Sloooooow takeaway fixed my driving

[sixonezero]

I've found a key that has fixed my driving woes, at least for now.  I've slowed my takeaway to what feel to me like glacial pace, which slows my backswing down and seems like it gets everything in sync.  In general it feels like I have a much better chance for making a good weight shift, my contact is way improved and I'm hitting it straight.  What's interesting is that on video my new backswing doesn't look all that slow, it actually looks more in rhythm.  Funny how different some things FEEL vs. how they really LOOK.

[theropod]

610, I "found" something in my swing the last time I played (Wednesday). On my drives I need to "feel" my hands "push" through the strike point and beyond. When I do this my ball flight is sweet, and i finish real tall. That "feel" is the key. Grooving all the aspects of a swing so that this "feel" is there from address to finish is the holy grail we all seek. Congrats on you timing "feel" coming around for you.

[jimdandy]

Congrats! Good job

[Jeffrey71]

Originally Posted by sixonezero

I've found a key that has fixed my driving woes, at least for now.  I've slowed my takeaway to what feel to me like glacial pace, which slows my backswing down and seems like it gets everything in sync.  In general it feels like I have a much better chance for making a good weight shift, my contact is way improved and I'm hitting it straight.  What's interesting is that on video my new backswing doesn't look all that slow, it actually looks more in rhythm.  Funny how different some things FEEL vs. how they really LOOK.

I do the same thing on the take away. I have also been trying to focus max acceleration at the moment of impact. Smooth, not hard, but fast. I like to hear the "woosh".

[inthehole]

same here - not quite as slow as Ai Mayazato, but close.     Helps me keep things in sequence...

[dak4n6]

I joined this club a long time ago. I found slowing the backswing gives greater consistency in achieving your desired positions, and, most importantly it promotes finishing the backswing and then swinging from the ground up. The only real difficulty in having a moderate - slow backswing is having the discipline to always execute it. Sounds simple, harder to do. I always find myself at least a few times per year my ball striking is a little off, and then I re-commit to a controlled backswing, and presto, good ball striking (kinda the same thing with my weight forward).

[GaijinGolfer]

A slow backswing helped you to keep everything in sync and help you to prevent from snatching the club back too quickly.  I always try to emulate Ai Miyazato, although mine isnt as slow as her's is.

[dak4n6]

I love those school girl knee high socks of hers. (sorry for OT)

[inthehole]

Originally Posted by dak4n6

I love those school girl knee high socks of hers. (sorry for OT)

LOL - exactly my first thought when I see Ai's name on the leaderboard - hoping she's sporting the knee socks !!

[GaijinGolfer]

Originally Posted by inthehole

LOL - exactly my first thought when I see Ai's name on the leaderboard - hoping she's sporting the knee socks !!

Believe me, she knows how cute she looks in them (said so recently, actually).  She also claims that they are sunblock or compression socks but I think we all known the cuteness factor is the main reason.

[shortstop20]

I love Ai Miyazato!

[GaijinGolfer]

Originally Posted by shortstop20

I love Ai Miyazato!

Agree.  Shes going to be my 2nd wife someday.

[kathybhylton]

Oh well Ai Miyazato is cute.

[GaijinGolfer]

Originally Posted by kathybhylton

Oh well Ai Miyazato is cute.

Understatement of the year, my friend.

[0ldblu3]

So back to swings...I found a little while back that if I consciously shorten my back swing I make a better shoulder turn, set my wrist angle better, etc...  I make a better swing. But when I see the recording, what felt like a short back swing was actually correct. And now, months later, the back swing doesn't feel weird.

Good job thinking it through and sticking with it.

[glock35ipsc]

Originally Posted by 0ldblu3

So back to swings...I found a little while back that if I consciously shorten my back swing I make a better shoulder turn, set my wrist angle better, etc...  I make a better swing. But when I see the recording, what felt like a short back swing was actually correct. And now, months later, the back swing doesn't feel weird.

Good job thinking it through and sticking with it.

This was probably the biggest "ah-ha" moment for my game as well.  After an absolutely horrid round, I swung by my instructors place to see why I was sucking so bad.  He had me hit a few shots on video, then told me to hit a few with "about a 3/4 back swing".  Did that, then he told me to hit some shots with a 1/2 back swing.  After that, he showed me what the 3 different swings were like.  My 'full swing' looked like I was trying to out-swing John Daly!  My '3/4 swing' had the club about parallel at the top.  My '1/2 swing' is about where he said my full swing SHOULD be!

It's been a really weird process to shorten my swing.  What fells like a 1/2 swing to me is what my full swing should be.  At first I felt like I wasn't taking the club back far enough, so I found myself trying to power through the ball to make up for it, which only caused problems.  As I keep working on shortening my back swing, things ARE getting better.

And, oh yeah, Ai Miyazato is definitely cute!

[Lefty88888]

Slow is absolutely the way to go!  Thanks for the tip, this helped me so much.  I haven't had a shot shape in several years; I have been pushing and pulling shots.  After seeing this post, I tried the slow backswing and it worked perfectly.

( But I'm just a "Mini-Golfer", whatever that means )