My Swing (RandallT)

[RandallT]

Instructor feedback arrived, and it's stay the course. Improvement is happening, but it's mostly the same items. Tweaks are:

1. Improved stronger grip. Put the V more toward right shoulder, perhaps exaggerate some as my tendency is to weaken it over time.
2. At A6, really looking for club to be aligned parallel with my torso, clubface pointing sorta at the ball. I had thought vertical clubface when looking DTL, so I'll get comfortable with the clubface pointing more downward.

As I did drills today to isolate why I like to cup the wrist as I start the downswing, it is basically this:

• I sense a conflict between shallowing the club (which I feel is a move that opens the club)
• and the flattening of the wrist (which I feel is a move that closes the club)
• I find it easier to shallow the plane while I cup my wrists, since I perceive that those 2 actions complement each other,
• But when I shallow the club while keeping the left wrist flat, I feel some sort of conflict- so it's hard to do unless I stay very conscious about it. In slower motions.

[RandallT]

Couple new videos:

Improvement in the grip, most definitely. I'm now able to stand over the ball and grip it more strongly (without feeling I'm overdoing it). I've been working quite diligently on stopping my cupping, which has been proven to be a big part of why I've historically had weak push slices, I think.

While results here are better, I still have work to do converting the feels at home to when I swing at an actual ball. There's something different I do at the top of the backswing that I'm having trouble getting rid of (in my mind). Right at A4, I feel that I stand up, cup my wrist, and just look to shift myself around a bit awkwardly before I start the downswing. At home, I feel like I'm able to keep that much more in control. Also at home, my backswing is far more controlled and nowhere near parallel. 

On a very bright note, I think I can safely say that I now play a reliable draw. I was reluctant to declare that, but the last couple range sessions have been 90% draws. I also played a round last week, and over half of my shots on the course were draws. In past seasons, I have been a weak fade player (particularly with longer clubs), or a straight shot hitter.  

For now, it's back to work on the basics, and we shall see what shot shape shows up in the spring. I've written above a couple times about why I thought I might be cupping my left wrist, and mostly that was just a bunch of gobbledy-gook. Who knows why I did (or still do) that. At home now, I feel I've got a great feel for the wrists that I can do unconsciously with zero cupping, and the next step is to get more reps over a ball until I get stop thinking about it so much on video. Overall, I'm thrilled with how things are progressing, so I'll continue the daily routine and hope it continues to pay dividends.

 

[RandallT]

For the past few weeks, I have worked exclusively on:

1. Left wrist condition- keep on going with the anti-cupping work
2. Right elbow (primarily between A3-A4). Instructor showed me how I let my elbow fly out and back, especially when compared to Robert Rock DTL.
3. Grip (stronger than I'm naturally used to)
4. Ball position more forward than I'm used to.

Submitted these videos today:

 

My quick assessment (24Jan on left, 7Feb on right):

1. Left wrist improvement. Dynamically is also doesn't rev as much the wrong way at transition.
2. Right elbow seems closer to left, which is what my drills have been on.

     3. Ball position is a bit more forward. Perhaps not as drastic as I felt it was?

     4. Grip- I think it has stayed the same, but that's ok. I had already adjusted it by end of Jan- and I think I just need to keep it where it is until further notice from instructor.

 

Overall, I was striking the ball with my 7-iron beautifully today. I thought I hit well in January, but this was even better. A good sign, and I'll continue along with the daily practice challenge, following exactly what my instructor tells me. Looking forward to the next feedback from these. 

Comments welcome.

 

 

[coachjimsc]

Is that 16hcp up-to-date???

Looks no worse then a 10 to me

Nice work!

[CarlSpackler]

8 minutes ago, coachjimsc said:

Is that 16hcp up-to-date???

Looks no worse then a 10 to me

Nice work!

That's what I was thinking. 

[JonMA1]

Have to agree with @coachjimsc @CarlSpackler, the swing looks great. Better balance than your previous video (which I thought looked pretty good as well).

Everything looks under control, but you're really getting the club accelerating through the ball. Are you getting better distances lately?

I might be completely off, but your lag looks great. Left arm is coming in-line while the club is still back. I think that's a good thing. 

[RandallT]

21 minutes ago, coachjimsc said:

Is that 16hcp up-to-date???

Looks no worse then a 10 to me

Nice work!

See you in NC, teammate!

The problem is: the swing in my brain is a +1 HCP. In my foyer, I'm a 5 HCP. You should see that swing- it's great!  At the range, 10-15HCP, because I forget my awesomeness from the smooth swings in the mirror. And then on the course, I'm a bogey golfer!

But seriously, I'm really (and finally) putting in the effort. Started in October or November maybe? Got some stuff settled on the home front, and since then I've been putting my faith in the process. Let someone way smarter than me (currently, that's Stephan at Evolvr) just tell me exactly what to do. I try to review the lessons once a week, and make a point of doing drills at least 10 minutes per day.

So last summer I played maybe 8 rounds, and it's fair to say I average bogey or thereabouts- especially on my home track where I know the yardages pretty well. I played with @DaveP043, @jsgolfer, @GolfLug, @Jeremie Boop at an outing in the early spring, and I think I shot 90s then. Not even sure I kept score at the outing, but it was in line with my typical performance: I'm mostly bogeys, some pars ,sprinkled with a few blowup/ESC holes. So was/am I a 16? I dunno. I'll start tracking this year officially!

Kinda crazy to think I could get under 10, but the plan is to just keep my head down and do what the instructor tells me. Then we'll see what scores show up in spring. 

I snuck out to play in warm DC area weather a couple weeks ago, and shot pretty damn well (83 on an easy-ish course)- and it felt easy. That was a new feeling. Rarely in trouble off the tee. Typically around the green in regulation. Golf is more fun like that! I'm definitely energized to keep going along with the practice regimen.

Thanks, @CarlSpackler and @JonMA1!

 

 

[Denny Bang Bang]

3 hours ago, coachjimsc said:

Is that 16hcp up-to-date???

Looks no worse then a 10 to me

Nice work!

 

3 hours ago, CarlSpackler said:

That's what I was thinking. 

 

3 hours ago, JonMA1 said:

Have to agree with @coachjimsc @CarlSpackler, the swing looks great. Better balance than your previous video (which I thought looked pretty good as well).

Everything looks under control, but you're really getting the club accelerating through the ball. Are you getting better distances lately?

I might be completely off, but your lag looks great. Left arm is coming in-line while the club is still back. I think that's a good thing. 

Agreed, looks like a nice swing to me.  Certainly one capable of having a single digit index associated with it.

 

Too bad you'll be playing for the enemy!

Edited February 8, 2017 by Denny Bang Bang

[RandallT]

11 hours ago, JonMA1 said:

Are you getting better distances lately?

Meant to answer this. Hard to tell so far. When I played in January, the distances were quite varying. 

http://www.gamegolf.com/player/randallt/round/1303611?hole_id=29075738

That hole was with the wind and downhill. Driver/8iron on a 420yd par 4 (back tees that day, and pin way in back)! If only I could do that regularly. Those were nice, easy swings that just rode the wind.

http://www.gamegolf.com/player/randallt/round/1303611?hole_id=29076794

But on the hole above, I had a very nice swing on that drive- center club face contact, good swing speed, but it was 229yds with the wind in my face. Then a 6iron uphill against the wind barely went 120yds (wasn't that well struck but geez, nothing horrible). Not sure why I chose that club frankly- strategy error definitely. Wind wasn't too strong, so I thought I could get the ball up between the bunkers in front.

There was very little roll (several drives plugged), and balls on the green were mostly staying within a few feet of where they landed that day.

But I do feel that I'm getting more speed at impact somehow. Hopefully longer distances will show up on more normal days.

8 hours ago, Denny Bang Bang said:

Too bad you'll be playing for the enemy!

Ha. I wish! If I can get down to a 9.5 where you're at, I'd be happy camper. Good luck keeping yours there (or lower!). I also need to learn competition golf soon too, so I'm looking at where I can get some of that under my belt.

 

[JDP]

Hey RT, I see you referenced DC, I live in Woodbridge. Do you live in DMV area? Btw - imo lookswise the recent swing you posted is definitely better than your CAP by far. 1 thing I do notice right away is it looks a bit stiff but thats probably because the changes are all new. That being said I strongly suggest near the end of your range sessions take 5-10 mins strictly on hitting a variety of shots just by feel only e.g. try hitting low draws, low fades, punch shots, big pull fades, pull hooks, fiddle with ball position to fit the shot, etc. I believe that is crucial to improving your game all around. And on days you play if you only have 15 mins or so at the range like most of us throw mechanical thoughts out and focus on targets and hit shots by feel and what you got for that day is what you got and go with it, dont fight it.  

[RandallT]

Hi @JDP- I'm near Dulles Airport. The range I typically take video is on the flight path. 

You might be interested in this:

You click follow button on the thread and get updates as it develops. Chime in there if possibility. Very cool to meet the crew here and it might be decent size gathering. 

But thanks for feedback. Oh yes I'm stiff. Working on that with flexibility stuff now and I feel it's helping. I've let myself go the past couple years so it's time to fight back!

[JDP]

33 minutes ago, RandallT said:

Hi @JDP- I'm near Dulles Airport. The range I typically take video is on the flight path. 

You might be interested in this:

You click follow button on the thread and get updates as it develops. Chime in there if possibility. Very cool to meet the crew here and it might be decent size gathering. 

But thanks for feedback. Oh yes I'm stiff. Working on that with flexibility stuff now and I feel it's helping. I've let myself go the past couple years so it's time to fight back!

 

I'll make sure to follow the thread that sounds cool. I used to go to the Dulles driving range of Rt. 28 a lot many years ago and have played Brambleton, Algonkian, Goose Creek, Landsdowne, River Creek (what a course!) and all around the area. We should meet up at a range soon. Weather has been ridiculously great but as you know its supposed to snow tomorrow, Va. weather =). Its supposed to be a fantastic weekend and pretty nice all week so we got that. Is there a PM option on this forum?

[RandallT]

Just trying to work strictly on the shallowing piece today. Feeling of the club dropping down from the top (going up steeper than coming down), using my hips to drive the downswing, letting the hands move outward (rather than down as is my tendency), and getting the club to NOT tip over. Typically by A6, the club is coming from above my hands.

I think this is decent progress without a ball and slow motion.

My next assignment from my instructor is to hold onto the progress with my left wrist (lost a bit here- argh), my right elbow not retracting, and hit a ball on the range at a speed BARELY fast enough to make sure I can get the club coming down properly- not tipping over. Looking forward to the range soon.

 

[b101]

4 hours ago, RandallT said:

Just trying to work strictly on the shallowing piece today. Feeling of the club dropping down from the top (going up steeper than coming down), using my hips to drive the downswing, letting the hands move outward (rather than down as is my tendency), and getting the club to NOT tip over. Typically by A6, the club is coming from above my hands.

I think this is decent progress without a ball and slow motion.

My next assignment from my instructor is to hold onto the progress with my left wrist (lost a bit here- argh), my right elbow not retracting, and hit a ball on the range at a speed BARELY fast enough to make sure I can get the club coming down properly- not tipping over. Looking forward to the range soon.

Saw this in the '5 minutes' thread and really like the way you're working on this. It's my focus point as well at the moment and I know how tough it is to crack this piece. Keep at it, the action looks brilliant!

[RandallT]

1 hour ago, b101 said:

Saw this in the '5 minutes' thread and really like the way you're working on this. It's my focus point as well at the moment and I know how tough it is to crack this piece. Keep at it, the action looks brilliant!

Thanks! I feel so close to a breakthrough, and this is the first time in my life I've decided to actually listen to what the experts say about how to develop new skills (especially after years of doing something wrong). I'm just doing exactly what my instructor says, doing it about 10-15min per day, and really taking to heart the 5 S's thread (with video and all that). It's not glamorous, and it's not fast, but I do feel like there's progress.

Plus, I've tried the route of going it alone and doing random tips for too long. This way is actually more fun, to be honest, as I kinda know the road map ahead. I've grown to look forward to the process each day.

And hey, I saw your note about waiting for another month to join that practice thread. Just FYI- I joined one month mid-month, and then had false starts for several months after that. Then I finally made a month continuously! Lol. I wasn't doing it for winning the challenge or anything.

So there's no harm in just logging stuff mid-month, just use the thread (if you want) if it helps at all. There's one part that I enjoy because it is just part of my routine, and one part I like to read others' posts. But for a while, I didn't do it- even though I was practicing every day. You can certainly make progress either way, just depends on whether or not the logging portion appeals to you, I guess.

Looking forward to some new amazing pics on your swing thread come spring!

[woodzie264]

@RandallT,swing looks great; I can't really contribute to the conversation with advice, but I'd echo what others have said, your swing looks better than your HI would indicate.

[RandallT]

On 2/20/2017 at 0:48 PM, woodzie264 said:

@RandallT,swing looks great; I can't really contribute to the conversation with advice, but I'd echo what others have said, your swing looks better than your HI would indicate.

Thanks, man. I definitely feel like it's a tough slog to make changes. Case in point, today:

Goal was simply to go as slow as necessary to get the club coming down less steep, and at A6 to have the club not go above my hands. At very slow speeds, I simply couldn't do it. I can do it at home without a ball when I just relax.

This was my best effort, but most were not even close:

Just documenting it all here, but certainly some regression in parts from what I see (right elbow, left wrist, etc- things I'm working hard on every day in the mirror). 

One improvement that I FEEL is happening is that my stretching exercises are helping me feel more limber throughout the swing- particularly at impact. I don't feel the need to stay as upright, and I feel like I can have some of that side-bend to my torso, which hopefully means my head doesn't lift up and away from the ball as much. I just feel so much better about twisting around my torso than I felt even a month or two ago.

May play another round tomorrow- will see.

 

[iacas]

Note the hand path. Goes left a bit sooner than it should. Just a little.