Mr.Wedge

^Pez is correct in my view. Trevino is to be admired for hard work enabling him to repeat his moves at will, but there are just too many of them to try to start the learning process with. The flared lead foot serves to ease hip clearing and is employed by near all top strikers.

If you build your knowledge base (mental concept) and your swing around core fudamentals of leverage, levels, and torso rotation, you will not be victim of erroneous "tips", but be able to decipher the merit of potential improving ideas. Until you have confidence in your own swing concepts, it is best to stick with those fundamentals and run from "tips" IMO.

In my experience Steve, these type problems can usually be traced to the legs and feet or the grip, and often both. Check your grip and make sure it is relatively neutral, or that you have both palms square to the target. Also, feel the grip in your fingers and hold the club a light as you can without it slipping in your hands. Check to make sure your knees start and remain flexed with the knees kicked in toward each other a bit, which gets your weight on the insides of your feet. If those basics are in order, a video would be best.

There is actually a debate here? It's a slam dunk for P. H., being a fan or not. Two majors in the style he won was equalled by no one this year.

My view, esp. for the learning process, is to not even think of weight transfer but to focus on the fundamentals which will cause the weight to shift properly. If you are finishing on your trailing foot, likely you are reverse pivoting, which is leaning toward the target at the top, probably caused by straightening the trailing leg. You can check this yourself by noting the ball position relative to your head at the top. You should be seeing the back of the ball. More specificly, your head should be over the inside of the trailing leg thigh at the top. Your head should also remain the same distance from the ground. Pay attention to your trailing leg and make sure it starts flexed, remains flexed, and have it kicked in toward the target a bit so the weight is on the inside of the trailing foot at the top. If you pay attention to these few basics, it is near impossible to NOT shift properly to the lead leg coming down.

Ok, but one thing at a time, and I fully agree that this is one practice swing and a lot of stock should not be placed in it, but it does give a rough idea of the issues you are dealing with. I also agree that lessons would be of benefit as well as studying of fundamentals in order to develop a clearer mental concept of the swing. Perhaps this little exercise will help you get started down that road. The stills show your setup and hit positions as well as a comparison hit position. Note how the club is lagging behind your hands even after your hands have passed the ball. Then post hit, your hands are still ahead of the club. This is a considerable loss of power. Now compare the Nicklaus hit position. Note that he has returned the club to even with the hands at impact. Now look at your glove logo at address, then look at it in your hit frame. It is more facing the camera at impact which means the clubface is open. SIf you never hit to the right, this practice swing is not indicative of your actual swing. Most importantly, the late release suggests you are holding the club too tight. You should feel the grip in you fingers and just enough presure so it doesn't slip in your hands.

It's always better to actually hit a ball rather than a practice swing but it does give us something to go on. If there were a ball on the tee it would have been a block to the right due to you are not releasing (allowing the club to release). You have the torso rotation going pretty well, but too far back in my view. Past about 10:30 on the swing clock you are gaining nothing but causing inconsistency due to rising up and losing your spine angle, which by the way you do recover from, but that is a useless expenditure of energy. I would only note two things at this point. I suspect grip pressure is an issue as in too tight, and the right leg should be flexed and stay flexed. If I were working with you I would have you swing to the point where you feel your head rise, and mark a point just short of that as your top. All that extra turn past there is of no avail IMO.

The problem with multiple swings is eventually the feels of each will get confusing as you get a little older, then you'll have to deal with different feels creeping in all the time. In my view, this is an unecessary complication of an already complicated operation. I believe if you build a swing based on solid fundamentals and stick with it you will best serve your golfing life, and you will then have a foundation to return to when you run into difficulties. I use the same swing from driver to putter which produces a straight shot, and vary setup/grip for shapes but only when necessary.

If you have been swinging for only 2 months you are doing some things remarkably well, though for some reason you are stopping your swing at impact and not following through. I suspect your grip is too tight, but for sure your grip needs some major adjustment. Your left hand is too far on top of the club and your right is too far underneath it. At setup, you want to feel as if both palms are square to the target. The left thumb will then be slightly to the right of the top center of the shaft and the right thumb will be noticably to the left side of the shaft, the V of the right thumb forefinger pointed about to your chin. Try to grip it lightly in your fingers with just enough pressure that the club does not slip in your hands. If as you say you desperately wish to learn to swing correctly, my opinion is that you will save yourself immeasurable hours by not attempting full swings at present. I know this is contrary to what everyone does, but you will cut the overall learning curve dramatically if you practice with nothing but a short iron and take short, 1/2 swings with it focusing on the fundamentals and learning to master that short shot first then advancing from there. Taking lessons from a good teacher of course is the best, but there are risks in that because a not so good teacher can set you back.

Swing purity at your level is how you increase both distance and accuracy. Purity refers to swing radius, tempo, and timing. The closer to the center you power the swing, the purer you can make it. Ok, enough of the etherial, here is some meat: have you ever tried resisting wrist hinge rather than attempting to delay release which is so commonly sought after? Think about it. When you try to delay release, you are actually keying the muscles in the opposite direction of the hit. By offering a bit of resistance to hinge, ultimately allowing it, your muscles are predisposed in the direction of the hit. There is a fine line between gripping too tight and resisting hinge, but I find a more powerful impact by employing this concept, and more consistent accuracy too.

I've kept up with this thread, read all the sound cautions and reasons to not, but I still agree with this... go for it . Something I have learned in life is when you step out and attempt to accomplish something, the majority of people around you will try to pull you back and tell you you cannot do it. Most, I'm sure, are well intended because there are pitfalls and struggles ahead. But the key is not be naive, have some alternative plans, but if the passion burns and you are willing to make the necessary sacrifices, be polite to the naysayers but do not let them divert you from your goal; they will be around to congratulate you when you make it. If, in the end you are not successful, you can hold your head high knowing you "gave it a go".

There are so many things which could cause this, a video would be your best bet if you seek help online. It could be as simple as your setup aim being askew, or it could have something else to do with setup or grip. For sure, a pull means you are swinging outside your intended target line and coming back across the ball. Be sure to check your aim as a first step; setup as you do and lay the club down on your toe line then check to see where it is aiming. Then check your shoulders to make sure they are square as well. Beyond that, there is no way to tell without seeing.

I'd pick up the ball and put it in my pocket in plain view. If they didn't come ask for it I'd make sure to get it back to them later. Being frustrated with slow play is no excuse to hit into the group ahead.

Keep playing golf and you will want to move further south than Md! Welcome to this addictive sport and to the board.

You are taking the club outside and it looks to me because of extending from the left shoulder joint. At address your shoulders should be relaxed and the joint should be to the side of the torso, not extended out, then it should stay that way throughout the swing. Why? The lead arm defines your radius which is best kept consistent IMO, and the joint to the side provides leverage in the shoulder, without which arm muscle is required on the down to keep it up with the torso. The best way to feel is to "glue", not squeeze, the armpit at address and keep that feel throughout. But that is not your only issue, and you noted it, sort of, in your post. Your spine angle is actually amiss prior to impact. Do some stops at impact and compare your spine angle there and at address. Note how your hips are much closer to the ball than at address and since you do a good job of keeping your head from rising, it forces your spine to arch, and can contribute to blocks and pulls. I suspect the root of this is you are setting up a bit favoring the heels. I prefer equal distribution between the balls and heels of the feet, but if you err, favor the balls of the feet, not the heels. You also may be just a tad close to the ball. Another setup help would be to roll the hips under the spine more (tuck the tush). This will help straighten the spine at address better and engage the quads to provide better stability during the swing. Hopw this helps.

Golf is certainly a game of feel. Feel however, is temporal, and will change day to day; zone today, gone tommorrow. Educated feel on the other hand, tends to be more reliable. The valleys will not as deep if you have some pure fundamental keys (mechanical) which will trigger the feel when you get lost. I agree that mechanics should play a small role on the course, but if your swing is based on feel only, what do you do while playing and can't find the feel? At any rate, that 145-150 nine iron is superb. Doesn't it feel great to strike that purely? Hope you can keep it going.

I had to shut down my house painting business in order to move in and take care of my elderly parents. It does give me more computer time, and I'm also writing a golf book (just what the world needs, another golf book!!)

Not to worry. You will quickly find others in line at 6:30 to partner with.

If you can, imagine the right knee more flexed at this point which will cause the hips to level out and the spine, with your head, straightening, so your head is a bit behind the ball.

My first attempt to upload a pic on this beard...hope it works. This is the reverse position with the head and torso leaning toward the target.

I had the same prob posting a vid a little while back and I think the admin stepped in and fixed it...would like to figure it out myself. Any hoo, as I and others suspected, you are releasing way early. At waist high coming down you are fully released so at impact theclubhead is ahead of you hands resulting in high, weak shots. One way to address this is to feel your left shoulder initiating change of direction rather than your hands. There are other issues however. You are reverse pivoting, which in part accounts for the early release. In my view, the most important thing to work on is your right foot and knee. Pinch both knees toward each other at setup so the weight is on the insides of the feet, then make sure you keep the right knee flexed and kicked in a tad. This will likely feel restrictive at first, but that is a good restriction because you will be building torque. Just go back to where it is comfortable and swing back down with the shoulders from there...you will feel the right knee moving toward the target, and you should produce a much more powerful shot.

It models the ebb and flow, ups and downs of life. A well executed swing is poetry to behold and to perform. The game's history and integrity. Golfers are masters of understatement. I'm a hard headed, independent masochist.

I agree with practicing a favorite short iron and using 1/2 to 3/4 swings, focusing on the core fundamentals of leverage, levels, coil, and tempo. Swinging the driver til frustration sets in is counter productive and likely extending your learning curve. Master the short shot first then step up. Additionally, repetitive hitting will not necessarily improve your swing or your course play. You do not have the opportunity to make repetitive adjustments on the course, which is what you are doing by hitting a ton of balls on the range. The only time it may be considered beneficial to do so is when you are swinging exceptionally well and can keep repeating good shots. I like to practice in an open field with one ball, hit it, then walk to it and hit it again--only one chance. When on the range, I make sure I walk around a bit after each shot, good or bad, in order to more closely approximate play.

There really isn't a right way but if you "stack the deck" correctly it is near impossible to not shift efficiently back through the ball. Some will feel transition start with the kness, others the hip bump, there is even a school of thought to not think of all that and key everything with the lead shoulder. One of the most powerful moves is to snap the counter tension which has developed in the inner legs back in the opposite direction, and the clockwise rotational feel inside the shoes (both) is a good way to make that happen. I, being fickle brained and older like to keep it simple by swinging with the lats and let the lower body do it's thing. But the key to all of it is to have your weight on the inside of the trailing foot at the "top" with the knee remaining flexed and kicked in towards the target a tad. If you achieve that position, no matter what you feel you do, the first move will be off that fulcrum.

Knee flex, inside back foot!! Glad to see someone else emphasize ks8829. If the bottom isn't working the top never will IMO.