My Swing (Lihu)

[Lihu]

Okay, turns out I have enough flexibility. I spent an hour practicing in front of a mirror. I spent a good deal of time keeping my balance while keeping the elbows close together. I did really slow movements. I just finished a range session, and the balls all go in the general direction where I want. I haven't quite figured out club face and path control, but I can push, pull or hit balls as straight as I can aim. So, I will continue the mirror work for a while until it feels natural. I'll also wait a bit (month or two) before attempting any shaped shots again.

[mvmac]

After swing on the right, this one was a full motion, full speed one, not a drill swing. So much better at A6, still would like to see that clubhead more in. Just keep doing your drill and shallowing the shaft by working your left elbow "under". When you start to swing hard with your upper body, that is when the clubhead starts to kick out at A6.

Look at all the weight stuck on your left foot in the before. Much better with the after swing, buckle facing the sky, this keeps the arms straighter, more center contact because the club isn't "flashing" across the ball to the right.

Ok Kaili.....

Make sure the feet are turned out.

Helps you with turning more and keeps your head from dipping down. Not something you even had to think about to change to make sure those feet are always turned out.

Awesome!

So this is a big priority for you. Before swing on the left, club and left elbow getting too far behind you at A2. Want to feel that left arm fold into your side, in front of your shirt seam. Club head will be more inline with the hands.

Then from A2, you turn to 90 degrees keeping the elbows the same distance apart. So even though you've made a "bigger" turn on the right, the elbows are still in a good spot.

Not something you have to think about but want to point it out. The reason the backswing for you is important. Left elbow is too far behind you on the left pic, very tough to control the face and path. On the right, because A2-4 is better, the left elbow is in a great spot, leads to higher shots, better contact, straighter shots.

[Lihu]

Thanks for the analysis. We'll work on the drills for the next few weeks or so.

[Hammer 4]

Both of you are looking good, nice work, both of you.

[Lihu]

  Hammer 4 said:

Both of you are looking good, nice work, both of you.

Thanks. Keep up the good work, too!

[Lihu]

My range sessions are getting better. I was inspired to go to the range three times by my relatively poor ball striking on the course yesterday. So, I went to the range specifically to practice the key move I was taught on Saturday. I am just starting to feel that my arms are "strongly connected" to each other and to my body during the swing. There is still a disconnect in my wrist, but I get a few that connect very well. Going to focus on this tonight.

Balls are going in the rough direction I want as I turn the club face open or closed. Strikes are more solid than ever with the MP52. I got too much help from my i20's. When I switched to the MP52, everything fell apart. That and the fact that I was attempting to shape shots well before I was ready. So, in that spirit, I am planning on getting my more solid strikes and the last key move from my lesson much more ingrained. When I am able to do it on any course consistently, I will feel ready for the next keys (still working on keys 1,2 and 3).

My body is balanced during the swing, and I don't feel like I am "falling over" after the follow through anymore. Going to take some videos to check if I am bending at the hips enough, as I want to keep my spine straight throughout the swing.

[mvmac]

  Lihu said:

When I am able to do it on any course consistently, I will feel ready for the next keys (still working on keys 1,2 and 3).

Just to clarify for anyone reading, Lihu isn't actually working on 3 things at once, it's more of what I said in my earlier post. Mostly Key #2 done "properly" with the elbow stuff.

[Lihu]

  mvmac said:

Just to clarify for anyone reading, Lihu isn't actually working on 3 things at once, it's more of what I said in my earlier post. Mostly Key #2 done "properly" with the elbow stuff.

That's correct, I am only working on one piece at a time. The fact that I can, is the main reason why this learning system is so effective for me.

BTW, I am just starting to be able to hit the 7, 6 and 5 irons. Slow progress, but it's conscious now. Improving just a little bit at a time.

[Lihu]

  mvmac said:

After swing on the right, this one was a full motion, full speed one, not a drill swing. So much better at A6, still would like to see that clubhead more in. Just keep doing your drill and shallowing the shaft by working your left elbow "under". When you start to swing hard with your upper body, that is when the clubhead starts to kick out at A6.

Look at all the weight stuck on your left foot in the before. Much better with the after swing, buckle facing the sky, this keeps the arms straighter, more center contact because the club isn't "flashing" across the ball to the right.

I am working hard to keep that left elbow tucked more inside, starting to hit more heel shots because of my old setup. Changing the address, and hitting a little more to the center. The elbow not tucked causes a lot of other bad things to happen. I feel like the newly acquired MP52 clubs are partly to blame because I was trying to get the "same flight" as my i20 clubs. Now that I am swinging less hard, the swing is coming together and the ball is flying farther out. Videos to come.

I also took some video of Kaili the other day, and he is working through the motions a step at a time. He is stopping at the top and just when the club is parallel to the ground. He then takes it back again and does his swing. I presume this is the drill you gave him to do? His ball striking appears to be getting better, but I feel like this jerky motion is costing him strokes in play.

[mvmac]

  Lihu said:

I am working hard to keep that left elbow tucked more inside, starting to hit more heel shots because of my old setup. Changing the address, and hitting a little more to the center. The elbow not tucked causes a lot of other bad things to happen.

Just to clarify on wording, the elbow/arm is more rotated "under". I'm personally not a big fan of "tucked", if it works for you then that's fine. I just tend to think of tucked as buried into the side or something.

  Lihu said:

I also took some video of Kaili the other day, and he is working through the motions a step at a time. He is stopping at the top and just when the club is parallel to the ground. He then takes it back again and does his swing. I presume this is the drill you gave him to do? His ball striking appears to be getting better, but I feel like this jerky motion is costing him strokes in play.

Yeah that's how he should be working on it but when he plays he just plays. Should only be stopping at A2 when he does his drills on the range or at home.

[Lihu]

  mvmac said:

Just to clarify on wording, the elbow/arm is more rotated "under". I'm personally not a big fan of "tucked", if it works for you then that's fine. I just tend to think of tucked as buried into the side or something.

Yeah that's how he should be working on it but when he plays he just plays. Should only be stopping at A2 when he does his drills on the range or at home.

No it's not how I think of it, it's just the only way I can think of describing the position. My thinking is "elbows together".

He was scoring pretty poorly (10 strokes or more), but it was partly me saying he does not need to worry about the score as much as doing his drills as we have not been going to the range that much these last two weeks. He is on spring break. Hope he makes that single digit breakthrough soon. . .

[Lihu]

Okay, here's an update on my swing.

For the past two weeks, I have been "keeping elbows together". I just changed my setup position to pull them together. The difference between what I did before and what I am doing now is huge. Letting my elbows flop around makes me look like a total hack. Keeping them consciously together makes me look pretty decent (not great, but at least like a real golfer).

I don't quite feel smooth doing this, and I am not at my full swing yet . Even so, the ball goes much further and I can shape ball flights (not great, but they kind of do what I want). I might be ready for the next lesson, soon.

@mvmac and Dana are really good.

Videos to come next week.

[mvmac]

  Lihu said:

For the past two weeks, I have been "keeping elbows together". I just changed my setup position to pull them together. The difference between what I did before and what I am doing now is huge. Letting my elbows flop around makes me look like a total hack. Keeping them consciously together makes me look pretty decent (not great, but at least like a real golfer).

Good work dude.

  Lihu said:

I don't quite feel smooth doing this, and I am not at my full swing yet.

Do you mean full speed or length or swing?

[Lihu]

  mvmac said:

Good work dude.

Do you mean full speed or length or swing?

Both really. I am still not used to having my elbows closer together, so I just slowed down and reduced the takeaway. However, good strikes do seem to go farther with this "restricted" swing.

I also tried to rip a few drives with everything I had into it, and that felt, "great". Usually, I see the ball diminish for a little while, whereas the few times I did make solid contact at these speeds the ball goes really far.

At the moment, it feels a little restricted, but I can see that when I ingrain the swing it will be faster.

I am also getting more critical of my ball flight.

[mvmac]

  Lihu said:

At the moment, it feels a little restricted, but I can see that when I ingrain the swing it will be faster.

I agree, the more you do it the more speed you'll be able to produce. I think the "restricted" feeling is a good thing, means you're sticking with it. I don't think you need to take the club back any further than you do now (similar to the example below) you don't really gain anything from it.

[Lihu]

  mvmac said:

I agree, the more you do it the more speed you'll be able to produce. I think the "restricted" feeling is a good thing, means you're sticking with it. I don't think you need to take the club back any further than you do now (similar to the example below) you don't really gain anything from it.

I wonder if I should do some more yoga to get that kind of shoulder flexibility?

[FooFader]

  Lihu said:

I wonder if I should do some more yoga to get that kind of shoulder flexibility?

I have never done yoga properly in a class but i do stretch everyday before i get into bed using yoga positions and i really has made a noticeable difference to my flexibility. Note, I'm not claimed any benefit to my golf although I'm sure there is some to a degree, but it has massively improved my flexibility.

I'm you can get to yoga classes that would be awesome but if not there is plenty of good material to be found on the internet. Also for golf specific strength and flexibility i would really recommend a book called Fix your body, fix your swing by Joey Diovisalvi. I bought it on the recommendation of @boogielicious and found to it be very very good. It screens you for flexibility limitations that would hinder your glof swing and from the assessment prescribes specific routines to improve your flexibility and strength.

[Lihu]

  FooFader said:

I have never done yoga properly in a class but i do stretch everyday before i get into bed using yoga positions and i really has made a noticeable difference to my flexibility. Note, I'm not claimed any benefit to my golf although I'm sure there is some to a degree, but it has massively improved my flexibility.

I'm you can get to yoga classes that would be awesome but if not there is plenty of good material to be found on the internet. Also for golf specific strength and flexibility i would really recommend a book called Fix your body, fix your swing by Joey Diovisalvi. I bought it on the recommendation of @boogielicious and found to it be very very good. It screens you for flexibility limitations that would hinder your glof swing and from the assessment prescribes specific routines to improve your flexibility and strength.

We're starting yoga at my company after work once a week.

Thanks for the book suggestion, I will browse for it at my local library.