5 Handicapper losing distance *Need help*

[Briano]

Hi guys I stopped playing golf when I was 18 years old, I had a handicap Of 4.4 back then and an average tee shot of 250 yards.. I'm 28 years old now and returned playing a few months ago and I'm very happy With my results so far, Shot 2 under at Adare manor in Co Limerick last week, My problem is that I've lost a lot of distance with my driver and irons my average drive is 230 yards max and I can only hit a 9 iron 130 yards...My playing partner was a 70 year old man Last week and he was hitting the same club as me on the par 3s very embarrassing.. Any suggestions why I'm losing my length??

[Motley01]

I'm no expert, and without seeing your swing it's hard to tell.

But I have a suspicion you don't have any lag in your swing. Are your hands ahead of the ball at impact? Are you casting the club maybe?

[Briano]

Maybe this video will help

[Chris Stewart]

From your video, it seems like you're not getting your hips turned very much on your backswing. Your back could be more turned to the target as well. The entire swing seems effortless (a compliment!) and fluid. I'm sure it leads to a consistent result, maybe not a maximum distance however. I'm no swing analyst and others will likely provide far better feedback, but that's what it seems like to me. But hell, if I was a 5 hcp, I wouldn't care that I hit the same club as a 70 year old man. I'd strut around the course shooting in the 70s or whatever you fancy handicap folks shoot. :-)

[skillzwhogolfs]

I am no expert or anything but I do notice that when you go into your backswing your entire upper body shifts back behind midline with it, then on the downswing/impact your upper body is still leaning behind your midline, then finally your endswing brings your upper body to normal position. now I could be wrong but that is what I notice.

[TourSpoon]

I rarely comment on these types of threads but I watched the video and just feel that you need to tighten it up a bit to make your swing as efficient as possible. Practice in a mirror in slow motion paying close attention to being a bit more centered while getting a tight coil. I think that from there you would put yourself in a better position that would carry you through impact all the way to follow through with the result being a stronger ball flight. That's my .02.

[scratcher]

I will put in my 2 cents. It appears from that from that angle you have very little difference between your hip and shoulder turn, they both seem to turn together, thereby leaving no resistence to have a proper coil to produce any power. Try keeping the lower body a little less active in the backswing and trying to produce a larger angle between shoulders and hips ( example: shoulders at 90 degrees to target, hips at 45 to target)

Cheers

[Limpinswinger]

Originally Posted by Briano

Maybe this video will help

I'm reluctant to give advice such a low handicapper.  And, I"m just learning the premises of the S&T; swing, so my input will be limited to what I understand at this point and how it differs from your swing.  You are using linear momentum rather than the much more powerful, rotational, or angular momentum.  On your backswing, your head and shoulders move away from the target, and on your downswing and follow through they move back toward the target - linear momentum.  Rather, your head, hips and shoulders should remain over the ball (stacked), in the backswing, and rotate around your spine with your left shoulder turning down to the ball (tilt), rather than away from the target.  On the downswing and follow through your hips and shoulders again rotate back around the spine - angular momentum.  However, on your downswing you LEAD with a hip slide toward the target so that at impact your head is still over the ball, but, your left hip is in front of the ball, leaving your body in a bowed shape.

Those two changes rotation and lead with hip slide should add significant power to your swing.

Here's a great lesson from Dave Wedzik that explains it better than I can.  An example of his complete swing starts at about 6:00 minutes to compare to your swing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v;=FdAu2j2BtPQ&list;=UU7rdIi1b8OYuXbxE4Y4KJyw#t=360s

[WUTiger]

Re: the shoulder-hip turn comments...

Basically, what do you do for a living? If you have a desk job, you may have ended up with very strong thigh muscles (from rising and sitting), and poor lower back flexibility and hip flexion. I've seen several sports training stories and video clips on this "knowledge economy" ailment. You might visit an athletic trainer and see if you have this problem.

If you have any Titleist Performance Institute trainers in your area, you might talk to them. I've been doing TPI-based exercises for my back for about a year.

At any rate, welcome back to the game!

[nazretsel]

On 6/8/2012 at 4:47 PM, skillzwhogolfs said:

I am no expert or anything but I do notice that when you go into your backswing your entire upper body shifts back behind midline with it, then on the downswing/impact your upper body is still leaning behind your midline, then finally your endswing brings your upper body to normal position. now I could be wrong but that is what I notice.

Wow that is a good point. If we don't keep our flexibility up over time, that can happen. I too lost distance with my driver and I think you nailed at least part of the reason. We hear about creating that X between your shoulder turn and your hips to create coil. I have to try that.

[billchao]

4 minutes ago, nazretsel said:

Wow that is a good point. If we don't keep our flexibility up over time, that can happen. I too lost distance with my driver and I think you nailed at least part of the reason. We hear about creating that X between your shoulder turn and your hips to create coil. I have to try that.

Welcome to TST! I just wanted to point out that you are responding to a very old post and a person who hasn't been on in almost five years...

We're glad to have you here, though. Stick around and explore; I'm sure you will find plenty of other topics to discuss.

[Buckeyebowman]

Oh, I don't know that the guy's problem is a lack of flexibility. He seems plenty flexible to me. What I saw was a very smooth, almost "passive" swing at the ball. Take a whack at it, man!

I'll simply offer two comments that I have heard. One is by Hank Haney. He said "How far you can hit the ball will determine your potential in the game of golf. Hit it like you mean it!"

The other was by Arnold Palmer quoting something his Dad told him when he was learning the game. "Hit it HARD boy! Then go find it, and hit it hard again!"