My Swing (Grizvok)

[Grizvok]

I was doing some more analyzation of my swing tonight and wanted to get a few things down in preparation of practicing tomorrow. The first thing I may wish to address is a slightly wider stance with perhaps a touch more flair with the feet. I also really like the feel of pushing the knees over the toes when you do flair the feet which gives you a few extra things for free as well. I think a slightly wider stance (nothing drastic) is giving me a better base with which I can use to really push the hips forward. These are just some very preliminary findings after working on @iacas office chair drill for Key #2.

I might be totally wrong with this next part but after analyzing a few pros strokes as well as what @iacas is doing in the Key #2 videos it looks as if the player's head is staying quite steady and still even during the piece where the hips are sliding and rotating pushing a ton of weight forward pretty quickly. I think this might be something that aids in maintaining balance and of course is important in just making sure you are seeing the ball as well as you possibly can. I really think feeling the hips here is key and proper usage of the hips in the entirety of my swing is probably the single most important thing I can work on right now. I expect nailing down Key #2 might be something I spend the rest of the season on. Who knows. I hope adding this big piece of the swing doesn't create issues elsewhere but that's just something I have to deal with as I push forward. I guess in that way Key #2 and Key #3 will sort of blend together so as I add this piece my sequencing and impact still remain n'sync (yep I just did that).

The final thing I wanted to touch on was the importance of not prematurely straightening the left leg. I absolutely need to keep more flex in that leg for longer as I slide and rotate the hips because to prematurely straighten that leg pretty much immediately destroys any chance of properly utilizing the hips and getting the necessary amount of weight forward. I think this is going to be huge in actually using the hips correctly. 

 

Cheers.

[Grizvok]

 

Definitely not where I need to be overall regarding key # 2 but you need to start somewhere. However, I do feel like I was probably getting in the neighborhood of 20-25% more weight forward. I will get some more in depth swing analysis down later tonight.

This is also the very first time I used the AP1-712's that I had received like 45 minutes prior.

[iacas]

3 hours ago, Grizvok said:

Definitely not where I need to be overall regarding key # 2 but you need to start somewhere.

Agreed.

[Grizvok]

8 minutes ago, iacas said:

Agreed.

I honestly think the biggest problem is still the early extension of the left leg. Not sure if you would agree with that or not but I think you probably would. 

That feel that you talk about regarding moving the knee down and to the left is absolutely crucial to this piece. Once I ingrain that pattern of not straightening the left leg early I think things will begin to fall into place.

[iacas]

3 minutes ago, Grizvok said:

I honestly think the biggest problem is still the early extension of the left leg. Not sure if you would agree with that or not but I think you probably would.

I do not. It’s not extending prematurely.

[Grizvok]

18 minutes ago, iacas said:

I do not. It’s not extending prematurely.

I think you are right.

My other thought is that I'm not working down towards the ball enough. If you look at the screenshots I'm attaching, in your pictures if you use the framed jersey as reference you can see you've worked down towards the ball a good bit more than myself. If you use the clouds as reference in my swing you'll see I'm at a pretty similar position vertically from where I started. I feel semi-uncomfortable with this position to be honest. Perhaps lowering the center of gravity is helping in being able to stay balanced and push much more weight forward?

 

I know your swing is quite abbreviated. I'm not sure if that changes anything regarding your vertical positioning but I don't think that's the case since your finish there looks pretty classic.

[b101]

4 hours ago, iacas said:

I do not. It’s not extending prematurely.

I'd agree with this. As someone who really struggles with this move and consequently launches the ball very low, I think the left leg movement is good! As you know, the issue is getting the weight through the ball, which will change how this looks a little - keep grinding!

[Grizvok]

8 hours ago, b101 said:

I'd agree with this. As someone who really struggles with this move and consequently launches the ball very low, I think the left leg movement is good! As you know, the issue is getting the weight through the ball, which will change how this looks a little - keep grinding!

I plan on it. This is easily the most important thing I can work on right now and I’m doing all I can to change the picture. I’m also getting back into the gym more often to work on strengthening the legs and the core which should help me shift weight a little bit better and stay balanced which is a sticking point for me.

Any specific drills you might recommend?

[Grizvok]

About to head to the range. Going to do a really good lower body warm up selection of exercises, foam rolling, and stretches prior to leaving called the Agile 8 which is something I used to do religiously before lower body days at the gym. I want my hips feeling as free flowing as possible.

I'm going to try working down towards the ball a bit more on the first part of my backswing. I think early extension of the spine might be something that is coming into play and is causing my balance to suffer with which you really can't comfortably get more weight forward.

Most of all I want to really slow down and focus on what's important which is ingraining these movement patterns, not hitting the ball hard or far.

[b101]

7 hours ago, Grizvok said:

Any specific drills you might recommend?

Not really - it's never been a massive priority piece of mine and whenever it has been, it's always been with a focus on ensuring that I still get my weight through whilst working on something different. A lot of recent range work has been 1/2 swings with core engaged through impact, which I guess is similar, but definitely not the same thing. As ever though, start small and build up 

I think I've seen Erik do a good Key 2 Hips Preset drill before now which made sense to me - think it should come up if you search that on YouTube...

[Grizvok]

The range session today had its ups and downs that's for sure. I think my mindset regarding the specific piece I'm practicing was better although there was a bit of a lapse where I was focusing on an earlier wrist set in the backswing which is actually something I think I want to begin to implement. This is one of those things that I don't think will take long to nail down yet it has definite upside potential. I think things like this can be nice to interweave in my training while not detracting away from my main focus.

Regarding my work on key #2 : I'm just lost really. I'm now going and comparing frame by frame vs some professionals like DJ to find what the big differences are. This is a strategy I honestly haven't really used but might help me break down what parts I'm failing at. The biggest difference honestly isn't anything regarding that left lead leg at all. In fact, the huge differences are what are happening with the trail foot/leg as weird as that sounds. I think the feel of transferring weight OFF of the back foot might be a better swing thought for me than the current thought of get all the weight on to the front foot. They sound similar but might produce drastically different results.

I'm finding that during my swing the first portion of the lower body movement the hip slide is actually going pretty decently all things considered. Then after the slide completes there is this piece of time when all of my hip movement just totally ceases. During this phase DJ's hips are beginning to rotate like mad as he is opening up and using the rotation of the hips to carry the momentum on to the lead leg. As I type this I am messing around with this in the living room and am finding success with actually getting onto the lead leg with the vast majority of my weight in a manner that is leaving me also surprisingly balanced . Compare the two pictures I attached and I think it's clear that the biggest difference is how much more flex he has in the trail knee and where it is pointing as well as how much his trail foot has come off of the ground. These things are happening because of how much more rotation he has completed by the relatively same part of the downswing and into the follow through. The only way his trail leg looks like that is because of just how much more open his hips really are.

Another thing that I had talked about previously which was working down to the ball is also showcased here in my opinion.

Edited July 8, 2018 by Grizvok

[billchao]

14 hours ago, b101 said:

I think I've seen Erik do a good Key 2 Hips Preset drill before now which made sense to me - think it should come up if you search that on YouTube...

This one:

@Grizvok your grip is fairly weak.

[Grizvok]

4 hours ago, billchao said:

@Grizvok your grip is fairly weak.

Agreed. Not sure why it's been moving that way.

[Grizvok]

I had a late night range session tonight at this spot like 5 minutes from me to keep working on Key #2. I think that swing feel I mentioned earlier about feeling like weight is moving off of the trail foot as opposed to feeling like weight is shifting onto the lead foot is going to be something that I can really use to good affect. I think the mechanism I used to get this feel was to do exactly what I talked about earlier with DJ's trail foot gaining flex and rotating inwards. My already pretty decent hip slide was then coupled with more rotation which tremendously helped get more weight on to that lead foot. Adding the rotation piece and the feel of gaining flex on the trail foot is going to be the key going forward for me. I think I need some work with sequencing on the downswing but this is something that is very closely tied with Key #2 since the hip slide essentially must happen very early on for proper weight transfer.

Bottom of the swing felt very consistent. I think I chunked maybe 3 or 4 balls out of like 50. Even though I was using the feel of like 60-70% power for the majority of strokes my distance was pretty good. Definite distance gains as well as consistency to be had from Key #2. That's for sure.

Paid more attention to my grip. Strengthened both the left and right hand.

A little bit of distance wedge work too namely with my 56 working on some close to fuller swings as well as the paint brush pitching method which is a big staple in my pitching game now. Of course working on key #2 as I worked with the wedge.

Cheers.

[Grizvok]

Hit the range today but had my girlfriend’s dad and little brother with me. Tough to concentrate and really focus on practice but I’m psyched that I’ve effectively got them into the game.

Got back into the gym too for the first time in a while. Did this before my range session which had me feeling a bit weird but I’m excited by the prospect of the gym now to help elevate my golf game. Now the search begins for lots of golf specific movements and a good regimen. Let me know if you have any good resources! I will be checking out the fitness forum for sure.

Experimented a little bit with the early wrist set but it’s definitely not my thing. For sure I’d have to practice it quite a bit to see if it really works but I don’t even like the feel of it to be honest. I just need to keep things simple and get a tiny bit more wrist set overall, and I should be where I want to be regarding that. It was a little diversion from my Key #2 goals but something I had wanted to try for a while.

Focused on the grip again and strengthening both left and right hands slightly. I definitely prefer this to the weaker grip I had somehow been gravitating towards. Big thanks to @billchao for pointing that out.

Worked on posture too and tucking the tail bone a little bit. Nothing crazy though. Also a slightly wider stance with a bit more flair and pushing the knees over the toes. Basically training myself to be more diligent with setup and grip concerns.

Key #2 went okay. The hip slide felt strange since I had a little bit of jelly leg syndrome from the squats but the rotation piece after the slide felt good. I’m really confident with the concepts I had talked about earlier regarding the big big importance of the rotation piece. Even when making golf swing motions in the living room with or without clubs the slide is obviously the most important factor in shifting over weight and pressure into the lead foot. However to also verify the importance of the rotation I don’t even have to make any kind of swing. Simply facing forward then sliding my hips off to one side then rotating in that direction simply puts noticeably more pressure on that foot and is aiding in getting over to that side. For me at least, it amplifies the effects of the slide.

I did a little bit more of pitching practice. I’m really liking my pitching motion right now. The more I follow @iacas paint brush feel and release of the club head the more I get out of the bounce and the more margin for error I have. I think my fright with the 60 degree has held me back from using that club in any kind of useful way. I get afraid to release it thinking I’m going to take the lead edge into the ball which makes me not release which makes me chunk it. Not a pretty sight but a result that I’ve begun to understand.

I actually have a really big decision to make about what I want to take out of my bag since I now have 15 clubs. My new for me AP1’s included an approach wedge which is 50 degrees which also leaves me with a 52 a 56 and a 60. In an ideal world I’d probably drop the last three and grab a 54 and 58. Perhaps a trade is something I will look into but for now I’m learning towards taking the 52 out of the bag.

I know I’m verbose but this is a good spot for me to mull over these things.

Cheers.

-Trevor

[Grizvok]

Played 18 today. It was one of those strange days when the stuff I’m marginally good at (iron play) was particularly off and my huge weakness (putting) was actually pretty good. My general putting knowledge is crap but after seeing a few general tips of making sure the shaft doesn’t get to vertical along with tucking the elbows in a little bit more and everything actually felt worlds smoother. Lag putting was still craptastic but got better as the round progressed.

I really need to get in front of a launch monitor and test things. Doing so is probably not required at all for my level, but this was the first time I played with the AP1’s outside of the range and as I mentioned my iron play was pretty poor. Part of it could’ve been mental as I think I was juggling too many swing thoughts. Key #2 is easily enough to focus on but I’m also worrying about more wrist set and feeling more connected on the backswing among other things. Tough to say. I also expect some time is needed with new clubs to truly get comfortable.

I felt positive about the round overall. I think if I play my irons as well as normal and putt like I did today then I should see my scores begin to lower.

[Grizvok]

I just had a good range session that pretty much saw me focus exclusively on Key #2 as I continue my work on getting weight forward. I worked a decent bit on the AMG drill that has you start with the ball slightly further forward of normal plus a narrower stance and then take a small step forward just a short while after you begin the backswing. I was actually really puring some of these shots and the way I moved through the ball felt really good.

I think in this specific shot below I certainly gained too much flex in the trail knee a bit too quickly but I wasn't really worried about that since I'm trying to exaggerate this certain piece. I was going with the feel of rotating my trail foot onto the big toe pretty quickly which did help take weight off of the back foot. I think next practice session might have me try a different feel (instead of the get onto the toe bit I just talked about) to prioritize this which is simply going to be "gain flex in the trail knee." Honestly I think if you look at the two pictures below the difference from what I can see is significant improvement in a bunch of aspects but namely Key #2 (weight forward) and Key #3 (inline impact). I'd say in terms of actual impact position, despite the overly flexed trail knee, this is probably the closest I've come to imitating a professional in how I'm looking at my impact position. I believe I have much more weight forward, my torso is significantly more open, and so are my hips. My swing thoughts during this shot were really two-fold: slide the hips and then rotate onto the trail foot big toe.

 

Edited July 29, 2018 by Grizvok

[Grizvok]

This is going to be a bit of a video dump. Working on the same piece of course, Key #2. I think in the entire small bucket of balls that I hit I today I had one really bad chunk and like one badly thinned shot. Low point control seems significantly better. Nice sized divots were really flying too.

These ones are in slow-mo. Last night was a little too late for slow-mo because everything seemed to be coming out really dark. Angles aren’t the greatest and I apologize for that.