My Swing (shalabe)

[shalabe]

I've been Playing Golf for: 20 years, more seriously for the last three. Before that played college and minor league baseball.

My current handicap index or average score is: 3.1

My typical ball flight is: Cut with the driver - straight with a draw bias for everything else. Going forward I plan to stick with a draw for all clubs.

The shot I hate or the "miss" I'm trying to reduce/eliminate is: There isn't just one miss (straight push, push fade, straight pull, pull draw, and the occasional, "how did I hit it that fat") - basically, it's the big miss that shows up out of nowhere. Mostly I'm trying to gain more control, avoid the big miss, and hit more GIRs.

---

These two swing video's were taken about a week after I decided to commit to the process of changing the picture instead of looking for the quick fix...

For reference, these swing videos were taken last July...

[mvmac]

Welcome to the site, you have a nice swing. With the swing you get a little under-turned on the backswing, would like to see you turned closer to 80-90 degrees by this point in the swing.

First place I would start is with cleaning up the grip and posture. It'll help with the pivot/turning rates. Address looks very "stiff" with the back and the grip looks a little weak.

[shalabe]

@mvmac Thank you for the feedback. I occasionally notice the grip getting weak and your description of my address as "stiff" is really accurate. I will definitely check out those threads and get to work on your suggestions.

[shalabe]

Working on improving the grip, posture, and turn. It feels rally good with the shorter clubs but a bit awkward with the 6 iron thru driver. These swings in particular felt really rushed. On the good side, I played yesterday and hit 13 GIRs - a new high and almost twice my average (~7).

[mvmac]

Working on improving the grip, posture, and turn. It feels rally good with the shorter clubs but a bit awkward with the 6 iron thru driver. These swings in particular felt really rushed. On the good side, I played yesterday and hit 13 GIRs - a new high and almost twice my average (~7).

13 GIRs is awesome. Looking really good here.

Only thing I would add is to keep an eye on the right elbow/upper right arm not "sliding" behind your shirt seam. When it gets behind you and stays behind you that's when you can run into those big misses and pulls. The more it stays "in front" of you the better your start lines will be and contact will improve.

[shalabe]

@mvmac - Thanks, it was great to experience some early success but I know there's still a lot of work to be done - it's a different game when your "less than best" shots find the green. I really appreciate the added advice regarding the right arm - I will check out the video tonight and start to work on keeping my right arm more "in front"

[shalabe]

I'm feeling really good with the grip, posture, and turn but consistently keeping the right arm in front is going to take some time. I'll try to take some video this week... A couple things I've been considering. First, I'm struggling to hit the draw with the driver but when I aim down the middle and use my normal draw swing I hit the ball really well - but it's a small fade. Should I go ahead and play the fade knowing it's the same swing but the forward ball position causes the fade or is that accepting a quick fix and I need to put the time in and figure out the draw? Second, my original plan was to not play in anymore tournaments this year but to save the money (I'm on a bit of a tight golf budget) and work on improving my ball striking. However, I'm hitting my irons so much better now that I'm starting to reconsider. The logical choice would be the scga pub links - the less logical choice would be the U.S. Mid-am qualifier. Playing in one or both would mean less playing and range sessions in the fall but I would still have my net. Bottom line, I don't want to waste my time/money prepping for a tournament when I really need to be improving my swing.

[mvmac]

I'm feeling really good with the grip, posture, and turn but consistently keeping the right arm in front is going to take some time. I'll try to take some video this week...

A couple things I've been considering. First, I'm struggling to hit the draw with the driver but when I aim down the middle and use my normal draw swing I hit the ball really well - but it's a small fade. Should I go ahead and play the fade knowing it's the same swing but the forward ball position causes the fade or is that accepting a quick fix and I need to put the time in and figure out the draw?

Make sure you're practicing it slowly to really ingrain the feel.

A couple things I've been considering. First, I'm struggling to hit the draw with the driver but when I aim down the middle and use my normal draw swing I hit the ball really well - but it's a small fade. Should I go ahead and play the fade knowing it's the same swing but the forward ball position causes the fade or is that accepting a quick fix and I need to put the time in and figure out the draw?

Yeah play the fade if it works. If you wanted to play a draw, just aim your body a little more right.

[shalabe]

Make sure you're practicing it slowly to really ingrain the feel.  [CONTENTEMBED=/t/54840/simple-specific-slow-short-and-success-the-five-s-s-of-great-practice layout=inline]​[/CONTENTEMBED]  Yeah play the fade if it works. If you wanted to play a draw, just aim your body a little more right.

@mvmac Thank you for the 5s thread - I need a good review of proper practice...and I will go ahead and play the fade for now.

[shalabe]

I've been using the glove drill under the right arm to help keep the right arm in front. I took this video after warming up with the glove drill and taking this swing while tucking my shirt under the arm. After seeing this video I think I've over done the glove drill without really improving the picture. Going forward I think I'll ditch the glove, slow down, and really get the feel of keeping the right arm in front. However, I feel great with the short irons and wedges and have never hit them better. [video]http://youtu.be/cD-fqKko_fU[/video]

[mvmac]

After seeing this video I think I've over done the glove drill without really improving the picture.

Can you elaborate a little more on this?

This looks better, doesn't seem overdone to me.

[shalabe]

Can you elaborate a little more on this? This looks better, doesn't seem overdone to me. [URL=http://thesandtrap.com/content/type/61/id/126674/] [/URL]

Although I feel more connected I felt the elbow was flaring out and not staying in front as well as it should. Also, it seemed to me that I was more narrow at the top and the club collapsed and crossed over more than it did previously. Of course I could be wrong or misplacing the blame...Mike, if you say it's improved I will absolutely defer to you and keep working. Thank you again for all the feedback.

[mvmac]

Although I feel more connected I felt the elbow was flaring out and not staying in front as well as it should. Also, it seemed to me that I was more narrow at the top and the club collapsed and crossed over more than it did previously. Of course I could be wrong or misplacing the blame...Mike, if you say it's improved I will absolutely defer to you and keep working. Thank you again for all the feedback.

It's going to take some time. You've made a lot of swings the old way, now you have to put in a few thousand good reps for the changes to stick. You're on the right track though. Compare that pic I posted in my last post to some earlier pics. Arm is more in front, elbows are closer together, shaft is less across the line.

[shalabe]

It's going to take some time. You've made a lot of swings the old way, now you have to put in a few thousand good reps for the changes to stick. You're on the right track though. Compare that pic I posted in my last post to some earlier pics. Arm is more in front, elbows are closer together, shaft is less across the line.

I really appreciate the encouragement that I'm on the right track and the reminder that I need to put in a lot of reps to make real changes.

[shalabe]

Played today - hit 14 greens and 17 nGIR - I cannot believe how good my ball striking results have been since joining TST and @mvmac identifying my priorities. I don't feel like I'm striping every shot by any means but the start lines and results are amazing. Now that I've experienced what a good ball striking round should look like, I can't believe how bad of a ball striker I am. I feel like that scene from Bull Durham where the manager is ripping into the players for being lolly-gaggers. Near the end of the rant the manager asks what their record is: Pitching coach: 8-16 Manager: 8-16...how did we ever win 8? Pitching coach: it's a miracle Manager: yep...it's a miracle Manager asking what my index is: Pitching coach: about a 3 Manager: a 3...how did he ever get below 10? Pitching coach: it's a miracle Manager: yep, it's a miracle

[mvmac]

Played today - hit 14 greens and 17 nGIR - I cannot believe how good my ball striking results have been since joining TST and @mvmac identifying my priorities. I don't feel like I'm striping every shot by any means but the start lines and results are amazing.

Awesome!

Yeah you're not going to stripe every shot, like Hogan said, golf is not a game of good shots, it's a game of bad shots. So if you can improve your overall ballstriking and have your "bad" shots be a GIR with some nGIR, you're going to play better golf.

[iacas]

I've been shooting even par rounds (or thereabouts) for a while now playing some pretty lousy golf, really. The kind of golf where you get up and down when you have to, but you hit a lot of thin shots onto the front of the green, or you just miss in the right places, etc. Keys #4 and #5 are important if you're already reasonably good at #1-3. :)

[shalabe]

Awesome!

Yeah you're not going to stripe every shot, like Hogan said, golf is not a game of good shots, it's a game of bad shots. So if you can improve your overall ballstriking and have your "bad" shots be a GIR with some nGIR, you're going to play better golf.

I've heard the Hogan quote before but I have a better appreciation for what it means now. I don't own it yet, but my understanding of good ball striking has changed.

I've been shooting even par rounds (or thereabouts) for a while now playing some pretty lousy golf, really. The kind of golf where you get up and down when you have to, but you hit a lot of thin shots onto the front of the green, or you just miss in the right places, etc. Keys #4 and #5 are important if you're already reasonably good at #1-3. :)

I've heard good players say things like this in the past and would kind of brush it off as there must be some hidden qualifier - "yeah, but his thin shots must be like my solid shots" or "how does he miss it in the right place, I have no idea where my miss will be". I now believe it's possible for you to play some "pretty lousy golf" and continue to shoot around par.

You've piqued my interest regarding ball striking skills and how it specifically relates to each of the 5 Keys. I think there's a thread about the correlation between the 5 Keys and handicap that I will try to find.