boomersooner13

One thing I do want to say, if for only the reason of making myself feel better: in the first video, Freddy hit a 7 iron on the 164 yard par 3. At the range, the hitting area was 15 yards back of the markers and the flag I was playing was 165. So I guess I've got the distance down? I don't know, I feel like my swing is relatively "easy going", compared to what it used to be. Looking forward to the critiques. Be gentle though....

I'm pretty much rebuilding my swing. I play a low handicap (although it may not look like it), but I want my swing to be more "buttery" like Fred Couples. There are a few things that he does that I'll simply never be able to do, because I'm 6'4''. Fred: But anyways, sorry about the color of the videos. It started to rain so my phone tried to auto correct the brightness and i tried to fix it in editing. Also, the phone camera is on the ground because I had nothing to stand it up on. It kind of hurts the critique-ability I suppose, but you can still see the major points. Here is my 7 iron. My rebuilding purpose is basically to just be more smooth like Freddy. I have to work on my rotation for sure, and my swing plane will have to change dramatically. My driver motion and twist is really over exaggerated from this angle. I didn't have a stand, so the camera sat on the ground. It's not quite as bad as it looks, but I do really "crank" the club back. It's what I've done since I was a kid and I've learned to play around it. Not looking so much to rebuild this aspect like Fred Couples. Just looking for tips.

I did just want to say that that may be just me. I know when I was putting all the weight on my heel, I was "flipping" my wrists.....Every golfer is different, and that may work for you. In that case, disregard what I said....

I noticed one thing that I feel and have always been taught is critical, but I'm sure others on here will disagree with me or say that it's not as big of a deal as I'm saying it is. If you look at your front foot when you're making contact with the ball, you'll see that your toes are coming up. This means, more than likely, you're putting all of your weight on your heel which usually says that you're standing up to get your body out of the way. I believe it even more in seeing that your first step after hitting the ball is falling backwards. From what I saw, it looks like your ball trajectory may be a little high, so i'd assume that your wrists are perhaps a little over active through impact. You want to finish more on the front edge of the front foot as opposed to the heel of the front foot. Try to eliminate that "toe lift" and work on moving more "straight' onto that front foot. This will let you trap the ball against the ground better, have a lower trajectory, get more spin, and pick up some distance. Again, this is just the first thing I'd work on. I was always taught that when fixing/critiquing a swing, start from the ground up....literally. Start with the feet and move up from there....so yeah, that's where I'd start.

Just did something similar. I went from playing TaylorMade 360's for ~8 years, bought MP-59's about 2 weeks ago, and immediately sold them off and bought the taylormade MC's haha. (they're the best club I've ever hit besides a blade) To answer your questions: yes, it is common. It's almost like, more or less, buying a new car. It takes a while to get used to the sensitivity of the steering wheel, turn radius, height/depth, etc. You just have to become comfortable with it. That being said, to answer "How long can I expect this to go on??". Well, as long as you want it to. As soon as you start your swing, your club is just another part of your body. The quicker you become comfortable with it and trust it, the quicker you'll begin to hit solid and pure shots. With my new MC's, I just went to the range, put the clubs in my hands, and just kind of swung it back and forth, watching it the whole way. I know it sounds stupid and crazy, but I just sat there and watched its every move haha. Once I did this, I pretty much said "okay, i see how it moves, how it feels, how it feels when it moves correctly", etc. I hit a few balls with very smooth, easy swings, felt the response, and I was ready. I'm not saying I'm some sort of God, but I've been playing the game for a while. My swing mechanics didn't change, only the club did. Once i realized and accepted that I was able to make slight and minor adjustments to hit the ball like I always have, but now even better. FWIW though, new irons help more than you'd ever think. I was a 9 handicap about a month or two ago but these irons have allowed me to work the ball more and give me much better feedback. I was routinely shooting 78-81, but in the last 2 weeks I've played 6 rounds and haven't shot worse than a 76 (70 was my best.....trying to break that damn 60's barrier!) Good luck.

I'm also no expert, never had lessons (other than from my father), and haven't seen a swing coach or anything, but I'm a (humbly) good player and I just wanted to say that I see one area where you're probably losing a lot of distance. It's most evident in the very first video you posted: In the first slo-mo part, you can see that on your down swing, your hands move away from your body, and I'd be willing to bet that you suffer from a slice every now and then. The biggest thing I want to point out is your weight shift. You can see in the side shot/2nd "slow mo" part of the first video that when you hit the ball, you're coming "up". Your weight should be shifted through your body from the back to the front to transfer that power to the ball. I can tell that your 6 iron shot probably went in a parabola-like shape. This may not be a big deal to some people, but I was always taught that 6i, 5i, 4i, 3i, and 2i shots should be more driven. Try to get those hands away from your body (towards the target) and your weight to shift in the same direction instead of up. This will get you more control and more distance.

All were very good suggestions, but I couldn't figure it out no matter what I did. I exaggerated everything I could, shortened/dissected everything I could, and still can't explain it. So I went to the clubhouse a couple of days ago when I was checking in to the tournament I had previously mentioned and got sucked into testing out the Mizuno MP-59's I don't know how yall feel about them, or if anyone has them, but i hit 10-15 balls with the 3i and about 25 more (I just couldn't stop) with the 7i and I've NEVER been more impressed with my golf shot. Like I said, with my 360's I used to hit really nice, driven shots. But the way the ball came off of these irons was absolutely amazing to me. I immediately started shaft and grip fitting for them and they should be ready in a couple of days haha. I do appreciate the tips. The closest I got to solving the problem was really emphasizing my impact position. I mean REALLY emphasizing it. I was taught the golf swing before I was potty trained so my fundamentals are (humbly) solid, but I tried really emphasizing leading with my hands and the ball went a little more in the "x" direction, but I was still short by about 15 yards of what I've hit these irons at for the last 4 years. Anyways, here's to a new start with these Mizuno's. It's been a LOOOOONG time since I changed up the bag since I'm a creature of habit. But I'm excited and nervous at the same time to see how long it takes to adapt to the changes. Thanks again.

My first one will just be of my sand wedge approach. I would upload some more, but the ones I got were hard to see because the wind was blowing so freaking hard out there that no matter what I did, the camera wouldn't stay still. Anyways, I'm posting this one because I see two things in it that really make me nervous. You won't be able to tell until the slow-mo part of it, but it's definitely noticeable. I got the desired result on this shot (if you watch you can see the ball land and roll on the front of the "green"). But this is my typical sand wedge shot from about 30-40 yards. The two things: 1. My initial takeaway is all sorts of messed up. It looks like I'm pushing the club to the side and back. Is this something I should concentrate on immediately or could I survive without spending too much time on in? 2. Pause it at the 20 second mark and you'll see that there is something going on with my wrists....it's weird. Anyone have any idea? I'm just curious because these are things I don't do with my irons and I've never noticed them before.... And again, sorry for the short video, but as you can see it was windy as anything out there, and there was no way in heck I was gonna be able to set up the camera for a front view. I'll get it next time. I'll try to get my driver, 4 iron, and 7 iron up within the next few weeks. Thanks in advance for the help.

I would say something to think about next time you go out and hit a bucket is fluidity . You seem to be very stiff and unrelaxed. But hey, alot of great golfers play to their comfort. One thing I would recommend practicing is creating more of a lag which will allow more power behind your shots. Your ball flight looked solid from what I could see, but I think you could gain some more distance. I would DEFINITELY listen to the advice about your wrists, as that can be the difference between dropping the ball onto the green and sending a low shot bouncing onto the green and over it. Here's what I was talking about with the lag: As you said, your swing is self-built. I don't think that's a bad thing at all. Like I said, people tend to play to their comforts. (If I posted a video of my drives, nobody would know what kind of shape I was twisting myself into). People's differences are part of what makes golf so interesting. But I think in order to take your game to the next level, you need to be more "fluid", get your wrists under control, shift your weight so you drive into the ball, and create a lag in your swing. Combining those will get you putting a few more times a round when you're used to chipping after an off shot. Best of luck buddy.

Got home and this my previous submit was still loading so I hit refresh, and now it's up....? Weird Anyways, I went to the range today to set out to fix this problem...... 315 range balls later, I still have no idea. This is seriously the strangest thing that's happened to me in my golfing career (I've been playing since I came out of the womb). I'm starting to think I'm pulling a Tin Cup and my head's just getting in the way? I'm going to go out tomorrow during the busiest time of the day, get in the very middle of the range, and wear some funky clothes or something and see if that takes my mind off of it. Like I said, I've played golf recreationally and competitively my entire life and my swings have been effortless for as long as I can remember. So maybe it is just my head. Anyways, if anyone has any idea at all, please let me know. I'm playing in a buy-in tournament in a couple of weekends and really need to get it fixed by then. Next time I go out I'll try to snag a video and let yall dissect it. Thanks

I really haven't noticed too much of a difference in my marks after my swing. I looked at that first and my marks were as deep and wide as they usually are. My shot style is almost like a "drive the ball into the ground" type thing, so I initially thought I was just "throwing" the club under the ball, if you will. I went back to the range and made sure I was still swinging the same way, and after slowing it down and having my playing partner (of 9 years) watch that and my full swing, we couldn't find anything wrong. I'm going to the range today to see if I can't figure something out. I feel like I've studied every dimension of this and just can't find anything....

New here, so a little about myself: 21 year old, currently playing under a handicap of around 7-9. What in the bag: Driver: Adams Speedline (Yeah I know, but I love it) Irons: Good ole fashioned Taylormade 360's, forged Woods: Taylormade Burner 2.0 (favorite clubs I've ever owned) Putter: Odyssey White Hot #1 (haven't been able to get rid of it) Now, here's my problem. For the last few rounds I've played, I've been hitting my irons with high loft. It's severely decreasing my distance. For example: I'm used to hitting my 5 iron right around 203 (last time we calibrated), but now I'm hitting it about 185-190. My shots used to be very hard, driven shots, but now they're skying way up and it's hurting my scores badly. I haven't changed up anything so I'm not sure what to do. I use the same balls, same clubs (that i've had forever), keep the ball in the same position in my stance, and haven't changed up my swing or stance....it just kind of started happening. Anyone got any tips for me so that I can stop this madness?