My Swing (mvmac)

[MuniGrit]

On 5/25/2017 at 9:53 PM, mvmac said:

I take an in-person lesson every 4-6 months but I send my instructor updates/check-in videos every couple of weeks. 

I hit balls for 45-60 mins 4-5 times a week, play once or twice a week. I practice at home about 10-20 mins a day which is actually the most effective practice I do. 

Your swing looks great. You got a lot of time in on it and it shows. What was your handicap when you started? If I am lucky I play once a week and then practice 2-3 at the max with some at home practice.

[mvmac]

2 hours ago, MuniGrit said:

Your swing looks great. You got a lot of time in on it and it shows. What was your handicap when you started? If I am lucky I play once a week and then practice 2-3 at the max with some at home practice.

Thanks.

I guess I was a 100-ish shooter when I started playing 21 years ago, when I was 13. Lowest I got was a +2 for a few months but hung around 0 or +1 most of my time in college.

The goal is to keep the 1 handicap but play like a +2, gotta manage that handicap 

[mvmac]

Working on some transition feels. Result is that the left arm stays a little "tighter" against my chest as I rotate instead of moving "out" too much. Shaft is also a little steeper in transition instead of getting shallow and under.

This one was more of a play swing, not really thinking about much. Easier to take divots than several months ago.

 

[mvmac]

Identified a feel recently that ties in a lot of the movements and feels I've previously posted about. On the backswing I'm feeling like I "stretch" my right rib cage back and up. I think it "naturally" sets up a lot of good things on the backswing for me: rotation, loading right, keeping my abs tight, controlling the left knee/hip flex and I don't have to worry about my hand path.

Using this drill so my hands don't lower on the takeaway. Not missing the ball by manually flexing my right elbow, I'm doing it with my pivot. I tend to lower my head and hands from 1-1.5 which leads me to do my extension and head drift thing that I don't like around 3.5-4.5. Once that happens I basically can't rotate properly and have to stall and flip. 

Nice downswing pics here. Rotating my left ribs back as my left arm loads across my chest. No rounding of the back in transition which means my right arm/elbow has room to work with on the downswing. I use to think I could get this sequence by keeping my left shoulder low but with the updated cues I'm actually elevating my left scalp/shoulder and depressing my right. If my left shoulder stays low, my left side will stay "crunched" or flexed which makes it harder to rotate and I have to make compensations with the arms.

Everything I just wrote may sound kinda complicated but all I'm really doing is focusing on two feels for the backswing and downswing, basically stretch the right ribs back on the backswing and stretch the left ribs back on the downswing. When I play I most likely will just use the backswing rib feel.

[iacas]

Butthead.

[saevel25]

20 hours ago, mvmac said:

Nice downswing pics here. Rotating my left ribs back as my left arm loads across my chest.

This is basically starting your turn before you finish your backswing, in terms of feel? 

20 hours ago, mvmac said:

No rounding of the back in transition which means my right arm/elbow has room to work with on the downswing.

How did you go about figuring this out? Does this help with staying in your spine angle in the DTL view?

20 hours ago, mvmac said:

Everything I just wrote may sound kinda complicated but all I'm really doing is focusing on two feels for the backswing and downswing, basically stretch the right ribs back on the backswing and stretch the left ribs back on the downswing. When I play I most likely will just use the backswing rib feel.

That right rib stretch is an interesting feel. Do you think that type of feel leads to a better center pivot than focusing on something like hip turn?

Oh, the swing is looking good!!! 

Edited June 16, 2017 by saevel25

[mvmac]

16 hours ago, saevel25 said:

This is basically starting your turn before you finish your backswing, in terms of feel? 

No, I'm still "finishing" my backswing and then doing the rib feel.

16 hours ago, saevel25 said:

Does this help with staying in your spine angle in the DTL view?

Right it helps with that.

16 hours ago, saevel25 said:

That right rib stretch is an interesting feel. Do you think that type of feel leads to a better center pivot than focusing on something like hip turn?

For me I think it does. Still early on but I think it's a cue that clicks with me to create the right amount of "bend" and extension (right side stretch). Was also sharing this feel with a friend who's an instructor and he loves it, especially on the downswing. Trying to feel the rotation with the left hip wasn't working so the cue of stretching the left ribs back helped him rotate without getting the shoulders level.

[saevel25]

11 minutes ago, mvmac said:

  Trying to feel the rotation with the left hip wasn't working so the cue of stretching the left ribs back helped him rotate without getting the shoulders level.

I might add this to the list of feels to try for my downswing turn. 

[mvmac]

8 minutes ago, saevel25 said:

I might add this to the list of feels to try for my downswing turn. 

I'll put a video together soon to demonstrate. 

[mvmac]

Sorry @saevel25, forgot about this, here's my take on the move/feel.

---

Shot 76-72 in a US Am qualifier last week. Obviously didn't make it but I'm pleased with the score. First individual medal play event in ten years and I carried my bag for 36 holes in 100 degree. Overall hit it well, putting sucked, happy with how I kept it in play since it seemed like there was trouble everywhere on the course.

Made a dumb triple in the first round. Hit driver on a hole that I didn't need to hit driver and pushed it a little into a bunker. The ball was against the lip so the ball was well below my feet and I was standing outside the bunker. Was just trying to chop it out to the front of the green. The club caught the lip, turned the club over and I hit it OB, a friggin gap wedge OB 

Even though I knew qualifying would have been a tall order (have to shoot -6 or -7) I wanted to play to get back into playing individual tournaments and I had to start somewhere. I also wanted to true test of where my game was really at. I hit it good so the work I've put into my swing is paying off and holds up "under the gun" but I do have to get my putting in order. Too many 3-putts and too many short putts missed by not being able to hit my start line.

---

Recent swing, working on the same stuff. Backswing is a bit slower because I'm focusing more on those feels, stretching the right side back and up and almost feeling the hands "rise" during the takeaway. Little flippy at 7 but I like how the whole move is progressing.

 

 

[b101]

Great updates as ever and love the way your swing looks at the moment! From the face-on view, quite a few things make me think of DJ's swing, particularly how you work from impact to finish (less so with the DTL ).

[mvmac]

Pretty happy with how these swings look. Hit the crap out of the caddy view shot.

Taking out some knee flex at address, making sure the hip joint is more over my ankles. Was getting too much flex in the knees and sitting back a bit in my heels, causing some issues with my pivot.

Sticking with similar backswing feels as the last couple posts, stretching the right side, crunching the left side. Not really thinking of too much on the downswing, just letting the weight "fall" forward from 4-5.

I like this sequence. Weight is transferring forward but the upper center is "holding" a bit longer. Left hip stays a little lower longer and the right leg isn't kicking inward too early.

[iacas]

I'ma gonna lose.

[mvmac]

Shot 73-71-72 at our club championship the last few days and lost in a playoff 

If you want to know more about I screwed up, read below, hopefully this will be therapeutic 

I was two shots back going into the last round, got the lead after the 4th hole and kept it until I doubled the 17th hole. 17 is a par 5, dogleg right, with water short left, wind as into us and it was going to be a layup hole for me. So I was two shots up over two guys and decided to hit 4-iron off the tee. My reasoning for that is that I was struggling a bit with my driver, hitting some pushes. The wind was off my back and there isn't a lot of room right if you push it (OB). I was also worried if I pulled it (sometimes what I do with wind at my back) that I could bring OB into play on the left. So I figured 4 iron takes all OB out of play, which it did.

What I didn't calculate was that the right trees were still in play on my second shot. I hit the ball high but the longest club I could hit was a 5-iron and I pulled it a bit in the rough, almost right behind a tree. I was left with 155 into wind, ball below me with not a great lie. I semi-fatted it into the wall the pond. Dropped, hit a good shot to 8ft and missed the putt.

On 18 I hit two good shots and gave myself a good chance at birdie. In the playoff I slightly pushed a drive in the right rough, hit my approach shot really solid but had a strong gust come up so the ball flew over the flag and over the green. Pin was back, had a crappy lie on a severe downslope, so no green to work with and not grass under my ball. Hit it to 20ft missed the putt and the other guy made a good up and down from the left bunker.

This was the second time this year I exceeded expectations to put myself in a position to win a tournament only to come up short. Sweet and sour experience. This one is going to sting for a while though.

I'll admit I got nervous and was second guessing myself. 17 isn't a hole I struggle, mostly make par, sometimes a birdie. The 4-iron was probably not a great strategy play but I just was't feeling comfortable with a driver off the tee. I got "out of my routine" and played the hole for a par (score focused rather than shot/process focused) when I should have just stuck to what I was doing. Having said that the pulled layup was a bad swing and left me with a difficult third shot. Kinda wish I had @iacas on the bag for that hole 

The shot in the playoff was a mental mistake. The wind changing kind of screwed me but I should have played the shot for the middle of the green, not even worried about the pin.

Here's the breakdown of how I played the holes.

Par 4's E
Par 3's +1
Par 5's -1

I'm happy with the par 4 and par 3 scoring but obviously the par 5 stuff needs work. I felt like I hit a good amount of greens ( 15 first round, 13 second round, 12 third round) but my proximity to the hole with my wedges needs to tighten up. I only had one 3-putt over the 54 holes but obviously didn't convert many birdie putts.

Good news is it shows that I'm working on the right stuff for my swing and I'm able to take the improvements to the course. I hit a lot of quality shots.

[iacas]

44 minutes ago, mvmac said:

Kinda wish I had @iacas on the bag for that hole 

What would I have told you differently?

I have my suspicions…

[mvmac]

21 minutes ago, iacas said:

What would I have told you differently?

I have my suspicions…

Just would have been good to have someone who I trust to talk through that tee shot/strategy.

[iacas]

1 minute ago, mvmac said:

Just would have been good to have someone who I trust to talk through that tee shot/strategy.

I'd have probably had you hit at least a 3W, and depending on the size of the pushes, driver up the left-hand side. Cuz even if you clip a tree on the right-hand side… you could still punch something down there.

Par fives played for a birdie putt are, as you know, some of the easiest out there. You can hit a pretty bad shot and so long as you're not blocked out, still have a reasonably short third shot to the green.

[mvmac]

3 minutes ago, iacas said:

I'd have probably had you hit at least a 3W, and depending on the size of the pushes, driver up the left-hand side. Cuz even if you clip a tree on the right-hand side… you could still punch something down there.

Agree 3W was probably the best play, just had a brain fart.