My Swing (Unforgiven93)

[Unforgiven93]

Hey guys,

I'm a high school golfer looking for some help.  I have a lot of trouble hitting the ball high, especially with my driver and 3-6 irons.  I tried all sorts of things at the beginning of the season (increased spine tilt, twisting around the spine instead of sliding, more wristy swing, staying behind the ball, playing it further forward in my stance) but eventually I gave up and just played the low shot all through this last season.  I'm looking for some things to try to hit the ball higher.   I'm going to the range soon and I just want a few more ideas.  My swing speed is 115-118 usually, here it is.  These two videos were taken off my phone, sorry about the quality.  Oh, and my driver is a TaylorMade Super Tri TP 10.5 degree.  It was custom fit for me and the biggest complaint people have with it is that they hit the ball too high, which is a bit frustrating for me since I can't get it over ~9 degrees off the ground.

[senorchipotle]

you're delofting your driver by moving your whole body forward in your downswing. your shoulder is even with the ball at address, but at impact is well ahead of it, so your swing arc is moved forward and your club is still traveling down at impact like an iron. you've got a good looking swing, just make sure to keep your upper body from moving forward in the downswing.

[Unforgiven93]

Alright, so try to return my left shoulder to essentially the same spot that is was at address when I hit the ball?  I'm going to the range tomorrow, I'll try it and see what happens.  Do you think this could also be causing the same issue with my irons?  I played with one of the best golfers in the area in my regional tournament and I noticed that he hit down on the ball with his irons just as much as I did, if not more, but his ball flew significantly higher than mine.  Thanks for the response.

[senorchipotle]

well, i don't like to think of it in terms of hitting down because imho that promotes a rushed, out of sequence downswing, but since you're a high level golfer that's ok.

as far as your irons go, it will be the same thing. if you want your irons to go higher, lean your torso to the right, a la phil mickelson. his body position is why he hits it so high, and he also "hangs back" with his upper body, and why he never does well in the british open. your body position is more like a y.e. yang, who hits the ball low, and consequently hits hybrids which get the ball up in the air.

ok... forget about the useless commentary from peter kostis... look at phil's upper body at address and note it is tilted back. also note that on his downswing his head remains behind the ball so the bottom of his arc is only a few inches in front of the ball just below his right peck.

you move considerably forward with the upper body in golf terms, so the bottom of your swing will be even further past the ball. if you want to hit it higher, keep that head steady and let the lower body move forward, but keep the head behind the ball.

[Unforgiven93]

Okay, so I went to the range today.  I didn't get to video any of the swings because I didn't have anyone to go with me, but I think that really helped.  The ball still wasn't going super high, but it was definitely higher.  I hit some of the sweetest, best feeling shots that I have in a long time.  With my driver, since I hit the ball so low, and have a relatively high swing speed, I had been hitting that weird low ball that would actually rise because of backspin.  It absolutely killed my distance, and that didn't happen today.  If I can, I'll get someone to record my swings next time I go.  Thanks for the help.  See anything else in my swing?

[senorchipotle]

Quote:

See anything else in my swing?

dude, you've got a beautiful swing. great action, rhythm, sequence, lateral hip movement. i wouldn't dare try to comment on anything else other than what i have because 1) you've got a better swing that i do(slightly jealous) ;) and 2. i wouldn't want to be responsible for anything going awry.

are you planning  on playing in college? as a low single digit handicap you should be able to get some good looks and most likely a scholarship from a small d-1

[Flounder]

Try hitting some balls with a large plastic trash can set outside your left foot. (against your foot and between your left foot and your target)

Do not make contact with the can when you swing.

This will induce proper rotation.

You CAN thank me later. (pun intended)

[senorchipotle]

please don't do this^^^^.... your lower body NEEDS to move left to hit a good shot, just as your upper body NEEDS to hang back to get the ball up in the air. your body rotates exactly as it needs to do through the ball, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. trying to restrict your hip slide in the downswing is the fastest way to start hitting pulls

[Unforgiven93]

Quote:

dude, you've got a beautiful swing. great action, rhythm, sequence, lateral hip movement. i wouldn't dare try to comment on anything else other than what i have because 1) you've got a better swing that i do(slightly jealous) ;) and 2. i wouldn't want to be responsible for anything going awry.

are you planning  on playing in college? as a low single digit handicap you should be able to get some good looks and most likely a scholarship from a small d-1

Well thanks :).. As far as college golf goes, I would love to play.  I only really started playing when I got to high school (I had messed with it before high school, but probably only really played 5 or 6 times) and I didn't play outside of season very much until last summer.  I've only taken 4 or 5 lessons ever, but my Dad has been coaching me for the last 3 years.  As of right now, going into my senior year, I don't think I'll be good enough to play D1, but I could play D2 or D3 pretty easily I think, it's just whether or not I want to.  I just don't have the consistency that these other kids do that have been taking lessons and playing since they were 3.  It's incredibly frustrating for me because I don't see any reason why I'm not as good.  I think if I had 1 or 2 more years I could get to where I need to be to play D1, maybe even a big D1 school, but colleges don't really give a flying crap about potential, they just want scores. We'll see what happens though, maybe I'll have an amazing last year.

[Flounder]

Originally Posted by senorchipotle

please don't do this^^^^.... your lower body NEEDS to move left to hit a good shot, just as your upper body NEEDS to hang back to get the ball up in the air. your body rotates exactly as it needs to do through the ball, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. trying to restrict your hip slide in the downswing is the fastest way to start hitting pulls

The can is outside of the foot. It does not touch the hip, unless your hip moves outside of your foot.

[Unforgiven93]

New swings! Slow mo!.. for some reason when I uploaded the video to youtube it stretched it to widescreen, oh well. So, looking at my shoulders, I'm still sliding left, but not as much.  I'm also noticing a few other things compared to Tiger's old swing or Rory's current swing, but I'll wait to see what you all think.

[hokiebound]

One thing I could tell you is that at the top of your swing, your club face is too closed. Maybe someone with more experience could expand on that.

[Unforgiven93]

That's interesting, I hadn't noticed that.  Do you think it's just the fact that I have a strong grip at address with my left hand?  It looks like I'm keeping my left wrist flat at the top, so that seems like all it could be to me.

[senorchipotle]

looking good! I like the way you're hanging back more with the upper body. Are they flying higher? I'm actually working on that too at the moment. You know you're doing it right when your back is sore more in the middle instead of your lower back... lol. there are some other things with your backswing i see as far as shoulder plane goes, etc.  but you know what, they don't really matter so i don't feel comfortable even mentioning them. what does matter is your downswing, and you get into a good position with good rhythm and strike it solidly.

[Unforgiven93]

It definitely is going higher.  I just played 18 on one of the most difficult courses near where I live, I had never played it before.  I shot 81, but the score didn't really concern me since I had just changed my swing, and I had never played it before.  I was hitting the ball really sweet throughout the round, just didn't quite know where it was going yet.  I've gone to the driving range a few times and I'm starting to get the hang of it.  I have a tournament this Tuesday, we'll see how it goes.

[senorchipotle]

one thing about trying to adjust your body to hit higher is the tendency to come in under plane, so fyi. make sure you clear that left hip and don't push your lower body out at the ball.

[Unforgiven93]

So, I have the results from my tournament yesterday.  I tied for third with a 76 (par 71).  My putting was pretty bad, but everything else was really good.  On the front 9 I went 7/7 fairways and 8/9 greens with 18 putts for a 37, on the back I went 4/6 fairways only hit two greens, but I scrambled reasonably well (15 putts) and still shot 39.  I hit the ball REALLY well, especially on the front.  I had two three putts and I missed a 3 foot putt for birdie, and the winner shot 74.  So basically, I should've won.  Oh well, next time. :)

[senorchipotle]

hey sounds good, man. congrats! glad to hear i didn't mess you up too bad. ;)