My Swing (billchao)

[nevets88]

Quote:

Originally Posted by boogielicious

Yes.  Stephan had me do drills at 1/2 speed with the driver last summer to get my contact consistent and also my start direction.  Simple, slow specific.  I was missing toward the toe a lot.  We can't correct it at full speed.  My contact is better now, but my direction is still a struggle.  I get draws and over draws if I come over the top.

For direction, I put a driveway stick out about 20 ft in front and tried to hit to the right of it.

Thanks. That makes sense, I'll have to work on that. Makes me wish I had a net setup at home that I can use.

How did you monitor contact? Impact tape or dry erase marker? I kind of want to wrap some rubber bands or something around the "bad" spots of the driver so I'll know immediately at impact if I made a good strike.

You could also try athlete's foot spray. Ball marks on masking tape aren't as clear as on impact tape but works ok in a pinch. I'm not so sure about using rubber bands - it might affect weight and feel and you want to feel toe and heel hits so you can learn to sense them better without looking. My goto is the dry erase marker on the clubface. I've yet to find something that works consistently in wet conditions though.

[boogielicious]

Impact tape is what I used, but Steve's suggestion works too.

[billchao]

You could also try athlete's foot spray. Ball marks on masking tape aren't as clear as on impact tape but works ok in a pinch. I'm not so sure about using rubber bands - it might affect weight and feel and you want to feel toe and heel hits so you can learn to sense them better without looking. My goto is the dry erase marker on the clubface. I've yet to find something that works consistently in wet conditions though.

[quote name="boogielicious" url="/t/70666/my-swing-billchao/360#post_1105595"]Impact tape is what I used, but Steve's suggestion works too. [/quote]Thanks, guys. I use dry erase marker myself, but I don't use it everytime I practice. I mostly work on changing the picture without worrying about contact. Once the season starts I'll probably switch focus and work on contact without changing the picture.

[b101]

Nice swing! Regarding the driver and the sweet spot, do you not think that missing the sweetspot is just due to making lots of little changes to your swing, therefore it'll get there with time and repetition? It is the club we swing the fastest after all, with the least room for error...

[billchao]

Nice swing! Regarding the driver and the sweet spot, do you not think that missing the sweetspot is just due to making lots of little changes to your swing, therefore it'll get there with time and repetition?

Thanks. I honestly can't say I've ever hit well. I'm more consistent now, but a well struck drive doesn't go as far as it used to, say a couple of years ago. My misses were worse back then, so I'll take the consistency any day of the week. I'm not sure if it's just repetition. Like others have mentioned, I'm going to have to actively work on hitting the sweetspot in order to do it better. [quote name="b101" url="/t/70666/my-swing-billchao/360#post_1105638"]It is the club we swing the fastest after all, with the least room for error... [/quote]I'd say it's the most forgiving club, despite it being harder to control due to it being longer, lower lofted, and swung faster. This is because the ball is up on a tee, the face is bigger, and it has a higher MOI than any other club in the bag. I can miss the sweetspot by a lot and still get a semi-decent result out of it, whereas the same miss with an iron might result in a 20yd duff.

[b101]

Thanks. I honestly can't say I've ever hit well. I'm more consistent now, but a well struck drive doesn't go as far as it used to, say a couple of years ago. My misses were worse back then, so I'll take the consistency any day of the week.

I'm not sure if it's just repetition. Like others have mentioned, I'm going to have to actively work on hitting the sweetspot in order to do it better.

I'd say it's the most forgiving club, despite it being harder to control due to it being longer, lower lofted, and swung faster. This is because the ball is up on a tee, the face is bigger, and it has a higher MOI than any other club in the bag. I can miss the sweetspot by a lot and still get a semi-decent result out of it, whereas the same miss with an iron might result in a 20yd duff.

Yep, I can see that - I guess maybe it depends what your error is. For ages, up until very recently, I came across the line a lot with a swing path of about 10 degrees left. With an 8 iron, that's controllable with co-ordination and various compensations - with the driver it was impossible. It's still my miss when things go wrong, but it's getting much better with practice. I agree that you do have a perfect lie though, which does help.

[Lihu]

Impact tape is what I used, but Steve's suggestion works too.

Only for driver. Impact tape kills your spin with irons. Even with driver, it might give you lower spin numbers. Foot spray is better.

[boogielicious]

Quote:

Originally Posted by boogielicious

Impact tape is what I used, but Steve's suggestion works too.

Only for driver. Impact tape kills your spin with irons. Even with driver, it might give you lower spin numbers. Foot spray is better.

Agree, but he's not looking for spin numbers with this drill.  He is only looking at contact.

[billchao]

I've been working on right forewrm fanning in the backswing. I finally realized that my right elbow bends too far in the backswing, either due to or causing PA#4 to load improperly, which results in me not releasing it quickly enough, transitioning steep, and rolling the forearms over too much through impact and all that not-so-good stuff. Anyway, fanning the right forearm feels like I'm loading PA#4 faster and I feel much more powerful with a shorter backswing. Feels like the downswing is shorter (timewise) and faster, too. Everything feels more efficient. It needs to stop being ridiculously cold out so I can get some more video.

[maddog0512]

I've been working on right forewrm fanning in the backswing. I finally realized that my right elbow bends too far in the backswing, either due to or causing PA#4 to load improperly, which results in me not releasing it quickly enough, transitioning steep, and rolling the forearms over too much through impact and all that not-so-good stuff.

Anyway, fanning the right forearm feels like I'm loading PA#4 faster and I feel much more powerful with a shorter backswing. Feels like the downswing is shorter (timewise) and faster, too. Everything feels more efficient.

It needs to stop being ridiculously cold out so I can get some more video.

Can you explain this a little more?  I've kept tabs on your My Swing thread since I believe we have some of the same swing issues.  BTW nice swing.  Keep up the good work!

[billchao]

Can you explain this a little more?  I've kept tabs on your My Swing thread since I believe we have some of the same swing issues.

I'm working on a theory that my takeaway is less than ideal, which leads to a less than ideal A4, and so on. I need to get the backswing better so the move through impact will be better and I think I get the backswing better by changing the takeaway feel (for the reasons I posted last time).

At this point, it's not about what I need to do as much as how I need to do it. I know what I'm looking to achieve but I need to find the feels that get me there properly.

BTW nice swing.  Keep up the good work!

Thanks. Hoping this is going to be the "breakout" year for me.

You should update your swing thread more often. I like to follow others' progress, too.

[maddog0512]

I'm working on a theory that my takeaway is less than ideal, which leads to a less than ideal A4, and so on. I need to get the backswing better so the move through impact will be better and I think I get the backswing better by changing the takeaway feel (for the reasons I posted last time).

At this point, it's not about what I need to do as much as how I need to do it. I know what I'm looking to achieve but I need to find the feels that get me there properly.

Thanks. Hoping this is going to be the "breakout" year for me.

You should update your swing thread more often. I like to follow others' progress, too.

I plan on it.  I've been doing a lot of work on my swing in my basement this winter but it's not very conducive to getting good video.  I'm going to sign back up with Evolvr as soon as it gets warmer and I can get outside and get some video.  Here's hoping I've changed the picture a little!

[billchao]

I went to the driving range today. Had to kick some snow off my mat, but the weather was too nice to pass up. Took a video of my swing, but it looks (unsurprisingly) exactly the same, so no point in posting. Mostly just went to get back into swinging the club. Used a dry erase marker to help me find the sweet spot better. Shots were ok, mostly 7i, maybe about 40-50 yards total lateral dispersion by my estimation (not counting a few really bad misses). Most of the shots would leave me with at least nGIR on greens I typically play. Hit a mix of pushes and pulls. Pulls were very playable draws, not a single hook (I tried to intentionally hit a few with no success). Pushes either drew or faded. The fades were the farthest away from my target. Same swing issue as always.

[Lihu]

I went to the driving range today. Had to kick some snow off my mat, but the weather was too nice to pass up.

Took a video of my swing, but it looks (unsurprisingly) exactly the same, so no point in posting. Mostly just went to get back into swinging the club. Used a dry erase marker to help me find the sweet spot better.

Shots were ok, mostly 7i, maybe about 40-50 yards total lateral dispersion by my estimation (not counting a few really bad misses). Most of the shots would leave me with at least nGIR on greens I typically play.

Hit a mix of pushes and pulls. Pulls were very playable draws, not a single hook (I tried to intentionally hit a few with no success). Pushes either drew or faded. The fades were the farthest away from my target. Same swing issue as always.

Sure there is, I want to see what divots look like in snow!

[billchao]

Sure there is, I want to see what divots look like in snow!

[quote name="billchao" url="/t/70666/my-swing-billchao/360#post_1114445"]I went to the driving range today. Had to kick some snow off my [b]mat[/b], but the weather was too nice to pass up.[/quote]:whistle:

[Lihu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lihu

Sure there is, I want to see what divots look like in snow!

Quote:

Originally Posted by billchao

I went to the driving range today. Had to kick some snow off my mat, but the weather was too nice to pass up.

You didn't state that you cleared all the snow off the mat with your foot.

[billchao]

You didn't state that you cleared all the snow off the mat with your foot. :-$

I didn't. I actually lost my footing on a few shots, but no divots to speak of :-P I use GRFs like a boss :-D

[Lihu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lihu

You didn't state that you cleared all the snow off the mat with your foot.

I didn't. I actually lost my footing on a few shots, but no divots to speak of

No divots in the snow? What's the fun of that?

I lost my footing, today, after making my shot off a green where my errant drive eventually landed. Took my drop at the nearest point of relief just off the fringe. I made the shot standing atop a sprinkler head and on the follow through slipped off falling backwards. Good contact, but it hit a tree, or two or three? I could hear it knocking around for a while. . . Doubled the hole which offset a par I made earlier.