My Swing (lastings)

[lastings]

 

I've been Playing Golf for: casually?   Many years.  Seriously, this is my first.  
My current handicap index or average score is: 12.5
My typical ball flight is: Woods - Straight or slight fade.   Irons - High Draw
The shot I hate or the "miss" I'm trying to reduce/eliminate is: weak fade or pull hook.  both resulting from coming too far over the top. 

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Unfortunately, I don't have a swing video as of yet.   I blame this on my wife, as she refuses to tag along with me to the range and sit around video taping me while I hit balls.  

I do, however, have one of those zepp sensors which reads your swing and gives you a visual representation of your swing.   

I don't want to hash out everything describing the zepp sensor here, because then it might turn into a discussion about the sensor and not about my swing.  Maybe it would be a good idea for me to make a tread about the sensor elsewhere on the site.   But, for now, if you are curious, you can check out what I wrote about it here. 

Zepp Sensor

 

Anyways, I'll post a couple of swings.  for now there is one thing I am working to correct, and, even knowing it's an issue, cannot find a way to resolve it.   looking for any pointers you might have.  

My issue is that, like a billion other amateurs out there, I have a natural movement over the top on my downswing.  see below for a couple swings from today's trip to the range.  

short story on Zepp sensor - dark blue = back swing ; light blue = downswing

My first few swings of the day are always quite bad.  

 

with just a few practice swings when I pay attention, it gets markedly better. My biggest thought here is setting up properly (bend at the belt buckle), and making a good full shoulder turn going back.  turn with the chest, not with the arms. 

and finally, I have a couple of quick drills that I do.  once those are complete, my swing is in much better shape.  

The drills that i do, (usually one or the other, not both) are: 

setting up with my right foot offset about a foot behind my front foot - This opens up a great deal of room for my hands to come through on a exaggeratedly inside-to-out swing path. 

setting up completely closed to the target and hitting balls that start way right and hook back at the target.   - This gives me the feeling of pushing the ball from inside to out and extending my arms down the target line through impact and follow through. 

 

As you can see; with a little conscious effort, I can really get my swing on track...   

my issue though is that even in the best of those swings, my first move is still over-the-top.   This natural over-the-top movement is the reason that my first swings of the day are so poor, because I have to focus on mitigating how bad the movement will be.   With thought and effort, I can control the problem and hit balls with a really nice ball flight.  but, as long as that over the top movement is there, a good swing will never come completely natural and that will always have to be my focus.    If I could just find a way to make my first move to the ball down and to the inside, then I could use so much more of my attention on other parts of the swing.  

 

your thoughts? 

 

Edited August 16, 2016 by lastings

[mchepp]

Your track shows something fairly well understood. A steeper backswing will promote a shallower downswing. In your improvement, the main thing that happens is that your dark blue line gets steeper and it shallows the light blue line. 

Thing is, your light blue line even in the good ones looks pretty steep. I would need to see a video to confirm but that would be my guess. The ideal swing is likely to have the dark blue outside the light blue. Think about how Jim Furyk's swing would look. That would be better in terms of thinking how to improve your downswing. 

Here is a great thread to join on shallowing the downswing by @RandallT. I recommend you read through it and then participate. 

 

[lastings]

14 hours ago, mchepp said:

Your track shows something fairly well understood. A steeper backswing will promote a shallower downswing. In your improvement, the main thing that happens is that your dark blue line gets steeper and it shallows the light blue line. 

Thing is, your light blue line even in the good ones looks pretty steep. I would need to see a video to confirm but that would be my guess. The ideal swing is likely to have the dark blue outside the light blue. Think about how Jim Furyk's swing would look. That would be better in terms of thinking how to improve your downswing. 

Here is a great thread to join on shallowing the downswing by @RandallT. I recommend you read through it and then participate. 

 

I am definitely in agreement with this assessment.  My goal for sometime has been to get that light blue line dawn to the left of the dark Blue line.  I just can't seem to do it.  even consciously thinking about trying to do it, and trying to do an exaggerated Furyk-type swing, I just can't make it happen.   Not repeatedly or consistantly anyways.  

I'll go through this "Stubborn Steepness" thread and see if I can pick up any pointers..  

 

[DaveP043]

3 minutes ago, lastings said:

I am definitely in agreement with this assessment.  My goal for sometime has been to get that light blue line dawn to the left of the dark Blue line.  I just can't seem to do it.  even consciously thinking about trying to do it, and trying to do an exaggerated Furyk-type swing, I just can't make it happen.   Not repeatedly or consistantly anyways.  

I'll go through this "Stubborn Steepness" thread and see if I can pick up any pointers..  

The problem is, at this stage you really don't know WHY you're consistently "over the top."  It could be an issue with weight shift, hip rotation, shoulder movement, head movement, I don't know what all could contribute.  This is where a good instructor can help to find the cause of the problem, instead of focusing on the symptom.

[lastings]

13 minutes ago, DaveP043 said:

The problem is, at this stage you really don't know WHY you're consistently "over the top."  It could be an issue with weight shift, hip rotation, shoulder movement, head movement, I don't know what all could contribute.  This is where a good instructor can help to find the cause of the problem, instead of focusing on the symptom.

fair point. 

[CarlSpackler]

Most instructors are not going to tear your swing apart so that you can no longer play. They are going to pick your biggest issue and give you drills to work on that. It may be your grip that needs work or something else. They realize that you need to maintain a functional swing. Many players play pretty decent with an over the top move. It may or may not be your biggest issue. I will add to the the people here who are encouraging you to get your swing evaluated by a pro, and/or do what you need to do to get a good recording (both face on and down the line) posted here. Perhaps you can offer your wife a bribe of a nice dinner or doing some extra chores around the house.

[lastings]

ok...   Well thanks to some help from the "Stubborn Steepness" thread up top, I have implemented the "hold the pizza" swing thought, and I think it has really helped to shallow up my down swing.   (unfortunately, also swallowed my back swing, but...   one step at a time).  

see below:  on the left, what the swing was looking like and on the right after the new swing thought..  

 

I wrote more extensively about this swing thought HERE, if you're interested.  

 

 

 

 

[DaveP043]

To my eye, that looks like a substantial improvement, but its still impossible for anyone here to understand what the rest of your body is doing through the swing.  I'd still recommend that you post actual video, the knowledgeable people here may be able to help you improve faster, or to make the proper changes.  The "hold the pizza" thought may simply be a bandaid, we just can't know.

On a separate point, I'm often amazed at the amount of good free swing instruction that flows through this site.  If you think that the instruction you get here is helping your swing, it wouldn't hurt to mention TST in your other blog.  

[lastings]

2 minutes ago, DaveP043 said:

 If you think that the instruction you get here is helping your swing, it wouldn't hurt to mention TST in your other blog.  

no doubt about it, and happy to do so.  the information just floating around this site is extremely abundant and useful!

[mchepp]

1 hour ago, lastings said:

ok...   Well thanks to some help from the "Stubborn Steepness" thread up top, I have implemented the "hold the pizza" swing thought, and I think it has really helped to shallow up my down swing.   (unfortunately, also swallowed my back swing, but...   one step at a time).  

see below:  on the left, what the swing was looking like and on the right after the new swing thought..  

 

I wrote more extensively about this swing thought HERE, if you're interested.  

 

 

 

 

I think it would help to see the hand path as well as the club path. Would give us more of the story.

[lastings]

16 minutes ago, mchepp said:

I think it would help to see the hand path as well as the club path. Would give us more of the story.

sure thing,..    see below

Edited August 25, 2016 by lastings
wrong image

[mvmac]

As @DaveP043 said, it would be helpful to see a video. The graphics you're posting aren't showing what's really going on, it's just showing the results.

[lastings]

alright, everyone..  finally got myself equipped for video.   

and then, a month later, finally got a sunny day at the range here in Minnesota.   

4 swings in the clip, the last one (and coincidentally the best of the bunch) in slo-mo.  

lay on me.  
 

 

face on view coming up shortly...    takes me forever to edit these things with the iphone.   

 

[TN94z]

It looks like the club head is really far inside the hands at A2. Maybe that's just me or the video angle.

Edited May 9, 2017 by TN94z

[lastings]

ok..   head on view.   

In the down the line view, it looked like I was spinning out a bit.  probably a bit nervous as it was my first time videotaping myself.   
These swings were a bit more stable.  

3 swings, last one in slo-mo.  

 

[lastings]

so...   after reviewing my videotaped swing and comparing with the swing positions thread...   

well..   I sure hope the Steve Stricker positions that are mentioned are not "bad" positions..   because...  

[SunkTheBirdie]

Stance looks wide. Feet not flared open at address.  Grip is super strong.  

[Jack Watson]

Looks pretty decent really.  Is it working?