My Swing (Suchmo)

[Suchmo]

I've been Playing Golf for: 18 months
My current handicap index or average score is: 18ish

typical ball flight is: short and straight

 shot I hate or the "miss" I'm trying to reduce/eliminate is: straight pull / occasional slice 

Videos: 

Apologies that these are merely swings without a ball. Lack of tripod/suitable camera means this is the best I can do for now.

 

 

[iacas]

 

Apologies that these are merely swings without a ball. Lack of tripod/suitable camera means this is the best I can do for now.

Unfortunately that renders them almost unusable.

People, it's true, tend to make very different swings when they're hitting a golf ball than when they're just swinging at air.

That said… put your chin down a bit…

And turn to start your takeaway so as not to pull that right shoulder around behind you:

And then film some video of you hitting a golf ball before you do too much so we can know whether these are the right direction.

[Suchmo]

Point taken about the practice swings. I'll have to persuade my girlfriend to come to the driving range to take a decent video. Thanks for the advice given. 

[Suchmo]

I persuaded my girlfriend to film me at the range as close as possible to the prescribed angles. Any advice appreciated. 

[SavvySwede]

5 hours ago, Suchmo said:

I persuaded my girlfriend to film me at the range as close as possible to the prescribed angles. Any advice appreciated. 

Good looking swing for only 18 months playing.

 

Things I noticed

1. Your weight doesn't get forward enough at impact. Your lower body shifts forward a little bit but not nearly enough to get 80-95% of your weight on your front foot at impact like the great players. You want to see something a bit more like this.

2. Your weight appears to be more toward the heels at address. You want the weight to stay on the balls of the feet throughout the swing. Should also help with the issue #1

3. Takeaway If you look at your takeaway in the face on on video you'll see you upper back muscles clench up as you quickly snatch the club up into A2. A smoother more relaxed takeaway with more body turn should allow you to load up better and smooth out the tempo.

[mvmac]

11 hours ago, Suchmo said:

I persuaded my girlfriend to film me at the range as close as possible to the prescribed angles. Any advice appreciated. 

I'd take a look at this post again. Good luck!

http://thesandtrap.com/forums/topic/85199-my-swing-suchmo/#comment-1157414

[Suchmo]

Thanks again to everyone who has replied. I'll try to 'change the picture' by turning more and earlier, as recommended. I'll post some further videos as soon as I feel it looks a little different.

[Suchmo]

Just a quick note: In order to start the back swing with more of a turn (rather than the arms), my feel is that I'm trying to take the club-head back as wide as possible. This is just a feel, mind, as I am aware that the club actually needs to progress back, up and in.

[Suchmo]

Hi again. I'm really struggling to change how that backswing looks. I just can't seem to get to A3 with anything more than ~50° of shoulder turn. Perhaps it doesn't help that I have certain muscle deformities in my back which give me very rounded shoulders and pectus excavatum, which means my chest is basically concave. 

 

Any advice on 'feels' that I might try in order to turn more and earlier in the backswing? (It seems like the sort of thing you should just 'do' but I can't seem to achieve it at all.)

Edited May 1, 2016 by Suchmo
Typo

[iacas]

6 hours ago, Suchmo said:

Hi again. I'm really struggling to change how that backswing looks. I just can't seem to get to A3 with anything more than ~50° of shoulder turn. Perhaps it doesn't help that I have certain muscle deformities in my back which give me very rounded shoulders and pectus excavatum, which means my chest is basically concave. 

Can we see a video of you with a shaft across your shoulders and just turning?

Because while I appreciate that you may have some limitations, I don't know that this is one of them. You turn 90°+… you just do it in a weird sequence that leads to your right elbow getting behind you and some other things.

[Suchmo]

7 hours ago, iacas said:

Can we see a video of you with a shaft across your shoulders and just turning?

Because while I appreciate that you may have some limitations, I don't know that this is one of them. You turn 90°+… you just do it in a weird sequence that leads to your right elbow getting behind you and some other things.

If there's no obvious limitation, any 'feels' that might help me turn earlier (if there are any) would be hugely appreciated. Thanks again.

 

[iacas]

 I don't know that you'll get a feel that works for you. This is one of those kinds of things where you just do it and see what it feels like to you.

 It may feel like you are turning and not using your arms or bending your arms at all. Try that. 

[Suchmo]

On 04/05/2016 at 2:59 PM, iacas said:

 I don't know that you'll get a feel that works for you. This is one of those kinds of things where you just do it and see what it feels like to you.

 It may feel like you are turning and not using your arms or bending your arms at all. Try that. 

I have been trying a 'less arms' feel back swing in practice. The swing feels wider, shorter and less constricted. I recently took this feel to my local course (standard scratch score 71) and shot 80, beating my best score by 5 strokes. Once I think this is embedded, I'll post another video. Massive thanks, Erik.

[iacas]

23 minutes ago, Suchmo said:

I have been trying a 'less arms' feel back swing in practice. The swing feels wider, shorter and less constricted. I recently took this feel to my local course (standard scratch score 71) and shot 80, beating my best score by 5 strokes. Once I think this is embedded, I'll post another video. Massive thanks, Erik.

Glad to hear it! Nice work.

[Suchmo]

I know that the above has been shot portrait and that there's no ball, but if someone with better trained eyes than I could check whether I am doingmore of what Erik is kindly advising (earlier turn in backswing, less armsy), I'd really appreciate it.

[iacas]

Can you show me a video if you just turning to the top and stopping?

[Suchmo]

 

 

Thanks Erik. Any further information appreciated.

[iacas]

That's better, yes. 

Your right leg doesn't have to go THAT extremely straight or locked out. But yes, that's better. More turn.

P.S. It's going to be tough, blending the right amount of turn with the right amount of arm action, but I'd caution against trying not to bend the right arm until really late, because then it's going to tend to over-bend. So bend the right elbow early, but then mostly turn to complete the backswing.