My Swing (saevel25)

[saevel25]

Here is a video of my swing today. Top of the backswing doesn't look too bad. Probably could get the clubhead more outside the hands, but the right arm isn't stuck behind me anymore. Still could get it a little more out in front of the body. Swing isn't nearly as long, but I could work on feeling more rotation in the backswing rather than moving the arms. I was hitting some really good shots later on when I was hitting 3/4th swings, but mostly just rotating back and then firing through with the hips and shoulder. I still get a bit too flippy in the swing. I think that has to do with getting too caught up in what the hands are doing, instead of focusing on keeping this short and compact and just letting the body get better turn rates.

Here is impact, can still get the hips more open, get that left hip up more. The shoulders could be more open as well.

Here is a video of one of the last balls I hit, with the more rotation feel, and less arm movement feel.

I think the top looks a tad better, just a tad shorter than the first video. What was more important is the swing felt more stable. I felt like I could consistently strike the ball better with feeling 3/4th swing, mostly rotating the hips back, trusting the hands to be where they are suppose to, and then firing through. Need more hips and shoulder through impact still.

[Jakester23]

That looks very good. The 3/4 swing does look incredibly stable. How much distance (if any) do you feel you were losing? If it's not a lot then you know your new swing thought. ;-)

[saevel25]

That looks very good. The 3/4 swing does look incredibly stable. How much distance (if any) do you feel you were losing? If it's not a lot then you know your new swing thought.

Those swings are what I would hit stock shots on. So I wasn't loosing little distance. I need to practice more game scenario shots, like hitting a 1 or 2 clubs more but softer. Right now I was working on the swing, so yea.

[mvmac]

Do you find having the slight shoulder tilt, and the head tilt helps with allowing the hips and shoulders to turn better through impact. That is the turn rates through impact, where the left hip goes back and up quicker.

Yes agree with that and also with widening the stance a couple inches.

I think the top looks a tad better, just a tad shorter than the first video. What was more important is the swing felt more stable. I felt like I could consistently strike the ball better with feeling 3/4th swing, mostly rotating the hips back, trusting the hands to be where they are suppose to, and then firing through. Need more hips and shoulder through impact still.

Swing is looking good!

[iacas]

Your comments are spot on Matt, so keep at it. Looking good.

[saevel25]

So I was warming up before the round today. I just tried to feel the half to 3/4 swing feel. Lets just say, the irons were much more flush. Also it felt much easier to do the hip and shoulder turn through impact with a much shorter feeling swing. Its almost feels like, Set the club in the backswing and FIRE!!!  I think I am on the right track here.

As for the round, a mediocre +5 40.

nFIR = 5 out of 7

nGIR = 6 out of 9 (4 GIR)

Putts = 17, around the hole all night, just couldn't make anything. Putting stroke is feeling much better. My reads are off. Need to recalibrate my Aimpoint feel.

Had a bad break on hole 3, the ball nicked the cart path and launched to an unplayable lie next to a bush. Took a double on that hole. Then it was alternating par and bogey. Need to really work on my wedge distances. I had a 70 yard wedge shot I hit 90 yards (oops).

Overall just a blah night. I should have shot better.

[iacas]

So I was warming up before the round today. I just tried to feel the half to 3/4 swing feel. Lets just say, the irons were much more flush. Also it felt much easier to do the hip and shoulder turn through impact with a much shorter feeling swing. Its almost feels like, Set the club in the backswing and FIRE!!!  I think I am on the right track here.

Hmmmm…

I was there when someone told you in February or March or whenever that was, something like… "Fix the backswing pieces you know you have to fix, THEN you can start working on the downswing piece we just talked about."

You're doing well with the backswing piece. It's often particularly hard for longer hitters to shorten their swings (especially the proper way) because they think they'll lose one of their advantages.

[saevel25]

Hmmmm…

I was there when someone told you in February or March or whenever that was, something like… "Fix the backswing pieces you know you have to fix, THEN you can start working on the downswing piece we just talked about."

You're doing well with the backswing piece. It's often particularly hard for longer hitters to shorten their swings (especially the proper way) because they think they'll lose one of their advantages.

Yea I know

Yes it is particularly hard to shorten the swing. I do say it does take a few rounds to realize, 'Hey, I don't lose much distance when I swing shorter'. I mean, I can lose the absolute crush. The 1 and 20 drive that happens to BOMB, but I am gaining much more consistent distance with better accuracy. Total driving will be much better. It takes a bit of humbling in trying it to figure it out.

Looking forward to keep working on this! I do say it is exciting when you start to see the gains in fixing the golf swing.

[iacas]

Yea I know

Yes it is particularly hard to shorten the swing. I do say it does take a few rounds to realize, 'Hey, I don't lose much distance when I swing shorter'. I mean, I can lose the absolute crush. The 1 and 20 drive that happens to BOMB, but I am gaining much more consistent distance with better accuracy. Total driving will be much better. It takes a bit of humbling in trying it to figure it out.

Looking forward to keep working on this! I do say it is exciting when you start to see the gains in fixing the golf swing.

What you'll realize is that the "CRUSH" is still there, and will also become more reliable too, because you just lengthen it a little, but since you're now able to make downswing improvements, the whole motion is better.

It's still going to be slightly less reliable than the "80% (which yields 95% distance)" swing, but it's always there when you need it on a wide open par five or something.

[CarlSpackler]

I would love to be in the position where I could lay back and ONLY hit it 295-300. ;-)

[saevel25]

I would love to be in the position where I could lay back and ONLY hit it 295-300.

[saevel25]

Shot a +3 39 tonight

nGIR: 8

Scrambling: 1 out of 4

Putts: 16

Ball striking was pretty good. I had a brain fart hybrid shot on the first par 5. Ball was about 6 inches above my feet and I blocked it way right. Besides that, everything felt solid. No big hooks left. Half swing feel works really really well. Putting was OK. I still need to get reps in on the new putting set up and grip. Some putts feel bad, some feel really good.

Pitching was pretty good. First hole I pitched to about 10 feet from behind the green with everything running away from me. Third hole I hit a good pitch shot to about a foot on the green, it just had a lot of run out, the course is getting pretty bouncy now. Sixed hole, I hit a good pitch to about 25 feet. About as close as I could get. I short-sided myself on my tee shot, the pin was front right, and I had about 5 feet to work with from the fringe, and everything ran away from me. I had a great pitch on hole number 7, I nuked a 7 iron over the green (caught a flier I think). The ball was on a severe downslope. So I used Erik's method of standing sideways to the ball, and I landed it about a foot short of the fringe and it bounced once onto the green and rolled to about 4 feet, made birdie.

Overall not bad. Could have been better. Its really nice to say things could be better when I shot 3 over for 9 holes.

[Jakester23]

Shot a +3 39 tonight

nGIR: 8

Scrambling: 1 out of 4

Putts: 16

Ball striking was pretty good. I had a brain fart hybrid shot on the first par 5. Ball was about 6 inches above my feet and I blocked it way right. Besides that, everything felt solid. No big hooks left. Half swing feel works really really well. Putting was OK. I still need to get reps in on the new putting set up and grip. Some putts feel bad, some feel really good.

Pitching was pretty good. First hole I pitched to about 10 feet from behind the green with everything running away from me. Third hole I hit a good pitch shot to about a foot on the green, it just had a lot of run out, the course is getting pretty bouncy now. Sixed hole, I hit a good pitch to about 25 feet. About as close as I could get. I short-sided myself on my tee shot, the pin was front right, and I had about 5 feet to work with from the fringe, and everything ran away from me. I had a great pitch on hole number 7, I nuked a 7 iron over the green (caught a flier I think). The ball was on a severe downslope. So I used Erik's method of standing sideways to the ball, and I landed it about a foot short of the fringe and it bounced once onto the green and rolled to about 4 feet, made birdie.

Overall not bad. Could have been better. Its really nice to say things could be better when I shot 3 over for 9 holes.

This last sentence is so cool. Its good to hear all the work you've put in is paying dividends(even though I knew it would ).  Keep up the good work bud.

[shakogolfer78]

Just skimmed through this thread for the first time, and I would just like to say @saevel25 that your swing looks so much better now than at the beginning. Great job working on the takeaway. Your hard work is definitely paying off. Congrats. Keep up the good work.

[saevel25]

I still take the clubhead back way too inside. Maybe something to work on later. Doesn't really hurt the swing too much, only when I overswing. So my length of the swing hurts the swing more than this position.

This is why the position in the backswing doesn't hurt my swing anymore. I am able to keep the clubhead inside now. That is a crazy change in the image. Complete 180 from a few years ago. This means, good buy Slices and Hello DRAWS!!!

As you can see here, the face is pointed left with an over the top swing. On the right the face is pointed more right with an in to out path. Still need to work on the shoulder and hips being more open at impact, but way better.

Less of an overswing, and hands in a better position on the right. The elbow is in a less retracted position as well. Shoulders are turned on a steeper angle, though I think I could get them a tad steeper, which could help in keeping the clubhead more outside, or inline with my hands on the backswing. Not something I am going to worry about now.

Hands are much more forward in the swing, much closer to the ball. This really helps against flipping.

Impact position is  WAY BETTER!!  Clubhead, hands and shoulder are all inline at impact. Hips need to be more open at impact, but this position is way better than before. A lot more hips forward at this position as well compared to previously.

Need to widen my stance a tad, and the grip could be a bit more stronger in the right hand. V in the right hand is pointing towards my right eye, I'd like to see it more towards my right ear or right shoulder. Still better than my old swing, which was pointing at my nose.

Top of the backswing is way shorter. I have a much more centered turn now. Notice how much less body I have away from the outside of my left foot.

Overall I am very pleased with the progress. Though they don't seem like drastic changes, they have dramatic effect on my ability to play golf. I WAY better at ball striking now than I before. Those images on the left are from my first time going up to Erie, PA for a lesson with Erik. On the right are images from video from the past month.

These changes improved my handicap from a 14 to an 8

Hopefully next year I will have more changes to show!!!

[saevel25]

Shot a +6 42 tonight

Driver was an issue, I had the rights. First hole was a slight block right. 2nd hole was a block cut into a pond. 3rd hole was a toe push into a pond (though I saw no splash, but the ball wasn't on the other side), 5th hole (3-wood) was a toe push into the trees, 6th hole was a huge push SLICE (banana ball). Then I finally stopped allowing my head to fall away from the target in the downswing, 7th hole I hit a push draw, 9th hole I ended up falling on my back foot and hit a push cut.

So when I don't keep my weight forward, or if my head starts to fall backwards in the downswing I hit pushes and push cuts. When I shorten the swing and rip through with my left hip and left shoulder I hit monster push draws. Well I know what I need to make more consistent!!!

The problem tonight was I couldn't get off the tee.

nGIR: 6 out of 9

Putts: 15 (really putted pretty good, made some clutch one putts for bogeys!!!)

Irons were not too good. Had a few good shots. When I was trying to hit some full wedge shots, I would flip too much and get too under the ball and come up short. I pulled draw'd a couple of irons.

Still need to work on my stuff.

[saevel25]

Was in a scramble on Saturday, we did pretty good. -15 for tied for 5th place. The quirky thing about this scramble is you get a 3 foot string. Lets say you are on the green in two, and no one makes the putt, but the ball is 6 inches from the hole. You can cut 6 inches off the string and you mark down as you would have made the putt. The string gave us about 6 birdies, but still 9 under is pretty solid for our group to do on our own. We used the string on the first 6 holes, then racked off 7 straight birdies, and then finished strong with 2 birdies. We used one of the 4 mulligans to make a birdie.

The winning team was 20 under. They were a foursome of college golfers. So you give them the string + Mulligans. It is very plausible they had a few eagle putts they could use the string on.

Overall a very fun day.

As for my swing, it was hit or miss. I am still STRUGGLING with not letting my head fall backswards in the downswing. I can tell when I start thinning drivers. My iron play was pretty solid. My 3 wood off the deck is just stupid good right now. I am hitting the long irons with pin point accuracy.

I also have started to take the play that Erik showed me up in Erie, PA. Taking 1.5 - 2 clubs more and hitting it easier and lower. It was windy that day, and I just clubbed up two times and just flighted a ball towards the green. It almost feels really easy to hit greens this way.

Putting wasn't good. I don't know, just not there yet. I heeled a few putts, and I pushed a few putts as well. I am not getting the float thing consistent enough.

[CarlSpackler]

I played a scramble once with the string. I can claim an ace if string roll counts. ;-)