My Swing (GolfProgress)

[golfprogress]

This is a Driver on one of the back nine holes at the Olympic Club from a few weeks ago.  My feeling is that my shoulder turn stops early in the backswing so the only way to avoid the classic 'over the top' move is to lock down my lower body and drop my arms WAY to the inside.  This allows me to hit the ball fairly well but limits my potential, I will never drive the ball more than about 260 this way.

This is a great forum, don't know why it took me so long to sign up!

[walk18]

You're taking the club almost straight back and lifting your hands upward instead of inward. Take the hands in more, then you can attack the ball from the inside. That should give you more power. Think of how a field goal kicker runs up from an inside angle to the ball.

[Shanks A Million]

Simple things, you're aimed right of your target.  Aside from that,  you basically throw the club with your upper body, your hips haven't cleared at impact.  It's all arms in this swing.  That's why you can't generate power.

[Tom]

#1: wow... olympic club.... i'm jealous. gorgeous hole. it's 6" of snow on ground and currently 15 degrees here in Atlanta, GA. right know we can't even go outside for fear of black ice on the concrete.

#2: the weather... wow... it looks terrific!!!

#3: your own youtube channel called "golfprogress" - i love it... you are serious, as serious (and sick too, like me, i presume) as i am.

----ok, the swing... and my unabashed responses from what i see----

if i guessed based on what i saw in your driver DTL, your 6-iron DTL, your "shanking video" from DTL,  and your FO shot from " GolfProgress at Presidio GC"

• you appear to approach the game with a "i'm going to steer the ball" type attitude - and this is why you are not getting from a 14 to a 7 very quickly... but don't give up, just work on a few things... you are a serious golfer - the world needs more of you!!!!
• you don't load up going back and as a result you won't have much power coming thru, and your ability to hit authoritative straight rockets will be limited
• you don't create and hold lag, and as a result your shots are very unpredictable (may go left, right, up, down, topped, fatted, etc.)

in my opinnion, here's what to do and what work to on:

backswing (power source)

get fully into your right hip on the back swing...

tilt away from target 7 degrees and hold that tilt all the way thru your back swing

- practice (don't hit balls) by "squatting" 3 inches (reduce your height) while you swing back and don't stop the backswing until you can no longer turn into your right leg. if you do this you will feel a very powerful coil that has been created right into your right hip joint. you will feel the tendons and muscles in your right hip and they will seem to say "I'M READY TO UNWIND!"

thru swing

start the swing with a separation of your hips (lower body) and your upper body - keep your upper body loaded while your lower body weight shifts back to front - in reality it will be just a millisecond or so, but this is critical! to do this efficiently, turn your left foot 22 degrees (hogan writes that 22 degrees is the proper amount -pg42 from five lessons). what is 22 degrees? does it really matter? probably not - just turn your left foot out a quarter of turn.

- why turn your left foot out? because your left hip will be free to turn/clear

- ok, on the issue of separation... you've got to break away from what you're doing now...

- radically if not violently shift your weight from your back leg to your front leg initiated by having active knees and responsive hips. the best way to ensure you CAN do this is by making sure your back knee does not go beyond the inside of your back foot.

lag

- there's no magic here. you have to get your mind into your hands and tell yourself "HOLD ON LIKE A HINGE AND HOLD CHIP"

- turn your chest as quickly as you can thru the swing and ensure both arms are straight for as long as you can after impact.

all the best,

tom

[golfprogress]

Tom: Sorry it took me so long to get back here!  Thanks for watching my videos and for these concepts for improvement, I'm going to read them carefully and do some experimenting, I agree with your assessment that I'm guiding the club and am not using my lower body to generate power.

[Tom]

no worries. i live in metro atlanta, ga. i'm a member of "club corp" which owns a number of prestigious courses. my home course is "bear's best" in suwanee, ga. bear's is a cadre of jack nicklaus' favorite holes from all the courses he has built. if you've ever seen golf channels' "lessons with a pro", jack nicklaus was featured back in like '03 or something, and it was filmed at my club. it's a SWEET club... on inaugural day, jack shot a 71 (par 72). my record at the course is 65. the course record is 64, held by "tommy two gloves gainey." today i shot a 69... fast apporaching that MF's record... i'm playing US Open qualfier on may 17th... if i make it look out for my white ass!!!

[senorchipotle]

yeah, your lower body is definitely holding you back. like tom said, you've got to get separation by starting your lower body first. in fact, by starting the lower body first that virtually negates the possibility of you coming over the top or spinning out with your shoulders. perhaps you should work on keeping a consistent rhythm.

[golfprogress]

Tom: How did you do in the qualifyer?

[golfprogress]

It's been awhile since I posted in TST but I want to get back into it as this is the top forum on the interwebnets for talking golf improvement.

In 2013 I've decided to place a heavy emphasis on chipping and pitching as I am just not getting up and down enough and mishitting too many short shots.  Here's my first video where I work on some longer chips.  I was using a sand wedge which I no longer own because I left it at Disney's Magnolia course last month somewhere around the 12th hole.  Bummer.

[golfprogress]

Oh wow I'm on the Golf Channel's SwingFix today!

http://www.golfchannel.com/news/golf-instruction/weekly-fix-finding-the-center-of-the-face-consistently/