My swing (stianvm)

[stianvm]

So i've gotten around to focus properly on the driver, as that have been my on-off club for a long while now.

up until recently ive had a swing that was all about distance through a spine-breaking turn and an exaggerated lag. Figured out after watching the Jaqcuelin swing in another thread that if driving can look that easy, i might just aswell go down that road.

The main problem i have when things go awry is a big ugly straight-fade.

The videos were taken today at the local range. Any pointers in any direction would be highly appreciated.

Regular speed ( Sorry for the 13 second delay before the shot)




At 12fps ( and a messed up aspect ratio as a bonus )

[uttexas]

Thanks for slowing the video down.
To get a better DTL view, have the video camera behind your stance line/ not behind the ball.

First impressions--
your shoulders rotate too horizontally. If you think of the golf swing as swinging the clubhead on an inclined plane, your arms must swing parallel to the plane. Your arms are attached to your shoulders, thus your shoulder rotation plane should also be parallel to your swing plane.
Record some swings feeling that your shoulders are rotating vertically instead of horizontally. Then watch the video to see how much more parallel your shoulder rotation plane is to the swing plane.

Your backswing position with the club parallel to the ground looks good--right wrist has hinged back and left wrist flat. But, then you lift up and cup your left wrist and the clubhead crosses the plane.

Forward swing--looks alright, but I don't think you are extending your legs and arms enough---follow through looks a bit cramped.
Please post a face on view (easier to see the forward swing)

Reason why your forward swing is a bit cramped--
You don't get your hands deep enough in the backswing (see deep hands thread), so you don't have the room to make a full forward swing with maximum extension at impact. You adjust your forward swing to prevent bad mishits.

A good drill for deep hands- http://forum.thegolfevolution.com/th...117-Deep-Hands

[stianvm]

Thanks for the quick and very helpful pointers.

First impressions--

I've noticed throughout the years that my shoulder turn is too horizontal, but never got around to get any work done with it.

Your backswing position with the club parallel to the ground looks good--right wrist has hinged back and left wrist flat. But, then you lift up and cup your left wrist and the clubhead crosses the plane.

Another problem ive had on all my clubs, it looks good until a point, then i just go alittle further and the club is crossing the plane. Irons have gotten alot better, but i have'nt gotten around to focus on it with the woods yet.

Forward swing--looks alright, but I don't think you are extending your legs and arms enough---follow through looks a bit cramped.

Yepp, i have always felt i've had a bit cramped follow-through, seeing that the left arm wants to pull back to quickly and not extend naturally. As i understand it deep hands and the shoulder-turn is connected, so ill get to work with the deep hands drill and see what "immediate" difference i can notice(atleast feel) I'll get rigged with a tripod and record from some proper angles.

[stianvm]

Alittle update .
Was considering waiting till the winter set in to move on to rebuilding my swing, but today i just had to give it a shot.

I followed the deep hands drill and focused on starting the backswing with moving the hands abit more inside than i used to while at the same time keeping my right arm more connected(used a golfglove under the armpit).

Early results :

A feeling of a more controlled, and not to mention feeling of a more powerful coil.
Alot less vertical movement of the head and upper body, which should be leading to more consistent shotmaking(atleast reduing tops/duffs)
The glove thing i believe helped me stop crossing the plane in the backswing

The testing was verified when my worst enemy, the hybrid, was given a test. The first shots when distance was not the issue was pretty decent. Some draws and some fades, but not the usual top/duff distasters. Also my back whined in new places, telling me i've atleast done something different :)

I will bring a videocamera with me tomorrow and hopefully verify my findings.

But so far, so good. So thanks for the tips!

[uttexas]

Good to hear you getting some positive results. Careful with "starting the backswing with moving the hands abit more inside". This can result in too flat shoulder rotation. This also was my initial instinct to obtain "deep" hands.
However, "deep" hands is depth and in. To get the depth, the initial move on the backswing is to rotate the shoulders vertically. The club head stays outside your hands until you start to cock the left wrist. Then, you start to move the hands in.

see video. Notice how Villegas turns his shoulders vertically, initially rotating the arms straight back, then as he cocks the left wrist, he starts to bring the hands (and thus the club head) in.
For an extreme example of this look at some youtube down the line videos of Ricky Fowler.