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My Swing (JonMA1)


JonMA1
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That makes sense. With enough reps of just doing that, seems like it would slowly become more of a normal progression from address to the start of the downswing. Thank you Erik.

Jon

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  • 3 weeks later...

I've been fortunate enough to hit outside this week but I'm a bit discouraged. Really thought I'd pick up some distance by getting my weight a bit forward but that doesn't seem to be the case. The trajectory is what I want and on most shots I'm making pretty decent contact - at least they feel like their hitting the center of the face - I just can't seem to increase my swing speed.

Oh well, just have to keep working on it and see where I'm at in the Spring.

Jon

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  • 2 weeks later...

Still trying to get a better shoulder turn while keeping my head still. One thing I'm starting to wonder about is whether my hands need to be very high at the top. I know my shoulders should be turning 90 and my hips 45, but I'm not sure I need my hands to be high. My timing gets very screwed up with the extra distance my hands travel and I don't feel any extra power.

After reading this thread...

http://thesandtrap.com/t/35195/shorter-probably-better-swing-keep-the-right-arm-straight

...I thought I'd found an answer. Shots into the net were as consistent and solid as they've ever been. I just had to make sure I hinged my wrists at the top and maintained the angle all the way down. As long as I kept my hands low and shifted my weight, "lag happens".

Unfortunately, when I started to record and view my swing, it showed I'd reverted back to some bad habits (weight going back).

Man, this stuff is hard for me. If I can't control this in my practice area, I don't have a prayer of doing it on the course next season. When I got to this point last year I said "f#$k it" and just went with what felt good. I don't want that to happen this year.

If I don't accomplish anything else this winter, I at least want to at least improve on

1. making a centered turn (no hip slide back)

2. keeping my head steady (steadier)

3. shifting my weight forward even if it's just a bit more than last year.

I want these things to be "natural" where I don't have to think about them.

Jon

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If I don't accomplish anything else this winter, I at least want to at least improve on

1. making a centered turn (no hip slide back)

2. keeping my head steady (steadier)

3. shifting my weight forward even if it's just a bit more than last year.

I want these things to be "natural" where I don't have to think about them.

Those are good goals. You're probably closer to them than you realize, too.

You're probably going to want to watch the right elbow sooner rather than later, but in a bit of a different way…

…and…

You may actually end up flexing the right elbow SOONER, and then MAINTAINING that flex during the rest of the backswing. Right now, it's very straight, then has to flex quickly to get to even 90° and predictably goes behind you and bends a bit too much.

Erik J. Barzeski —  I knock a ball. It goes in a gopher hole. 🏌🏼‍♂️
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  • 3 weeks later...

I went to the simulator today and took a journal with me to write down some stats.

Irons

My average distances between were about 15 yards shorter than I would play on the course. But in all fairness, hitting a 100yd duff with a 5 iron really hurts the average on 10 swings. If I were to disregard my shortest and longest shots, I would probably be 5 -10 yards short of my "stock distances".

The good:

1. As a whole, my irons dispersion wasn't bad. Was playing new irons for the first time and they seem to help in this area - too soon to tell.

2. Was checking the face of the irons and shots seemed to be impacting more towards the center but till a bit towards the heel on some. Found it easy to make adjustment however.

3. Long irons (6, 5, 4)  felt pretty good.

The not so good:

1. Distances were shorter than I hoped although the longest shots were pretty encouraging. Still hit some duffs and pop ups.

2. Could not control ball flight today. Most were slight hooks and slight slices. Launch angles seemed low. Overall, nothing that would get me in much trouble, just would have missed some greens

3. Short and mid irons were pretty bad. It was like I didn't know how to make a full swing with them.

Driver

The good:

1. Average drive was 220yds (roll) despite not swinging that club much this winter. That includes my first swing - a short drive of 180. Had a couple that were 245. The last few swings were 230 and above and much closer to the target line.

2. Felt like I had control on hitting the ball square. Didn't tape the front of the driver, but it didn't feel like contact was all over the face. No popups.

The not so good:

1. As with the irons, I couldn't hit a push draw today. My shot dispersion was pretty wide (140 + yds) which included my worst shots. When I made adjustments for a hook, I would slice it, and vice versa. Started hitting the last few down the middle, but very little right to left flight.

2. Very low launch angle. Average of 8 degrees with a 10.5 driver. Last week, I cracked the crown of my driver teeing the ball up higher. Got to work on getting the low point of the swing back.

Observations/notes:

1. Slower tempo produced the longest shots with each iron. Struggled with my take-away as I continue to work on what iacas suggested above, but there is light at the end of the tunnel.

2. Could feel weight (hips) getting forward on every shot, but I can never tell if I'm shifting my head or hips back on the backswing unless I take video - I suspect I was.

3. My thighs were really sore afterwards which I take as a good sign. One of my objectives this winter was to improve my swing from the ground up - feet, knees, hips.

4. Trying to simplify the entire swing.

5. Short irons may become a priority piece once I get outside in the spring. I'm tired of missing greens from 120 yards and closer.

Jon

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  • 3 weeks later...

Looking much better all the time Jon!

"The expert golfer has maximum time to make minimal compensations. The poorer player has minimal time to make maximum compensations." - And no, I'm not Mac. Please do not PM me about it. I just think he is a crazy MFer and we could all use a little more crazy sometimes.

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Those are good goals. You're probably closer to them than you realize, too.

Looking much better all the time Jon!

Some nice speed there Jon!

Any improvement is due 100% to The Sand Trap .

I still have so far to go in making this stuff stick, but I can't imagine how bad things would be without everyone's help. Thank you!!!

Jon

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  • 3 weeks later...

I have the better part of a month and a half before the courses open up here. In another month the ground might be clear enough of snow for me to hit outside. Watching ball flight is critical for me for assessing and making adjustments.

While I plan on improving keys 4 and 5 during this time,  I have some work left on keys 1-3, particularly key #1 and the tendency for me to move my head back/up and often my hips back in an effort to make a full shoulder turn.

What I hope will help me accomplish a swing to take into the season includes:

1. Apply pressure to the inside right leg and instep helps prevent my hips from swaying back. Bend left knee inward some to help accomplish hip rotation in the BS leading to...

2. Full shoulder turn, hands have to get high but not back: http://thesandtrap.com/t/54572/right-elbow-spacing-at-a4/18#post_1088543 Rotating my hips more will help accomplish this http://thesandtrap.com/t/76114/how-to-make-a-centered-hip-turn .

3. Concentrate on keeping my head steadier. It's still going back away from target and coming up.

4. Might need some work on maintaining my posture - probably more than just a tweak. I think I'm am coming up a bit at the top of my backswing.

5. What I hope will be one of only a couple of swing thoughts while playing - think "swing plane". Feel the club head and shaft angle and how it relates to shoulder and torso turn.

6. Soft wrists and arms. Slow, easy start to the downswing transition. Don't worry as much about forcing wrist angles to create lag. If I get my weight forward, my hands are low and past the ball at impact, and I hit the ball first then I think my lag is good. http://thesandtrap.com/t/66573/how-to-effectively-create-lag-on-the-downswing

If I want consistent results, none of these things matter if I don't hit more towards the center of the club face. Errant shots I thought were a result of improper face angle all last year, I realize now were almost certainly shanks. I think making center face contact will take a long time to develop.

With the exception of #5 on my list, none of these are swing thoughts, just methods and goals I hope to accomplish or improve upon. I'm just now starting to understand what went wrong with a shot based on feel. If it's true that we all have consistent swings (good or bad), there's hope I can develop a consistently proper swing. With me, this stuff is going to take years.

Jon

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This is the first down the line video I've taken in two years. Sorry about the quality. Anyway, I don't know very much about analyzing swings, but thought I'd give this a shot as there seems to be a few major problems. Please bear with my terminology as I'm sure I"ll butcher something...

Probably the most important and possibly the hardest to fix it that I'm getting out of posture and causing a "fail" on key #1. All the good players stay level or even drop a bit when they start their downswing. I'm doing the opposite.

The second major flaw is that there's no flex in my knees. I'm hoping this might be an easier fix, maybe it should be my priority.

A few other things... I'm getting below/outside (??) the plane between A2 and A3. Obviously, I don't know much abut it, but I think the plane isn't a total train wreck before and after that., it's too steep and maybe a bit over the top. Also, hips aren't rotating enough. I didn't really expect it to look like pro's swing.

Jon

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I tried to follow most of the thread.  You seem like you've made some significant strides since the first video.  Is your clubface a bit shut and your left arm a bit too slack?  I think that might be contributing to the "swing it inside and reroute OTT move".  Nice improvement in the hip action though.  Your right hip actually moves back and up compared with the first video.  Good change there.

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I tried to follow most of the thread.  You seem like you've made some significant strides since the first video.  Is your clubface a bit shut and your left arm a bit too slack?  I think that might be contributing to the "swing it inside and reroute OTT move".  Nice improvement in the hip action though.  Your right hip actually moves back and up compared with the first video.  Good change there.

Thanks for the comments.

Yes, I've been told my club face is too closed at address. I don't know enough about the swing to look for club face position in the rest of the swing. Can you elaborate on the left arm?  I really appreciate the help.

Jon

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The second major flaw is that there's no flex in my knees. I'm hoping this might be an easier fix, maybe it should be my priority.

I agree with that, it will help the head dip on the backswing and the hip turn. When the leg is straightish at address and the right hip is propped up, you don't have anything to turn with because you're almost in your A4 lower body position.

Add some knee flex and start with the hips more level at address, just adding the knee flex may take care of the hips. By level I'm referring to the face on view, don't have the right hip higher than the left. That will give the right hip "room" to turn up and around.

Mike McLoughlin

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Add some knee flex and start with the hips more level at address, just adding the knee flex may take care of the hips. By level I'm referring to the face on view, don't have the right hip higher than the left. That will give the right hip "room" to turn up and around.


Thank you sir.

Jon

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Massive improvement from your first post! Good job. Are the scores coming down?

Yours in earnest, Jason.
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Massive improvement from your first post! Good job. Are the scores coming down?


Thanks, man. As I've stated before, if there's improvement it's because of this site. All the information is here. At every skill level there's more knowledge than most of us can absorb with one reading. And all you guys (members, forum leaders, moderators) do a great job of sending consistent suggestions and instruction.

The scores haven't come down as much as I'd hoped (do they ever?), but slow progress beats the heck out of none at all.

Jon

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Jon, That is an amazing improvement in your swing!

5 Simple Keys® Associate

"Golf is not a game of great shots. It's a game of the most accurate misses.

The people who win make the smallest mistakes." - Gene Littler

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Note: This thread is 1983 days old. We appreciate that you found this thread instead of starting a new one, but if you plan to post here please make sure it's still relevant. If not, please start a new topic. Thank you!

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