My Swing (Lihu)

[billchao]

He couldn't hit his driver very well, so good thing he nails his 5W. According to the swing charts he should be able to carry 290 yards with a driver, and I just didn't see that kind of performance with his Titleist 912D2 Kaili regular flex shaft. On a couple decent shots he was getting only about 280 yards total distances. I'll probably need to get him fitted for the driver based on his 5W swing parameters? He's probably a candidate for the smaller driver heads? IDK, if anyone has any ideas?

You might want to start with a stiffer flex. Just get him fitted for a new driver and do go interfering with the clubfitter with all your club meddling ;-) [quote name="Lihu" url="/t/71030/my-swing-lihu/390#post_1121073"]EDIT: Just looked at the differential score, not that different than what I've already been scoring. . .bummer, I thought I had finally converged on the "perfect swing" for me. :doh: [/quote]No such thing as perfect. Everytime you think you've got it all figured out, reality slaps you in the face, hard. One of these days, I'll learn, too. :-P

[Lihu]

You might want to start with a stiffer flex. Just get him fitted for a new driver and don't go interfering with the clubfitter with all your club meddling

No such thing as perfect. Everytime you think you've got it all figured out, reality slaps you in the face, hard. One of these days, I'll learn, too.

I knew what you meant. No messing around with his game, there would be hell to pay from the family anyway.

Yeah, I thought I scored my lifetime low, but it turned out to be about the same as the other rounds this last month with my "terrible" swing. . .

It's going to take a lot more work to get that satisfying feeling swing. . .Maybe a lifetime?

[billchao]

I knew what you meant. No messing around with his game, there would be hell to pay from the family anyway. ;-)

Stupid autocorrect. I didnt even notice. [quote name="Lihu" url="/t/71030/my-swing-lihu/390#post_1121154"]Yeah, I thought I scored my lifetime low, but it turned out to be about the same as the other rounds this last month with my "terrible" swing. . . It's going to take a lot more work to get that satisfying feeling swing. . .Maybe a lifetime? :tumble: [/quote]That means you're improving, right? You thought you shot a career low, then it turns out you've been playing that well for a while? I don't think there is such a thing as a satisfying feeling swing. There's always room for improvement, things you can do better, etc. At some point, you have to stop playing golf swing and just play golf. Kind of ironic that I just typed that :smartass:

[JonMA1]

I wonder if the trick isn't in learning a good swing but instead learning how to have fun with the level at which we're currently playing. Maybe having confidence with the idea that positive change will eventually come our way.

This is of course easy to preach about but quite another to practice. I like the commercial they're showing on GC where everyone is having fun despite whatever lousy shot they just hit. If only...

[Lihu]

That means you're improving, right? You thought you shot a career low, then it turns out you've been playing that well for a while? I don't think there is such a thing as a satisfying feeling swing. There's always room for improvement, things you can do better, etc. At some point, you have to stop playing golf swing and just play golf. Kind of ironic that I just typed that :smartass:

I've been improving a little bit at a time, but this shorter course gives me the heeby jeebies. If I make a GIR, I still have the ability to triple it. Unfortunately, it still has the ability to intimidate me. The only thing is now that I hit my 6i okay, I can extricate myself from bad drives, but those undulating island greens are something else. . . If I hit my irons in the sweet spot it really feels nice. Not plugging for Mizuno, but really, wow. If I pure my irons the whole round, I couldn't care less about my score. Now that I bring this up, maybe that's why my short game is currently worse than when I started golf. . . [quote name="JonMA1" url="/t/71030/my-swing-lihu/414#post_1121211"]I wonder if the trick isn't in learning a good swing but instead learning how to have fun with the level at which we're currently playing. Maybe having confidence with the idea that positive change will eventually come our way. This is of course easy to preach about but quite another to practice. I like the commercial they're showing on GC where everyone is having fun despite whatever lousy shot they just hit. If only... [/quote] Talking to an older low single digit (possibly scratch?) golfer tonight gave me some perspective. He said that everyone has a bad day or round in a very concrete shot by shot way. I think what you are stating pretty much sums up our entire conversation. Not going to worry about score for a while. On this note, I'm going to play practice rounds for a while. . .

[Jameson]

Amazing work! What was your handicap at the moment of initiate this thead? I want so badly to follow your steps !

Congrats!

[Lihu]

Amazing work! What was your handicap at the moment of initiate this thead? I want so badly to follow your steps ! Congrats!

Not sure there is that much difference in our current games, and I don't know if you'll like the answer. I'm thinking back to my game 3 years ago, and to be honest I didn't really know my handicap as I was a beginner. I was shooting low to teen hundreds on more challenging courses at the outings with 116/108 type scores. On familiar shorter courses, in the low to mid 90s. Guessing around 25-28? I never really scored over 120 even on difficult courses, but it was pretty bad playing nonetheless. The only difference between me then and me now is an improved swing. This gives me a much stronger iron game, and longer drives when they go straight. More solid contact with all my clubs, and a more efficient swing that takes less effort to make has allowed me to play longer courses. So, even my horrible rounds like yesterday evening's 18 (in addition to the 18 I played in the morning for >12,000 yards of walking golf in a day) are more like fumbling around the green more than anything else. I made some approaches hitting 150-200 yard drives with a 180 yard 6i to near greens. Looking down 200 yards from a messed up tee shot doesn't fill me with dread like it did a year ago. It's more like "Sigh, pull iron out and swing." My irons were iffy at first even at roughly 16 HC almost a year ago. I had numerous fundamental issues. For instance, I was not loading my wrist back on the takeaway, this was the way I played pretty much from the start. This is why immediately after lessons with Dana and Mike, I was hitting long and far with my irons. As time away from them traversed, I would load the wrists less and less. We didn't focus on this problem. It was misinterpreted as releasing too early, but in reality I never loaded it to even be released early or at all. This is why I hit such short distances, even as recent as last Summer at Erie when I "lost" my swing. Now, that I got the wrist loading, I am trying different things like getting "high hands" without the OTT aspect. This is where I am at the moment. There is an abundance of power with the high hands, and allows me to "compress" the ball into the ground (this does not really happen, it's just a feel). The "compressing the ball" seems to work better in rough. I just need to merge it with keys 2 and 3. I finally got it somewhat merged with Key 1, and am currently working on key 3 before going back to key 2. The other thing you might note is that it has been taking me over 2 years to develop the swing. Maybe this will not be fast enough for you, but it seems okay progress to me. It takes a long time to develop the swing to a level that is satisfactorily good enough to play the course. Hope that answers at least part of your questions. . .

[Lihu]

I think I've got the high hands and the ability to swing from inside out with it. One thing is to maintain the flat or palmered right wrist. Not as fast as I'd like, but I'm able to hit my irons moderately long.

Some swing thought notes:

1) Making sure my wrist is flat at setup and on the takeaway. My takeaway is backwards compared to many other swings I see on this site. I load my wrist first, then bring my arm back as I turn my hips and shoulders.

2) Takeaway is not too far back, even with high hands. "Feels" like this restricted motion is is still giving me a lot of speed. I need to take the hips back to a fixed distance.

3) Downswing sequence is still not quite optimal. I get a few good swings now and then, but only enough to tell me that my normal swing is not optimum.

Doing mirror work. "Stop motion" movements.

[Lihu]

I think I've got the high hands and the ability to swing from inside out with it. One thing is to maintain the flat or palmered right wrist. Not as fast as I'd like, but I'm able to hit my irons moderately long.

Some swing thought notes:

1) Making sure my wrist is flat at setup and on the takeaway. My takeaway is backwards compared to many other swings I see on this site. I load my wrist first, then bring my arm back as I turn my hips and shoulders.

2) Takeaway is not too far back, even with high hands. "Feels" like this restricted motion is is still giving me a lot of speed. I need to take the hips back to a fixed distance.

3) Downswing sequence is still not quite optimal. I get a few good swings now and then, but only enough to tell me that my normal swing is not optimum.

Doing mirror work. "Stop motion" movements.

Taking up this challenge for the next month. . .

http://thesandtrap.com/t/81139/get-better-now-april-2015-practice-challenge-thread

The goal is to turn shots that are almost made by "accident" into just plain old good shots. . .

[Lihu]

My first goal is starting to take some shape. That is, I'm able to get the penetrating ball flight with my 8i and down. My 8i distance is 155 carry, 9i about 145 carry and PW about 135 carry (I over shot some greens from what I thought was about 130 yards). I might have gained another 3 yards of carry with my newer penetrating ball flight. The main thing is the spin is much higher. The balls seems to be landing "softer". Slicing my 3i and ballooning my 5i and 4i. Not sure why these clubs behave so differently than my 6i and 7i? Need to check on a launch monitor. More mirror work, and the office chair weight shift drill is pretty cool. Hoping Erik will publish more of those types of drills in the near future. . .

[iacas]

@Lihu , where's recent video of your swing?

And, I'm asking because I care:

1) Do you really carry your 8-iron 155? Your PW 135?

2) If we were playing tomorrow, would you really be comfortable with a 12.0 index?

[Lihu]

@Lihu , where's recent video of your swing? And, I'm asking because I care: 1) Do you really carry your 8-iron 155? Your PW 135? 2) If we were playing tomorrow, would you really be comfortable with a 12.0 index?

Thanks for taking an interest, Erik. Surprisingly, yes, I carry my 8i 155 and my PW 130-135. This is the total distance too, because there is no roll to speak of with the latest practice session today. . .This all started happening after my last lesson with Mike and Dana and my high hand swing changes. I'm a totally different golfer than 4 months ago! Now, I'm the guy who drives and putts like crap but hits greens from a long way off, and super happy about it! Still in its infancy, so I think I can get even more distance with better timing and more keys. Guessing not much more distance because I am finally starting to hit them properly even with my crappy but powerful swing. I got in one good shot during my last lesson with Mike with my Cobra driver and continued this way until I kept slicing too much when I went to high hands. The club felt too light. I switched back to the x100 shafts, and started hitting my drives straighter for a while then started to slice again. Now, I only hit them 250-ish but with the reverse K incorporated back into my swing. The swing is more natural, and no slices today. My body was so broken down from playing too much last month, and when I took a 4 day rest from golf, I was able to hit with that nice high piercing trajectory today! Finally! The wrist loading and the high hands added a huge amount of distance and speed. I never learned to do this prior to my last lesson. The reason why I hit longer after every lesson with Mike is they told me the body positions to use, and I regressed to my no wrist load takeaway as time passed away from my lessons. Now, the main thing is for me to relax during the swing. If I don't relax, I would hit short and low. If I am under pressure to perform at this point, it will cause me to tense. If I continue to practice I think any tension will lessen. Probably will take a month or week to really get comfortable with this swing as I am well rested. I think I can start to post some continuous play vlogs (no missing video) and, no, I would be more comfortable with a 12.7 index on my home courses. For those who find it hard to fathom the changes I've seen the last 4 months, just try not loading your wrist and swing with flat shoulders and see what kind of distances you can get? Play a full round like that then another where wrist loading and high hands are back in again. That's what I went through. Golf is a completely different game for me now. Greens with a 9i from the "150" marker! I'm so happy. . .

[Lihu]

Played a round with my son and  his long time friend. They're both growing up, too fast. . .need to spend more time with my kids.

We had a "fun round" as the greens are heavily sanded. . .

The 2 man rory. . .

Me figuring out that my terrible drives were also from equipment failure. . .the turning of the club face threw my swing off more than usual. . .

My son hits his 5W a long ways. . .

He also wants @mvmac to comment on his latest swing. . .

One man Rory. . .

Me hitting a PW post round because the video on course didn't get taken properly. . .

So, you can see me hitting the PW. It's probably about 80% my on course speed. . .

And I broke the net because a ball hit the support net. . .

BTW, this was again with a PW. you can probably zoom in on a screen capture in 1080 mode to confirm, if you like. . .

Oh well, going to have to put of the large net now. At least we'll have more room to maneuver around the hitting cage, now. . .

[iacas]

@Lihu , time to review the pictures and videos @mvmac has made for you. Swing is getting very sloppy. Path well to the right.

[Lihu]

@Lihu , time to review the pictures and videos @mvmac  has made for you. Swing is getting very sloppy. Path well to the right.

So true, and thanks for the directions.

@mvmac and I had crossed up schedules or something a couple months back, and I am starting to review the stuff as much as possible.

[mvmac]

He also wants @mvmac to comment on his latest swing. . .

It's better but the club is still loading a bit too shallow on the backswing. So I would review the stuff I mentioned here.

http://thesandtrap.com/t/71030/my-swing-lihu/270#post_1089316

So, you can see me hitting the PW. It's probably about 80% my on course speed. . .

Your 80% is way too fast. Looks like you're just lifting the arms on the backswing and then the shaft get steep on the downswing. Make sure to turn and slow down the backswing. Then keep the left elbow lower than the right on the downswing.

[Lihu]

It's better but the club is still loading a bit too shallow on the backswing. So I would review the stuff I mentioned here. [URL=http://thesandtrap.com/t/71030/my-swing-lihu/270#post_1089316]http://thesandtrap.com/t/71030/my-swing-lihu/270#post_1089316[/URL] [URL=http://thesandtrap.com/content/type/61/id/117378/] [/URL] [URL=http://thesandtrap.com/content/type/61/id/117379/] [/URL] Your 80% is way too fast. Looks like you're just lifting the arms on the backswing and then the shaft get steep on the downswing. Make sure to turn and slow down the backswing. Then keep the left elbow lower than the right on the downswing.

Thanks, we both have homework to do. . . [quote name="iacas" url="/t/71030/my-swing-lihu/414#post_1126503"] @Lihu , time to review the pictures and videos @mvmac has made for you. Swing is getting very sloppy. Path well to the right. [/quote] BTW, Erik, my son is still laughing at me and the "sloppy" comment. :-D Seriously, though, point taken. . .

[Lihu]

Well, my son has been filming and practicing accordingly. He was taking lots of video and analyzing them all yesterday afternoon. Pretty neat that he is working on his issues. . .

As for me, this morning's practice session was just feeble attempts trying to incorporate the stuff I need. As a consequence of seeing more video, I definitely need to do some hip turn drills and tons of slow and steady work. The feel is totally wrong with the slower swings, and obviously I simply can't feel the errors in my "full speed" swings. Lot's of slow swing work to do yet, but here is my "progress" attempts that got me to realize that more hip and other work is needed. Explanations are within the video. . .

3i attempt