My Swing (vanpooten)

[vanpooten]

You think I'd learn by now after all these videos, but no! Should be fixed now.

[Beachcomber]

I'd like to see your swing on video - where you are only swinging 3/4 of the way.  Not a full swing.  And focus on tempo... Being deliberately slower with your takeaway.

I say this as your back swing and transition (A3 to A4 to A5) looks forced and fast.

Why are you moving around with your hips and legs before you hit the ball?  Are you nervous?  Take a deep breath.... Relax.  And execute the golf shot.  You look like you have ants in your pants.

[mvmac]

Yeah everything is happening at too fast a rate on the backswing.  Get the back swing to feel more gradual.  Picture this guy when you go to  swing.  Not saying to make your swing look like his, but I think it would be a good idea to have his motion "playing" in your head.

To help:

- Start with some pressure towards the toes of your right foot, have that pressure gradually move from the toes to the heel on the backswing.  Again the key word is gradual.  Will help you feel more of a "stretch" in the backswing, especially with your right side.

- Left Hand grip is too weak, too much in the palm.  Get it more in the fingers.

[Beachcomber]

Make sure you pop your collar like Mike too.

[vanpooten]

Originally Posted by Beachcomber

Make sure you pop your collar like Mike too.

Hey it's to prevent sunburn!

[vanpooten]

Thanks for the advice so far, interestingly one of the main things I had worked on with the other guy was to fix my grip (e.g. strengthen it and have it more in the fingers), looks like I have reverted from it.

One of the main things I worked on with evolvr was to keep my bum from going forward on the downswing (side view), crashing into my hands and not leaving them much space. Looking at the side view I think I've really improved on that point.

That tempo really does bother me, and I'll focus on slowing it down. As for the 'ants in the pants' bit, I'm not nervous, I do it before every shot now out of habit. Maybe to feel 'loose' I guess. I'd like to stop that too because it's irritating to look at.

I think if I can work on slowing the tempo and transition I could have a pretty solid swing.

[Beachcomber]

Originally Posted by vanpooten

I think if I can work on slowing the tempo and transition I could have a pretty solid swing.

Agreed.  Work on your tempo and re-post a video.  For folks that have tempo issues like yourself, you may want to do some research on 'Tour Tempo'.  Google it.

[vanpooten]

Here's an update for anyone interested. Each swing is a different one, with some practice swings mixed in. I know there's still some funky things going on, perhaps more than a few. Tempo may look a bit better. The wedges I hit in the beginning were me trying to feel a 3/4 swing with an easy tempo, as you can still see it's still a full swing.

Funky stuff includes but is not limited to my whole hip/leg area moving around before the swing. I pretty much activate the whole swing with my lower body while keeping loose wrists which is why they lag so far behind in the back swing. I'm also not crazy about me coming up off my toes in the driver videos, with my right knee coming forward again from the side view. For the record I think the practice swing with the driver looked much better than the actual swings. If I could stay off my toes longer and keep my knees from coming forward on the side view like in the practice swing I could eliminate a lot of pulls, because it looks like I'm coming over the top in the actual swing (I think this is related to my knees crashing forward based on the practice swing v. full swing, correct me if I'm wrong). Some of the severity may come from the camera angle though.

Today I was just trying to focus on tempo and calming down my 'noodleliness', along with hopefully improving some posture and set up points. A lot can be improved, interested to hear what y'all think is the most important thing.

[Beachcomber]

Much better on the tempo.  I can see you have spent time working on the swing... Things are definitely going in the right direction (hat tip).  I looks like you are underplane on the back swing.  Are you still using Evolvr?  What do they have you working on given the updated swing?

To me - it looks like you could have more extension with your chest on the backswing - extending the hands and arms a little higher so at A4 - your left arm is aligned with your shoulder line.

[vanpooten]

Thanks Beach.. I stopped using evolvr in August I think. Used a local instructor after that for a bit who I think screwed me up more than anything. Back swing plane was never something we talked about with evolvr, or seemed to be a concern. I personally don't see an issue with it, it's more of a one plane swing, and since my shoulders turn on a fairly inclined plane (and under my chin), I don't think it's a problem.

[vanpooten]

I've been Playing Golf for: 3 1/2 years

My current handicap index or average score is: 80's

My typical ball flight is: straight/draw with irons, straight/fade with driver

The shot I hate or the "miss" I'm trying to reduce/eliminate is: pull/pull hook/pull slice (so sick of hitting pulls!!)

Thought I'd use the template for the most recent swing. I posted some practice swings to try and show what I'm feeling, and to see if that's the direction I should be headed. Again it may be the camera angle but it really looks like I'm coming across the ball at impact, and am over plane coming into it. The practice swings don't have that issue I think, so I'm really trying to feel the practice swing in the real one.

What is my biggest issue at the moment? I see my head dropping down almost instantly on the back swing and the outside in swing coming down as two big things; is there something big I'm missing that is the root of many of my problems?

Thanks for any advice.

[mvmac]

Videos work fine for me.  I'd just like to see you do two things

Feel like the backswing takes twice as long and this:

Another good visual to go with it

[clueless]

Whew you made 10 swings inside of 45 seconds,but it looks pretty good,except for your left hip leading the back swing.There is no way you can wind up the spring between your lower and upper body.You want to keep those hips stationary until they are pulled by your turn.A simple drill that works good is keeping the space between your at address as long as you can on the back swing,sometimes bowing them out like a cowboy helps.

[vanpooten]

Originally Posted by mvmac

Videos work fine for me.  I'd just like to see you do two things

Feel like the backswing takes twice as long and this:

Another good visual to go with it

Thanks Mike. Could you explain to me what the purpose of these two things would be for (just genuinely curious and want more information)?

Originally Posted by clueless

Whew you made 10 swings inside of 45 seconds,but it looks pretty good,except for your left hip leading the back swing.There is no way you can wind up the spring between your lower and upper body.You want to keep those hips stationary until they are pulled by your turn.A simple drill that works good is keeping the space between your at address as long as you can on the back swing,sometimes bowing them out like a cowboy helps.

Not sure if your first sentence is joking or not, the video's clearly edited. I appreciate your input, however, I don't think the whole 'spring'/'coil' mantra is too popular here. I do agree my seqeuncing is out of whack though.

[mvmac]

Originally Posted by vanpooten

Thanks Mike. Could you explain to me what the purpose of these two things would be for (just genuinely curious and want more information)?

You said you hate hitting pulls.  So we know face is aimed left at impact and the path for two out of three of your misses is also left.  The arms almost throw the arms back on the back swing, arms lift and everything gets too long.  The wrist angles start to release too soon but you compensate by pulling everything across the ball in order to hit it solid.  So by changing the path, more pressure towards the toes of your left foot on the downswing and then extending (which keeps the path outward) we can lessen the need to rotate the face so far to the left.  Be able to hit the ball higher and farther.  Also a "slower" backswing might help shorten things up so you can improve the sequencing, throw the club head out and spin the left foot out.  Can't extend the legs, raise the belt, raise the handle from there.  Check out the pic below, notice you'll swing down and to the left from there.

[vanpooten]

Originally Posted by mvmac

You said you hate hitting pulls.  So we know face is aimed left at impact and the path for two out of three of your misses is also left.  The arms almost throw the arms back on the back swing, arms lift and everything gets too long.  The wrist angles start to release too soon but you compensate by pulling everything across the ball in order to hit it solid.  So by changing the path, more pressure towards the toes of your left foot on the downswing and then extending (which keeps the path outward) we can lessen the need to rotate the face so far to the left.  Be able to hit the ball higher and farther.  Also a "slower" backswing might help shorten things up so you can improve the sequencing, throw the club head out and spin the left foot out.  Can't extend the legs, raise the belt, raise the handle from there.  Check out the pic below, notice you'll swing down and to the left from there.

Ok thanks that's what I was looking for. I will work on the pieces and post and update sometime.

[vanpooten]

So Mike, I'm having trouble properly feeling pressure more towards my toes. Would a good drill be to stick a golf ball under my left heel and swing like that, or is there something better?

[mvmac]

Originally Posted by vanpooten

So Mike, I'm having trouble properly feeling pressure more towards my toes. Would a good drill be to stick a golf ball under my left heel and swing like that, or is there something better?

Instead of a ball you could put a tee under your foot (towards the toes), might hurt yourself with a ball.  Feel like you're crushing the tee.  Part of it is that you just have to do slow practice swings.  Not saying you have to do this particular drill (below) but should be making practice swings at this speed to create better awareness.