My Swing (Chris Stewart)

[Chris Stewart]

I managed to get my video camera on the range this afternoon. I got some views from the side, which is slightly off center but hopefully enough for some feedback, and I tried two sets of video from behind. The first set, which is added to the end of this video didn't work out because I couldn't get enough distance with the camera to get all of me in the shot. I included it anyway, just because. The second set, which is as good of quality as the first part from the side, didn't actually record because I must have forgotten to hit record when I walked away from the camera. Yeah, I couldn't believe it either. I learned that capturing video without some assistance for lining up, and making sure it's actually recording, can be a little difficult. :~( Anyway, hopefully what I did capture is enough to get some sense of my swing. I didn't have a very good trip to the range. I think I have a little too much thought going on when I was swinging, as I've been reading a lot of tips the last week or so. It is amazing how much you learn about your swing by simply watching it. It's not quite what you perceive it to be. I knew I didn't have a full backswing, but I didn't realize it was as short as it is in the video. Definitely one area to work on and I'm sure I'll hear many more. So, have at it... [VIDEO]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJi7a97c8DA[/VIDEO]

[Slappy]

Is that from windy hill? The range there is kinda weird with the way it slopes down and to the right. I

I dont have alot to add to the swing, sorry. Im struggling with mine too.

[Chris Stewart]

Yeah, that's Windy Hill. Small world! Today was the first time I hit from their grass, and it was pretty bad. Will probably stick to the mats there. The sun was so bright today I couldn't even see where my shots were going.

[vanpooten]

I'm definitely no expert and I'll let the pros weigh in on this but what I notice right off the bat is that your swing is 'all arms', and you hang back on your right side on the downswing and follow through.

[QuazerSKITS]

For filming the DTL view read this thread: http://thesandtrap.com/t/54050/importance-of-camera-position-in-golf-swing-video-analysis

[Mordan]

I'd suggest you start working your way towards the first of the keys in the new "Five Simple Keys" system that Golf Evolution are introducing, which is stready head. http://thesandtrap.com/t/55426/introducing-five-simple-keys

If you look at your swings, you move your head backwards in your backswing, and by up to a full head's width too. You should have very little lateral head movement in either your backswing or your downswing.

[Chris Stewart]

For filming the DTL view read this thread: [URL=http://thesandtrap.com/t/54050/importance-of-camera-position-in-golf-swing-video-analysis]http://thesandtrap.com/t/54050/importance-of-camera-position-in-golf-swing-video-analysis[/URL]

Thanks for the link. I knew the video ended up not being good, but when I got home it was what I had, so I figured I'd post it regardless. I'll make a better one in the coming days.

[Chris Stewart]

I'd suggest you start working your way towards the first of the keys in the new "Five Simple Keys" system that Golf Evolution are introducing, which is stready head. [URL=http://thesandtrap.com/t/55426/introducing-five-simple-keys]http://thesandtrap.com/t/55426/introducing-five-simple-keys[/URL] If you look at your swings, you move your head backwards in your backswing, and by up to a full head's width too. You should have very little lateral head movement in either your backswing or your downswing.

Great tip and link, thank you.

[Chris Stewart]

I hit the range today at lunch to focus on some of the things from 5SK. Mostly focusing on a full backswing, to where I could see the club head to my left, not moving my head, and getting my weight up on my front foot at impact. It definitely felt a little odd, especially not moving my head and trying to get weight going forward, but I guess that means it was different. I was hitting the ball more consistently today with all of my clubs (I focused on 7i, 9i, and 1w). I also swung my 5w from the deck and man, I can really nail that thing. I don't know what it is, but I've always been good with the 3w and 5w. I didn't swing the 5w much, but it did get a few swings today. I was still having some issues with fading the driver (I wouldn't really call it a slice). Trying to slow my swing down when I noticed that happening, it looked like my club head was pointed outward at the point of impact. Could that be my hand positioning or more likely the swing motion itself? I wasn't having this problem on any of my other clubs, everything else was very straight today, so I'm assuming it wasn't my grip. Certainly another, properly shot, video would offer evidence but I won't have another until next week. Right now I'm focusing on 5SK, as that seems to make a lot of sense to me. Trying to get on the range every day to practice, even if for just 20 minutes. The two simple things of head movement and weight forward seem like enough to get me going in the right direction.

[Mordan]

Right now I'm focusing on 5SK, as that seems to make a lot of sense to me. Trying to get on the range every day to practice, even if for just 20 minutes. The two simple things of head movement and weight forward seem like enough to get me going in the right direction.

Steady head and weight forward sound simple, and it's true that they are easy to understand but they're things that even good players are constantly working on. So don't get discouraged if your progress is patchy. But make good progress on those points and do some work on your short game and putting and you're well on the way to consistently breaking 90.

[Tomboys]

This is great stuff.  Yes, keeping the head steady is very important.  For the time being, work on keeping your head steady with a proper forward hip slide.  It'll take a time to do those things "naturally", so don't be discouraged.  One other area that I noticed from the video is that your back hip is sliding backwards on the takeaway.  Make sure it doesn't do this.  If it does, then it makes it harder to get the proper amount of weight onto you front foot on the downswing.

On another thread, I said that I started playing golf in an era where video wasn't common.  So, we were taught to use mirrors.  In my case, I used a mirror in my garage and the reflection from my sliding glass door in the backyard.  Now that I have a better understanding of the swing, I put a few pieces of tape on the sliding glass door to mark the location of my head and both my hips at address.  From there, I take some full swings at a reduced speed.  I check to ensure that my head stays steady; my back hip doesn't slide backwards on the backswing; and my hips slide forward sufficiently on the downswing.  I do this "drill" to help my feel match my actual.  It's a little crude because you have to tilt your head up slightly to see your reflection and you can't really hit golf balls--even though I have hit plastic practice ones now and then, and you can't get a DTL view of your swing.  But, overall, the feedback is more immediate and at this point, every little bit of visual feedback you can get tends to be helpful.

[Chris Stewart]

Steady head and weight forward sound simple, and it's true that they are easy to understand but they're things that even good players are constantly working on. So don't get discouraged if your progress is patchy. But make good progress on those points and do some work on your short game and putting and you're well on the way to consistently breaking 90.

I didn't mean to use simple as to trivialize their difficulty, more so that they're easier to digest mentally. Thanks for the feedback and positive encouragement, they're much appreciated.

[Chris Stewart]

This is great stuff.  Yes, keeping the head steady is very important.  For the time being, work on keeping your head steady with a proper forward hip slide.  It'll take a time to do those things "naturally", so don't be discouraged.  One other area that I noticed from the video is that your back hip is sliding backwards on the takeaway.  Make sure it doesn't do this.  If it does, then it makes it harder to get the proper amount of weight onto you front foot on the downswing. On another thread, I said that I started playing golf in an era where video wasn't common.  So, we were taught to use mirrors.  In my case, I used a mirror in my garage and the reflection from my sliding glass door in the backyard.  Now that I have a better understanding of the swing, I put a few pieces of tape on the sliding glass door to mark the location of my head and both my hips at address.  From there, I take some full swings at a reduced speed.  I check to ensure that my head stays steady; my back hip doesn't slide backwards on the backswing; and my hips slide forward sufficiently on the downswing.  I do this "drill" to help my feel match my actual.  It's a little crude because you have to tilt your head up slightly to see your reflection and you can't really hit golf balls--even though I have hit plastic practice ones now and then, and you can't get a DTL view of your swing.  But, overall, the feedback is more immediate and at this point, every little bit of visual feedback you can get tends to be helpful.

Thanks for your assistance in both threads. Today as I practiced I found that by working to keep my head still, my hips seemed to follow suit. I'll keep a mental note of that as I keep working. I'm planning to either play 9 holes tomorrow, or at a minimum I'll hit the range. Another day to put in some work.

[Chris Stewart]

I did have two small questions I wanted to ask regarding a proper swing. 1) Should I be pausing at the top of my backswing? I saw a video on YouTube offering this as advice to correct a slice. With the reason being that not having a pause seems to encourage the direction of your downswing to start in an in-to-out, or out-to-in, motion which can lead to a slice. I tried this for a few swings today at the range and it just threw me off majorly. It's completely mental, but I'm curious if this is proper to have in your swing before I start to work through the mental block of adding a pause to the top of my backswing. 2) What should start the downswing? I've been told a few times that my swing is "all arms" and I definitely agree, especially after seeing the video. So I'm curious what should be starting my downswing. The arms, shoulders, hips, torso, other?

[Tomboys]

Originally Posted by Chris Stewart

I did have two small questions I wanted to ask regarding a proper swing.

1) Should I be pausing at the top of my backswing? I saw a video on YouTube offering this as advice to correct a slice. With the reason being that not having a pause seems to encourage the direction of your downswing to start in an in-to-out, or out-to-in, motion which can lead to a slice. I tried this for a few swings today at the range and it just threw me off majorly. It's completely mental, but I'm curious if this is proper to have in your swing before I start to work through the mental block of adding a pause to the top of my backswing.

2) What should start the downswing? I've been told a few times that my swing is "all arms" and I definitely agree, especially after seeing the video. So I'm curious what should be starting my downswing. The arms, shoulders, hips, torso, other?

The video you saw on YouTube is the reason why I suggested that you post your swing before you looked at those internet swing tips.  There's a lot of information out there that can really screw you up.  I don't know which video you looked at, but based on what you've written, it fails because it's misleading.  Having a pause per se will not create the in-to-out swing path that you want.  The pause you see is a byproduct of starting the downswing with a hip slide forward.  So, it's not the pause that gives you the in-to-out swing path, it's starting the downswing with your hip slide forward that allows you to produce an in-to-out swing path.

To see what causes a ball to fly a certain way, read through this thread: http://thesandtrap.com/b/playing_tips/ball_flight_laws

To see the proper sequence (which includes how to start your down swing): http://thesandtrap.com/t/29616/the-biggest-secret-slide-your-hips

While you're at it, review this thread too: http://thesandtrap.com/t/36669/maintaining-the-flying-wedge .

Since most people tend to slice, you're going to be reading a lot about "releasing" the club more to eliminate a slice.  This information will screw you up.  This last thread explains why "releasing" the club is something you don't want to be doing to cure a slice.

[Chris Stewart]

The video you saw on YouTube is the reason why I suggested that you post your swing before you looked at those internet swing tips.  There's a lot of information out there that can really screw you up.  I don't know which video you looked at, but based on what you've written, it fails because it's misleading.  Having a pause per se will not create the in-to-out swing path that you want.  The pause you see is a byproduct of starting the downswing with a hip slide forward.  So, it's not the pause that gives you the in-to-out swing path, it's starting the downswing with your hip slide forward that allows you to produce an in-to-out swing path. To see what causes a ball to fly a certain way, read through this thread:[URL=http://thesandtrap.com/b/playing_tips/ball_flight_laws]http://thesandtrap.com/b/playing_tips/ball_flight_laws[/URL] To see the proper sequence (which includes how to start your down swing):[URL=http://thesandtrap.com/t/29616/the-biggest-secret-slide-your-hips]http://thesandtrap.com/t/29616/the-biggest-secret-slide-your-hips[/URL] While you're at it, review this thread too:[URL=http://thesandtrap.com/t/36669/maintaining-the-flying-wedge]http://thesandtrap.com/t/36669/maintaining-the-flying-wedge[/URL]. Since most people tend to slice, you're going to be reading a lot about "releasing" the club more to eliminate a slice.  This information will screw you up.  This last thread explains why "releasing" the club is something you don't want to be doing to cure a slice.

Makes perfect sense. I need to stay away from YouTube. When I saw a few, it was little information overload and all of that's running in my head when I was trying to swing. Yesterday was much better as I was only focusing on two aspects of 5SK and was easier to digest and understand. Thanks for the links. I'll dig into those.

[Mordan]

There are a few reasons why YouTube is dangerous. Firstly there is a lot of information on there that is just plain bad. It's either factually wrong or just not helpful. Secondly of the stuff out there that is good information, it's not easy to work out which bits apply to you and which bits don't. Especially when you're starting out. Which leads to the third problem which is trying too many different things in the hope that one of them may work. A much more effective way is to find a source of information you can trust so that you will have the patience to stick with it even if it takes a while for the changes to start improving your game.

[Chris Stewart]

I got out to play 18 today, at the same course I played two weeks ago that happened to be the first time I played in probably 5 years. Two weeks ago I shot 96 (par of 66) in nice weather. Today's course conditions were terrible, as we've had a lot of rain the last few days and quite a bit yesterday. I didn't even think I was going to get to play today because it was supposed to rain, and looked like it was going to until about the 16th. Today I shot an 86! I think the big takeaway today was that my bad shots/holes weren't as bad as they were two weeks ago. I also had a lot more pars than last time. I've been to the range a few times in the last week, continuing to focus on not having head movement, getting a full backswing, and keeping my weight up front on impact. It's definitely helping. My new driver was pretty good for me too, no complaints. I really need to focus on my putting and continue working on my swing and overall ball striking. I also need to buy some golf shoes, waterproof. I play in my tennis shoes and my feet/socks were wet by the 3rd hole and that made for a long day. I had a lot of fun today, even with the terrible conditions. I don't really keep track of my total score as I go along, so finishing the 18th and seeing my score was a nice surprise. [URL=http://thesandtrap.com/image/id/235117/width/640/height/426][IMG]http://thesandtrap.com/image/id/235117/width/640/height/426[/IMG][/URL]