My Swing (saevel25)

[saevel25]

Another trip to Erie, PA. 

Still worked on some backswing stuff. Just not there yet. I tend to do everything a bit too much. 

Here are my notes...

Basically the backswing should be.. Slight shift right (this could be where the left knee extends a bit). Using the left leg to push off the ground.  Raise the arms up and torso turn. Mostly it just feels like I am just raising my arms.  Keep the lower body facing forward. Feel like I don't let the knees rotate at all. It is going to feel like I don't turn at all with the hips (they will). 

The swing should feel much more compact and shorter in duration. Instead of carrying on to 60+ degrees of hip turn, 110+ degrees of shoulder turn, 120 degrees of right arm bend those numbers should be reduced by 25%+. 

In the downswing, I need to keep my arm width as I lower the arms to my right pocket. The left arm is scraping down the chest. Don't feel much in terms of recentering body weight. I tend to overdo this (lots of slide towards the target). So, it is going to feel like I stay way behind the ball. Just straighten the leg during the entire downswing. Straighten it in a way that pushes my left hip back. It is possibly going to feel like my back faces the target longer as I bring my hands down. Also, I need to push off with the left leg as well during that timeframe. 

Getting closer. I am able to do most of this stuff. It is just getting it baked in more. 

 

[iacas]

It's getting better.

[saevel25]

26 minutes ago, iacas said:

It's getting better.

Yep, I agree

[saevel25]

Just some clarifications. 

On 2/28/2026 at 8:07 PM, saevel25 said:

Slight shift right (this could be where the left knee extends a bit). Using the left leg to push off the ground.

Something to try out. It is something Rory does. He extends his left knee, which closes his hips a bit, but it also shifts him right. It was something we were trying. It could help be a trigger for the backswing and get me shifted right. Also help with my left knee flexion. 

Spoiler

 

 

On 2/28/2026 at 8:07 PM, saevel25 said:

Raise the arms up and torso turn. Mostly it just feels like I am just raising my arms.

More focus on this^.

I have to nail this, or the downswing will just be dead. 

On 2/28/2026 at 8:07 PM, saevel25 said:

Keep the lower body facing forward. Feel like I don't let the knees rotate at all. It is going to feel like I don't turn at all with the hips (they will). 

Less of this^

Got clarification from @iacas that the numbers might be over what they actually are. So, this was much closer to A or A- rather than like B or B-. Something to keep an eye on, but much better now. Anything associated with me overturning/swinging needs to be monitored, lol. 

On 2/28/2026 at 8:07 PM, saevel25 said:

In the downswing, I need to keep my arm width as I lower the arms to my right pocket. The left arm is scraping down the chest. Don't feel much in terms of recentering body weight. I tend to overdo this (lots of slide towards the target). So, it is going to feel like I stay way behind the ball. Just straighten the leg during the entire downswing. Straighten it in a way that pushes my left hip back. It is possibly going to feel like my back faces the target longer as I bring my hands down. Also, I need to push off with the left leg as well during that timeframe. 

Focus on this^

Drills.

1. Slam the medicine ball down and behind me. Going to search Amazon for a soft medicine ball I can throw. With it being like 5lbs, it is not that physically demanding. It definitely gets the feeling of how to throw the club down behind you with the arms. 
2. Staying tall, similar to the medicine ball, but swing the club down hitting the ground way behind the ball. Not 100%, but don't be afraid to thump the ground.  
3. Not much of drills for the left leg. Just a lot sooner. Because I have tons of knee bend going from A3 to A5, it is probably going to feel like I don't load the left leg that much but just extend it. Might incorporate some medicine ball exercises for this. 

On a side note,

I been thinking of this since the last lesson (January). The final swing for me is going to probably feel superfast/quick. I went and looked at an older GEARS swing. The backswing was like 1.3 seconds, and total time of 1.6 seconds.  A long backswing, a quickish downswing (0.3-ish seconds). A 4.4 to 1 tempo (PGA Tour is 3:1) 

On the swings where I was doing the downswing stuff on Sunday. It went to 1.4 seconds (13% reduction), and the downswing went to 1.1 seconds (15.2% reduction). A 3.9 tempo. Getting closer to 3:1. I could tell the swing was going to be shorter/quicker when the torso turn runs up against hips that restrict the turn. Especially when I do the right arm stuff much better. It was like, "Oh crap, I stopped turning".  If my swing was closer to PGA tour averages, 0.75 second backswing and 0.25 second downswing. That is about 30% quicker than the baseline swing. Which will probably feel like 50% quicker.

I might play around with a metronome. Just so I can get use to how fast I have to do this. I may need to speed up the right arm stuff. Not going to try that now, just maybe for later. 

[saevel25]

Well, this video is relevant...

I swear they have been targeting me this off-season 🤣

 

[Ty_Webb]

1 minute ago, saevel25 said:

Well, this video is relevant...

I swear they have been targeting me this off-season 🤣

 

Did you get lost?

[saevel25]

13 minutes ago, Ty_Webb said:

Did you get lost?

I did get lost. 

[saevel25]

Updated feels

Backswing

1. Knees stay at the same depth
2. Shift right
3. Right now it's imagining the hand path going right and up by raising the right arm. I imagine the hands holding the club while it is pointed up and behind me at my right shoulder. 
4. Torso (belly) and hips stay facing forward. 

Downswing

1. Mostly just straightening in combination with arms down behind me. I know my knees are bent, but it doesn't feel like much. It doesn't feel explosive because I am not going from a deeper squat. 
2. Hands to right pocket or right foot. It should feel like my go down as my shoulders stay up. Stay taller. I don't need to use the body to get the club down. 

[saevel25]

Still working on the backswing a bit. Hand still gets away from the body, out towards the ball, and at A2 the club wants to roll over and get flat at A3. It's just very difficult to shallow from that position like I want. Which makes my downswing work impossible. 

Backswing

1. I have been playing around with the left leg straightening to start the backswing. It's like, a slight shove of the hips right with the left leg. Then just keep the flex in the right knee as I turn into it. I kind of like it. I never had a good swing trigger. It helps keep my left knee extended. 
2. Yea, definitely feeling the hand path is traveling down the feet line, and straight up. A little bit of wrist rotation, and a lot more hinge sooner in the right wrist and elbow. I am trying to get the feeling that the arm hinging up then is the cause for the right shoulder to retract to finish the backswing. Club feels much more vertical at A3. I am trying to have my wrist fully hinged by then. 
3. Feel the club and arms stop at A3.5 (my A4). If my arm collapses late, then I turn into that and I am pretty much screwed. The club and arms kind of have a floaty feeling, where they are just suspended in air for a bit, then drop. 

Downswing

1. I have been trying to think of a good visual for this mentally. I like the idea of my hands taking a wide arc to my right pocket, or I am taking the back of the hosel and trying to hit the ground behind my right foot.   
2. Left knee stuff, just sooner. 

[saevel25]

Went back to controlling my knees. That part was getting a bit sloppy when I worked on my backswing. Right hip didn't slide or gain internal rotation. I would just rotate back and around and the left knee would be in a bad spot. Really focusing now on keeping my left knee very stable and straighter in the backswing. I can't go back to the old pattern of overturning the hips. I was returning to my old pattern to time my downswing. Turn forever. 

1. Left knee controls both knees and hips, acting as an anchor. Feel like it straightens a bit.  
2. Hinge sooner and faster. Not in a way that sends the hands out and flips the club over. I still noticed when the hands get to A2.5, the hands would want to flip over and flatten the club out a ton.  Still trying to figure out how to roll the forearms a bit open and not just roll the club inside a ton. 
3. Figure out the timing to get the hands down. Still getting a bit of right elbow collapsing in the downswing because the arms are too high when I turn. Everything is happening sooner now. If the hips are controlled, the backswing is shortened. Because it is shortened I don't know when to get the hands down and I just turn because the downswing is a go. 

Very slow (50%) swings are decent.

 

[saevel25]

A bit of an update

Set up - Less knee bed, more hip flex, weight feels more on the balls of my feet, and heels feel off the ground or lightly touching the ground. I have to check this from time to time. I like to squat too much and get my weight back. If I look at where my right pocket meets my shirt, that is over my ankles. It feels like I am on my toes. 

Backswing - Feel like my left kneecap stays facing towards the ball, doesn't move. This controls my knees in the backswing. Which controls my hips. Lots of resistance feeling in the left leg, lots of stability here. The hands feel like they go in a bit, keeping them closer to my right hip, then hinge straight up. In reality the hands go straight towards the camera than in. I am trying to keep the hands from going out and rolling the club inside from A2 to A4. Mostly hinge from wrist and still feel like I keep my right elbow straighter. So, its hinge wrist, then left upper arm off chest. Elbow feels like it doesn't do much. The hinge and the club finish nearly the same time as my right arm retracts. So, it's not continuing on a ton here. I don't think I could overexaggerate enough how fast and the quantity of hinge I can do here. 

Downswing - This is the drill I set up. I wanted to create a spatial target for my swing path. So, I added a 2nd foam ball. This one off my right foot, about 1-ft away from the shoe. I chose this position because if I stop the swing at the top then bring my right hands down to my pocket and turn from there, that ball would be in its path. I am trying to swing the club down and behind me to make that 2nd ball in the swing path to the actual ball. It won't, but it is a good visual. It really has helped me. I did it slow a few times, then I did one swing at like 70% and it looked pretty good. 

Checkpoints

A1 to A2 - Club travels inward a bit and hands travel inward and straight back. Club is outside the hands at A2. 

A2 to A4 - Club hinges here and still stay on plane pretty well. At A3, the club is pointing inside the ball. Previously it was like 10+ FT outside the ball. Right elbow and right hands are in front of the chest more. A small nitpick here is, maybe the hip turn is a tad over what I want. Very very small nitpick here. Probably could have hinged a bit sooner and gotten the club up a bit quicker to finish the backswing. This was a slower swing, so timing is a bit off. 

A4 to A6 - the club keeps tracking down such that the club pass just under my hands. The path misses the 2nd ball by a lot. I am trying to get the club down to hit it. 

When the knees are square to the target line in the downswing. My hands are down at waist height and the clubhead is at shoulder height. while in recent swings with no shallowing, my hands are like up near my chest, the club head is like above my head. People talk about being stuck behind them, I was stuck in steepness. 

At impact, I could be more open with the hips if I used my left leg better, more work to do on that.  My right elbow and hands are on my trail side. I don't have to stop turning to get my hands and clubs through to hit the ball. 

Overall, pretty good. I just need to rep this and continue to work on getting that left leg straighter. 

Warning Label - The LED lights have a strobe effect due to the slow-motion camera. If you have photosensitive epilepsy (PSE) or certain visual sensitivities, you have been warned.

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

[saevel25]

Trying out the Swing Coach App. So far I like it. After using it a bit, I was thinking like 1-2 steep for the backswing and like 3-4 shallow for the downswing would be good practice numbers. Erik mentioned to me, something around 3 shallow in the downswing. That jives. 

On the course I would prefer like 1 steep and 1 shallow. Or 2 steep and 2 shallow. I can shallow it a bit better with a slight steep backswing. I can easily get a 4 shallow backswing without trying 🤮.

I had the right knee towards the ball tracking on. I did see an AMG video on the right knee and how it can stall turn. I was like, I do that. Not the best logic to bring that into your swing practice, but 🤷‍♂️🤣

Anyways, I think helps the left knee stuff a bit. I was trying to roll my right thigh towards the target and feel a stretch in the front of my right thigh/hip. More right  hip through impact. Video looks good. 

I am exaggerating the downswing a bit here, but I like the lower body movement here. 

Takeaway: 2 steep
Half Back: 2 steep
Half Down: 4 steep
 

 

 

[saevel25]

Update from last lesson up in Erie, PA with Erik. 

Backswing

1. Hinge wrist early. Slight wrist rotation and hinging about 60 degrees away from the club at set up. So, 30 degrees from the toe line. It is going to feel like the entire hinge is done by A2. 
2. As I hinge sooner and more, just turn to the top of the swing. The tricepshould come off the chest. 
3. Feel a ton of width in right arm at top of swing.

Downswing

1. Keeping the width in the right arm. Bring the hands down to my right hip with a little right wrist extensions and left wrist flexion. Club head should feel like it is behind my right hip. This is done with the arms, not with the chest. Keep the chest high. It should feel like I am going to hit the ground 1-FT at about a 45-degree angle from the ball behind me. 
2. ^This is in conjunction with the hands down. Get the left side back and around me. Feel very little to no weight shift. I shift like 6-7", I need to keep it about 3".  That feels like I pretty much don't slide at all. 
3. Part of the turn is also pushing off with my left foot. Pushing my butt back behind me. This needs to happen almost immediately when my hands start to come down. It may need to feel like I do it before my hands go down. I am thinking that the feel of me shifting left onto my lead foot to push off is going to be part of the pushing off feel. If I am feeling that pressure at A4 or later, then it isn't soon enough. 

Minor Injury notice: My back decided to spasm and lock up a bit when I was bent over tying my shoes. 😭. It's starting to feel better but still warning me to be careful. So, I will be taking a few days here to recuperate. I am then going to get back into the gym for some weightlifting. I think I need to strengthen up my core more to protect myself here.