My Swing (Thomasredstone)

[Thomasredstone]

Sorry for the long intro/explanations...

I've been Playing Golf for: 40+ yrs…not continuously unfortunately…had a cut-off 9 iron put in my hand at 6...played junior golf then on the high school team…picked it up again mid 80’s to mid 90’s (best index was about 4.5) then sporadically up to about 5 yrs back…just picked it back up seriously a few months back and have played maybe 8 times but doing lots-o-practicing…put a practice net in the garage (didn’t know balls go through wall board so easily) and taking lots of video to see what is, or isn't, happening
My current handicap index or average score is: my best calculated index so far is 9.9
My typical ball flight is: always been a low ball hitter…if my drives are high its because they went off the top ;) Driver, if hit well, usually 270-ish, 4 wood 240-ish
The shot I hate or the "miss" I'm trying to reduce/eliminate is:  hitting thin (unless its miles fat)…coming up and/or not staying down-through the shot…more often now, as I’m not quite as flexible as I once was and being 6‘3“ does not help…though I don’t and never had a full “parallel at the top” back swing, even playing hardball through college coaches asked why my swing didn’t start back like everyone else, though they never complained about the outcomes. (those low inside pitches were heaven) I sometimes line up open which seems to restrict the backswing and results in thinning and/or blocking out...when I close it up seems to get better...or so I think. Been finding that if I stand too upright my upper body raises up on the backswing top then comes down at impact, often resulting in hitting fat…concerted focusing on the ball usually keeps the head movement to a minimum and really helps. Never had an official lesson…primarily dad’s mentoring. Going through lots of swing thoughts, prolly the usual stuff...most help most of the time...

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Here are two videos of hitting my 4 wood well...sorry if they aren't the best but plan to post better next time I’m out at the range.
Thanks for all comments...
Tom

Videos:

 

[SunkTheBirdie]

 

Very arms driven swing.

 

[Secretmove]

from face on: really good shaft lean at impact.  Pro level shaft lean, awesome.   I'm trying to do that arms driven swing, coming off a body bump which lead to a flip.  The more I let my hands/arms lead the swing, the more the body gets these great shaft lean impact hips open positions.  The hips legs follow the arms/hands.  They get out of the way. 

You don't over swing, or over follow through, another condition I suffer from following a feet then legs then hips then torso then shoulders then arms then hands dogma. 

I can show you over 25 instructional videos from top level teachers that all want a arms first approach for single digit golfers.  I wouldn't change a thing with your swing, not with that impact position.  You could work on coming out of posture and tucking your butt in the follow through, which might be less hard on that abrupt stop at P9 you have, and might add yds. 

[Thomasredstone]

Thanks gents for your comments greatly appreciate...as I remember I was working hard to keep in my back posture (not pulling up and head not bobbing up/down/up)...

[Secretmove]

get the book stack and tilt.  Yes, you maintain the posture nicely, and like I said before, your impact position/shaft lean is awesome, that's what everyone is (I am) trying for.  There is a nice description of how to finish the swing, in SnT as well as many videos on YouTube, you get a lot of power from that final stand up move and tucking the butt.  Maybe you already do that, and were abbreviating follow through for that video.  Cheers.

[Thomasredstone]

Ok...well I have been working on the swing quite arduously since the posted videos. I remember back at that time I would make a nice practice swing then step up to the ball and the swing would drastically change...jerking...topping...thinning...fatting...almost everything the practice swing wasnt.  About 3 weeks back I found a helpful lesson from Golf Digest by Hank Haney who said to take 100 practice swings every day, as many of his students said they have never shot better.....Well....so I started doing 100 in the morning before work and another 100 at night...I mean if 100 is good then 200 must be fantastic....after a week I started to integrate some ball striking into the practice (in the garage)...still had difficulty in making the ball swing the same as the practice swing. While explaining to my son how beside myself I was he suggested swinging at the ball with my eyes closed...you have to be kidding...but being at witts end I gave it a try and could not believe how well I struck the ball...incredible...blew me away...he then said "see Dad...its all mental". Didnt think much of it after that.  The last 2 Saturdays my rounds have never been worse in my life...ok...maybe when I was 10 I shot worse. And to top it off I went to the range earlier today and the wedges and 7 irons were nice...good tempo...smooth.  Then came the 5i, 3i, 4 wd, 4i and back to the 6i and everything I touched went to pot...topping, thinning, fatting, jerking, no tempo, no releasing...even my practice swings were mostly just skimming the top of the grass. So with 3 balls left I remembered what my son recommended and tried the 1st one with eyes closed...wonderful...straight and about 170 yd with 30 yr old 6i blade with 33.5 loft...then the last 2 were slightly heavy but an order of magnitude better than anything earlier. I am flummoxed.

Does anyone have any helpful suggestions other than to find another hobby...or play blindfolded?

Thanks

Tom

[NEhomer]

I have a suggestion....your fishing rod. You have what appears to be a pretty solid swing and you already know that you're overthinking things. Maybe step away for a week. It always helped me when I worked really hard at things while only getting worse.

The only swing advice I have would be to get your belt buckle facing the target after impact. You don't have a lengthy back swing but there's nothing stopping you from finishing in a bigger turn toward the target. Along with that, mentally, try not to hit the ball but rather have the ball get in the way as you make that bigger rotation to the finish.

Good luck sir~

[RandallT]

7 hours ago, Thomasredstone said:

Does anyone have any helpful suggestions 

I’d caution against buying a stack and tilt book as I think I saw suggested above. 

I bet you’d find better resources here below, for starters:

But there are many threads here about S&T, with great info on that methodology, so make sure you find those before investing in it. But let’s also not turn this thread into a debate of S&T, of course.

Another suggestion is to practice at the edge of your abilities. Go only as fast as you can swing while you can still do the move you are attempting.

Only speed up when you confirm on video that you’re doing what you are intending to do.  Rather than do hundreds of practice swings, do it WITH a ball and on video- right at the speed where things break down. 

Speed up gradually, confirming along the way.

This is guidance from a thread at the link above on practice.  Look for that discussion thread: 5 S’s of practice- one of which is slow.

Good luck and welcome to swing threads here.

 

[Thomasredstone]

On 2/28/2018 at 5:13 AM, RandallT said:

I’d caution against buying a stack and tilt book as I think I saw suggested above. 

I bet you’d find better resources here below, for starters:

But there are many threads here about S&T, with great info on that methodology, so make sure you find those before investing in it. But let’s also not turn this thread into a debate of S&T, of course.

Another suggestion is to practice at the edge of your abilities. Go only as fast as you can swing while you can still do the move you are attempting.

Only speed up when you confirm on video that you’re doing what you are intending to do.  Rather than do hundreds of practice swings, do it WITH a ball and on video- right at the speed where things break down. 

Speed up gradually, confirming along the way.

This is guidance from a thread at the link above on practice.  Look for that discussion thread: 5 S’s of practice- one of which is slow.

Good luck and welcome to swing threads here.

 

Thanks for the helpful guidance...greatly appreciated....In working with slow swings (maybe 10-30%) a couple things have come to mind...

1) I find its difficult to have properly sync'd weight transfer...which feeds the next thing...

2)  also find tempo to be a challenge....

both seem to come back around once 50% is hit...Another question...when we are encourage to swing at, say, 50%...does that mean a half length swing at full speed, a full length swing at half speed, or something in between? One final question...when one is working up the %'s (30%-40%-50%-75%-ect) when is it "ok" to go back to playing on the course? I'm afraid that if I wait until I hit 100% it could be a year, or at lease many months before I see a tee box again.

Thanks again

[Thomasredstone]

Greetings to the group again....another question or two if yall dont mind...

About a month back, after looking more closely at why I was hitting fat or thin about 90% of the time I noticed that my posture was too upright, causing my upper torso to bob up, 3-4" estimate, on the backswing then down on the downswing and through. So I needed more spine angle to create more of an upper body twist/turn. After a few minor adjustments was striking the ball very nicely with my hands driving down through the ball.To encourage more of an inside-out downswing I would intentionally start back outside and try to stay over the ball through impact. 

Then.... :(  my lower back started to complain big time....went back to more upright and the divots started flyin again...before the ball...now muscles in my lower right rib cage are taking no prisoners...really hurts to swing...I think caused by the strenuous backswing loop (outside back to inside through) with being too close to the ball at address.

In searching on the site for like experiences I found the following thread seeming to speak to the rib muscle issue...specificly entry #31....the chap stated upon taking a break and getting back on the range:

"Today I went back to the driving range realizing I could not repeat what I was doing before. I really concentrated this time on proper shoulder turn keeping my left arm close in to my rib area, and using a good hip turn to lead my shoulders through the swing with my arms following along instead of doing the leading. All the posts on this web site and videos were a great help in getting me to realize what I was doing wrong. But it took this injury to make me attempt to really put it in practice. I simply did't have a choice anymore. I had to change the way I used my arms. " 

His comment "using a good hip turn to lead my shoulders through the swing with my arms following along instead of doing the leading"....arms following along? I gotta tell ya that is such a foreign concept...I have never swung a club in that fashion...its always been a relatively short backswing then pow with the arms/wrists/hands into the back of the ball and through (hands well in front of the ball at impact...have always played a low ball).

Could someone point me to where I can find more details of this "arms following" technique, as I really want to keep playing but may not if the swing doesnt change....

As always thanks for reading my blather....all comments/recommendations/suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[boogielicious]

9 hours ago, Thomasredstone said:

Greetings to the group again....another question or two if yall dont mind...

About a month back, after looking more closely at why I was hitting fat or thin about 90% of the time I noticed that my posture was too upright, causing my upper torso to bob up, 3-4" estimate, on the backswing then down on the downswing and through. So I needed more spine angle to create more of an upper body twist/turn. After a few minor adjustments was striking the ball very nicely with my hands driving down through the ball.To encourage more of an inside-out downswing I would intentionally start back outside and try to stay over the ball through impact. 

Then.... :(  my lower back started to complain big time....went back to more upright and the divots started flyin again...before the ball...now muscles in my lower right rib cage are taking no prisoners...really hurts to swing...I think caused by the strenuous backswing loop (outside back to inside through) with being too close to the ball at address.

In searching on the site for like experiences I found the following thread seeming to speak to the rib muscle issue...specificly entry #31....the chap stated upon taking a break and getting back on the range:

"Today I went back to the driving range realizing I could not repeat what I was doing before. I really concentrated this time on proper shoulder turn keeping my left arm close in to my rib area, and using a good hip turn to lead my shoulders through the swing with my arms following along instead of doing the leading. All the posts on this web site and videos were a great help in getting me to realize what I was doing wrong. But it took this injury to make me attempt to really put it in practice. I simply did't have a choice anymore. I had to change the way I used my arms. " 

His comment "using a good hip turn to lead my shoulders through the swing with my arms following along instead of doing the leading"....arms following along? I gotta tell ya that is such a foreign concept...I have never swung a club in that fashion...its always been a relatively short backswing then pow with the arms/wrists/hands into the back of the ball and through (hands well in front of the ball at impact...have always played a low ball).

Could someone point me to where I can find more details of this "arms following" technique, as I really want to keep playing but may not if the swing doesnt change....

As always thanks for reading my blather....all comments/recommendations/suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

That comment is more about what the poster feels than what may be true in reality. His sequence may be better with the feeling that the hips lead. But in reality, the arm do the majority of the work in creating speed. That being said, working with a feel and filming the result is a great way to improve. 

The thread below talks about how effect sequencing in the swing creates lag, but also how sequencing helps the whole swing. I'm working on a feel right now of having my right elbow stay bent, past impact. The reality is the right arm does straighten, but the feel helps me from casting and I make better contact. Check it out.