My Swing (Chicago Lefty)

[Chicago Lefty]

It's that time again where I'm looking to make a few improvements on my swing since I won't be playing again for a few months.  A little background, last season I ended at about an 18 handicap after having played for a few months, hit a ton of balls and took some lessons over the winter and managed to lower my handicap down to a 6.8 at the end of this season.  Goals for next year are to improve in all areas of the game and get down to a 2 handicap at a minimum.

Had a kid take a few videos of my current swing.  I have kind of gotten away from one kind of swing method and have been trying a few different things,  The base of my swing comes from Jim Hardy's one plane swing, but I have been reading a lot of stack and tilt threads and have recently implemented a few moves from that (weight forward at address & hands deep and low on takeaway).

Take a look at my current swing and any ideas on how to improve are welcome!  Thank you!

[uttexas]

Graceful, powerful swing.  Difficult for me to pause the videos, but I see the following:

Head dips significantly during the backswing.  I like your arm and hand positions at the top of the backswing.

Hips more forward and extend legs more into impact.

[Chicago Lefty]

Thanks for the response uttexas. Two things I have battled all season is an inconsistent lowpoint in my swing and a really high ball flight with my irons. When I get lazy/tired I tend to hit fat and heel shots. I have to remind myself to keep my left arm connected and when I don't I think I am releasing super early and jamming the clubhead into the ground behind the ball. The high ball flight which is generally coupled with high spin I have not been able to figure out. I've been told that I have a small flip in my swing, but I still make ball first contact and good sized divots after the ball. If I was flipping, I would be picking the ball more, no?

[uttexas]

Hitting the ball with lots of spin usually means that you are hitting the ball first and with a descending clubface (good things)

From my experience, I haven't seen any amateurs who hit the ball too high (when solid contact is made).  I've seen many (including myself) that tend to hit the ball too low at times.

[whatwhatwhat]

Originally Posted by uttexas

Graceful, powerful swing.  Difficult for me to pause the videos, but I see the following:

Head dips significantly during the backswing.  I like your arm and hand positions at the top of the backswing.

Hips more forward and extend legs more into impact.

Dont all the best ball strikers do this? Loading into the ground.

[iacas]

Originally Posted by whatwhatwhat

Quote:

Originally Posted by uttexas

Head dips significantly during the backswing.

Dont all the best ball strikers do this? Loading into the ground.

In the backswing? No, Brian. They do it more in the downswing.

[Rexx]

Don't roll the forearms/wrists on the backswing (see how the clubhead is far inside early).  Keep the clubface and back of the right hand more perpendicular to the arc of your swing, except for the opening of the clubface from folding your left wrist back on itself.  Then, maintain that left wrist hinge through the swing.  It will probably feel more restrictive and less powerful, but it should force you to use the rotation of your shoulders and hips to generate power.

[Chicago Lefty]

I've been battling flipping the club to the inside like that for a long time. When I try to stop my entire swing breaks down and bad things happen. I'm always fighting a slight OTT move as well that I think stems from flipping the club inside like that. I think I'm going to put that #1 on my hit list to fix. 1) avoid rolling forearms and getting inside too early 2) retain left wrist hinge throughout swing (got the PBS and have been using that on occasion) 3) steady head in backswing

[Chicago Lefty]

Well I put some work in today.  I think I'm going to continue with the Hardy method as I got a few of his videos (haven't watched yet) as well as re-read the book and came up with a few things to work on.  I forgot about the bucket drill and worked on that today to try to keep my forearms from rolling and flipping too far inside.  Unfortunately the way that I set up the camera I didn't get the best view...  I think I made some progress regardless.

I'll try to get some better high speed video this week.  I ordered a gorilla pod and holder for my iphone as well as I think I'm going to pickup a lower end Casio.

[Chicago Lefty]

Had a lesson today from a new instructor (Plane Truth guy).  We worked on my backswing attempting to get me more on plane and start hitting some draws.  Worked mainly on the way my hips move in the backswing.  The move we worked on definitely helped.  I hit balls for about an hour afterwards and was hitting about 95% draws with a few hooks mixed in.  Even with the longer clubs.  Here's a few videos.  Still a long way to go, but I'm starting to make some progress.  I'm definitely getting more on plane and coming from the inside.  Still need to work on holding my tush line, and fighting the move at the top of my backswing.  We came to the conclusion that the OTT move at the top comes from over swinging/over rotating.  When I hit more of what feels like a 3/4ish shot, I am able to drop straight into the slot.

Comments welcome!  But I'll keep working either way ;)

7 iron

Driver

4 iron

[walk18]

Clubhead is still coming too far inside the hands on the takeaway, that's what's causing the OTT. I know it doesn't feel like it though. It's hard to change right away, but you want to exaggerate the feeling of "hands in, clubhead out" on the takeaway. It will feel awkward at first.

And I think I might be at that same dome this weekend!

[tim31x]

biggest thing i see is set up, u need to stand taller and bend from the hips. from there work on a better weight shift you have a slight reverse pivot.

[Chicago Lefty]

Originally Posted by walk18

Clubhead is still coming too far inside the hands on the takeaway, that's what's causing the OTT. I know it doesn't feel like it though. It's hard to change right away, but you want to exaggerate the feeling of "hands in, clubhead out" on the takeaway. It will feel awkward at first.

And I think I might be at that same dome this weekend!

Yes, I still have the flip inside...I was working on it, but after the lesson I stopped thinking about that and was concentrating on the turn we were working on.  I tend to get distracted with too many thoughts and to make real changes I have to work on one thing for a decent amount of time.

I have a v1 video lesson that I am trying to capture the face on view from, but my work PC is acting goofy and won't allow me to capture a video screenshot.  I'll try to do it on my mac when i get home.  Essentially the new hip move is eliminating my slide backwards/reverse pivot position at the top.

What day are you heading to the dome?  I'll be there Sunday most likely.  I was thinking about hitting at Top Golf or the Des Plaines outdoor range tomorrow since it is supposed to be 52 degrees to get a better idea of my ball flight with the changes.

[Chicago Lefty]

Finally got the capture to work. The second image is a bit exaggerated as he had me moving my head back more than it should just to get the feet for not tipping over at the top of my swing.  Overall I am striking the ball much better and attacking from the inside, but there are still quite a few more areas to improve before I will be satisfied.

[Chicago Lefty]

Another set of videos because frankly I'm a bit addicted to improvement.  Shortening my swing and concentrating on turning my shoulder straight up seems to be helping with the OTT move.  Was hitting nice straight balls with the driver, some had a small draw on them.  Was hitting great push draws with all of my irons.  Borderline developing a hook with the short clubs.

5 Iron

8 Iron

Driver

[Chicago Lefty]

Alright, I think I've made the move to keep from flipping to the inside.  It's getting me a little steep at the top and I still have the OTT move which I can't seem to figure out.  I'm getting closer to keeping my right hip on the tush line, but I'm still not there.

One more thing is that am flipping quite a bit and launching the ball high.  Losing a ton of power there as well...I think this comes from the fact I go OTT and cant clear my hips properly and have to cast the club out to make contact.  I've been fighting this for awhile now though.  Even switched to x100's thinking it would help and it did not.

Ball shape has actually been very nice.  I've switched to a push draw on good shots and my misses are straight draws and pushes.  Mainly pushes as my miss though.

As always, comments are appreciated!

[Chicago Lefty]

Latest swing.  Have pretty much engrained the hip turn and have started to understand the move to keep the club from flipping inside.  It's not natural yet, but getting close.  I've also started keeping the tush line almost 100%.  I still return the club to the ball a touch steeper than my takeaway and looking at the video it appears I still do not clear my left side completely even though I am doing a better job of keeping the tush line.  The OTT move is getting smaller and smaller, but still there.

I have a lesson tomorrow, so we'll see what things he gives me to work on.  I think we are only going to work on the swing for a short period of time and spend most of the time working on putting.

[ttdeuel214]

It seems like your swing plane is a little flat towards the end of your swing you start to get more higher but if you can do that with the start of your swing and get in that position to begin with instead of starting low low and then at the top having the hands slide up I think you would strike the ball 100% better.