My Swing (Abu3baid)

[Abu3baid]

Quick round review & highlights (I mean lowlights) Hole 1 - started with a pretty 268 yd push draw down the middle.. Then proceeded to whiff, top hybrid, push hybrid, chip out, chunk chip, get on green and two putt for +4 - who does that?? Hole 2 - again a 255 push draw down the middle, chunk 9i, 77 yd gap onto the green and 1 putt for par... Hole 3 - low straight hook mishit that goes about 200 yds, 6i save onto the green about 180 and and 2 putt for par. Hole 4 - 7i onto the green, 3 putt par.. Hole 5 - another lowish kind of straight hook that goes about 240 in light rough.. A pretty 5 hybrid that hits a hole next to the green and stays on the first cut, chip on and 2 putt for bogey.. So after 5 I am +5 and then I proceed to just fall apart with a +3, +3, +6, +6 ...I'm glad that's over.. I make getting a +6 look easy.. Didn't end up getting any more 6s on the back nine, but did have a double, 2 triples and a quad.. Still shot 8 strokes better than the front as bad as it may be.. Let's just say that my short game sucks... my iron game sucks and my long game still too inconsistent to rely on... The only thing I have going to for me is that I am hitting the ball 250+ when I'm making good contact, so at least distance is not an issue.. Is if I can just make good contact on a consistent basis? And stop chunking so many pitches? Things might turn around!

[Abu3baid]

I will comment later, just wanted to get the videos up.

Seeing some change in the picture from 2 weeks ago after working on my takeaway the whole time.  My hand was coming in too soon and bringing the club too low from the start.  Much better now I think.

I shot a 101 today, but better than the 117 I shot last week, with the only bad thing is my GG unit died after the second hole.. I am way too lazy to go back and try to remember all my shots and the distances and the clubs ect, so I guess it is a lesson learned.

Comments are welcome.

[Abu3baid]

I'm going to take a wild guess at what could be my priority to help me improve.. In a couple of weeks I am taking a road trip through Abu Dhabi on my way to Muscat Oman.. I am going to stay one night at the golf resort where they play the Abu Dhabi Euro championship so that will be cool, and when I go to Oman I will dedicate my self to go to the range everyday to try and get some intensive work done for a couple of weeks. As far as the priorities it will most likely involve shortening the backswing a little more and trying to get the right elbow in front of the shirt seem.. The other thing that could be a priority is impact position.. I really think I have made a lot of headway with my key1 and key2, but a clear flip is happening and most likely the main reason why I am struggling with contact with my irons.. I am actually happy with my driver contact, flight ect.. So, getting the Key3 with then irons will really be important.. My short game and putting needs some real tune up work, as I just suck at it.. It doesn't help that the course conditions for short game make it difficult, but that's just an excuse I need to forget.. Need to play the ball as I find it, and it's a reality that it doesn't matter if it is dirt as I should be hitting ball first! I need short game practice bad! I had like 3 or 4 three putt bogies today and that just hurts

[RandallT]

I'm going to take a wild guess at what could be my priority to help me improve.. In a couple of weeks I am taking a road trip through Abu Dhabi on my way to Muscat Oman.. I am going to stay one night at the golf resort where they play the Abu Dhabi Euro championship so that will be cool, and when I go to Oman I will dedicate my self to go to the range everyday to try and get some intensive work done for a couple of weeks.

As far as the priorities it will most likely involve shortening the backswing a little more and trying to get the right elbow in front of the shirt seem..

The other thing that could be a priority is impact position.. I really think I have made a lot of headway with my key1 and key2, but a clear flip is happening and most likely the main reason why I am struggling with contact with my irons.. I am actually happy with my driver contact, flight ect.. So, getting the Key3 with then irons will really be important..

My short game and putting needs some real tune up work, as I just suck at it.. It doesn't help that the course conditions for short game make it difficult, but that's just an excuse I need to forget.. Need to play the ball as I find it, and it's a reality that it doesn't matter if it is dirt as I should be hitting ball first! I need short game practice bad!

I had like 3 or 4 three putt bogies today and that just hurts

My Swing

---

Driver:  G30, Irons:  Burner 2.0, Putter: , Balls: 

[Abu3baid]

Congrats on the progress, Eyad!

I'm not expert, as you know, but I've been reviewing my swing lately and I see some parallels. The only thing I'd add to your guess is that the shaft is fairly steep on the downswing (butt pointing well inside the ball). Not as steep as mine, but still not what they describe here as ideal. I'll bet your priority may also be that "laying down the club" at the start of the downswing.  I think shortening the downswing and keeping your elbow in front of the shirt seam (as you say) help with the flattening of the downswing.

Good luck in Abu Dhabi!

Thanks @RandallT he Westin which happens to be the golf and spa resort :).. I convinced the wife its a good idea for her to go to the Spa to relax on the long trip before we continue to Oman.. (to see the in laws that is)  I will sneak out in the am and at least go to the range.. :)

I know exactly what you mean about coming in steep at around A4.5 - A5, but I recover ok from there and the shaft shallows out rather quickly going through my forearms and ending up inside my wrists at A6..

It took me forever to get the shaft to do this, and I don't know if I really want to start messing with it too early (i.e. trying to manipulate the wrist conditions, or actively thinking about laying the shaft down.. right now there is no thought going into it, its a natural move for me).. maybe it will work its self out like you mention with the shortening of the BS,and it will make the shallowing move less "abrupt" that it goes from a steep position to a laid off position so quickly and then make my contact better.. (I can hope right?)

I put a couple frames to show what I am describing..  This is a relatively new swing for me, and I probably need a a few thousand swings to start getting more of the timing down, and I think this trip is coming just at the right time!

man my head is moving back a lot in the BS, but that is within my pivot so I hope it isn't an issue.. what is an issue is my contact, and maybe the club releases just a frame too soon, and that's causing that light flip and fat shot problem I am having.. I am liking my A8 there though (I think it's A8) I forget :)

[Abu3baid]

Got my analysis back, and I have my work cut out for me as I move on to a new priority piece... Of course this is with the knowledge that I need to continue working on two things.

1. keeping my elbow just a little bit more in front of me so that it doesn't slide back as much

2. working on a slightly shorter BS that doesn't go back and make things more difficult to keep a consistent point of contact.

What I am going to be practicing is a little bit quicker wrist set on the BS, and I will make my right hand grip slightly stronger than it is now to get the v pointing towards my right shoulder..

This should help with the backswing length and elbow travel as well, since I probably keep going back with my elbow and length of bs till I feel full at the top.. with a more set wrist instead of the way it is now, this will help.

I will do 1/2 and 3/4 swings with the set wrist, and see where it takes me!

[RandallT]

Ok, I see what you mean by recovering that.

Got my analysis back, and I have my work cut out for me as I move on to a new priority piece... Of course this is with the knowledge that I need to continue working on two things.

1. keeping my elbow just a little bit more in front of me so that it doesn't slide back as much

2. working on a slightly shorter BS that doesn't go back and make things more difficult to keep a consistent point of contact.

What I am going to be practicing is a little bit quicker wrist set on the BS, and I will make my right hand grip slightly stronger than it is now to get the v pointing towards my right shoulder..

This should help with the backswing length and elbow travel as well, since I probably keep going back with my elbow and length of bs till I feel full at the top.. with a more set wrist instead of the way it is now, this will help.

I will do 1/2 and 3/4 swings with the set wrist, and see where it takes me!

I just got my analysis back too, and guess what one of my two keys is..... right elbow staying more in front. I clearly draw it back a bit behind my shirt seam.  He said that should help keep my swing less "loose" (I think the word was). And it'll likely make my swing feel much shorter, which would be a good feel.

This seems relevant:

http://thesandtrap.com/t/75792/tips-on-shortening-the-backswing/0_30#post_1020442

[Abu3baid]

Didn't video tape today, just practiced and then went out to the course.. Shot a 102 again for the 2nd time in a row.. The difference is that this time my blow up holes were only 2.. I shot a +7 on a par 3 and a +4 on another hole.. I really screwed u some other holes, but just not as bad as the above.. I started out with some nice drives, and then just somehow started mishiting them.. Didn't really find my groove till they back nine and ended the round with 2 280 yard drives down then middle.. Typical of me to hit the pitching wedge way over my target and my inability to get up and down.. I'm still not going to worry about my short game though, if I can just remember to slightly bump my hip, and make sure my alignment is good I can get the ball out there pretty far with the driver and then I need to really get my irons to do what I want! I'm happy with the progress though, and next time I'll try and avoid the +7.. Which was 2 OB shots a drop (+2), a hit on the green and then 3 putt.. A hole not played by the rules of golf, but my most likly score is exactly what I got so I will count it!

[DrvFrShow]

You're playing from the white tees, right? If you're hitting 260 to 280 drives you should be hitting a gap wedge onto the green on a 380 - 400 yd par 4. Work on your game from 140 yds and in hitting to targets. Does your driving range have flags? Get more accurate hitting to targets at 140, 120, 100, 80, and 60 yds. Hopefully they have targets there. If you do this it will help your scores immensely, and you can still work on your primary piece while doing this.

[Abu3baid]

You're playing from the white tees, right? If you're hitting 260 to 280 drives you should be hitting a gap wedge onto the green on a 380 - 400 yd par 4. Work on your game from 140 yds and in hitting to targets. Does your driving range have flags? Get more accurate hitting to targets at 140, 120, 100, 80, and 60 yds. Hopefully they have targets there. If you do this it will help your scores immensely, and you can still work on your primary piece while doing this.

Yeah, I have a big problem with not being able to get to a range though.. On those two last holes for example I had around 125 to the flag on both and I was hitting PW and I hit them both about 139.. The first bounced and then kept rolled to the back of the green, and the other missed long and left..

[DrvFrShow]

Don't feel bad. I was playing a course today and was kind of baffled. My last couple of range sessions with dead balls - and I mean the balls had little x's in their eyes - I'd still been hitting for my targets. The balls felt dead, but I still made my distances. Now what happened today was stuff like hitting a full lob wedge 100 yds. Hitting a full gap wedge 119. Until I'd figured out what was going on and dialed back.

My short game sucks. I haven't been practicing it. Probably should take some time this week when the weather gets nice and work on it - bunkers in particular. My distance game is fine. My short game is killing me. I could take about 10 strokes off with a good short game right now. 64% fairway accuracy with my driver is fine for an amateur.

Also hitting off mats is so different than hitting off grass. It's not just the club interaction. It's the feet.

[Abu3baid]

Finally was able to get to the range in this hectic vacation.. [video]http://youtu.be/KI3c5A1I8fQ[/video] [video]http://youtu.be/TnYOecm_VsI[/video]

[iacas]

Camera angle is bad there. Watch that.

[Abu3baid]

Camera angle is bad there. Watch that.

I will next time.. The sun and shade really screwed me up with the set up. Thanks

[Abu3baid]

 

Just wanted to embed the videos from a few posts ago since I can't edit the other ones.. I will take another set of videos later on this week..  I played yesterday and was hitting my irons with a nice predictable push draw.. the bad part was I was still aiming for the flag, so not until later in the round did I decide to start aiming 10 yards right of the flag and that's when I started getting some GIRs.. 

Still a work in progress, but feeling better about my swing.

 

Edited October 4, 2015 by Abu3baid

[JonMA1]

How are you still a 29HI? The swing looks good. Keys 1-3 look really good (any head movement is minimal), plane looks correct as far as I can tell, secondary axis tilt, and a balanced finish. What am I missing?

[Abu3baid]

How are you still a 29HI? The swing looks good. Keys 1-3 look really good (any head movement is minimal), plane looks correct as far as I can tell, secondary axis tilt, and a balanced finish. What am I missing?

There are a few things I can point to.. The main one is that I don't control my low point yet.

my shoulder incline on the backswing isn't maintained and my chin goes up slightly which makes consistent contact impossible.

I don't load my wrists fast enough on the backswing yet from A2 - A4 which forces my arms to carry way more than what is needed and I can't compensate fast enough on the downswing.

There are probably other things I am missing; but the second one has been my priority I have been working on.

I do think that things will change very soon, but that could be more than 6 months from now.  

I have to admit the real turning point for me was when I went to see a 5sk instructor during my vacation (5 times in one month!)

thanks for the vote of confidence though, it's all about enjoying they process right?

[JonMA1]

I do think that things will change very soon, but that could be more than 6 months from now.  

I have to admit the real turning point for me was when I went to see a 5sk instructor during my vacation (5 times in one month!)

thanks for the vote of confidence though, it's all about enjoying they process right?

I have to believe you're right about things changing soon for you. Sometimes it happens just about the time we start to lose hope.

Yep. We'd better enjoy the process. If it was an easy journey, we'd likely lose interest.