New Swing Thought from One of Ben Curtis's Coaches

[JD616]

Originally Posted by Zeph

Then I have misread the original post, which is my bad. If the tips the OP received was specifically for his own swing, it's a different story. I don't know more than what the OP shared. I haven't turned it into a discussion, I just pointed out my thoughts, which might have been based on misunderstanding the OP. Still, the OP asked for our thoughts, on which I'll have to say that you really should post a video of your swing. If we are going to give advice on some advice you recieved from watching your swing, it would greatly help if we saw it too.

I know I'm probably a bit too critical at times, but that doesn't mean I don't listen to what people has to say. Actually, the fact that I go to such lengths to discuss their statements would prove that I really read what they say and think it through. Think it through enough to share my own views on it.

Cool. Like I said above, if you have a chance to get your swing on camera, I'd be happy to share my thoughts on it. It is difficult to tell what I think about advice you get from someone watching your swing when I'm not. The feelings are all valid if it is indeed something you need to work on.

What is your handicap by the way? I would be a bit careful with working with two different instructors at the same time. They might contradict eachother and leave you confused in the middle of it. I don't know which of them will work best for you, so you'll have to figure that out yourself. If you're really lucky, both will work at the same time, just keep in mind that there are a lot of different ideas when it comes to the swing, some of which directly contradicts the other.

To be honest my original post was pretty scattered, because I was still trying to grasp the concept completely.

What is the best way to record a swing? Digital camera or camcorder? I have been trying to get a video for awhile now, but I was unsure of the best way.

I honestly don't know what my handicap is. My main focus in the last few years has just been to get better and have more fun, but now I'm getting to the point where I know I can perform at tournament level. I would take a guess that my average score is around 83-84, but I often get down in the 70s but also get close to 90 when my play is poor.

I have put in a lot of work recently and I would venture to guess that my handicap will improve this year and I will also be tracking it this year in an attempt to see improvement in the future.

I'm not really sure if the two instructors contradict each other, because I don't know how to differentiate the two or compare them. One thing they both stress is the fact that my tempo is too fast in their opinions. As for the actual swing I would say that they are both very similar, but just explained in a different way. However, the instructor that I met last night guaranteed me that he could show me things that will make me better such as: putting, chipping, working the ball, and power.

[Zeph]

What is the best way to record a swing? Digital camera or camcorder? I have been trying to get a video for awhile now, but I was unsure of the best way.

I honestly don't know what my handicap is.

Check this article on filming: http://thesandtrap.com/b/playing_tips/filming_your_swing The best camera is the one with highest framerate (frames per second), preferably at a decent resolution.

[JD616]

Are camcorders or digital cameras better? I know my instructor uses a camcorder, so I'm just wondering.

[Zeph]

The best camera is whatever camera give you the best settings. Digital cameras are usually best, but I don't know which ones you got. If you don't have any high speed cameras, one with 60FPS is probably the best. If neither got over 30FPS, pick the one with the highest resolution on video.

[Harmonious]

To the OP:  Sounds like you have the best of all worlds right now.  You are young, you have an interest in getting better, and it sounds like you have a couple of very knowledgeable people who have an interest in you getting better.  I wish you well.

As you say, some of the ideas you are hearing from your instructor may be difficult to understand right now.  I would encourage you to ask questions of him to make sure that you know what he is saying.  And I would advise you NOT to post videos of your swing online right now.  If you do, you will get more information than you want or need at this point in your golfing development, much of which will probably do more harm than good.

Good luck to you.

[JD616]

I have a Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-W230 it records at 30fps and is a 640 by 480, but I can get a camcorder or better camera from other family members.

[Zeph]

I have a Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-W230 it records at 30fps and is a 640 by 480, but I can get a camcorder or better camera from other family members.

If you got it close at hand, shoot some swings and post them. If you got access to better cameras, great, but anything is better than nothing. Remember to set it up properly, I really recommend using a tripod when recording. You will be able to position the camera perfectly and it is easy to adjust. Use the tips in the link I gave you to filming your swing.

[JD616]

[Zeph]

You got a pretty good swing, so I won't point out anything yet. What I'd like to know is what you struggle with, what are your bad shots. I like practice to be targeted at specific problems. We all aim at the fairway and green or flag on most shots, if we hit it where we wanted all the time, there would be no need to practice. First we put together the things you struggle with, then look for cause and fix.

Distance, ballstriking, missing the target left or right, fat shots, thin shots etc. Any issues specific to driver, woods or irons?

What is your normal ball flight? Draw, fade, straight? Do you align parallell to the target line, left or right?

[JD616]

Originally Posted by Zeph

You got a pretty good swing, so I won't point out anything yet. What I'd like to know is what you struggle with, what are your bad shots. I like practice to be targeted at specific problems. We all aim at the fairway and green or flag on most shots, if we hit it where we wanted all the time, there would be no need to practice. First we put together the things you struggle with, then look for cause and fix.

Distance, ballstriking, missing the target left or right, fat shots, thin shots etc. Any issues specific to driver, woods or irons?

What is your normal ball flight? Draw, fade, straight? Do you align parallell to the target line, left or right?

I try to line up parallel to my target line, but my instructor says that I often line of turned from my intended target line which cause hooks and slices. Normal ball flight with irons would be a slight draw and with the woods a slight fade, but I can manipulate my grip so that I can hit either left to right or right to left. I naturally hit a draw, because of a strong grip.

I would like to have more distance and as for bad iron shots the one that happens the most is missing to the left. My drives either end up in the fairway or in the right rough depending on how bad I fade/slice.

But really the thing that hurts my game the most is my putting, but I rarely practice that so that could be why. I plan to practice putting much more this year, which will hopefully lower my putts per round (usually I'm up around 36-44 putts per round)

However, I'm not really looking for swing changes or fixes, but rather things to try that might help with alignment or choosing an initial aiming point. My instructors know what they are doing and will be able to point out what I'm doing wrong/right and how to fix it, but I haven't seen my normal one in over 8 months.

[Zeph]

That makes sense, because your swing is very good. It's hard to see the impact position on the videos, but two things that can help with distance for irons is hands more forward at impact and more clubhead speed. For the driver it's a lot about optimizing the launch conditions. Spin rate, launch angle etc. And of course ballstriking (smash factor) is important for any club.

I used to struggle with aiming, usually aimed too far right. By using an intermediate target I completely got rid of the problem.

1. Pick your alignment target in the distance on the fairway, green or whatever. Wherever you want to be aligned parallel to
2. Stand directly behind the ball and the target you picked
3. Draw an imaginary line (or use the club shaft) to find an intermediate alignment target a foot or something like that in front of the ball
4. Keep looking at your intermediate target while going around to take your address position
5. Draw an imaginary line from the intermediate target and through your ball. You can also put the club down behind the ball and align the clubface to make the visualisation easier
6. Position your feet and body parallell to the imaginary line you just made
7. Swing away