Rexx

Just wanted to stress what David said, that a push isn't a bad swing path, but an open club face. The more you try to correct the push by adjusting the swing path, the more you are going to slice it. So few people come from "too far inside", that it's unlikely to be your problem. As David said, a stronger grip might help (you do know what that means, right?). Also, a lot of golfers leave the club face open because they apply the death grip on the downswing, preventing the wrists ability to "naturally" unhinge and square up the club face at impact. See what happens when you relax that grip and wrists during the downswing (at least by the halfway point)...

I used to do that at the range and was pretty good at it. I could hit a PW a 100 yards almost every time. The driver was a little more difficult... usually a good strike but just pushed. Looking back, I think that was because I used my hands actively to square up the club because of a bad downswing. The drill was VERY good to teach you balance in your swing as well. You really feel whenever you activate inappropriate muscles and aren't smooth. I used to demonstrate this swing whenever someone said that golf required "great hand-eye coordination" to be any good. Anyways, instead of closing your eyes, you can go halfway. You can squint your eyes and/or let your eyes lose focus, as if you're half asleep and not looking at anything in particular (kind of like daydreaming). You'll probably find that at first you can't maintain that lack of visual focus throughout the swing, especially the downswing. But, you'll get better soon and you'll find that lack of visual focus leads to a bit more relaxed golf swing. At least, that's what I found...

There's almost two different swings there. The backswing has several issues, but the downswing is much better (which obviously is more important). On the backswing, you take the club well inside and around you and flat. The right arm should be bending and the hands/arms moving upward much sooner in the backswing. It does look like you have a (too) strong left handed grip, which makes it easier to execute that "round your body" swing. This leads to a club that is across the line at the top and a closed clubface. But, you make up for a lot of this on the downswing. However, it looks like you start your downswing by turning your shoulders. Bump the hips laterally while dropping the hands vertically to start, then turn.

IMO, there is nothing in that image that looks incorrect. But, we don't know how you got here or more importantly, where you are going. A video will be necessary.

- I like A's starting position. - B is the closest top of backswing picture I like (excluding arms), but I would like it better if he kept his original 36* angle from A. - I don't like his flat left wrist in any picture. - And what's up with his change of angle between setup and top of backswing in all the pictures? If it changed a few degrees (like B), I would be okay with it, but why does he feel 20* is the optimal angle change?

Nothing wrong with chipping and pitching with real golf balls at home (obv outside) if you're so inclined. Use a 5 gallon bucket (or whatever) as a target.

Ahhh... the swearing, club throwing, and tearing up the course... the good old days! Ha! I remember regretting it every time after the round and how I would never do it again. Not sure what happened, but it was a couple of years ago that I just stopped caring so much and just decided to enjoy the round.... probably just lowered my expectations. Not that I don't get... "disappointed"... in myself from time to time, but it's usually just a little grumbling.

That's a lot of golf balls to hit. My back hurts just thinking about it. :) I'm with enis750... probably even less... a half dozen times to the range a year (usually tagging along with someone else). When I first started golfing, I would go to the range a lot (about once per week), but now I'm just too lazy to practice... would rather just play if I'm going to a course. Probably should reconsider that position at some point.

Yeah, no real flipping there. Everything looks pretty good. A few minor things: 1. You have a fairly active hip and leg action. It reminds me of Johnny Miller or Tom Watson from back in the day. Most golfers of today have a little less hip turning (and consequently knee movement) in the backswing with the left foot staying fairly planted on the ground (although the weight will shift partly to the inside of the foot). 2. I'm a bit hesitant to even mention it, but it looks like you impact the ground about 3-5 inches ahead of the ball. You do a real good job of moving your hips forward on the downswing that you might be a bit ahead of the ball. May want to try experimenting with moving it forward an inch or two. Good luck.

We've all been there... it comes and goes. 99% of your swing is the same as it was the other day, but that 1% makes all the difference (or so it feels). But, hardpan can quickly turn you into a sweeper (just like hitting off of hard mats). If you go to grass or a "fluffy" mat, then that same sweeping motion may not get down far enough for proper contact. Anyways, a lot of what you're describing sounds like an early release of the wrists. Make sure those hands/arms are dropping down from the top of the backswing and not retracing the backswing path down to the ball. That should allow the wrists to naturally hold that angle until just before impact. Good luck.

Ehhh... it's probably just variance. Do you track every 18 you play and compare front and back nine scores? Is there a definite pattern of doing worse on the back nine over a large sample? And bring some tissues for those boogies... nobody wants to see that.

You guys are strange.

Agreeing with the others, a common problem is to let the left elbow point back at the left hip during the forward swing at impact. Keep that left elbow pointing just left of the target at impact. It's a good checkpoint to the hinge and hold technique.

Not bad... I would have thought you better than a 14.8 HC. My thoughts: - I like the simple, efficient swing. Not a lot of extra moving parts. - You take the club inside on the backswing by setting your wrists very early. Start with a shoulder turn first, then set wrists both vertically and horizontally at the point you lift the club up to the shoulder plane. - You never quite get the club high enough. From the DTL view, the left arm should at least block the right shoulder from view. If you do this, you'll hands will be a little higher and slightly closer to your head. - You have some good stuff going on in the downswing -- the hip bump and hands drop to about the right position initially. However, it's at this point that you need to get your hips and shoulders turning more and leading the rest of the way. You continue with too much arms and the result is that you stand UP a bit trying to get leverage and your hands pass your shoulders very soon after impact. You want to take the little bit of momentum from your arms at the start of the downswing and use rotation of the hips and shoulders to accelerate them and pull them around. I think the proper feeling most people are missing is that you should feel partially sideways to the ball at impact. It's not really at impact, but for good golfers, it happens much sooner after impact then it does for higher handicappers (who may never get there). Good luck.

Almost all of my rounds are with a cart. I usually golf before work with other coworkers. We try to get the first tee time and zip through the course pretty fast. We're ready golfers that either park halfway between or do the drop off & pick up. Average 3-3.25 hours per round for four of us (depends on the course, some have lots of hazards and woods). Since I'm going to work right after, I don't want to show up all sweaty (sometimes in the summer, it almost can't be helped). I don't need the exercise, since I'm pretty active throughout the week (hoops, gym, etc)... can't necessarily say the same for my coworkers. :) Also, almost all of the discounts we use include the cart for the same or cheaper price than walking.

I'm going to have to respectfully disagree that practice swing analysis is useless. Do you never look in a mirror, make practice swings, and make adjustments on what you see? And I would not describe his swing as "PGA tour caliber" (no offense moreira). Also, I see instructors ask students to perform practice swings all the time -- critiquing them afterwards. Yeah, sometimes practice swings are not indicative of what happens in the real swing, but that's a different problem for the golfer. IMO, if there are differences between practice and real swings, it's usually in the downswing, not the backswing.

There should probably be some agreement on what it means to have a "flat left wrist". The obvious definition would be no visible curvature of the wrist. However, I thought I've read that is really a bowed left wrist if you look at the bone structure underneath (and requires active muscle tension to achieve). A flat left wrist will have a slight visible curvature which is achieved when the wrist is relaxed (e.g. the position you should be in when typing or playing the piano). I don't know if this is true or not. However, I prefer that the left wrist be in the latter position at the top of the backswing, but I don't know if that is "correct".

Following is for a two-plane swing. If you're attempting a one-plane or S&T;, then ignore: - Weight looks back on the heels. Move it between center and balls of feet. - Posture isn't great. Butt should be farther out, back should be straighter and not have the hunch. Probably works in combination with #1. - Doesn't mean you have to bend over more to achieve. - Club probably should be a little closer at address (maybe only an inch or so). - Your first move has the following issues: - You stand up (head moves up and away from ball) - Too much arms. Turn shoulders to start with. Then, the arms will raise up and away. - Looks like you roll the forearms, don't do that so much. - Possibly a personal preference, but I don't like the flat left wrist at the top. It tends to create a laid off club at the top (like what you have). Club should be pointing parallel to target line. - You come down from the inside, which is good. - But, it's too much arms. By the follow through, your hips and shoulders are facing the ball, but your hands have already passed. - Bump hip + drop hands to slot, then turn hips and shoulders. It should feel like the arms are being pulled through the impact zone (75% pulled by turning, 25% momentum from drop -- just making that up). - By impact, you've nearly completely loss the "spine inclination/angle" you had address. You need to maintain that. Less arms, more core should help. All IMO... good luck.

You make room for the arms/club to come down by shifting the hips forward (but your head stays fairly still) to start the downswing. Lifting can happen when golfers try to get extra leverage/power because they have a downswing that is dominated too much with the arms. The arms and hands need to get into the space (slot) created by the hip bump. Then, the turning of the hips and shoulders will whip the fairly passive arms (and hands) around and cause the wrists to unhinge at impact.

For the full swing, I went from well over 100+ noob to a 90s shooter by one change (and practice). I discovered that if I formed that 90 degree angle between the club and left arm at the mid-point in the backswing, had the club pointed straight up (more or less) and felt like I was swinging the club straight up and down from there that I started to hit the ball with "incredible power". Actually, it was more like I finally could hit my pitching wedge a 100 yards. This swing was in comparison to the typical noob that swings at the ball like it's baseball (or teeball). Now, I was taking this new swing to the extreme. I would come from the inside on the downswing and eventually had it to where I was dropping my right shoulder way too much and my hips were practically facing the target at impact and I was flipping the club as it got stuck behind me. I'd block it out to the right and hit a 30+ yard hook on every tee shot. But hey, I was the only one of my friends that hooked the ball... it was great! :)

One thing I would add to the video above about "set and hold" is that the left elbow should be pointing just left of target at impact for chips and pitch shots (might be true for all shots). With the wrist hinge, it may feel like the clubface is open, but by impact it will have squared up. Use mostly shoulder motion to swing the club, especially on the forward swing. A lot of people struggle because they return to their orginal setup position of the left elbow pointing close to the left hip resulting in fat and thin shots when the wrists unhinge too early. Good luck.

Whoa... the double pendulum video is exactly what I've been trying to explain in some of my posts (including the one above). Thanks for the link, I'll have to bookmark it!

Shorten the backswing. You go past parallel which usually results in too much arms in the downswing. When you shorten the backswing (maybe even try 3/4 shots), you're going to have to learn to use a different (proper) swing sequence in order to generate speed to hit the ball solid and far. This sequence will be less arms and more core body motions that will get you in better positions during the downswing. For instance, if you stop the front view video at 0:22, you will see your left arm and club form a straight line through your right leg, your right arm is nearly fully extended, and the hips are only slightly open. The correct position would be your hips farther forward and open a bit more, the right arm bent 45 degrees or more, and the wrist hinge still maintained.

My standard shot is straight or a slight draw. Never try to hit anything else, just never seems worth it. I'm more worried about making a good swing with good contact. I don't usually mess with trajectory unless it's windy. Then, I just club down and swing easier. I gotta admit that I chuckle when bogey+ playing partners try to work the ball. They rarely pull it off, and it's almost always tragic (way overcooked or completely duffed). The game's hard enough as is. ;)

If you average those #s (i.e. add them up and divide by 10), then multiply by 0.96 = ~14.9. So yeah, it sounds about right.