My Swing (RikaAus)

[RikaAus]

I've been Playing Golf for: 15 years - returning after six years of very sporadic golf.
My current handicap index or average score is: 13.
My typical ball flight is: Draw.
The shot I hate or the "miss" I'm trying to reduce/eliminate is: Hook and ‘two-way’ miss.

Hi everyone,

Long time reader, first time poster..
I’m returning to golf - I used to play regularly but stopped around 6 years ago to focus on other sports (cricket - I’m in Australia...) 

I got my index (handicap here in Australia) down to a 6 but having come back to the sport over the past year or so (sporadically at best - playing once every couple of months) I have struggled with my game. 

I have always relied on timing and hand-eye coordination but that has seemed to have left me somewhat. Now I would generally shoot anywhere from high seventies to low nineties - inconsistent.

I usually hit a draw but this has been exacerbated since coming back as well as hitting a block. I’ve even gone through a period of shanking it (apologies for using the word..) 

I’ve uploaded two swings (better ones) with a driver and 5 iron. Generally speaking when I play well, I rely on good ball striking (noting that my short game is ok - focussing on ball striking at the moment and getting some sort of rhythm).

I’m looking to be more conisistent but don’t know much about swing mechanics or where to start. I would really appreciate some advice that more more informed opinions and keener eyes than mine might be able to offer.

Thanks in advance! 

Rick.

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Videos: 

 

 

[iacas]

10 hours ago, RikaAus said:

My typical ball flight is: Draw.
The shot I hate or the "miss" I'm trying to reduce/eliminate is: Hook and ‘two-way’ miss.

I usually hit a draw but this has been exacerbated since coming back as well as hitting a block. I’ve even gone through a period of shanking it (apologies for using the word..) 

Yeah, that makes total sense, as you swing out a TON:

That's way, way, way too much to really be playable.

Your left arm just stays "in" or "deep" for so long, the last thing you do late in your downswing is to just thrust everything OUT to get something out to the golf ball. Thrusting "out" leads to shanks, too:

So why does this happen?

Because at the top of your backswing, you drop your hands DEEPER and DOWNWARD:

This sets them to travel more along the yellow path (exaggerated for the illustration - the hands never get that low), resulting in a big slinging path out to the right.

What you should feel and work on is reversing this: at the top, feel as though your hands shift OUT and stay high, like they're sliding out along a shelf or something:

You'll come through impact swinging well to the left if you exaggerate this a lot, which you will likely need to do a lot.

Do you actually need to carry the arms outward along a "shelf" at the top? No. But you should find that your left arm is somewhere between these two guys, generally speaking:

[RikaAus]

Thanks for the insight and analysis iacas - I really appreciate it and the graphics certainly highlight some of what (namely, the issue!) is going on.

I like the concept of sliding the hands along a shelf. To ingrain that feeling and the mechanics, are there any drills you would suggest I practice?

Thanks again.