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My Swing (Zeph)


Zeph
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Spring is upon us again, time to start working on the swing. Haven't played a round so far due to snow, but I'm going on a trip to Spain in two weeks, hopefully I will be able to play some good golf there. Want to make an effort the next couple of weeks to see if I can start off with some positive changes.

First some notes I've put down on things to work and keep tab on.

1: Head and upper body still, prevent left knee from kicking inside
2: Drive PP1 and PP3
3: Ball position. Farther away from me and not getting it too far forward.
4: Slightly stronger right hand to prevent rolling and pulling
5: Right foot flat, roll inwards

As I left it last year, the flipping remains the biggest issue, really need to do a lot of work here. I've read up on every way to fix it I can imagine, but it's hard to find something that works. Especially with no grass range to hit at, I'll have to use my camera to spot changes. I borrowed this idea from jamo's swing thread to compare downswing angles. I don't have the fancy Analyzr, so I'll have to make do with V1 Home and Gimp.

luke_zeph_lag1.png

I've drawn the lines when the left arm is at the same position. On the right I've put them on top of eachother to see the difference in angle. There is a 30º difference in angle when Luke's arm is at his impact position compared to my swing at the same spot. Camera angles, setup and ball position probably makes the angles a bit off, but you get the general picture. The ball looks more forward than for Luke, but I know the camera angles can skew that image a bit.

I got the drills and swing thoughts, it's just a matter of getting it into effect. At this point I'm better at making pictures in Paint than getting my swing fixed. I'll record a swing where I'm hitting a punch shot one of these days, since I believe my impact position to be a lot better there. Don't know what I'm doing different, but I do hit the ball a lot more solid with that kind of shot. It feels different too, but don't know why and how to move it over to the full swing. Will keep this thread updated.

I'm pretty sure the mats have made their fair share of contribution to this problem, so I will be avoiding them the best I can. Practice on the course or at some setup at home where I can swing through the ground under the ball. Trying to fix this problem while hitting off these hard mats is probably not ideal.

Ogio Grom | Callaway X Hot Pro | Callaway X-Utility 3i | Mizuno MX-700 23º | Titleist Vokey SM 52.08, 58.12 | Mizuno MX-700 15º | Titleist 910 D2 9,5º | Scotty Cameron Newport 2 | Titleist Pro V1x and Taylormade Penta | Leupold GX-1

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I'm fairly confident that you will eventually one day beat this problem. You've got all the right ideas in your head as to what you must do in order to play golf at a higher level. At this point, all you need, I think, are "reps" (American slang for "repetitions") i.e. just getting out and playing a lot of golf.

Have you gotten any lessons from Henrik Lundqvist or Javier Nigard?

Anyway, like Jamo's blog and the swing threads of some of the other regulars, I'm enjoying following your progress over the years. Have fun in Spain

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Constantine

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Zeph, I have a swing thought that might help. It has helped me. I picture a ball at my left hip pocket. I pretend to hit the ball with the butt end of the club. Hope this makes sense. Let me know if it helps.

-Matt-

"does it still count as a hit fairway if it is the next one over"

DRIVER-Callaway FTiz__3 WOOD-Nike SQ Dymo 15__HYBRIDS-3,4,5 Adams__IRONS-6-PW Adams__WEDGES-50,55,60 Wilson Harmonized__PUTTER-Odyssey Dual Force Rossie II

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Zeph, what I notice looking at some of your videos is that your upper center is moving forward during your downswing.  At impact you are pretty much right over top of the ball with very little secondary axis tilt.  You want to keep your upper center stationary (or even moving backwards a hair for good measure) while pushing your hips forward.  This creates the secondary axis tilt and keeps your right shoulder working under (remaining on a steep plane).  And in turn, this movement helps transport the arms and club down towards the ball without them unwinding (it can actually increase lag and make it difficult to flip).  You can clearly see from your picture of Luke Donald how his head is behind the ball, his belt buckle is pushed well forward of where yours has ended up and he is side tilting a fair bit more than you at impact.  If you were to draw a line perpendicular to the ground and from your left eye to the ground, you would be looking just inside your left heel where Luke Donald is looking at just inside his right toes.  This is where I would focus my atttention for improvement.  Hope this helps.  Good Luck.

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Originally Posted by JetFan1983

I'm fairly confident that you will eventually one day beat this problem. You've got all the right ideas in your head as to what you must do in order to play golf at a higher level. At this point, all you need, I think, are "reps" (American slang for "repetitions") i.e. just getting out and playing a lot of golf.

Have you gotten any lessons from Henrik Lundqvist or Javier Nigard?

Anyway, like Jamo's blog and the swing threads of some of the other regulars, I'm enjoying following your progress over the years. Have fun in Spain



Thanks. Being cheered on is definitely inspiring. I do feel that I'm mighty close to something real good. Hope I'll be able to play some good golf in Spain, I certainly did last year .

I have not met with Henrik, Javier or anyone else teaching S&T;, no. They reside in Sweden, which is a good 6-8 hour drive just to reach the border. Hope I one day can attend a seminar with a S&T; instructor. So far I've been getting lessons from Erik and Dave through Evolvr, which has been of great help.



Originally Posted by 14ledo81

Zeph, I have a swing thought that might help. It has helped me. I picture a ball at my left hip pocket. I pretend to hit the ball with the butt end of the club. Hope this makes sense. Let me know if it helps.



I've pictured the ball all over the place, sometimes it works, sometimes not. I have hit the ball fairly well when looking 2 inches in front of the ball, but I never get comfortable looking away from the ball. I have a tendency to let the eyes drift back away from the ball, something I developed back when I was looking at my take-away. This can move my focus behind the ball, which is definitely not good. It has improved some, but still a bit to go there.



Originally Posted by Keep It Simple

Zeph, what I notice looking at some of your videos is that your upper center is moving forward during your downswing.  At impact you are pretty much right over top of the ball with very little secondary axis tilt.  You want to keep your upper center stationary (or even moving backwards a hair for good measure) while pushing your hips forward.  This creates the secondary axis tilt and keeps your right shoulder working under (remaining on a steep plane).  And in turn, this movement helps transport the arms and club down towards the ball without them unwinding (it can actually increase lag and make it difficult to flip).  You can clearly see from your picture of Luke Donald how his head is behind the ball, his belt buckle is pushed well forward of where yours has ended up and he is side tilting a fair bit more than you at impact.  If you were to draw a line perpendicular to the ground and from your left eye to the ground, you would be looking just inside your left heel where Luke Donald is looking at just inside his right toes.  This is where I would focus my atttention for improvement.  Hope this helps.  Good Luck.



Yeah, that's the "Head and upper body still, prevent left knee from kicking in" part. I know my upper body moves forward and that it is causing trouble. It will be one of my primary points to focus on once I get to hit balls again. Feeling like it moves backwards has worked, the result is usually that it remains stationary. Dave addressed this head movement in my second Evolvr lesson, and I have worked on it, but still got some work left. My head used to be all over the place (look at my 1st or 2nd swing on Youtube). My first goal was to prevent it from moving back on the backswing, then from moving forward on the downswing. By my 3rd lesson it had gotten better, but so far has looked best on my 4th swing, where the head is slightly back at impact from what it was at address.

Things keep drifting in and out of my focus. It's easy to start working on something else once one part has gotten slightly better. I was hitting balls at a simulator a week ago when I started thinking about my head again. Hit some shots focusing on keeping it steady, and I started hitting it a lot better right away. The good thing is that I know I can do this. I know how it feels, looks and how I do it. It's simply a matter of getting enough repetitions, but it is definitely a point I should get resolved before moving too far ahead. It's kinda like Tiger is talking about these days, knowing the fix and knowing how to do it. Makes it a lot easier to work on.

Again, I really appreciate feedbacks like these, helps me stay focused and keep tab on what I got to work on. That's why I write down these 5-6 points I must work on all over the place. I got them here, in my mailbox on the PC, as a desktop background, a couple of notes hanging around my golf stuff at home and a couple of notes in my bag. I leave them where they can't be missed.

What will have my attention first thing:

  • Head and upper body must stay stationary through the swing, not move forward. Keeping the left knee more stable helps in achieving this. I feel good about working on this.
  • Stand farther from the ball, something I've explained in this post . This is just a matter of remembering it. No swing mechanics involved (they are indirectly of course), I just have to remember doing it while practicing and playing. Also a thing I feel comfortable about.
  • Hitting punch shots. For some reason my punch shots are a lot better. Part of it could be that the arms are more forward because of the shorter club. This is also pretty much a setup thing. Once the grip is set, I just swing away.

So I will only have one swing thought, which is to keep the head still. Seems like a possible feat to me.

Ogio Grom | Callaway X Hot Pro | Callaway X-Utility 3i | Mizuno MX-700 23º | Titleist Vokey SM 52.08, 58.12 | Mizuno MX-700 15º | Titleist 910 D2 9,5º | Scotty Cameron Newport 2 | Titleist Pro V1x and Taylormade Penta | Leupold GX-1

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Zeph, I meant a ball, any kind of ball, actually at the left hip pocekt, not on the ground. Hit this imaginary ball forward with the butt end of the club. I hope this makes sense. If the butt end of the club is at your left pocket and the shaft is still roughly parallel to the ground it helps maintain the angle.

-Matt-

"does it still count as a hit fairway if it is the next one over"

DRIVER-Callaway FTiz__3 WOOD-Nike SQ Dymo 15__HYBRIDS-3,4,5 Adams__IRONS-6-PW Adams__WEDGES-50,55,60 Wilson Harmonized__PUTTER-Odyssey Dual Force Rossie II

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Originally Posted by Zeph

Thanks. Being cheered on is definitely inspiring. I do feel that I'm mighty close to something real good. Hope I'll be able to play some good golf in Spain, I certainly did last year.

I have not met with Henrik, Javier or anyone else teaching S&T;, no. They reside in Sweden, which is a good 6-8 hour drive just to reach the border. Hope I one day can attend a seminar with a S&T; instructor. So far I've been getting lessons from Erik and Dave through Evolvr, which has been of great help.


Yup, I remember that thread. I was hoping to have a Zeph style moment on my recent trip to Florida, but my short game failed me miserably.

Sorry, I was under the impression you were Swedish for some reason. Now I remember that you're Norwegian. My fault. Hopefully you're not mad about that honest mistake!

Constantine

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  • 2 weeks later...

Played for the first time outside yesterday in 6 months on a trip to Spain. Going to stay here for the rest of the week.

As always at the beginning of the season, I'm topping the ball a lot. Maybe got something to do with hitting off mats for too long. First couple of rounds has been dodgy at best. My driving is decent, playing a fade with pretty good control. Some straight-pulls and push-fades. Iron play has been very inconsistent. Started making some good shots towards the end of the second round. Noticed my divots was going left again. Next shot I focused on getting the hips forward and out came a nice high draw with the divot pointing to the right of my alignment. Felt good that I was able to find the fix that quickly. Weight forward is most definitely the solution to swinging out-to-in.

Been hitting a lot of punch shots since that for some reason seems to be my forté. Not hitting the ball very well, a lot of shots coming off the clubface with a clank. Not the soft thud that I'm looking for, but this also improved when I got the weight more forward. Some clubface angle issues here and there, but not too bad. Many shots reveal a divot starting after the ball, looking pretty good.

One issue is distance, or the lack of it. My driver carry is around 220 and 4 iron is 175. The ball never seems to come off the face of the driver with any zing or punch. I've played with 70 year olds with what looks like a slower swing, but the ball pops off the face and flies only 10 yards shorter than mine. Definitely makes the course harder when I'm not hitting it longer. I think synchronization is a problem for me. Used to have a long backswing, but it has gotten a lot better. I still fire the hips before the hands have stopped moving back, which makes it very hard to get down in time. I have earlier experimented with tempo and rhythm, or more specifically a short break at the top of the backswing. "They say" you should start with the hips, but in my case they start too soon. Slowing them down has proven to be difficult, so a little pause at the top to wait for the hands to start down could be a start.

Hitting punch shots with the irons probably lose me some yards too. The small stop at the top might help in improving the full shots. My swing is shorter, and I think my hands move sooner and faster down on a punch shot. I have to get that feeling into the full swing.

Looking forward to the range tomorrow.

Ogio Grom | Callaway X Hot Pro | Callaway X-Utility 3i | Mizuno MX-700 23º | Titleist Vokey SM 52.08, 58.12 | Mizuno MX-700 15º | Titleist 910 D2 9,5º | Scotty Cameron Newport 2 | Titleist Pro V1x and Taylormade Penta | Leupold GX-1

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Very satisfied with the last couple of rounds. Didn't score too well, but I learnt some things that was very useful.

I finally found the feeling of swinging the hands faster, which is a solution to my distance issues. Added 10-15 yards on my irons right away. Don't know about the driver, the course I played that last day had big elevation differences, only hit 3-4 drives. The feel and sound of the irons was really something else, more of the nice twack you hear on TV, less clack. I hit some shots fat, which was I hadn't done all week, but at some of the shots I felt the pressure points, mostly #3. Have struggled with feeling the pressure point before, but now I really feel like it's there and that the hands are driving the club forward. Will take some work to figure it out. Trying to get the hands in front of the ball before impact, throwing them towards my left foot from the top of the swing seemed to work really well.

The fat shots are a result of flipping, but it's no problem, just a matter of getting the faster hands without flipping ingrained. Hit a lot of really good iron shots. Erik and Dave has suggested I tried swinging the arms faster before, but I've never felt comfortable with it, probably because I combined it with flipping faster. Now I got a much better feeling for it, and swinging the arms faster is definitely the way to go. Shots were push-draws, pushes or pull-draws. Some grip and clubface angle things to work out. I hit some shots where I imagined the ball starting slightly to the right or straight ahead, that seemed to work pretty well against the pulls.

Divots looks very good, pointing straight ahead or slightly right. Mostly after the ball.

Still snow on the ground here, hopefully I'll be able to record some swings in a two-three weeks time. All in all, the different pieces of the swing are starting to come together very nicely. Was able to shape the ball both ways with the driver also.

Ogio Grom | Callaway X Hot Pro | Callaway X-Utility 3i | Mizuno MX-700 23º | Titleist Vokey SM 52.08, 58.12 | Mizuno MX-700 15º | Titleist 910 D2 9,5º | Scotty Cameron Newport 2 | Titleist Pro V1x and Taylormade Penta | Leupold GX-1

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Not trying to bump my thread here, but I thought this was an important update.

Today I finally felt what I believe to be the correct lag feeling through 3#PP. There was pressure on my trigger finger all the way through to the hands stopped and clubhead caught up. Distance was very good, without having to swing fast or hard. I started out with some small and slow swings, only focusing on keeping the hands ahead and feeling the pressure. Hit some 5 irons like this, then increased the speed little by little. In the end I could hit full swings, but controlled and hit the ball great.

So my suggestion to anyone trying to find this feeling is to start slow. Don't lock the wrists or anything, but a small swing back to the club is parallell, then down, hands ahead, pressure on the back hand trigger finger. If you start swinging faster and lose it, go back to the slower swings and do it over again. The way Lynn Blake explains it is very good. The feeling is elusive, once you lost it, it's gone. One of the things I noticed the most was how I kept this pressure all the way through the ball to the finish. When I flip, the swing sort of stop at the ball, but when working on this it feels like the swing is flowing better and the ball is just in the way of the club.

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Ogio Grom | Callaway X Hot Pro | Callaway X-Utility 3i | Mizuno MX-700 23º | Titleist Vokey SM 52.08, 58.12 | Mizuno MX-700 15º | Titleist 910 D2 9,5º | Scotty Cameron Newport 2 | Titleist Pro V1x and Taylormade Penta | Leupold GX-1

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Originally Posted by Zeph

Not trying to bump my thread here, but I thought this was an important update.

Today I finally felt what I believe to be the correct lag feeling through 3#PP. There was pressure on my trigger finger all the way through to the hands stopped and clubhead caught up. Distance was very good, without having to swing fast or hard. I started out with some small and slow swings, only focusing on keeping the hands ahead and feeling the pressure. Hit some 5 irons like this, then increased the speed little by little. In the end I could hit full swings, but controlled and hit the ball great.

So my suggestion to anyone trying to find this feeling is to start slow. Don't lock the wrists or anything, but a small swing back to the club is parallell, then down, hands ahead, pressure on the back hand trigger finger. If you start swinging faster and lose it, go back to the slower swings and do it over again. The way Lynn Blake explains it is very good. The feeling is elusive, once you lost it, it's gone. One of the things I noticed the most was how I kept this pressure all the way through the ball to the finish. When I flip, the swing sort of stop at the ball, but when working on this it feels like the swing is flowing better and the ball is just in the way of the club.



Thanks for the thought.  I have had the same problem as you.  I am fine until the frame before impact and then the flipping is there.  I could play well with it, but it leaves too much on the table.  I haven't played since October, so I expect it to be worse than when I left off.  I'm going to try and hit the range this weekend as I have been asked to play a scramble at the end of this month.  These tips will hopefully give me that feeling as well.

Bryan A
"Your desire to change must be greater than your desire to stay the same"

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  • 2 weeks later...

Zeph, what I notice looking at some of your videos is that your upper center is moving forward during your downswing.

I already commented on this, but I want to post a little update. While looking at some of my swings again, I thought about my flat shoulders at impact. Everyone "good" got more tilted shoulders at impact. My hips are pretty well forward on the last swing, but my upper body has moved forward. It's really in the transition at the top this happens. That makes everything more complicated. On a recent video of Tiger, his head had actually moved back from address to impact a little bit. Searching my thread I came across Erik saying that dropping the right shoulder actively was not the way to go, but rather make sure the head stays centered and get the hips forward. So I hit some balls, making sure my head did not move forward, and it felt really good. Keeping the head still give me a better secondary axis tilt and more tilted shoulders at impact. It also helps drive the hands more forward. Only hit on a simulator so far, but the results were pretty good. First attempt with a 4 iron carried 199 meters. Some months ago I was hitting the 4 iron 170 yards on the simulator. What I was most pleased about was the launch angle, which went down a lot compared to earlier. I've subconsciously been moving the upper body forward to hit more down on the ball and launch it lower. Now I'm hitting it lower and farther than ever by keeping the head still and getting the hips forward. 4 iron launch angle is around 12-14º. I know that simulator data can't be trusted 100%, so we'll have to see what happens in the real world when I get that far. There is no doubt though that I gain distance in this process. My driver used to carry 210 to 220 yards on the simulator with a high launch angle. Now I'm launching it around 10º and carrying 240-250 yards. I've also experimented with kicking off the inside of the right foot on the downswing to get the hips forward, better extension and prevent the right knee from kicking in and increasing the flex. When I'm able to keep the head still, get the hips forward and increase the speed of the hands while keeping PP3 intact, I'm hitting the ball really well. Looking forward to see what it will look like on video. I hit some shots with tape on the clubface and the pattern was lower than it use to be. I'm really going to focus on the head staying still for some time now. I just have to get that part down before moving on. Keeping the head still might affect the hip slide, or it may not, just have to see.

Ogio Grom | Callaway X Hot Pro | Callaway X-Utility 3i | Mizuno MX-700 23º | Titleist Vokey SM 52.08, 58.12 | Mizuno MX-700 15º | Titleist 910 D2 9,5º | Scotty Cameron Newport 2 | Titleist Pro V1x and Taylormade Penta | Leupold GX-1

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The more I think things change, the more they remain the same. Here's a video in full speed and HD with audio, which I've never recorded before.

Slow motion video showed pretty much the same as always. Head moving forward, flipping etc. I got a little bit of forward shaft lean, which makes sense since I'm hitting the ball better. On swings where I managed to keep the head still, the results were pretty much the same at impact. The faster-hands-but-not-faster-flipping issue is problematic.

And of course the hips being way ahead of everything else. I need more of the hips moving longer forward, more back knee flex, maybe more rotation too. I'll try swinging with a stick in my pants one day. I'll also put a PVC tube on the end of a grip and swing with the club to force the hands forward.

Temperature is nice though, climbing up to 70ºF now.

Pipe drill. Wasn't swinging very hard since the pipe will slam into my side on the follow through even on a good swing. Legs are not doing a whole lot, head moving forward still, but I like the concept. It really force you to get the hands in front. Something similar that you could swing at full speed and that force you to get the hands in front at impact, but allows the club to move naturally in the follow through would be great. The pipe is rather heavy, so not ideal. Perhaps there can be an ideal length on the object that will touch you at impact, but not on the follow through.

Ogio Grom | Callaway X Hot Pro | Callaway X-Utility 3i | Mizuno MX-700 23º | Titleist Vokey SM 52.08, 58.12 | Mizuno MX-700 15º | Titleist 910 D2 9,5º | Scotty Cameron Newport 2 | Titleist Pro V1x and Taylormade Penta | Leupold GX-1

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Originally Posted by Zeph

I need more of the hips moving forward longer, more back knee flex, maybe more rotation too.

I re-arranged the two italicized words. You probably mean the same thing but I wanted to clean that up.

What do you mean by "more back knee flex"? When? You have too much back (right) knee flex for too long into the downswing. You never start raising the level of your belt and lengthening your arms, leg, and chest.

Originally Posted by Zeph

Pipe drill. Wasn't swinging very hard since the pipe will slam into my side on the follow through even on a good swing. Legs are not doing a whole lot, head moving forward still, but I like the concept. It really force you to get the hands in front. Something similar that you could swing at full speed and that force you to get the hands in front at impact, but allows the club to move naturally in the follow through would be great. The pipe is rather heavy, so not ideal. Perhaps there can be an ideal length on the object that will touch you at impact, but not on the follow through.

Please discontinue use of this drill immediately. Horrible drill for you - look at how far your head goes forward, how long you stay into flexion (the entire way), how you lose your pressure points under your armpits on the follow-through, etc.

The one good thing from that video - your backswing length is all it needs to be. Feel that same backswing length on your full swings without the PVC pipe.

In reality it's too short still, but Zeph, you know as much as I do that if you feel like it's this short, you're still going to swing way, way past here. You might even need it to feel shorter. Backswing's getting too long again. Gonna make it tough to get the arms down in time.

Zeph, your backswing, etc. is looking good. Keep it shorter and work on this for the downswing:

  • Hips go forward slowly. This will let them go forward longer.
  • Karate chop the wall (a wall just outside your left toe with your left hand). Just chop the heck out of it.

The head thing can go one of two ways. Ideally we can tie it in to the expanding of the left side of your torso, but we need to get the belt up too. As you know these are related.

You can try to "expand the left side of your chest, get your belt high, and your belly out" at various points in the downswing. Hips forward, belt high and towards the target. The belt should be well ahead of your head and if your head goes forward, you can't possible stretch the left side of your body out (just as if your head goes back, you can't stretch the right side of your body on the backswing).

You might also feel that your head goes backwards on the downswing. If you wanted to try that make some swings feeling: short backswing, karate chop hard, hips slowly go forward, head goes backwards.

As you know from P6 onward (Charlie does it a bit earlier) the legs will straighten and the belt will raise...

wi_belt.jpg

You can absolutely do this Zeph. Short backswing, karate chop the wall, then hump the giraffe standing in front of you. Get your zipper forward and up, chest pointing to the sky (or the hot giraffe parts you want to hump).

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Erik J. Barzeski —  I knock a ball. It goes in a gopher hole. 🏌🏼‍♂️
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Quote: Originally Posted by iacas View Post

I re-arranged the two italicized words. You probably mean the same thing but I wanted to clean that up.

Correct, slower, moving the same distance in a longer period of time.

Quote:
Originally Posted by iacas View Post
What do you mean by "more back knee flex"? When? You have too much back (right) knee flex for too long into the downswing. You never start raising the level of your belt and lengthening your arms, leg, and chest.

I meant less knee flex, straighter leg.

Quote:
Originally Posted by iacas View Post
Please discontinue use of this drill immediately.

Yeah, didn't look pretty, roger that. I can pretty much achieve the same position just with a calmer swing anyway.

Quote:
Originally Posted by iacas View Post
Backswing's getting too long again. Gonna make it tough to get the arms down in time.

Correct, it's been getting out of hand lately.

Quote:
Originally Posted by iacas View Post
Hips go forward slowly. This will let them go forward longer.
Karate chop the wall (a wall just outside your left toe with your left hand). Just chop the heck out of it.

I might have found some things today that will help with both these issues. I've experimented with both of these things before. One of these things are actually from my 6th FO video.

  • Keeping the bottom of the right foot on the ground longer. If anything, let it roll inward. I have also experimented some with kicking off the ground with the inside of the right foot, but don't know how it looks on video. This was what I tried in the 6th video, and the impact position there was not bad at all. The follow through was and is here choppy and weird, but it'll take some time getting used to not kicking the left knee in.
  • Hitting down or through the ball. Many does not recommend it (hit down), but for me, I think it works. I've played around with this one too before. What I wanted to feel and imagine was the club travelling through the ball first and mat/ground behind it after. Sort of like hitting a nail that's angled in my AoA down into the ground. I felt something in the right hand when doing this, more specifically the trigger finger. I also felt the mat through the shot after hitting the ball. So I got immediate feedback that something was different, and the video below shows that I did achieve something. I also believe I had some of the back-foot-on-the-ground thoughts. If I could combine that with a good #3PP feeling, I think I'm onto something. It's a mental thing above anything else I believe. I hit some practice swings while the camera was running, and my impact position was way different than when hitting a ball, hands well forward. Backswing is also shorter on this video.

Quote:

Originally Posted by iacas View Post

The head thing can go one of two ways. Ideally we can tie it in to the expanding of the left side of your torso, but we need to get the belt up too. As you know these are related.

You can try to "expand the left side of your chest, get your belt high, and your belly out" at various points in the downswing. Hips forward, belt high and towards the target. The belt should be well ahead of your head and if your head goes forward, you can't possible stretch the left side of your body out (just as if your head goes back, you can't stretch the right side of your body on the backswing).

You might also feel that your head goes backwards on the downswing. If you wanted to try that make some swings feeling: short backswing, karate chop hard, hips slowly go forward, head goes backwards.

All good tips and comments, thanks.

I think the head issue got a lot to do with the top of the backswing. Obviously that's where it starts moving, and then it keeps on going until it's moved 3 inches. If I could get a small break at the top, letting the club get set and from there start both hips and arms at the same time, everything won't be moving forward when I start. Looking at my video now, right at the top, just before the arms stop, my head starts drifting forward. Even humping the tallest giraffe in Africa would give me trouble with moving the head 3 inches back again. All the movement prior to impact happens from P4 to P5, so I'll have a hard time fixing that through the rest of the swing. When I get to where I need to start extension, raising the belt, humping the giraffe etc., I'm already in a bad position. On my 4th video , where I keep the head pretty still, all that stuff looks much better simply because the head is not moving forward. During that time, my Evolvr assignment was to keep the head still, so everything else just happened.

My head movement has actually gotten worse since some of my Evolvr lessons. Probably a result of trying to get the hands in front of the ball too much. Which makes this stuff all the harder to work on. Now I have to stop my head from moving forward, which in turn will make it even harder to get the hands part down. But I think I'll have to deal with the head first, get that going nicely, then start working on faster hands, hitting the nail etc. I'll probably do some work on backswing length at the same time since I believe the two are related. I've been so focused on the hands that the head has gotten out of control, but I see now that it needs attention right away.

Edit: Hit some shots right now focusing on the head, and it feels good. I've fixed this problem before and knows how it should be, so I'm confident I'll get it down. After some 10 shots it felt so good I started thinking a bit about the hands again, which also worked great. #3PP is definitely an important piece. But I'm not applying pressure to it or something like that, I just feel the pressure when I'm doing things right. It is most definitely elusive, as Lynn Blake said. Good thing now is that I can feel it when I'm doing things right, without trying to apply pressure to it or consciously focusing on that finger. I'll be working on less head movement, less hip and back foot movement (less speed), and more arms/hands speed. What it felt like was I stood more still really and let the arms do most of the work, felt more controlled and solid really. Probably the best my swing has ever been right now. Some practice swings without a ball made me feel really well how the head should stay still, which made transferring it into a swing at the ball a lot easier.

head_movement_impact_hands.png

Where did you find that video of Charlie you used? And does one of Mike from face on in slow motion with iron in decent quality exist?

What settings do you use on the Casio EX-F1 when filming? 300FPS obviously, but do you use manual shutter speed and aperture? If so, on which settings?

To anyone reading this, I really recommend using a camera if you plan on improving your swing. It make things so much easier and purposeful.




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Originally Posted by Zeph

Where did you find that video of Charlie you used? And does one of Mike from face on in slow motion with iron in decent quality exist?

What settings do you use on the Casio EX-F1 when filming? 300FPS obviously, but do you use manual shutter speed and aperture? If so, on which settings?

To anyone reading this, I really recommend using a camera if you plan on improving your swing. It make things so much easier and purposeful.


It's pretty old. Ask me on AIM sometime and I'll get it to you. Mike, FO? No. You don't want to use Mike anyway. He loses the wedge and fakes the finish a little. ;-)

We use the FH-25 too... manual shutter speed. 1/2000 at a minimum if possible, sometimes 1/4000 to 1/8000. Auto ISO. That's about it... we don't manually set aperture. It's likely pretty open though (low f-number, like f/2.8 or f/3.5 or something... not f/8 or f/11).

Recommendation seconded.

I read all you wrote. Look forward to your next set of videos... let's see it. Definitely like the idea of "all arms downswing, hump the giraffe and throw on the brakes post-impact."

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Once again, thanks for this thread. It's always interesting and enlightening (and now, with the advent of the giraffe metaphor, also slightly disturbing! )

Is there any merit, Erik, in suggesting to Zeph that he presets a slightly exaggerated axis tilt at address and then concentrates on "keeping it in there" through the downswing? I have a particular problem with the upper center getting "ahead" with the longer clubs, leading to thins/low launches/ pull fades, and the feeling that helps me is pushing my hips a little forward at setup and pulling my head a little back until I feel the placket and buttons on my polo shirt are pointing at my left foot. From there, simply pushing my hips forward when coming into the ball seems to get me closer to the bowed-backward position that Charlie is demonstrating above.

Stretch.

"In the process of trial and error, our failed attempts are meant to destroy arrogance and provoke humility." -- Master Jin Kwon

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Originally Posted by Stretch

Once again, thanks for this thread. It's always interesting and enlightening (and now, with the advent of the giraffe metaphor, also slightly disturbing! )

We've been using that for awhile now. I came up with it. I'm not sure what that tells you... ;-) I tried "hump the really tall supermodel" but it didn't work and led to some awkward moments after some guys actually pictured humping hot, tall supermodels... (j/k... and ick)



Originally Posted by Stretch

Is there any merit, Erik, in suggesting to Zeph that he presets a slightly exaggerated axis tilt at address and then concentrates on "keeping it in there" through the downswing? I have a particular problem with the upper center getting "ahead" with the longer clubs, leading to thins/low launches/ pull fades, and the feeling that helps me is pushing my hips a little forward at setup and pulling my head a little back until I feel the placket and buttons on my polo shirt are pointing at my left foot. From there, simply pushing my hips forward when coming into the ball seems to get me closer to the bowed-backward position that Charlie is demonstrating above.

At this point, Zeph has struggled with this one long enough I wouldn't say anything is out of bounds or unworthy of giving a shot... I would ask that Zeph feel this more as a feeling, then try to re-create it from a more normal setup once he gets the feeling down. Get the picture with this setup, get the feeling with this setup, and then try to get the picture from a standard setup.

Erik J. Barzeski —  I knock a ball. It goes in a gopher hole. 🏌🏼‍♂️
Director of Instruction Golf Evolution • Owner, The Sand Trap .com • AuthorLowest Score Wins
Golf Digest "Best Young Teachers in America" 2016-17 & "Best in State" 2017-20 • WNY Section PGA Teacher of the Year 2019 :edel: :true_linkswear:

Check Out: New Topics | TST Blog | Golf Terms | Instructional Content | Analyzr | LSW | Instructional Droplets

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