Baseball Swing.

[MbolicGolf]

So, after a couple weeks of awesome improvement in my swing the inevitable happened, it completely fell apart.  my ability to strike the ball went south for the winter and is probably helping someone else in a warmer climate. So with frustration building up I decided that I was just going to take my frustration out on the ball and took my three wood and swung it in a manner remenicent of a baseball bat. Then it happens I started hiting the center of the face every time with zero effort and hit the ball 210-220 with few miss hits. I tried this with my 5i, I was hitting the ball thing but in the same spot every time for 185 zero effort.

The first thing I heard when I took this game up is that the golf swing is not a baseball swing, the second thing I heard was that it is like a baseball swing. So my question is, How do I move this further to more solid contact? I don't have video yet, so I can't post one yet but if anyone has some general thoughts regarding this I would be very curious to hear your comment and advice.

Thanks

Carl

[MbolicGolf]

In addition I want to re itterate that It felt swinging baseball bat. I didn't actually do a bas ball swing. Adress and backswing were the same as my prior swing.

[Pope33]

There are a lot of similarities between the two, so I don't think your findings are rare. My guess is that you were so angry and not even thinking about golf so you made a stress free swing. You probably released all the tension you have in your normal swing and just wanted to hit the crap out of the ball.

Stick with it, but remember how your mind feels when you make this swing, and not just what your body does.

Good Luck

[mdl]

Right on from Pope.

I've had many times during frustrating periods where I got so fed up at a range session that I just tee up a ball, drop my front foot back power fade style, and hit it like I'm swinging for the fences on a low fastball out over the plate.  Many of those times I've ended up hitting my best 3 or 4 balls of the day, crushing it right down the middle straight or with a baby fade.  Sometimes it's in your head, and forgetting everything clears some space to allow you to actually hit the ball.

Pretending it's a baseball and just gripping and ripping isn't the best long term solution though.  It's very often said, but still true, that when you're having this kind of slump the best thing to do is SLOW DOWN.  As another ex-baseball player, one of the hardest habits from baseball for me to break has been the instinct to explode out of the backswing, instead of coming out smooth with steadily building pressure and swing speed, and keeping rhythm and tempo.

Take a few range sessions where you not only take a smooth back swing, but a very slow, smooth down swing too, with no hitch or explosion out of the top. I'll find it's much easier to feel what's really going wrong when the inconsistencies brought on by the sudden hitch/explosion at the top are tempered.  Oftentimes it's exactly those inconsistencies that are causing the problems, and if I swing with building pressure and good tempo instead of an explosion from the top of the back swing the problem that's been frustrating me will go away.  If it doesn't, it's usually easier to feel what's going wrong that way.

[MbolicGolf]

Well, The pressure between the hands gives a great fairway wood shot but Not an Iron shot. I always hit the ball thin with the Irons. I thing making a baseball swing gets my hips to start the action.

[NotFadeAway]

My most effective swing with a driver is what I call a baseball swing, where I set up normally but the takeaway and downswing are all controlled with my right hand.  It is as if I am throwing a ball sidearm.  I hit it dead straight about 220 yards.  My legs are much more involved and I have a better release than my regular swing, which produces a chicken wing after impact.  I have always casted the club from the top, and mdl's insight into exploding from the top describes what happens very well.  My solution is not ideal, but very effective because I am always in the fairway.  Unfortunately, I can not use my baseball swing off the ground, so I have to use a different swing for those shots.  I am going to try mdl's advice to slow way down.

[NotFadeAway]

Here is video of my "baseball swing."

[NotFadeAway]

Face-on view of my baseball swing

[LongballGer]

I like the baseball swing. It´s just that your shoulder turn gets too flat. Try feeling like you have a steep shoulder turn on the way back. With a steeper shoulder turn your swing is $$$.

[MbolicGolf]

Awesome feed back guys thanks. basball swing or skipping the rock with the right hand woks for woods not Irons. I'm still trying to figure out what works for Irons.

[NotFadeAway]

Thanks, I'll try that.  Hope I don't break my driver.

[NotFadeAway]

Two tips from the Golf channel have really helped my iron swing.   I feel like I am trying to get my right thumb back as far as it will go and pointing toward the target on the backswing.  This assures a full backswing and puts me far enough behind the ball to get out of my own way.    I move very slowly on backswing..  Then I pause......, This gives my hips the time to start unwinding.  Then I feel as if my left hand has a dagger in it and I try to stab the ball back-handed.

[MbolicGolf]

  NotFadeAway said:

Originally Posted by NotFadeAway

My most effective swing with a driver is what I call a baseball swing, where I set up normally but the takeaway and downswing are all controlled with my right hand.  It is as if I am throwing a ball sidearm.  I hit it dead straight about 220 yards.  My legs are much more involved and I have a better release than my regular swing, which produces a chicken wing after impact.  I have always casted the club from the top, and mdl's insight into exploding from the top describes what happens very well.  My solution is not ideal, but very effective because I am always in the fairway.  Unfortunately, I can not use my baseball swing off the ground, so I have to use a different swing for those shots.  I am going to try mdl's advice to slow way down.

So I went to hit some balls into the Net and Tried to start the back swing and down swing with the right hand but I swung the Irons like an Axe instead of a pitch and it worked I got some great lag.

[jamo]

Baseball swing? [VIDEO]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMF5NDtuAEU[/VIDEO] :-P Oh, not that kind of baseball swing. :-D

[JetFan1983]

For me, when I negatively refer to a "baseball swing" as it pertains to golf, I'm referring to the way my shoulders are turning, which is far too flat. The swing in baseball works because the ball isn't on the ground when it's normally coming at you. In that sense, it is practical to swing with flatter shoulders. But since the ball is on the ground, the shoulders need to be turning steeper to account for this difference (ignore for a second that the ball is stationary in golf ).

So for me, a bad swing is often referred to as a "baseball swing" because my shoulder turn on the downswing is well above the plane and I have no spine tilt at all. When my trail shoulder turns downward though, I more often than not hit a good shot (assuming I got my weight forward and I can maintain a flat left wrist through impact).

That's the difference...for me anyway.

[NotFadeAway]

Mbolic, swinging an axe is a good analogy.  Creating and maintaining lag is very difficult for me.  In the video, you will notice I don't even cock my wrists, so there is no 90 degree angle to start.

Jetfan, I find that my spine angle and hip rotation are maintained better with my baseball swing.  I have limited flexibility, especially in my left hip and thigh.  It is almost impossible for me to swing properly.

mdl, I hit some balls yesterday as slowly as I could and the results were pretty good in terms of contact.  No video, so hard to know if I delayed the hit better.

[JetFan1983]

  NotFadeAway said:

Originally Posted by NotFadeAway

Jetfan, I find that my spine angle and hip rotation are maintained better with my baseball swing.  I have limited flexibility, especially in my left hip and thigh.  It is almost impossible for me to swing properly.

Our definitions of baseball swing are different I think. Your shoulders rotate more steeply than mine do when I hit my version of a baseball swing. You definitely don't want my version

[MbolicGolf]

Another thing that I found is that if I push my right elbow into my hip, I start the swing with the hips. I don't know if anyone else can lend credence to this. I am headed to the Range today to test it out.