My Swing (saevel25)

[colin007]

1 hour ago, saevel25 said:

New routine for the course.

Take a practice swing for backswing length. Come down to ball how I want to present the clubface. Make swing matching backswing length and then presenting the club face to hit the target line I want. visualize hitting the ball at an alignment stick. When I focus on target line I hit some really good shots. 

This is interesting - was it you who asked recently in another thread about clubface control? I feel like a good part of it is having intense focus on where you want to start the ball. Like it's shocking how sometimes I can turn the face over with the driver and hit something that starts easily 20° left or right

[saevel25]

40 minutes ago, colin007 said:

This is interesting - was it you who asked recently in another thread about clubface control? I feel like a good part of it is having intense focus on where you want to start the ball. Like it's shocking how sometimes I can turn the face over with the driver and hit something that starts easily 20° left or right

Yea, that was a legit ask and also me being upset about suddenly hitting a ball way right. Yea, part of my practice with @iacas last weekend was working on some face control stuff. 😁

[saevel25]

Short game notes

Weaker grip. Let the clubhead finish where it will based on swing length and pivot. Stop forcing hands forward and adding speed to the shot or try to direct the club face through impact Don’t be afraid to duff or hit slightly behind the ball. The clubhead just falls, and the ball is just in the way. Very short pitches the hands slow and stop just after impact. Don’t forcefully make them go further into finish, like waist stomach height. 

[saevel25]

Note to self, when contact gets sketchy, check backswing length. I would say, 99% of the time, the swing is getting long. 

The old adage is kiss, keep it simple stupid. For me, its keep it shorter stupid 😛 

[saevel25]

Some video

Initial

Getting it shorter

Range Session Summary 

1. worked on some hip movement stuff. How I load into my right hip and some left leg and hip extension thru impact.

2. Worked on backswing length.

[saevel25]

So, a thought came to me about a swing feel for the downswing, to get my hands going more down and less out. I was thinking about pushing the handle of the club down with my left hand. So, pulling a lever down with the left hand. Might give it a few reps to see what it does. 

[iacas]

4 hours ago, saevel25 said:

So, a thought came to me about a swing feel for the downswing, to get my hands going more down and less out. I was thinking about pushing the handle of the club down with my left hand. So, pulling a lever down with the left hand. Might give it a few reps to see what it does. 

Eh. Down is the 2D look from down the line. Don’t pull down on the handle. Shaft tends to look steep, elbow stays bent.

[saevel25]

2 hours ago, iacas said:

Eh. Down is the 2D look from down the line. Don’t pull down on the handle. Shaft tends to look steep, elbow stays bent.

Yea, nixed that idea. 

---

Still working on keeping it shorter.

 

[saevel25]

Probably going to work a lot on the driver more. Challenge is to keep it short. 

 

Could get more shift right in the backswing. Stance maybe a bit to wide. Right arm stuff could be better. Need to stop turning at like A3. Fully turned there. Need to get that feeling. 

 

[iacas]

The FO isn’t too far off.

[saevel25]

Current feels

1. Shorter backswing focusing on how much my hips and shoulders turn. Doing my right hip internal rotation helps. Keep the dominant eye on the ball, don’t let my head get turned away by my body turn. 

2. Don’t let my hips out race the body by sliding way to much forward. A slight hip slide, really doesn’t feel like sliding at all. Mostly, right side through with my hands going down. 

3. Face control is by the position of where my right palm is facing. Hitting a straight shot usually feels like my right palm is facing down the target line. 

 

[saevel25]

Shot a 95.

One word to describe the round, disappointing. I probably could use a much stronger word. I’ve had really good range sessions the last two weeks. No major issues with short game. Partial wedge shots were decent. Just go out today and brought nothing. I couldn’t hit irons well at all. Short game was terrible. Blading partial wedge shots one after another. Even putting failed me. Which has been the best part of my game all year so far.

Just at a loss right now. I was feeling really confident that I would play at least decent. 

Well, I’ll have to get back at it, but it’s hard to see what I should do on the course. I could back to the range and flush iron shots and hit the course and have it all disappear. Maybe it’s just develop some faith that I’ll play decent golf at some point. Obviously, I’m not in control of the play well switch.

[saevel25]

Priority Refresher (Past GEARS Lesson Summary). 

Backswing

1. Control hip turn amount, can't let it get to 50+ degrees. Feel is keeping hips facing forward and internal rotation of the right hip.  
2. Keep the backswing shorter by having less right elbow bend at A3-A4. Should feel like hands are further away from head. Might feel like right palm is pushing away from head. 
3. Backswing slows down much sooner. Feel like swing stops at A2.5. It will get to A3 or just past. 

Transition

1. Hands down to my right hip pocket, more so back of right hand. I hate this one. It's the one I struggle the most with. The biggest issue I have is I can't tell the difference (currently) between getting the hands down by releasing the angle in my right elbow versus just dropping my right elbow down by using my shoulders, which maintains my right elbow bend as the hands drop. See video below of the transition.

Maybe this is closer to what I want but taking a screenshot here... Looks like a lot of right elbow bend. 

Downswing

1. Gain pressure in under left foot, and explode up by extending leg, pushing off ground. Left hip goes back and up. 

Practice Session Format

Make 5-6 practice reps to 1 ball hit. Keep things at "reasonable" swing speed. Stick to format. 

[iacas]

10 hours ago, saevel25 said:

Backswing

1. Control hip turn amount, can't let it get to 50+ degrees. Feel is keeping hips facing forward and internal rotation of the right hip.  
2. Keep the backswing shorter by having less right elbow bend at A3-A4. Should feel like hands are further away from head. Might feel like right palm is pushing away from head. 
3. Backswing slows down much sooner. Feel like swing stops at A2.5. It will get to A3 or just past. 

Make that "one" thing. As in… "I do this on the backswing."

10 hours ago, saevel25 said:

Transition

1. Hands down to my right hip pocket, more so back of right hand. I hate this one. It's the one I struggle the most with. The biggest issue I have is I can't tell the difference (currently) between getting the hands down by releasing the angle in my right elbow versus just dropping my right elbow down by using my shoulders, which maintains my right elbow bend as the hands drop. See video below of the transition.

Do it with the right elbow. Do it in two steps: down, then turn. Slowly blend them together.

10 hours ago, saevel25 said:

Downswing

1. Gain pressure in under left foot, and explode up by extending leg, pushing off ground. Left hip goes back and up. 

Don't try to do too much.

[saevel25]

Better range session yesterday. 

Backswing -> Feel like I catch the momentum of the club at A2.5 to A3 to stop the backswing. Feel the hands stop, and then resist the motion of the club. 

Transition/Downswing -> As I shift the weight forward, lower hands down to right pocket.

I blend this into one motion for practice drills. 

For making a swing, I tell myself to wait until I feel the weight shift and lowering my hands before I start to turn. The old swing is to yank on the club and send the hands out. 

If I overdo it, I fat the shot, which is fine. Just means I exaggerated my hands down. 

[mdl]

It looks like, like me, your flow would bring you across the line if you go too far? Does learning to simply stop earlier fully solve the problem? I'm asking because I've gone back and forth over the years trying to change my arc so it's "parallel" to the target line versus simply stopping earlier.

Presumably the answer is partially player/swing specific (I've got my first call with my new coach tonight that I'm pumped about! Already got the intro full catalog video of what's good and what are my challenges prior to prioritization of work). Just wondering if there's a usually or most cases answer.

Also, I know the struggle and it sounds like you're in a phase focusing on issues which for me always comes with some impatience or frustration about the pace of change. But overall your swing looks good!

[iacas]

4 hours ago, saevel25 said:

Even in the last swing… the club kinda bounces at the end of the backswing. That's gonna be tougher the faster you go. If it's bouncing at slow speeds… look out.

[saevel25]

35 minutes ago, mdl said:

It looks like, like me, your flow would bring you across the line if you go too far? Does learning to simply stop earlier fully solve the problem? I'm asking because I've gone back and forth over the years trying to change my arc so it's "parallel" to the target line versus simply stopping earlier.

Not that big of a deal for me right now. 

What hurts me more is how much bend I allow in my right elbow and my hand path in the downswing. There are plenty of golfers who are flat, down the line, or across the line and hit the ball really well. 

I could nitpick here, but if I would grade this backswing as like B to B+ for me. It has been much worse. 😉

16 minutes ago, iacas said:

Even in the last swing… the club kinda bounces at the end of the backswing. That's gonna be tougher the faster you go. If it's bouncing at slow speeds… look out.

OK