My Swing (Grizvok)

[Grizvok]

Just updating this with a quick feel that worked last night for me at the range which is starting off feeling like a 60/40 weight distribution at address..

[Grizvok]

Went to the range with the girlfriend’s little brother and was entertaining him for the last 20-30 balls and decided to really swing out of my shoes with the driver. I actually learned a lot. I think allowing myself some sway when using the driver is okay. I’m also going to start really strengthening my grip with the driver and 3 wood. I realize that might be bit of a bandaid fix for now, but I’m simply not ready to stop work on Key #2. I think the benefits of Key #2 outweigh working on some minor pathing and shallowing issues and I want to keep grinding on that. I think during my next round I’m going to give myself the green light to give it +10-15% more effort with the driver as well as lengthening the backswing just a touch.

[Grizvok]

Played a round solo for the first time ever. Was actually really enjoyable. I went full chipping with a putting stroke method including utilizing a putting grip and bent elbows which actually worked out really nicely. I don't foresee myself giving up this technique with how flush my chips were and with the kind of distance control I was getting. Definitely a technique to try out if you are having chipping woes (and probably even if you don't).

Putting was okay'ish. It got much better the second nine after I really made the conscious effort to NOT look at where the ball was going immediately after coming off of the club. I stayed with my head down staring at the ground under where the ball was for like a second THEN made the turn of the head to see where my putt went. As small as it may seem this is huge for consistent putting and sort of gives me this extra confidence to just make my stroke as I've envisioned it. When you are almost turning the head as you are hitting the putt it is as if your eyes and brain are trying to make these last second compensations to the stroke you envisioned which results in this weird second guessing of yourself as you are putting. Bit of a strange personal anecdotal rant there but yeah that's how I feel about that.

Finally are some notes about my driving. This is legitimately becoming a big strength in my game. I did implement a very strong grip for my driver and as far as bandaids go this is one I'll slap on all day if I have to. Again proper pathing and shallowing is on the list but is on the backseat until next year. Key # 2 is that important to me. I talked last about allowing myself the feeling of 10-15% more power put into my driver swing but I honestly don't really feel like I did that. I did slightly lengthen the backswing but not in the typical way of the arms getting higher or rotating the torso more. I really just allowed myself to get a little bit more wrist hinge. Nothing crazy but it made a big difference in giving me 20 yards or so more per drive on average I would say. That PLUS my drives going dead straight the majority of the time because of the really strong grip probably led to actual distance gains of closer to like 30 or 40 yards on average. I haven't played this course that many times (like 6 or 7) but I was hitting from positions that I had never been in before because my drives were going that much further and straighter. I actually had a really strong (for me) number of GIR for the second round in a row and a huge part of it is the distance gains off of the tee.

Cheers.

[Grizvok]

Few swings feels:

During backswing, feel like the hands and club go UP quite a bit. My backswing plane is slightly flatter than I want, and my clubhead is slightly outside of my hands at A2.

Softer right arm.

Cover. This is just a single word to help work on my new priority piece of trying not to lose "spine angle".

[Grizvok]

Also: feeling like I'm keeping a straight left AND right arm. The result of the first feel I just mentioned is that my left arm is actually able to rotate around in a more fluid way because it is no longer slightly pressing into my pectoral while performing the turn (actually making a bigger deal than I would've thought). On top of that, the feel of keeping a straight right arm is really helping me change the picture and get into a more professional look with that arm at the top of the backswing.

[Grizvok]

This is a partial 56 degree sand wedge shot aiming for 70-80 yards of carry. 

Didn’t have much time today so the angle isn’t perfect which makes reasoning about a few things less than ideal.

The hands are working up a bit more which I like.

A better swing thought/feel than the word “cover” is the phrase “work down”. I think “work down” aids in both maintaining spine angle AND literally helping me work down to the ball which is something I need to be doing. There is a reason most good players have their head lower at impact than at address.

[iacas]

Looks good. From what I could tell of the speck that was you. 😉

[colin007]

[Grizvok]

I deserve that.

I’m making a commitment to get back to a regular videoing schedule of at least one session every two weeks (non-awful videos to boot). 2019 saw me make a big career change and enter the software engineering field, so I did very minimal amounts of golfing last season which is why I have nada from last year.

Tripod on the way to aid in the shooting of non-awful video.

[Grizvok]

Firstly, I'm dumb and have been reversing the meaning of the terms "inside" and "outside" as it pertains to where the club head is in relation to the hands. The offending post was the first one on May 28. Sorry if that confused anybody. What I really meant was that I want the club working OUTSIDE of the hands slightly more. I did do a better job of this in the most recent video.

Grip: I've never really given the interlock grip a serious try until this past week, but I'm beginning to think it is better for me. I have very small hands, and the interlock is just a bit more comfortable than the Vardon, while also giving me the feeling of considerably less tension in my wrists (but still maintaining the same grip pressure).

Setup: slightly closer to the ball with a bit less knee bend.

Backswing: get the wrist hinge going a bit earlier. This is super important for flighted wedges/irons since the hinge has to be completed at an earlier stage.

Downswing: feel like the left hip keeps pushing backwards and feel like my weight and pressure are both going into my left heel. This should aid in stopping the early extension and to help get my hips a bit more open at impact.

Edited June 23, 2020 by Grizvok

[ShaftFarmer]

On 6/23/2020 at 1:09 PM, Grizvok said:

Firstly, I'm dumb and have been reversing the meaning of the terms "inside" and "outside" as it pertains to where the club head is in relation to the hands. The offending post was the first one on May 28. Sorry if that confused anybody. What I really meant was that I want the club working OUTSIDE of the hands slightly more. I did do a better job of this in the most recent video.

Grip: I've never really given the interlock grip a serious try until this past week, but I'm beginning to think it is better for me. I have very small hands, and the interlock is just a bit more comfortable than the Vardon, while also giving me the feeling of considerably less tension in my wrists (but still maintaining the same grip pressure).

Setup: slightly closer to the ball with a bit less knee bend.

Backswing: get the wrist hinge going a bit earlier. This is super important for flighted wedges/irons since the hinge has to be completed at an earlier stage.

Downswing: feel like the left hip keeps pushing backwards and feel like my weight and pressure are both going into my left heel. This should aid in stopping the early extension and to help get my hips a bit more open at impact.

I like your thoughts on the downswing. I feel like that would help eliminate any shanks by trying to feel my weight/pressure on my left heel. Also, jealous of your shoulder turn haha

[Grizvok]

I finally got around to begin watching and performing the drills from  @iacas COVID-19 Practice Plan and wanted to take the time to take note of something important.

While my video angles are indeed slightly off, making the right arm look worse than it is, I'm still not in love with the position of that limb in the picture below. After some mirror work, I firmly believe the culprit to be a bit of disconnect between the upper torso and the arms early on in the takeaway.

 

On 5/28/2020 at 1:36 PM, Grizvok said:

The result of the first feel I just mentioned is that my left arm is actually able to rotate around in a more fluid way because it is no longer slightly pressing into my pectoral while performing the turn (actually making a bigger deal than I would've thought).

 

Furthermore, when I said the above tidbit about a month ago (mainly the part about my left arm pressing into my pectoral), I thought the issue was that my backswing was just a little flat. I no longer think that and firmly believe that it is also a result of the disconnect that I just mentioned. If your chest doesn't turn, obviously your arm is going to be pressing into it as it begins to make its way back.

Compare these two pictures below (Rors and then myself at A2). While comparing the amount of chest turn is somewhat difficult because of the relative subtleness of the move, the telling bit is clearly the flex of the right arm. Mine is already flexed a TON at this point and Rory has next to none. I also took a quick peak at a few other professional swings and from what I've seen, nobody has their trail arm that flexed at this point. I'm relatively sure that this is a case of something early on in the backswing having a huge affect on something that comes shortly after. This piece is really easy to practice so I plan on spending the next week doing drills whenever possible to "change the picture". I also think mirror work will be invaluable here.

 

Edited June 28, 2020 by Grizvok

[billchao]

7 hours ago, Grizvok said:

I'm still not in love with the position of that limb in the picture below.

Looks ok to me.

[Grizvok]

 

Face-on driver swing from my round earlier today.

Setup: reverse K, reverse K, reverse K. No idea what I'm thinking with this forward press with the driver. From now on, I'm doing the slide the right hand down the outside of the right leg setup trick. I really really dislike when I'm making mistakes like this that aren't part of the dynamic portion of the golf swing. Feels bad man.

Hips: they desperately need to do more work. After I'm finished working on a few pieces, I'm going to this. This is such an important piece that just syncs a lot of stuff up (for any golfer). Not sure if I can point to this in some capacity to explain my slice miss, but I'd wager it is at least a small factor. I sit in front of a computer a lot so I'm going to do some work on stretching the muscles of the hip area religiously.

 

 

I'm going to start and try finishing these posts on a positive note with things I at least like. For this swing, it is my impact position as shown above. Lacking axis tilt away from the target, but that is more a product of the poor setup.

[Grizvok]

No idea why my playing partner backed up a bit and turned the phone vertical...

[billchao]

13 minutes ago, Grizvok said:

No idea why my playing partner backed up a bit and turned the phone vertical...

I like vertical for golf swings. You fill out more of the frame and it's easier to look at on the phone.

[Grizvok]

2 minutes ago, billchao said:

I like vertical for golf swings. You fill out more of the frame and it's easier to look at on the phone.

Gotcha. I'll work on just getting the phone a bit closer.

[boogielicious]

13 hours ago, billchao said:

I like vertical for golf swings. You fill out more of the frame and it's easier to look at on the phone.

Need bifocals now?😜 I can’t see it in either orientation. Plus YouTube seems to have problems with portrait, so I do landscape.

14 hours ago, Grizvok said:

No idea what I'm thinking with this forward press with the driver.

Forward press will lead to a more in to out swing. Is you start line right? I have this habit and have to aim my feet left of target, otherwise I hook. You have a nice looking swing.