The Myth of the Magical Swing Feel

[mvmac]

Instructor Eric Cogorno has been sharing some good stuff on social media lately and I came across this video on swing feels, check it out.

I agree with Eric, the swing thought that works for you right now isn't "it". The result of the "feel" can change over time. This is why it's important to film your swing, to see what's really going on. An easy example would be what I saw from a lot of S&T golfers who were doing the swing for a decent amount of time, working on a feel like weight forward on the backswing and eventually their heads started dipping down and towards the target on the backswing.

From my own experience, while I've had basically the same priority pieces for the past 3-4 years, my feels for improving those issues have evolved (below, just go through the last several pages). I think it's fine to experiment with different "feels" and run them by your instructor. Obviously I don't mean to experiment every practice session (or with what your priority piece is)   Instructors are there to identify a priority piece(s) and suggest thoughts/feels/drills, golfers have to take some responsibility on figuring out the feel that works best.

Let's say you slide your hips back on the backswing and you were suggested to do the wall drill. What should you feel when you're on the range practicing? I don't know, do the drill and see what you have to feel to do it properly. Some golfers might feel the left knee rotate more inward, some might feel the right hip turn back and around, some might feel it with how their left shoulder moves, some might feel something different. What's important is getting the feel to translate to the improved motion. Like I said, check in with your instructor, I send mine texts every so often with a quick video asking, "I'm feeling so-and-so, what do you think?".

 

[Lihu]

Thanks for sharing this Mike!

[nevets88]

Having an instructor that's comfortable with technology and responds to texted videos is huge if you ask me. Guessing not all instructors do this, but it really keeps you on track and you are fortunate if your instructor does. Video, as much as 2D will allow, and you're doing it at the correct angles, doesn't lie. Feel ain't real, but seeing is real, mostly.

[iacas]

Good enough I've moved this to the Swing Thoughts forum.

My own piece is also the same for the past 3-4 years, like @mvmac, and my feels are constantly evolving. Hell, sometimes a feeling doesn't even last a full session, or it changes as I speed things up, or whatever.

You have to constantly assess whether the feeling is truly changing the picture the right way.

[JonMA1]

I have learned over the last couple of years how true this is. Feels may start out helping, but they inevitably betray me.

Sometimes the benefits only last from one practice to the next, sometimes they'll last for half a season. But there are only couple that I count on from year to year - and it isn't like those fix everything.

On the other hand, I'd love to develop feels that might tell me why I'm having trouble making good contact, or experiencing a loss of distance for example. I might not recognize many of the subtle flaws I see on video, but I can sure see the major ones. If I can associate a feel for what I see, it might help. 

But yeah, one feel will never get me to "turn the corner".

[Howling Coyote]

About 2 1/2 years ago I did not like my golf swing.  Besides lacking distance, I was coming over the top, there were to many chunked shots, shanks, bad slices, and I could not hit a draw, or make the ball curve left.

I destroyed my old swing and created a new one.  But for a long time, during the transition I was a lousy hitter.  My swing was very uncomfortable.

Now I can actually draw the ball.  Ball flight actually seems to behave exactly as the professional describe.