Swing photos from today's round

Here are a couple of stills from today's round (in which I struck it pretty bad). My alignment was very, very poor today. I struggle quite a bit w/ targets to my left i.e. getting my feet and shoulders on the same line towards the target.

3 Iron - Was really surprised to see the club so far across the line here. This was hit slightly fat/toe. The target is about where my belt buckle is, but I attempted to hit a big draw w/ the wind helping that way as well.

8 Iron - Hit fairly solid, again attempting a draw.

Driver - Weak and straight. Looks like my spine angle has changed quite a bit here.

My misses are typically blocks to the right and smothered hooks. As I said before I struggle w/ targets to my left and I find that I flip and scoop at these rather then hitting them w/ a descending blow. My index is ~ 8.

Stuck city, eh? Any pictures of you at address with both your driver and an iron? Face on views would be helpful also. It just looks like you are coming so far from the inside, all you can do is flip it with your hands to save hitting the huge block. If you do that too much, then it's a huge snap hook. I just know this from my past, personal experience.

I'll try and get some more photos up today.

My question is, how do you create enough room for your arms at impact w/o coming over the top of it if you aren't somewhat open at impact? Or perhaps that's not my problem, just that fact that my hips are outracing my upper half?

Any tips on getting my shoulders/hips/feet on the same line?

I suggest a collared shirt and a shine on those shoes. That will get you at least 15 more yards off the tee.

:)

the reason ur gettig stuck is because your backswing is inside and very rounded.

Get the club more outside and infront of you in the backswing, then you will have more room on the downswing.

Alright, here are a few more photos from today.

A well struck 3 wood from the rough.

This was a knock-down 7 Iron that was struck well but pulled left of the target.

Rear view of the driver.

Another driver, face on. I'm just starting my takeaway. This was hit ok, but went in the left rough w/ a draw.

A 6 Iron I hit in the forehead.

Any more thoughts? All feedback is appreciated.

IMO it looks like your ball position is too far back. This could be a big reason for the pushes and snap hooks. It causes you to hit the ball too much from the inside. Also, it can cause your arms to get stuck too much behind you. You might try moving your ball position up and see how that works for you.

IMO it looks like your ball position is too far back. This could be a big reason for the pushes and snap hooks. It causes you to hit the ball too much from the inside. Also, it can cause your arms to get stuck too much behind you. You might try moving your ball position up and see how that works for you.

First off, Lets look at the good things.

Great Shoulder turn. I bet that when you hit it, it is a bomb?

Look to be in balance

You obviously are strong

Positions are not that bad. Maybe some small tweaking.

Here is what I would reccomend.

If you are struggling with alignment. Drop some clubs in a T shape on the range when hitting balls. Most right handed golfers aim right and come over the top. It is an eye thing. Align the club that is parallel to the target about 5 yards left (picture railroad tracks), then the other club is for ball position. 6 iron should be about middle of stance. PW a little back, and driver a little forward.

It appears that the club is dropping way to the inside, that tells me that you are taking it back either outside of your path or on your path. The body works in two ways. If you take it outside (aka Furyk) the club will drop to the inside, if you take it back inside (aka Litzke) the club has to come back over the path. So think of it in that way and it might help you figure out what you need to do to correct the in to out path that you have right now.

Hope that helps a little (by the way I am a PGA professional and I have been teaching for 15 years in case you are curious about my experience and qualifications for advice)

Dan

IMO it looks like your ball position is too far back. This could be a big reason for the pushes and snap hooks. It causes you to hit the ball too much from the inside. Also, it can cause your arms to get stuck too much behind you. You might try moving your ball position up and see how that works for you.

 

First off, Lets look at the good things.

 

Great Shoulder turn. I bet that when you hit it, it is a bomb?

Look to be in balance

You obviously are strong

Positions are not that bad. Maybe some small tweaking.

 

Here is what I would reccomend.

If you are struggling with alignment. Drop some clubs in a T shape on the range when hitting balls. Most right handed golfers aim right and come over the top. It is an eye thing. Align the club that is parallel to the target about 5 yards left (picture railroad tracks), then the other club is for ball position. 6 iron should be about middle of stance. PW a little back, and driver a little forward.

 

It appears that the club is dropping way to the inside, that tells me that you are taking it back either outside of your path or on your path. The body works in two ways. If you take it outside (aka Furyk) the club will drop to the inside, if you take it back inside (aka Litzke) the club has to come back over the path. So think of it in that way and it might help you figure out what you need to do to correct the in to out path that you have right now.

 

Hope that helps a little (by the way I am a PGA professional and I have been teaching for 15 years in case you are curious about my experience and qualifications for advice)

 

Dan

You know Dan, that's really good advice. Especially the part about the takeaway. Golf is such a game of opposites. I used to struggle with hooking it and kept trying to take the club more to the outside to offset this. That seems logical, but I learned taking it a little inside actually worked better. It's funny how your mind works and how it tries to compensate for movements you make in your swing.

IMO it looks like your ball position is too far back. This could be a big reason for the pushes and snap hooks. It causes you to hit the ball too much from the inside. Also, it can cause your arms to get stuck too much behind you. You might try moving your ball position up and see how that works for you.

 

First off, Lets look at the good things.

 

Great Shoulder turn. I bet that when you hit it, it is a bomb?

Look to be in balance

You obviously are strong

Positions are not that bad. Maybe some small tweaking.

 

Here is what I would reccomend.

If you are struggling with alignment. Drop some clubs in a T shape on the range when hitting balls. Most right handed golfers aim right and come over the top. It is an eye thing. Align the club that is parallel to the target about 5 yards left (picture railroad tracks), then the other club is for ball position. 6 iron should be about middle of stance. PW a little back, and driver a little forward.

 

It appears that the club is dropping way to the inside, that tells me that you are taking it back either outside of your path or on your path. The body works in two ways. If you take it outside (aka Furyk) the club will drop to the inside, if you take it back inside (aka Litzke) the club has to come back over the path. So think of it in that way and it might help you figure out what you need to do to correct the in to out path that you have right now.

 

Hope that helps a little (by the way I am a PGA professional and I have been teaching for 15 years in case you are curious about my experience and qualifications for advice)

 

Dan

You know Dan, that's really good advice. Especially the part about the takeaway. Golf is such a game of opposites. I used to struggle with hooking it and kept trying to take the club more to the outside to offset this. That seems logical, but I learned taking it a little inside actually worked better. It's funny how your mind works and how it tries to compensate for movements you make in your swing.

Thanks for the compliment. It is amazing how much of the game is opposite or different than what you feel. It is crazy. That is why video and pictures can help. I don't teach very much with video, although it is useful to let people see what they are doing wrong. There are a few fundamental things that you look for and if something is awry it usually stems from the fundamentals or somewhere there abouts.

Dan,

I appreciate the feedback. It may sound trivial but telling me I am doing some things right goes a long way. Let's me know that I'm doing something right. As far as my takeaway goes, I have a DiMarco/Weir trigger in that i take it back to about knee high and "check" it's position. What I'm trying to accomplish is a slow takeaway with the toe at about an 80 degree angle (slightly less than toe to the sky if that makes sense). From here, I bring it back to square and attempt to feel my left arm rotating to square the club face. From there, I let it go.

I started this because my takeaway became so bad. I hated the feeling of the "figure 8" and bringing it too far inside let to an OTT move. This feels like a happy medium because whatever path I take it back on is the path I want to return it on. Is that illogical or flawed thinking? Is this perhaps leading to me feeling "stuck" all the time? I just don't feel like I hit it w/ enough authority sometimes. The more I feel like I hit it from way inside w/ the ball back in my stance I feel like I crush it.

My series of lessons starts April 13th so we'll see what happens.

Dan,

 

I appreciate the feedback. It may sound trivial but telling me I am doing some things right goes a long way. Let's me know that I'm doing something right. As far as my takeaway goes, I have a DiMarco/Weir trigger in that i take it back to about knee high and "check" it's position. What I'm trying to accomplish is a slow takeaway with the toe at about an 80 degree angle (slightly less than toe to the sky if that makes sense). From here, I bring it back to square and attempt to feel my left arm rotating to square the club face. From there, I let it go.

 

I started this because my takeaway became so bad. I hated the feeling of the "figure 8" and bringing it too far inside let to an OTT move. This feels like a happy medium because whatever path I take it back on is the path I want to return it on. Is that illogical or flawed thinking? Is this perhaps leading to me feeling "stuck" all the time? I just don't feel like I hit it w/ enough authority sometimes. The more I feel like I hit it from way inside w/ the ball back in my stance I feel like I crush it.

 

My series of lessons starts April 13th so we'll see what happens.

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First off. No problem on the part of telling you what you are doing right. If you ever have a teacher that does not tell you what you are doing cerrect as well as what you are doing wrong, I would suggest another teacher.

 

I have no problem with the Weir/Dimarco takeaway. I mean Nick Faldo did it when he was number 1 in the world, so there has to be some merit to it. Whatever works for you is the important part. It sound like you are a technical thinker, that is a good thing, but it can be a hinderance sometimes when it comes to flow of the golf swing. Thinking about to many factors can limit the freeness of an athletic move. Which is what the golf swing is. Take hockey or baseball. If you ever thought about positions while you are hitting a puck or swinging a bat at a ball it might be really hard to perform great. I would try to limit yourself to a couple of swing triggers that you can remember with ease. The Dimarco drill is a good one. Lets you rehearse what you are attempting to do, make you "feel" what you are wanting to accomplish.

 

Ball position and coming to far from the inside. Coming to far from any side, whether inside or outside is a hard thing to replicate time and again. So that might be an area to focus on. If you notice alot of the tour guys are attempting to minimize the movement and almost be 1 plane swingers. The less severe the in to out is, the better off you may be. Also check the basics, alignment...etc.

 

Hope that helped out a little, if not let me know and I will attempt to be more clear.

 

Dan