My Swing (billchao)

[iacas]

  On 11/8/2018 at 5:07 PM, billchao said:

I guess I never really put any thought into it. I have always just accepted it as normal. Did you have a theory or were you just curious what I thought?

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More curious than anything.

I've never really suffered big setbacks from not playing much. Everyone's different, and maybe I'm a bit more athletic or something in that sense… but I doubt it accounts for much of the change.

[billchao]

  On 11/8/2018 at 5:27 PM, iacas said:

I've never really suffered big setbacks from not playing much. Everyone's different, and maybe I'm a bit more athletic or something in that sense… but I doubt it accounts for much of the change.

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I don't know for certain that's the issue, but I do know when I don't play for a while I'm more likely to top/chunk the ball on full swings and blade/duff pitches. Hell, I hit the ball off the toe with my driver. Twice. I mean literally the point that is the actual toe of the clubhead.

I'm more likely to play poorly after a long break than well.

[GolfLug]

This is of course an opinion but based on my experience - I believe everybody unconsciously develops a peripheral 'frame' within which the swing operates. A dynamic spatial sense if you will. A long break can take it out of calibration for a round or two - not talking a lot but enough to hit a ball or two off the toe. Some folks, like maybe @iacas never lose it. 

As a matter of fact if you like my kool aid flavor (😉) then I have another opinion - Hitting into a net everyday without playing on a course for a couple of months can do the same thing. But it's not a huge mechanical thing. It is usually self adjusting/correcting and will come back. 

Edited November 8, 2018 by GolfLug

[billchao]

  On 11/8/2018 at 10:25 PM, GolfLug said:

This is of course an opinion but based on my experience - I believe everybody unconsciously develops a peripheral 'frame' within which the swing operates. A dynamic spatial sense if you will. A long break can take it out of calibration for a round or two - not talking a lot but enough to hit a ball or two off the toe. Some folks, like maybe @iacas never lose it.

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I don't know anything about a dynamic spatial sense... all I know is out of my typical scoring range, my first couple of rounds after a long break tend to be on the higher end rather than the lower end.

As I have improved over the years I have found that certain things stick. I hit some really good shots yesterday, too - made four straight pars around the turn. Just not enough good stuff to outweigh the bad stuff. A little regression always happens for me.

  On 11/8/2018 at 10:25 PM, GolfLug said:

As a matter of fact if you like my kool aid flavor (😉) then I have another opinion - Hitting into a net everyday without playing on a course for a couple of months can do the same thing. But it's not a huge mechanical thing. It is usually self adjusting/correcting and will come back. 

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Hitting into a net will still help you maintain or groove your swing, even if it doesn't necessarily help you score well. If I spend all my time hitting into a net, I'll at least have a good feel for hitting the ball even if my short game and putting aren't going to be on point.

[billchao]

Hit some balls today. Wasn't working on anything in particular, just focused on good (not thinned, toed, etc.) contact. Mixed results. Decided to do the old gate drill with some twigs I happened to have laying around and was hitting the ball well every time. Odd. I didn't change any feels or anything. It was just hit ball, try not to hit sticks.

Anyway, videos:

 

It wasn't nearly nice enough outside to practice with no jacket. I took it off for the camera like a pro 

[billchao]

  On 3/10/2019 at 12:52 PM, Slim_Pivot said:

Ya but I checked out your first swings compared to your current...and your swing is💰💰💰. Your handicap has to be low now

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My handicap on my profile is up to date. I drive the ball poorly because all of my swing issues are magnified with the driver. It's my own fault since I never practice with the driver 🤷🏻‍♂️

[billchao]

Got a little practice in, mostly half swings to get a feel for the swing again. Still have a lingering issue with my shoulder so didn't want to push too hard.

  On 6/25/2014 at 10:35 PM, mvmac said:

The curvature of the rear hand fits into the base of the lead thumb.



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Keep forgetting this. I always end up putting the base of my right hand on the second bone of my left thumb (proximal phalanx) instead of on the base of the thumb, which leads to wonky wrist movements and occasionally, giant chunks of skin torn off of the underside of my thumb at the joint.

[billchao]

Did a little more right hand grip work. I find that focusing on holding the club in the fingers of my right hand is the key. I keep wanting to wrap my fingers around the club so that the tips touch the thenar eminence and since I have short fingers, my right hand ends up sliding down the shaft a little bit and the club lays along the MCP joints. Still feels weird, but it won't by the time the season starts.

[hoselpalooza]

  On 11/17/2013 at 10:37 PM, billchao said:

I was playing around with my grip just now, and apparently my hands are far enough apart that I can take the interlocking fingers apart and put them both around the club in the ten finger grip. So, essentially, I'm "faking" the interlock grip. I also have the club too much in the fingers of my left hand. This is probably why I have my right hand down so low, as my left hand is too perpendicular to the grip, making it uncomfortable to get the hands closer. Basically, the pressure from my bottom hand is directly on top of the joint in my left thumb instead of at the base of it.

 

I'm going to grip the club a bit more in the palm with my left hand so that I can get the right hand closer. I'm trying it out now, and I can already feel that my hands are more in sync with each other and there isn't so much of that delayed float loading feeling. I think this will help with my wrist action and improper lag action.

 

Now that I think about it, I think this was the first thing the pro showed me when I went to my very first lesson. Apparently, it never stuck.

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@billchao, have you played around with different grip sizes? what you describe seems similar to something i recently went through. i went from vardon to 10-finger to interlocking (with varying finger/hand positioning) while testing bigger grips. turns out i like interlocking with bigger grips. now i use less grip pressure and my hands/fingers/joints hurt less. no change in ball flight or distance. just a much better feel and more confidence.

these may not be the same issues you're working on but in case you've never tried it, maybe find a used 6-/7-iron that matches your set (with identical shaft) and try putting on some different grips?

[billchao]

  On 3/19/2019 at 1:00 AM, hoselpalooza said:

@billchao, have you played around with different grip sizes? what you describe seems similar to something i recently went through. i went from vardon to 10-finger to interlocking (with varying finger/hand positioning) while testing bigger grips. turns out i like interlocking with bigger grips. now i use less grip pressure and my hands/fingers/joints hurt less. no change in ball flight or distance. just a much better feel and more confidence.

these may not be the same issues you're working on but in case you've never tried it, maybe find a used 6-/7-iron that matches your set (with identical shaft) and try putting on some different grips?

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Shit, I've been making the same right hand grip change I identified in 2013? That sucks 🤦🏻‍♂️

I hate larger grips. Short fingers.

[hoselpalooza]

  Quote

Shit, I've been making the same right hand grip change I identified in 2013? That sucks 🤦🏻‍♂️ I hate larger grips. Short fingers.

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my bad! thought i clicked on "unread" and got taken to your most recent comment! turns out i got sent waayy into the past instead. 😂

[billchao]

  On 3/19/2019 at 1:23 AM, hoselpalooza said:

my bad! thought i clicked on "unread" and got taken to your most recent comment! turns out i got sent waayy into the past instead. 😂

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All good man. Totally embarrased to be working on the same thing I should have fixed years ago though so maybe I'll get it right this time. Good thing you pointed it out.

[hoselpalooza]

  On 3/19/2019 at 1:28 AM, billchao said:

All good man. Totally embarrased to be working on the same thing I should have fixed years ago though so maybe I'll get it right this time. Good thing you pointed it out.

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honestly, this seems like a common theme with many golfers. you can imagine how much of a doofus i felt like when i noticed my ball position was inconsistent? learnt that before i ever swung a club! i guess for me the lesson is to revisit the fundamentals from time-to-time. nothing embarrassing about that. 🙂

[billchao]

First videos of the year:

 

I spent all winter not practicing or anything and I didn't lose anything. Cool. I don't know if it's the slight tweak in the right hand grip or having a stronger core from working out, but these swings felt fast, like the club is just whipping around; you can see how far around the clubhead got at the finish. Also cool.

Toed the crap out of these shots which has always been the miss, but it's consistent and I'm starting to think it's just a quirk of my address position. I address the ball on the center of the face and I hit it on the toe. I address the ball towards the heel and I hit it on center. I'm not going to "fix" that, just need to remember to address the ball with the hosel 😜

[boogielicious]

  On 3/20/2019 at 7:13 PM, billchao said:

First videos of the year:

 

I spent all winter not practicing or anything and I didn't lose anything. Cool. I don't know if it's the slight tweak in the right hand grip or having a stronger core from working out, but these swings felt fast, like the club is just whipping around; you can see how far around the clubhead got at the finish. Also cool.

Toed the crap out of these shots which has always been the miss, but it's consistent and I'm starting to think it's just a quirk of my address position. I address the ball on the center of the face and I hit it on the toe. I address the ball towards the heel and I hit it on center. I'm not going to "fix" that, just need to remember to address the ball with the hosel 😜

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Looks really good considering not much practice. I wish I had your flexibility.

I would focus on address to get center hits. Use the magic marker dot technique on the ball and adjust set up so its dead center. 

[billchao]

  On 3/21/2019 at 12:53 PM, boogielicious said:

Looks really good considering not much practice. I wish I had your flexibility.

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Thanks. I'm actually surprised the swing is in good shape, not that I'm complaining 😀

  On 3/21/2019 at 12:53 PM, boogielicious said:

I would focus on address to get center hits. Use the magic marker dot technique on the ball and adjust set up so its dead center. 

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The clubhead is about two balls wide. If I address the ball on the heel half, my strike pattern is around the center. That's one good thing about blades: I know when I find the sweetspot.

[billchao]

 

Ugh. Ugly. That right there is the reason I'm not a single digit handicap.

That's so bad, it's like 12° right. I had filmed a shot of me hitting what felt like a big cut that ended up looking like a decent swing but I accidentally deleted it 🤦🏻‍♂️

Have to do the same feel with my 3w, too. Wonder what it would be like with the irons? I don't want to have separate swing feels for different clubs. Will have to try it and see.

Arms are too slow coming down, way behind hips. Left arm stays connected too long.

[boogielicious]

  On 3/24/2019 at 9:55 PM, billchao said:

 

Ugh. Ugly. That right there is the reason I'm not a single digit handicap.

That's so bad, it's like 12° right. I had filmed a shot of me hitting what felt like a big cut that ended up looking like a decent swing but I accidentally deleted it 🤦🏻‍♂️

Have to do the same feel with my 3w, too. Wonder what it would be like with the irons? I don't want to have separate swing feels for different clubs. Will have to try it and see.

Arms are too slow coming down, way behind hips. Left arm stays connected too long.

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It's because of the white belt!

Slow it down and work on sequence. I would rather have your hip turn than mine at impact. But I guess too much of a good thing can create issues as well.