1/2 swing in warming up

[robinoso]

I've been working on trying to turn my hips better as well as keeping heel down until after impact.  I seem to be able to accomplish this with 1/2 swings and am completely amazed on what I feel at impact and that my ball goes nearly as far as my full swings.  When I start to increase to 3/4 and full shots, I seem to get much different results while working to keep heel down.  I tend to catch it thin or almost top it.  I can't seem to figure out if somewhere on my downswing I'm changing my plane or if I'm shifting weight funny.  I know you can't dissect it without a new video, but curious if anyone experienced similar issues to this and what I can look for.  Any help is appreciated.

[rustyredcab]

I'll bet your "1/2 swing" is longer than you feel. When I watch my short feeling swings on video, they are nearly always what I think of as a full swing.

If your short swings are indeed short, what you are experiencing is the joy of hitting the sweet spot. Hitting the sweet spot will result in more distance than a hard-full swing.

As for the heal, you are likely doing something bad with weight shifting when you add that extra 1/4 to 1/2 feeling to your swing.

My advice, swing with what feels like your 1/2 swing. Add "length" to the swing by increasing wrist cock and shoulder turn instead of arms up and around. It may still feel very short and that's good.

[robinoso]

Thanks for the tip.  I'll give it a go.

[Missouri Swede]

I haven't played much this year, and I've started to work on getting a swing back in the last few weeks.

One thought or "feel" that has helped me was thinking of my "full swing" as increasing the length of my follow-through, and keeping my backswing shorter, as described above. It had immediate positive results, especially in my long irons. (In other words, the difference between my 80% shot and my 100% shot is felt as though being only in my followthrough. Sorry, no video to prove me right/wrong.)

I've never had my instructor mention this or seen/heard it before, but I'm not creative enough to believe that I'm the first one to think this. Anyone else think/hear/use this idea?