Finally found my groove, thanks to several YouTubers

[JonMA1]

@Rykymus I try not to give advice because I may be the worse golfer on this site. But I'd suggest not trying to improve by looking for and changing small things here or there, and judging the value of those in the form of instant results. I don't know how long you've been playing, but in my case, I used that method for too long and in the process developed some poor habits that have been almost impossible to reverse.

Please don't take this as being judgmental or critical. I just hate the thought of someone ending up like me. There are certainly a lot of good players who are self-taught, but I believe on average it's a bit tougher.

If you can afford it, consider lessons from a good instructor. It doesn't have to be a life-long commitment and you may develop some habits early in the form of proper basic mechanics. Think of them as a solid foundation upon which you can continue to build and fine tune with the types of changes you've described in your posts.

However you choose to go about it, good luck with the improvement.

[colin007]

10 hours ago, Rykymus said:

Update: Had my wife video my swing with her iPhone and found that while my body was still and my rotation was good, I was bending the hell out of my left arm on my back swing. Started concentrating on keeping it straight, and my ball striking became a lot more consistent. (Maybe that is what I was doing right that magical day.) Keeping my arm straight also kept me from bringing my club too far back. Ball is going further and straighter, without so much pull.

Of course, it will probably all fall apart again tomorrow.

 Just a thought, but if you are still working on keeping your left arm straight, something that works for some people is actually thinking about keeping the right arm straight. 

[Rykymus]

1 hour ago, colin007 said:

 Just a thought, but if you are still working on keeping your left arm straight, something that works for some people is actually thinking about keeping the right arm straight. 

 I think I may already be doing just that. I'm trying to keep a triangle between both arms and my chest, and make my rotation happen with shoulders and hips. After watching more video, I noticed that as soon as my right arm gets to the point that it must bend, that's when I instinctively stop my rotation and start my down swing. I'm going to need to develop a bit more rotation because I'm only reaching about 75 - 80 degrees, but that will come. Main thing I'm looking for is consistent strikes and straight ball flight. Getting into trouble because of inconsistencies is what keeps my scores in the 110-120 range. And I don't seem to be suffering from any distance loss with the much shorter swing. (I was literally touching my left shoulder with my club on my back swing before.)

[iacas]

@Rykymus a few people have strongly suggested that you start a Member Swing topic or see a good pro. You’re severely limiting the rate at which you can improve by basically teaching yourself.

[DaveP043]

1 hour ago, Rykymus said:

 After watching more video, I noticed that as soon as my right arm gets to the point that it must bend, that's when I instinctively stop my rotation and start my down swing.

I'll be blunt.  You're almost certainly NOT qualified to analyze videos of your own swing, determine the most important thing to work on, and decide what drills or feels will help you to improve on that one thing.  The best thing to do is to get some analysis and instruction from a good instructor.  The cheapest way to do that is by posting video in a My Swing thread on this website.  There are several very knowledgeable guys here who can help you get started in the right direction.

[Rykymus]

7 hours ago, DaveP043 said:

I'll be blunt.  You're almost certainly NOT qualified to analyze videos of your own swing, determine the most important thing to work on, and decide what drills or feels will help you to improve on that one thing.  The best thing to do is to get some analysis and instruction from a good instructor.  The cheapest way to do that is by posting video in a My Swing thread on this website.  There are several very knowledgeable guys here who can help you get started in the right direction.

 You are 100% correct. That's why I went ahead and signed up for a lesson with Jake Sandusky at Watters Creek a week from today. I'd go sooner, but we have thunderstorms coming in for the next few days. I'm probably going to buy a package of 5 lessons, and go at least once a week.

[Puttin4Dough]

I think the OP's approach is fine.  

[Rykymus]

Took a lesson last Tuesday. WOW. What a fantastic experience that was! While I can't say that I'm suddenly incredibly better, there is a big difference. Turns out, my swing path was way to vertical. This was causing two problems. First, if I happened to lean down a bit on my swing, it would create a very steep angle into the ground. Such deep "chunks" probably psych'd me out and made me somewhat apprehensive about digging in so deep, hence the frequent "topping" of the ball. The second problem the vertical swing path was causing was that because of it I wasn't getting enough hip rotation, and what I was getting wasn't really translating into any additional power. My instructor stuck a tee in the ground, leaving only half an inch sticking out of the ground, and had me swing more horizontally, bringing the club head around high and behind my head, instead of around and up over my head. No ball. My goal was to always tap the tee. After a half dozen swings or so, I started tapping the tee consistently, so he had me hit some balls. Out of about 20 shots, I only had 2 or 3 tops, and the rest were long, straight, and felt considerably easier and more natural than anything I can remember hitting well in the past.

I'm still struggling to always interact with the ground, but now I know what I was doing wrong. For now, I stopped hitting balls into my practice net, and just swing at a tee sticking out of the ground. My next day at the range 2 days later, while still not perfect, was a lot better.  I feel like I'm on the road to recovery. I plan on practicing this new swing path regularly, and going back to for another lesson at the end of the month, and then every other week after that, until I get where I want to be.

Ya'll were right. Take a lesson.