I am going to try and take one thing at a time, but here are my 3 top priorities... 1. My take away needs work, I have used a mirror to help me out. Although it feels weird to me, I think I could get used to it with repetition and just learn to turn my body and not my arms. 2. My head movement, I think, is largely because of my lack of control. I'm going to try to concentrate on controlling the club and not simply swinging it as hard as I can..."let the club do the work", so to speak. 3. As others have mentioned, it seems that learning to slide your hips through impact is a BIG part of having a good swing, so thats next on my list. Thanks again everyone!

[Shanks A Million]

Wow thanks a lot for taking the time to explain these flaws a little better, those pictures really helped.

Yes, getting the club back on the right plane was the

hardest thing I've ever done. You need to keep your elbows close. I like to feel like my left arm is moving back, while my right arm is fighting it, or trying not to turn back. If you take a bucket full of sand, or range balls, you can do this drill. Just take the bucket, and hold it out in front of you with your arms. Then, turn sideways like making a swing. You want to avoid spilling the balls or sand. It's simple, but effective in teaching the proper feel. This guy does it here:

[James_Black]

Yes, getting the club back on the right plane was the

There's an easier way to get yourself swinging on plane.

There's a training aid at my local range it's basically a big disk that makes you swing on plane If that's at your range try it out, It'll save you a lot of heartache.

[Shanks A Million]

There's an easier way to get yourself swinging on plane.

I've been looking around, but no one has one, and I don't have enough reason to make one.

[jamo]

Another thing that nobody else has brought up.

The left foot comes from moving your hips laterally backwards (away from target) on the backswing, not a good thing.

[iacas]

That training aid isn't a guarantee at all. It's just a point - a true plane is flat. I could leave the shaft touching that tube and push my hands and the clubhead out of plane (or pull my hands under and put the clubhead over). All that thing does is guarantee that ONE part of your shaft is on plane at any given moment...

Plus, the plane typically shifts from address to the top as the right elbow folds and/or lifts, and that thing forces a single plane throughout the entire swing.

[Rexx]

They used to have that big circle training aid at the driving range I used to frequent 10 years ago. I never saw anyone ever use it. It was gone a few years later... probably rusted out.

[RC]

What Erik says is absolutely true... think about it, if you kept your club shaft against the hoop but pushed your hands away from your body, you would still be on the circular hoop, but the club would be way below the plane of the hands and the shaft would be pointing right of your line (that is what you are now doing.) I think this simple concept of how the club gets back into position is more than half the battle of being able to swing so you do not have to make corrective flipping moves on the downswing. If you keep letting the club head get inside the hands on the backswing, you absolutely must make a second correction from there to the top of the swing in order to move forward and swing through the ball from the inside. Doing two wrong moves just to get into position is too much work when the right way is so simple. The problem comes because you learn the inside club flip on the take away early, and once that is ingrained, as Erik says, it is one of the hardest things to change. I think the majority of us have had to deal with fixing this at some time in our golfing careers, so you are no alone.

[Shanks A Million]

That training aid isn't a guarantee at all. It's just a point - a true plane is flat. I could leave the shaft touching that tube and push my hands and the clubhead out of plane (or pull my hands under and put the clubhead over). All that thing does is guarantee that ONE part of your shaft is on plane at any given moment...

There is a better version which uses a flat board instead of a hoop. It forces you to keep the club on plane the whole time, you cannot get your hands out, or the club will fall off the board. There's a really good version that actually holds the club to the hoop, which is more of a feel aid. You swing the club along a predetermined path, no different, and ingrain that feel.

The hands out flip is something I fought for years. It's tough to get rid of. I finally kicked the habit by learning the correct way to use the right arm during the takeaway.