My Swing (Rfordeagle)

[Rfordeagle]

I've been Playing Golf for: I started playing golf when I was 12.  I played for about a year then went on hiatus until this February.  Before this year I had roughly played 5 rounds in the last 15 years.  I enjoy the game and have committed myself to improving, hence why I have joined this great forum.  I stopped playing golf because I had been successful in another sport.

My current handicap index or average score is: 83-92.  Usually from the back tees.

My typical ball flight is: Working on a push draw, and trying some elements from the Stack and Tilt book.

The shot I hate or the "miss" I'm trying to reduce/eliminate is: Push slice, especially with the longer clubs.

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I'm using an 8 iron, with some whiffle balls.

I apologize for the Dtl view.  I need to rotate the shot!

Thanks in advance for any input.

[Rfordeagle]

I should give a little more background.  My contact has greatly improved since the end of the season, about a month ago.  I started a couple weeks ago trying to keep a centered pivot, which has helped my low point move forward.  I don't know if I'm getting enough hip slide or secondary axis tilt.  I will get a better video up at the actual driving range by next weekend.  I had to force my girlfriend out of the house to take these!

[Rfordeagle]

The first thing I think I'm going to work on with this swing is my tempo.  I feel like I've lost quite a bit of tempo with the way I've been practicing with mirror work from dtl.  I've worked on my takeaway and my steady head and lost connection with my swing tempo.  I'm going to speed things up this week, and then get a new video up this weekend.

[Rfordeagle]

Went to the range yesterday and worked on my tempo.  Should be a little bit better in the next video.  Took most of my swings with a seven iron and was still struggling with consistently drawing the ball.  Darn push fade keeps creeping in.  Then....  I started to focus on keeping my left elbow tighter to the body, and the feeling was folding it earlier in the back swing.  This worked great and left me with a nice draw, even with the longer clubs.  I hope to have another video up this weekend, barring holiday stuff.  Hope this session wasn't a fluke!

[Rfordeagle]

Here are a couple more videos at a dome range.  There are both 7 irons I believe.   From last week I was working on picking up my tempo, which I think I did a little better job of.  I really don't think I'm getting enough hip bump forward which is causing an over the top move.....  atleast that's what I think.  I think I'm also going to change my setup a bit.  Looks like my upper back is too rounded, spine wise, and my neck is practically parallel to the ground.  Not sure what this could cause, but I don't see many players standing like this.  Let me know what you guys think!  Thanks.

[Rfordeagle]

I think I could also benefit from a shorter swing as well.  Didn't realize my hands lift so high above my shoulder.  Will try to stay a little tighter and think 3/4 swings.

[meta87]

Swing looks real nice man keep it up. I struggle with keeping my back swing short enough and one tip I read on here was to feel like you are keeping your right arm straight during your backswing. It won't actually stay straight of course. Good luck.

[Rfordeagle]

Thanks for the tip Meta.  I've heard that on here also.  I'll dedicate some time to it, and hopefully I can get it before my next session.

[Rfordeagle]

It does seem like I'm a bit laid off at the top.  Anybody see this also?

[Rfordeagle]

Well I went to a dome range today and decided to hit some.  The things that I was working on:

1)  Not raising my hands so high in the back swing.  Trying to shorten the swing down a bit, and having the feeling that my hands don't get above my shoulder.

2)  Adding a little more wrist cock with my right wrist.  With how high my hands were in my previous video, my forearm and shaft angle was larger than 90 degrees.  I made this angle a little sharper today.

3)  The first two felt pretty good, and I think helped improve my contact some, which has been the biggest improvement so far in the off season.  I still don't consistently draw the ball however, which needs to improve.  My last 10 swings or so, I tried to start the downswing with a bigger hip bump, and an earlier hip bump.  It looks like my transition isn't timed up properly in my swing which my lead to a slight over the top move.  It almost felt like my hip bump was happening before I got to the top.  However, I was able to draw the ball repeatedly, and it seemed to shallow out my angle of attack and give me a higher ball flight.  Here's to hoping this is the fix!

I will post more videos the next time I head to the range.  Happy Holidays!

[billchao]

Nice swing. Just a couple of things I noticed... If you keep your lead arm straighter, you won't be as long or as high at the top. It seems like you fold it up just as you fold up your trail arm. You should feel like you're folding your trail arm up and away from the target (like you're pushing your right hand away from your head with your left). I know we're working on the same takeaway so I think you should get what I mean. In your first DTL video, I noticed your knees are pretty straight and your weight is on your toes, that could lead to an OTT move. I don't know if you've since corrected it because the second DTL video is private. I can't quite tell from the videos but if your typical miss is a push or push fade and you're set up for a draw pattern, you might just be rotating your hands open on the backswing, and you did mention being laid off at the top. There's a good thread on that here: http://thesandtrap.com/t/31893/clubface-square-to-the-plane Anyway, keep working at it and good luck! Happy Holidays to you and yours as well!

[Gofas]

I'm no pro, but what's up with your grip? Curious about it.

[Rfordeagle]

Thanks for the responses guys!  Anyways, my grip sucks...  Needs a lot of work.  It's weird, it just seems comfortable I guess.  I need to make it more neutral.  I don't know why I set that video as private.  I believe I just changed it to public.  Hope it worked.  I do need some work on my lead arm, was working with that at the range today.  Again, thanks for the input, and I'll have more videos soon.

[Gofas]

I would not say it sucks. It's unique it caught my eye. Nice swing by the way, Nice and smooth.

[Rfordeagle]

Thanks for the reply and compliment gofas.  Look forward to watching your progress as well.

[mvmac]

Just to be clear, this doesn't mean "restrict your hips" just allow them to turn in a circle.  This will make a lot of the downswing pieces easier.

[Rfordeagle]

Thanks very much for the reply mvmac.  Can't wait to get started on these pieces.  But for now, gotta rush to work!

[Rfordeagle]

I've spent some time practicing with some mirror work, and I think I got the feeling down.  I'll be heading to the range this weekend and hopefully get some more video up.  I think if I keep my hips centered, they should be more forward at impact, which may help me with trajectory and hopefully my draw.  I look forward to getting to the range and testing my new swing thoughts.