My Swing (bplewis24)

[bplewis24]

Originally Posted by Kapanda

I see what's wrong with your swing.

Your 20" biceps can't clear your 50" chest.

You do any other sports (curious)?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Beachcomber

Keep working hard and I'm sure you'll be able to lean on your swing in future tournament golf.

Half the battle (for me at least) is the mental side and having the confidence in pulling off a shot under tournament conditions and pressure.  And then if something goes astray - being able to pick yourself up - brush yourself off - and get back into the match.  Going back to the wheel house and doing what you do best to complete the round.

This was the biggest issue.  It is quite humbling, actually.  I knew what I needed to do with my swing, but I was very scared to commit to a hip slide and commit to trying to get shaft lean with the club for fear of hitting a hosel rocket or a fat shot.  I hit the range for 2 hours after the first round and before the next morning's round, and hit the ball better the next day.  But again when I was put into a tough shot situation, I went back to casting at the ball to some extent.  It does help me understand just how much more practice I need in order to be able to lean on the swing when I really need it.

It also gives me an appreciation for how well the pros play on pro-level courses.

[Kapanda]

I played corner as well, and unfortunately or fortunately fell in love with the position.

They say that when you truly love it is never a loss... or something like that.

[bunkerputt]

Originally Posted by bplewis24

Anyway, to your second remark, I think/thought so too, but he is emphasizing me pulling my left shoulder over my right foot because I otherwise "lose my spine angle." (aka my head/spine start tilting towards the target, making secondary axis tilt tougher to attain on the downswing).  So I do make a conscious effort to keep my head still this week at the range, but the only way to do that while still getting my left shoulder over the right foot (or thereabouts) is to really rotate my hips open a lot more.  I can do that, but always felt like that was a no-no before.  So it feels taboo or something.

Head shouldn't be "over" right foot on backswing.  This would make the shoulders turn too flat.  Having the head stay steady doesn't prevent you from getting secondary axis tilt.  Poor hip and leg action does, but certainly not a steady head.  The head should stay in the same position in space in regards to the ball and roughly in regards to the right knee, assuming the right leg action is correct.  Right knee tends to bow on the backswing if the right foot is too square and an attempt is made to not straighten it.  Shoulders should turn in a circle so your low spot isn't moving all over the place.  Turn the left shoulder down on the backswing.  Forget about getting it over the right knee, having a necktie hanging over it, or whatever other misinformation is out there.  Here's another guy with pretty good athleticism who is working on his swing.  Notice the lines drawn through the center of the head and lead hip.  Lines are accurate to the pixel in the X axis.  Observe also that the head drops somewhat (less than I indicate because I was sloppy with the Y axis) due to the head remaining stationary (not moving forward from top) and the axis tilt like when you stretch a bow and it gets "shorter" top to bottom.

And this one just for fun.  Boom!

[bplewis24]

Originally Posted by bunkerputt

Head shouldn't be "over" right foot on backswing.   Having the head stay steady doesn't prevent you from getting secondary axis tilt.  Poor hip and leg action does, but certainly not a steady head.  The head should stay in the same position in space in regards to the ball and roughly in regards to the right knee, assuming the right leg action is correct.  Right knee tends to bow on the backswing if the right foot is too square and an attempt is made to not straighten it.  Shoulders should turn in a circle so your low spot isn't moving all over the place.  Turn the left shoulder down on the backswing.

Agree with all of this.  Nothing he said contradicts with any of this as far as I can tell.  The head isn't over the right foot, it's the left shoulder.  He said to try and turn the left shoulder down and feel as if it's going towards the right foot.  The head is supposed to remain steady.  The way I was swinging, it was not staying steady and was swaying to the left, causing a reverse axis tilt, making me work extra hard to try and get back to a secondary axis tilt.

[bunkerputt]

Originally Posted by bplewis24

Agree with all of this.  Nothing he said contradicts with any of this as far as I can tell.  The head isn't over the right foot, it's the left shoulder.  He said to try and turn the left shoulder down and feel as if it's going towards the right foot.  The head is supposed to remain steady.  The way I was swinging, it was not staying steady and was swaying to the left, causing a reverse axis tilt, making me work extra hard to try and get back to a secondary axis tilt.

I see.  Good distinction.  I forget that most people, Tiger included, probably can't make a turn big enough to actually accomplish what you are describing.  I was mostly thinking about your swing and how it seems you move off of your address position.  Keep your head in the same spot left-right as if you are keeping your ear against a wall from address through well past impact.  It can only help to compliment the lesson you got.

[bplewis24]

Originally Posted by bunkerputt

I was mostly thinking about your swing and how it seems you move off of your address position.

I do/was, at least last week and in the videos that were posted.  It's just a function of trying to tweak the swing and not knowing how to make the changes while still keeping other fundamental body motions in tact.  I'm still not 100% sure about the backswing move on my irons until I see some recent video feedback of my swing.  However my Driver swing is in much better shape and I'm back to hitting it well.  I hit a couple during the tournament in the 290 range, which I haven't hit in a few months.

I've taken the past two days off from golf to relax a bit, and I'll be back at the range today and this weekend getting back to this stuff.

[bplewis24]

I recorded my practice this morning.  My head was moving entirely too much.  It was hard to watch.

That is all.

[bplewis24]

So when I went back tonight, I tried to work on all of the other aspects of the swing that I'm working on, but only as secondary thoughts to the primary framework of keeping my head as still as possible (laterally, anyway).  It was an improvement.  Then at the end I made my secondary thought, allowing my hips to rotate a bit more on the backswing in order to get a full turn while keeping the head relatively still, and it seemed to immediately add 20 yards to my driver swing.  It was like a revelation.

[bplewis24]

Got my first eagle hole-out from the fairway!

Par 5, 3rd shot from 125 yards and they tell me it one-hopped perfectly into the hole.  I couldn't see because from my angle the pin was tucked behind a mound, and the green was slightly elevated from the fairway.  Only my 2nd eagle also.  Didn't play so well overall (86, 11.8 differential), but I was +2 on the back 9 (bogied 3 of the last 4 holes) after I settled down from a rough front 9.  I feel like I'm back on the right track after the lessons of 3-5 weeks ago.

[bplewis24]

So, this Trackman session was so horrible, I didn't want to post this:  https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B8wC1-xUTHEhbG1HSV9jVkVUTXc

It seems like I only post negative evidence, but oh well.  I went into the fitting cold and completely sucked.  My typical ball-flight is a push-draw. I know this because most of my ball flights are high draws and my miss is typically a push.  But in the fitting I was hitting a weak fade/slice and coming over the top.  It was also into a fairly strong head-wind, which may have exacerbated the issue.  It was worthless as far as a fitting was concerned.

It was so bad, the guy offered to allow me to come back tomorrow for another half-hour for free because he said he wanted to "consult" with some of his peers, see if the wind conditions were different (would this even matter?), and possibly see me swing again.  I hit my 3wood further than I hit most of those drives.

Anyway, somebody earlier in the thread asked what my club speed was.  I think it averaged about 105 across all clubs and topped out about 110 for the Titleist (avg'd 107 with that club).  I think I can do better than that though.

[Beachcomber]

Originally Posted by bplewis24

So, this Trackman session was so horrible, I didn't want to post this:  https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B8wC1-xUTHEhbG1HSV9jVkVUTXc

It seems like I only post negative evidence, but oh well.  I went into the fitting cold and completely sucked.  My typical ball-flight is a push-draw. I know this because most of my ball flights are high draws and my miss is typically a push.  But in the fitting I was hitting a weak fade/slice and coming over the top.  It was also into a fairly strong head-wind, which may have exacerbated the issue.  It was worthless as far as a fitting was concerned.

It was so bad, the guy offered to allow me to come back tomorrow for another half-hour for free because he said he wanted to "consult" with some of his peers, see if the wind conditions were different (would this even matter?), and possibly see me swing again.  I hit my 3wood further than I hit most of those drives.

Did you have anything on video?  Your path is negative...  But your attack angle wasn't bad.  I think if you simply closed your stance you would've started hitting the ball a lot better.  Your spin numbers were crazy - but as you said in your post, you were coming way the inside the path which generates a cut/slice ball flight.  Check this video out... I believe it will help.

[bplewis24]

Originally Posted by Beachcomber

Did you have anything on video?  Your path is negative...  But your attack angle wasn't bad.  I think if you simply closed your stance you would've started hitting the ball a lot better.  Your spin numbers were crazy - but as you said in your post, you were coming way the inside the path which generates a cut/slice ball flight.  Check this video out... I believe it will help.

Not from that session, no.  Funny you say that about the closed stance.  I felt like I had a closed stance with my driver all day during my round yesterday.  I was probably neutral during the fitting.  I will post the numbers from the follow-up session later today.  I'm also going to bring in my 3w and maybe my current driver if they'll allow it.

Thanks for the video.  I think one of the things that has been helping me the past couple weeks is the feeling that my head is behind the ball.  Not just with my driver though.  With my irons I think I've been trying so hard to get forward shaft lean that I've been getting lateral head movement in front of the ball.  Consciously trying to keep my head behind the ball while still hitting down on it with the irons has helped encourage a lot of hip movement and secondary axis tilt (I think).  My ball striking has improved, anyway.

[bunkerputt]

What ball do you play?

[bplewis24]

This year I'm playing the Callaway Hex Black.

By the way, I've lost all progress I made over the past two weeks.  I went from hitting the ball the best I ever have, to hitting weak fades with my driver/3w after that driver fitting.  I think it's mostly because I lost my wrist hinge near the bottom of the swing and started flipping at the ball again, but I won't know for sure until I get back to the range (maybe tonight).

[Beachcomber]

Get some videos up if you can.  I'd like to see what you've got going on.

[bunkerputt]

Originally Posted by bplewis24

This year I'm playing the Callaway Hex Black.

By the way, I've lost all progress I made over the past two weeks.  I went from hitting the ball the best I ever have, to hitting weak fades with my driver/3w after that driver fitting.  I think it's mostly because I lost my wrist hinge near the bottom of the swing and started flipping at the ball again, but I won't know for sure until I get back to the range (maybe tonight).

I played with a guy I work out with sometimes.  He has really strong legs and one of those kind of golf/tennis frames, 6'0", broad shoulders, lean upper body, huge calves and legs, out-squats me, plays basketball and can jump like nuts.  He hit a really good drive for him and I stepped up and smoked a 5-iron 50 yards past it.  He should be out-driving me easily, but can't, all because of flipping and poor technique.  He's really good at flop shots though . Flipping the club is extremely frustrating because it can take your LW yardage from 100y to 50y in a heartbeat.  It creeps in and suddenly it's like your game got hit by a train.  From your previous videos, I'm guessing you are just losing your secondary axis tilt, the hips start spinning and the left shoulder comes up too soon.  Keep the head back, and keep the left shoulder down in the transition while the knees and arms get into a position to jump and slam respectively, if that makes sense.

[bplewis24]

Originally Posted by bunkerputt

the left shoulder comes up too soon.

I know this is part of it.  I wish I would have taken some video when I was swinging well so I could see how my left shoulder was coming through differently, but when I revert to old form my left shoulder comes up really high before impact.  Very hard habit to break.  I also believe I'm starting to sway back and forth with my head again, after last night's session.

[bunkerputt]

Originally Posted by bplewis24

I know this is part of it.

It's a tough habit to break.  We want to hit the ball hard and we want to see it immediately, especially once we start getting better.  Net result is left shoulder rises to quickly, we come out of it on the downswing to get our eyes level to see the shot, the club flips and crap ensues.