My Swing (aasimzkhan)

[aasimzkhan]

Hi guys, over the last year I've developed a considerable drop in my hands at the top of the baxkswing. That, coupled with a lateral hip movement has resulted in my shots taking off at a 15degree deviation to the right. 

At the same time, I had developed the shanks and to counter them, I started taking my backswing out to the right instead of straight back. 

ive lost disrance, accuracy and confidence but still manage to scramble under my HC on most days.

looking forward to your insight and advice !

best

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I've been Playing Golf for: Regularly 2 years, v infrequently 5. 

My current handicap index or average score is: 13.4
My typical ball flight is: slight draw
The shot I hate or the "miss" I'm trying to reduce/eliminate is: Duck hook 

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Videos: 

 

 

 

[Vinsk]

Just a comparison shot for what @mvmac said from your post re: hips square at impact.....but here's a shot comparing your position to Tiger when club is parallel to ground on your downswing:

 

You can actually just see Tiger's lead (left) buttock and look at your hips.

[billchao]

50 minutes ago, Vinsk said:

You can actually just see Tiger's lead (left) buttock and look at your hips.

The camera angle is a little off here. Notice his feet lined up to the right? He's actually more open at this point than the picture suggests.

@aasimzkhan, you should post more in other topics. Lots of good stuff around here and plenty of great people you can get to know.

[aasimzkhan]

1 minute ago, billchao said:

The camera angle is a little off here. Notice his feet lined up to the right? He's actually more open at this point than the picture suggests.

@aasimzkhan, you should post more in other topics. Lots of good stuff around here and plenty of great people you can get to know.

Yes I have a hip slide instead of a rotation and my hands are so close coming down because they're coming from the inside - exactly what I'm looking to fix. Any leads on that ?

Just got on the forum quite recently and hope to be a regular ! 

 

 

[mvmac]

When working on improving your swing it's important to identify the root cause. Here's my take.

At address the tailbone is too far behind your heels. That tends to encourage a pivot and loading of the club that can be too shallow.

Club loading in and low, pointing well outside the ball.

Like I said in my other post, the hand path on the downswing is an effort to create some steepness, some down so you can hit the ball, otherwise you would swing over the top of it.

I'd recommend working on your address, check this out.

And on the takeaway feeling the right palm point down. Keep the face "looking at the ball". Right arm might also feel like it's staying higher than the left. This will help you load the shaft more "up" so you start to shallow on the downswing.

I'd make practice backswings where the shaft is more upright and allow the rotation of the body to shallow the club (hands working down and out).

1 hour ago, Vinsk said:

.but here's a shot comparing your position to Tiger when club is parallel to ground on your downswing:

Yes and at impact, book cheeks visible if you can do it.

 

[aasimzkhan]

Thank you, mvmac. I'll take a look at the address today on the range. Also like the idea of keeping the face looking at the ball, that should assist proper should rotation I gather ? And will this help in stopping the club drop at the top ? 

Would love to hear @iacas' thoughts too! 

[aasimzkhan]

So I managed to get to the range today and hit a bucket.

I was consciously trying to keep the face looking at the club as long as I could, and keeping the tailbone in - not sure if it happened, but from the video, the hands dropping is still there quite a bit. 

 

[IrishAndy]

I did exactly the same thing until a few weeks ago.  It still creeps in, but is almost 100% eradicated.  It wasn't my only issue, but combined with swinging too far in-to-out it was killing my game.

Here's all I did.  Not a prescription, because I'm not a teacher, and certainly no professional:

1) Take a backswing and freeze at the top.  Absolutely stop dead.  For a second, which will probably feel like forever.  In that second, the thought is that you'll swing straight down from that position.  Absolutely no dropping allowed.  Generally you won't drop down from there, but you might.

2) Take your downswing and follow-though.  Generally you can hit perfectly functional golf shots that way.  If you do drop on the way down the feeling will be so obvious to you, and you'll start to gain a better awareness.

3) Then, hit a second ball without the pause.

4) Then hit a third, freezing at the top again, and keep alternating...

I took that medicine for two weeks and maybe 600 balls before I felt that I didn't need to.  I still do it occasionally as a check.  Working well for me so far.  For me personally, stopping doing something requires me to develop a feeling for that 'something' first, as I can't even tell that I'm doing it.  Someone else can point it out to me, but I can't stop doing it until I can feel the difference.

[aasimzkhan]

Thanks @IrishAndy - I tried this on the range this morning, and every time I paused at the top (what an alien feeling), there was little or no drop. It did throw my sync out of the window, but i suppose that was bound to happen. 

However, on the alternate shots without the pause, the drop was clearly still there. I suppose it'll take time? What's funny is that I don't have any idea how it crept into my swing. Doesn't matter though, I guess. 

@mvmac  i'm also trying to get my tailbone in and the club face facing the ball as much as possible...

This game is driving me mad!

 

[IrishAndy]

2 hours ago, aasimzkhan said:

Thanks @IrishAndy - I tried this on the range this morning, and every time I paused at the top (what an alien feeling), there was little or no drop. It did throw my sync out of the window, but i suppose that was bound to happen. 

However, on the alternate shots without the pause, the drop was clearly still there. I suppose it'll take time? What's funny is that I don't have any idea how it crept into my swing. Doesn't matter though, I guess. 

@mvmac  i'm also trying to get my tailbone in and the club face facing the ball as much as possible...

This game is driving me mad!

 

Good job for trying!  Yes, it takes a lot of time, but you already have a two wins... first, you don't drop when you pause, and 2 you can tall that you're dropping on the swings where you don't pause.

Eventually you will get it.  Golf is all crazy habits, though, so it takes a while!

You want to throw that sync out of the window though, because your well-rehearsed synchronized effort involved your brain and body dropping your hands to a comfortable place that's you've determined doesn't work for you.  Because you've been dropping you've never actually swung from that 'new' downswing position.  You haven't hit functional golf shots from that position yet.

It's completely alien to your body.  I think I topped the majority of 5 buckets before I got it.  When you pause it's easy to try to hit the ball, vs. smoothly swinging through to a target, but it's doable.  Where you're pausing at the top is where you've determined you want to start the downswing from, so that's your goal... to make that natural.  Your body will fight you til it is!

Personal opinion regarding tailbone and club face: it's really tough to make two coordinated changes at the same time.  Definitely tougher to make two big changes at the same time.  Still can be done though.  Just choose to be more stubborn than your subconscious brain.  You're in a fight!

I know exactly why I dropped my hands.  I used to have an extreme in-to-out swing with massive face rotation.  It put massive strain on my body, but with tons of practice to get the timing down I could hit great shots with it.  I could hit very powerful long irons and actually call the amount of draw on a 4 iron.  It fed my ego and was a happy place for my brain.  It seemed to forget the fact that, when the timing was off the draw was unpredictable, and that I'd often duck-hook a driver 100 yards.  So, my rerouting was my brain taking my hands back to a 'happy place' where I could once hit powerful, functional golf shots.  When you decide you want a different swing path and a different outcome it's an all-out fight with your brain.  Be the most stubborn one and you'll eventually win.  Good luck!!

 

[aasimzkhan]

@IrishAndy I wasn't really topping them but catching them an inch behind - but it's all because I'm not used to this new 'frame' so to speak. 

It's a bit of a spin off of what was said in that book 'the talent code' - about working on one particular movement and getting it down without worrying too much about the final product at that point in time. 

Will continue the same tomorrow and report back ! 

[IrishAndy]

1 hour ago, aasimzkhan said:

@IrishAndy I wasn't really topping them but catching them an inch behind - but it's all because I'm not used to this new 'frame' so to speak. 

It's a bit of a spin off of what was said in that book 'the talent code' - about working on one particular movement and getting it down without worrying too much about the final product at that point in time. 

Will continue the same tomorrow and report back ! 

Cool - I totally believe in that.  I'm of the frame of mind where I can try a new movement and not care if I hit a couple of hundred bad shots in a row... It doesn't dissuade me because I've made it to the other side before and seen the progress that comes from persistence.

[aasimzkhan]

@IrishAndy Third day of the pause and alt full swing drill. Can report that my connection on the pause swings is getting better. But I may have stumbled upon something more. 

By pausing at the top, one can choose a trigger for the downswing, which to me is critical. What i'm trying now, is using my left knee to begin the downswing, which should, in time, lead to better hip rotation.

At the same time, a little bit of NLP to spice things up. At the pause, the thought is 'no drop'. And the same for the full swings.

Am I trying to do too many things? @mvmac @iacas

 

[IrishAndy]

Great - nice progress!  Don't see any issues with adding a trigger... it'll hopefully just give you a more coordinated movement over time.

Great job for persisting!!

[mvmac]

12 hours ago, aasimzkhan said:

Am I trying to do too many things? @mvmac @iacas

I would personally focus on succeeding at one thing at a time. Fix the root cause.

[aasimzkhan]

@IrishAndy and @mvmac Thank you for your continued feedback.

Here's the output of three days - Would love to hear back from you guys. It's just that although here in Pakistan, we have over 55 courses, there's not a single qualified coach. Everyone is self-taught.

 

[IrishAndy]

4 hours ago, aasimzkhan said:

@IrishAndy and @mvmac Thank you for your continued feedback.

Here's the output of three days - Would love to hear back from you guys. It's just that although here in Pakistan, we have over 55 courses, there's not a single qualified coach. Everyone is self-taught.

 

Looks like you're making progress!  Still a little drop, but not as pronounced?  How does it feel?

 

BTW I worked with a guy from Pakistan a few years ago and we went to a local Golfsmith to hit a few balls.  Smoothest high-tempo swing I've ever seen.  Apparently self-taught can work well!

[aasimzkhan]

@IrishAndy it's just three days work and I think the drop has decreased quite a bit. Defo still some left.

It feels like my backswing is shorter now, more compact - may just be a feeling, but since on every alt shot I'm focusing on stopping it, it's not over extending...

Yes, self taught works - now with YouTube and forums like this, people have so many places to get direction and engage with likeminded people. Dare I ask, who was this fellow you hit a few balls with?