My Swing (Jack Watson)

[Jack Watson]

 

I've been Playing Golf for: 30 years
My current handicap index or average score is: 5-7
My typical ball flight is: straight or leaking right
The shot I hate or the "miss" I'm trying to reduce/eliminate is: worst miss is push fade but that's rare I rarely if ever go left

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Videos: 

 

IMO it's weak for people to post without showing themselves.  This is an older swing I no longer video myself hitting balls.  This one here is absolute max.  I don't swing this big anymore.  

Ugly but somewhat effective.

[Lihu]

Nice swing!

[iacas]

16 minutes ago, Jack Watson said:

IMO it's weak for people to post without showing themselves. This is an older swing I no longer video myself hitting balls.

If it's "weak" to post without showing yourself, why post an "older" swing that no longer applies?

Cuz…

I expect you'll respond to this post by saying something like "Yeah, but that was older, I am better at that now" or something. You cross the line at the top so to give yourself time and to help you swing out, you early extend and goat hump a little.

 

 

[Jack Watson]

This applies believe me.

TBH I won't post my practice swings in the backyard without a ball and that's all I record anymore.  The swing posted is probably about as well as I can do at max power to a real target.  I tend to doubt much has truly changed since this video since I really have not tried to change it.  That's why I put it up.   It's real.   My practice swings are shorter going back with more release going through but it's not a representation of reality IMO unless it's truly hitting to a target.

I don't video anymore on range or course because focusing on the look is bad for my game.  I enjoy the game most by swinging the clubhead and on good days I manage to impersonate a real golfer very well.  

It would be rare for me to swing this aggressively on course.  Most swings would be slower.  I would never try to bash an old blade six 175 carry on course.  At the range you can test your limits.

 

 

 

 

[iacas]

4 minutes ago, Jack Watson said:

I don't video anymore on range or course because focusing on the look is bad for my game.  I enjoy the game most by swinging the clubhead and on good days I manage to impersonate a real golfer very well.  

The "look" is a representation of what you're actually doing.

I teach with video. I'm not concerned about the "look" of the swing - I'm concerned with how it functions, and video lets me see where, how, when, etc. it is functioning the way it is.

[Lihu]

2 hours ago, Jack Watson said:

It would be rare for me to swing this aggressively on course.  Most swings would be slower.  I would never try to bash an old blade six 175 carry on course.  At the range you can test your limits.

I often wondered what other golfers think they do on the course versus the range. First of all, on the range you are totally warmed up, while on the course you come in cold for every shot. Second, the range has near perfect lies with tons of bounce from the mats.

It seems like most of my playing partners I go the range with are way less aggressive on the course as well. However, I tend to hit with roughly the same effort on the range and on the course. I don't hit that far, so I'm out of "contention" for the "who hits longest on the range" contests, but sometimes want to really push things just to get a workout. Someone told me you should use no more than 80 percent of your maximum effort for drives, 60 percent on all approaches and about 5 to 10 percent effort on all chips. Not sure what that translates to in reality, but that's the rough "feel".

Video is always good, especially on the course because that's what your real swing looks like and not some warmed up and practiced cherry picked swing. I'm guessing that I most likely look terrible too because I'm results oriented as well. Not releasing videos these days because I just can't get past the extra weight I've put on recently. . .but I still use video whenever possible because it's important to be able to track/correct swing flaws.

[Hatchman]

2 hours ago, Jack Watson said:

 My practice swings are shorter going back with more release going through but it's not a representation of reality IMO unless it's truly hitting to a target.

I like that concept.  And swing doctoring perhaps with guidance.  Keep up the good work.

[Jack Watson]

@Lihu on the course really for full shots I focus on club selection and alignment.  I've had the same PSR for a couple seasons which really helps.  On club selection I club for a comfortable swing.  I know my distances and also I almost always choke up too.  I never want to go into a shot thinking of maxing out.  For any given shot I want to leave some carry in the bag definitely and that absolutely includes driver. This keeps me nice and relaxed at address because I know I just have to meet the ball not crush it.  It's just the way I play on course (conservative) that makes golf the most fun for me.  I try for boring golf.

The range is bad for me for many reasons-causes me to overswing-I get lazy with alignment on the range-the lie never changes-anymore I just get bored there-my tempo will get faster the more balls I hit-it's just negative for me.  I might go to the range if I have not played in a long time just to check ballflight out.  I will go from little pitches out to a full hybrid and after that I usually give the remaining balls away.  I never hit driver there that will really screw me up.   My practice is just making a couple swings in the backyard with no ball to keep the feeling of the swing.  I have to monitor with video to keep myself from getting underplane that's about it.

Absolutely there was a time when I was hell bent on improvement and mechanical stuff but that time is over for me.  I look at things very differently than a lot of folks now.  I no longer think of the body I think of the clubhead.  For me as an overanalytical person it's been a game changer.

 

 

 

[Jack Watson]

If anyone wants to chime in on a mechanics discussion about this swing happy to do so.  First off I'd recommend not developing an across the line habit at a young age haha.

This is where I recover to mid ds for decent shots after the extracurricular stuff at the top...

when things go badly for me the club head will be more shallow here and maybe more visibly so a touch later in the ds.  It's the way the clubhead momentum is working coming from way across to more behind...not "on plane" really at all.  Anyhow when that happens it shoves the path through impact to much to the right.  I've never been a flipper so the bad result would be a push or push fade.  The ball would not start on my stance line.  

I rarely pull the ball and if I am not trying to it usually won't draw (golf gods leave me alone haha) so basically I build my strategy around my flawed swing and what I get from it.

If anyone is curious about things I have tried in the past or what not feel free.  I have tried many stupid things during my time in this game so happy to share if it could mean helping anybody.  

For me it's been a long tough road to get to even this level of crappiness and I am currently searching to see if I have any old footage as sort of a before.  If I find something older I'll probably share that too.  I just enjoy golf discussion in general so cheers.

 

[mvmac]

Any face-on swings?

[Jack Watson]

I'll see what I have.  

[Jack Watson]

I'm pretty sure this was seven iron.  I think I was working on a shorter quicker move to prevent the cross line.  I was into that for a while the quickness going back forced me to come forward quick.  It was not a true swing though.  This move was workable on the range but failed on the course.  I had to get this off an old camera.  Unfortunately for the purposes of the thread I deleted all old videos off my older computer except a couple a couple years back.  I am glad I did except for the purposes of this thread.

 

I found this one.  This is my long drive swing.  I can't even come close to this anymore but I am more consistent.  Longest I will ever hit it here.

 

These videos are a great reminder why I need to go on a diet!

[boogielicious]

9 hours ago, Jack Watson said:

I'm pretty sure this was seven iron.  I think I was working on a shorter quicker move to prevent the cross line.  I was into that for a while the quickness going back forced me to come forward quick.  It was not a true swing though.  This move was workable on the range but failed on the course.  I had to get this off an old camera.  Unfortunately for the purposes of the thread I deleted all old videos off my older computer except a couple a couple years back.  I am glad I did except for the purposes of this thread.

 

I found this one.  This is my long drive swing.  I can't even come close to this anymore but I am more consistent.  Longest I will ever hit it here.

 

These videos are a great reminder why I need to go on a diet!

For the down-the-line videos, have it align with your toe line. It makes it easier to see your positions on the back and down swing.

[Jack Watson]

I said I wouldn't but here's today's first backyard practice swing.   First one for two days.  I am happy with it.  I'm not working on changes or anything and no real swing thoughts except swing through and kiss the turf.

 

[Jack Watson]

So,  life's been a bit crazy the last few weeks so I have not played a round.  Today I had some time as my daughter had lunch with her bf.  I went to the range and had a nice maintenance session.

Hit very solid.  Dispersion was tight.  I am really building confidence.  No golf for a long time and get back and results are good on the full swing.

Did some short game and that was not as nice.  I find I lose my ability to land the ball where I want without practice.  I like to hit some delicate short sided simulation shots and flubbed a couple totally looking like a fool.

I am not sharp with getting chips and pitches close right now.

I didn't have time to move on to putting.

One nugget that is absolutely huge for my long game which has been good without much time invested over a year now is focusing solely on the shots that get intended results and simply ignoring bad ones if they happen.  Bobby Lopez mentioned it in a recent video I will find it again and link it.

Im not looking for mechanics help but I still enjoy seeing where people are coming from on mechanics and I think Bobby uses common sense.

 

[Jack Watson]

I decided against linking the video.  Specific parts I really liked but the whole I had some problems with.

The other problem was it's on bbg channel on you tube and I think very little of that channel so I won't put it up.

Lopez is good.  He's right hitting golf balls is not as difficult as it seems at first if you can get the right action going.

[Denny Bang Bang]

On 4/15/2017 at 5:07 PM, Jack Watson said:

I said I wouldn't but here's today's first backyard practice swing.   First one for two days.  I am happy with it.  I'm not working on changes or anything and no real swing thoughts except swing through and kiss the turf.

 

Did your lawn mower retire?

[SunkTheBirdie]

18 hours ago, Denny Bang Bang said:

Did your lawn mower retire?

Sometimes the dedication it takes to get good at golf ..... your lawn has to suffer !!