My Swing (Slice of Life)

[Slice of Life]

I've been Playing Golf for: 20 years, but this is my first serious year.

My current handicap index or average score is: Average for 18 is about 95

My typical ball flight is: Good trajectory, but typically right. Anywhere from a fade to a 2 fairways over banana slice.

The shot I hate or the "miss" I'm trying to reduce/eliminate is: Just need to be consistent.

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Videos:

This is one shot I can typically hit consistently. A big pull-slice. This one actually landed in the middle of the fairway.

This was a straight fade...not terrible, just off to the right about pin high. (5 iron to 180)

Sorry for the crappy quality, no high speed cam.

[Slice of Life]

After watching, what I take from the videos is the following:

My takeaway is terrible...and way too fast. Also, I think I'm bending my left elbow too much at the top and over-swinging.

My follow-through sucks...almost non-existent.

My footwork is sloppy.

Whatcha got for me?

[fersman4]

Man you can smack that ball! Does center face contact come easy to you?

[Slice of Life]

Originally Posted by fersman4

Man you can smack that ball! Does center face contact come easy to you?

Haha thanks. Yeah, I've hit a couple 325-330 yard drives...but they're so rare, and almost never straight. Even with the pull slice I was getting 260-275 tonight.

Center face contact with my driver, 3 wood, and hybrid...yes. Irons? No...I always seem to hit it closer to the toe, if you pause at the right time, you can tell. Probably why my iron distances are short in comparison. :/

[Slice of Life]

Here's a pic of the setup, transfer, contact, and follow-through.

More things I notice:

1. The setup and swing for driver/iron feel so different for me, yet the setup and backswing are almost identical on tape.

2. I don't think I'm getting enough extension on the irons, which would explain the lack of distance and hitting off the toe.

3. Drive follow-through isn't terrible...iron follow-through is horrendous.

4. Way way way way too far on the iron backswing.

5. I don't think I'm putting enough weight on my leading leg.

6. I suck.

[fersman4]

You slice the heck out of the ball. I'm no instructor but despite all the flaws and issues you mentioned, the slice would likely be the top priority of any instructors.

Also you seem to be a rather naturally atheletic person, so this may not apply to you, but if I tried to hit the ball as hard as you do, all kinds of bad things would creep into my swing. At the top of the list would be poor contact at least partially related to a swing path issue. I think you may need to prepare yourself to slow down your swing to get consistency, but again, I'm no instructor.

[mvmac]

I think the backswing is the priority and I feel the lower body motion is causing some of the problems you're seeing with the arms and followthrough.  I feel what I recommend below will improve the backswing and help you transfer more weight forward on the downswing to improve the followthrough.  Let me know if you have any questions.

[Slice of Life]

That makes sense. I can see that my front foot is completely off the hell on the backswing, and the knees are all over the place.

Thanks, I'm just gonna drill in about 1000 swings this weekend making sure to flare the toes, and keep the weight on the heels.

[TJBam]

You can really pop that thing.  Bet you hit a lot of sweet spots.

It looks like you're trying to shift your weight backward but it is still upfront and your body drops a little bit over your exaggerated front knee bend .  Then you correct by tip toeing on your downswing.  It is hard to tell without a front view.

What sport did you play growing up/high school/college? Had to be hockey or baseball lol.

[Slice of Life]

Originally Posted by TJBam

You can really pop that thing.  Bet you hit a lot of sweet spots.

It looks like you're trying to shift your weight backward but it is still upfront and your body drops a little bit over your exaggerated front knee bend .  Then you correct by tip toeing on your downswing.  It is hard to tell without a front view.

What sport did you play growing up/high school/college? Had to be hockey or baseball lol.

I grew up playing a lot of baseball, and played Rugby in college. Past couple years I've just played golf and volleyball though.

I know I have a lot to fix, and can't fix it all at once, so I'll work on mac's advice, and once I feel like that's become muscle memory, I'll start working on something else.

[mvmac]

Originally Posted by Slice of Life

That makes sense. I can see that my front foot is completely off the hell on the backswing, and the knees are all over the place.

Thanks, I'm just gonna drill in about 1000 swings this weekend making sure to flare the toes, and keep the weight on the heels.

Yeah the knee rotates in too far, heel lifts and looks like the entire lower body shifts to the right.  Makes hitting the ball solid much harder.  So left knee flexes over left ankle, keep the left foot planted.  May FEEL like there is more weight or pressure into your left foot on the back swing, but that won't really be happening.

[Slice of Life]

Originally Posted by mvmac

Yeah the knee rotates in too far, heel lifts and looks like the entire lower body shifts to the right.  Makes hitting the ball solid much harder.  So left knee flexes over left ankle, keep the left foot planted.  May FEEL like there is more weight or pressure into your left foot on the back swing, but that won't really be happening.

Yeah, I never really noticed it until I watched it. Thanks for the flex tip, if I just flex my left quad on the backswing, the knee can't bend in and it actually helps me shorten the backswing too.

Once I have that locked in, I'll upload a new vid.

Thanks guys!

[Slice of Life]

Played 18 today and struck the ball waaaaaaayyyy better based on just that one tip mac. Awesome.

Here's a vid of my 8 iron shot on a 150 yard par 3, hit this one outside in I think, so it faded a little right just off the green...looks like the clubface was square at impact and the backswing looks 10x better. I still don't like the follow through, or my body position at impact though. And I think my left knee is still bending and coming in too much. Gotta work on flexing that quad more, but I'm able to keep the weight on my heels now which has helped.

[Slice of Life]

Wow...what a difference a few days can make. Here's the top of the backswing...left was today, right was Thursday.

[saevel25]

Watch out for the arch in your lower back. This can inhibit hip rotation.

[Slice of Life]

Originally Posted by saevel25

Watch out for the arch in your lower back. This can inhibit hip rotation.

In which part of the swing? Or are you talking about the setup?

[saevel25]

All the above. It puts a really limit on your ability to rotate your hips efficently in the swing.

[saevel25]

Things i notice

1) arched back

2) when your hands are belt buckle high, the clubhead is way behind the hands, though your not bad at the top.

3) At A6, the clubhead is way outside the hands, this will cause a pull and slice all day long

I would say you might be to close to the ball at address. You have a hard time getting through the ball, and you seem really tight through impact (hands moving infront of the body).