My Swing (roamin)

[roamin]

I've been Playing Golf for: Off and on since I was a kid. Seriously for the past 10 years or so, but took a few years off and started back late last year.
My current handicap index or average score is: 17.9 trending upwards
My typical ball flight is: Straight to a slight pull-fade or straight-fade, with a strong tendency push it way right at just the wrong time
The shot I hate or the "miss" I'm trying to reduce/eliminate is: Push right and occasional slices and pull-hooks

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(Extended) Intro: Now a former Stack and Tilt-er. Somewhat lost and don't know where to start. Started using SnT in 2007, learning it from the original Golf Digest articles and loved it because it was the first time I was ever sure (from the sound and the divot) that I was striking the ball properly. SnT got me out of triple-digits and into the 90's.

Took a few years off for who knows why. Late last year, I dusted off my old GD articles and began practicing. Played my first round after a few weeks of practice and shot a 104, then shot a 96 and a 98 the next two weeks. After a few months of playing and practicing, I settled into a nice rhythm of mid-90's scores and was feeling good about my return to golf.

I found some new (well, new to me) SnT videos online and started practicing a few I found interesting. Noticed an improvement here or there, but it wasn't consistent. Over time, however, it seemed like I started to lose the feeling of my swing. As much as I was practicing, nothing felt right at all. Then one day I shot my absolute worst round ever. Who the hell knows what I scored or how many times my wife wished she hadn't come. I was hitting at least 1-2 inches behind the ball on some shots and couldn't figure out why. Spent the rest of the day wondering why I played golf. Then, because it's golf, I went out the next day and broke 90 for the first time with an 87. Then an 86 the next week, and then two more sub-90 rounds. But the streak ended and I started struggling to stay in the 90's more often than not.

Fast-forward and some internet searching later and I've found this wonderful oasis of knowledge that destroyed, what faith, I had left in SnT, but, at the same time, reassured me that I could fix it all, and everything was okay. So here I am. 

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Videos: 

These are from a few weeks ago, after a week or so of Key #1 practice. I wasn't sure where to start and after recording my swing I noticed that my head was moving forward a lot during the backswing (as mentioned in the faith-destroying links above), and it's Key #1, so I started there. (Had also added a touch of Key #2 by the end of the week, as once my head was still, I then noticed my hips sliding back. )

Ball-striking has already improved dramatically. My scores still suck, but the sound and feel is noticeably different.

Note: All shots with plastic golf balls, they're all I have room for (and please excuse my Jon boat ).

 

Edited June 29, 2016 by roamin

[iacas]

So, I'm going to follow this thread, but right now you're going to want to work on a few things. The first thing is likely to clean up the pivot just a little.

A little of this would do you well:

You will have a decent lower body action (a little sway), but this will clean that up AND help you clean up the upper body stuff, too.

[mtclinton21]

I think swing looks good..I must ask are you hitting your balls at a neighbors house you don't like..just kidding keep up the good work 

[roamin]

Thank you, @iacas. I saw that post a while back before I started recording my swing and glanced it over thinking, "I think I do that okay," but I didn't realize how closely I matched the before photo. Will begin working on this and post some more video in a few days.

 

On 6/29/2016 at 11:55 PM, mtclinton21 said:

I think swing looks good..I must ask are you hitting your balls at a neighbors house you don't like..just kidding keep up the good work 

lol, no, I have good neighbors. Just plastic balls. I normally stay under a PW to keep the balls out of their yard unless I have a little headwind (or feel like setting up the PVC-frame screen you see laying down in the background).

[roamin]

I'm doing the July practice challenge and this has been my focus since Sunday. Main thought has been getting right hip (around and) away from starting point, and trying to remember to check secondary axis tilt when I get to the top.

Finally got some video this evening. I started with recording and reviewing slow motion backswings with an alignment stick to check my hip position. Noticed right off the bat that my hip movement was delayed quite a bit, you can easily see the point that my brain realizes it and remembers I'm trying to move my hip away from the stick. Did this a few times then hit a few shots before being interrupted by the dinner bell.

Shots were okay, nothing great to speak of. Mostly tiny pushes with a draw or two, and a couple horrible shots.

Big Push-Slice:

And finally, a shank. Rushed this one bad. I had just been reminded it was dinner time and we needed to feed the cat.  Was just happy I finally caught one on video.

As your post said, proof is in the pudding. I think my right hip looks much better. The rest, not sure, maybe a little. It feels good though.

The funny part is, I spent about an hour practicing after dinner and after I got warmed up I hit ~20 shots at 50-75% power and was making great contact and hitting lots of baby straight-draws and straight shots, with an occasional push or slice, but didn't have the camera out. Practiced my pitching for a while then hit 5 more full swing shots and the fifth was a walk-off homer. Absolutely perfect. Was just practice in the yard, but it was fun. 

[roamin]

Got some time at the range yesterday but didn't have the camera. Was nice to hit real golf balls for a change.

I started with my 58W and worked up, 8, 6, 4, 4H, and back down. Starting off each new club with slow backswings and downswings to get a feel for the club before taking a shot. Each club started with a small push. Took a minute to think about it, work through a slow backswing, and then tried again. Was hitting each club fairly straight within 3 or 4 shots. Contact was very nice for the most part. Only hit about 5 shots with each, except for the 6 iron. Felt like they were launching much better than normal and I was having fun so I hit a few extra with that one.

No draws like I get at home with the plastic balls, except for my 4H, it was drawing or pulling a little instead of pushing like my irons, but that's pretty normal for me and this club, probably why I like it so much. 

At one point, the feeling of turning around away from the target was quite big, not sure whether that's good or bad. On a few swings it almost felt like I had turned my butt/back to the target completely and sat down on a bar-stool for a second. It was a weird feeling but it felt like I could just rip through the ball from there.

Will work on getting video with my longer clubs soon.

[roamin]

Played a round by myself today. Shot a 91 on my new home course (par 73). First time breaking 100 in a month and first time ever on this course. Everything was just working (except my putting, for a little while). Drives were right up the middle all day, even though I haven't been practicing with the driver. Iron contact was exceptional, just about every time. Still pushing and fading a bit here and there, but manageable misses, for the most part. (I must admit, I got a few "member bounces," helping to keep some of the bad shots in check.)

A few thin iron shots, and one bad, ground first, 3W, but in each case I had a pretty big side-hill lie with the ball below or above my feet. Managed to recover okay, and even pared the hole I chunked my 3W on.

My most frustrating problem during a typical round of golf is that I can't ever seem to string together good shots (or decisions) long enough to score. Today was definitely different. My best three holes all happened in succession...

Smashed a drive up the middle on the par 5 9th, then hit a perfectly straight 3W to about 60 yards, followed by a pitch to 6 inches with my lob wedge for a tap-in birdie. Then, a copy-cat drive on the par 5 10th, a chunked 3W that managed to go a decent distance, then a decent 6 iron with a little push to the right side of the green (away from the sand traps), followed by a lip-out and tap-in par. Finally, another perfect drive just clearing the turn on the dogleg on the par 4 11th, with a crisp 6 iron to the green, and a 2 putt for par from about 20 feet. Great day. 

It was just one round, who knows what'll happen Sunday when I'm with my buddies, and I know I still have a long way to go (I mean, it was only a 91 ), but either way, @iacas...

A BIG THANK YOU! 

Practice had been going very well, but I was still worried about what would happen on the course. This is the most encouraged I've felt about my golf game in a while. Can't wait to practice tomorrow!

Edited July 9, 2016 by roamin

[iacas]

6 hours ago, roamin said:

Played a round by myself today. Shot a 91 on my new home course (par 73). First time breaking 100 in a month and first time ever on this course. Everything was just working (except my putting, for a little while). Drives were right up the middle all day, even though I haven't been practicing with the driver. Iron contact was exceptional, just about every time. Still pushing and fading a bit here and there, but manageable misses, for the most part. (I must admit, I got a few "member bounces," helping to keep some of the bad shots in check.

Awesome to hear! Good stuff.

[roamin]

EDIT: Realized this post isn't really about my swing, but hopefully, it'll help me remember to not lose focus on the big picture. 

Well, I played today and it went pretty bad at first (and for a while). Had plenty of excuses which helped it not get to me like it normally does... Barely any sleep and got there 10 minutes before tee time, so no time to warm-up or putt, plus I was at the beach with the family yesterday so I was sore from swimming/fighting with the waves all day, and so on and so on.

With my last round going so well, I figured it was just a matter of time before I "got back into the swing of things," so to speak. Also, I just read the recent Breaking 100 droplet last night and it too, seemed to really help with my attitude.

I was all of the "opposite reasons" plus some. Flubbing a few shots early, drives were anything but straight, yet I was still playing a little more aggressively than I maybe should have been, expecting the good shots to come eventually. Once, when I did lay-up, I bladed the pitch shot into the sand trap and then bladed the sand shot across the green into the other sand trap, then hit the lip with my next shot and it rolled back down to my feet. I just picked it up, smiled a bit and thought, yep, that's "some pretty bad golf." 

My takeaways from the Breaking 100 post really helped me to not worry about my final score at first because I knew it could still be salvaged, and then when it couldn't, I knew that didn't matter -- I had a crappy day and was going to have a crappy score to show for it -- but I could still focus on getting back to playing good golf, even if it was for the last few holes. Ended up finishing the round with a nice little string of 4 bogeys and a par. Then ate a quick lunch at the clubhouse, started another round, and had 3 easy bogeys on the first 3 holes before a thunderstorm rolled in and they stopped play.

Taking my son tomorrow. He's eleven and likes to smack it, but hasn't really played much golf yet. I'm going to play from the fronts with him. I've got the whole week off, so, for better or worse...lots of golf in the near future!

[iacas]

Good to hear.

I had hoped my "Breaking 100 droplet" would be taken the right way, and it seems to have been done so.

Keep doing things "the right way."

[roamin]

To follow-up on my post above...

I've played three rounds from the front tees in the last three days, and I think I love golf a thousand times more now than I did just this past Sunday. 

Played Monday with my 11 y/o son, Tuesday with my wife, and alone today. I used my 5 iron for tee shots, except for a couple driver shots on Monday w/ my son just to get a "whoooaaa!" out of him (even if they did head towards the trees ), a couple were good but I sliced a couple and decided to put the driver back in the bag. Shot 94, 96, and 85, respectively.

Tee shots w/ my 5 iron were perfect, or as close as I can get, except for maybe ~5 shots over 3 rounds, and those were small misses, mostly to the right and normally just off the fairway in the first cut. My second shot distances were pretty close to what I'd normally get off my regular tees with a driver, just in the fairway every time. Iron play was absolutely wonderful all three days and consistent, but especially Tuesday and today.

The consistency in my irons over the past week has been very encouraging and made golf much more fun. My only real issue with them has been on severe side-hill lies. I've had three approach shots within ~1-2 feet in the last week. A 70 yard pitch with my lob wedge to 6 inches, a 7 iron from 135yds to 1 foot, and finally, here's a pic of the result of my "Shot of the day" from today, a 6 iron from 155yds with the wind...

I've really been trying to follow the "don't aim at the flag" rule and aiming for safety outside of ~80 yards or so, but this hole happened to be in the safe area (nice groundskeepers), so I went for it. 

Eliminating bad tee shots completely and hitting my irons well has really demonstrated how much I need to work on my short game (mainly my short pitching/chipping from 5-20yds or so), as it was the main thing stopping me from getting closer to par golf. Too many chip and two putt holes. Putting distances were great today, though. Most of my bogey putts were tap-ins. It's funny though, before these 3 rounds, I would've said my short game was one of the stronger areas of my game...didn't realize how much it was actually affecting my score.

Anyway, just wanted to post an update. Tomorrow is the last day of golf week for me. Will hopefully get a couple rounds with my buddy in. Can't decide what to do about the tee situation though...I'm really enjoying playing from the fronts. 

Edited July 14, 2016 by roamin

[roamin]

Wow. Six months since my last post. I know I *think* about recording my swing at least once a week, but I guess I don't get around to it much.

Since it's been so long, I realized I got a little long-winded with the next bits, so I'll use spoilers...

Practice:

Spoiler

I've been practicing religiously, and doing my best to do it properly. Still focusing primarily on the hip turn and eliminating sway like @iacas pointed out. Got on a scoring streak and broke into the mid to high 80's for 7 or 8 weeks straight a while back. Consistency has waned lately, but I feel like I'm consistently getting better, if that makes any sense. 

Lots of slow-motion practice, which sometimes feels like a curse. After 10 or 20 reps, I'll notice something about my swing and don't necessarily start to tinker, but it's like now that I've "noticed" it, I don't know how I'm supposed to do it. Some examples would be swing plane and where mine should be, how high my arms should be at A4, or what to do with my shoulders and right arm/elbow from A4 to A7. I try not to get off track, but it's hard. 

I can DRAW the ball?! 

Spoiler

About two months ago (around that), I started drawing the ball.  

Just out of nowhere. The only thing I can attribute it to (besides my stellar practice routine) is one of my dad's "tips" (i.e. one-liners of golf wisdom that he's been throwing out since I was a kid. They normally don't make any sense to me. He's a great golfer. On a different level than me completely. But he's never really been able to explain it to me. We just don't speak the same language there...

Anyway, one day when I was fading my irons more than usual, he kept saying "you play golf from the side". No help at all, but I just smiled and said, "okay". A couple weeks later, while practicing in the yard, I was picking different spots on the ball (or ground) to look at while I swung. Trying to determine what works best (also playing around a bit, as I think I tried a few with my eyes closed, ala-Jordan).

I thought of his saying and it clicked...I picked a divot just inside the back of the ball, took a swing and hit a perfectly crisp, high, straight-draw. Then another, and another...at least 6 or 7 in a row. It comes and goes now, and I can definitely still slice the ball. But, after a good warm-up and really thinking about a proper swing, I can usually hit one with a very slight draw to it. (I don't really think it's just because of where I look at the ball. I've hit them since without doing that, but that is where I generally choose to look now.)

Either way, ball-striking consistency is what has really improved the most since that day. No matter which way the ball goes, fat shots have pretty much disappeared. It's been a nice change. Challenging, since the draw pops in and out, but nice.

Sorry, I'm just excited about my progress and had to get it all off my chest. I'm grateful for all of the help and encouragement I've found here. 

And now, our feature presentation...  

Videos:

Spoiler

These videos are from a few weeks back. I was hitting the ball well that day.

FO - 56^o Wedge - Small Straight Draw (01/04/2017)

DTL - 56^o Wedge - Small Straight Draw

 

Phew. 

Edited January 27, 2017 by roamin

[iacas]

13 hours ago, roamin said:

I'm grateful for all of the help and encouragement I've found here. 

You know… https://thesandtrap.com/store/category/1-tst-supporter-options/ or https://thesandtrap.com/store/product/1-one-year-supporter-membership/ specifically…

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These (I wanted the one Woods video, but thought the other showed it well enough too) pictures show you what I'd look at next as you continue to work on your swing.

Less "around" and more "up."

(I'm talking about your arms, not the shaft.)

[roamin]

2 hours ago, iacas said:

Less "around" and more "up."

TY. 

2 hours ago, iacas said:

You know… https://thesandtrap.com/store/category/1-tst-supporter-options/ or https://thesandtrap.com/store/product/1-one-year-supporter-membership/ specifically…

More than worth it. Thanks again! 

[iacas]

8 minutes ago, roamin said:

TY. I've wondered about that. 

More than worth it. Thanks again! 

Thank you!

And… only move on to that "up" bit (two ways: left arm depth, where the right elbow points) if you're not really working too much on anything else. RESIST trying to work on two or three things at once.

[roamin]

1 hour ago, iacas said:

only move on to that "up" bit, if... ...RESIST trying to work on two or three things at once.

You caught me. I had already been out in the front yard checking the feel of it.  I will fight the good fight! 

[roamin]

A bit of a cross-post from the 5 Minutes practice thread, but I wanted to document my progress here...

Quick catch-up:
Practice has been steady, full swing focus has mostly been on balance, hip sway, or arm position (just a little of that); lots of pitching practice too because it's fun. I also received LSW about a week ago and read through sections 1 and 3 the first night, before a round the next day. Even with only 20-30 minutes feeling out "shot zones" on the range before the round, it's a game-changer.

Brief thought on shot zones...  

Spoiler

Just the idea of thinking thinking of my shot's landing "spot" as a tilted oval is huge. An immediate positive affect on strategy, club selection, and confidence level. Rather than aiming at a point and seeing a thin horizontal landing area (I've always aimed a little left to account for my miss right but not too far in case I pull it, but that's about it) -- I can pick out my target, setup and aim properly as usual, think about a good swing and the shot that I want, make the best swing that I can... and then pretty much not worry about what happens next. Very eager to begin work on this! 

 

Making noticeable progress:
I played 18 on Saturday and shot an 11 over, 84! 

 A full 9 strokes better than my scoring average over the last 8 rounds, and 3 strokes better than my record on this course. 1 birdie, 8 pars, 6 bogeys, 3 doubles.

I had 17 (n)GIRs! (Well, 4 were greenside bunkers but I managed to get out and reasonably close every time.) The only approach that wasn't in regulation was after I sliced a drive into a pond. The pond takes up a 1/4 to a 1/2 of my shot zone with the driver, no matter where I aim it. However, I had been hitting them straight all day, so I went for it. I recovered with a 160 yard 5 iron to 15 feet. Phew. I then proceeded to 3-putt for a double. Doh! Head-smack! I'll be hitting a 3-iron off that tee from now on.

Like anyone, I could go on and on about my best round ever. Truly nice feeling to have everything -- drives, irons, pitching, putting (somewhat), and strategy (thank you, LSW) -- come together on the same day.

 

[roamin]

Lots happening and I need to do a better job of logging it here. Here goes the catch-up post...

Reverting to bad habits...

Spoiler

Turns out it's extremely easy to revert back to old habits when you switch priority pieces, or even start thinking about a new one. Started to experiment with the arm pieces a little for about a week or so, shot my best round ever, and a few days later things were off.

Still making good contact, but even in slow-motion I couldn't get the club, my arms, or my body/weight into positions that felt right. The second day of super-slow-mo swings I realized I was coming down weird and had no choice but to swipe across the ball with my arms. Grabbed the camera and saw a major problem right away (better arms, though, I think)...

Went back to the wall drill and focusing on hip turn and all was well again (another huge reason why I need to do a better job documenting progress in this thread!).

The draw gets easier...but is it the right choice?

Spoiler

With the new awareness of my arm positions (awareness, not focus) and a renewed focus on my hip turn, draws seemed to get much easier but it usually took a few swings to "get into the groove" which means they're great on the range, but hit or miss on the course. I know one issue is deciding where to aim them since my miss is unpredictable. Bad misses on both sides of the shot zone.

There was one day last week where they were just automatic with the 9-iron through 7-iron while warming up for a round but it didn't last very long. On the course it turned into more of a fade-stopper with unpredictable misses. Some holes were spectacular, others where horrifyingly bad.

I was convinced by the first reading of LSW that I had to pick a standard curve for most of my shots. Although the draw is there...I understand it and can (eventually) start hitting them well...it will take a lot more work to make it automatic.

Contact is (still) good, let's relax and change things up a bit...

Spoiler

Getting burned out a bit in the search for perfect swing mechanics, I did a few clubface control and swing path drills and practiced hitting straight shots and different curves. The fade is just natural for me and is by far my most dependable shot shape for full shots. When I use my normal swing thoughts (hip turn, weight shift, etc), it still comes easy and is a even a bit more "tune-able".

I confess, I also watched a few videos online about right elbow position (couldn't help it, I was having soreness in my right elbow before @iacas gave me the tip and it went away after working on that change a bit). I had read LSW a second time by this point, and when I came across this Pete Cowen video, it was clear I didn't just need a curve, it had to be dependable to do its job (eliminate one side of the course).

Inspired by the Cowen video, I did a few drills in the front yard (plastic balls) just thinking about tempo and where the weight and face of the club were during the swing, and although I tried to ignore my ball flight, the consistency of the fade was too obvious. I went to the range the next day for an hour. Used the same drills trying both fades, draws, and straight shots with my 9, 7, 5, & 3-irons (checking hip and arm positions at various points to make sure I wasn't changing anything there).

It's a medium-small fade and is about 5-6 yards shorter than my straight shots and ~8 or so shorter than a draw, but shot zones are consistently much smaller with a predictable miss that's lower and curves further right.

Why fight the fade?

Spoiler

So I've decided to stick with the fade for a while and focus more on tempo and keys 4 & 5, with periodic steady head and hip turn drills (and video to make sure I don't go back to bad habits or pick up new ones). I walked a few holes earlier in the week and I think I like the change. I'm not busy worrying about the perfect swing on the course and am focusing more on tempo and course management. I hit a pair of 6-irons to about ~6 feet on back to back holes, what a great feeling. 

One small thing, still drawing my driver without really meaning to. Not really an issue, per se, but it's messing with my head a bit. 

So there you have it, my two-week transition to accepting that a fade is not bad. For those of you who read all of that... First off, I'm sorry (), I really just wanted to record everything because I've seen the value in having things documented here. Secondly, please tell me I'm not (too) crazy.   

P.S. Golf may be hard, but I'm loving it!