My Swing (golfro)

[golfro]

Demoing several drivers...this one was the Nike Sq Dymo 9.5 stiff. I'm consciously slowing down the back swing as to get some proper shoulder turning as I've become a bit stiff in my flexibility after 6 year hiatus. So you'll see me stopping a bit short on the back swing.
Last time I went to the Bridgestone ball fitting, between 8 balls, I was hitting 113mph +/- 2 ,1.35-1.37 smash factor, 2300-2500 backspin, and estimate distance was coming out to 250-260. For the most part I'm happy with my drive but I've gotten a bad habit of slightly pulling all of my drives so help me improve my drive!

*front view coming soon.

PS: I ended up returning the Nike SQ Dymo and replaced it with Ping G10 9* stiff. Absolutely lovely driver.

[senorchipotle]

looks like you're hitting a pull slice. your downswing is off plane, your hands are dropping beneath the arc of your backswing and you're coming accross it. but you have a good follow through and it looks like you're swinging through the ball, which will still give you good distance. if you can get on plane in your downswing by getting more space between your hands and body on the downswing, i.e. at the apex of your swing start the butt of your club going directly at the ball and swing through like you're doing, you should straighten it out pretty quickly.

[golfro]

you're right on the money about the pull slice. Fortunately and unfortunately, the slice puts me back on the fairway :) but I'd rather have a bit more control over my drives.

Yeah I was viewing this video in extreme slowmo frame by frame and my downswing is definitely off plane. Time to take it to the range tomorrow!

[iacas]

your downswing is off plane, your hands are dropping beneath the arc of your backswing and you're coming accross it.

Thank goodness his downswing is under his backswing plane...

Why? Because his backswing plane is way, way, WAY too high. He pushes hands out above the plane immediately. If his downswing were on that plane or above it it'd be even worse. Are you trying to swing like Tiger Woods? Because that takeaway is just what he's doing, and it's not working for him. You need to fix the takeaway. Hands in, staying on their inclined plane.

[golfro]

Thanks iacas. I did have a friend of mine critique me on my takeaway being too far out.

So would it be safe to assume that if I were to fix my take away by bringing my hands in a bit, that it should also be on plane with my downswing?

[kilbyman]

You kind of push your hands up from address to start your takeaway. Don't actively bring your hands in, keep them in on plane by not lifting/pushing them out.

[iacas]

You kind of push your hands up from address to start your takeaway. Don't actively bring your hands in, keep them in on plane by not lifting/pushing them out.

No. Actively bring them in to keep them on plane. The plane goes in three dimensions from the address position - back, up, and IN.

Again, this list probably won't change any time soon: http://iacas.org/f/hands.pdf .

[golfro]

So I gathered up all the comments from this thread and put it to action. I focused strongly on bringing the hand in instead of taking it out and getting proper shoulder turn and completing my backswing. In doing so, I'm getting some head movement mid back swing but i'm hitting them fairly solid. some pull slices here and there but for the most part, i'm getting some solid shots.

Here is a shot from this past week. Unfortunately, I pulled a muscle in my back that day and I'm going to be out for a week or two. From the video it almost looks like I've brought my hand in just a bit too much? Any tips will help!

[delav]

I think your move into the ball from the top looks much, much better. Nice work! Great finish through the ball as well.

Heal up soon, and keep us posted when you are able to hit a few more shots.

[BallStriker]

Golfro -- is that first video from Puetz in Seattle? Good stuff.

[golfro]

Ha. Yeah its the one off Aurora. I live in Northgate so I end up going there often. Second one is at UW. You go there often?

[BallStriker]

Ha. Yeah its the one off Aurora. I live in Northgate so I end up going there often. Second one is at UW. You go there often?

Yea, I used to go to Puetz all the time, but can't stand the new golf balls they brought in last year -- I know they have problems with people going over the fence right/left, but those new balls feel like you are hitting rocks -- I just don't feel like they give me any feedback b/c every shot feels the same (clunky). I live a bit further up north and try to get out to Harbor Pointe as much as possible -- especially now that they are on grass from Wed-Sunday.

BTW, I can't believe how different (good) your swing looks after tinkering....very good stuff...there are some very sharp eyes on this forum....its a great resource.

[golfro]

Yea, I used to go to Puetz all the time, but can't stand the new golf balls they brought in last year -- I know they have problems with people going over the fence right/left, but those new balls feel like you are hitting rocks -- I just don't feel like they give me any feedback b/c every shot feels the same (clunky). I live a bit further up north and try to get out to Harbor Pointe as much as possible -- especially now that they are on grass from Wed-Sunday.

Yeah their new balls are definitely not very fun to hit. I try to goto Interbay or UW but Interbay is so expensive and UW is so out of the way for me.

but yeah, its amazing how little small details people can point out from a poor quality video. When I went back to the range, i tried to really focus on the points that people noted and voila, made a huge change in my ball flight and overall swing.

[Zeph]

The hand path is a bit better, but you should still make it deeper. The club path is pretty much the same, ie. rolling it inside and behind you.

[thrasher]

So I gathered up all the comments from this thread and put it to action. I focused strongly on bringing the hand in instead of taking it out and getting proper shoulder turn and completing my backswing. In doing so, I'm getting some head movement mid back swing but i'm hitting them fairly solid. some pull slices here and there but for the most part, i'm getting some solid shots.

In the second shot, look at your chest and body position right around impact. It may be the camera angle but it look like your chest is pointing WAAAY up and out. Look at pretty much any tour player, and their chest is pointing down to the ground at impact. I think this will lead to inconsistency in the long run.

[golfro]

Good call. I think you may have found the reason for why I get more spin on my driver than I'd like and why my ball trajectory is higher than I'd like.

[Shanks A Million]

Thank goodness his downswing is under his backswing plane...

OK, clarify something here... You're talking about his hands doing that little arc, when they go back, they come up, then back, then down and around?

[iacas]

OK, clarify something here... You're talking about his hands doing that little arc, when they go back, they come up, then back, then down and around?

Yep. If he had Hogan's pane of glass he'd break through that, and that's the highest plane anyone should really swing on. His impact plane is much, much closer to his elbow plane.