unscathed

Here's one: workability.

It always puzzled me... didn't Earl always use to jingle change in his pocket and hoot and holler while Tiger was trying to hit a shot? I'm not saying it's right, but a camera shutter shouldn't be that much different.

Kekoa, not to h/j your thread, but are you the same Kekoa as the one on S2ki? Don't really know of any good swing coaches in the OC, btw. The best swing coach for the money is a video camera with slo-mo play back, IMO. :)

3Jack, Wow... thanks for the in depth play by play. I apologize for the film quality - I'm using consumer grade equipment, so we don't exactly have the Phantom v5 at my disposal, so... Allow me to address a few of your comments. First and foremost, your comments are unbiased and objective to a T. All the things you point out I see in my own swing. Setup - I've tried many spine angles in the past. What you see in the video has worked best for me. It's been pointed out that my lower back makes a 'S' which subjects me to lower back injury in the long run. I'll be trying to modify that so as to not injure myself. As for the actual spine angle, with my current set up the lie of my irons are dead on. With my anatomical proportions, if I were to lean forward and bend my knees any more than they are already, I'd have to mess with getting my lie angle changed, but not before hitting some pretty bad pulls. (Greater spine angle -> greater knee bend -> club toe up -> "normal" from clubface would be left of target line -> pull) I figure this set up works and I'm still able to swing athletically through the ball, so there's really no reason to change it. If you watch Tiger swing his driver nowadays, his set up is fairly upright as well, but that all changes during his transition to the downswing where he hits Mach 3. Top of Swing - I've worked hard to reach this position consistently. My left wrist used to be cupped because I was one of the beginners who thought I was hinging the wrist by cupping it. Also, I used to be on a very flat swing plane, but that's since been changed. First move down - This is a very recent change to my swing. People would say that I'm lunging and casting the club which I didn't feel at all. I started to experiment and it turns out that the sensation that created the correct path is really deceiving. I feel like I'm making a very very minor loop behind me as I'm turning my hips. Simultaneous with this loop is the turning of my hips. I understand that if I were to overdo this loop action that I'll pull the ball waaaay left, but if done right, this creates a sensation of a charged clubshaft I've never felt before. Let me address my hips now. If the critics had to nitpick at Tiger's swing, and believe me, this is only what they're saying - I'm not saying anything of the sort (Tiger, in the 1 in a million chance that you're trolling this forum and the 1 in a billion chance that I make it on tour, I'm not bagging on your swing AT ALL - I'd hate to be on your black list even before making it on tour) - they'd say that Tiger swings better when his lower body is in sync with his torso. It's when his hips outrace his shoulders by a gross amount that he starts to lose a little of his accuracy. Now magnify that 1000 fold and you've got my situation - now THAT is true Army Golf as Tiger would say. Tiger's swing is a combination of Indiana Jones' skill with the whip, the accuracy of an electron microscope and the ballsiness of Phil Ivey at the WSOP Main Event. My swing is that of a scratch golfer (hit the ball, scratch head, ask "did you see my shot? where'd it go?") so I prefer the consistency of a more pendulum like motion that still exerts enough force into the back of the ball than that of a whip. I understand that I'm losing some power by not clearing my hips more, but I'll take consistency over power. Afterall, a 170 yard 7 iron and a 290 yard (with roll) driver is long enough to hang with the big boys out on Tour. I plan to hone my short game, dial in my putting and watch what I say and write about Tiger on the internet and with any luck, I'll be playing alongside some of the greats of our time when they graduate to the Sr. PGA tour. :) Thanks for the spot-on critique! -Gabe

Thanks for all the comments. I've taken you guys up on posting the video on swingacademy so you can see the swing in slowmo. here's the link: http://www.swingacademy.com/SwingAna...ol.aspx?id=482 Not sure why, but swingacademy's video of me has some crazy timing/rhythm problems so refer back to the youtube video for my real swing rhythm. (how many forum junkies can spell "rhythm" correctly??) Ganja - my driver usually carries about 250-260 with a clubhead speed of 108 average. I'm no long ball hitter, but I can usually get home in two on your every day par 4s with a comfortable short iron. TourSpoon - good eyes. I do usually start a few inches outside of the ball. I'll look into bringing it back on-line, but when I used to do that I had a tendency to come across the line at the top. Thanks again for taking your time to view my video.

That's a great question. I want to know something about fairway pitching/chipping - I see this all the time with the pros where it looks like they bladed their shot, but it ends up biting like a rabid dog on the green and spins back towards the pin. I've pulled it off a couple times, but I have no idea how I did it. Answers? (sorry if I've just HJ'd your thread...)

Hello everyone, I've become a frequent visitor to the site, but I haven't posted a video yet. I finally got around to it, so here's my driver swing from 2 days ago. Please lemme know what you guys think. Thanks!

Ringer, Wow... I've never seen an instructional video I didn't think was gimmicky and trivial, but this video has proven to be insightful. You've obviously done a TON of analysis on how the hips really move in the golf swing and really cleared up the topic as opposed to muddying it some more. I've been trying darn hard to figure this out, but instructors always tell me that I look like I'm lunging at the ball. In reality, I'm only clearing the left side without altering my spine angle like you mentioned in your video. Thanks again for providing yet another piece of the golf puzzle - I'll be subscribing to your YouTube videos now.

you guys ever heard of Miura Golf?

only one word comes to mind: Solid.

I'm not usually one for golf gadgets and gizmos, but a specific product comes to mind and I think incidentally, Butch Harmon's the endorser of this product. Basically, the gadget is a laser stuck to the butt end of the club. As you swing, the laser dot should follow a straight line from the ball all the way back to the top of your backswing. Your downswing should follow pretty much the same path (straight line) back to the ball and through impact. Lay down a club in front and behind the ball, grab yourself a laser pointer and lemme know if your swing looks any better. :)

I completely agree. Pros know what to look for and common causes for less than optimal ball flights. Everyone's swings are different because no two people have the exact same build. A good swing coach will take a Jim Furyk-looking swing, concentrate on the essence of the swing and discard the less important bits and make players like Jim Furyk a tour caliber player. If you know what to look for in your own swing, I'd say invest in a camcorder with a slo-mo frame by frame playback function. Golf lessons with any worthwhile pro will run right around $45/half hour - the camcorder will soon pay for itself.

here's a swing thought that might help: turn your left knuckles down towards the ground at impact. This thought promotes proper release which is key to maximizing distance. If you've released properly, chances are your impact position was also pretty good. Impact is not something you can really practice, IMO - it's a split second. You can practice everything that leads up to and follows impact and that should be enough to help you flush it.

Hmm.. let me give it a try... I found out that it's best to analyze a swing with both a down the line and a face on video so that you get more than just 2 dimensions to work with. Be that as it may... It seems like you're coming up on your backswing. I'm guessing if you were to show us a face on video, you've probably got some lateral swaying movement as well. The good news is aside from that, that's really your biggest problem. With a more upright upper body position at the top of the backswing, you're pretty much forced to "lunge" back down at the ball from "tall" back to "normal". If you don't time it just right, this tall to normal movement will promote a severe out to in swing as well as a deep divot due to the excessive vertical movement. You hear the pros say "turn AROUND your spine." This is the most applicable swing tip for you. Don't allow yourself to have any sort of lateral movement, turn your back to the target and bring your arms up like you have been to complete your backswing. You might even feel as if you're reverse pivoting a little, but unless you're really overdoing it, chances are you aren't really reverse pivoting. Like I said earlier, don't worry about changing your downswing, do everything you're doing from the top of your backswing through the follow through except the lunging action. You should be cured after that. Hit a few buckets, down a beer and post back in the morning. :)

Ah, Putting... one of my many pet peeve topics when it comes to what many golf instructors tell you to do. "Don't peek - keep your eyes down even after the ball leaves the putter." I tried doing just that, but I found that my putting became just a shot in the dark and a prayer that I get it close. After much exploration, I've discovered a better way to go about it and since my discovery, I've become a MUCH better putter. And lemme tell you, it had nothing to do with "not peeking." Not peeking is like telling a billiards player to keep focusing on the tip of his cue even after the cue ball has left the tip. That's like telling a basketball player to take a few looks at the basket before the shot, but from then on out, focus only on the index and pointer fingers of his shooting hand. Just doesn't work. My stance is an isosceles triangle with the golf ball bisecting the base of the triangle exactly - which means the putter head would be a golf ball's radius behind the midpoint of the base of the triangle. After lining up the putt, I focus on the leading "edge" of the ball, take a few "pictures" of the hole as Tiger likes to say, pull back the putter head square (my eyes are still on the leading edge of the ball - since I know what the putter's going to do on its way back, I shouldn't need to watch), then watch the ball leave the putter face, THEN FOLLOW THE BALL WITH MY EYES TOWARDS THE HOLE. Most times, it goes in - or if it's a lag put, I usually don't have too much more work to do. Don't get too anxious and look too early, but don't feel as if you need to keep your eyes on the spot where the golf ball used to be. Just my $.02. :)