My Swing (spiderrower)

[spiderrower]

I've been Playing Golf for: about a season, I'm just starting to get serious

My current handicap index or average score is: 95-105

My typical ball flight is: irons: high, straight, far. driver: either a push and then slice, or straight off the tee and then a slice; either way, not much distance

The shot I hate or the "miss" I'm trying to reduce/eliminate is: make my driver go straight

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I'll include a link to a video of my swing at the end of this post, but I've made some pictures that I want to use to ask some specific questions. I made these comparison shots of me and some of the pros on Nike's web site (Paul Casey in the red shirt and Jhonattan Vegas in the white). I've never actually looked at my swing like this before so bear with me and my dreadful form.

Pictures:

(excuse my last-minute range attire haha)

1. I'd read about trying to have your body angled back a little bit, but I'm still clearly not doing this enough.

2. I also feel like my legs are a little bit too bent (unfortunately I didn't get any shots of my swing from behind - I'll do that later this week) and my arms are extended forward too far, rather than more perpendicular with the ground.

3. The top of my backswing obviously has a lot of issues. I think part of why I'm overrotating so far is because I'm breaking my left wrist.

4. I think I'm turning my whole body too far in the clockwise direction, which is why my leg looks like it's broken.

5. I'm guessing that partly why I'm not angling my body correctly here is because I started with it too straight at the catch. I'm hoping that by having my body tilted correctly, my hands won't lead so much, which is probably contributing to my slice.

6. One tip that I followed for a while was to try to move the club up and away from the ball, rather than around my body. As a result, my hands end up really high above my head.

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So: Here's what I think I should work on at the range this week. Let me know if you agree or disagree or have any other suggestions. (the numbers here correspond with the observations I made above):

1. When I address the ball, I'll place it about even with my left heel, and set up my stance so that my spine is vertical when the club is straight in front of me between my feet. Then, I'll rotate my body forward, changing the angle of my spine so that it's back the way it's supposed to be.

2. I'll try and make sure my legs aren't too bent/too straight. I'll get some pictures of this next time.

3. I plan on starting with a very slow backswing and very little weight transfer. Eventually, I can work my way up to a more powerful swing after the mechanics are there.

4. Starting slower will help me keep both feet planted better (to get rid of that nasty leg bend) and I'll make sure that wrist doesn't break.

5. Do you guys have any suggestions as to how I can keep my arms from leading the swing? I'm guessing that helps contribute to my slice.

6. I'll experiment a little the idea of swinging around my body as opposed to trying to have an iron-esque upward stroke.

Here's a link to the video: http://www.nike.com/nikegolf/ng360/swing/3fb2c054-322a-4de1-aa13-a38cd345a25a

Thanks so much for your help - let me know if you have any other suggestions, too!

[cipher]

OK you have a lot of moving parts going on there.  The biggest thing that I see to start with is your lower body movement.  Your hips and knees are all over the place.  Look how little that the pro's hips move.  They open up slightly and slide forward.  There is some kind of marker that is in the back left corner of the range box.  Look at how your hips actually move backward from the top of your swing to impact towards that marker. That is not good, you do not want them moving backward like that.  If you can fix this you will solve one of the issues with the arm position at impact.  Look at how Casey's arm is almost even with his hip at impact, and his right heel is starting to come off the ground. I would work on getting in that position .  Maybe one of the guys here can give you a drill to work on, but that is how I see it anyway. Good luck to you and welcome to TST.

[Gaber]

Hey Spider - welcome to TST - I am a firm believer that visualizing what needs to be done is easier than trying to explain it ...(certain things at least) I have a list of videos that I watch on YouTube that really helped and I hope (at least with your driver situation) this does too!

I will have my swing on here soon - and I always like those who have the keen eye to help others get better!

Let me know how it goes :)