Can't Copy Lag From Practice Swing Into Real Swing

[DaveST]

Finally got video of the stills up. This is the more recent video made last night, better angle and after getting some practice I feel the mistakes are less in it. Positions at impact should definitely be better than the first video because this was made while doing drills specifically to increase club lag/flat wrist forward at impact

[Phil McGleno]

Start a My Swing thread.-Youll get good advice and many here are familiar w/SnT. Looks Overdone.

[mvmac]

Finally got video of the stills up. This is the more recent video made last night, better angle and after getting some practice I feel the mistakes are less in it. Positions at impact should definitely be better than the first video because this was made while doing drills specifically to increase club lag/flat wrist forward at impact

Yes that one is better with Key #3 but your first priority is focusing on Key #1 Steady Head. The amount your head moves down and forward (less forward in the recent video) is going to cause some issues. You need to "load" less into your lead side on the backswing, pivot needs to be centered.

[nevets88]

I disagree. The purpose of a golf swing is to hit the ball solidly, in the air, with curve, blah blah blah. A functional golf swing does not generally hit a 6-iron 30 feet in the air (or whatever club you have there). I see the issue as mechanical, not mental. Your swing is forcing you to make a compensation (flipping, reaching inline prematurely, whatever you wanna call it). You cannot just make the "practice swing" with a ball in the way and play good golf. It won't work very well. It'll hit the ball too low. And again, in the practice swing, there's no ball that's going to go head-high with a 7-iron. So you don't need to compensate. I think that it is. It's not a golf swing that will launch the ball in the air, thus, when an actual ball is on the ground, you must make a compensation to get some height on the shot. In other words: your practice swing has flaws too. I only bolded that because it's a different way of saying that "it's mechanical." You're treating your practice swing as a gold standard, but it's just the same swing without a compensation. It too needs work and can/should be improved. Also, I'll assume "downswing" was a typo, as it drops down and forward in the backswing. You need to feel like you stay in your forward flexion more and that your left shoulder translates back toward your right foot a little bit (or some variation of that). It's kind of an "anti-S&T;" motion, but… we find that a lot of S&T; students eventually start overdoing pieces. Paging @JetFan1983 and others…

Re: overdoing SnT. Yeah that's me. Especially the shoulder down part. You can still see it in my takeaway even though I've been away from SnT for many years now. I have a thread in the member swings board. While what they do, SnT, those who implement it properly, is shoulder down and weight forward, it's not that much. I think 5SK simplified things by saying do whatever it takes to keep the head in one place so you try and do the combo of pieces just right rather than do too much of one thing.

[Ernest Jones]

Re: overdoing SnT. Yeah that's me. Especially the shoulder down part. You can still see it in my takeaway even though I've been away from SnT for many years now. I have a thread in the member swings board. While what they do, SnT, those who implement it properly, is shoulder down and weight forward, it's not that much. I think 5SK simplified things by saying do whatever it takes to keep the head in one place so you try and do the combo of pieces just right rather than do too much of one thing.

Yeah, left shoulder down had me so friggen' steep at A4 I was lucky I didn't bend any of my clubs.

[scorpion12]

Op, check out the dave wilson video on youtube where he's talking about an easy swing. I don't remember the exact name of it right now and can't get to it due to work but he talks about a drill where you choke up on your club a bit and swing it left and right in front of you watching to make sure  you can see the grip moving close to your torso... this gives the feeling of loosening your wrists some through the swing and not being tense.

Also look at some of the swing by swing videos... the dude in them (can't understand his name because he says it too fast) says to address your ball. Take a deep breath, and release it slowly as you swing. If you're tensing up, it doesn't come out steady but will "whoosh" out... also, keep your mouth open a little... if you're tensing during your swing, then it'll close and you'll grit your teeth.

Might help. Might not. Trying to help because I put these in play yesterday and my drives were straighter and went a little further than I had previously driven off the tee (I know you're not looking for more power but I was trying to be less tense during my swing and more fluid... and that was a by-product)

[mvmac]

Yeah, left shoulder down had me so friggen' steep at A4 I was lucky I didn't bend any of my clubs.

Should have been left shoulder down and to the center or something like that.

Op, check out the dave wilson video on youtube where he's talking about an easy swing. I don't remember the exact name of it right now and can't get to it due to work but he talks about a drill where you choke up on your club a bit and swing it left and right in front of you watching to make sure  you can see the grip moving close to your torso... this gives the feeling of loosening your wrists some through the swing and not being tense.

Also look at some of the swing by swing videos... the dude in them (can't understand his name because he says it too fast) says to address your ball. Take a deep breath, and release it slowly as you swing. If you're tensing up, it doesn't come out steady but will "whoosh" out... also, keep your mouth open a little... if you're tensing during your swing, then it'll close and you'll grit your teeth.

Might help. Might not. Trying to help because I put these in play yesterday and my drives were straighter and went a little further than I had previously driven off the tee (I know you're not looking for more power but I was trying to be less tense during my swing and more fluid... and that was a by-product)

Again the issue can't be fixed with a feel or thought on the downswing, @DaveST 's head goes down and forward excessively so the wrists dumping early is just a reaction to that.

[scorpion12]

Mvmac thanks for the clarification and I understand about keeping the head still during the swing and what I suggested not addressing that at all. I was responding to the OP's request for trying to remain loose through the swing and this is what helped me. Granted, it was a 9 hole sample but the results I got were encouraging and my drives off the tee were right up there with my buddy's where my normal shot is about 10-20 yards behind. I'll leave it to y'all experts on identifying the mechanical issues in the swing.

[Skype apirlp71]

I would suggest two things.

1) Focus on moving something else. In other words, start the downswing with your lower body and keep your core rotating through the shot. When you don't use your body (hips) or if they slow up or stop during the swing, then energy has to go somewhere, so it transfers into your arms and hands too soon. If you simply leave your arms and hands alone and let them fall naturally by letting gravity takeover and be aggressive with your core, you should stop throwing it from the top.

2) When you make practice swings exaggerate a super wide takeaway and then a narrow downswing where the shaft moves in closer to your right shoulder. Most who cast are narrow going up and then because they have no place to go get wide coming down. Wide to narrow should be your mantra. And you have to really exaggerate it and just let go. If you can video tape yourself doing this in a practice swing and then compare to your regular swing and you should see a huge difference.

Also here's a drill you may try.

Description: The Double Pump Drill is a great anti-slicing drill that will help you learn to unwind your upper body while keeping the club on plane.

Summary:

1. Starting with a short or mid iron, make a backswing and stop at the top of your swing.

2. Keeping your wrists and arms quiet (keeping the angles in them) pull your front shoulder out from under your chin and let your hands come down to hip high. The golf club should now be parallel to the ground and the shaft should be parallel to your toe line.

3. Pump back up and come back down to the same point a second time. On the third time once you reach waist high continue through by turning to the target and striking the ball.

4. Making these repetitive moves will assist you to bring your club down to the inside and will prevent you from casting or spinning and throwing the club over the top of your plane.

[mvmac]

I would suggest two things.

1) Focus on moving something else. In other words, start the downswing with your lower body and keep your core rotating through the shot. When you don't use your body (hips) or if they slow up or stop during the swing, then energy has to go somewhere, so it transfers into your arms and hands too soon. If you simply leave your arms and hands alone and let them fall naturally by letting gravity takeover and be aggressive with your core, you should stop throwing it from the top.

2) When you make practice swings exaggerate a super wide takeaway and then a narrow downswing where the shaft moves in closer to your right shoulder. Most who cast are narrow going up and then because they have no place to go get wide coming down. Wide to narrow should be your mantra. And you have to really exaggerate it and just let go. If you can video tape yourself doing this in a practice swing and then compare to your regular swing and you should see a huge difference.

Also here's a drill you may try.

Description: The Double Pump Drill is a great anti-slicing drill that will help you learn to unwind your upper body while keeping the club on plane.

Summary:

[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]

[endif]

[if !supportLists]1.                              [endif]Starting with a short or mid iron, make a backswing and stop at the top of your swing.

[if !supportLists]2.                              [endif]Keeping your wrists and arms quiet (keeping the angles in them) pull your front shoulder out from under your chin and let your hands come down to hip high. The golf club should now be parallel to the ground and the shaft should be parallel to your toe line.

[if !supportLists]3.                              [endif]Pump back up and come back down to the same point a second time. On the third time once you reach waist high continue through by turning to the target and striking the ball.

[if !supportLists]4.                              [endif]Making these repetitive moves will assist you to bring your club down to the inside and will prevent you from casting or spinning and throwing the club over the top of your plane.

[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]

[endif]

Did you see his backswing?

[mentalblock]

To me, you are set up so far in front of the ball on your left side that there is no way to hit it properly. You have to reach behind your midline and flip the club to make any kind of solid contact. No wonder your practice swing works OK. Your mind will force your body into a different swing to achieve the goal of hitting the ball. Trust me, I know. 

The poster that sent you the picture of the proper setup did you a big favor. It describes exactly where things start to go wrong. Good luck.

 

[DaveP043]

9 minutes ago, mentalblock said:

To me, you are set up so far in front of the ball on your left side that there is no way to hit it properly. You have to reach behind your midline and flip the club to make any kind of solid contact. No wonder your practice swing works OK. Your mind will force your body into a different swing to achieve the goal of hitting the ball. Trust me, I know. 

The poster that sent you the picture of the proper setup did you a big favor. It describes exactly where things start to go wrong. Good luck.

 

Welcome to The Sand Trap!!  Its great that you're here and participating, but you may not get a lot of response to this one.  The most recent post before yours is about 7 years ago.