My Swing (saevel25)

[saevel25]

So, I like when I start feeling when I don't do things correctly. Tonight I played 9 holes, hitting 7-iron only from tee to green. On one tee shot, I hit a ball where I felt like I tried to bring my hands down by changing my shoulder pitch, or hang back. I just hit a big push right. Which makes sense. Then on the next tee shot, I really focused on feeling my arms come down more with my turn, and I stripe the ball. The next approach shot I did the same, but better and hit the best shot I've hit in a while. Still trying to work on controlling how much I turn on the backswing. Trying to be more 45 degree hip turn and 90 degree shoulder turn. 

Overall, not bad for not playing in a few weeks or practicing in a while. I have been doing some indoor work here and there. 

[saevel25]

Played the best round of the year. 

Just focusing on keeping it shorter and then connecting my right elbow back to my chest by lowering my hands. Overall, pretty good. When I did things well, how the club goes through the ball felt different. It felt like the club was working more underneath the hands from A6 to A7. 

My preshot routing was to take a swing back, look at the hands and arms and move the hands down to A5-A6 how I want. Then look back down and turn through slowly. Then try to just mimic that feel. Yea, I just need to remember to turn through. I can sometimes just drop the arms down. 

[saevel25]

OK, I need to figure out why I am hitting my irons so high. At least it feels like its super high in the air. There are some trees on the course that are in that 90-100 ft range, and I was definitely like 30-40ft above that. It just seems like my wedges have lost 10-15 yards off their max distance. 

 

[saevel25]

Just finished another gears session.

Good stuff today. Worked on the backswing more than the downswing. I’ll post more later about the session.

A overview, The focus was on working on hinging, and how much my right elbow bends, more so the rates at which it bends in the backswing.

The downswing was getting my hips to bump forward correctly, and then timing up the right knee extension. This was pretty easy to grasp. 

[iacas]

Left knee, but yes. I’ll send the videos later tonight.

[saevel25]

One of the first things that I had to modify was my setup. I was way too back in my heels. My hips were out over my heels, not over my ankle joints. So, probably 3-4 inches too far back. It didn't feel as extreme later, but the initial feeling was like I was bending over at the waist with my legs straight. Also, it felt like the weight was on the balls of my feet, almost over my toes, and very little pressure in the heels. It felt like I was out over the front of my skies a bit to begin with. This changed really helped stabilize my hip motion in the transverse direction, between me and ball. 

For the backswing

• I was making a backswing feeling like the club in a backslash "/" position, from DTL, at A3. Also with this, feeling wrist hinged more, which produces a cupped left wrist, which is OK. It doesn't really come close to that position at A3. The end of the of the grip was pointing inside the ball, not way outside the ball with my initial swings. 

• Also part of this, is to make the club raise in the swing using my right wrist hinge and right elbow bend. Not using my shoulders to raise the club and also not keeping my arms super straight. In terms of weight lifting, it would be doing biceps curls versus shoulder raises. The issue I have is, my right elbow bends so little that it collapses from A3 to A4, and it also gains flex from A4 to A4.5. Which makes it very difficult to lose all that right elbow angle in the downswing. Ideally, I would like to get all the right elbow bend I need by A3 to A3.5, and my turn finishes the swing from there with out adding much more. I can't be having 110+ degrees of right elbow bend. With hinging early, It might be that my swing looks a bit like Rickie Fowler's for a bit, where I take the club outside my hands and it loops. Drills (Notes for me to reference) - Set up at address, and then hinge the club up towards my head by hinging the wrist and bending the right elbow. This is to feel that movement versus raising my arms with my shoulders. 

For the downswing

• This was a big simpler. I already get my weight forward, but not optimally. I would not sink down a bit into my left side. My hips would just travel left and up. The left hip needed to go down a bit as it slides left a bit before turning back and up. At A3, the right hip is higher than the left hip. I need to let the hips fall down that line. The feel was, at around A3, feel a small bit of slide as the left hip goes to the ground. The left knee feels like it gains a bit of flex, or feels like it is holding more weight. As soon as I feel that weight shift, I need to release it by extending that left knee, pushing into the ground. Drills (Notes for me to reference) - Make slowish backswings to A3, and then feel the slight weight shift forward. Do this 2-3x to get the timing and amount of shift. Then do a few more where I stop the shift and practice the extension. Then make a swing piecing it together, hitting the ball. 

The yellow on the right is the better hip motion and left leg extension.

Some screenshots...

Just before impact. The left butt cheek is pushing through the pane of glass. Even though I forced the left hip down a bit as it slides forward, it is actually much higher than the right hip at this point versus the swing on the left. 

At impact.. straighter leg, and still much more hip angle. Also, my hips and chest are turned more at impact, 40 degrees compared to 25 degrees! 

Something that is really telling, going into the finish the swing on the left has finally broken the pane of glass. The left knee is much more extended. 

Just because. I gained 4-5 mph club head speed 😉

 

[Vinsk]

Awesome Matt! I’m so bummed I didn’t get to come. Can’t believe the sorry bastards canceled my flight. Looks like you got some great stuff to work with. 

[saevel25]

4 minutes ago, Vinsk said:

Awesome Matt! I’m so bummed I didn’t get to come. Can’t believe the sorry bastards canceled my flight. Looks like you got some great stuff to work with. 

I heard that happened! That was a bummer. 

Yea, it is always a good time getting to use GEARS. It is very enlightening, and the instant feedback is so useful. 

[iacas]

1 hour ago, saevel25 said:

I was way too back in my heels.

I don't know about "way too back." I've seen people where the pelvis pointer is several inches behind the heels. Yours was almost touching the achilles. You also only thrust 0.8" or so, I've seen 3"+ during the backswing alone!

You said 3-4"? Maybe 2".

1 hour ago, saevel25 said:

It didn't feel as extreme later, but the initial feeling was like I was bending over at the waist with my legs straight.

30° to about 20°, yeah.

1 hour ago, saevel25 said:

• Also part of this, is to make the club raise in the swing using my right wrist hinge and right elbow bend. Not using my shoulders to raise the club and also not keeping my arms super straight. In terms of weight lifting, it would be doing biceps curls versus shoulder raises.

I use the bicep curl idea a lot, yeah, or like you're lifting a mug toward your mouth to take a drink.

1 hour ago, saevel25 said:

• The issue I have is, my right elbow bends so little that it collapses from A3 to A4, and it also gains flex from A4 to A4.5. Which makes it very difficult to lose all that right elbow angle in the downswing. Ideally, I would like to get all the right elbow bend I need by A3 to A3.5, and my turn finishes the swing from there with out adding much more.

You and everyone else, yeah. 😉

1 hour ago, saevel25 said:

Even though I forced the left hip down a bit as it slides forward, it is actually much higher than the right hip at this point versus the swing on the left.

Yes! That's a good point. Going down doesn't mean you won't go up more/faster/sooner after that.

1 hour ago, saevel25 said:

Just because. I gained 4-5 mph club head speed 😉

Yeah, and the swing stops here…

1 hour ago, saevel25 said:

[iacas]

Also, swings 2 and 35:

[saevel25]

Just wanted to write a few notes down. 

Feeling the weight and movement of the clubhead through my hands more. Lots of pressure in the fingers, feeling the wrist hinge more and bearing more weight of the club. When I do this, I definitely feel much more grip pressure because my hands need to do more work to hold the club. My wrists get a bit of work out. Shoulders do less work, so not lifting the club up with the shoulder muscles. 

Transitioning into a more flow type of backswing. So, start with the club a few feat in front of starting position and letting a bit of momentum send the club back. Even, start with it at address, but send it towards the target slightly to get a bit of momentum. With that momentum, feel my hands and wrist hinging the club much more and sooner. 

The final few back swings in the set would be trying to make an actual backswing (like on the course), but incorporating the hinging feels. If I take the club back to A3, I want the wrist fully hinged, and some softness I the right elbow (bend). 

Maybe in the future, start trying to work on pace of the backswing to make sure I am getting it to speed up and slow down at the right spots. 

 

[iacas]

52 minutes ago, saevel25 said:

Maybe in the future, start trying to work on pace of the backswing to make sure I am getting it to speed up and slow down at the right spots. 

We can look at grip speed graphs for that, too. (I'm intentionally writing this so when I search for "hand speed" for the 57th time, maybe I'll remember more quickly that it's called GRIP SPEED and not h--- speed").

Throw the club back and "catch" it or "brake" it with the wrists, mostly. Yes. Let the wrists hinging fold the elbow for you.

One nitpick (which may be a feel ain't real thing), but your shoulders DO lift the arms up a bit. How much determines how high off your ribs the right elbow gets. What they don't do much of is go around you at the shoulders. Again, probably a "feel" thing, but… let's make sure we're on the same page next time we meet up.

[saevel25]

Thought I post this here. My game plan for working on my game this year. 

Full Swing
1. Head up the Erie every few months for a lesson. 
2. One range session a week, probably will be more because I like going to the range 🙂
3. 5-10 minutes a day of priority piece work.

Short Game
1. Head up to Erie for a short game refresher.
2. One range session a month to keep it sharp, add in additional sessions if needed. 

Putting
1. One range session a month working on aim point, lag putting, and putting inside 15-Ft. 

Working Out
1. Keep up with my strength training. 
2. Cut out alcohol. I just perform better in life when not drinking, even if it is only one or two beers. Maybe it is my age, but the next days become no-productive for me. 
3. Continue to eat to lose weight. 

Tournament Play
Sign up for a few tournament

2023 NOGA Tournament Portal Event :: NOGA Tournament Schedule

 

 

[saevel25]

Small update. Still been working on backswing where I get more hinge in my wrist by A3. Feeling the swing slows down, or catching the momentum of the club at A3-A4. Wrist hinge has helped this out.

I sometimes do a bit of transition timing where I shift my weight forward at A3-ish. I also work on some of the hands down to my right pocket early in the downswing.

I will take video of the drill work tomorrow. 

[saevel25]

A bit of practice. 

A few focus points

1) Keeping my eye on the ball while making the practice swings. I think this will help me feel a full turn and feel when I need to start shirting forward better. 
2) Feel more wrist hinge, and less right elbow bend at A3.
3) Could do things slower 😉

 

 

[cedrictheo]

Impressed / inspired by how much you work the feel before hitting the shot. 

[saevel25]

Note to self...

Feel the hinge more in the right hand/wrist and elbow. The entire backswing feels like it's being controlled by the right hand. 

Which makes sense to me in that my issue is delayed hinge and lots of arms folding at A3 to A4+ (+ denotes oversewing 😉). So, feeling the right arm control the hinge, and making it happen sooner really make it stand out in comparison. 

[saevel25]

Went up to Erie for a GEARS lesson today. 

The focus today was on working on hand path and clubhead path in the downswing. I am sending the hands to far out towards the ball, and having the club stay steep for to long. This requires a lot of compensation to be able to not shank the ball and hit functional shots. Which, I got halfway decent at doing. 

What I need to do now is...

1. From A4, bring the back of my right hand to my right pocket. To do this I need to add in a bit of right wrist extension and left wrist flexion.  I also might feel a bit of movement in my right elbow getting closer to my left elbow as the club shallows.  Basically, feel like I am sending the hands to my right pocket by right arm extension, and pointing the clubhead behind me by controlling my wrist and hands.  

2. As the hands go down, I need to get my weight shift forward by flexing my lead knee and shift the body forward a bit. This will get me in a good position to just turn to bring the clubhead.

3. For the backswing, I need to shift my weight away from the target, while keeping my hips facing towards the ball. I overturn a ton, like 60-65 degrees of hip turn. Currently, I get my right hip (butt) pushed way to far back behind me. I need to do more weight shift, and less hip turn. Even while feeling like my hips do not turn at all, and all I do is shift right, I get 45-50 degrees of turn. Once I shift right, I need to extend my right side as I send the club and arms up in the backswing. So feeling a stretch in my right side. 

Keys to watch for me in video. 

Face On View - Axis Tilt from A4 to A7. Do not want to use axis tilt to lower the club. Also, making sure I do the backswing weight shift properly.

DTL - Club path from A5 to A7, that it traces underneath the right elbow showing adequate shallowing of the club path. Hands travel more down than out.