My Swing (SimpleSimon)

[SimpleSimon]

I've been Playing Golf for: 20 years

My current handicap index or average score is: 12

My typical ball flight is: Left to Right

The shot I hate or the "miss" I'm trying to reduce/eliminate is: 15 Yard Flop

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Videos:

[SimpleSimon]

This was July 2012. Since I have shortened my back swing by closing my right foot. I live in Chicago so it's hard to get out this time of year, but we hit 48 degrees a few weeks ago and shot an 86. I decided to choke up because the course was really wet and i was sinking into the ground. I hit my irons as solid as I ever have. I am contemplating choking up from now on.

[SimpleSimon]

The one thing I am having trouble with is casting the club. If you watch the slow mo of my swing you can see that I release club way to early. I have worked on am impact bag, and I really didn't see much progress. Any questions or comments on swing is welcome. Any pointers also welcome and encouraged! Thanks!

[SimpleSimon]

Went to hit some balls a few days ago, didnt have a chance to record my swing but there are a few key differences i have made that saw huge improvements.

I really started concentrating on posting up on my right leg. That is my swing thought at the moment. Adding this to my shortened back swing, and gripping down on my irons, I had the most consistent practice to date. I was striking the ball as well as I ever had. Had a nice low penetrating flight and climbed at the end to drop down nice and soft.

I play Nike Forged Victory Red irons. I like the feel of knowing where I hit the ball, I had Ping G 10's, Ping i2's, Callaway X20's. But none of those offered as much feel as the forged Nike's. My next range visit I will be working more on posting on my right side, keeping my hands from going to far back, and not cupping my left wrist.

[dkling8]

Nice, definitely an athletic looking swing! There are a few things that stand out the most to me, and they are all related to having your weight sway back too much the backswing. This one thing causes a lot of other corrections to have to happen in the swing.

Your hips have a looong way to go to get back ahead of the ball at impact. You can also see your weight is on the outside of your right foot at the top of the backswing, which makes it hard to get any drive from the instep of your right foot starting the downswing. Being athletic, you compensate by pushing off with your right toe, which basically lifts your entire right foot pretty early in the downswing.

I'm not sure exactly what you meant by "posting up on your right leg," but you might try to feel your weight stay on the INSIDE of your right foot. Trying to feel a more centered pivot on the backswing should help with that feel. Here's a side-by-side of you with Charlie Wi. He has a very centered backswing, and it might illustrate some of these things.

This might have other good side effects too, like keeping your left foot down, and shortening your backswing a little bit.

[clueless]

Try putting a broken shaft in the ground next to your rear foot coming up vertically just next to your right hip,this will help the right cheek to go behind you a bit more and stop that slide backwards.

[SimpleSimon]

Thanks guys! I never noticed how much I pushed off of my big toe instead of the whole inside part of my foot. By "posting up on my right side", I meant exactly what you were saying about my swaying of the hips. I have started to pivot and turn my upper body more instead of swaying. What's funny is the drill I used to cure this was the club on the hip trick in front of a mirror at home just like Clueless said above. It sort of felt like my lower body had nothing to do with the back swing when I first started trying it.

I will post a new swing vid as soon as I get the chance.

I have a question. In the downswing, when your pushing off the inside of your right foot, would you say its similiar to a pitcher pushing off the mound? Because I know as a pitcher, you want to use your whole foot instead of your toes.

[dkling8]

Originally Posted by SimpleSimon

I have a question. In the downswing, when your pushing off the inside of your right foot, would you say its similiar to a pitcher pushing off the mound? Because I know as a pitcher, you want to use your whole foot instead of your toes.

Hmm that's an interesting analogy. This is something I'm pretty bad at myself, so someone with better footwork might offer some tips on that type of feeling. I do know that the way a pitcher's foot is "banked" toward the instep is a feeling that would help get your right foot at a better position at impact. I find that even when I exaggerate this feeling, I still lift my heel up quite a bit. Check out Stricker at impact here. I'm not sure if I could say he's actively pushing with his right foot at impact since ~80% of his weight is already on his left side, but his foot is definitely "banking" as opposed to lifting out toward the toe.

[SimpleSimon]

The reason i say that is because if you youtube some of the LPGA golfers who are wearing skirts , you can see their thigh muscles firing off in the downswing, which makes me believe they are pushing off the ground similiar to the way a pitcher pushes off the mound, sending their momentum towards the target. I like watching Michelle Wie swing the club!

[Eldbee]

i saw your other post about hitting the ball too high and the explanation is pretty simple. If you pause the swing video at impact then your hands are way back behind the ball therefore you are adding to the dynamic loft of the golf club causing for example your 6 iron to play with the loft of and 8 iron. If you watch a video of most tour pros, for example tiger you will see that at impact his hands are well ahead of the ball and driving forwards through it to create the correct launch conditions.

[SimpleSimon]

Originally Posted by Eldbee

i saw your other post about hitting the ball too high and the explanation is pretty simple. If you pause the swing video at impact then your hands are way back behind the ball therefore you are adding to the dynamic loft of the golf club causing for example your 6 iron to play with the loft of and 8 iron. If you watch a video of most tour pros, for example tiger you will see that at impact his hands are well ahead of the ball and driving forwards through it to create the correct launch conditions.

You are right, this is the second thing I noticed when I was breaking down my swing, the first was swaying of the hips instead of turning. This swing was taken in June 2012. Since then I have altered my swing to help with turning my hips instead of swaying, and flipping the club.

Even after my changes I am still hitting the ball substantially high. I will post a new video as soon as I can. I appreciate the input!

[logman]

Hi simon, get one of these.....works awesome

[Golfingdad]

Originally Posted by Eldbee

i saw your other post about hitting the ball too high and the explanation is pretty simple. If you pause the swing video at impact then your hands are way back behind the ball therefore you are adding to the dynamic loft of the golf club causing for example your 6 iron to play with the loft of and 8 iron. If you watch a video of most tour pros, for example tiger you will see that at impact his hands are well ahead of the ball and driving forwards through it to create the correct launch conditions.

I would suggest checking out the videos on this site, especially the 5SK thread, and any videos that talk about Key #3.  This one for example: http://thesandtrap.com/t/61376/5sk-video-thread/0_30#post_783068

[SimpleSimon]

Ok fellas I was finally able to update my swing video. Like I have said I have been working on posting up on my right side (turning/pivoting instead of swaying my hips back in the backswing. I also have shortened my backswing. I still think I maybe over swinging a bit, but I am not that worried about it because I am hitting the ball a lot more cleaner (Irons) and more consistent (Driver). Check them out, let me know if you notice anything I should work on, or if you can see the differences I have made between the first video I posted and now. Thanks a ton in advance!

In all of the videos you see down the line, the little circle vent on the right is always the fairway.

Video above is a 9 iron

Video above is an 8 iron

Video above is an 8 iron

[SimpleSimon]

I am headed out to another golf dome this Saturday. Hopefully I can get more swing vids. I feel like I am starting to get a good feel for the changes I have made since July 2012. I wouldn't mind some advice on what to work in in this range session.

I was working on my weight transfer, turning/pivoting my right side instead of swaying, and not bringing the club so far back. I am starting to do these things subconsciously, so now I am trying to find something else to work on. Any advice is greatly appreciated.