My Swing (TheLawFirm)

[TheLawFirm]

I've been Playing Golf for: 3 Months

My current handicap index or average score is: Mid-90s

My typical ball flight is: Low Fade/Slice

The shot I hate or the "miss" I'm trying to reduce/eliminate is: My fierce slice right

2 things:

1- Recently experienced left knee pain on inside (right side of knee), how do I stop that from happening?

2- Is this a swing I can really grow into a good player with?

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Videos:

[Ole_Tom_Morris]

As for #1, one can see how you might be stressing your left knee.

1.   You seem to take a stance with your feet rather far apart.  IMHO that tends to restrict movement and to put more stress on your knees when your legs are active during the swing.    You might try taking a somewhat narrower stance and see if it helps.  I have a bias toward a narrow stance.

2.   Looks like your feet at a right angle to the address position.   It is most common to either have your right foot at a right angle perpendicular to the line of address (I get weird and actually may have my right foot pigeon-toed and angling to the target and my left foot perpendicular) and your left foot splayed left between 30 and 45 degrees, OR to have both your feet pointing out slightly.   IMVHO that is a matter of comfort and not mandatory to a good golf swing, though for learning purposes it is better to try what pros do first.   But you might experiment a bit with foot angle and see what feels best.

3.  It looks like your legs are very active in your swing.   I don't think that's a bad thing necessarily, though others on here may have a different opinion.   The older style swings did use the legs a lot.   The modern style is to keep the legs quiet and to get your swing arc out of the shoulder turn and not by using the legs; the power of the swing comes from the angle of the shoulders vis-a-vis the pelvis, and some power players keep their pelvis and feet open while taking a gigantic turn the other way with their shoulders.   So you could concentrate on your shoulder turn and limiting the motion of your legs and pelvis to stress your knee less to help your knee.

Question #2.  This is outside my expertise, but that won't stop me from commenting.   Most folk on here will tell you there is a right way to swing a golf club and a wrong way.   I suggest that whatever gives a good result is fine, whether you swing like Jim Furyk, Miller Barber, Ray Floyd, or Bobby Locke.   Those guys made good money out of swings that would give a modern golf pro nightmares.     Arnold (Palmer not Schwartzenegger) said to take a good grip and keep your head still and not to worry about what goes on in between.  Reassuring advice that is not always correct. But everybody's swing is different, thank goodness.

[Ole_Tom_Morris]

I tried to edit my post but wasn't able to do so.   What I would add is this.

At about 13-14 seconds, it looks like your right leg is straight and that you are over-rotating your hips on the backswing.  Traditionally, we were advised to keep some bend in the right knee to avoid over-rotation.

There's a thread in these forums to the effect that there is no problem with swinging back against a straight right leg.  Iacas said in still another thread that some pro players have no bend in the right knee.   I don't agree with that, but take a look at that thread about the myth of the straight right leg for yourself.

Where over-rotation comes in is that if you over-rotate, it puts your left knee at an exaggerated angle, which could account for your knee pain.

And btw I don't see anything fundamentally wrong with your swing, except that you use your legs and hips during the swing more than most.   How that might tie in with a slice, I can't say.

Thing about our golf swings is that they can be our swings , and not swings rented or borrowed from somebody else.

[TheLawFirm]

Thanks for pointing these things out to me Tom! Very very very helpful

I think the power coming from the legs and hips, as well as the wide stance and even foot position, comes from my background as a hockey player but I should do my best to keep my hockey shot and golf swing separate. I see what you mean about the stance, leg movement and over swing all contributing to the knee issue.

I'm going to spend time on the range tomorrow to work on the angles and distance of my feet during stance and focus more on my shoulder turn while reducing leg/hip turn.

And on the point about the individual golf swing, I like your point and I guess I should just go with my natural swing while still sticking to the fundamentals--I also kind of like the idea that it's my swing and no one else's.

Your pointers are definitely going to help my game and my health, so cheers, I (and my knee) thank you!

[Ole_Tom_Morris]

I did not mean I saw anything funky about your swing.  Looks fine except that your hips move too much in the backswing.   If you are slicing, there is something wrong somewhere,  grip, address or swing path, I have no clue what.

In the backswing, the shoulders move 90 degrees or more, while the pelvis moves about 45 degrees.  I do think you over-rotate with the hips.

[res0n0xg]

definitely seems like a decent starter swing, hard to tell everything without the other angle to analyze. I can see you're definitely taking a bit too much backswing.... You're coming way past parallel and it's definitely going to hurt your control and ability to make changes to your swing.

you should start trying to take half that much backswing, but still swing down aggressively and as you usually would, and post that video. You'd be surprised to see that it looks like a full swing to the rest of us.

[iacas]

Originally Posted by Ole_Tom_Morris

I tried to edit my post but wasn't able to do so.   What I would add is this.

At about 13-14 seconds, it looks like your right leg is straight and that you are over-rotating your hips on the backswing.  Traditionally, we were advised to keep some bend in the right knee to avoid over-rotation.

There's a thread in these forums to the effect that there is no problem with swinging back against a straight right leg.  Iacas said in still another thread that some pro players have no bend in the right knee.   I don't agree with that, but take a look at that thread about the myth of the straight right leg for yourself.

Where over-rotation comes in is that if you over-rotate, it puts your left knee at an exaggerated angle, which could account for your knee pain.

And btw I don't see anything fundamentally wrong with your swing, except that you use your legs and hips during the swing more than most.   How that might tie in with a slice, I can't say.

Thing about our golf swings is that they can be our swings, and not swings rented or borrowed from somebody else.

I'm not a big fan of your characterization of what I've said in the past.

Keeping the same flex as at address I'm against.

Decreasing flex in the rear knee is something almost all PGA Tour players do.

Locking your knee fully straight I've never said I care for, though I'd take that over "keeping the same flex as at address" just about every time.

[TheLawFirm]

Thanks res, I've noticed that I have a big backswing but it's hard for me to change it sometimes because I subconsciously I feel like I'm not going to put any power on the ball without it. I'll be sure to the half backswing but still swing aggressively, I should fix it before it gets further ingrained in me.

Also I'll be sure to put up a video of my swing from the other angle too

[brood211]

Flipping hands too much to the inside on takeaway.. Your wrists and left arm are too active... Poor hip turn and weight transfer.  Need to brace on inside of right leg and keep flex in right knee.

Practice with a PW clubhead under your right foot and keep the angle in the shaft thoughout the entire swing.

Also practice takeaway by brushing back a tennis ball and can do towel drill under arms to keep connected.

[Ole_Tom_Morris]

Originally Posted by iacas

I'm not a big fan of your characterization of what I've said in the past.

Keeping the same flex as at address I'm against.

Decreasing flex in the rear knee is something almost all PGA Tour players do.

Locking your knee fully straight I've never said I care for, though I'd take that over "keeping the same flex as at address" just about every time.

Sorry, IACAS.   I reviewed your posts in that other thread and find you are correct;  I misquoted you.

[stb5089]

For some starting ideas to take to the practice range.

You do not need that much knee flex at address, take a little bit of that out.

Take the club away with the shoulders and not your hands.  I noticed you have an immediate wrist cock. Big muscles are more accurate than smaller ones. shoulders > wrists. Focus on a shoulder turn and coiling your left oblique and then set your wrists near the top of the swing.

Shorten your swing up.  You are taking the club a good ways past parallel. This should let you have better accuracy.

Hope this helps!

[jb57]

Advise less hip turn as well. Shorten the back swing. Stay controlled. A balanced, controlled strike on the ball will carry farther than a big out of balance swing. Straighter too. Keep the lower body quiet, turn the shoulders, keep your feet planted and weight balanced. Turning the hips too much reduces your coil, no matter how great your shoulder turn my be. Power is in the coiling of your upper body. It creates a tension, like a spring being wound up. If you twist the top of a spring, it creates tension. If you do that, then twist the bottom of the spring the same direction as well, you lose the tension (power). Make sense? Shoulder turn 90* if you can, hips only 45* or less.

I'm working on that too. Keeping my feet firm, not picking up the heels etc. Just working on a good coil of the shoulders, then turning the belt buckle to the target. So, back to target, then belt buckle to target. Shoulders rotate on plane, not vertical up n down.

Just think of coiling up a spring... spring is your spine angle, twist the top of the spring to coil and create tension, then release. Let your arms fall into plane, don't try to swing... the rotation of your lower body (hips and belly) toward the target will uncoil your torso, and propel your arms through impact.

[rustyredcab]

I'm old and have bad knees and a dab back. Here's what I understand my pro advises to take stress off knees and back. (nothing original -- but sound advise)

Point your lead foot more on like 45* down the line (you are close to 90*). Swing into that flexed forward leg right down the foot line. You are doing it but instead of flexing into the ball off the foot, you are flexing into the outside of the 90* foot. One of my swing thoughts is "swing into my flexed forward foot."

As others have said, you have a great swing for such a new-to-the-game player.

[TheLawFirm]

So many great suggestions! I just wanted to let you guys all know I took all of your collective advice and it's worked wonders--I shot under 90 twice these past 2 weeks because of my new accuracy, a big milestone for me! While I still have a wider stance, still cock the wrist a bit and I do not feel comfortable without a 90* left foot (all things I am still trying to work on) I have reduced my swing length to go to parallel and reduced hip turn and usage of the lower body and this is the product--the video is just my driver swing but I think you'll get the idea:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fIREE9KZ2g

Anyways, HUGE thanks to all of you for contributing you've helped my game tremendously!

[TheLawFirm]

Didn't emb the video, so reposting... I do notice I still retain some of the old flaws but I'm on the road to fixing them!