Repeatable Swing - What it Means to You

[Gunther]

I played with a younger pro yesterday who I know but had never played with.  He's struggling on the mini-tours but by my estimation, just an amazing player.

So I had a decent scoring round (81 on a 72.7/129) but my ball-striking was really bad.  Only 5 GIRs, lots of fat shots, weak push fade drives, etc. 

Late in the round I lamented yet another missed drive and the guy said (unsolicited), you have a very "repeatable" swing, you just get quick at times which throws off your tempo.

I thanked him but got to thinking about it and have continued to think about til now.  I'm not sure I really know what repeatable means in this context.  I know my swing is ugly but I used to be a pretty good player so I guess it means that my club face is square at impact most of time, hence, "repeatable".

Anyway, thought I'd open a thread on it and see what kind of feedback might be out there on the term repeatable swing.

 

[DaveP043]

I know you've been around for a good long while, have you read this post?

Apparently we all have swings that appear to be repeatable.  I think what most of us struggle with is consistent repeatable contact.  Little things, like small changes in tempo or alignment or sequence or head movement or any of a million other damn things, can lead to large variations in results.  Golf is hard!!

[Rainmaker]

Interesting - I never really  thought about it.  When I say I want consistency . .I mean consistent ball-striking.  My swing is already repeatable - and that's the problem.  I have a repeatable swing that produces somewhat unpredictable results. 

[70sSanO]

i would think that the swing is the exactly same whether it is a 5i or a 7i... or on the first tee or the 18th.

As I have grown older I find myself trying to use the same swing for every club, with a very slight variation with the driver and fairways.  I have found that as the round wears on and I tire, my swing will start to suffer, there is merit on a single swing approach.

John

[Abu3baid]

Ahh yes, my repeatable bad swing.  The good news is that I have something to look forward to if I change the picture, a good relatable swing that is.  :)

[Gunther]

Good responses.  I guess what confused me is that I obviously was not consistently square at impact yesterday but I know the pro was complimenting me.

I'm still struggling to determine exactly what he meant.  A simple swing with few moving parts?  A consistent take-away?  Same length back-swing?  I didn't ask him to go into detail cuz I don't like doing that with pros I play with but it definitely has me thinking.

[Mop Bucket]

He's was probably saying that you have a very consistent swing. It would be tough to tell without playing a full round with you but I would assume that your good shots and bad shots start similarly but difference themselves in timing or tempo.

I was told a while ago that the most important thing is not a perfect swing if you want to be a good golfer, rather to have a swing that you know the outcome of and that you can repeat.

[Dave2512]

I know from working with my previous instructor my swing looks the same whether I hit it good or bad. After a lesson one of the follow up videos he sent me was actually a crap shot but it demonstrated a bunch of stuff I did right relative to what we were working on. Also know from how I play swing to swing everything looks the same and my score can vary as much as 12 strokes or so. If I do something wrong it's not catastrophically bad it's centimeters/degrees bad.

[Gunther]

20 minutes ago, Dave2512 said:

I know from working with my previous instructor my swing looks the same whether I hit it good or bad. After a lesson one of the follow up videos he sent me was actually a crap shot but it demonstrated a bunch of stuff I did right relative to what we were working on. Also know from how I play swing to swing everything looks the same and my score can vary as much as 12 strokes or so. If I do something wrong it's not catastrophically bad it's centimeters/degrees bad.

You know, that's a good point and might be what he was driving at.  I don't often hit it off the planet.  My misses yesterday were horrendous to me but I never took a penalty and I managed only one double.  So, perhaps he noticed that and because I was missing relatively small, he referred to it as "repeatable".  Very astute, thanks!

[Jim Bloodworth]

A repeatable swing is a swing that we can replicate every time without having to think about it. As amateurs that is difficult for us to do.