My Swing (mvmac)

[mvmac]

On 6/20/2022 at 11:51 PM, mvmac said:

Long story short, was recommend by a PT at my gym to reach out to this guy and it's been very beneficial. Learned some cool stuff about my body and why my tendency is to dump my left side forward.

What I've been up to.

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Mike Kay PT, DPT (@mike_kay_dpt)

 

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Mike Kay PT, DPT (@mike_kay_dpt)

 

 

[mvmac]

I've been spending a lot of time on my grip and that's led to a lot of good play the past month and a half. Might be the best I've ever hit it on the course.

- Right palm connection
- Less left arm adduction on the backswing

Drill helps me maintain my right palm to left thumb connection and encourages more of a "body pivot".

 

[iacas]

Yep. f*** left arm adduction. 😉

[nevets88]

If you have less lead arm adduction on the backswing won’t it follow there will be a little more adduction on the downswing?

[iacas]

3 minutes ago, nevets88 said:

If you have less lead arm adduction on the backswing won’t it follow there will be a little more adduction on the downswing?

No.

You could just… keep it out there, farther away from your chest.

[mvmac]

17 hours ago, nevets88 said:

If you have less lead arm adduction on the backswing won’t it follow there will be a little more adduction on the downswing?

Yes, agree with @iacas. There might be more dynamic adduction 3.5-4.5 but the idea would be the have less going back so I would have more space for the arms coming down. Rather than get it glued to my chest and have to get slidy/saggy with the lower body.

Here I am working with Dr. Kay on this. He has me breath into his left hand and he keeps that space open as he winds me to the top. Much different that what I normally do but feels very powerful. Flushed the next few shots.

 

[iacas]

You probably find that you turn a bit more toward the end of the backswing with a little bit less of the "lift" that you've always tended to do, too.

Generally, I see in students that the wider they keep that angle, in order to take the club back "far enough," they're required to turn more.

[mvmac]

Was struggling with some hooks off the tee, something that mentally freaks me out and can be tough for me to shake off. Talked about it with @iacas and shared some swings. Basically pressure was staying right for too long on the backswing, causing me to get stuck, tip back and flip it. Was also too much int my heels at setup, so tendency would be to lean down towards the ball and then get on my toes.

Here is some practice getting left earlier and getting my left knee over my left foot. When I pivot my left knee I feel like I push back, which is a good thing for me.

 

Was in Scottsdale this week and visiting Dr. Kay. He just got Swing Cat dual plates so we got some data off that. Getting into why I would tend to overcommit to my right foot or even outside edge of my right foot. Can skip to 21 min mark for most golf relevant part.

 

 

[mchepp]

Dr Kay delivers a ton of technical "stuff" in his videos for you. I would need some decoder ring to understand everything he is saying. 

I do like the changes he's made in your swing. 

[mvmac]

On 1/27/2023 at 2:31 PM, mchepp said:

Dr Kay delivers a ton of technical "stuff" in his videos for you. I would need some decoder ring to understand everything he is saying. 

I do like the changes he's made in your swing. 

He knows I like the technical stuff so he doesn't dumb it down for me. He basically looks at the body from a fluid dynamics perspective along with your rib cage shape. So what areas might be compressed (not hydrated) and how you compensate for it. Lots of breathing exercises to gain expansion or space so you move better. I'm a narrow (Homa) so I'm going to rotate and create downforce differently than a wide (Rahm).

Quick example would be how a lot of the guys that have that nice looking "sit" in transition (Rahm, Trevino, Snead) are wides because they have more space at the back of their pelvis than narrows (Homa, JT, Morikawa). Tiger would have the perfect body because he's a narrow and V shaped, so his "funnel" shape is a huge asset because he can push down hard with his guts but not get stuck in the ground.

Narrows tend to be one-leg jumpers (left) vs wides, two-leg jumpers (right). 

What does this mean for me? I should try to pivot and load the club more along my body shape (helical angle), so a "level" pivot and club shaft is not good for me. Something like this.

 

[mchepp]

I notice that you have taken lessons from MANY different teachers. Do you find you are able to take the good bits from each of them, or you need to buy into each for wholly to maximize your performance?

[iacas]

2 hours ago, mchepp said:

I notice that you have taken lessons from MANY different teachers. Do you find you are able to take the good bits from each of them, or you need to buy into each for wholly to maximize your performance?

That's a good question. You should ask @cedrictheo what he thinks in his Member Swing topic too.

[mvmac]

Felt some disconnection with my grip lately, tendency is to have my right hand come off the grip 1-1.5, leads to an armsy and wrist backswing. So spent some time making sure my right lifeline was staying glued to my left thumb on the takeaway. Forces me to use more of my pivot to carry the arms back and gives me more of that "one-piece" look going back rather than oversetting early. Backswing cue is either that or keeping the space between my right shoulder and ear the same from 1-4.

That with some lower body separation in transition. Swing at the end if more slow work with the transition feel.

 

On 1/30/2023 at 2:45 PM, mchepp said:

I notice that you have taken lessons from MANY different teachers. Do you find you are able to take the good bits from each of them, or you need to buy into each for wholly to maximize your performance?

Goal would be the take the bits that apply to me and do some trial and error. I think you have to be very skeptical of any advice. We all have our preferences and biases and golf instructors are no different. I learned from my S&T experience to not buy in wholly, I think that can limit your ability to learn and make mistakes. 

Here's what I look for in seeing if something is right for me:
- Does it feel athletic?
- Does it make sense? (Good example is with this recent passive arms stuff)
- I should see some immediate change to contact or ball flight. Not saying I'm expecting to hit perfect shots but something different should occur. For example, with the swing at the end of the video, if I'm anywhere close to that move, I know there's no way the ball can go left. 

[mvmac]

Since my last post have had two good finishes in club tournaments. Few weeks ago had a one shot lead with two to play, pushed my approach shot on 17, got a bad break and made triple to finish second. Last weekend had an epic bad break where I hit an approach wedge shot almost into the hole (damaged the cup), bounces off the flagstick and goes into the water. 

Driver was good on the weekend. Continuing with some hand pressure/contact feels to improve backswing and transition.

Big picture I've been working on landing left sooner around top of backswing/transition. What I feel disrupts that can be the path the right shoulder works on and how it tends to shrug on the backswing. With these swings I'm feeling the pressure on connection points change in the hands that connect to the right scap stability. Cool thing is I've never seen myself this "wide" with the wrist loading without it being forced. Hanging back and flipping a lot less with the driver!

The drill I'm doing is a variation of the Rob Houlding four finger drill with some Dr. Kay info, modified by Robbie Failes. I'm basically feeling the same thing with my full swing. I was also shown some new ways to practice that are more in context for the golf course. Robbie put some of it on IG live but this was how it went:

- Mechanics practice for a few sets
- Then "forget it" and do some pitching distance control practice
- Then recall the mechanics feel (how we learn) with a couple 5 ball sets with the only goal being whether I did the feel or not. If I fail, I start over until I can get five in a row.
- Then a couple 5 ball sets doing the feel while hitting towards a target with a two finger (think AimPoint) distribution on each side of the target. Three fingers for driver. Goal for this one is to get 3 or 4 out of 5.
- Then advance to doing it one shot with a driver, approach shot, pitch shot, then make the putt.

All really good for me to get me out of my comfort zone of block mechanics practice and more golf practice. The last part in the video was after what I just described and Sean Kennedy put some alignments sticks 10-20 yards in front of me where I had to start the ball left, right and over the stick. Then two sticks (goal post) and start it left and curve it back, etc. This was at an instructor seminar where Dr. Kay was speaking, I was just there to guide some discussion, be a guinea pig and hang out.

Beginning of the clip is how my hand path arc changed. Before swing would be a great way to hook it, narrow transition and hands stay high, slide and flip. After is wider in transition and hands at 6 match to their lowest point, basically creating more stimuli for me to pull up on the drip and push more from my lead side.

 

[mvmac]

Working on my grip, balance at setup and holding (not twisting) my right leg and foot longer into the backswing

 

[mvmac]

Been a really solid 2-3 weeks of scoring after my index go all the way up to 1.4 (now +0.7).

Focus has been on my grip, foot contacts at setup and putting enough energy into the move early. Here are my notes from a Facetime check in with Dr. Kay.

- Still seeing head still go down and right P1-2. Need earlier right foot impulse. If I try and hold IR too long I don’t create enough space (too compressed) to flow and stretch into.  
- Easiest way to feel it is the ball behind my club drill and roll it back slightly inside the target line (roll it back with force) . Should feel right foot hold without trying to do it. Have to also keep left heel connection. Club should feel light until transition. 
- Club forward to P1.5 rehearsal (club working slightly in). Done correctly I feel right foot plant, left heel contact, right palm locked onto left thumb knuckle and a little palm down
- Ball in left palm drill
- P1: Medial foot contacts. Right palm on left thumb knuckle.

After a week or so was still seeing my head/mass lower and move down and to the right (can lead to my pull draw misses). Keeping up with the same intentions, added in practice with a towel or wedge (mini ramp) behind my club to encourage the club and hands to "fling" up sooner. Helps me wind up very centered instead of falling down and to my right 1-1.5. While it "feels" more armsy or disconnected 1-2, it feels more stable with the release 6-7. What also helps is a mini trigger counter rotation move, left hip towards right heel.

 

 

[mvmac]

On 5/9/2023 at 2:26 PM, mvmac said:

After a week or so was still seeing my head/mass lower and move down and to the right (can lead to my pull draw misses). Keeping up with the same intentions, added in practice with a towel or wedge (mini ramp) behind my club to encourage the club and hands to "fling" up sooner. Helps me wind up very centered instead of falling down and to my right 1-1.5. While it "feels" more armsy or disconnected 1-2, it feels more stable with the release 6-7. What also helps is a mini trigger counter rotation move, left hip towards right heel.

Still working and feeling this. 

 

 

 

 

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[mvmac]

Continuing with the theme of "heaving" the hands and club up sooner on the takeaway. Basically going full "Dechambeau" or Nicklaus with the takeaway feels. Using the ProSendr ball mixed in with 9-3 swings everyday as a baseline to reinforce the feels. So build some width early, then keep it, especially with the right arm wide on the way down Some good rounds lately, last four have been 72, 69, 69 and 68.