My Swing (Timastyle)

[timastyle]

Hi All. So the last couple times at the range have been a complete mess for me. My swing has fallen completely apparent. I have no idea what happened or what I'm doing wrong.

Here is a link to my swing 3 range sessions ago where I was hitting the ball decent:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/9395407/VIDEO0006.3gp

Here is a link of my swing today at the range (it was recorded toward the tail end and I was a little worn out, but still shows what I mean I think):

http://dl.dropbox.com/0/view/gjsn4l8.../VIDEO0009.3gp

The first video is sideways (not sure how to rotate it) and the other is a little dark, but any help would be appreciated. I have a big golf trip coming out at the end of this month and I need to get it sorted out before then.

Thanks in advance!

Tony

[timastyle]

There's one thing I forgot to mention. There are multiple swings in each video link, so it kind of shows my inconsistencies too.

[TommyBoy]

My first post...I usually just read but I thought I would make an observation. First, I think you have a pretty sound swing! Good footwork etc. What I did see is this. I paused the video and advanced it frame by frame. The one thing I see is you are breaking down your wrist break early in your downswing. Keep your wrist cocked and locked until the very last moment....don't help the club head to the ball....it will get there on it's own. You said you were tired so I will only mention that you appeared to be off balance after the shot a few times, like you were falling forward.

So, as a fellow golfer (not a pro, obviously) I would try the following. Shorten your backstroke until you get your groove back. Keep the wrists locked till physics take over. I'm sure more qualified people will chime in but I thought I'd try to help! Good luck and have a great time on your trip....

[timastyle]

My first post...I usually just read but I thought I would make an observation. First, I think you have a pretty sound swing! Good footwork etc. What I did see is this. I paused the video and advanced it frame by frame. The one thing I see is you are breaking down your wrist break early in your downswing. Keep your wrist cocked and locked until the very last moment....don't help the club head to the ball....it will get there on it's own. You said you were tired so I will only mention that you appeared to be off balance after the shot a few times, like you were falling forward.

Hey TommyBoy and thanks for the advice. As I accidentally posted in your blog, I feel like I'm mostly arms which could lead to the early wrist action. It looks like to me, that I'm looping on the downswing rather than swinging down on the ball. I don't feel like I have enough hip action on the downswing and my hands have me letting my wrist go early. Any drills on how I can focus on not letting my wrists go early?

[TommyBoy]

Hey TommyBoy and thanks for the advice. As I accidentally posted in your blog, I feel like I'm mostly arms which could lead to the early wrist action. It looks like to me, that I'm looping on the downswing rather than swinging down on the ball. I don't feel like I have enough hip action on the downswing and my hands have me letting my wrist go early. Any drills on how I can focus on not letting my wrists go early?

My first thought would be to work on getting the break locked a little earlier in the backswing...then get the feeling of the wrists being locked at the top instead of "bouncing". I've seen a lot of great players complete the wrist break by the time the arms are parallel. Address the ball, start your backswing and take it back to when you feel the tension of a full wrist break and stop. See where you are. Even if it a little higher than parallel that's okay. Just get the feel for that position. get that feeling ingrained. Now, work on maintaining that feeling and tension for the remainder of the backswing AND the downswing. Fight the urge to let it go! When I start to swing from the top...I get that wrist break set and look back over my shoulder. Then I move the club up and down and again just to get that feeling of that locked position. I don't really know how to explain it better right now..

[timastyle]

My first thought would be to work on getting the break locked a little earlier in the backswing...then get the feeling of the wrists being locked at the top instead of "bouncing". I've seen a lot of great players complete the wrist break by the time the arms are parallel. Address the ball, start your backswing and take it back to when you feel the tension of a full wrist break and stop. See where you are. Even if it a little higher than parallel that's okay. Just get the feel for that position. get that feeling ingrained. Now, work on maintaining that feeling and tension for the remainder of the backswing AND the downswing. Fight the urge to let it go! When I start to swing from the top...I get that wrist break set and look back over my shoulder. Then I move the club up and down and again just to get that feeling of that locked position. I don't really know how to explain it better right now..

Did you look at both videos? To me, the first link, I'm not taking the club too far back on the backswing. A buddy of mine even commented that it almost looked like I was only taking it 3/4 of the way through. I'll have to read this again to see if I understand what you are trying to explain tomorrow. All I know is I need to fix this problem stat. Probably will get my first lesson ever tomorrow or Saturday.

[TommyBoy]

If you are taking lessons....maybe you should wait till after the golf trip. Sometimes the Pro will want to overhaul you and that can set you back awhile.

[TommyBoy]

It is confusing what I wrote, huh? Sorry man, I'm to tired for cognitive thought tonight.

[Sucka27]

Lol'd the twin shots in the second vid that come trickling into view on the ground (the person to your left). Anyway, you're right on top of the ball, as in standing REALLY close to it. Are you hooking it? A lot of times the "OMG my swing has all of a sudden gone to hell in a handbasket" type queries are due to ball placement in your stance. I highly recommend you keep your swing exactly the same and try scooting away from the ball by 1-2 inches. Experiment if that doesn't work (put ball forward, back in stance), I'm pretty sure you'll get results by doing this.

[timastyle]

When I start to swing from the top...I get that wrist break set and look back over my shoulder. Then I move the club up and down and again just to get that feeling of that locked position. I don't really know how to explain it better right now..

Ok, I read it again and this is the part that confuses me I think. I got the part of getting the wrists locked early on the backswing and keeping it at the top. Where I get a little confused is the "I get that wrist break set and look back over my shoulder". You don't mean on my actual swing right? You're talking about just practicing this right? Also, what do you mean by moving the club up and down? Do you mean just repeating it to get the feel for it? Do you do this at regular/moderate speed or do you do this in slow motion?

If you are taking lessons....maybe you should wait till after the golf trip. Sometimes the Pro will want to overhaul you and that can set you back awhile.

Well I was planning on laying it out there that I don't want to overhaul it right now, just help getting it fixed so that I can make a proper swing. Then I would go back to him after the trip for more lessons.

Lol'd the twin shots in the second vid that come trickling into view on the ground (the person to your left). Anyway, you're right on top of the ball, as in standing REALLY close to it. Are you hooking it? A lot of times the "OMG my swing has all of a sudden gone to hell in a handbasket" type queries are due to ball placement in your stance. I highly recommend you keep your swing exactly the same and try scooting away from the ball by 1-2 inches. Experiment if that doesn't work (put ball forward, back in stance), I'm pretty sure you'll get results by doing this.

I'm not hooking it at all right now. My shots are either straight, pull, fade, shank, and slice (last one with a driver). I wonder if the camera angle makes it seem as though I'm standing too close. The reason I say this is that when I stand further away from the ball, I keep catching the ball thin, basically every time. I've recently started rereading Ben Hogan's 5 Fundamentals and incorporated some of the stuff (grip, stance, etc) and that's when my swing started slowly going to crap. It wasn't really an overnight thing. I'm wondering if that had anything to do with it. I will try tinkering with ball placement and see what happens.

[TommyBoy]

Sorry it took so long....

Okay, yes... only during practice! For the second question....during practice again, I was suggesting that you get that wrist lock set, then move it to the top of your swing and back to parallel over and over until you feel that the wrist hinge in like one piece...never breaks. It just helps me when I feel like I'm throwing from the top.

Moderate speed....

[timastyle]

So I went and played a round on Saturday. My swing was back to how it was before. I don't know what it is with the range, but I am awful at the range compared to the course. I actually hit 8 of 13 fairways. I only hit 4 of 18 greens in regulation and had 37 putts. I was hitting my irons solid, but my distance was off. I have no feel of my swing, so can't always tell what my body is doing to try and fix what I did wrong.

Anything you guys can suggest to get a better feel on my own swing?

[timastyle]

I think I've come to the realization that I put way too many thoughts into my swing on the range which turns it into crap. I try to do too much to quickly. I think I need to develop a good solid plan each time I go to the range, which I haven't ever really done before.

How much do alignment sticks help on the range? With that, even with alignment sticks, how can I make sure I have a sqaure clubface? They don't seem, at least to me, any help in clubface alignment or for that matter for shoulders being square. Any help on those would be great.

[iacas]

I only hit 4 of 18 greens in regulation and had 37 putts.

That's really bad - the last two words - particularly given the "4 of 18" part. Time to put some extra work in on your putting.

I think I need to develop a good solid plan each time I go to the range, which I haven't ever really done before.

Work on ONE THING at a time on the range. At most, two.

How much do alignment sticks help on the range? With that, even with alignment sticks, how can I make sure I have a sqaure clubface? They don't seem, at least to me, any help in clubface alignment or for that matter for shoulders being square. Any help on those would be great.

Most people can put one down - between the ball and their feet - and that serves as a way to align both feet (and hips and shoulders and knees) as well as the clubface. If that's too hard, put a second down just on the outside of the golf ball. Heck, put a third down perpendicular to those two to help with ball position.

[timastyle]

That's really bad - the last two words - particularly given the "4 of 18" part. Time to put some extra work in on your putting.

This was the first time I played this course and will definitely be the last. I'm not sure how much, if any, of my GIRs contributed to this, but the fairways were mostly soft dirt and patches of actual fairways. I have never seen a course in such terrible shape. The greens themselves were kept up fairly well though.

My putting has been my achilies heel for quite some time now. I was working on an arc stroke ala Stan Utley and was making some good progress on the practice greens. The problem for me was to translate that onto the course for whatever reason. I wouldn't generally hit the putts on the sweet spot most of the time, so my distance was constantly off. The times I did hit it on the sweet spot, the ball would go flying 10 feet past the hole and at least 3 times a round, I would hit a fat putt. I recently switched my putting stance. My feet are 45 degrees open to my target. This feels a lot better to me and I'm catching the ball on the sweet spot a lot and able to line up my putts better (both eyes at target). Again though, the issue is translating it onto the green. My fat putts have all but gone away, but I still have 2-3 three putts a round with an occassional four putt. I practice on my putting at least 2 hours a week. Maybe I need to put more practice than that.

Work on ONE THING at a time on the range. At most, two.

That's what I need to start doing. I think too much about too many things at the range. I need to go with the KISS (keep it simple stupid) mentality.

Most people can put one down - between the ball and their feet - and that serves as a way to align both feet (and hips and shoulders and knees) as well as the clubface. If that's too hard, put a second down just on the outside of the golf ball. Heck, put a third down perpendicular to those two to help with ball position.

I think I got what you're saying and I should be good with one. I'll be picking a couple sticks up today after work on my way to the range.