My Swing (jefkve)

[jefkve]

I've been Playing Golf for: 2 years +/-

My current handicap index or average score is: very high....guessing 30+

My typical ball flight is: strong draw with irons at the moment, push slice with the driver :/

The shot I hate or the "miss" I'm trying to reduce/eliminate is: push slice with the driver

Any thoughts on what I'm doing terribly wrong would be greatly appreciated.

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Videos:

[Beachcomber]

Hi jefkve, I was taking a look at your swing and noticed that you are crossing the line at the top.

Check out this simple drill from Michael Breed which will help explain the issue with your swing, and how to help reduce the issue.

Personally, to nail this I'd recommend using a mirror - and just making some swings at home (simply back swings) so that you can ingrain the feel into your back swing that you'll find when the club shaft is properly on plane.  Here are a few other tips to monitor when you are doing the Michael Breed drill.

1.) Right elbow placement - try and keep your left and right elbow spacing tight in the backswing.

2.) Maintain pressure in the Right armpit - try and maintain that pressure in your right armpit - so that you aren't letting that right arm/elbow go behind you.

3.) Left wrist hinge - make sure that you are hinging the club up during the backswing properly.... Look at Foley's backswing - how vertical the shaft is at A3 (left arm parallel to the ground).

Ultimately, getting the club on plane at the top of the back swing is going to make it much easier to make the proper down swing move into impact.  You should see your ball striking improve dramatically just by getting the shaft of the club on plane.

[jefkve]

Thanks BC. Gonna work on this for a bit and will post vids in a week or so to show progress (FINGERS CROSSED!).

[jefkve]

FML. Still getting WAY too inside on the takeaway and coming accross the line at the top (shanking the ball was just a bonus )....gonna keep drilling the takeaway. If anyone has any additional drills for this, I'd appreciate it.

Does anyone see anything else incredibly wrong going on here that I should pay attention to?

[Golfingdad]

Originally Posted by jefkve

FML. Still getting WAY too inside on the takeaway and coming accross the line at the top (shanking the ball was just a bonus )....gonna keep drilling the takeaway. If anyone has any additional drills for this, I'd appreciate it.

Does anyone see anything else incredibly wrong going on here that I should pay attention to?

Hey jefkve,

It looks to me like your backswing is just a little too long.  If you freeze the video at the point in your backswing where the club is pointed at your target, that looks like a really good position to me for the top of the backswing.  After that point, your hands just kinda twist a bit to get your club in that crossed over position.  Once crossed over, it looks like you're inclined to come back at the ball a little too steep, perhaps even a little over the top.

My very NON-expert opinion would be to try taking what feels to you like 3/4 swings, hopefully eliminating that little crossover.

[jefkve]

Originally Posted by Golfingdad

Hey jefkve,

It looks to me like your backswing is just a little too long.  If you freeze the video at the point in your backswing where the club is pointed at your target, that looks like a really good position to me for the top of the backswing.  After that point, your hands just kinda twist a bit to get your club in that crossed over position.  Once crossed over, it looks like you're inclined to come back at the ball a little too steep, perhaps even a little over the top.

My very NON-expert opinion would be to try taking what feels to you like 3/4 swings, hopefully eliminating that little crossover.

Agreed. Thanks Golfingdad.

[jefkve]

After Sunday's outing with the SoCal Sandtrap group, I thought I'd revisit my swing. Looks like I'm still coming across at the top. I will continue to drill my takeaway to try and alleviate this. Backswing still looks a little long. One thing I've had a few comments about as well is standing too upright. Any thoughts on this?

any and all comments are welcome. Thank you in advance....

[onephenom]

I think what's causing you to come back too inside is folding your right arm right away and rolling your wrists. Try keeping your right arm straighter for a bit longer, might help with that.

[mvmac]

[jefkve]

Thanks OnePhenom/Mike. Going to work on drilling the takeaway and see how that helps.

Mike, I also notice , thanks to your well placed line, that I'm coming off the wall a bit. Will do some wall drills and shoulder turn drills and post again when I "feel" like I've got those aspects under control.

Again, thank you!

[mvmac]

Originally Posted by jefkve

Mike, I also notice , thanks to your well placed line, that I'm coming off the wall a bit. Will do some wall drills and shoulder turn drills and post again when I "feel" like I've got those aspects under control.

Yes head comes off the wall because the shoulders are turning too shallow, too much "around".

[Beachcomber]

I can't get the latest swing video to work?

[jefkve]

Originally Posted by Beachcomber

I can't get the latest swing video to work?

Seems to work fine for me....Getting any error messages?

[Beachcomber]

Originally Posted by jefkve

Seems to work fine for me....Getting any error messages?

It's working now...  The thing I notice is like Mike (mvmac) pointed out, your shoulders are turning too horizontal or flat.  Which means your club is swinging too much around your body.  You need more 'Ferris wheel' from A1 to A4... And less 'Merry-go-round'... Meaning more vertical turning rates.  The way to do this - is exactly what mvmac pointed out - get your shoulders turning more vertical.

You've probably seen this Andrew Rice video posted by me before?? But I really like it because he does a solid job of describing the drill... I've used this drill here at home - with no golf club and a mirror DTL to monitor my turning rates and geometries of my arm/hands and it really helped me clean up my takeaway.

The key point being that you could use this drill and focus on getting the left (lead) shoulder under the chin on the takeaway.  In order to do this properly - the shoulders will turn more on a vertical swing plane than your current horizontal shoulder plane.

Ultimately, you nail this piece and it should help you get your shaft on plane and reduce the over the top - across the line stuff I highlighted before with the Michael Breed video above.

[jefkve]

Originally Posted by Beachcomber

It's working now...  The thing I notice is like Mike (mvmac) pointed out, your shoulders are turning too horizontal or flat.  Which means your club is swinging too much around your body.  You need more 'Ferris wheel' from A1 to A4... And less 'Merry-go-round'... Meaning more vertical turning rates.  The way to do this - is exactly what mvmac pointed out - get your shoulders turning more vertical.

Ultimately, you nail this piece and it should help you get your shaft on plane and reduce the over the top - across the line stuff I highlighted before with the Michael Breed video above.

Yeah, really been drilling this at home. Went to the range yesterday and "felt" like I was doing a better job of taking the club away on a better path, but upon reviewing some video I took, I'm STILL taking the club too far to the inside and not getting my shoulders on the right angle. Going to drill some more. I think the 'feel' I need to go for is almost a vertical swing plane on the way back. Will post more if/when I make any progress.

Thanks again for all your help!

[Ernest Jones]

Originally Posted by jefkve

Yeah, really been drilling this at home. Went to the range yesterday and "felt" like I was doing a better job of taking the club away on a better path, but upon reviewing some video I took, I'm STILL taking the club too far to the inside and not getting my shoulders on the right angle. Going to drill some more. I think the 'feel' I need to go for is almost a vertical swing plane on the way back. Will post more if/when I make any progress.

Thanks again for all your help!

Something that may help, when you are feeling that left shoulder going down try to feel the right shoulder tracing up and back at the same time.

YMMV.

[Beachcomber]

Originally Posted by Ernest Jones

Something that may help, when you are feeling that left shoulder going down try to feel the right shoulder tracing up and back at the same time.

YMMV.

Yes. And... Remember these other checkpoints as you work on the turning rates of the shoulders...

1.) Left arm remains straight.

2.) Maintain pressure in the armpit of both the left and right underarms.

3.) Try to keep your elbows close together.

This will ensure you are getting a nice pitched elbow on the backswing.  Which will help with loading the shaft on plane.  Right elbow, think less Freddy - more Duffner.

You do these pieces right, and the geometries will be nice and clean.... Which ultimately leads to better ball striking as you're gonna control Key 4.

[Ernest Jones]

Originally Posted by Beachcomber

Yes. And... Remember these other checkpoints as you work on the turning rates of the shoulders...

1.) Left arm remains straight.

2.) Maintain pressure in the armpit of both the left and right underarms.

3.) Try to keep your elbows close together.

This will ensure you are getting a nice pitched elbow on the backswing.  Which will help with loading the shaft on plane.  Right elbow, think less Freddy - more Duffner.

You do these pieces right, and the geometries will be nice and clean.... Which ultimately leads to better ball striking as you're gonna control Key 4.

Also know as "Bitch Elbow"