jbc311

1 - The more passive my hands and arms feel through impact the better I hit the ball. I want my hands loose and relaxed so that they will release under the weight of swinging the club without any help from me. Of course there may be some subjectivity as to the "correct" feeling, but this has long been a swing thought of mine and I've found it tremendously helpful.

I'm not sure that practicing taking a divot for the sake of taking a divot is a very effective way to practice. Without a more specific goal in mind, like delivering the club to the ground in a particular way, it could even be destructive. You may find it promotes compensations that cause you to take a beautiful divot in just the right spot, but aren't worth a crap for hitting a ball. As my swing has progressed I have taken huge divots with awful swings, and no little or no divot with swings that are pretty good. I don't mean to be negative, just saying I'd be cautious to make those sorts of adjustments without good guidance and a proper understanding of why you want to take a divot. You may consider buying a net. They're pretty cheap and at least you can practicing matching good contact with good divots.

I don't think I played a full course until I had been hitting the range and par 3s for a solid 6 months to a year. If you cant hit a driver at least 150 or so with some consistency, then I cant imagine a full course being anything but frustrating. If you insist on playing the full courses though, it is right as a paying customer. But please learn etiquette first, most importantly the part about allowing others to play through. Most of the other players won't mind a hack, but can't stand an inconsiderate hack.

Overall I like your setup, but your feet may be just a bit right of your target line. You're lifting the club with your wrists on the takeaway which is bring the club to the inside and shortening your swing arc. Also lifting your head considerably during the backswing and its forcing you to reach for the ball at impact. Your downswing look pretty arm dominant. At impact your belt buckle is pointing almost straight at the ball. You're hips make a full rotation later, but they are following your upper body, and ideally it would be the other way around. I'd like to see your hips more involved earlier and take the lead into the ball.

I hit my driver at about that same speed and I use a stiff shaft and love it. I've always heard that too stiff of a shaft is worse than too soft, so err on the soft side. But I'm certainly no expert club fitter and I'd recommend that you talk to someone who is before you buy your next set. And there's no harm in trying an x-stiff to see what you think. If its too stiff for you the tendency to look for is a low trajectory and the ball will want to stay out to the right.

In my experience this is almost always caused by failure to commit to the shot, which leads to slowing down through impact and a breakdown of technique. Chipping from tight lies is mostly a mental obstacle. It is important to visualize the shot and have a good pre-shot routine, then to commit to hitting the ball just as you practiced it. I've found it helpful to remind myself that a shot with poor touch or club selection but good technique will be far better than a skull or a chunk. Also, replicate the lie by a practice green and just concentrate on making good contact. It will build your confidence and provide a good mental image to draw in when you encounter the shot during a round.

I'm no expert, but: 1) The first move of your downswing is a dramatic drop of your head. A drill you might consider is to have a partner hold the butt of a club still under your chin through your backswing and a VERY SLOW downswing (do not use a ball for this drill). Keep your chin on the butt of the club. The idea is to get a feel for what it feels like to hold your head still, and the club provides a reference point for this. Repeat this several times and then hit a few balls and try to replicate the feeling of holding your head still. 2) Your knees appear completely locked at address. Knee flex is vital to rotation and weight shift through the ball. As a result the first move of your downswing is to bend your back knee (also a major factor to dropping your head). Flex your knees from address and hold that flex through the backswing. You will need to be careful not to bend your knee more as you start your downswing as you are doing now. The above drill should help with that, because if you bend your knee into your downswing your head will drop. Reference any tour pro for an appropriate amount of knee flex and good knee action trough the swing. 3) You are doing a good job of loading your weight on your back foot in the backswing, and now you need to work on shifting that weight to your front foot through your downswing and into your follow through. You should finish the swing with ~90% of your weight on your front foot. Again, watch a tour pro's swing in slow motion for a good model to copy. 4) You would probably benefit from slowing your swing down (especially the PW). Once you fundamentals are a bit more solid you would want to reincorporate speed into your swing. To be honest your swing is at its fastest well past the ball (something you'll work on in time), so you may not notice much distance loss from slowing it down. In fact, with better mechanics and cleaner contact you may find you hit the ball farther with a slower swing.

Half swings are definitely a good place to start. Lag is created by letting your hip rotation drive the swing and keeping your hands and arms quiet. Take half swings, concentrating on letting the rotation of your hips deliver the club to the ball and keeping your hands and arms completely out of the motion. DO NOT do this by tensing your arms and grip, they need to stay nice and loose. Getting an idea of what lag feels like is tough. Find a light weight broom and take a few swings with it. The air resistance will create lag and give you a better feel for what you are trying to accomplish. There are also training aids that are essentially a grip with a paddle attached to it that accomplish the same thing a bit more effectively.