My Swing (billchao)

[14ledo81]

Didn't have a chance to look at Erik's analysis, but just wanted to comment on how nice your swing looks.  To my untrained eye anyway.

[billchao]

Holy moses you're flexible!

To a fault, sometimes.

Merry Christmas @billchao!

Thanks! You guys are awesome!

Didn't have a chance to look at Erik's analysis, but just wanted to comment on how nice your swing looks.  To my untrained eye anyway.

It can be, at times. Other times, the conditions add up to complete garbage. That's the chaos @iacas talks about in the video.

[nevets88]

Yo, Bill, will you sign my copy of Five Lessons?

[mvmac]

Bill Hogan.

[billchao]

LOL. Sure, @nevets88 . When the weather gets warmer, we should get together for a round and I'll sign your book :-D

[billchao]

Been working on this at home. Haven't hit any balls yet, but I wanted to jot down some notes: [List] [*]The new path path still feels a little weird, but I've gotten over the feeling that my hands are looping out away from my body in the takeaway, which is what it felt like at first. [*]I found that it's easier for me to maintain the right wrist bend by pushing it back with my left wrist instead of trying to bend it back with the right. [*]If I don't actively engage the hands/wrists, I'll still set them weird at the top and get across the line. [*]If I take my swing to A2 and then go up with it, I'll still have a tendency to get too deep. I guess maybe my up has too much of an inward component to it. I can do it slowly, but then it's an odd feeling two-part backswing ala Jim Furyk. Because of this, I started just feeling like I'm taking my arms straight up from the start. [*]I started doing a drill where I set my wrists at address (take the club to A2 without moving my arms) and then I take the club up to the top. It seems to get me where I need to go.[/list] I'll try to get some video this week.

[DrvFrShow]

If you guys are going to spend money on something like Quicktime Pro for video editing, I'd really look at spending another $20 - $30 and look at some of the Sony Movie Studio products from Sony Creative Software.

I don't have any, but I use Sony Sound Forge 11 for audio mastering and it's a great program.

Sorry for the off topic, but it was being discussed.

[billchao]

If you guys are going to spend money on something like Quicktime Pro for video editing, I'd really look at spending another $20 - $30 and look at some of the Sony Movie Studio products from [URL=http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/homestudio]Sony Creative Software.[/URL] I don't have any, but I use Sony Sound Forge 11 for audio mastering and it's a great program.  Sorry for the off topic, but it was being discussed.

Thanks for the input, I'll look into it.

[billchao]

Range today. Raining. Very impressed with the iPhone 6 and it's ability to shoot in low light, as well as how it kept me from being silhouetted.

Did ok on the changes. Hands steeper, but still overswinging and across the line. Hit a bunch of fades like this. Not sure if that's from missing slightly towards the heel or I was swinging left slightly. Might even be from ball position. I keep letting that slip too far forward.

Made a slight adjustment to the grip towards the end of the session to see if that had any effect on my wrist condition. It altered my setup slightly, but not sure if the wrists were better.

I hit some big pushes like that and none drew at all. I can't quite place it, but I like this swing better.

Starting to think the overswing has something to do with my pivot. I can't get FO at this range, but I know in my other videos that my head will slide back right around A3.5ish as I either turn my shoulders too much or start to turn them too flat. Either way, there's something off there. It's never been the priority, but if it affects my overswing, I'll need to tackle it sooner rather than later.

[boogielicious]

@billchao ,

In the second video, you are still a bit steep at A5, which may make you have to compensate to get to an inside path.  I am working on this too. I have tried the feeling of the club head making a big loop from A3.5 to A5.  Feel isn't real.  When I see it on film, the club head just flattens a bit from A4 to A5.  Also, my right elbow will be lower and more forward at A5, like Jason Dufner.

[billchao]

@billchao , In the second video, you are still a bit steep at A5, which may make you have to compensate to get to an inside path.  I am working on this too. I have tried the feeling of the club head making a big loop from A3.5 to A5.  Feel isn't real.  When I see it on film, the club head just flattens a bit from A4 to A5.  Also, my right elbow will be lower and more forward at A5, like Jason Dufner. [URL=http://thesandtrap.com/content/type/61/id/110928/] [/URL]

I didn't see that, thanks. I guess I don't like the second swing better after all :-)

[billchao]

Been digging around and I think this is where my A4 problem is:

Too much extension. Tips my shoulders towards the target, allowing my arms to get behind me and the wrists to collapse.

I was practicing backswings with more side bend and it gets me into that Tiger position. It seems like my swing is more limited at the top. My shoulders won't turn too far, and unless I get disconnected at the arms, I can't seem to get the club in a position that will cause the wrists to break down.

I'll have to get this on video sometime to see if this is real or not. More up, less in, and more side bend.

[chris3putt]

Been digging around and I think this is where my A4 problem is:

Too much extension. Tips my shoulders towards the target, allowing my arms to get behind me and the wrists to collapse.

I was practicing backswings with more side bend and it gets me into that Tiger position. It seems like my swing is more limited at the top. My shoulders won't turn too far, and unless I get disconnected at the arms, I can't seem to get the club in a position that will cause the wrists to break down.

I'll have to get this on video sometime to see if this is real or not. More up, less in, and more side bend.

The picture on the right is what I'm trying to get to on my backswing. Swap yours for mine?

[billchao]

The picture on the right is what I'm trying to get to on my backswing. Swap yours for mine? :-P

If we can swap handicaps, too, I might consider it ;-)

[billchao]

Got a chance to work on the swing for a bit in the yard today. Made good backswings without the wrists collapsing. Seemed easier to get to A4 with a more rounded back by setting up with a little more posterior tilt. I tend to stand with too much anterior tilt, anyway (even just standing straight up, I tend to stand on my toes). Still transition a little steep, but I know what I need to do for that. I'll work on that when I get this backswing straightened out.

I figured out why I've been inconsistent lately with my pitching, too. Same as before, too much throw. Went back to what Dave showed me at the beginning of the summer where I would hinge back and just pivot through, feeling like I was holding my wrist angles. Contact got cleaner, shots went higher and landed softer. I'll have to monitor that better.

[billchao]

http://www.gamegolf.com/player/billchao/round/157949

Made one swing adjustment on the 5th hole and it was like someone turned the light switch on. I don't know how or why (I have video and can't see much difference) but for some reason I started hitting it better and less erratically. Shot +7 on the first four holes and +2 on the last five.

Taking this quote from the GameGolf rounds thread because I wanted to elaborate on my swing adjustment and other takeaways from the round.

I just clipped a bunch of videos together so it's basically a lazy vlog of sorts. They're just random shots DTL and FO that I managed to take as time and the angle of the sun was willing to permit. BTW I think it's totally cool to have the swings recorded on the course and GameGolf tracking them.

Before swings:

After swings:

The adjustment I made was to feel like I was keeping more pressure on my right foot during the downswing. I don't have a problem getting my weight forward during the downswing (which is why I can feel like I'm on my back foot), but I still do it improperly. The goal was to keep my hips from spinning out prematurely and allow my hips to slide properly, with the object of delivering the clubhead to the ball on a better path with less compensations. I look at the videos and I don't see the difference (granted, I didn't get a FO of one of the earlier swings), but somehow I was hitting the ball much better. Even my misses were still playable: 3w on 8 was thin, skimmed the ground on the tee shot on 9. I don't get it, but it worked.

If someone sees something that I don't, please tell me. I did my usual comparison in Kinovea and came up with nothing.

The other takeaways are all already known: putting needs work, short game is pretty solid, need a new driver. Starting to think I'm some kind of masochist because I'm willing to subject myself to golf and playing in horrible conditions

Oh, and one last thing: backswing is more up, but still gets away from me at the top. Just an inability to stop it where it's supposed to stop. I know I'm supposed to feel like I'm making 3/4 swings all the time, but I can't seem to get myself to commit to it because I'm afraid I'll lose distance. There, I said it. I'm afraid to play with a 3/4 backswing as my standard swing because I might lose distance. Gotta get over that somehow. Maybe I'll get on a simulator and hit full shots and 3/4 shots and build some shot zones from them and see if I really do lose distance or it's an irrational fear.

[boogielicious]

Bill,

One thing I noticed with the driver was your head is moving back quite a bit from A3 to A4.  You are getting back in time for impact, but they may be some compensations required to do that.  The lines indicate your head position at A1.

[billchao]

Bill, One thing I noticed with the driver was your head is moving back quite a bit from A3 to A4.  You are getting back in time for impact, but they may be some compensations required to do that.  The lines indicate your head position at A1. [URL=http://thesandtrap.com/content/type/61/id/111032/] [/URL] [URL=http://thesandtrap.com/content/type/61/id/111033/] [/URL]

Thanks for pointing it out, Scott. It's definitely something I've known about for a long time and I think it's related to my overswing. I just keep going in the backswing and pull my arms up and behind me, turning my shoulders flat, and moving my head back. I always hated it, but it's never been addressed as my priority piece because I do get back by A7. It does affect the way I transition, but I think the idea is if I get the arms more in front of me and the wrist set better, all of these little issues will clean themselves up. There are more than a few things that need to be cleaned up in my swing. It's funny, considering how often I film my swing, it's still ugly to me. Biggest thing is to focus on what will improve my scoring rather than what I think looks good.