My Swing (mikelowry5)

[MikeLowry5]

I've been Playing Golf for: This is my 7th season playing golf I believe.

My current handicap index or average score is: Handicap is going to be in the 7-8 range right now.  Shows as lower, but will balloon with the new revision

My typical ball flight is: Has been a block or hook.

The shot I hate or the "miss" I'm trying to reduce/eliminate is:  I want to hit a ball that consistently is near my target.  I prefer to see the ball push draw, but small pull fades do not scare me.

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[MikeLowry5]

My apologies as the video did not look nearly that dark when I uploaded it.

[mvmac]

Welcome back to the site!

I'd recommend taking a look at this video. When the heel raises that soon you have to make some compensations with the arms and handle, can definitely lead to hooks and blocks.

[MikeLowry5]

It's always been a trait of my swing.  It is certainly not a conscious move and I still have that much action when focusing only on the upper half rotating.

The swing there was me working on hitting a fade trying to get the path more neutral.

I also had my instructor recommend hitting half shots with an alignment stick in my belt buckle and avoid hitting the stick on the way down.  From a cause and effect standpoint I see that when the heel raises it tends to block out the hand path from going in the circular motion that you should have.

Thanks for the reply.

[Phil McGleno]

It's always been a trait of my swing.  It is certainly not a conscious move and I still have that much action when focusing only on the upper half rotating.

So you are not going to try to do what @mvmac said?

[mvmac]

It's always been a trait of my swing.  It is certainly not a conscious move and I still have that much action when focusing only on the upper half rotating.

Just because it's a trait, it doesn't mean you can't fix it and improve your ballstriking.

[MikeLowry5]

So you are not going to try to do what @mvmac said?

Just because it's a trait, it doesn't mean you can't fix it and improve your ballstriking.

This is the part of the internet where tone would've helped you better understand what I was saying.

I certainly am going to try and do what he asked and already have.  I hit the ball better immediately and that is with the heel still coming off the ground vs it rolling forward.  It lowered my ball flight a bit, but when I looked on some of the videos it looked like the upper half was coming more forward than usual.

Mentioning it was a trait was only meant to be it has been something that from the time I first swung a club it was there.  Tiger Woods has the same issue.  In the past I simply tried keeping the heel on the ground which had me falling back and throwing the club way out to the left (right for all of you righties).

Thanks for the help @mvmac !!!

[mvmac]

I certainly am going to try and do what he asked and already have.  I hit the ball better immediately and that is with the heel still coming off the ground vs it rolling forward.  It lowered my ball flight a bit, but when I looked on some of the videos it looked like the upper half was coming more forward than usual.

Nice job changing the picture, downswing and impact look A LOT better.

I'm not seeing the head move forward on the downswing. This is pretty damn good.

Mentioning it was a trait was only meant to be it has been something that from the time I first swung a club it was there.  Tiger Woods has the same issue.

Yes there are pros that lift it a little coming into impact but you were doing it too much, too soon.

[MikeLowry5]

Yes there are pros that lift it a little coming into impact but you were doing it too much, too soon.

Trying to quiet the body in the swing has always been hard for me.  It's made me wonder if I'm physically strong enough to control my body.  I know most think we are, but I would venture to say that we're not strong in the right places to help control some of these movements.

I'm so concerned about the hand action and path because I know how bad in to out I get and I start playing really bad golf when my timing is off.  Even with a handsy swing I was still getting a straighter flight.

Again, thanks for the help.  I know the rear heel doesn't get dragged off the ground like Fred Couples/Kenny Perry, etc but even that small change seemed to produce a straighter ball flight.  From the looks of the video the body is MUCH more quiet.

I live in St. Louis and my instructor is in Kansas City (4 hrs away) and I don't get over there nearly as much as I should.  So far (until this week when I went back) we worked on getting the arms moving more up and down and getting the pressure in the right heels at the right time.  I had a hell of a time getting to load into the rear heel and not having the hips slide out from underneath me.  Look at these videos from last winter.....

[mvmac]

I'm so concerned about the hand action and path because I know how bad in to out I get and I start playing really bad golf when my timing is off.  Even with a handsy swing I was still getting a straighter flight.

Yeah the better the body/pivot gets the less "handsy" you'll need to be.

Also your videos in the last post are private.

[MikeLowry5]

Can you see them now?

When rolling the ankles should it be subtle?  I can pretty much roll completely over on both ankle and over the weekend while working on this I had a lot of shanks followed by vicious pull hooks, etc.  Slowing down to focus on the movement only made it worse.

The practice swings are me completely rolling the ankles over.  The full swing is me TRYING to completely roll them over.  I obviously cannot do it at full speed or even what I thought was "half speed".  My question is if the practice swings are correct?  I'll take a side video today doing the same thing.

This is me swinging the driver very slowly.  Come out of posture and the backswing sucks, but I was only focused on my footwork.  What do you think?

[iacas]

The practice swings are me completely rolling the ankles over.  The full swing is me TRYING to completely roll them over.  I obviously cannot do it at full speed or even what I thought was "half speed".  My question is if the practice swings are correct?  I'll take a side video today doing the same thing.

It does not appear as though your ankles rolled over. Your knee kicked out and your heel still lifted.

Read through that.

[MikeLowry5]

It does not appear as though your ankles rolled over. Your knee kicked out and your heel still lifted.

Read through that.

Good read.  Practice yesterday and today = not many balls hit.  I did lots of slow motion pump drills working on the ankles rolling.  I had to come down into impact with the club head in slow motion to still find that feel of the heel on the ground and the knee not kicking out.

Your swing is much more of a complete product than mine.  For someone of my ability would you recommend this type of practice exclusively during this time of year when I'm also playing or do I need to spend time hitting balls to targets, pitching, putting, etc?  I have about 1-2 hours a day 5 days a week to practice and can play 2-4 days a week.

I cut off the slow pump drills in these videos.  Next videos will show them.

My instructor wants me to work on clubface control.  I agree that it is really bad right now.  I mixed it in with the ankles rolling here, I've been almost exclusively doing that work with the handle/shaft face going right after impact in the mirror because it is so hard to do with a ball right now.  I need A LOT of work on stabilizing the face in my swing.  I'm hoping the body work will help with this (definitely a hope because I feel lost toning my hands down).

Title says full speed, but felt like 75%.  Ball went to about full swing distance.  Hopefully the swing was just more efficient at 75%!  Only working on ankle rolling/heel down/knee not kicking out.

Thanks for the help and comments.  It should clear up after today and I can get outside for some better videos and see how the swing changes when not on a mat.

[MikeLowry5]

For those of us (most everyone here) we have multiple issues and minimal time.  My hands are so active in the swing that while trying to work on the body movements (ankle roll) I've also been trying to work on the arms swinging correctly.  Trying to focus on two things at this point is probably not optimal.  I'm going to have to break it up in my practice so I get more out of my time.

Edge of my ability here and still feel like the club head is staying out too long.  Foot work looks better in my own eyes.

[mvmac]

Edge of my ability here and still feel like the club head is staying out too long.  Foot work looks better in my own eyes.

Which part of the swing are you referring to that's "staying out too long"?

[MikeLowry5]

Which part of the swing are you referring to that's "staying out too long"?

The club head.  Think of "holding the release off" as long as you can.  It keeps the club head from moving right for me, left for you after impact unless you can get your hands REALLY inside.  Trying to get the hands in with leaving the head out has that cut off feel for the follow through.

Right now I'm really confused on how to move the club/hands/arms throughout the swing.  My instructor called at lunch and we went over it again and he's going to send me a video or two showing me again.  I can make the motion with my hands using left palm/back of my right hand as the clubface, but not with a club in hand.  I'm a short guy (5'-8") and to keep from sticking it in the ground I always get everything moving way out right.  If I cut down a driver to an 8' length I guarantee you with 100% certainty my path with it would change instantly.

That particular swing looked as over the top as I can remember with regards to my swing.  The ball flight was pretty straight, but it was a slow motion 1/2 swing with a PW.  I'd hope I would hit it straight at that speed with that club.  Give me a driver or even a 7i doing the same swing and I cannot copy this motion nor get it to fly straight and not kill some worms on the right of me.

I'm glad to be back reading the posts here.  I bought the 5SK DVD's the other day and I'd say I should have them in a few days.

[MikeLowry5]

Solid round trying to hit a pull fade on every full shot.

[MikeLowry5]

Biggest club with the biggest swing I can make doing it right at this time.