My Swing (mvmac)

[GolfLug]

13 hours ago, mvmac said:

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

You need to incorporate some mental training.. 

[mvmac]

1 hour ago, GolfLug said:

You need to incorporate some mental training.. 

Haha yep! Calling Rotella right now. Yes funny timing to have that happen with that thread going on.

Hadn't been in that position in a long time, even though I was hitting a good amount of fairways and greens I was fighting my swing and just made a bad strategy play. Like I said the pulled layup shot didn't help either 

[mvmac]

When I was in Vegas this week I was able to get some data on my putting and swing. 

Have gradually been seeing improvement in a few areas the past year or so. More downward angle of attack, less dynamic loft, more upright VSP. 7-iron swings after working on the swing were 4.5-5.5 down (only 2 down a year ago), dynamic loft was 27 (eventually want to get it to 26), swing direction was around 2 left, face angle was 1 or 2 left. Swing speed was 91.

Driver numbers. Swing direction is more under control, use to struggle with getting it too far right with the driver. 

I think this was one was slightly off the toe.

 

Putting. I'm happy with the improvements with these measurements. Backstroke use to be too slow and there was more face rotation.

Really cool to see that the putter I'm using is the right fit 

And I can return it there at impact,

What needs work is my loft and rise numbers (which will also get the path less left/more neutral),

Ideally these would be flip flopped, so I was able to work on that with similar feels that @iacas has given me before and I got it close to "optimal". I was too "one-piece" with the stroke. For short putts it's not going to make a huge difference but my issue has been speed control on putts 30ft or longer.

 

[billchao]

12 hours ago, mvmac said:

When I was in Vegas this week I was able to get some data on my putting and swing. 

Have gradually been seeing improvement in a few areas the past year or so. More downward angle of attack, less dynamic loft, more upright VSP. 7-iron swings after working on the swing were 4.5-5.5 down (only 2 down a year ago), dynamic loft was 27 (eventually want to get it to 26), swing direction was around 2 left, face angle was 1 or 2 left. Swing speed was 91.

Driver numbers. Swing direction is more under control, use to struggle with getting it too far right with the driver. 

I think this was one was slightly off the toe.

 

Good to see the hard work you put into your swing is paying off. You might want to work on your camera work, though. Pictures of reflective surfaces can be tricky 

12 hours ago, mvmac said:

WPutting. I'm happy with the improvements with these measurements. Backstroke use to be too slow and there was more face rotation.

Really cool to see that the putter I'm using is the right fit 

And I can return it there at impact,

What needs work is my loft and rise numbers (which will also get the path less left/more neutral),

Ideally these would be flip flopped, so I was able to work on that with similar feels that @iacas has given me before and I got it close to "optimal". I was too "one-piece" with the stroke. For short putts it's not going to make a huge difference but my issue has been speed control on putts 30ft or longer.

Nice report card, especially the first half.

[mvmac]

3 hours ago, billchao said:

Pictures of reflective surfaces can be tricky 

Yeah figured someone would say something lol #crotchshot

 

[iacas]

15 hours ago, mvmac said:

Ideally these would be flip flopped, so I was able to work on that with similar feels that @iacas has given me before and I got it close to "optimal". I was too "one-piece" with the stroke. For short putts it's not going to make a huge difference but my issue has been speed control on putts 30ft or longer.

One-piece with a little flip near the ball, yeah. But at least on your longer putts you weren't literally popping it up into the air! That's a welcome improvement from a year or two ago.

3 hours ago, billchao said:

Good to see the hard work you put into your swing is paying off. You might want to work on your camera work, though. Pictures of reflective surfaces can be tricky 

I commented on that in the iMessage group we have before I saw your comments, yeah.

[mvmac]

Instead of just posting high speed swings I wanted to share a bit of "real time" practice. Something I've been doing the past several months is alternating between mechanics rehearsals/swings and "play" swings. The mechanics practice is when I take it all the way to 4 and rehearse the feel to 5 or so. It's more deliberate, more focused on changing the picture. The play swings are where I'm going through my on-course routine and just trying to hit a shot at a target. Every once in while I throw in a flighted swing, which I think is one of the dtl swings.

For me it's an effective way to practice because I can get too caught up in mechanics mode. The super deliberate type of mechanics swings I mostly do at home or during my workouts. I'm trying to avoid swinging too "slow" when I actually hitting balls.

Updated index, trending in the right direction but I don't want it getting too low haha, gotta play against all those sandbaggers in team, member/guest events.

[GolfLug]

17 minutes ago, mvmac said:

Instead of just posting high speed swings I wanted to share a bit of "real time" practice. Something I've been doing the past several months is alternating between mechanics rehearsals/swings and "play" swings. The mechanics practice is when I take it all the way to 4 and rehearse the feel to 5 or so. It's more deliberate, more focused on changing the picture. The play swings are where I'm going through my on-course routine and just trying to hit a shot at a target. Every once in while I throw in a flighted swing, which I think is one of the dtl swings.

For me it's an effective way to practice because I can get too caught up in mechanics mode. The super deliberate type of mechanics swings I mostly do at home or during my workouts. I'm trying to avoid swinging too "slow" when I actually hitting balls.

Updated index, trending in the right direction but I don't want it getting too low haha, gotta play against all those sandbaggers in team, member/guest events.

Be careful of the squat/stop move drill at start of downswing!!! You don't want Charles Barkley suing you for patent infringement..  

JK, nice work @mvmac... As usual you are certainly a model for how to practice.  

 

[iacas]

23 minutes ago, GolfLug said:

you are certainly a model

FTFY.

[mvmac]

Distance wedge practice. Just writing this down for my own notes.

55 degree. Pitching dynamics, gripping down slightly.
50 yards - Belt height
55 yards - Just past belt height
60 yards - A3
65 yards - A3.5
70 yards - A4
Full swing, full swing dynamics goes about 85 yards.

60 degree. Pitching dynamics, gripping down slightly.
40 yards - Belt height
45 yards - Just past belt height
50 yards - A3
55 yards - A3.5
60 yards - A4

[mvmac]

Been hitting it pretty good lately. Focusing on a few things,

- Weight on the balls of the feet at 1
- Grip in the fingers of the left hand (was getting a little lazy with that)
- Little right arm pronation on the takeaway (right palm pointing towards the ground)
- Right arm staying above the left during the backswing (feel)
- Pelvis shifts forward and behind in transition, kind of like I'm doing the first bit of a back squat.

These feels have helped shorten the backswing a little and add a little more distance. Still hate my saggy knee, hopefully I can keep making improvements on that in '18 

 

 

 

[b101]

Love the swing about as much as the Torrey Pines pictures! Always been a fan of just how compact you make it. Also, you could fool me with the 'saggy knee'... can't see much wrong with it! Out of interest, is this a full iron swing for you? I notice you take the driver back to parallel and wondered whether you ever do that with the irons?

As ever, keep up the good work!

[Secretmove]

Contrats on the scratch handicap. 

Only thing I don't understand is what you are doing with your right leg/knee.  it seems to be in the way coming into and during impact, perhaps you've already discussed this, I read the first couple pages then skipped to the end.  Ever try to keep the right heel down? 

Love the right arm at impact and how the club shaft comes back up low (down the line video) under the shoulders follow through, nice, 0 flip. 

I saw the video where you were rehearsing intention to bow Tiger wise down to the ball, probably working on pressuring,  but it seems you actually didn't bow pre-impact, you bent your knees more at impact during the real swing.  I would suggest you try experimenting with actually bowing from the waste and make it about a 4 inch head lowering, this will clear space for your right arm which is impacting your side at the shirt seam, not in front of  your hip like right arm leading.  Leave the right heal on the ground and keep the right knee out of the way.  Try that slow motion a few times.  Hogan and Tiger were both down there. 

Check out Tigers slo mo swing 5 iron, Clay Ballards shallowing the low point videos, and Hogans swing, Mo Normans secret right elbow first move, which was hogans move as well. 

I say all this, because this is exactly what i'm working on right now.  Maybe you've already explored this world, if so, please direct me to any discussion. 

also, what are your thoughts on the following statement I just found on WRX: The rate the right arm straightens is directly related to rate the right shoulder works down.  The more axis tilt you have (right shoulder lower) the more bent the right arm will/must be at impact. As it moves down it will also have to move out(towards target line) and forward (towards target) in order to prevent swing direction from moving too far rightward.   100% caused by a lack of axis tilt (answer to why a posters right arm straightens at impact. )

that statement seem the MONEY to me.  I'm all over that tonight with my drills. 

 

[SunkTheBirdie]

Amazing swing

/jealous !

 

Are the hands a bit behind in the impact zone ?

 

I investigated P6 a few years ago.

Google:  MORAD p6 face on golf swing 

Lots of reference images. 

Normally the hands are in front of the right thigh at P6 in most PGA golfers.  Men anyway.  

YMMV.

 

Edited January 3, 2018 by SunkTheBirdie

[iacas]

5 hours ago, SunkTheBirdie said:

Normally the hands are in front of the right thigh at P6 in most PGA golfers.  Men anyway.  

It's more relevant to measure the BOC location relative to the golf ball at A6 than relative to body parts like the thighs.

And, that's not always accurate:

To both of you, yes, @mvmac could have a bit more extension in the follow-through, but that's not what he's working on right now. Maybe next.

[mvmac]

6 hours ago, Secretmove said:

Only thing I don't understand is what you are doing with your right leg/knee.  

Haha you and me both 

6 hours ago, Secretmove said:

it seems to be in the way coming into and during impact, perhaps you've already discussed this, I read the first couple pages then skipped to the end.  Ever try to keep the right heel down? 

To me the right knee or even both knees sagging on the downswing is just a reaction to how my pelvis works in transition and early downswing. You'll see a lot of good players add a little hip flexion (anterior pelvic tilt, kind of like the start of a back squat) where I start doing posterior pelvic tilt (goat humping).

Yes I have worked on keeping it down but that didn't change the sagging much and was kind of an artificial move because the heel is coming up for a reason. I go back and forth between worrying about it and not caring as long as I'm hitting it ok and impact is decent.

My concern about "just keeping it down" is that it doesn't really fix the real issue, which is what I described with the pelvis stuff. Having said all that Nicklaus looked like this at impact and I want to try and avoid working on something just for the "look" and something that could potentially slow my swing down. I need every mph I can get 

6 hours ago, Secretmove said:

Love the right arm at impact and how the club shaft comes back up low (down the line video) under the shoulders follow through, nice, 0 flip. 

Thanks!

7 hours ago, Secretmove said:

I saw the video where you were rehearsing intention to bow Tiger wise down to the ball, probably working on pressuring,  but it seems you actually didn't bow pre-impact, you bent your knees more at impact during the real swing.  

Yes that was the intention of practicing that move. Feeling like the belt buckle lowers, hip forward bend increases, to give myself more of the "instinct" to "thrust" and not sag the legs. I still do practice like that occasionally because it does help me get the shaft/club in a better position and rotate more efficiently. 

That's kind of a long term project and has gotten better the past few years. It'll most likely never be "perfect" and that's fine because I can still hit it decent with it looking a little more Nicklaus than Hogan.

Priority right now is what I've been posting about with the backswing. It gives me the most "bang for my buck" in terms of start line control, contact and I can do it on the course.

7 hours ago, Secretmove said:

I would suggest you try experimenting with actually bowing from the waste and make it about a 4 inch head lowering, this will clear space for your right arm which is impacting your side at the shirt seam, not in front of  your hip like right arm leading.  Leave the right heal on the ground and keep the right knee out of the way.  Try that slow motion a few times.  Hogan and Tiger were both down there. 

Oh yeah I've got some video of me going nuts with it, picture is better but my tendencies are still there. 

7 hours ago, Secretmove said:

also, what are your thoughts on the following statement I just found on WRX: The rate the right arm straightens is directly related to rate the right shoulder works down.  The more axis tilt you have (right shoulder lower) the more bent the right arm will/must be at impact. As it moves down it will also have to move out(towards target line) and forward (towards target) in order to prevent swing direction from moving too far rightward.   100% caused by a lack of axis tilt (answer to why a posters right arm straightens at impact. )

I mostly agree but disagree with the axis tilt bit. To me it has more to do with right lateral bend than just the right shoulder lowering. RLB would be the right side "crunching", check out how much DJ curves the right side of his torso. If you look at guys that rotate really well and have a good amount of trail arm bend at impact, McIlroy, DJ, Spieth, they actually don't have a lot of axis tilt in transition to mid downswing. Too much axis early will tip the upper body back, rotate the path too far right and you'll have to straighten the right arm to get the club to the ball.

But yeah, more RLB will lower the shoulder, rotate the torso, bring the right side of the torso closer to the ground which allows the golfer to keep the arm bent longer. Or maybe a better way to say it, straightening at a slower rate because the arm is gradually straightening from the top where it's somewhere around 90 degrees. This is kind of why rotation is a big topic now, if the golfer does something to stall their rotation the arms will have to compensate to get the club to the ball. Getting RLB is also tied to what I was describing with the pelvis tilt/motion.

6 hours ago, SunkTheBirdie said:

Are the hands a bit behind in the impact zone ?

Maybe a little. Long term I would like to see my dynamic loft lessen by about a .5 to one degree. My right leg kicks a little forward so that skews the "look", what @iacas said, location of the BOC is what's important.

Here's an impact pic from today, left forearm and shaft are inline so it's very functional.

But I wouldn't mind having it look more like this 

[mvmac]

On 1/3/2018 at 5:11 AM, b101 said:

Out of interest, is this a full iron swing for you? I notice you take the driver back to parallel and wondered whether you ever do that with the irons?

Yes these are full stock swing 7-irons. Some swings are more deliberate than others and I'll typically specify that.

My backswing length isn't something conscious, longer club, longer swing. My 7-iron doesn't get to parallel but my driver does, sometimes even a bit past parallel.

On 1/3/2018 at 5:11 AM, b101 said:

Love the swing about as much as the Torrey Pines pictures! Always been a fan of just how compact you make it.

Thanks! 

[b101]

11 hours ago, mvmac said:

But I wouldn't mind having it look more like this 

Ha - you and the rest of the world! 

Still, you're a lot further on than the rest of us - thanks for the answers as well, good to know.