What's the Fix for This Golfer 002?

[iacas]

Here's the second one, just like this thread…

This guy hits draws that sometimes over-draw, sometimes push. They're lower and shorter than he remembers hitting them recently. He's about a 3 or below index.

1. What do you work on?
2. Why?
3. How?

[trickyputt]

What do you work on? Swinging to the top on a steeper plane then dropping into what looks to be a lower flatter plane on the downswing. His backswing seems to put the clubhead above the plane of glass. Why? Consistency of ball flight and height of ball flight are being affected by swinging flatter and more around. Its looks like an inside move. He is setting up and swing back in a way that he is having some trouble with in returning through the ball. How? He is a big guy having trouble turning, not a problem with power. Probably help open his feet to free his left side a little and help him get back to the slightly steeper swing he remembers that was putting the ball flight higher in the air. But his flight height looked pretty good for a longer iron. He is restricting himself into a swing that cannot be contained with his physical size, and he is bowing his planes a bit, not turning as freely or consistently as on plane movement would allow, and maybe even losing a little distance as a result. I would stick a tee in the ground outside the line behind the ball and make sure he wasnt taking it outside on the way back.

[Phil McGleno]

What do you work on? Probably help open his feet to free his left side a little and help him get back to the slightly steeper swing he remember that was putting the ball flight higher in the air.

Steepness of swing plane does not change shot height. I would: - Change his grip. Palmy and weak. High overtaking rate and closure rate. - Flare left foot to help him turn through on follow through. - Push left hip up and left of target through impact to keep turning rates up and to stop that sag look after impact. Ball goes higher. Helps control the first thing I mentioned too.

[westcyderydin]

He needs rotate the clubface open in his backswing.  He forces it closed which causes a few things:

1.  Bunches up his rear shoulder.  You will see that his rear shoulder isn't allowed to turn enough and that his shoulder plane is very steep

2.  It gets him in an over the line type of position at the top of his backswing (which would be more evident with a longer backswing).  You will also see the flying elbow.

That over-the-line position at the top usually sets up for too much of an in-to-out club path in the downswing which causes the over-draws and pushes.

I would have him work on:

1.  Feeling like his hands are slowly rotating the grip of the club open at the beginning of his takeaway.  This will get him to rotate his hands/forearms/shoulders while he takes the club back instead of just dragging his hands back.

2.  Show him what the clubface should look like on the way back when it is allowed to open correctly.

By doing this his rear shoulder will rotate more, his head will be able to stay more steady, and his shoulder turn will be much less steep.

The club shaft will be pointing more to the left of his target line at the top of his swing (because his swing is shorter than parallel) and his right elbow will be pointing more down and be a little bit closer to his body (not too close).  This will get him in a position to come down at more of a neutral angle.

3.  I would walk him through what I said in the last two paragraphs.  A lot of it will fix itself after he rotates correctly on the way back, but some of it might have to be worked on a little bit more.  Would definitely want him to understand what is going on, how it is all related, and what it looks like on video.

4.  Get him used to the more neutral downswing.

[billchao]

Since I did so well the first time (not!), I'll give this a shot...

This golfer obviously has a pretty good swing, but he's stalling his pivot which is causing his hands to over-rotate. You can see it at A7 in the DTL view: his hips haven't opened much and he is up on the toes of his right foot, instead of banking it.

He is lacking power and launching the ball lower because he's not getting enough extension and his over-draws and pushes are caused by the forearm rotation/clubhead overtaking rates.

I'd start by flaring the left foot out a bit more. He needs to get his weight going forward longer and the foot flaring allows the knee to rotate towards the target more before having to extend.

This is the drill I'd have him work on:

Edit: I would have looked so much cooler if I finished my post before @Phil McGleno posted. I'll take it as a sign that I'm not too far off.

[Club Rat]

This guys swing is one most would only wish to have and die for.

For a man of his size, he has great mobility, balance, flexibility, and power.

The skill level he demonstrates, comes from years of practice, playing and God given talent.

My opinion would be ball placement slightly forward, and a slight swing path adjustment.(hands follow the club after impact a little longer)

Also, work at getting just a slight more hip rotation so his hips are opened a tad more at impact. (Flare left foot out a tad)

@iacas

@mvmac   How about creating a badge for these type of threads and giving them to members who offer suggestions which you guys think are beneficial to the site.

1. What do you work on? Swing (hands / arm extension) follows ball flight towards target and ball placement slightly forward of center. Flare left foot out a tad.
2. Why? Needs to shift weight to left side just a tad sooner at impact.
3. How? Flare left foot out slightly. Ball slightly forward of center allows the body more time to transfer to forward foot / left side.

Club Rat

[Play4Fun]

1) ball position more forward - so he can slide more , activate the glutes more and put himself in a more dynamic position throughout impact.

2 ) setup with knees and feet more fan out , Upper mass more centered. keep the knees and centered hip turn over the feet while backswing.

2) Slide instead of hopping into the lead foot ,  right knees more linear towards the target instead of release towards the ball, right foot rolled in , planted instead of released through impact, to keep his circle , axis tilt and clubface more consistent.

[Golfingdad]

I envy his swing plane, exactly what I'm shooting towards - steeper and less deep going back and flatter coming forward. The only thing I notice is what Bill already mentioned ... He's up on his right toes early. Need to keep that leg straighter and bank the right foot. That's all I got.

[Hardballs]

I'm certainly not qualified to answer this, and I personally think his swing looks pretty awesome,to hazard a guess I'd say the only part that looks slightly off is the very last part if his back swing, but the ball flew straight and he plays off 3 so what's the problem?

[trickyputt]

I'm certainly not qualified to answer this, and I personally think his swing looks pretty awesome,to hazard a guess I'd say the only part that looks slightly off is the very last part if his back swing, but the ball flew straight and he plays off 3 so what's the problem?

This. He is better than I am.

[Golfingdad]

the ball flew straight and he plays off 3 so what's the problem?

Ummm, he wants to be a 2? 0? Plus handicap perhaps?

[Huddo]

Being a beginner I won't even try to critique what is a great looking swing! It's a great video for us newbies to look at though.........the control of his backswing (not overswinging) and his use of the lower body to drive the downswing........awesome!

[boogielicious]

I would just start with flaring the feet.

[nevets88]

In addition to what @Phil McGleno and @billchao posted, it looks like his right knee is kicking out towards the ball which may retard "raising the belt", extending the hips post A7? Try and get R knee going towards target more on DS (that may be an after effect of @Phil McGleno and @billchao 's advice) ?

In addition to what @Golfingdad said, I'd love to have his transition from A4.

Oh and his watch, get rid of it, it's slowing down his SS 2 mph, m'kay?

Plane line here is A5:

[DrawDriver]

If you look at his elbow and his club head you can see is a bit too far behind him which gets the club a little under plane and gets his path to much to the right.

[natureboy]

This guys swing is one most would only wish to have and die for.

For a man of his size, he has great mobility, balance, flexibility, and power.

The skill level he demonstrates, comes from years of practice, playing and God given talent.

My opinion would be ball placement slightly forward, and a slight swing path adjustment.(hands follow the club after impact a little longer)

Also, work at getting just a slight more hip rotation so his hips are opened a tad more at impact. (Flare left foot out a tad)

@iacas

@mvmac   How about creating a badge for these type of threads and giving them to members who offer suggestions which you guys think are beneficial to the site.

What do you work on? Swing (hands / arm extension) follows ball flight towards target and ball placement slightly forward of center. Flare left foot out a tad.

Why? Needs to shift weight to left side just a tad sooner at impact.

How? Flare left foot out slightly. Ball slightly forward of center allows the body more time to transfer to forward foot / left side.

Club Rat

I envy his swing plane, exactly what I'm shooting towards - steeper and less deep going back and flatter coming forward. The only thing I notice is what Bill already mentioned ... He's up on his right toes early. Need to keep that leg straighter and bank the right foot.

That's all I got.

I agree - sweet transition.

Could the lack of right foot bank action on d/s and added hip push (flared L foot may help) it would give also help keep the R hip more inside the line rather than out towards it?

My thought is the R hip position out toward the line may get him slightly 'stuck' with his path through impact. If R hip is in the way then it forces the R shoulder path out to R of target line leading to the blocks and hooks?

I think if the R hip was deeper through impact with a bit more lateral push toward target and a more tucked R knee / hip he could come through slightly more 'under' than 'out' with the R shoulder.

[misty_mountainhop]

What's the iron used in the video clip? Doesn't look that short to me. I'm going for a simple thing first up.

I'd try an adjustment of ball position as the first thing - move it nearer front foot. The ball at setup is nearer rear foot than front foot - path at impact is too much from inside as a result, which means if he gets the club square to target he's going to get decent (too much?) draw, if he doesn't square it to target, he gets a straight push and he's also de-lofting the club a little too much at the point of impact, hence shots going lower etc than he typically remembers.

[bjfox10]

I believe he should work on Keys number 2 and 4 which will help the some issues that he is having with key number 5.

Like others have have said I believe he could back improve how he banks on his right foot. This would allow him to deliver the club properly from the inside. Right now the club does come from inside but it is because he is beginning to run out of right arm and he is throwing the club head out creating a path that may be to for from the inside. Proper banking of the right foot will give him the room he need to keep the angle in his right elbow a bit longer.

There are a number of ways that he can work on this such as @iacas thread that talks about keeping a tripod in front of the right knee or simply making small slow swings focusing on keeping the right heel down longer.

Next, I would like to see him keep his right elbow in front of his shirt seem at the top of his swing. I believe this would also help him get into a better pitch elbow position. How I would do this would be to ask him to keep his right elbow soft through out the swing. This should allow the elbow to fold correctly in the backswing so that it stays in front of the shirt seem in transition.