My Swing (JonMA1)

[iacas]

Jon, That is an amazing improvement in your swing!

Seriously!

People sometimes lose sight of the changes they make when they're "smaller" and "over time." Just take a bigger leap back and you may surprise yourself.

[mvmac]

How awesome is that!

[JonMA1]

I can't even look at those old videos, and all I see when l look at the recent ones are flaws that I want to improve upon (got real tired of the poor play last year).

But I get what you're saying... just try to enjoy this upcoming season.

I owe you guys.

[JonMA1]

The last couple of nights practicing have been very encouraging. Even a night earlier in the week that started out badly ended well which was a victory by virtue of being able to work through a little adversity.

1. My iron distances are nothing awe-inspiring but the ease at which I'm reaching those numbers is providing a great deal of confidence in terms of keeping the shots straight.

2. Swung the 3 wood outside for the first time yesterday. Had a bit of trouble getting the ball up when hitting from the turf. I teed it up slightly today and felt a bit better. Using the same method as I do with the driver, I was able to control the ball spin and turn hooks into nice draws. With my lack of distance however, I really need to hit those woods off the fairway.

3. If I can pick up where I left off at the end of last year with the driver, I'll feel pretty good going into the season.

I've been at this long enough not to get too giddy about a couple good practices. This year does feel different however because I feel like I know more about swing mechanics. I'm hoping that the inevitable down-turns can be more easily corrected because of that knowledge. We'll see. I'm not going to be breaking 90 any time soon, but I am cautiously optimistic about improved consistency (shot results).

[JonMA1]

A couple of course are finally opening this weekend and I'm not even looking forward to it. Practices have been a roller coaster ride of inconsistent ball striking. I have little control for more than a few shots in a row. One minute, a good ball strike is the easiest thing in the world and the next, nearly impossible.

The funny thing is that Key #1 looks better on video than it ever has. Pretty sure the issues stem from inconsistent mechanics in my lower body (if everybody has a consistent looking swing, I'm the exception). I'm even hitting shots fat again - something I wasn't doing much of at all last season. Failure to execute keys 2 and 3.

It's weeks like this where I can see the advantage to having a good instructor. I don't have a very good feel or "compass" for staying on the right track so it's always one step forward, two steps back.

What I absolutely cannot do is get over confident when things are going well. It's not like I'm going to wake up one morning and suddenly be good at this game.

Things to work on once the season starts:

1. Driver, fairway woods

2. Short game and putting.

[JonMA1]

Played one set of tees further back today so I could work on my driver. All I can say is wow! 10 penalties in18 holes of golf, 9 with the driver (which included 4 double penalties).

On a positive note, my iron play was scary good. I've loosened my grip just a bit and my distances have increased (even with the cold temps). I was hitting almost everything clean, getting the proper distances and for many of my shots, was on left and right. It felt good to hit greens with a full swing for a change - even if they weren't in regulation. I hit one fat 8 iron that failed to clear the swamp.

Putting was a bit better, wedge play a bit worse. The few fairway wood shots I took were pretty good. I even hit a successful cut shot to get around a tree with the 5wood.

So, I have to work on my driver this week. I always assume there'll be at least one or two penalties every round but today was ridiculous. Almost all hooks so timing and proper swing path (I think). I really need to become more disciplined with my practicing.

One other positive, the bad driver play didn't really frustrate me. It's just something that needs work.

[JonMA1]

Took some video tonight after a bout of poor short iron play. Right away I saw something that looked wrong that I hadn't seen in any of my prior videos.

I had been gradually increasing the weight towards my lead foot at the top of the backswing. A little bit of that seemed to be beneficial. Human nature being what it is, if a little bit is good, a lot will be better, right? Not so much.

Pretty sure it was at the point of a reverse pivot - at least that's what I immediately thought of with the first video. Anyway, as soon as I backed off, contact improved. Looking forward to taking it outside tomorrow to see if that's really what the flaw was.

[JonMA1]

5 iron

Pitching Wedge

[JonMA1]

More of the same high scores today. I'm at a bit of a loss as to how I should proceed.

My full swing "feels" better with most clubs. Solid contact with a few (costly) exceptions today. Getting a few extra yards this year  - probably due to the new swing. Off-center hits are not that damaging - probably due to the new clubs.

The big issue is controlling direction. Even good contact with a short iron does little in the way of hitting greens. Despite proper alignment at setup and what I feel is a consistent backswing, sometimes the ball flight is a draw, sometimes a fade, a push, a pull... it's like a crap shoot so I can't even play the same type of miss every time. Yet, everything feels correct. Obviously my feels are not real (shocker!). For the first time since I've taken up this sport, I believe I'm doing something right yet my scores keep climbing.

I don't think I'm ready to move on to keys 4 and 5, but my scoring has regressed at least 2 years. Trying to think and plan my way through this is challenging. It's almost as though I don't know enough about the game to teach myself

For now, I'm going to keep trying to ingrain weight forward until that becomes natural - it's getting there from what I can tell. Maybe I'll take some DTL video to see if anything jumps out as being wrong.

[Lihu]

More of the same high scores today. I'm at a bit of a loss as to how I should proceed.

My full swing "feels" better with most clubs. Solid contact with a few (costly) exceptions today. Getting a few extra yards this year  - probably due to the new swing. Off-center hits are not that damaging - probably due to the new clubs.

I noticed in the video on post 80, that you lift your head very quickly around impact. Can keep your head steady a bit longer just after impact?

[iacas]

@JonMA1 , please take this the right way. It's possibly a sensitive topic so I just want to be clear that it's not my intent. I just want to help.

Do you have a nervous condition? Do you have to move around so much? I'm not sure but I feel like I'd lose five or more shots per round if my pre-shot routine was so "jittery" (for lack of a better word). A little bit of stillness (I'm not saying you need complete stillness) can help you "measure up" where the ball is and should help you strike it a bit more solidly. You start your swing from a very different place than you need to return the club at impact, and I just can't help but think it's going to make it tougher.

Now, if there's nothing you can do about it (a medical issue or whatever), that's fine, and good to know. But if you can, I think some effort should be devoted to it.

[JonMA1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JonMA1

More of the same high scores today. I'm at a bit of a loss as to how I should proceed.

My full swing "feels" better with most clubs. Solid contact with a few (costly) exceptions today. Getting a few extra yards this year  - probably due to the new swing. Off-center hits are not that damaging - probably due to the new clubs.

I noticed in the video on post 80, that you lift your head very quickly around impact. Can keep your head steady a bit longer just after impact?

Good observation and I'm surprised no one else has ever mentioned it. I'm not sure what the golf term is, but I think I come out of my posture just before and during impact. I'm sure I'm making some sort of compensation as a result. I will work on reducing that vertical movement. I've yet to see video of a good player whose head comes up before impact. Thanks @Lihu .

@JonMA1, please take this the right way. It's possibly a sensitive topic so I just want to be clear that it's not my intent. I just want to help.

Do you have a nervous condition? Do you have to move around so much? I'm not sure but I feel like I'd lose five or more shots per round if my pre-shot routine was so "jittery" (for lack of a better word). A little bit of stillness (I'm not saying you need complete stillness) can help you "measure up" where the ball is and should help you strike it a bit more solidly. You start your swing from a very different place than you need to return the club at impact, and I just can't help but think it's going to make it tougher.

Now, if there's nothing you can do about it (a medical issue or whatever), that's fine, and good to know. But if you can, I think some effort should be devoted to it.

Never been diagnosed with any disorder but it's a fair question (I'm impressed that as an instructor you'd ask it - seems important).

In any event, I will try and learn to remain still for a couple seconds before starting the backswing as a pre-shot routine.

Thank you both for taking the time to offer help.

[Lihu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lihu

Quote:

Originally Posted by JonMA1

More of the same high scores today. I'm at a bit of a loss as to how I should proceed.

My full swing "feels" better with most clubs. Solid contact with a few (costly) exceptions today. Getting a few extra yards this year  - probably due to the new swing. Off-center hits are not that damaging - probably due to the new clubs.

I noticed in the video on post 80, that you lift your head very quickly around impact. Can keep your head steady a bit longer just after impact?

Good observation and I'm surprised no one else has ever mentioned it. I'm not sure what the golf term is, but I think I come out of my posture just before and during impact. I'm sure I'm making some sort of compensation as a result. I will work on reducing that vertical movement. I've yet to see video of a good player whose head comes up before impact. Thanks @Lihu.

Sure, I hope that helps. I wanted to also comment that you appear to have some serious speed potential in your swing. . .

[JonMA1]

After shooting by far my lowest score on Friday, I rebounded with a round today that resembled my first year of playing. Not a big surprise, fully expected a fall back to reality. Things don't get that much better overnight and I knew the other day was an anomaly.

Now I just have to decide how to go forward. Leaning towards taking a few more lessons from the same instructor I had earlier last week. I just have to be committed towards working hard at this or it'll be a waste of my money and his time. Feeling a bit burnt out on the whole golf thing but it sure felt good to play well. And even though today was a disaster regarding the score, it felt good to walk 18.  Decisions... decisions.

[Lihu]

After shooting by far my lowest score on Friday, I rebounded with a round today that resembled my first year of playing. Not a big surprise, fully expected a fall back to reality. Things don't get that much better overnight and I knew the other day was an anomaly. Now I just have to decide how to go forward. Leaning towards taking a few more lessons from the same instructor I had earlier last week. I just have to be committed towards working hard at this or it'll be a waste of my money and his time. Feeling a bit burnt out on the whole golf thing but it sure felt good to play well. And even though today was a disaster regarding the score, it felt good to walk 18.  Decisions... decisions.

Did you walk during your lowest score? Walking takes more out of you than most people think, you're either pushing or carrying a full set of clubs. Builds strength in the legs, especially for 18. Personally, I feel good after 18 walking, but could probably play 36 holes driving a cart and not feel like I exercised at all. Walking is better in the long run.

[JonMA1]

Did you walk during your lowest score?

Yes. I usually walk when I play.

[JonMA1]

It didn't show up on the scorecard, but I played some pretty bad golf today. I try to understand what I did wrong on a day like today so I can take corrective action in the form of what to work on during practice while at the same time not overreacting. All signs point to a failure of key #1 which led to a failure of key #2, and so on. I wonder if this is common for other players. Do you get to a point where you feel like you can move on to the next key, only to have a relapse several months later????

Sliced the driver 3 out of 4 times where I had been fighting pushes and hooks all season. But the pitching wedge seemed to cause the most damage today. I've been working on that club a great deal of late. Don't have the same issues with the gap wedge or the 9 iron for some reason. Developed a specialty shot that has proven very controllable from 110 yards and in, but today I just couldn't hit the ball cleanly.

[JonMA1]

I've been working on key #4 a lot lately. My question is regarding the hands not the club head. From the top, do my hands follow a straight path down and out to arrive at the correct position at impact (swing towards first base as I was once told)? Or is the path of the hands more of a curve? Again, from the top view.

My results have varied, but it seems like I do better when they pass very tight to where my right hip was. Two things have to happen for this to work. First, I have to really make a full turn, and second, I have to make sure my weight doesn't get back to my right side during the transition. This has proven difficult at times and may be a key to my inconsistency.

I also have the swing thought that at impact, my hands need to be well past (target side) and well below (vertically) the position they were in at address. Probably an exaggerated feel.