My Swing (RKM25)

[RKM25]

 

 

I've been Playing Golf for: 3.5 years
My current handicap index or average score is: 105
My typical ball flight is: Draw
The shot I hate or the "miss" I'm trying to reduce/eliminate is: Hook, hitting behind the ball

Hey,

 

As per above, I’ve been playing a little over three and a half years now. I play at least 4 rounds a month, and go to the range twice a week. As you can see I have not get very far at all! Such a difficult game, but love it too much to quit!

 

I have over the last 3.5 years, maybe had 40/50 lessons (30mins generally), with three different instructors. Mainly changed due to moving Club. Equal amount with each I’d say. Although I thought of them all highly, and I dedicated a lot of my time to their instruction, I always failed to get much further. The first and last coach both even gave me free lessons at points because we couldn’t find a way to make it work for me. Interestingly the middle coach just encouraged me to play with what I have and enjoy the game. Although I liked this mantra for a while, I never progressed. Especially for someone playing as frequent as I do.

 

I know I could drop shots by practicing my putting/chipping more, and appreciate this is where the scoring is made. But it is never satisfying duffing shots all the way into a position, where my short game can commence.

 

I being one of those (annoying) individuals who over analyses my swing can see lots of faults. My main gripe has always been my chicken wing. Which I have never been able to remove. I also stand up at impact, lift the handle up at impact, and flip (EVERYTHING hah!). Because my swing is based so much on timing etc, it is extremely unpredictable shot to shot. I can hit massive hooks, then the ground.

 

I could discuss my swing for ages but that would become very boring! I have attached a video, but I appreciate the angle and lighting isn’t great. I will try and get a front on video, and better DTL video in the next couple days.

 

Thank you to anyone who has time to comment!

 

 

---

Videos: 

 

 

[RKM25]

Hey all,

I found a face on video from a while ago... I appreciate it isn't the best! Hopefully its helps a little. Will add more in due course 🙂

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

[billchao]

Good videos from the proper angles will help people see what's going on.

https://thesandtrap.com/b/playing_tips/filming_your_swing

[RKM25]

9 minutes ago, billchao said:

Good videos from the proper angles will help people see what's going on.

https://thesandtrap.com/b/playing_tips/filming_your_swing

You are right billchao, and I will endeavour to update with better videos ASAP!

[RKM25]

A couple other videos I already have. The first one I’d started to really try and let my core control the whole swing. Hence why it is so flat. It did produce much greater distances. As generally I am a short hitter. 

 

 

 this might be a little better on an angle

[RKM25]

@iacas Sorry if this is cheeky. Ignore me if so....

anything you can see? I do plan to update with better videos ASAP.

[RKM25]

 

 

 

 

 

[RKM25]

 

 

 

 

 

[billchao]

You'll probably get more help if you spent more time discussing different topics with others. People tend to be more willing to help people that they know than strangers asking for swing advice.

[RKM25]

15 hours ago, billchao said:

You'll probably get more help if you spent more time discussing different topics with others. People tend to be more willing to help people that they know than strangers asking for swing advice.

Thank you for the heads up billchao! Hadn’t realised this was the case. I’ll delete the thread, and try and get more involved elsewhere.

[Grizvok]

10 hours ago, RKM25 said:

Thank you for the heads up billchao! Hadn’t realised this was the case. I’ll delete the thread, and try and get more involved elsewhere.

Don't delete the thread. It's good to have up regardless of whether or not you are getting help from others. I will get back to you shortly if there is anything blatantly wrong that I notice (these are really the only types of things I can currently discern when it comes to the golf swing).

[Grizvok]

So the first thing I notice is the very obvious chicken wing. Yes we have Jordan Spieth who also has an obvious chicken wing but in my limited experience the shot that produces that look is normally indicative of some problems. I would do some research on your own for specific drills that may help and remedy that. I'm not exactly sure of the cause since it isn't something that has ever been present in my swing and thus not something I've researched, but I think attempting to fix it completely or at least making it less "chicken wingy" may help. I THINK I notice a bit of casting as well which very well may be something that can result in that chicken wing look, and I'd be bold enough to say that casting is probably the number one cause of a hook which also sort of lines up with your most common miss.

 

The other big thing I notice is that the angle of the shaft at the top of the back swing is just too much for where you are as a golfer right now. Do some successful golfers have that John Daly'esque crazy loose hinge of the wrist at the top of the backswing? Sure, but just like the chicken wing I'd say that isn't typically the norm. Typically the players that have really loose wrists at the top of the backswing are going to run into tons and tons of issues that make them simply unable to play consistent golf. In my 2.5-3 years of playing golf, I've literally never seen a player (in person) have that kind of loose wrist at the top of the backswing that was a good consistent golfer.

[RKM25]

On 6/23/2018 at 12:05 AM, Grizvok said:

So the first thing I notice is the very obvious chicken wing. Yes we have Jordan Spieth who also has an obvious chicken wing but in my limited experience the shot that produces that look is normally indicative of some problems. I would do some research on your own for specific drills that may help and remedy that. I'm not exactly sure of the cause since it isn't something that has ever been present in my swing and thus not something I've researched, but I think attempting to fix it completely or at least making it less "chicken wingy" may help. I THINK I notice a bit of casting as well which very well may be something that can result in that chicken wing look, and I'd be bold enough to say that casting is probably the number one cause of a hook which also sort of lines up with your most common miss.

 

The other big thing I notice is that the angle of the shaft at the top of the back swing is just too much for where you are as a golfer right now. Do some successful golfers have that John Daly'esque crazy loose hinge of the wrist at the top of the backswing? Sure, but just like the chicken wing I'd say that isn't typically the norm. Typically the players that have really loose wrists at the top of the backswing are going to run into tons and tons of issues that make them simply unable to play consistent golf. In my 2.5-3 years of playing golf, I've literally never seen a player (in person) have that kind of loose wrist at the top of the backswing that was a good consistent golfer.

Good evening Grizvok,

Apologies for not getting back to you sooner. I had planned to come back and delete the thread this evening. Had not realised you’d taken the time to respond. So Thank you!

You are right, I should keep it up, even if it’s just to keep a visual record of my progress.

I think your completely right! I’ve always suspected that my cast is the cause of the chicken wing/hunching at impact. My body’s way of avoiding the ground! I have been trying for a while now with not to much success to remove the cast, but it seems very odd to not try and hit the ball (as I always have) I will as you say, look into further drills to help remedy this.

One thing someone mentioned to me this morning(not on the range at the time unfortunately), is that maybe my chicken wing is a way of keeping the face from closing further through impact!? And that weakening my grip could help... I love the idea of this, but I have always been encouraged the have a strong grip.

Interesting, not something I’ve ever picked up on. I’ve been really laid off in the past. Once again I feel you may be right, as that loose feel could almost be a catalyst to a sling shot effect, and due to the over swing it would potentially cause a cast... hhmmm food for thought there! I’ll have a tinker about, and upload some of the attempts ASAP. 

I always feel I’ve had an odd swing, as it’s almost steep, but under plane too. 🧐

Once again, thank you for taking the time to help!

[Grizvok]

1 hour ago, RKM25 said:

Good evening Grizvok,

Apologies for not getting back to you sooner. I had planned to come back and delete the thread this evening. Had not realised you’d taken the time to respond. So Thank you!

You are right, I should keep it up, even if it’s just to keep a visual record of my progress.

I think your completely right! I’ve always suspected that my cast is the cause of the chicken wing/hunching at impact. My body’s way of avoiding the ground! I have been trying for a while now with not to much success to remove the cast, but it seems very odd to not try and hit the ball (as I always have) I will as you say, look into further drills to help remedy this.

One thing someone mentioned to me this morning(not on the range at the time unfortunately), is that maybe my chicken wing is a way of keeping the face from closing further through impact!? And that weakening my grip could help... I love the idea of this, but I have always been encouraged the have a strong grip.

Interesting, not something I’ve ever picked up on. I’ve been really laid off in the past. Once again I feel you may be right, as that loose feel could almost be a catalyst to a sling shot effect, and due to the over swing it would potentially cause a cast... hhmmm food for thought there! I’ll have a tinker about, and upload some of the attempts ASAP. 

I always feel I’ve had an odd swing, as it’s almost steep, but under plane too. 🧐

Once again, thank you for taking the time to help!

I just took a quick look at the closest shot of the grip, and I would not weaken it any more. It's already pretty damn weak with that right hand. Without prior knowledge of your swing faults I would probably suggest somebody strengthen it slightly as I'm sort of a sucker for both V's between the fore finger and thumb pointing to the right ear / right shoulder area. Personally I've started weakening my right hand slightly on pitches and wedges but that's just me messing around with that after I saw @iacas mention it a few times.

I've always preferred the consistency before power approach honestly. And I don't mean that stupid logic some people like to feed like "You shouldn't even bag a driver until you can score this low or whatever." Like learn to harness a certain level of power and swing length (with every club including the driver) then increase that at a time of your choosing when you think you are ready. I've always preferred that to the "I'm going to swing as long as possible and throughout my golf career attempt to learn to control that" approach.

I would absolutely make shortening the swing your priority piece right now. It just doesn't need to be that long.

[RKM25]

20 hours ago, Grizvok said:

I just took a quick look at the closest shot of the grip, and I would not weaken it any more. It's already pretty damn weak with that right hand. Without prior knowledge of your swing faults I would probably suggest somebody strengthen it slightly as I'm sort of a sucker for both V's between the fore finger and thumb pointing to the right ear / right shoulder area. Personally I've started weakening my right hand slightly on pitches and wedges but that's just me messing around with that after I saw @iacas mention it a few times.

I've always preferred the consistency before power approach honestly. And I don't mean that stupid logic some people like to feed like "You shouldn't even bag a driver until you can score this low or whatever." Like learn to harness a certain level of power and swing length (with every club including the driver) then increase that at a time of your choosing when you think you are ready. I've always preferred that to the "I'm going to swing as long as possible and throughout my golf career attempt to learn to control that" approach.

I would absolutely make shortening the swing your priority piece right now. It just doesn't need to be that long.

Good evening Grizvok,

Yes, maybe I hoped that a quick grip change would be the key to my game 😂. Once again I think you maybe right!

I tried at the range this evening to shorten my swing; wowsers is that hard!! Felt like I had absolutely no control or backswing. I appreciate that it will always feel different at first! And it definitely is the right thing to do. I could still feel my chicken wing through impact though, but maybe these are not related.

When I watch my swing, it always looks like my hands are already starting to rotate coming into impact. Especially on the last third of my swing. And then I almost start to drag everything through at once! Not sure what that means just another observation.

As usual, thank you for taking the time to help!

[Grizvok]

Regarding the grip if you were to get to a grip that was completely neutral I would probably say weaken the left hand slightly and also slightly strengthen the right hand. I don't really think this is something you need to do but just something I thought I would point out to help categorize your grip as a strong'ish left hand and a weak'ish right.

 

I would also suggest you read through @iacas thread regarding practice and what constitutes good practice. If your practice time is spent rapidly hitting ball after ball at your normal swing effort you aren't going to make much progress at "changing the picture." Typically when I'm at the range actually working on stuff and not just loosening up for a round, I probably hit a ball a minute or so. I'm spending my time practicing a specific piece, checking video of my last few strokes to see if I like the look of what it was I was doing or just thinking about what it is I'm trying to accomplish. I don't know if this is applicable to what you do during your practice, but I thought I'd at least point out some of the more effective ways to go about your practice.

 

 

[RKM25]

On 6/26/2018 at 3:33 PM, Grizvok said:

Regarding the grip if you were to get to a grip that was completely neutral I would probably say weaken the left hand slightly and also slightly strengthen the right hand. I don't really think this is something you need to do but just something I thought I would point out to help categorize your grip as a strong'ish left hand and a weak'ish right.

 

I would also suggest you read through @iacas thread regarding practice and what constitutes good practice. If your practice time is spent rapidly hitting ball after ball at your normal swing effort you aren't going to make much progress at "changing the picture." Typically when I'm at the range actually working on stuff and not just loosening up for a round, I probably hit a ball a minute or so. I'm spending my time practicing a specific piece, checking video of my last few strokes to see if I like the look of what it was I was doing or just thinking about what it is I'm trying to accomplish. I don't know if this is applicable to what you do during your practice, but I thought I'd at least point out some of the more effective ways to go about your practice.

 

 

I spent some time today hitting balls. I only hit 40, but I took nearly an hour and a half, doing as you and Iacas say. It surprising how difficult it is to not just mash every ball, But as you guys say, I'm not going to get any better unless I actually take the time to practice correctly.

I've been reading threads where it suggested doing the '9-3' drill, to engrain good technique(assuming you can find said technique). What I quickly realised is that I don't 😂. I will insert the video in below. What I realised when looking at the video is that I'm really turning my shoulders into impact.... Annoyingly I only noticed this when home. I'm now very intrigued to try holding the shoulders back a little when next visiting the range. Could this be potentially encouraging a hook, and early extension maybe?

 

Edited June 30, 2018 by iacas
embedded video

[Grizvok]

5 hours ago, RKM25 said:

I spent some time today hitting balls. I only hit 40, but I took nearly an hour and a half, doing as you and Iacas say. It surprising how difficult it is to not just mash every ball, But as you guys say, I'm not going to get any better unless I actually take the time to practice correctly.

I've been reading threads where it suggested doing the '9-3' drill, to engrain good technique(assuming you can find said technique). What I quickly realised is that I don't 😂. I will insert the video in below. What I realised when looking at the video is that I'm really turning my shoulders into impact.... Annoyingly I only noticed this when home. I'm now very intrigued to try holding the shoulders back a little when next visiting the range. Could this be potentially encouraging a hook, and early extension maybe?

 

https://vimeo.com/277280719 

 

 

What I’m not liking is that you are indeed shortening your swing but you seem to still have roughly the same amount of wrist hinge. Wrist hinge is good, there are no doubts about it, but allowing the wrists to be too loose just causes inconsistency problems across the board. It’s absolutely a super important part of swing speed but you need to find a reasonable level of it to where it isn’t causing you to flip at the ball. I’m not saying it’s the only reason you flip at the ball but it may be a big factor.