tribecalledjeff1

I can do that tomorrow. Until then, I am below plane on video in my backswing, which forces me to come over the top a bit on my downswing to get on plane - but it's very handsy and not consistent. I am more just looking for general backswing keys and thoughts than a specific analysis of my swing.

I've been working on getting my backswing steeper, as it has a tendency to get too flat. However, I can't get a consistent thought or key in my head that works. It seems like any solution to make the plane steeper eventually makes it too steep, and then I'm fighting the other way. The pendulum just swings back and forth between too steep and too flat, and I can't get consistent. I think that at hip high, my clubface should be parallel to my spine angle and the club should be pointing down the target line through my hands. However, from there to the tip I am inconsistent and can't get a solid thought that helps me without eventually overdoing it. What do you guys think about or focus on during the backswing?

I've been playing with this a bit, and I've found that it helps to keep my right knee solid, limit hip rotation a bit, and stop me from swaying. I am able to focus on making a full shoulder turn without worrying about my hips, because with the right foot turned in, as slight as 5 degrees, they really can't do much. I am hitting the ball better, but I wonder why I've never seen this. Is there some reason that I should NOT be doing this? Thanks, Jeff

Wow, thank you very much for that analysis, which obviously took you some time. I feel like I just got a free lesson! Just to clarify, and to make sure that I'm not oversimplifying what you have said. I should try to make my set up look a little more like I do at impact? I think that would also be a lot more comfortable and better for my back, too. Is it ok to have my hands as high at setup as they currently are at my impact position? That would obviously result in a steeper shaft angle - is that ok? Thanks!

http://s278.photobucket.com/albums/k...=7iron76_4.flv This link might work better - for some reason the current one isn't working for me right now and I can't edit the original post. My clubface looks dead square to my left forearm, surprisingly - even on some of the other videos that I took that I didn't post. I have videos of a block, a pull, a hook, and a few good shots - it is actually square on all of them.

I posted my swing a while back in this thread, and got some constructive thoughts that I really appreciated. I've been working pretty hard, and I've gone from hitting the ball "okay" to thinking about quitting golf (one day at the range I literally shanked 4 shots in a row off of the shaft) to the point where I actually feel pretty comfortable again. I have at least eliminated the weak slice and feel like I'm making solid contact with the ball again. My good shots are a slight draw. My misses are a big draw or a hook, and the occasional block. I would love any feedback, but I have one specific question. I have read and seen that at the top, your club should be pointing towards the target. Mine is consistently pointing left, which I'm assuming not coincidentally is where my misses go. It may be a result of flexibility more than anything else. Should I worry about this or not? I'm certainly not hitting the ball so well that I'm not willing to make changes. Here's the swing - TIA for any thoughts. Thanks! http://s278.photobucket.com/albums/k...=7iron76_4.flv The old swings are all in that same album if you are interested...

In general, if I think of the "pane of glass" that Hogan discusses, I feel like I should be able to swing the same for all clubs. Yes, this will result in a different swing plane due to being closer or farther from the ball, but I should think about it the same.... Yes?

If I have a 7-iron or less in my hands, I feel extremely confident in my swing. I feel on plane, I think that my swing is reasonably solid, and I get good results. At about 6-iron, it starts to get a little shaky, and gets slightly worse each club I go down on down to the 3-4 iron. By that point, I'm only happy with about 50% of my shots as opposed to upwards of 80-90% with my 7-iron. The driver of late has been even worse. I've read a couple different things - one idea is that you have the same swing for all clubs. This really doesn't seem to work for me as whatever I'm doing with my short iron swing doesn't seem to translate to my long irons and woods. I've also read that you "swing down" with the short irons and "sweep" with the long irons and woods. This would help me understand why I'm struggling with the longer clubs if it's a different swing, but how do I make this adjustment? What are the easiest ways to think about this and adjust to this other kind of swing? Or do people feel that there really is only one swing? I'd like to keep this more theoretical - is there one swing or two? If two, what are the differences and how do you make adjustments? The general discussion may help more people than just me. If it doesn't help me, I'll post a video for my own personal swing, but I have a feeling that it will. Thanks!

Wow. If this works on the range half as good as it feels in my living room, I'm going to love it. Looking forward to trying it out tomorrow - thanks :)

I'd say weak/neutral. I would love to have a swing where my arms/hands were as passive as possible, I just don't know how to do it. Do you have any drills that you could suggest? When you say take it up to my waist, then hit from there - you mean as a drill, right? I know that I don't get my hips through all the way - it's because I'm afraid that if I do I'm going to hook it worse than I already am.

That's always welcome.

I certainly heard your advice, and worked on it some today. This felt straighter to me, and looks a bit straighter. Is it straight enough? I do have some lower back problems and this is a concern of mine. http://s278.photobucket.com/albums/k...t=MVI_0916.flv Thanks :)

Even if you could, it would represent average velocity at best, from the start of your downswing until the end. That doesn't tell you what it is at impact, which is what matters. You need instantaneous velocity. I suppose if you shortened the distance enough to say, 1 foot behind the ball to 1 foot past it, you could estimate the instantaneous velocity, but the video would have to be like 200 FPS and it would still be awfully inaccurate. As others have said, forget about swing speed and distance, there are far better things to worry about!

Thanks for the thoughts and the compliment. I think that I realize my club is laid off, and the spine angle tilt is an attempt to get the club back on plane, as is the slight over the top move. I'm hoping that if I can get the club in the right slot at the top, those things would be relatively easy to eliminate as they are just compensating moves. I hope!

I squared my feet up, I'm still hooking the ball (but the alignment definitely feels better). My backswing looks too flat, and I am laid off at the top. Is this the problem? If so, how would I fix that? I feel like when I try to take a steeper backswing I start slicing the ball. But when I'm laid off I can feel it and I come over the top as a way to compensate. I just can't seem to find the slot where I'm in the right plane. Here's a little better view down the line: http://s278.photobucket.com/albums/k...t=MVI_0912.flv