My Swing (keeps21)

[keeps21]

Hi guys

Just took up golf (again) and looking for some swing critique.

I've only ever played a few rounds and really want to get into it properly but I'm a bit hesitant on taking my game out on to the course until I've got a decent enough swing to not embarrass myself (or hit someone three fairways to the right off the tee box).

My 9 iron through wedges are pretty solid, usually straight - with the occasional fade.

Anything longer than a 9 iron gets pushed right and my driver is a combination of pushes, slices, pulls and hooks.

Surprisingly my 5 wood (off the tee) is usually fairly straight or starts right with a slight draw.

I know I usually come from inside out, get slightly flat on the backswing and that my head bobs up at the end of the backswing. I also believe that I slide my hips through to the left too much which contributes to the push.

Possibly too much knee bend and weight too far back at address too.

Anything else?

Here's my swing at normal speed, followed by a slow motion , followed by a normal speed swing once more.

Thanks!

[muggs]

One thing I noticed that is causing that slice/push is the fact that the clubface is open at the top of your backswing. You're cupping your left wrist, which is causing the clubface to point at the ground (open position). That's why you're coming through open and pushing, fading and slicing. Correcting that can go along way in fixing your push/fade/slice. A drill you can use is to put a golf glove on your left hand and secure an old credit card or playing card on the top of your wrist (secure it in the velco of the glove). You shouldn't feel this card in your backswing at all if you're not cupping your wrist.

[keeps21]

Thanks Muggs, I'll keep that in mind!

[keeps21]

Well, I found a swing thought that helped me hit my driver straight(er) today although the distance wasn't great.

That thought was to get my hands high at the top of the back swing as I have a tendency to keep them fairly low. When I say low I mean as in below head height. Studying a few pros they all have their hands level with the top of their head at the top of the back swing.

Perhaps I'm not even raising my hands at all but just pausing at the top...

I guess what this has done for me was to allow me to fully complete the back swing - rather than swinging too early resulting in a push or big slice - would that make sense?

[senorchipotle]

video is no longer posted. your avatar is super duper creepy, btw.

[keeps21]

Fixed the broken video link.

[keeps21]

Here's some videos from tonight. I'm hitting a choked down 7 iron (choked down because the ball is an inch or two above my feet on the launchpad)

Down the line

Front on

Apologies for the poor quality...

I now know why I'm hitting a lot of fat / thin shots - I'm standing way up at the top of my back swing.

So my faults are:

• Taking the club away far too much to the inside
• Picking the club up too early.
• Taking it away with the arms rather than in one piece.
• Hands too deep half way back.
• Standing up / coming out of my stance at the top of the back swing
• Club across the line at the top.
• Left arm collapses slightly

Anyone have anything else to add?

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

[keeps21]

Any tips on maintaining spine angle on the backswing? Is it down to bad posture - not being able to turn under my chin?

[bwdial]

Originally Posted by keeps21

Any tips on maintaining spine angle on the backswing? Is it down to bad posture - not being able to turn under my chin?

I find that when I 'point' at the ground with my left shoulder, my head stays still and my spine inclination to the ground remains consistent.

[keeps21]

Originally Posted by bwdial

I find that when I 'point' at the ground with my left shoulder, my head stays still and my spine inclination to the ground remains consistent.

Thank, I'll try to keep that in mind.

[Zeph]

Your change in inclination to the ground is caused by a too flat rotation. Your posture looks a bit too upright, which makes you turn flatter. Here are two threads that targets these two specific issues. http://thesandtrap.com/t/39667/driveway-sticks-and-shoulder-pitch http://thesandtrap.com/t/56069/good-golf-posture

[keeps21]

Originally Posted by Zeph

Your change in inclination to the ground is caused by a too flat rotation. Your posture looks a bit too upright, which makes you turn flatter.

Here are two threads that targets these two specific issues.

http://thesandtrap.com/t/39667/driveway-sticks-and-shoulder-pitch

http://thesandtrap.com/t/56069/good-golf-posture

Thanks Zeph.

[keeps21]

I've been working on a steeper shoulder turn and maintaining my spine angle / inclination to the ground in the backswing. I look a little better in this video compared to the earlier videos.

However, I'm losing spine angle / inclination on the downswing.

I'm planning on sorting the backswing out before fixing the problems with my downswing - but any advice on the downswing wouldn't go amiss.

Here's today's video.

[keeps21]

I know the video quality is poor so It's difficult to really see but does my grip look a little strong?

Thanks in advance.

[keeps21]

Another swing from tonight... much much happier with this one! Still getting across the line at the top and need to lift my chin a little to allow me to turn my shoulders a little more freely.  A little flat when halfway back.

But I'm pretty happy with the plane and shoulder turn.

Any comments?

Would you say I'm more 1 plane than  2 plane or vice versa?

I think it'd help me to stick to whichever i'm closest too and work on that.

[Titleist72]

Yeah that looks a lot better..  Much better shoulder turn and overall rotation on your backswing.

You still look a little active in your arms and hands at takeaway.  Try initiating the takeaway keeping the club head in front of your chest. I think it would help you set the club which leads to your transition. Speaking of transition, your spine angle gets thrown off a little at the start of the downswing.

That video is night and day compared to the other one.. Swing really looks good

[keeps21]

Originally Posted by Titleist72

Yeah that looks a lot better..  Much better shoulder turn and overall rotation on your backswing.

You still look a little active in your arms and hands at takeaway.  Try initiating the takeaway keeping the club head in front of your chest. I think it would help you set the club which leads to your transition. Speaking of transition, your spine angle gets thrown off a little at the start of the downswing.

That video is night and day compared to the other one.. Swing really looks good

Thanks.

I know I'm still taking the club away a little too much inside which is something I'm working on - it should help prevent the hooks I've been hitting and help prevent me from getting across the line at the top.

I was planning on getting the backswing as close to as 100% correct as possible before starting on the transition and downswing - getting it right step by step.

However, are there any tips for maintaining spine angle in transition - can you see what I'm doing that's causing me to shift away from the correct inclination to the ground?

[Titleist72]

It looks like your allowing the club head to leave "contact" with your body at the top.  Its a lot better than the previous video, when you were in maroon.

Compare those two swings and maybe you'll see what Im talking about...

Maybe the club getting extended that far is throwing you off balance thus throwing off your spine angle