My Swing (Slice of Life)

[geauxforbroke]

Originally Posted by Slice of Life

Shot 9 by myself today. Didn't keep score, just dropped balls and hit them. Worked on short game for about an hour, then went through all 9 holes playing 3-4 balls.

I was tempted to keep score, because the first hole (short par 5, only played 1 ball) I hit a great drive down the middle of the fairway, and then from 210, hit my hybrid on the front of the green. Missed the 15 foot eagle putt by about 2 inches...would have been my first eagle, but I never complain about a tap in birdie.

Get a chance to practice some bunker shots?

[Slice of Life]

Originally Posted by geauxforbroke

Get a chance to practice some bunker shots?

0 bunkers to be had at this course. lol

I did practice a lot of bunker like shots with the ball fluffed up in some heavy rough...closest I could get.

[mdl]

Originally Posted by Slice of Life

I know it doesn't make sense, but I'm more accurate the harder I swing with my driver. When I try to hit it easy, it's horrendously bad.

I've had periods like this too.  I still definitely struggle with inconsistency with my driver, especially round to round (some days I'm feeling it all day, but a lot of days it'll take until hole 12-15 to figure out the driver).  But trust me, you want to learn to hit a driver well when your swing feels mellow.  I know you sometimes see pros say they go after it cause they know they'll hit it better then.  But they're not talking about the difference between keeping the ball in the fairway and hitting 10% of fairways with 2-4 OBs.  They're talking about hitting 50% of fairways vs. 60% of fairways, with the fairways hit in a better position.

When I've gone through periods of hitting it better when I swing really hard, there's always a wall at MUCH less overall accuracy and consistency than I want to work towards, with the swinging hard sort of accidentally giving me some timing to overcome some swing flaws that are holding me back.

In my experience at least, it's worth it to suffer through what feels like even less control to swing smoother.  With video work and posting here and whatnot to help you figure out what flaws are the ones really holding you back, swinging easier has helped me actually be able to FEEL what it's like to swing with the flaw and to swing with the right fix.  When I try to cover it up by just swinging hard and relying on athleticism, then yes, I'm an athletic guy so I'll have some days where I hit it way better than with a smoother swing that accentuates my current swing flaws, but it never lets me get the feel of a long term fix so I never take that next step up in consistency.

Congrats on the break through round by the way.  Those days are SO fun!

[Dabzy]

I think you have a swing very much like mine, when you start your back swing, it looks to me your bringing your driver out to in, which in turn, when you come back down, your following the same path, striking the ball which is sending it left, but generating a massive amount of clockwise spin which is sending it right on its flight.

Ideally, your need to bring the club back quicker, and when you are building your backswing, you need to be at the top as if your holding a tee tray, this promotes an in to out swing and as such, doesnt generate that spin thats killing you and you might get a small fade instead (Or even straight)

I used a great exercise on the range using training sticks (Or otherwise known as a couple of clubs, lol), basically, have one club set down on the floor to keep your feet square, then another set up behind the ball (When you are looking at it in your stance) at an angle that promotes an in to out shot, then, when your swinging the driver, always try to keep your driver parallel with the front club behind the ball, dont worry about your follow through yet, just try and create that in to out swing, this will straighten things up instantly.

When your comfy with that, you'll be where I am at now, working on the follow through, for some odd reason, it feels unnatural with a driver, but when I manage to connect and follow through correctly, I generate even less side spin, it goes as straight as a die and far.

Hope that helps... As I feel your pain and this is what worked for me after struggling for ages with it.

Dabz

EDIT: Oh, and dont over do the top of the backswing, that looks like your bringing it too far over too, the club at the top of the swing should be pointing at the target, if you catch it in your eye while swinging, you've went too far, this unsettles your setup and you may lose that arc you've built on the backswing, then when coming back down, you will then naturally try to compensate for it and by then... Its probably game over... So keep an eye on that! :)

[Slice of Life]

Originally Posted by Dabzy

Dabz

I assume this post was based on my original video. My swing is drastically different now, but you're absolutely correct about the path and pull-slicing. I'll get a new video up.

Anyway,

Trying to get as much practice in as possible lately. Have a really competitive round coming up Saturday, and I need to kick this guys ass. Played last night, didn't keep score but hit the ball ok. Putting was terrible. The driver is getting more and more consistent...before it got dark, I hit 3/5 fairways, and one I only missed by a foot, and the other I intentionally outdrove the fairway but it was right in the middle. Was shaping my shots well, hit draws when needed, fades...etc.,

Irons are still...there. I mean, they aren't chunky and/or think, but I'm still having clubface issues. More slow motion garage drills to do.

On the bright side, I found myself in sand all night. I think I had 4 greenside bunker shots, and I played all of them really well (for me). All out and onto the green within the 5-15 ft range, which is all I need right now.

[Slice of Life]

It's been too long since I've posted in here....

Still making a lot of progress. 0 fat or thin iron shots today. A couple that got away either left or right, but all solid contact...and that's helped me score better. Shot a personal best 86 today, and couldn't putt to save my life. Only 1 birdie, and that was a par 5 that I reached in two....

Speaking of that, I was a GPS confirmed 310 yards from the pin on said par 5...guys ahead of us are on the green, my buddy crushes his 3 wood from the same spot as me and ends up about 70 yards short, then I go and just absolutely blast it to what looks like the left center of the green. Feeling bad, I drive up to apologize and see my ball actually about 15 yards passed the green...

I go up and apologize, tell him I was way way beyond even my crushed 3 wood distance and it was an abnormal shot, and he said thanks and that he got mad because he thought we were hitting into them and kicked my ball off the green. lol

He grabbed my ball and walked over to place it back where it stopped. Haha...always a first...

Anyway, I'll get some new video up soon, but it's starting to click pretty well. Lots of drills at the range, and I'm finally comfortable taking full swings on the course.

[iacas]

Originally Posted by Slice of Life

Anyway, I'll get some new video up soon, but it's starting to click pretty well. Lots of drills at the range, and I'm finally comfortable taking full swings on the course.

Can you define "full swings"? How long are they? And what are you doing on the range?

A badge may or may not hinge on your answers…

[Slice of Life]

Originally Posted by iacas

Can you define "full swings"? How long are they? And what are you doing on the range?

A badge may or may not hinge on your answers…

Haha...by full swing, I mean feeling like I'm stopping the backswing 1/4 of the way up, but it's really between 3/4 and parallel. Swings are shortened and I'm not swinging as hard...resulting in more distance...counter-intuitive...

And by range work, it's mostly been mid iron drills, short backswing with a halted follow through checking clubhead position and watching for "flipping". I think I'm finally past the gangly teenager phase...

[theworldengine]

Your strange way of bragging rubs me the wrong throughout this thread. Need to see more swing vids and less about how you hit 300 yds OB.

[Slice of Life]

Originally Posted by theworldengine

Your strange way of bragging rubs me the wrong throughout this thread. Need to see more swing vids and less about how you hit 300 yds OB.

Well, it is a thread about my own personal golf experience and improvement, so when I hit good shots, or get a ton of distance on a shot, I'm gonna post about it. Common sense is difficult to comprehend sometimes I guess. Shooting high 80s and talking about how my putting sucks is hardly bragging.

Your strange way of unnecessarily being an ass rubs me the wrong way.

[Slice of Life]

Here, to appease, I'll post how I guess I should be posting in here...

Well guys, after working with Erik and spending tons of time on my game, I continue to get worse. My driver distance is now under 200 yards, and I haven't hit a quality shot in months. I did manage to lip in a 2' putt the other day though, so it's looking up.

Doing drills at the range, but it isn't helping...I still can't hit my irons and look like I've never played golf before in my life. Shot a personal best 157 yesterday on a par 3 course...more to come...

Here's a new swing video:

[theworldengine]

I doubt you shoot high 80 only because your putting stinks, where are your GIR stats? It seems like you have a long way to go with ball striking, and for that we need swing vids.

[Slice of Life]

Originally Posted by theworldengine

I doubt you shoot high 80 only because your putting stinks, where are your GIR stats? It seems like you have a long way to go with ball striking, and for that we need swing vids.

No, not "only because", I never stated that, nor would I ever state that. I've said multiple times that my ball-striking needs work, and is the worst part of my game. If my putting would have been better, I would have still been in the low to mid 80s, so clearly my ball-striking needs work.

" Still making a lot of progress. 0 fat or thin iron shots today. A couple that got away either left or right, but all solid contact...and that's helped me score better." How does that imply I'm hitting every GIR? It says I'm making progress, and my mishits are no longer chunkers or topped shots, they're just left or right of the target.

As far as GIR stats, I haven't kept records, but I've been around 5-6 GIR per round average the past month or so, which is up from 0-2 average earlier in the season. IIRC, I hit 6 GIR yesterday, and 4 in a 9 hole round on Tuesday.

Anyway, not sure where the hate is coming from, it looks like you took 1 or 2 posts and formed an opinion. That's fine I guess, but I'm not sure where you're getting your info.

I posted that I'll post up a video soon, and I will.

[Ernest Jones]

Your strange way of bragging rubs me the wrong throughout this thread. Need to see more swing vids and less about how you hit 300 yds OB.

No one said you had to read and comment on anyone's swing thread. Comments like these add zero value to the thread.

[cipher]

Originally Posted by Ernest Jones

No one said you had to read and comment on anyone's swing thread. Comments like these add zero value to the thread.

Exactly, I don't see any of this thread as bragging.

[Slice of Life]

Originally Posted by cipher

Exactly, I don't see any of this thread as bragging.

Thanks guys, I didn't see it that way either, but I thought maybe I was delusional...

Either way, hope to have a new video with face on and caddie view shots by the end of the week.

[Hacker James]

Originally Posted by Slice of Life

Thanks guys, I didn't see it that way either, but I thought maybe I was delusional...

Either way, hope to have a new video with face on and caddie view shots by the end of the week.

For that matter, I do not see any swing vids of the "complainant's" either.

[iacas]

twe now restricted from the thread.