My Swing (oudrees)

[mvmac]

Like the way this is looking.

But on the downswing the arms need to speed up as the hips transfer more forward.

Good drill for that. Also work on it by making a lot of 3/4 backswings. Still making a full turn but a shorter arm swing, then fire the arms down to the ball.

[oudrees]

I broke down and bought a gently used set of Callaway X-Hot irons today. Hopefully they will give me some more forgiveness. My current irons were 16 years old and missing a 5 iron. I did research and was down to the Taylor Made rocketbladez or the X-Hots.

[oudrees]

But on the downswing the arms need to speed up as the hips transfer more forward.

When you say the arms need to speed up, to me that says swing faster.  Is that what you are implying or do you mean I need to start my downswing before my hip transfer?

I'm playing 9 today and hopefully will be able to hit the range once or twice this week to try the drill.  I might try it with the wiffle balls at home to.

[billchao]

When you say the arms need to speed up, to me that says swing faster.  Is that what you are implying or do you mean I need to start my downswing before my hip transfer? I'm playing 9 today and hopefully will be able to hit the range once or twice this week to try the drill.  I might try it with the wiffle balls at home to.

Speeding up the arms means they need to move faster relative to the rest of your body movements. May feel like you're making an armsy swing. Feeling like you're swinging faster might make the separation between your hips and arms wider.

[mvmac]

When you say the arms need to speed up, to me that says swing faster.  Is that what you are implying or do you mean I need to start my downswing before my hip transfer?

Faster in relation to the body/pivot. Look where your arms are compared to the right pic. Fire the arms down faster. The drill will help you feel that.

EDIT: Bill beat me to it

[oudrees]

Well my driver felt the best it has ever felt today.  I was hammering drives between 270-290 down the middle.  I just missed the front of the green to the right by 10 yards on a 314 yd Par 4, but I bogied it because my chipping and putting failed me.  My irons are either really good or fat right now.  I'll hit the range in the next couple days and work on speeding the arms up.   Would them being slow cause me to hit behind the ball?   The seems to be my missed shot right now.

[mvmac]

Would them being slow cause me to hit behind the ball?   The seems to be my missed shot right now.

Yes, definitely leads to bad contact. Shaft lines up with the lead arm too early.

[oudrees]

Didn't have time for the range today, but took the wiffle balls out back.  Not optimal but it got me some swings.  Here were my quick attempts at the weight forward drill.

Not so good.....swing and a miss!!

Full Swing

[oudrees]

My video must not of recorded at 60 FPS because of the light, I can't slow them down for some reason.

[mvmac]

Didn't have time for the range today, but took the wiffle balls out back.  Not optimal but it got me some swings.  Here were my quick attempts at the weight forward drill.

Better, keep working on it. Don't be afraid to take a divot (when you get to a golf course). Feel that you're pulling the handle/hands straight down to a spot in front of the golf ball from the top of your backswing, like you're trying to stick a spear in the ground at that spot.

[oudrees]

Should it feel like I'm bringing the heel of my left hand/the end of the shaft down to that spot? Am I currently breaking (I guess you would call it that) my wrists too early?

[mvmac]

Should it feel like I'm bringing the heel of my left hand/the end of the shaft down to that spot? Am I currently breaking (I guess you would call it that) my wrists too early?

If that's a feel that helps change the picture, then sure use that one. Different feels work for different people.

Yes things are still a little flippy (why you're missing the ground) but you've only been working on it for a very short time.

I want you to be able to fire the arms down, smack the ground (in front of the "ball") and finish like this. This is a bit exaggerated but it provides a good visual.

[oudrees]

oops, lost everything I typed for some reason.

I really tried driving down on the ball today.  I remembered seeing a comment in Duff's thread about keeping the toe down.  I did that and it really changed my contact as I was driving down for the better.  I gained about 15 yards and a much tighter dispersion by driving my hands down and keeping my club toe down.  I still forget about my weight transfer and hit it fat, but it is becoming less and less.

My DTL didn't seem that far away when I was recording it

[mvmac]

I really tried driving down on the ball today.  I remembered seeing a comment in Duff's thread about keeping the toe down.  I did that and it really changed my contact as I was driving down for the better.  I gained about 15 yards and a much tighter dispersion by driving my hands down and keeping my club toe down.

Good, keep working on it.

[Duff McGee]

oops, lost everything I typed for some reason. I really tried driving down on the ball today.  I remembered seeing a comment in Duff's thread about keeping the toe down.  I did that and it really changed my contact as I was driving down for the better.  I gained about 15 yards and a much tighter dispersion by driving my hands down and keeping my club toe down.  I still forget about my weight transfer and hit it fat, but it is becoming less and less. My DTL didn't seem that far away when I was recording it

Hey thanks for following my thread and I'm happy to hear that helped you! I have yet to get out but have been practicing everyday in the backyard trying to get the club face and hands right.

[oudrees]

Well I seemed to have a little break through today on the course.  I shot 48/44 for a 92.  I left the driver in the bag and went with the 5 iron or 4 iron off the tee.  I was managing to hit my 4 iron 230 with a slight draw....it felt so good.  I still would miss greens slightly left, right, or short but I had alot more GIR and putts for par than usual.  I think for the rest of the season I might just try and score with my irons and practice with my driver.  It's amazing the difference in score when you keep it in bounds.  Didn't lose a single ball.  The few changes I have made in the past couple months due to you guys has made a huge difference.  The few bad shots I hit, I can tell I didn't shift my weight so that is still my working point.

With my group of 12 today, I won low net, 1 KP, and 1 skin.  We missed winning the team game by 1 stroke.

[oudrees]

And on top of the good score, one of the guys asked me if I had been taking lessons because my swing and game looked a heck of alot better so that is a tribute to you guys  :)

[Duff McGee]

Well I seemed to have a little break through today on the course.  I shot 48/44 for a 92.  I left the driver in the bag and went with the 5 iron or 4 iron off the tee.  I was managing to hit my 4 iron 230 with a slight draw....it felt so good.  I still would miss greens slightly left, right, or short but I had alot more GIR and putts for par than usual.  I think for the rest of the season I might just try and score with my irons and practice with my driver.  It's amazing the difference in score when you keep it in bounds.  Didn't lose a single ball.  The few changes I have made in the past couple months due to you guys has made a huge difference.  The few bad shots I hit, I can tell I didn't shift my weight so that is still my working point. With my group of 12 today, I won low net, 1 KP, and 1 skin.  We missed winning the team game by 1 stroke.

That's awesome. Great job. The one thing is I always feel a little uneasy when people go for score so early in their golf game and do so by leaving certain clubs in the bag, especially driver. The reason I say that is that's how I used to play back in high school. I would just hit 5 iron off the tee and I would score well (for me) but hit a ceiling very quickly and could only score decently on small courses. As long as you truly are devoting a very large percentage of your time to learning the driver when you are t on the course you should be fine but just don't fall into the trap of chasing scores to the detriment of the more important aspects of your game. Disclaimer as usual: I am not an instructor so I might be way off here.