What's the Fix for This Golfer 001?

[bste]

Okay, A place to start:

1. Head down, looking at the ball, should help posture.

2. Point toes out, helps with turn rates and weight transfer.

3. check grip, pulls are a face problem, not his, he looks normal. weaker grip opens club face, straighter even a push.

Brian

edit by Brian 11:35

[RandallT]

His takeaway looks so much like DanPlan's takeaway, doesn't it? I guess that's ok, though, because his position at the top looks good to me.

His head lifts up on the downswing as you can see the top reference point. That would be the thins, right?

It also looks like his arms are being thrown down, rather than bumping the hips forward and letting the torso drive the swing with the weight shift. At impact, he doesn't look to have shifted much weight.

I'll go with steady head and weight forward as the two big issues, but if he got his weight forward, that would likely stop his head from lifting. Make the weight shift on the downswing the priority.

Look forward to hearing the "answer."

[RandallT]

It just dawned on me that his impact position in that last screenshot looks very much like an address position. Perhaps he needs to do that drill where u go from address directly to impact (weight forward, etc). Going back and forth between them as the club head stays behind the ball. Then he'll remember the impact position better and will be able to get there from the top more easily.

[Robster 7]

I try not to give swing advice but in the spirit of how this was posted by a qualified pro, I'd say he needs to relax his posture and ensure the clubhead doesn't get behind his hands on the takeaway. Needs to maintain flex in right knee too. Just stick the cheque in the post. ;-)

[Club Rat]

@RandallT

What program do you use to create still shots from the video?

In your post - "It just dawned on me that his impact position in that last screenshot looks very much like an address position."

Would you show the address and impact still shots together in a post?

I'm seeing the players posture straightening upward at impact.

Just curious, thanks.

Club Rat

[RandallT]

1. Address:                                                                    2. Impact:

@RandallT

What program do you use to create still shots from the video?

In your post - "It just dawned on me that his impact position in that last screenshot looks very much like an address position."

Would you show the address and impact still shots together in a post?

I'm seeing the players posture straightening upward at impact.

Just curious, thanks.

Club Rat

Good idea to compare. I should've thought of that. I'll post and then compare them directly. I just use COMMAND-SHIFT-4 on a MacBook Air. Just sends a screenshot of whatever I crop to the Desktop.

Edit: Ok, now I've compared. Not as similar as I thought!

[Club Rat]

@RandallT

Thanks, I'll try that on my pc.

I should probably install V-1 Pro software on my pc.

Side by side snapshots of the player and a pro together at multiple positions with lines would reveal the players many swing flaws.

I have a friend who has almost an identical swing, think I'll send him this link.

He has struggled trying to make corrections through the years.

Doesn't help that he has very limited time to practice and play golf.

Club Rat

[westcyderydin]

He needs to get the shaft more horizontal on the way down while also getting his weight forward so he can stop flipping at it.

1.  I would have him hit pitch shots and show him how to get his hands forward (proper wrist angles), where his weight should be (more forward), how his body should be turning, what his left shoulder should be doing, etc. on the way down.  This would be a great way of teaching him what needs to happen, what it looks like, and what it feels like to get into a proper "impact position"...really more of a proper downswing.  This really slows things down so he can see, feel, and understand what he is doing.

2.  I would shorten his swing a bit.  He gets a good shoulder turn, but his hands keep going back too far.  I would have him hit 3/4 shots and show him that he can make a full turn without getting the club back too far.  That should really help sync things up on the way down.

3.  I would have him take his hands back more to the inside with as a result of his shoulders tuning instead of rolling his wrists back and forcing the club outside.  This would be the tougher part to ingrain and I would have him work on the first two things first to see what he looks like before getting to this point.  I would lay a club down down on the ground to show him where the shaft should be when his hands are near his right thigh.  The hitting pitch shots drill would be a great way to ingrain the feel of the takeaway...it is much slower paced so he would be able to feel what he is doing.

ed.- Once he gets his down swing straightened out he won't stand up on the way down anymore.  He just needs to make room for the club to get to the ball right now.

[billchao]

There are two things I think this golfer should work on and they're related: hand depth and turning rates. At the takeaway, he lifts his hands straight up and rotates them so the clubhead looks like it's sucked way inside, but I think the clubhead is actually on plane and the hands are above plane. At A4, his hands are so high and "not deep" that he has to swing almost straight down to make contact with the ball. Two things happen because the club is so steep: he stands up at impact to avoid sticking it right into the ground and he rolls the forearms hard, causing both the thins and pulls. For the fix, I would start by flaring both feet and adding some posterior tilt to facilitate the hip turn. Finish out the posture by softening the upper back so he can see the ball out of his central vision. Backswing should feel like the left arm stays connected to the chest at the armpit and the left shoulder goes more down and towards the target line. The hands should lift from the turning of the shoulders. There should be less rotation of the forearms in the takeaway, too. Might feel like they're hinging straight up instead of rotating, Rickie Fowler feel. This will help with getting the hands deeper, too. There's some Key #2 issues, too, but I think some of it might get sorted out if there is "more time" for the hands to come down and out in the downswing by being deeper, so I'd probably see how that goes first before I add something else. That, and I wpuldn't want to give the guy too much to work on all at once.

[Deryck Griffith]

This guy hits thin pulls. He's a 10.1.

What do you work on?

Why?

How?

1. What to work on?

• I would work on a less erect position of his back so he can lean slightly more forward at address with more rounded shoulders so his hands can hang down more freely.
• Flare his feet
• On his backswing, have him "feel" like his right forearm is staying straighter for longer
• Have him feel like the face of the club is facing the ball for longer from P1 to P2 and P3.
• Have feel feel like he is pushing off with the inner part of his right foot when he starts initiating the downswing

2. Why?

• The less erect position of his back will allow the arms to hang more freely and release the tension he has at address
• The flaring of his feet will allow him to have more hip turn (with the right foot flared) and make it easier to shift his weight forward (with the left foot flared).
• The right forearm feeling like it is staying straighter for longer will give him more width (his right elbow collapses badly and early) and the feel of a straighter right forearm will help to stop the incredible amount of external forearm rotation he has early in the backswing which moves the clubface inside the hands and not inline with the hands in P2.
• Pushing off with the Inner part of his right foot will give him the feel to push forward and GET his weight forward so he has a much better diagonal sweetspot path to the ball on the downswing WHICH, will also help his inline impact and throw his path more to the right turning the pulls into straight shots, and push draws.  Straight draws that land left of his target will be progress even though it's missing left because the path indicates that he is moving his weight forward vs. now where he isn't and throwing the path over the top and pulling.

3. How?

• Use my hands to get him into the more rounded shoulder position
• Show him how much to flare his feet
• Right arm only takeaways with the golf where he keeps his right forearm straight and keeps the clubface pointing at the ball for longer "rather than" external rotating like he is doing now.
• Ask him to take a swing to the top and hold it there.  I will then proceed to take a club and push with the grip end of the club, his belt buckle so that he "feels" what getting his weight forward feels like.  In pushing his belt buckle, he will also "feel" the sensation of getting the club into the diagonal sweetpath position or as some say, "the slot."

[garybbq]

1. He needs to fix his grip, its hard to tell from these videos but the face looks wide open. I would guess its wide open at the top of his swing as well. His grip needs to be much stronger.

2. Since the club face is wide open his brain is yelling at him to square it up so he drops the club straight down and flips at it a bit.

3. Make his grip much stronger and have him hit punch shots. There is no way he will be able to come straight down on the ball and flip with a much stronger grip, this will fix a bunch of the other issues as well.

[vangator]

This is obviously a "trick question". His takeaway looks like puke, BUT and it's a big BUT, his position at the top of his swing looks good. So his takeaway wouldn't be the first thing I would look at. I think his initial move down in his backswing looks OK too. His problem is a lack of weight shift and standing up on his shot at impact. I'd see if a little wider stance and flaring his feet would help his standing up. He looks to be pulling across the ball. Have him concentrate on following through to the right more. I would definitely work on his takeaway but not until he improved his impact position. Kind of a Jim Furyk thing. Taking some partial swings and working on his weight shift, release and follow through would be the biggest things for him.

[bjfox10]

What

1. I would like to see him strengthen his grip.

Why

1. I believe this would give him a different feel for the club face closing and one that is more reliable. Right now it appears to me that one of the reasons that he is extending early and throwing out his angles is a effort to close the face.

How

1. Other then the obvious of turning his hands to the right you should also check to see if he has the club in his fingers and not his palm.

Next

What

1. It is tough to see without a face on view but I am guessing that he does not have enough weight forward prior or at impact

Why

1.  This would also contribute to the early extension or else the club would crash into the ground.

How

1. There are lots of different ways to practice this one but I like the idea of focusing on Key #1 while moving into your left side. Examples would be having someone hold something above your head so that you are aware of when you stand up...or you can have something on the ground that appears to be over the ball if your head moves the picture that was at address will change.

Disclaimer: Not all of these ideas are my own I have done a lot of this type of work in Erie. But at least I remember it.

[DrawDriver]

Have him do this drill.

[colin007]

wheres @iacas ???  cmon bro, drop some knowledge.

[oregongolfguy]

#1 - I would work on posture and key 1 first.

2 - Feet don't look to be flared, back is very ridged/straight.  Can't see everything from dtl view, and camera is shaky, but head looks to be dipping in the backswing and going up and away in the downswing through impact.  It seems to me, reading a lot of threads here and watching video's etc that head still really helps solve a lot of different swing issue's.  There is only so many things the body can do to swing a golf club if the head is still.  Flaring the feet should help with his turn.

3 - Flare feet, back a little more up, shoulders and head a little more curved.  Maybe the stick to sternum drill....

[iacas]

Well, here's how I see it (and how Dave sees it, too, FWIW).

Fix #1: Setup.

Why? Because you get some stuff for free. Just neaten things up, tidy up the grip (fingers, bit stronger, etc.).

How: I guess I already answered that.

This takes no athletic skill or talent, so just make the guy do this stuff.

Fix #2: Backswing.

Not. Just kidding.

A lot of people saw the "weird" backswing and gravitated toward fixing it, but look at these pictures:

If you saw a golfer in those positions, why would you care about how he got there? You shouldn't, most likely. Or at least IMO.

So… Fix #2: add a little palmar flexion at A4. Just a little. The grip will help too. Clubface won't feel so "open" then and he won't have to "swing left" (path is instinctual). There's the why and how balled up together.

Now then, Fix #3 (the real fix): Key #2.

Why? Look at his back foot:

How? A variety of ways. Pre-set drill, etc. This guy NEVER moves off his trail foot. Not until the ball is 40 yards away.

---

The above is just my opinion (and Dave's). Doesn't mean it's right at all, or best for the golfer… Just my opinion on where I'd start and what I'd do.

[EverythingGolf]

I like everything Erik has to say, The best thing IMO is Key#2 for sure. Get the weight left to help keep the club more on plane from the inside.