My Swing (Zooz)

[Zooz]

I've been Playing Golf for: A few rounds a year off and on for 10 years. REALLY trying to play once or twice a week and concentrating on improving all aspects about 3 months ago

My current handicap index or average score is: Not sure, shoot in the 90s

My typical ball flight is : slight push/fade

The shot I hate or the "miss" I'm trying to reduce/eliminate is: The slice with my driver and the push with my irons

I've posted videos of my driver here, I can get irons soon enough. I think I can identify some problem areas with my swing just from comparing it to swing thoughts I've read around the forum in the last few weeks.

1) Secondary axis tilt is non-existent upon contact, making for a steeper angle of attack (more chance to slice)

2) I have my weight forward at point of contact, but in a bad position (relates to point one) For my driver, I am basically hitting off my tippy toes at point of impact.Is this bad?

3) I've been trying to work on keeping my back elbow inside to keep a more inside-out swing.

I'd love some honest critiques about what I can work on at the range.

Thanks in advance!

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Videos:

I apologize about not being able to see the ball here, but I think you have a decent idea about where it is and what my body is doing throughout the swing. I can get a video of the ball if necessary.

[Grumpter]

First thing I would suggest is working on the grip. Your hands seem pretty separated at setup. Try this thread: http://thesandtrap.com/t/75436/how-to-grip-a-golf-club-commonalities-of-a-functional-golf-grip

Also your left arm seems bent and your club head way outside of the ball just before impact.

Nice tempo

[Zooz]

Awesome I'll be sure to check it out! Just to clarify, I want my left arm to bee straight at the point of impact?

[Grumpter]

I want my left arm to bee straight at the point of impact?

I would say the whole way but some can get away with it (Jordan Spieth, Lee Westwood etc.).

[Zooz]

I would say the whole way but some can get away with it (Jordan Spieth, Lee Westwood etc.).

Hmm. I attempted to keep it straight when I was at the range yesterday and it felt a little stiff, more of a sweeping motion. The results varied. I think I find the best results occur when I consciously keep my head down throughout my swing and especially at point of contact.

[mvmac]

Hmm. I attempted to keep it straight when I was at the range yesterday and it felt a little stiff, more of a sweeping motion. The results varied. I think I find the best results occur when I consciously keep my head down throughout my swing and especially at point of contact.

I'd first check out the grip thread @Grumpter posted then we can move on to the swing stuff. Your left arm (trail arm) should be bent at impact.

[saevel25]

I don't recommend the 10 finger split grip for golf ;)

I'd check out this thread,

On your setup, I would narrow the stance a tad, like 3-4".

Your issue is your lack of hip turn on the backswing. You end up doing this, laterally shifting to the left in the backswing. That sort of movement makes it difficult to be consistent.

I would check out this thread,

[Zooz]

Quick question - When I move my hips on the backswing (centred hip turn), is it more of a rotation of the waist/hips/core, rather than a slide? Conversely, is it more of a "forward slide" on the downswing, pushing my hips a little out front of my body? I'm trying to get a little better understanding of the "type" of movement I want to feel.

[saevel25]

Quick question - When I move my hips on the backswing (centred hip turn), is it more of a rotation of the waist/hips/core, rather than a slide? Conversely, is it more of a "forward slide" on the downswing, pushing my hips a little out front of my body? I'm trying to get a little better understanding of the "type" of movement I want to feel.

For you it will probably feel you need to rotate a lot more and sooner.

On the downswing the hips bump forward and rotate.

[Grumpter]

Your left arm (trail arm) should be bent at impact.

Whoops. Yes, I should have said leading arm is bent. I get confused when people swing from the wrong side of the ball (Lefties).

[Zooz]

For you it will probably feel you need to rotate a lot more and sooner.

On the downswing the hips bump forward and rotate.

Gotcha. Should it feel like my arms are lagging a bit behind my hips/rest of my body on the downswing? Or should it feel a little more evenly distributed. Trying this in the past, it feels like the arms are slower and need to "catch up" to the rest of the body. Maybe the rotation wasn't 100% correct.

Whoops. Yes, I should have said leading arm is bent. I get confused when people swing from the wrong side of the ball (Lefties).

Those damn lefties!

[saevel25]

Gotcha. Should it feel like my arms are lagging a bit behind my hips/rest of my body on the downswing? Or should it feel a little more evenly distributed. Trying this in the past, it feels like the arms are slower and need to "catch up" to the rest of the body. Maybe the rotation wasn't 100% correct.

Those damn lefties!

Depends on your swing. I can't say what you should be exactly feeling or not in your swing.

Some people might feel they have to swing their arms pretty dang fast down from the top of the swing. Some people might feel like they have to turn their right side through. Some might feel like they need to rip their left shoulder around their bod. Some might fell like they need to only lift the arms to take a backswing. Some might feel they need to do all body rotation and no arm lift.

It depends. The guidance you'll get is primarily movements that you should be doing. Figuring out what feels get the movements you want is going to depend on you.

[mvmac]

Gotcha. Should it feel like my arms are lagging a bit behind my hips/rest of my body on the downswing? Or should it feel a little more evenly distributed. Trying this in the past, it feels like the arms are slower and need to "catch up" to the rest of the body. Maybe the rotation wasn't 100% correct.

Keep it simple and focus on one thing at a time. Get the grip better and then with the swing feel the left hip turn up and around.

[Zooz]

Keep it simple and focus on one thing at a time. Get the grip better and then with the swing feel the left hip turn up and around.

Ok, so I went through that thread like a hawk and have turned my grip around 180*. It feels WAY different and I know it's gonna take some getting used to, but i'm determined to make it work. The one problem I have (not sure if it's a problem) is that my middle and ring finger on my left hand (bottom hand -because I'm a lefty) seem to overlap my thumb on my right hand (top hand - glove hand). This makes me feel like my left hand is not as stable as it should be and causing it to sometimes slip at different points during my swing.

Looking at the grip thread, it looks like the bottom hand middle/ring finger should fit snug beside the thumb, and not on top like mine does.

I do try to move my middle/rring finger to fit beside my thumb, but it causes my left palm to not sit as flush on my right hand/thumb. I guess you could say I have lager than average hands, does this mean I may need some larger sized grips? These are currently stock grips on my Ben Hogan Colonials i got about ears ago.

Here are some pictures for reference (It happens with each style of grip - baseball/interlock/pinky overlap)

[mvmac]

The one problem I have (not sure if it's a problem) is that my middle and ring finger on my left hand (bottom hand -because I'm a lefty) seem to overlap my thumb on my right hand (top hand - glove hand). This makes me feel like my left hand is not as stable as it should be and causing it to sometimes slip at different points during my swing.

Looking at the grip thread, it looks like the bottom hand middle/ring finger should fit snug beside the thumb, and not on top like mine does.

I do try to move my middle/rring finger to fit beside my thumb, but it causes my left palm to not sit as flush on my right hand/thumb. I guess you could say I have lager than average hands, does this mean I may need some larger sized grips? These are currently stock grips on my Ben Hogan Colonials i got about ears ago.

I think that's happening because the left hand is too far under. Notice where that places your left thumb and "V" of the left hand compared to these guys. Left thumb shouldn't be going down the center of the grip. You want the first pad of the left hand index finger to sit on the side of the grip (Ben Hogan logo would be the top of the grip), that should clean things up for the most part.

It's also likely you need larger grips, like mid-size ones.

[Zooz]

Ok so I've been working on my swing/grip, and I think I've made a bit of progress. I'm currently using the interlocking grip and it's getting better each range session. I'm going to try and stick with it. The one club I still use the baseball grip for is on my driver because I feel that this grip is even thinner than "standard". I'm going to try to go look at some mid-sized grips really soon to see how comfortable those are. I think i'm going to try get to my closest golf shop and try and feel some mid-sized grips this weekend. I have longer fingers and I feel they would be much more comfortable without too much overlap from the fingers and the palm.

I've also been working on my hip rotation on my backswing and more of a "hip shift/slide" on my down swing. I think it's pretty evident in my iron swing video, but not so much in my in my driver swing.

I'm trying to straighten out my lead arm at impact, any drills for this? Also trying to keep my back foot steady/down until closer til impact.

I feel like the angle of attack with my driver is still pretty steep, even though I seem to be hitting the ball fairly straight about 250ish yards for my

average drive.

Any input would be much appreciated!

[mvmac]

Any input would be much appreciated!

Seeing similar stuff. Hips and head move back and the left thumb is still going down the center of the grip. Have someone hold a stick against your left hip and make a backswing where you create some space between your hip and the stick. Can also do this against a wall. Note how it feels to accomplish this and use that feel when you hit balls.

[Zooz]

Seeing similar stuff. Hips and head move back and the left thumb is still going down the center of the grip. Have someone hold a stick against your left hip and make a backswing where you create some space between your hip and the stick. Can also do this against a wall. Note how it feels to accomplish this and use that feel when you hit balls.

Am I correct to assume that the hip-motion for the backswing is more of a rotational motion, and the downswing is more of a shift forward motion? I'm trying to conceptualize what it feels like in my head. The drill you told me to do seems like the backswing is a combination of hip rotation and a shift in order to get it away from a a stationary object at my right hip (you said left hip, but do you mean right?).

Also, my left thumb should be on the left or the right side of the club if it shouldn't be down the middle?

Thanks mvmac! Trust me, I'm trying to implement whatever's been pointed out, obviously it'll take some time, but I'll be hitting the range again today (grass tees woo!).