My Swing (Stretch)

[Stretch]

You need to feel a LOT more like this:

I needed to see that a lot slower and I'm still not sure I entirely get it. Looks to me like his hands come almost straight back and up until the hip turn takes everything inside?

[iacas]

Looks to me like his hands come almost straight back and up until the hip turn takes everything inside?

Hmm?

Here's the crux of it: Your hands don't go IN but your clubhead does. You need to feel like Rickie Fowler - hands go IN clubhead stays OUT. Look at how much on top of the club (grip) his right hand still is. Compare that to your right hand which has rolled underneath. Where the logo on Rickie's glove is pointing at the ball and he has no space in his left armpit, your logo is pointed at the sky and you have all kinds of space in the left armpit area. The two purple lines trace the butt of the club and the clubhead. You need to FEEL like Rickie Fowler - hands IN with clubhead staying OUT. Ideally when you hit P2 the clubhead and hands will be parallel to the target line. Your shaft is pointing well to the right (and Rickie's well to the left).

[BallStriker]

Stretch, for what its worth, here is one thought I have. If you run through your video frame by frame it seems to me that your hands start the swing instead of the arms -- in other words, it looks like you start the movement of the club with a little cock of the wrists before the forearms move from the set-up position.

I have been looking at a ton of swingvision video of the tour players and one very constant move is that they have what is typically called a "one-piece" takeaway -- meaning that hands/wrists don't begin to cock until the clubhead has moved away from the ball -- some refer this as a low and slow takeaway b/c the right arm remains fully extended (no wrist cock) until they are a foot or more away from the ball (some start cocking at that point, some hold a bit longer) -- but the constant seems to be keeping that one-piece takeaway together to start the backswing.

Right now, I have myself convinced that as long as I get the first couple of feet of the backswing correct (smooth, low and slow), I can't screw up the rest if I tried -- so I am free to swing loose, easy and tension free from there. It seems to be working.

So, maybe try holding off on the initial wrist cock until the club is a foot or more away from the ball -- and then let it rip from there.

Here is Sergio doing what I am trying to describe....he retains major extension before starting the wrist cock....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjtuBfTd2hk

[Stretch]

... hands go IN clubhead stays OUT...

And the light bulb goes on! I've been thinking about it bassackwards. A picture really is worth 1,000 words, isn't it?

Thanks. Much appreciated!

[tm22721]

Hmm?

Exactly. If the left side of your body reaches for the target throughout, the hands can be pushed inside as hard as you want but they will stop at The Wall and the clubhead will stay outside.

[Stretch]

Well, as long as your hands themselves don't "reach" for an inside line by rolling toward the right hip as mine have been. The eureka moment Erik brought me to there was finally seeing the butt of the club as the trajectory marker rather than the right hand.

Of course, monkey see is one thing and monkey do quite another.

[Stretch]

Proving the point about monkeys, I think, please observe the difference between the practice swing and the actual swing.

Today I worked on two things -- thinking about moving the butt of the club (rather than the hands) inside and thinking about keeping the club face "pointed at the ball" for as long as possible in the take away. Main aim is to stop the wrists rolling inward and sending the club head back under the arm and shoulder plane. I'm not there yet, by a long shot, but just getting the plane a little bit steeper immediately had me hitting the ball much, much better.

Now if I can just stop the damn unconscious wrist break as the trigger of the swing.

[Stretch]

I've been focusing on hand path in the last few sessions -- thinking about trying to go really deep inside -- and it's paying off with a nicer shot shape and about a club-and-a-half of extra distance. I'm less laid off at P2 (although not nearly in the right position yet), so I'm not coming over the top as much and the bad misses are tending to be overdraws rather than straight pulls.

[Stretch]

Couple of cuts with a six iron today. Hands are going in OK and at least the club head isn't sagging way below the arm plane anymore. Need to: get further from the ball, more forward flexion in ankles, more knee bend.



From FO, still too flat. Not pushing forward enough through impact. Still breaking wrists to trigger swing. Need to focus on club head lag on take away.

[motteler621]

Couple of cuts with a six iron today. Hands are going in OK and at least the club head isn't sagging way below the arm plane anymore. Need to: get further from the ball, more forward flexion in ankles, more knee bend.

Hey one thing I noticed because I just fixed mine. Your hands a too low with the club at address causing a flat swing plane. For the correct address, take the club and hold it straight out in front of you. Hold the end the club right up against your belt buckle with your normal grip on the club. Now extend the club straight out from your belt buckle, then bend your back so that the club goes to the ground with that angle. Then bend your knees like you should. Thats the correct address to the ball. Basically at address the end of the club will be pointing at your belt buckle.

[Stretch]

Thanks, that's good advice. The S&T; guys would call it an excessively closed attachment. Think it comes partly from being so scrunched up over the ball, which comes partly from being so frickin' tall that I feel if I move away I'll never manage to get down to it at the bottom of the swing.

It really helps to be able to see what you're doing wrong. I got a couple of looks busting out the camera on the range, but don't really care if people think I'm a tosser as long as I'm the tosser hitting nice, solid shots.

[bustaone]

Nice improvement from vid 1 to now!

[applejr]

I'm the amateur of all ameteurs, but just thinking out loud...have you thought about getting longer clubs? That posture makes me uncomfortable just watching it.

That being said, your ball went higher and straighter than mine do : )

[Stretch]

My clubs are +1-1/2" and they still look like toothpicks. My six iron there is as long as an average three iron. I suppose I could chop off my feet...

[Zeph]

If your 6i is as long as an average 3i and they are lengthened 1-1/2", the clubs are too short initially.

Better fit clubs will help with the posture and hands position. How do you look with a 45" driver? I'm standing a bit bent forward with the irons, but the driver and three wood looks more normal.

[Stretch]

Sorry, you've lost me. Mens' standard 6i is about 37" and standard 3i is about 38.5". My 6i is about 38.5". Seems to make sense from where I'm sitting?

Anyway, thanks for the input. I think I'm going to try hitting balls in line next time from exactly the same stance -- one from my normal ball position, and the others successively two/three inches further away. Be interesting to see how varying that one factor affects the swing.

[Zeph]

Lost myself too, I mixed up some things.
Did you try different brands and models when buying them? I think there are some variations there.

The problem with moving your ball farther away is that it changes the angle of the shaft, which in turn can make the lie wrong.

[APowell0057]

Just thinking out loud here but I would consider trying to take the club straight back AND as far as you can take it. Just swing with the same rhythm in your videos though. Just seems like the club is going back to far inside at first and thats causing you to give up on the backswing.