My Swing (saevel25)

[iacas]

Thoughts?

[saevel25]

25 minutes ago, iacas said:

Thoughts?

Thoughts are scary... 

1. Head moves down and away from the ball in the downswing. 
2. I wonder if I am in to much of a sitting position at set up (weight on heels, bent over too much)
3. Length of the swing, though it's been worse. 
4. Clubhead pointing way right at A4, partially from backswing, partially from length of the swing. 
5. Head probably tilts away from the target in the downswing. Late flip at the ball to not chunk the shot. I did hit a lot of thin, pick it clean, type of shots. Club is coming from the inside a lot. Good strikes tended to be big push shots. 
6. Kinda what I always struggle with there. 

[iacas]

Okay.

You probably can push the mat back and get room for a face-on view. At least well enough to see how your hips are working.

[saevel25]

30 minutes ago, iacas said:

You probably can push the mat back and get room for a face-on view. At least well enough to see how your hips are working.

I didn't think about that. I'll keep that in mind next time. This range has some out door mats, or grass that can be hit off of as well. 

I can say, it felt like I was doing the hip stuff well enough. I have no evidence to prove that 

 

Edited April 15, 2018 by saevel25

[nevets88]

At a range with a similar setup, one guy suggested to me to turn the mat 45 degrees for a face on view. Thing is,  never saw him do it in his social media account, so hesitant to try, sounds like it's possible but you need one side of the range to be empty-ish. Practice what you preach is what I thinking to that guy. Another thing is it could be disconcerting for your adjacent stallmates to see what looks like shanks out of the corner of their eye.

[saevel25]

I guess the only other thing I notice is that my right knee stays flexed and I rotate strange? Not sure if that is an accurate assessment from this camera angle? 

 

[saevel25]

What is working while golfing, 

Backswing: Slow (50% speed), trying to make good hip turns
Downswing: Turn toward the target, trying not to tip back

If my head tip backs the downswing feels super fast. The ball will either be pushed way right or I will hook the ball. When I turn towards the target well, the ball flight is neutral, slight draws. 

 

[saevel25]

23 hours ago, saevel25 said:

Backswing: Slow (50% speed), trying to make good hip turns

This worked out really well. It feels like a glacier pace right now.

 

[saevel25]

Apparently I was getting the club stuck behind me today. I chunked many iron shots with the divot having a good inside to out swing path. My good shots were thinish shots. Example, dumping three shots in the water on 18 either chunking the ball or blocking it way right. Shot a 51 with a 12 on the last hole. 

Off the tee was good. I kept it in play all day. Irons were bad. Short game is what it is. Putting was really good. 

 

Edited April 23, 2018 by saevel25

[saevel25]

Last day in Pinehurst. 

Hit the ball not so well. The short game was better today. Putting was better. 

Off the tee: a few weak cuts and a handful of big hooks left. Really cost me a good score on a tough day with wind and rain. 

irons: pretty decent. A few thin ones, and a couple ones with too much draws. Besides that it was better. 

Distance wedges: these were on fire. I decided to stop dipping my knees at impact.

Pitching: was better. I did the same with the distance wedges. I had maybe two really bad pitches. 

Back to the range once I get back to Ohio. I need to work out this hip turn stuff and my short game. 

[iacas]

As much as I can, I know your game, Matt, but I also don't know how much or how you practice, and so take this for what it's worth: as your guy with some but not a ton of insight into how you practice. I could be wrong, but I think:

• You don't practice as often as you could or should, even the five minutes in your house daily type stuff.
• You go too fast (swings) and long (swings and duration) when you practice.
• You don't have the "success" when you practice that I ask.
• You definitely don't keep things "simple" or "specific" like the 5S stuff asks.

I'd love for you to go to the range, hitting 30 or 40 balls at 40% speed and having success - changing the picture the right way every time - twice a week, and doing 5 minutes a day in your home the other days of the week, mixing in play where your swing thought might be "just slow down, and play what feel like 3/4 shots, with every club" and nothing else.

You've gotta get out of your own head and just train your body the right way.

I'm frustrated as I feel I've failed to help you do that, but for the last year I've been trying to simplify greatly the message for you and it clicks occasionally but for the most part I think you're too inside-your-own-head type stuff, constantly jumping from one "fix" to another (even if they're all accurate fixes at one time or another).

I could be totally off base. I don't see how or when or for how long you practice.

And the short game stuff, we'll work on. That'll be pretty straightforward. I mean for the full swing, mostly.

[saevel25]

16 hours ago, iacas said:

You don't practice as often as you could or should, even the five minutes in your house daily type stuff.

Yep

16 hours ago, iacas said:

You go too fast (swings) and long (swings and duration) when you practice.

Yep

16 hours ago, iacas said:

• You don't have the "success" when you practice that I ask.
• You definitely don't keep things "simple" or "specific" like the 5S stuff asks.

Yep and Yep

17 hours ago, iacas said:

I'm frustrated as I feel I've failed to help you do that, but for the last year I've been trying to simplify greatly the message for you and it clicks occasionally but for the most part I think you're too inside-your-own-head type stuff, constantly jumping from one "fix" to another

The main swing stuff isn't me trying to find things that work. I am just trying to hit good shots that don't happen as often as I want. When I am on the course, I am not thinking, "Ok, I have to try this now". I probably have too high of expectation for how much I actually practice. 

The short game, I absolutely get infuriated with myself and search for anything that will at least get the ball on the green in one shot. I honestly stopped caring about how close the ball should be from the hole. 

17 hours ago, iacas said:

I could be totally off base. I don't see how or when or for how long you practice.

This year so far, not very much at all. 

[saevel25]

Went to the range today...

Video practicing hip turn

video DTL

I might have tried to copy @mvmac swing feel of keeping the right palm down as I practiced my hip turn. Just see what happens. 

On the actual strikes I tried to swing 50% backswing length and a 50% downswing. 

I also worked on pitching. Just focusing on keeping level knees and pivoting. Slow backswings to get proper backswing length and then pivot. I also did some right arm only pitching. 

[saevel25]

3 hours ago, saevel25 said:

On the actual strikes I tried to swing 50% backswing length and a 50% downswing. 

Just as a reference. The feeling of trying to slow the downswing, felt like I almost had a pause at the top. I wasn't looking to actually pause the swing, but it just felt like a pause with the hands and arms. 

I wanted to focus on not swinging hard on the downswing. My effort to slow it down lead to a slower transition, which probably felt like a pause. My best guess. Not going to think much more about it than that. Just a feeling I got from trying to actively slow the swing down a bit. 

Knowing me, probably could be slower for practice purposes. This felt more like what on the course speed should be like to hit some really good shots. 

[mvmac]

4 hours ago, saevel25 said:

I might have tried to copy @mvmac swing feel of keeping the right palm down as I practiced my hip turn. Just see what happens. 

How'd it feel?

My tendency is to load the right wrist extension too early (club head gets low and in) and have to time it coming down which can lead to pulls. Palm down feel helps me load the sweetspot in a more balanced position and I think it also give me a better awareness of Key #5.

[saevel25]

9 minutes ago, mvmac said:

How'd it feel?

I wasn't sure what would it get me. I think it helped me be more turned based from A1 to A2. 

 It helped get the sweet spot on a better path. It helped steepen the shoulder turn a tad.

I like the results.

[saevel25]

Short Game: F mixed in with some A's
Duffed 3 shots, but also hit 3-4 really good shots. The duff shots were me just be too lazy with my mechanics. I'm really trying to find the ball at impact better and not drag the hands through impact versus using the bounce better. Sometimes I just get supper lazy and just flop the club down. 

I do like how there are more better shots though. 

Putting: B
Made a couple good length putts. Also missed a few shorter ones. Distance control was pretty good. Still need to work on the path a bit. 

Backswing Swing Grade: B
I think I did the hip turn stuff very well with the irons, not so much with the driver. I like the right palm down feel. I like the slower backswing. 

Downswing Grade: C- 
The slower downswing was much better with the irons, and not good with the driver. I was tipping back and hitting hooks with the driver. I was absolutely crushing my irons. I could tell that my impact position was much better. Shots were flush, and the ball flight was much more forward than upward, less flippy. 

[saevel25]

Went to the range.

backswing: B-, was doing my piece OK. Could be slower and better.

downswing: C-, downswing felt really rushed. Head tipping back a bit. I had a good handful of downswings where I felt like I could control it better. It’s a timing thing right now. Trying not to be too lazy with the slow downswing versus just forgetting to turn and dipping back. 

Pitching: C+, better today. I’m working on controlling contact more. I would hit a few slightly fat. Like half an inch. 

 

Went to the range.

backswing: B-, was doing my piece OK. Could be slower and better.

downswing: C-, downswing felt really rushed. Head tipping back a bit. I had a good handful of downswings where I felt like I could control it better. It’s a timing thing right now. Trying not to be too lazy with the slow downswing versus just forgetting to turn and dipping back. 

Pitching: C+, better today. I’m working on controlling contact more. I would hit a few slightly fat. Like half an inch.