My Swing (bossfrog)

[bossfrog]

I've been Playing Golf for: 2.5 months

My current handicap index or average score is: I average about 52 on a par 35 9-hole course . Low score: 45. High score: we won't go there.

My typical ball flight is: fade

The shot I hate or the "miss" I'm trying to reduce/eliminate is:  A lot of them

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Videos:

Hitting my birdie ball in my yard.  Not too many training videos out there for fat bow-legged guys, but I do my best!

I feel okay about my back swing but I have a hard time getting all my weight moving forward consistently.  Craig Stadler really needs to make a good instructional for guys with guts.  This is an 8 iron BTW.

[isukgolf]

Glad to see you post your swing ... believe me you will get a lot of great advice. Advice we will all learn from.

[evinkc05]

Thanks for posting bossfrog!!!  I am anxious to hear what the pros have to say about it, but I would agree it seems that one major issue you are having is your weight getting trapped on your right side.  Perhaps do some research into ways to more efficiently transfer your weight forward.  I will check around as well and see if I can find anything.

Best of luck!

[bossfrog]

It's just not as easy getting 245 lbs moving as it is getting 165lbs moving.  There has to good tips to help us hefties out

[billchao]

It's just not as easy getting 245 lbs moving as it is getting 165lbs moving.  There has to good tips to help us hefties out

There are lots of larger guys who are good (great) at golf. It's not so much a size issue unless you have some physical limitations, but more that you aren't performing certain things correctly. I'll type something up for you later tonight, In the meantime, take a look at this:

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Alright @bossfrog , there are some basic setup adjustments you should make.

I like your posture, that's pretty good. You should flare both your feet out at address; that will help allow your hips to turn more. Your left hand grip looks a little on the weak side, too, but I can't really tell for certain from the video. Make sure the left thumb isn't running straight down the top of the shaft, but a little bit more along the back side. There's more on the grip here: . The last thing is to just push your hands forward a little bit more towards the target and "preset" a little forward shaft lean.

You're set up more like the picture on the left. You want to be more like the one on the right.

For your actual swing movement, you want to focus on Key #1, Steady Head. If you're not familiar with 5 Simple Keys, you can find out more here:

You move your head back so far in the backswing that it's hard to get back "to the ball," resulting in your missed shots. You do a very good job of keeping your head steady during the downswing. Problem is, you're hitting from a position about 8" behind where you started.

Definitely look at the video I linked above. The one thing I noticed is that you keep your right knee flexed as you swing back. You should let that leg straighten out as you make your backswing, which will allow your hips to turn properly and let your head to remain centered. At the top of the backswing, you should feel your entire right side stretch. Take a look at this video, too:

[bossfrog]

Thanks Bill.  The first part of your suggestion I just kind of figured out today.  I started addressing the ball with the shaft basically inline with my left arm.  That really seems to be helping me get to the ball on the downswing better.  I think my grip is fine.  As you said, it's hard to see in the picture, but I grip with the "V" point at my right shoulder.  I had no idea about flaring my feet a bit, but that makes sense, especially with the back foot.  I'll try letting my back leg straighten more on the backswing too.  Just experimenting with it inside without a club in my hands feels good.  I'm looking forward to working on that tomorrow!  I had no idea my head was moving back that much.

You've given me some good stuff to work on.  I guess I'd never seen anyone suggest straightening the back leg though, but I know guys with unconventional builds sometimes have to do some unconventional things.  The good news is since I've been carrying my clubs on the course (and pissing off a lot of old guys behind me in carts...lol) I've lost 17 lbs. in the last 2 months.  Maybe a year or two down the road and I'll get more where I need to be in that regard.  Anyway, thanks for the suggestions and I'd love to have more if anyone has any.  I'll report back with results after I've had some time to assimilate.

[mvmac]

What @billchao said

@bossfrog notice that on the face on swing your left shoulder doesn't go down enough and basically runs into your head, so you have to move your head too far to the right which greatly limits how much you can turn.

[bossfrog]

All I can say is, WOW. @billchao , you're a genius.  I couldn't wait till tomorrow, so I went out with one of my cheap whiffle balls and turned the porch light on.  I flaired my feet and allowed my back leg to straighten and everything is just instantly so much more fluid, and what's more, for the first time, I'm consistently placing my divots AFTER the ball!  Of course, it still doesn't exactly feel natural yet on the setup and backswing, but the downswing and follow-through feel so much more connected, if that makes sense.  I only took about 10 swings at the ball, but I honestly didn't expect such immediate difference in the feel.  I know I still have plenty to work on and getting these changes automatic will take some time, but right now, I feel like you've helped me take a step forward.  I also adopted the Coke bottle trick and it helps a lot.  Thank you for the advice, mein freund.

Edit: another thing I noticed.  By flaring my front foot a little bit, I'm able to maintain straight arms a little further on the follow through.

[bossfrog]

What @billchao said

@bossfrog notice that on the face on swing your left shoulder doesn't go down enough and basically runs into your head, so you have to move your head too far to the right which greatly limits how much you can turn.

Thanks for the input, mvmac.  I definitely need to work on my flexibility in my upper torso.  Hopefully that will get easier as I continue to lose weight.

[mvmac]

Thanks for the input, mvmac.  I definitely need to work on my flexibility in my upper torso.  Hopefully that will get easier as I continue to lose weight.

Eh, just turn your feet out

[billchao]

All I can say is, WOW.  @billchao, you're a genius.

It's about time somebody recognized that :-D But seriously, I learned most of what I know from the guys here. Stick around and explore; don't be afraid to ask questions. You'll find lots of helpful and knowledgeable people around.

[Morocco Mako]

I will give it a shot (turning on best know-it-all-voice).

IMHO, your core problem is your downswing flows from the top down instead of from the ground up. You start the downswing with your shoulders instead of starting it with your feet.

Here is you at what I call the golden golf position. Compare yourself to Ernie Els at the same point in  his swing.

Els' hips are already open and starting to point towards the target. Your hips still look closed, they are actually still pointing slightly backwards away from the target.

Els' shoulders are square to the line. Your shoulders have not become square yet.

Els' trailing elbow is tucked tightly against his side. Yours looks like it is still detached.

Els' hands are forward of his trailing foot. Your hands are behind your tailing foot.

Els' center of gravity seems to be between his feet. Your center of gravity looks like it is above your trailing leg.

Els' seems to have more weight on his leading foot than on his trailing foot. You seem to have more weight on your tailing foot.

Now compare your impact position to Els'.

Your hips and shoulders are square to the line. Els' hips and shoulders are both open (pointing towards the target).

Your hands are are directly under your belly button. Els' hands Els' hands are over his leading hip pocket.

You can draw a straight line from Els' shoulder all the way to the clubhead. A line from your shoulder to the clubhead would be concave--leading wrist bent away from target--a huge no-no. At impact, this line should be straight or slightly convex (leading wrist bent slightly towards the target).

Anyway, I think your root problem is starting your downswing from the top instead of from the ground. My advice would be:

1) Learn to achieve a balanced, comfortable position at the top of the backswing

2) Learn a downswing that goes from the ground up; not "start with the hips," but literally from the ground up; start the downswing with the bottom of your feet and let it work itself up through your body; your shoulders and then arms should be the last two parts of your body that start to move in the downswing

This advice is from a nobody who himself is trying to rebuild his swing, so take it for what it is (or isn't) worth.

[iacas]

@Morocco Mako , with all due respect as a fellow golfer and fellow human being, that wall of advice basically boils down to "swing perfectly" or "swing like Ernie Els."

For example:

Quote:

1) Learn to achieve a balanced, comfortable position at the top of the backswing

HOW?

Please stick around and poke around the site. There's a lot of good information here. I won't claim that all of it's right, but I will say that we're willing to discuss, listen, and learn.

[mvmac]

@Morocco Mako welcome to the site, check out this forum, if you're a swing geek you'll love some of the threads.

http://thesandtrap.com/f/4088/swing-thoughts

Quote:

1) Learn to achieve a balanced, comfortable position at the top of the backswing

@iacas made some god points. How can @bossfrog do this and (all due respect) what does this even mean? Maybe he's already "comfortable" at the top of his backswing, maybe he needs to get a little uncomfortable to change the picture.

[bossfrog]

@Morocco Mako , I really do appreciate the time you put in your post, but I just don't see how it helps.  I already know I don't swing like Ernie Els.  It's almost akin to saying "Ernie Els is better than you" even though I know that's not your intent.  The analogy that comes to mind would be telling someone who is just learning guitar to just do what Eric Clapton does.

[Morocco Mako]

Apparently, nobody can see my answer (the forest) for the trees, so let me try again.

The Els example was probably too much detail. It is there to point out the result of your two root flaws. Fix the two root flaws , and all this other stuff will fix itself.

The two root flaws are (imho):

1) you are not balanced at the top of the backswing--you don't seem to have a solid base under you.

2) your downswing starts with your shoulders (the top of your body) instead of at the ground (with your lower body)

All the swing tips in the world won't do you any good unless you get those two things down. And sure, being balanced at the top is a feel thing. There is no magic internet-tip bullet that will help you achieve this. You're going to have to work it by getting a live person to help you achieve it or practicing in front of a mirror (or both).

Is anyone actually arguing that your downswing doesn't start at the top with your shoulders? Is anyone arguing that starting your downswing at the top with your shoulders is the right way? Until you stop doing this and start swinging from your base (the ground) up, any other changes you make will just be band-aid compensations.

[iacas]

1) you are not balanced at the top of the backswing--you don't seem to have a solid base under you.

I agree that his backswing is causing issues:

I disagree that it has much at all to do with "having a solid base" under him.

I disagree that he should worry at all about the downswing right now.

There is no magic internet-tip bullet that will help you achieve this.

No, but he's gotten some good tips on improving his backswing above, IMO.

[mvmac]

1) you are not balanced at the top of the backswing--you don't seem to have a solid base under you.

Again, what the heck does this mean? I'm not asking because I really want to know, just want to point out how saying something this vague doesn't help. "Solid base"? It's not like he's suddenly going to fall over at the top of his backswing.