My Swing (phillyk)

[phillyk]

WOW!! I wish I video logged this round I had today for you all to see.  I was sinking almost all my putts today.  I sunk 3 or 4 20footers.  The 2 distinct putts I missed were each about 15ft, one of them hit the cup and did a 180 and the other just missed the edge.  It was lights out today.  15/18 GIR, not sure about the fairways but I only missed a few, and 27putts for a round of 64 (-8 on a 72.9 6750yds)!!!! WOOOOO!!! 18 was a little difficult knowing what I was at coming in, but for most of the round I kept my cool and focused on every shot.  I just knew I had to advance the ball as far as possible off the tee without getting into trouble and just make my wedges really accurate.  I did have one eagle today, par 5 540yds (more like 500yds though) hit my drive to 190 out, and stuck my 6-iron 5 ft away.

And like I said in my earlier post, I've just been hitting this fade I have.  And its staying very consistent throughout all my clubs.  I'm feeling very confident with my game right now.  Hopefully i can continue to make some low scores!

[Abu3baid]

That is great, would have loved to see that! Is that your record?

[phillyk]

That is great, would have loved to see that! Is that your record?

It is! I've shot a 65 as well.  But this round felt more real because of my putting.  Last time I was just sticking everything really close.

[phillyk]

This is my new swing I've been working on.  It's working out very well so far.  Just need to tighten a bit more on the back swing, but my follow through is what I'm really focusing on.  Where my club face should point mostly upwards just after impact when the club is parallel to the ground.

Sorry about the video, my buddy didn't really know what he was doing.  I'll try to get a better one next time.  But its just a preview of what I'm working on.

[phillyk]

Well, after 14 years of not taking lessons and being over-proud to be self-taught, I've finally decided to see an instructor and really try to nail down my game.  I've gotten myself to a +3 at one point, but it's not good enough and I believe I can do no more to progress further without help.

First thing he did with me was change the loft on my putter from 5.5° to 3°, something I've never thought about, and I noticed an immediate difference in the way the ball rolls on the green.  It is a lot smoother.  We are also working to shorten my swing a little bit, work on proper weight shift on the backswing, and make sure my shoulders are properly aligned.  I can definitely see an improvement in ball striking, but it'll take a lot of practice to really nail down my timing, because it is still a little off.

But the biggest thing for me is the reassurance that my game is good.  Being self taught, you look at your game and score to be the reassurance, but it never did it for me.  After working with this pro a couple times, I feel more confident that I'm definitely on the right track and can start to put up really solid numbers once I fix a few things.  I can't say that the last 14 years were a waste because I was self taught, but I maybe could've been better if I had started lessons earlier.

I'll post video later when I get good footage of what I'm working on.

[phillyk]

A little too much head movement on the down swing.  Otherwise this looked all right to me.
This was taken during my lesson on the 24th.  We are working on getting my weight more forward at impact.  I think it worked well here.

[iacas]

A little too much head movement on the down swing.  Otherwise this looked all right to me.

This was taken during my lesson on the 24th.  We are working on getting my weight more forward at impact.  I think it worked well here.

I don't know that I can agree that it worked "well" here. You simply play with the ball well back in your stance. Is your weight forward of the ball? Yeah. Is it truly "forward" if we were to measure it on a pressure plate? No.

I'm glad you've gotten to a +2.4 (though perhaps your home course suits you really well?), but I suspect you're kind of at your ceiling (or floor, depending on how you look at it) and it's going to be a rocky road if you want to improve some things in your swing, filled with rounds in the 80s and high 70s… And, I suspect, to STAY at a +2.4 or in the + range, you have to play and practice fairly often. I doubt you can take too much time off and come out and shoot a 70 on a staunch course.

You are going to have a hard time working on getting your weight forward with that top of the backswing position. You've moved so much weight BACK that you simply don't have the time to get it forward. You can't go 10-90 to 90-10 in the time it takes to make a downswing.

Congrats on getting to where you are, and good luck with the work ahead.

P.S. No "tips" or advice or anything because you're working with someone. I'd fix the backswing first. That A4 is gonna be tough to shake…

[phillyk]

With my 9-iron, I play the ball towards the back of my stance.  Granted this was at my lesson trying to learn to move my weight forward, and looking at older videos I have on here, I think its progressing.

I play many courses now, not just my "home", and I hover between -3 and +3 most rounds.  I play 36+ holes and hit 300+ balls on the range each week.  I won't play until I'm comfortable enough with what I'm working on at the range.  My last round was 9 holes, before this video was taken, -4 with 1 missed green.  My distance accuracy has been great, so it's just controlling the accuracy better.  I work at night, so time during the day to practice isn't an issue.  But, most of all my determination and drive to get better is only getting stronger.  I'm not stopping at +2.4 or whatever it is these days...

I'll keep this updated as I can with my improvements...

[500 Hats]

Lots of good comments. I agree with them. A swing change is a work in progress. I would give it time and make every adjustment necessary at the same time top to bottom. Change is not a time to protect a handicap. It's a time for learning. The scores will come again.

[phillyk]

Well, after taking lessons for a while now, I feel my swing has greatly improved.  I just want to explain some of the changes I have made.  I do not have a good video at the time.
1) the biggest change I have made is weight shift throughout the swing.  I feel I started at a kind of stack and tilt thing, and now am transferring weight back on the back swing and getting it all forward during impact and at the follow through.  It has been the basis for all the changes I have made.  The easiest way to explain what I've done is imagining handing a medicine ball backwards and then throwing forwards toward your target. You have to have proper weight transfer to do this with a heavy ball.

2) A concept I have been working on attaining for a while now is getting a flat left arm through the shaft.  Right now it remains slightly bent.  It doesn't seem to be a huge deal right now but maybe a cause of slight inconsistent ball flight height.

3) I am also working on the back swing and making it a single plane.  My instructor loves my plane through impact, but my back swing has 2 planes.  It starts vertical then moves horizontal and back vertical at the very top. The struggle I have right now is my tempo/timing.  The "back to vertical" thing I have was my "set," if you will, that says ok now go down.  It worked but caused slight pulls if my weight transfer wasn't forward enough.  What I'm not doing with the change is getting my shaft at the top, pointing towards the target and on the way down the club face remains open.  So working with a mirror and watching the backswing has helped me feel what I need to.

What I have noticed through my changes, though, is that I work better with my instructor watching me. It makes me want to play better when he's there. So at the same time, I remain more open to suggestions he makes during the lesson.  I can make happen what he wants me to right away, but retaining the feel of the change is what I struggle with.  I have to say, having my short game remain consistently the best part of my game, has helped keep the scores low this winter.  I can only hope I can match the two sooner rather than later.

[phillyk]

These are some swings today.  The face on view shows that I'm starting to get my left arm down the shaft in a straight line at impact with ball, which is from me thinking about my left arm doing more work throughout the swing.  It also shows I'm not over-swinging too much at the top.  My knee did a funky thing in the follow through, but that doesn't typically happen.  The from-behind view shows my back swing is more on plane than it has in the past, but not quite where I want it.  The downswing is still solid.

Any thoughts?

[iacas]

Any thoughts?

On a practice swing? Not really, no… You probably know better, right? :)

[phillyk]

hit slight cut; still working on set-up for having my weight start more centered over ball (so slightly to my right).  Also still working on more of a straight left arm at impact. But hitting ball really well right now overall.

[BallStriker]

Will leave the swing analysis to the pros.....but will say I absolutely love me some Lake Padden GC.....just a great, great layout

Good luck and keep going low............

[Ernest Jones]

hit slight cut; still working on set-up for having my weight start more centered over ball (so slightly to my right).  Also still working on more of a straight left arm at impact. But hitting ball really well right now overall.

Your head moves way off the ball, like a foot off the ball , and then stays there till after impact. You seem to be able to compensate, and if you're a +cap then obviously you're compensating very well. That would be the first thing I'd look at fixing.

[phillyk]

I haven't uploaded any new vids in a while.  Its gotten a lot better!  The head will be a long process, but I'm getting good distance and accuracy, just need to weed out the few mistakes each round.

[Duff McGee]

I can't even recognize your old swing after golfing with you earlier in the month.

[phillyk]

I can't even recognize your old swing after golfing with you earlier in the month.

Haha, right?! Yeah I'll work on getting new videos in.