Good Season, Post Pro-Checkup Question

[DoctorYikes]

Hi all,

This is my third year of the game, having made a change from a lifelong martial arts career after nagging injuries had me spending more time in recovery than fighting.  Took up golf at 35 years of age.  Up until this year, I hadn't been able to break 100.

Then, this July, I went on a tear over about three weeks... Shot 102, 100, 97, 94, 87 for my last five rounds.  (Stunk up the course during a scramble since then, so I'm sure I'm not at a place where I'm consistently going to break 90, but still happy with the strides taken.)

So, I went to a pro I'd spoken with some times before.  I know him to be pretty particular, so I figured he'd fulfill my primary requirement -- Direct Honest Feedback.

He told me in kinder terms that my swing should have me in single digits pretty easily, so I'm probably just screwed up in the head.  *laugh*  No doubt he's accurate, as I tend to lose most of my strokes via idiot penalty strokes.  Primary problem is getting my tempo and sequence out of whack.  Put me up on his V1 app and ended up comparing me to a left-handed Bernhard Langer (Never would've thought of that one, actually... but the positions are similar).

Slightly under plane in the backswing, dead-on plane in the transition/downswing.  He spent a good bit of time happy about my transition (Little front knee kick toward target while the club is still going back).

QUESTION PART: So, the upside out of the way... Here's where I get a bit confused:  He's advised me to work on a more level/flatter shoulder turn in the backswing as well as some extension/flexibility drills... Place my hand on a club placed opposite my trailing hip and reaching through with my trailing arm -- Seems to promote a steeper shoulder turn in the downswing.

MEANWHILE, I read regularly about the problem of being too flat in the shoulders on the backswing, and too steep on the downswing.

Anyone have any insight on this?  I'm going to ask him, now that I've had time to process it all of course, but I am curious to see what the Internet Golf Gurus think.  Now, my primary miss is a hook -- Is the too flat/too steep theme that floods online articles and message boards advice geared toward slicers, perhaps?  Double checking because I'm a bit gun shy with pro instruction.. I've had pros telling me to 'aggressively rotate my hands' through impact, backward ball flight laws, etc.  Track record with trying to get lessons has not been great.

[iacas]

I will say that it's rare that I see someone I like to have a flatter shoulder pitch during the backswing. But who knows - maybe you 're one of the few.

If he has the video of your swing ask him to send it to you, then post it here. If you can't regularly video your swing, don't start a "My Swing" thread, but post it here and it'll give me and others a chance to better assess what the pro told you.

Direct and honest is great if it's the right information. :)

[DoctorYikes]

Originally Posted by iacas

I will say that it's rare that I see someone I like to have a flatter shoulder pitch during the backswing. But who knows - maybe you 're one of the few.

If he has the video of your swing ask him to send it to you, then post it here. If you can't regularly video your swing, don't start a "My Swing" thread, but post it here and it'll give me and others a chance to better assess what the pro told you.

Direct and honest is great if it's the right information. :)

Exactly.

He took the vid straight into V1 on his phone, so I'm not sure forwarding it along as a regular video file is an option -- I stopped adapting to tech about ten years ago, hah.  Either way, I'll get something together in the next day or two.  I've been meaning to get video to the extent of carrying my tripod and camera around in my trunk for the past week.  (Probably meaning my jury rigged method of keeping a flip video on a tripod has melted loose and fallen off.)

Just been in the mode of more course than range, lately.  Free time's at a premium.  :D

[DoctorYikes]

[DoctorYikes]

[iacas]

So, yeah. I wouldn't say your shoulder turn should be flatter.

Take it for what it's worth, but there are threads on here about it. If your shoulders turn around your spine axis at setup, they'll turn fairly steeply.

[DoctorYikes]

Originally Posted by iacas

So, yeah. I wouldn't say your shoulder turn should be flatter.

Take it for what it's worth, but there are threads on here about it. If your shoulders turn around your spine axis at setup, they'll turn fairly steeply.

Well, to be fair -- That's the flattened version.