My Swing (MiniBlueDragon)

[freedrop]

iacas....my understanding is the Hogan right ankle/foot was to set up the right knee brace which in turn set up lower body resistance to the upper body turn creating torque .

[iacas]

iacas....my understanding is the Hogan right ankle/foot was to set up the right knee brace which in turn set up lower body resistance to the upper body turn creating torque .

Your understanding is wrong, as is your belief that the X-Factor still exists and is used. Most PGA Tour pros turn their hips a good amount.

The backswing adds forces to the right foot, but they're relatively stable forces that lack torque and thus don't require much traction.

You also continue to use vague terms. Sign of someone who doesn't know what he's actually saying, likely because  he's just parroting someone else.

[MiniBlueDragon]

Thanks guys; I'll take a look at the left heel idea as it all makes sense. If the weight shifts to the left heel the hips will open more which exactly what I'm looking for at the moment.

Incidentally I don't feel like I push or pull with my feet; I feel like I just "move" my center of gravity, even though that makes no sense.

The best description I can think of is like walking; I don't 'feel' like I'm pushing off with the rear foot, nor pulling with the front foot, it's the movement of weight that propels me.

[iacas]

Thanks guys; I'll take a look at the left heel idea as it all makes sense. If the weight shifts to the left heel the hips will open more which exactly what I'm looking for at the moment.

Incidentally I don't feel like I push or pull with my feet; I feel like I just "move" my center of gravity, even though that makes no sense.

The best description I can think of is like walking; I don't 'feel' like I'm pushing off with the rear foot, nor pulling with the front foot, it's the movement of weight that propels me.

Studies have shown that you use your core to move your hips forward. Your trail leg does very, very little on the downswing.

The act of walking is simply catching yourself from falling, repeatedly. :)

[MiniBlueDragon]

Pleh; there's still something wrong with my pivot. Can't seem to hold onto that lag for long enough:

And here are my MTRx stats:

Getting the hips open more at impact now which is a start but still needs more work.
Acceleration seems excellent and so does Peak Time when compared to "pro" scores (the blue towers in the image).

Someone suggested trying to limit my hip turn more based on those numbers.

[MiniBlueDragon]

Well I've been working hard on getting the left heel down more but the pivot I think(?) is still stalling, hence the chicken wing.

This was taken this morning (local par 3 9 hole practice course in case anyone thinks I normally golf in trainers, t-shirt and trackies ;) ):

Swing felt solid, nice powerful flight and shot shape was a push which is my "bad" shot at the moment. Good shot is a lovely soft draw.

Over all the swing feels lovely at the moment except for the inconsistency and that feels like it's related to those hips not being open at impact and the resulting pivot problem.

[MiniBlueDragon]

Right; now that spring is officially here no more lessons or swing changes for me unless the wheels come off.

Going to stick to what I have currently and just play golf.

[MiniBlueDragon]

Wow; can't believe 9 months have flown past. Time for some video updates.

Still struggling to get my shoulders and hips open more at impact and I think my tippy-toe thing is a compensation for lack of balance. Work in progress and plenty to fix over the winter. Swing feels better than it ever has though!

Pressure plate analysis a few days ago showed a 50/50 setup, 70% rear foot pressure toward the top of the backswing and then a massive 94% front foot at impact which I'm thrilled with!

[Ernest Jones]

Long time, no see! Welcome back Kotter.

[mvmac]

Welcome back @MiniBlueDragon !

[MiniBlueDragon]

hah; cheers guys. :)

[MiniBlueDragon]

And full speed versions for completion's sake. ;)

[iacas]

Still struggling to get my shoulders and hips open more at impact and I think my tippy-toe thing is a compensation for lack of balance. Work in progress and plenty to fix over the winter. Swing feels better than it ever has though!

Here's a tale in a series of four pictures:

1. Wrist angle not being more toward the green line (left) leads to a prolonged period wherein you don't hinge/cock the wrists or bend the right arm during the backswing. That's a very late "A2".

Right elbow has to flex a bunch, goes behind the shirt seam (left). Head has translated back a little, so you go into too much extension, exaggerated a bit with the green lines on the right. Start of process of head moving forward.

3. Head has gone forward, so everything from here on out is an attempt to do two things: a) get the right elbow out from behind you, and b) shallow the club. You can see one of the ways of shallowing on the right: throwing out the lag prematurely.

4. More attempted shallowing. The right arm has thrust so much you've barely returned to your axis tilt at setup. Your 94% forward at impact is done "incorrectly" because your URC has gone forward quite a bit. This is all a result of the location of the right elbow and the extension you add at the top of your backswing.

Here's an example:

In other words, here's what I'd work on:

• Bend the right elbow sooner.
• Keep it in front of your chest.
• Feel that your back stays rounded from 3-4.

In a picture:

P.S. Turn your feet out please. Particularly your left foot.

[mvmac]

In other words, here's what I'd work on:

Bend the right elbow sooner.

Keep it in front of your chest.

Feel that your back stays rounded from 3-4.

In a picture:

P.S. Turn your feet out please. Particularly your left foot.

Really good post Erik, agree with what the priority list.

@MiniBlueDragon I would just add that it will feel "all right arm" from A1-2 and "all pivot" from A2-4. Getting the handle down a little at A1 will help the move from 1-2. Feel free to post a few swings where you're trying to make the picture look like Erik above. Soft right arm and soft upper back.

[MiniBlueDragon]

Every single thing you guys have said makes perfect sense, thanks guys! :)

The very late A2 was my deliberate attempt at a more Hogan-esque takeaway and to a small extent it felt as though it helped with a float-loading feeling at the top. I can completely see how such a late A2 would lead to the right elbow folding backward instead of inward. Clearly the easiest option as you've said is a quicker folding of the right elbow and keeping it in front more so I'll definitely take a look at the range.

The extension at A4 I actually never noticed at all; I just assumed my natural excessive lumbar curve was showing up as it does from all the other angles. Whoops! Definitely something I'll take a look at too and see if I can figure out a way of keeping it nice and soft.

Throwing the lag away is something I've noticed for a long, long time but it's only ever occured in real swings. My practice swings look excellent and my right elbow is lovely and tucked so I just put it down to some type of error in translating practice to real but never got to the bottom of why. I did notice though that my better strikes come when I feel like I'm pausing at the top to give myself time to get back to the ball and when I shove my entire body weight forward hard. That could well be the reason for the head movement forward.

Not sure what URC is?

The squarer feet was a change last week. Previously I'd have the right foot slightly flared and the left flared to a good 35 - 40 degrees a-la Hogan but I found I had to much hip rotation on the backswing according to Golf mTRX so I deliberately limited the ability to turn back so far with the hips. The front foot also turned inward but that was to stop myself from swinging out on the toes so much; I found that a more closed front foot forced my weight into the left heel more. What was the reasoning for the foot flaring please @iacas ?

Thanks also for the feeling phrases @mvmac ; much appreciated. :)

[iacas]

Not sure what URC is?

Upper Rotational Center. Midway between your shoulders, basically.

The squarer feet was a change last week. Previously I'd have the right foot slightly flared and the left flared to a good 35 - 40 degrees a-la Hogan but I found I had to much hip rotation on the backswing according to Golf mTRX so I deliberately limited the ability to turn back so far with the hips. The front foot also turned inward but that was to stop myself from swinging out on the toes so much; I found that a more closed front foot forced my weight into the left heel more. What was the reasoning for the foot flaring please @iacas ?

It helps you turn on the follow through. You're limiting your ability to do so with the foot squared.

[MiniBlueDragon]

Excellent, thanks @iacas se thoughts a go at the next practice session. :)

[MiniBlueDragon]

Well how's that for a non-eventful month? 2 weeks of not being able to get to the range due to work craziness and a 3 months old firstborn at home, then last week I got to the range but left my swing at home! lol

Hit the range today though and with no changes to my swing I was much improved for 100 balls or so; generally a nice powerful draw and happy with it.

For the next 50 balls I tried the flared feet and felt more balanced at the finish with the left foot more flared but flaring the right encouraged too much hip rotation for me and I felt like I didn't have time to rotate back to the ball quick enough after my slide. I'm going to need to think about my alignment now too if the front foot is flared more as I'm used to using my toe alignment and it looks like I have an open stance when in reality it's fine across the heels.

Sticking with the flared front foot but putting the rear foot back to a few degrees flared instead I worked on "all right arm A1-2 followed by all pivot A2-4" and it felt far more in control than normal. Also felt like I didn't need to shunt my weight forward quite so dramatically to get back to the ball. The end result on shots however was as consistent as a mid-twenties capper. 20 yards shorter on all clubs, shanks, slices and I even hit the side netting between bays once. Very frustrating!

Alas no video to show for today but I'll try and take the tripod next time out.

So to summarise for me I think the front foot flared more is good as long as I learn my alignments a little better. Rear foot I think is better as it is. Right elbow move feels more controllable but I need to tweak my impact alignments a bit to get the club face closed quicker as I think that's the cause of the shanks and slices.