My Swing (b101)

[dunlucedreams]

HI,

Its been fun to watch your progress from the start of your swing thread. one thing that really stands out is the distance you have gained in your driving in this time.

your swing speed at 105-108 was getting you 275 yards initially so what have you changed to get an extra 10-20% distance?

keep up the hard work-its showing progress!

[b101]

HI,

Its been fun to watch your progress from the start of your swing thread. one thing that really stands out is the distance you have gained in your driving in this time.

your swing speed at 105-108 was getting you 275 yards initially so what have you changed to get an extra 10-20% distance?

keep up the hard work-its showing progress!

Thanks for the post - glad you're enjoying the thread! It's been a combination of a number of things really.

The first was sorting out/improving my Angle of Attack - I tended to hit down on the ball more than I do now, meaning that at the very start, a good drive was around 250 with the possibility of a weak strike as I also came way over the top. Pushing my swing path right has helped hit up on the ball, whilst a few setup changes have improved things a bit more as well. Brian's lessons via evolvr have been great as well, particularly keeping my head higher during the downswing, which forced me to keep my hands a bit further back, therefore more loft on the club.

Secondly was the fitting with Precision Golf (in Egham), which I'd thoroughly recommend. I'm still stunned at how much distance I gained, even off poor hits, with a different shaft that was more suited to my swing.

Finally, I guess it's just been playing more, having more confidence and getting used to my shot shape.

Additionally, the distances are slightly massaged by moving to a course with firmer fairways. I'd say I've added about 25-30 yards though in the last year. I'm now working on getting the draw shape to where I want it, which should open up courses a bit more as well as adding that extra bit of rollout.

[b101]

I spent a few more hours practising today and whilst the full swing is still a bit shaky based on the 50 or so range balls I hit, I did manage to get some quality time in around the short game area and on the putting green. First, I spent 45 mins on the range and pretty much eradicated the shank. I think it's always a confidence thing with me, but I just haven't properly ingrained one of the things Brian wants me to do yet, hence the horror shot. Fine with driver and wedges, but long/mid irons were patchy at best - definitely better toward the end though.

I then went to the short game area and practised actually using the bounce on my wedges properly, which was a bit of a revelation. I tend to deloft clubs a lot, so actually having a lob wedge fly up in the air and barely roll out was lovely to see. Buoyed by this, for the first time in ages, I thought I'd do some diagnostic work on my short game so took 5 balls and put them in different situations, with the challenge of getting them up and down - I had some really interesting results... (All slightly different lies and directions)

Shot Type	12/7/15 - (success rate /5)
Pitch up from drop off (short-sided)	4/5
Bunker (short - 10 yards)	2/5
Bunker (long - 30 yards)	1/5
Chip from fringe (long)	0/5
Chip from fringe (mid)	1/5
Long pitch (30 yards carry)	3/5
Mid pitch (20 yards carry)	5/5

I'll keep doing this, as I thought it was really useful. I was fully expecting my bunker play to be dreadful, but actually, I had half decent chances with the short bunker shot, but just didn't hit the long one as hard as I needed to until the very last attempt. What stunned me was how poor my chipping was, with what should have been the easiest shot. I just couldn't get line or length on them. So, a bit more practice with an alignment stick and playing them off my back foot (I know, probably not the best way to do it, but I was getting nothing from middle of my stance) and here were the results:

Hopefully it shows properly, but under the same pressure conditions, I had 7/10 within six feet. Definitely an improvement, but I'll do a bit more reading on the technique required.

Finally, it was to the putting green, where I really worked on starting line and shoulder movement. I then did a similar pressure game, managing 7/10 from 6 feet (all types of breaks) and 3/10 from 10 feet. Again, it's clear what I need to work on, as 10 feet is my standard birdie putt, whilst I'd be disappointed to have anything outside of 6 feet for par. I then went to 30 feet and practised avoiding three-putts, with a 7/10 success rate. Not too disappointed with that, but definitely some more work to be done there.

Overall, a really productive morning

[dunlucedreams]

Thanks for the post - glad you're enjoying the thread! It's been a combination of a number of things really. The first was sorting out/improving my Angle of Attack - I tended to hit down on the ball more than I do now, meaning that at the very start, a good drive was around 250 with the possibility of a weak strike as I also came way over the top. Pushing my swing path right has helped hit up on the ball, whilst a few setup changes have improved things a bit more as well. Brian's lessons via evolvr have been great as well, particularly keeping my head higher during the downswing, which forced me to keep my hands a bit further back, therefore more loft on the club. Secondly was the fitting with Precision Golf (in Egham), which I'd thoroughly recommend. I'm still stunned at how much distance I gained, even off poor hits, with a different shaft that was more suited to my swing.  Finally, I guess it's just been playing more, having more confidence and getting used to my shot shape.  Additionally, the distances are slightly massaged by moving to a course with firmer fairways. I'd say I've added about 25-30 yards though in the last year. I'm now working on getting the draw shape to where I want it, which should open up courses a bit more as well as adding that extra bit of rollout.

ive heard good things about precision and egham is only 30 minutes from me so it sounds like it may be a good investment To get your path further right do you feel you are aimed right of target? Whatever you're doing is clearly working!

[b101]

ive heard good things about precision and egham is only 30 minutes from me so it sounds like it may be a good investment

To get your path further right do you feel you are aimed right of target?

Whatever you're doing is clearly working!

A little - you also swing as if you're hitting right, and try to avoid the dreaded 'over the top'. It's pretty changeable though, it wasn't working in the round at Hankley a few days back so after the eighth hole I used the swing thought of trying to hit a topspin forehand and drastically speeding up how I threw my arms at it - which did work and led to a powerful low draw rather than the fade/slice.

Precision are top class, if you do go, ask if Simon is available, he's the guy I had and is brilliant. I'd be a touch wary if you were doing a full bag fitting; you'd get the best stuff, but it'd cost - depending on how much they'd upgrade shafts etc. For woods/driver though, I wouldn't go anywhere else.

[b101]

Definitely an improvement, but I'll do a bit more reading on the technique required.

So it turns out that my first idea of chipping like I putt, whilst less successful, was actually the right one. I misremembered a few of the details, hence the low effectiveness, but will go back and practise the proper method a bit this morning. For anyone interested, the thread is here: http://thesandtrap.com/t/70998/chipping-with-a-putting-method/

[dunlucedreams]

A little - you also swing as if you're hitting right, and try to avoid the dreaded 'over the top'. It's pretty changeable though, it wasn't working in the round at Hankley a few days back so after the eighth hole I used the swing thought of trying to hit a topspin forehand and drastically speeding up how I threw my arms at it - which did work and led to a powerful low draw rather than the fade/slice.

Precision are top class, if you do go, ask if Simon is available, he's the guy I had and is brilliant. I'd be a touch wary if you were doing a full bag fitting; you'd get the best stuff, but it'd cost - depending on how much they'd upgrade shafts etc. For woods/driver though, I wouldn't go anywhere else.

cheers for that, much appreciated!

[b101]

Last round before holiday and we played the awesome Woburn Marquess' Course, where the European Tour's British Masters is being hosted later this year. We went off the whites, which is a challenging 6744 yards at the best of times, let alone when you're into the teeth of the wind as we were on a number of holes. It was quite a wide course, but because of the yardage, it was basically driver off every tee. That went pretty well for most of the 18, but I really struggled with my back from the 16th onwards and the draw that I've been working on just disappeared as a result, meaning I finished with double-bogey on the last three holes. However, where I really lost it was with the putter again. The greens were quick, big and really sloping and I just couldn't find the pace, meaning I three-putted quite often. Apparently toward the end I went back to cutting across it as well, which I think was partly frustration, partly forgetting about my stroke due to being so worried about the pace. Still, it's good to know what I revert to doing, and I'll get back to working on it when we return from holiday in August.

In slightly better news, my iron play was much better and without a shank in sight ( ). I'm the longest off the tee in our group, when the painful fade/slice didn't come in, so I actually had some fairly reasonable shots into the greens. However, it was a tough course, and sometimes, even when I thought I'd managed it well, you'd reach the side of the green and realise you'd put it in the wrong place. Case in point was the 13th, where I thought right of the pin was a decent bail out as the other side had a massive drop off. Turns out, it was hugely sloping away from us, I had a downhill lie and had to get steep on it as there was a bump right behind the ball. Brutal. For the most part, I drove it pretty well, but the wind and soft fairways (I got backspin on one drive!) put my average back to 239 yards. This included a few hitting trees and stopping at 186, 221 and 229, so it's still probably better than that. Wedge play was decent, too, although the more lofted shot I was working on the other day will require a bit of tweaking of distances. I did stick a SW to 3 feet on the 12th for a nice birdie though, so am pretty happy about that.

In short, the putting needs work and I need to make that driver swing permanent so it doesn't desert me when I get tired. It was a really strong flight with a bit of draw for the majority of the day, but starting point is a bit variable and I still fear it going right. With the putter, I'll go back to alignment sticks and mirror work and a lot of stuff on distance control. I'm getting to enjoy the putting practice more, and I do think it was more mental than anything else, but it's a good excuse to work on it.

http://www.gamegolf.com/player/benpage101/round/461466

[b101]

So, I re-watched Brian's analysis this morning and compared it with some of the videos I took a couple of days back when the shanks hit. What was immediately obvious was that I just wasn't raising my elbow up and steepening my takeaway as much as I had thought I was. My guess is then that my brain, thinking I was steepening, was sending the club out on a different angle when, actually, the picture was very similar - hence the shanks... I guess...

Today, I worked hard to really steepen it and remembered back to Brian's first tip and how extreme a feeling that was. I decided to basically feel like I was taking the club up vertically and bingo, perfect contact nearly every time. The best thing about the evolvr lessons has been the lightbulb moments when I 'get' something for the first time, and this was better than any. Brian had said during the analysis that this would make a massive change to my shots and it was noticeable - suddenly I was a lot less steep on the ball, with a nice shallow Angle of Attack (just brushing the mat on the way through) and I was clearly presenting a lot more loft at impact. Given that about 3 months ago when I started this, I struggled with massive divots, low ball flight and a lot of horrible AoA-related misses with the driver, this was great to see.

I spent the majority of the session (about 45mins) this morning with the 7 iron only, although occasionally I checked my progress by moving to the 3 iron and seeing how easy that was. At the start, it was still a little bit thin, but by the end, it was as easy to hit as my 7 normally is (both a reflection on my progress and how I've struggled with the irons recently!). There is a bit of a difference between my practice swings and my swings when there's a ball there, but I think that's understandable - just got to make sure I can change the picture consistently. As ever, I spent most of my time with full swings at 80/90% but with lots of checks on the backswing position and a couple of practice swings in between. I have tried slowing it down, and do that with practice swings, but I find hitting slow shots really tough as I tend to need to focus on something different as well (i.e. my head drops because I'm focusing too much on club path). Again, the glove being tucked under the right armpit proved a good visual indicator of how successful this was. I'll try to get some video up later if I can get back out.

Obviously, it's just the first session where this has really worked and I'll try to get another couple of sessions in between moving house tomorrow and holiday on Monday, but it made a huge difference. I thought I'd leave with one picture of the 7 iron face at the end of my 45 minutes. Not perfect by any means, but clearly impact was so much better than what it has been! (Any shank marks were last time out!)

[b101]

Got back from holiday a few days ago, and completely lost my swing having not played for 2/3 weeks. I had everything in my first few range sessions - tops, thins, shanks, but mostly a massive slice. After going back to the old headcover just outside the line drill, that seems to be improving, and I also tried putting a bit more work into Brian's top of the backswing piece. I've also lost my feel with the wedges, which is a bit gutting as before I left, I'd just cracked the feeling of using the bounce with an effortless swing, and I'm going to need to work hard to get that back. On the plus side, I did manage to put together a relatively decent session in the net and played a couple of holes on the local par 3 course pretty nicely yesterday, without the slice rearing its ugly head.

Off to practise this morning, with an hour at the range, short game area and putting respectively - also have another putting lesson as that still isn't where I want it to be. Competition tomorrow, so that could be entertaining...

[b101]

Finally got out for a decent period of time today and shot a bit of video. Thankfully I managed to eliminate the slice for the most part (although as ever, it's still there on occasion), and it took a couple of things to get back to where I feel comfortable ahead of the tournament tomorrow. Firstly, working on the right elbow position - it's not yet perfect, but it's miles better, and the club is nowhere near as out of position as it used to be at the top of the backswing. I know I need to work on this more, but I'm going to upload my video for Brian again to check that I'm doing it correctly. No point ingraining more bad habits and all that!

I then found that I was hitting it a little fat on occasion, particularly with wedges. Straightaway, Brian's first lesson kicked in - steady head. Focused on that for a couple of minutes and we were back to crisp strikes off fairly soft turf - quite happy. I ran out of time to work on my drives, so that'll have to wait until early tomorrow morning, but generally, it was a good range session.

(I'm aware that I'm still coming slightly out-to-in, but at least it's manageable at the moment! It's on the to-do list...)

Next up was to work on my putting and the lesson. Probably one of the best lessons I've ever had in that the teacher immediately diagnosed the issue (my set-up is now fine, whereas it was dreadful before my first putting lesson), but the path was... you guessed it... out-to-in, meaning I cut it. A little drill later, and basically feeling like I'm trying to draw the ball with the putter, and we're sorted . Should help distance control too as I'm now finding the centre of the putter face.

(Before and after - amusing how far left I had to aim with the cut...)

[b101]

Ended up NR for the round after I couldn't find my provisional off the 16th tee - annoyingly, it was a good shot that went through the fairway. If you drive it straight and over 250, you run the risk of going into heather, which is what happened to mine. Not the end of the world really as it had been a poor round, but I'm annoyed about the way it went. It was only my second competition round but I learnt quite a lot from it again. Firstly, I need keep an eye on where the ball lands and really mark it - my eyesight is getting worse and assuming that it landed 'roughly there' isn't good enough - I lost a couple of balls through shots that weren't miles off line but that I hadn't marked all the way. Secondly, ignore other people - I really didn't get on with the two people I was playing with, who would start walking mid-shot, weren't particularly sporting etc. and it definitely affected me and made me rush shots.

It would have been a fairly horrible round, so the NR is probably a blessing in disguise - in Tiger's words, I'm between two swings (and I kind of understand what he's on about now). Before I left, I'd worked hard on the new feels, but clearly not for long enough to fully ingrain it. Mentally however, I feel the ball should be flying in a certain way and it's very hard to manage your way around the course when you're not sure if it's going left or right... Additionally, my feel with my wedges was a way off where it was - again, the feel of 'bouncing' the wedges with my pitches that I'd cracked three days before the holiday was gone, but I still half-thought it would work.

I went out again yesterday and a little bit this morning and worked on keeping my head still to just get the contact back where it should be. I'm weirdly hitting a lot of shots out of the toe, which I reckon is probably just because I'm coming over the top again - that would fit with the re-emergence of the slice. The aim this week is to sort that and the driver out so that I can hit the ground running again.

[b101]

So, after reading up on the Slow, Specific thread and a couple of others, I've made a really conscious decision to improve the quality of my practice. I hadn't realised that I needed to slow my swing down quite so much to make progress, which is stupid really. I am a teacher by profession, so you'd think I'd have clocked this earlier, but it's starting to make sense now. So, the aims are going to be:

1. Listen to what Brian says and really make sure I know exactly what I need to be looking for, not just some vague idea or swing thought. Sure, I may not get there exactly, but I have to know the checkpoints I'm looking for.
2. Slow down my practice, both in terms of number of swings and the speed at which I do swing. I was better this evening - more on that later - but I can improve further. Might be a touch trite, but I think I do need to practise how to practise... curiously, it took me a lot of effort to focus as much as I was this evening, which can only be a good thing
3. Don't panic about where the ball goes for the moment. Maybe soon, but it should be a product of the swing, rather than going from the result backwards.

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So, as for this evening's session. I decided straight off to take just the one bucket (30 balls) for 45/50 minutes - I'd normally have two in that time. I also said to myself that I'd give myself a mark of ten for how well I practised. There was a full range of middle aged men and women who were clearly beginners, so it was quite good to test how much I could keep the ego in check! I took the iPad out to get some shots of what I was doing, and also wanted to get videos of at least half of my shots. Windy conditions meant that didn't happen as it kept falling over (shouldn't have left the camera at home!), but I got a few and there's some stuff I really like the look of in there.

For the most part, I slowed everything down. There was the odd shot which I rushed and hit way too fast, but mostly I kept myself under control, hitting a 7 iron no more than 100 yards. About one every 8 I hit at close to full speed, and they looked pretty good - occasionally hanging out right a little, but nothing that would miss nGIR. The joys of hitting off a mat with practice swings, eh?!

The main focus this evening was the shorter backswing - and I thought I'd check a few things. Firstly, it's interesting how my mindset clearly changes between a practice swing and a real swing, even if I think I'm making the same swing at the same speed. I think the angle is a touch misleading as due to a sloping range, the camera is below my feet - annoying given that this is what I need to check! First, the position Brian wants me to hit for the top of the backswing:

Now, what I got to this evening - not too bad, from what I can tell, but I think the right elbow is still a bit wide compared to where I need it. I REALLY like the line of the club though compared to where it has been previously (usually more on the line of the right forearm, pointing toward the net on the right). Hope I'm right with this?! ( @iacas , @mvmac if you have a second to check! Would ask Brian, but I don't know if he's on the site?). I definitely found it much easier to get the club on an out to in path with this position, but if it's not a good one, I'll avoid it!

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Secondly, a perfect example of the things I'd like to change. On the left, a swing trying to hit the ball, on the right, a practice swing. To my eyes, the right looks miles better. Correct?!

Secondly, the hands that I've been trying to get on an out-to-in path for AGES. Still a frustration, but very much something for another day.

In terms of results, my contact was generally good - occasionally a bit heavy, but I put that down to focusing on other things than simply contact. I said at the start that I wasn't overly concerned with results, provided I was changing the picture. Based on some of the shots above, I definitely am changing the picture, if not every single time and not at full speed yet (although there is a slight improvement). Ball was flying well, a nice, strong flight. Mostly 5-10 yard fades, which I can deal with, but the occasional high draw when I wasn't going flat out and got everything right - so nice to see .

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Plan for tomorrow is to hit the range again (I'm visiting the in-laws, so it's a nice release!) and go for the slow, deliberate practice again. I like the 7 slow to 1 normal speed ratio and I enjoyed feeling like the best result was feeling smug that I was practising well! I'll keep videoing and see where we get to.

[iacas]

FWIW, when you don't create depth… like… ever… it's going to be tough to get where you want to go. Your hands simply never go inward much at all.

[b101]

FWIW, when you don't create depth… like… ever… it's going to be tough to get where you want to go. Your hands simply never go inward much at all.

So... this is ok? Sorry, didn't get the link to depth!

[iacas]

So... this is ok? Sorry, didn't get the link to depth!

If you want to hit out at the ball, you're going to need to take your hands deeper (and the clubhead deeper). You can't swing "in to out" if your hands (and clubhead) never get "in."

[b101]

If you want to hit out at the ball, you're going to need to take your hands deeper (and the clubhead deeper). You can't swing "in to out" if your hands (and clubhead) never get "in."

Cool, think I've got that - thanks!

[b101]

A bit more practice this morning trying to get that backswing length right and sort out the club position at the top of the backswing - again, much improved, I think. I've uploaded the swings for Brian to check as last time I tried to implement a change, I overdid it a bit leading to a few more problems than I'd have wanted. Flight is getting better again and whilst I need to work on getting my hands lower as Erik says,

Down the Line:

Still getting the clubhead pointing a touch right at the top, but better.

Face On:

Definitely shorter :)

And again, the position I'm really trying to hit (on the right) - need to get the right elbow in a bit more again, but it's getting there.