My Swing (Jack Watson)

[Jack Watson]

So...I was taught to brace the right knee at address.  I always went with left foot flare at address per a book I read lol people won't have a hard time guessing which.

I always stood right foot perpendicular to my line of play...

Why?  I dunno.  Because of the site here I am going to play both feet flared at address for a while.  It feels good.

I prefer a somewhat narrow stance and this right foot position fits in nicely.

Ive noticed by comparison of swings when I turn the right foot to my standard position and brace the knee I get a bit too much slide towards the target coming down.  With both feet flared I seem to swing more centered.

I don't usually change things but I can't think of a reason not to flare both feet at address,  seems like it might reduce stress on the right knee and also maybe help with consistency for me by keeping centered.  

Edited June 1, 2017 by Jack Watson

[Jack Watson]

So,  I think I have developed a bit of a problem with my swing   over the last several months.  I have I think too much lateral slide with the head towards the target coming down.  

My hands at the top have gotten a bit lower and deeper from when I was doing better.  I am a bit too inconsistent right now with lowpoint on irons.

I will see about getting a video up.  My current diagnosis is that my right arm is a little trapped and lacks space at the top I seem to slide some to 'unstick' it but this causes the hands to be a bit behind also a bit of a cast coming down and I am having trouble getting the hands and club forward enough to get ball divot the right way.  It 'feels'  that I can't reach a good impact on irons without sliding forward.

Some practice with a more vertical move going back and a slightly higher less deep hand position at the top seems to give me a bit more space so I can get the hands forward coming down without cheating by sliding.

Need to get up a video.  

I could use some opinions before going down a rabbit hole.

Edited July 20, 2017 by Jack Watson

[mvmac]

4 hours ago, Jack Watson said:

I could use some opinions before going down a rabbit hole.

Better to see a video first.

[Jack Watson]

Ok,  so went and got a small bucket and filmed a couple.  Hard here with face on because this is the closest range to me and they have the dividers.  Like I titled it to me pretty ugly.  Shots weren't bad really.  I can't hide though might as well post it.  I was disgusted when I looked in the vehicle before getting home.  Just hit a few and gave the rest of the bucket away.  I decided to just hit my shot and not try to change anything.  To me I seem a little trapped on the right arm.

Ballflight was my typical.  Before uploading to the tube you could see all the way to apex on the dtl.  Basically pretty straight to apex maybe falling a touch right.  These are six irons which I was aiming at the 175 marker.  A comfortable swing for me won't carry that and these were say 165-170 carry.  Touch of hurt into me on the breeze. My dispersion is basically on a line on my stance and shotgunning rightward from that.  Not very good videos and I apologize but I gave away my nice video setup for the swing to a friend thinking I would never do it again.  

[iacas]

Well…

Your pivot is done with your left knee only, which limits your backswing length, which leads to you lifting the right arm so you can get the club "back far enough," but the elbow locations lead to the club going across the line.

So… you do what you can on the downswing to shallow it…

Which includes stalling the pivot, so you have to bend your arms on the follow-through:

You're closed at impact, and your head moving forward as much also forces you to bend the left arm or else you'd dig a divot to China.

What would I work on first?

Improve the pivot (extend the right knee) while feeling like the club is laid off as hell. Try to feel it by managing the right elbow.

[Jack Watson]

Thanks for your input,  @iacas.

Fwiw I was taught to maintain flex in the right knee so I will work on allowing some extension there first and see where it goes.

My right elbow management totally sucks and I just have a very hard time on that.  

ty. 

My swings a right hand throw and it's very obvious.

Edited July 21, 2017 by Jack Watson

[Jack Watson]

I have the slide forward I was talking about.  Any opinion on this position here?  Is it anything relevant?  I feel the slide cast move leads to this and I don't like it.  I feel the clubhead is too low here,  perhaps because of what @iacas mentioned.  My angles are leaking!

The other one I hate is here.  Maybe a touch before dtl view.

Sheesh I hate filming lol.

Edited July 21, 2017 by Jack Watson

[mvmac]

1 hour ago, iacas said:

What would I work on first?

Improve the pivot (extend the right knee) while feeling like the club is laid off as hell. Try to feel it by managing the right elbow.

Yep definitely agree with this.

@Jack Watson, allow there to be some "freedom" with your lower body. The better you can pivot the better your right arm will get. Let the right hip turn back fully (right leg will have to lose some flex to accommodate) and add a little width to the right arm (will help with the laid off feel). Also check out my swing thread, just posted a video that may help.

51 minutes ago, Jack Watson said:

I have the slide forward I was talking about.  Any opinion on this position here?  Is it anything relevant?  I feel the slide cast move leads to this and I don't like it.  I feel the clubhead is too low here,  perhaps because of what @iacas mentioned.  My angles are leaking!

Yes some slide forward is fine the problem is both your upper and lower body go forward. It's mostly a reaction to the pivot/arms lifting, it's your way of trying to move low point forward. 

Yes the club is low because you're casting, as @iacas said, it's a way to shallow out the strike otherwise you would hit well down and/or behind the ball.

 

[Jack Watson]

Thanks for looking!  Appreciate it.

[iacas]

7 hours ago, Jack Watson said:

I have the slide forward I was talking about.  Any opinion on this position here?  Is it anything relevant?  I feel the slide cast move leads to this and I don't like it.

Your problems begin much earlier than that. Your whole downswing is an attempt to hit the ball solidly, somewhat straight, and not dig a huge divot… with the A3-A4 positions you're in.

7 hours ago, Jack Watson said:

Sheesh I hate filming lol.

Seems like an odd thing for a "student of the swing" to say. Most "students" love to see how feels translate and how fixes cascade.

Knock knock. Who's there? Orange. Orange who? Orange you glad we didn't just tell you to swing the clubhead?

[Antneye]

1 hour ago, iacas said:

 

Knock knock. Who's there? Orange. Orange who? Orange you glad we didn't just tell you to swing the clubhead?

I have to admit to spitting a little coffee out of my mouth on this one. Well done :) 

Jack: I wouldn't dare try to add much, but I can say from the work I've been doing that allowing that right leg to straighten has really helped me a lot. You've got some great feedback above. Good luck! 

[Jack Watson]

2 hours ago, iacas said:

our whole downswing is an attempt to hit the ball solidly, somewhat straight, and not dig a huge divot… with the A3-A4 positions you're in.

Yep.  I don't take big divots right now.   I cast too much for that.

2 hours ago, iacas said:

Seems like an odd thing for a "student of the swing" to say. Most "students" love to see how feels translate and how fixes cascade.

Knock knock. Who's there? Orange. Orange who? Orange you glad we didn't just tell you to swing the clubhead?

  Good one!  

One thing I have not tried is extending the right leg to deepen the right hip.  In the past I have tried to work on right elbow management and getting the clubhead closer to a better position at the top.  I have had a tough time with that.  I will post another video of my first attempts to go right leg extension and laid off feeling.

Thanks @Antneye.

Edited July 21, 2017 by Jack Watson

[Jack Watson]

Today I snuck out for a couple shots on video.  This is what the feel looked like first time out.

Distance was the same.  Same club.

[iacas]

11 minutes ago, Jack Watson said:

Today I snuck out for a couple shots on video.  This is what the feel looked like first time out.

Distance was the same.  Same club.

Very little is different.

Also… use high-speed and get closer.

[Jack Watson]

On 3/21/2017 at 6:52 PM, Jack Watson said:

 

 

I went out today and worked on some stuff.  Slow mo.  Partial speed and up to maybe 3/4.  It brought the same feeling as this era of my swing.  I could tag it pretty good doing this but the club felt upside down.  Couldn't ever get over that.  Hit a couple today that came off nice with what I worked on.  When you capture the feel of this it seems like the ball is trapped into submission and can't go far off line.

This old one was when I was working on the same stuff for a while.  Heads nice width is good face shut.  Good pop on irons with this...

[Jack Watson]

I am hoping this will be the ending post to my swing thread.  After a lot of consideration I decided I am not going to work on swing change anymore.  I've been doing that almost my whole time in golf.  Got into the seventies pretty decent there for a while at my best.

I never have broken par,  but I have made four birdies in a row-easy putts lol.

A while back when I deleted about all my old swing video I made a decision to play by feel and ballflight and I kinda broke my promise to myself of late.  I am going back to that previous decision.  It's for good reason.   I made it over a year I think and it's been very enjoyable for me.  No reason to let some loose iron shots break me down.

Working on my swing mechanics just breaks my mind in a way that is not healthy.  It's just not fun to me anymore.  It used to be fun.  The range is just no fun to me anymore.  I'd rather get some urethane balls and go goof with a sand wedge.What's fun to me now is swinging freely.  Letting go of control.

I am sticking to what I know and being proud when I break 80 from the tees I play.  I lack the drive needed to further evolve my game.

[14ledo81]

12 hours ago, Jack Watson said:

I am hoping this will be the ending post to my swing thread.  After a lot of consideration I decided I am not going to work on swing change anymore.  I've been doing that almost my whole time in golf.  Got into the seventies pretty decent there for a while at my best.

I never have broken par,  but I have made four birdies in a row-easy putts lol.

A while back when I deleted about all my old swing video I made a decision to play by feel and ballflight and I kinda broke my promise to myself of late.  I am going back to that previous decision.  It's for good reason.   I made it over a year I think and it's been very enjoyable for me.  No reason to let some loose iron shots break me down.

Working on my swing mechanics just breaks my mind in a way that is not healthy.  It's just not fun to me anymore.  It used to be fun.  The range is just no fun to me anymore.  I'd rather get some urethane balls and go goof with a sand wedge.What's fun to me now is swinging freely.  Letting go of control.

I am sticking to what I know and being proud when I break 80 from the tees I play.  I lack the drive needed to further evolve my game.

Nothing wrong with that.

Enjoy the game however you see fit.

I have a feeling you care a bit more than this post leads to though.....

[Phil McGleno]