My Swing (howaboutme)

[howaboutme]

 

 

I've been Playing Golf for: Hard to say. I started to play in high school very casually and was self-taught. (I'm 42) Played off and on through college and early adulthood (mostly off, talking 1 or 2x a year). Took a huge break (more than 10 years) swinging a club then was invited to a work related event a couple of months ago and I'm hooked. Been hitting at least 1x a week since.
My current handicap index or average score is: Unknown
My typical ball flight is: No consistency but irons tend to be straight, whether right or left. But driver is tough for me and almost always a slice.
The shot I hate or the "miss" I'm trying to reduce/eliminate is: Driver but concentrating almost 100% on irons first

First, thanks in advance. I've been lurking and reading the instructional threads and they've been so helpful. I've already applied some of what I've read that I thought was relevant. Some examples include the right grip, flaring the feet, and the 5SK videos. I've always been curious about how my swing looks so while out at the range today, I asked my 9 year old to record me. (Forgive me if the videos aren't perfect.) When I saw it replayed in real time and slow mo, it was an eye opener. I'm looking forward to hearing what everyone has to say.

Note that the clubs I am using are a pre-owned set I got not too long ago. It's a TM R9 iron set. I've been almost exclusively hitting w/ the 7i but do break out the 5i too. I got them regripped recently to a medium (had help at my local shop to determine) but assume everything else is standard.

A few things that have caught my eye are:

• Wow, my posture is bad (I knew that).
• My left leg/knee turns way too much
• Head not in the same place through swing
• I seem to be crouched down too much?
• I seem all scrunched up at moment of impact
• My follow through is not consistent. You may not see it here but I sometimes am not fully in balance at end of swing.

Here are the videos. Thanks!

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Videos: 

FO

 

DTL

 

Edited October 15, 2018 by howaboutme
typos

[iacas]

Here, do this first:

Post pictures of a better setup and then get back to us.

[howaboutme]

Thank you very much!

Another very informative article to read. :) Much appreciated.

[howaboutme]

I've been studying the posture post and I see (I think) similarities between what that is stating and what my current set up is. I definitely do not have a straight back and my chin is down. However, I do see where my hands are setup and that should be a bit further away from my body, which could make my stance a bit more tall and my FOV may get better.

Is this what you are seeing?

Thank you.

[iacas]

Yes, you're actually perhaps rounding down too much, while simultaneously having the club between your thighs a bit too much.

I like the butt end of the club to be pointing around your belt buckle, and a "thumbs up" away from your zipper. Your hips should probably be slanted more.

[howaboutme]

1 hour ago, iacas said:

Yes, you're actually perhaps rounding down too much, while simultaneously having the club between your thighs a bit too much.

I like the butt end of the club to be pointing around your belt buckle, and a "thumbs up" away from your zipper. Your hips should probably be slanted more.

Understood except for the line in bold. Can you explain? Thank you!

[iacas]

12 minutes ago, howaboutme said:

Understood except for the line in bold. Can you explain? Thank you!

Make a thumbs up. The grip should be that far away from your zipper.

[howaboutme]

Hit the range w/ my daughter today to work on just my setup. Not only is she doing great in learning to hit the ball but she's also my photographer! 🙂 She's not perfect but I'm appreciative and she loves helping. Below are 2 images (both screen captures from videos, sorry for the darkness, sun right in line) taken at 2 different points of the session. The first one is earlier in the session while the 2nd is at the end. As you can see, my posture gets much better as I get a better feel about my stance, posture, what my head should do and where my hands are.

I noticed that I am getting better contact on my irons but the most striking and immediate gain to what I worked on is how I hit my driver. I have never hit it well and it's almost always a slice. However, with the new stance and setup, I'm starting to get better contact and hitting it straight (or straighter) more consistently. I don't know enough to figure out why except that maybe with a more stretched out stance (rather than being so wrapped up) I am able to unwind better, which helps my timing. Either way, I saw positivities. I'll continue to work on just this and see if this continues or if it is a fluke.

Earlier in session:

Working on the thumbs up location of club and hands suggested earlier.

End of session:

back is a bit straighter but perhaps head can be a bit "chin down". this is the setup resulting in a good driver output.

Thank you.

[howaboutme]

I made a side by side video of the earlier (10/14) swing versus the last one from 10/20, shown above. Some of my takeaways are that the setup/posture is better, I have more room between the club and my body, but I am still a bit too scrunched up at address. It does look like that the new setup helps me get a better extension at address but just barely so more work to do there.

I will say that there is something about my downswing that bothers me. More so in full speed then slow motion but perhaps it has to be with me overswinging? I do have a driver kind of backswing, mostly because I just don't know better.

I'm going to continue to work on making sure my setup and posture is 2nd nature for a while before moving on to something else. (Right now, I have to conciously get my body in that position.)

Thanks in advance.

PS. After looking at swing again, I realize I lift up my forward foot....I shouldn't?

Edited October 23, 2018 by howaboutme
Added "PS"