dunlucedreams

i feel your pain. i have Bertolotti's syndrome and arthritis of L4 and L5. in turn causing a worn disc between the two. not bad for 39 years old! my surgeon has actually used my xrays at medical conventions to show a 'good' example of multiple lower back anomalies! this is part genetic/hereditary (the Bertolottis's) and part excessive degeneration (far too much lifting, football and running from 15 -35 years old) i found that running and even cycling aggravates my back chronically and in golfing terms too much time spent in bent positions is a killer ie. putting or chipping practice. a normal round is no issue unless the ground underneath is excessively heavy-but this is more about the walking in mud/wet grass whilst carrying for 4 hours as opposed to the action of the golf swing. i really must do more to stay on the short grass where its less heavy! a hot bath is always good before and after a round.

+1

that would indeed make all of my posts invalid Doh!!!!!

i think its a feel and confidence thing. if he's flipping at it i would have thought that playing the ball ahead of the low point would be tough for him. also it depends on what you want from the chip-using the bounce to get it airborne isnt going to give you that 'one bounce and check' type of shot - which would be my preference. perhaps i should have asked what type of chip shot he was after rather than offering an alternative thought. my preference/feel/confidence provide r

i know nothing.................but ......you could try to widen your stance by a 5 or 6 inches and move the ball back to the middle or a ball before the middle. feel like you are leading the club head with the back of your left hand. works for me and gives nice crisp, ball first contact.....hope it may help you

my hands separate as soon as i try and get too much out of my turn or shortly after my left arm breaks from straight. this is a consequence of an overly flat backswing in my case. left arm across body, wrists cock sideways instead of up and the left arm breaks down, pulling the hands off the grip if i force it. poor mechanics on my part caused by right elbow going behind my shirt seam.

nice swing for sure...........i just cant believe how short that backswing appears. cant be much more than 9 o clock. definitely proves the 'shorter backswing better' theory!

http://www1.skysports.com/golf/news/12040/9653719/qatar-masters-teenager-jakub-hrinda-to-make-european-tour-debut check out the backswing - short and sweet!

:beer: fantastic. Enjoy! I await my annual Wentworth pilgrimage in May in the hope Rory defends this year!

What's your 'left arm thing' Jamie?

Tee to green I thought rory was brilliant , as soon as his eye is in he will be unbeatable this season imo

Thanks Mike, struggling with the feel or thought process of this. i feel that if i apply pressure using the right palm to the top of the left hand that it creates wrist cock? i think my brain is programmed to think of the right arm as the pulling arm in the backswing so the push thought doesn't compute i shall keep trying this

@iacas what does 'push with extensor action' mean please? Is this describing the same feel as above? thanks

Is that your instruction from an evolvr lesson? I've often wondered about letting your hands track in as well as back and up, it feels so much more 'loaded' and 'behind the ball' at the top but I have a hard time not allowing this to facilitate an inside takeaway and therefore the left arm dropping below the shoulder plane! Also the guidance on straight right arm is confusing in this scenario as they feel like contradictory moves/feels?? I think if you master all of that instruction this winter you will see real progress in your swing.

I think that there are multiple benefits from a well balanced fitness regime, both golfing and non golfing. :beer: Unless you do a Camillo and the workout and body becomes obsessively more paramount than good golf! :~(

Would you say then that when a player is already mechanically sound that he/she may then work on strength to eek out more distance? I'm not convinced that golfers work out specifically for injury prevention? I would have thought it was a by product of the work they do for other reasons? Ie core strength or glute strength. Just to confirm that by no means would I prioritise working out for 'golf strength' above training for good swing mechanics! :-)

I've just looked at the pictures in your first post on this thread and compared those stills to your most recent video above- terrific work so far in my opinion. I genuinely can't believe you're playing off 26 with that swing! Mine is much closer to your original swing fwiw. What are you working on to stop swinging left ? I really do struggle to fight the urge to 'hit' at the ball with my right side straight from the top. Resultantly my best shots are 'pulls' that go straight because I get so far under the plane and hit 'out' as best I can to counteract the dominant right sided ott pull! You have exactly the same leftward path!!! Impossible to do with irons without hitting it crazy fat! Keep up the great work and I'm sure you will get the results you want

Doesn't take a genius to work out what these boys work on during their strength training. Legs like footballers these days. I believe this is where you can gain some distance if you wanted to do some power/heavy work to boost your distances. Check out any pic of Justin Rose 10 years ago Vs now - some serious leg strength gains.

its a real tough one, as that 'wide' move that good players can master has poor players (me!) sway off the ball quite often. I guess that when you hinge has everything to do with your swing plane and and how consciously you try and set????? Vs

to the OP, for me personally it is caused by letting my upper body get ahead of the lower (and the ball) at impact - thus creating the steep or negative AOA. this used to plague me also and i have improved it by teeing it up off the front toe, bump my hips left an inch so you point your shirt buttons towards the ball to create some tilt and finally set the club back 3 inches from the ball at address to encourage me (to trick my simple brain!) to have my low point just behind the ball on the downswing. note the angle of the shirt buttons. Hope this feel helps you too.

looks like its just a nice 'wide' takeaway to me? similar to this...... need a picture of the top of the swing to verify if he has a lack of wrist hinge really. i would doubt it very much though if he's hitting it 300.

Hi, I'm following your journey intrepidly as I have the exact same swing issues. I don't know what 'feels' you have but I definitely 'feel' like I bump my left shoulder into my chin which in turn forces my left arm across my chest and then to get any form of timing the downswing I overturn in an effort to try and time some form of transition move! Ultimately this all allows the right elbow to slide behind the shirt seem just like the video Erik posted. To compensate on the downswing I use a dominant right side that tends to 'pull' the swing left. This I find almost impossible to 'untrain' The feel that I am working on is to just turn the left shoulder down and to then make sure I 'throw' or 'point' my left thumb over my right shoulder at the top of the backswing. This seems to help with a feeling of keeping the arms straight on the way back. Not sure if any of this will sound familiar but as I say I'm fascinated to see what works for you.

Thanks for the welcome!

hey, You aren't a million miles from me. Hindhead is a lovely course if you're referring to that as your 'little club round the corner' Just starting to turn a little cold for golf this past couple of days in our part of the world but hopefully wont last long. Nice a to see a fellow UK newbie!

Hi, I'm a long time reader and thought I'd finally take the plunge and post. Been playing for 4 years after giving up football and the gym due to back problems and I just love my golf!!! Into my second year of membership at a local club, joining originally as it was a quicker and better value option to reduce my handicap quickly rather than paying to play public courses and the driving range every week. Not played any competitions at my club so my handicap is based on a rolling 12 months of four ball comps with mates. Scoring ranges between 77 and 90 on most courses with mid 80's consistently. My long game is akin to a higher cap and my short game is the opposite the other way! (Rescuing my score most weeks!) Currently looking to find a consistent bad shot as I feel this will allow me to reduce my handicap to single digits. Frustrated with my ability to hit all shot shapes without prior knowledge or intention. Currently considering a full bag fitting to help ensure my swing flaws are mine and not symptomatic of flawed equipment purchases! Hope to add to some topics very soon. Thanks for having me!