My Swing (Slugox)

[Slugox]

I've been Playing Golf for: This is season two for me

 

My current handicap index or average score is: 20
My typical ball flight is: Driver high fade, irons straight or slight draw
The shot I hate or the "miss" I'm trying to reduce/eliminate is: Driver high massive OB-seeking slice, irons overdraw/pull-draw

 

It's the offseason, or really close to it, and I'm hoping to prioritize and do some quality swing work over the winter. My typical rounds are upper 80's/low 90's, so obviously there is no shortage of things to work on. Reading this forum has been fascinating and informative. So I come for help, and advice. :)

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Videos: 

 

[Henrik Engvall]

Good swing! Look like you hit the driver on the heel. That always produces a cut or big slice. And if you hit the ball on the way down in the swing it will go high, short and even more to the right. 

[Slugox]

Therein lies one of my struggles. I'll hit my driver towards the heel when I miss, and I'll hit my irons towards the toe when I miss. Seems there should be a findable happy medium in there somewhere, and I intend to find it.

[Slugox]

The two things I'm trying to focus on currently are:

1) Shortening my backswing. Seems once my left arm reaches 90 degrees or so, my left elbow begins to bend in an effort to get the club to the top, but my shoulders are no longer turning at that point and it feels like that's just increasing my chances of getting out of sequence in transition and on the dowswing.

 

2) Steady head. This is also probably related to the above somewhat. When my elbow bends in trying to pull the club farther back, I feel like it's also forcing my shouldsr into my chin and moving my head away from the ball.

[mvmac]

Hi @Slugox, I'd suggest a couple things.

- Check your grip, just make sure the left hand is in the fingers and not in the palm. Will help the "looseness" at the top.

- Like you mentioned with your head, your shoulder is running into your chin. You'll want to feel like your left shoulder is moving downward longer, across your torso. Almost like if there was a string going from your left shoulder down to your right foot and you want your left shoulder to trace the string on the backswing.

A feel I sometimes use for myself is that I'm "crunching" my left ribs, left oblique crunch as I rotate.

[Slugox]

I'll work on both those things at the range today. I had no idea my grip was out of whack. 

I've struggled making a full turn for quite some time, whether it's the shoulders or hips not rotating enough.

Thank you for taking the time.

[Slugox]

I worked on both these changes today. The grip adjustments felt alot different than I thought they would. But I managed to hit some really quality shots working with it, particularly with driver. The club felt lighter/freer, and there was considerably less tension in my hands, less grip pressure maybe?

The shoulder turn is tougher sledding. I wasn't able to achieve the "downward longer" feeling nearly as often as I wanted. It works, andd I'll keep after it, it's just more complicated to get a handle on it than I initially imagined.

[RandallT]

Sounds like a good start for the changes. Remember to take your time and solidify the new things. Go slow and use video to check yourself during a practice session.  Practice in slow motion in a mirror. That kinda stuff pays off and gets it all feeling more natural when you go to the range. Good luck!

[Slugox]

While I certainly understand the concept of the long view mentally, it's never been my forte. I know I'm not alone in wanting instantaneous results, but I do struggle with it. I figure i'll take video once a week or so, and post it here, see how it looks. I'd love to be able to make significant swing progress over the winter months. I'll try mirror work as well. Thanks for the advice. 

[RandallT]

This might help:

You’ve made the big step of starting a swing thread, so this is worth a read. It’s tough to go methodically and we all have our moments where we just need to pound away balls at full speed. But I can attest to this thread as being helpful.

As I see it though, this thread is yours to do as you see fit! Just wanted to point out some ideas maybe you haven’t seen before. See ya around!

[Slugox]

Thanks for the link. I totally didn't do that. :)  Just stepped up to the ball and expected these changes to automatically implement themselves, because I'm smart like that. But I will start doing so at home in the living room.