5 Years In - Serviceable swing, but definitely casting. Survive and continue, or break down rebuild?

[shadymg]

Hello folks! I've posted a few of my swing videos here before, and it's definitely obvious I have quite a few technical flaws in my swing, most noticeably casting/early extension (which I know is caused by a multitude of things in my setup/takeaway). With that being said, I also have seen myself be able to improve considerably in the last 4-6 months. I'm no longer embarrassing myself on the course--i now tend to shoot in the high 90's (before was 110+), but besides a few straight pulls or slice resulting in lost ball, most of those are due to my chipping/putting. I'm almost 40 and travel quite a bit for work, so my time at the range is valuable to me and I just am obsessed with the game and want to play as much as i can.

 

So now I'm at a turning point and wanted everyone's opinions (all welcome, positive/negative)--my options are to either A) Continue to practice with my current form and just work to minimize the pulls/slices and really practice chipping/putting a TON more, or B) Try to go back to square 1, and break down the swing from the beginning in the effort of being more technically sound form.

 

TBH, the only reason I would opt for option B at this point would be for distance and consistency--i hit my 5 iron (ping i210 steel shaft) approx 150-155, and my driver (ping g) approx 210-220.

 

So what are folk's thoughts? Stick with current "swing your swing" and just make good contact knowing i'm not competing and i'm old? Or Option B, which would make playing any golf in the meantime a struggle?

[SNIPERBBB]

If you can swing the range time, I'd do anything possible to improve.

[jut111]

No one but you can answer that question. Are you gonna be happy hitting the ball like you do now long term?

 

I will say I think people look at this like a binary decision for no reason. You can improve your swing without “breaking it down” and starting from scratch (which I might add is basically impossible anyway).

 

Honestly assuming your a relatively healthy male and your hitting a 5 iron 150 there are some easy swing improvements to be had I’d be willing to bet.

[nsxguy]

How good do you want to be ?

 

And what are you willing to put into being that ?

[shadymg]

I'm very very pleased with where i'm at now--i was REALLY bad 1 year ago, constantly losing balls, pulls, push, slice, horrible.

Now I'm much better, with maybe losing 1 or 2 balls per round due to the straight pull or slice. The occasional duff and pull are frustrating, but honestly i'm not a pro so i think even if i had the most fundamental swing ever, those types of shots still happen (i mean, just look at PGA pros). So really the improvement would be around distance--obviously if i'm casting, i'm not compressing on the ball, costing me precious distance. I've had my swing speed measured and i range around 90-100mph for driver.

[davep043]

You should be able to improve your mechanics without completely starting from scratch. What's important is to get some good instruction, and take things one step at a time. Determine the most important thing to change, and practice that change until you're consistent with it, then move on to the next important thing to change. If you continue to practice your current swing, it will only be harder to improve things later.

And if you choose not to make changes, that's fine too. As long as you enjoy playing, that's all that really matters.

[chigolfer1]

At that skill/swing level, I suspect there are some things a good instructor (dan, monte, etc.) could tell you and that could implemented in like 4 swings that would make an improvement. It doesn't have to be as all or nothing as you're making it sound.

 

 

[Krt22]

Just based off your age and distance, you are leaving some performance on the table. You may not need a full on rebuild, but I would address the issues you already know you have. Setup/takeaway issues have can have a huge impact on your overall swing, I would start there first, very well could see huge gains in distance/consistency. Chipping and putting a ton may turn a bogey or two into a par and may save bogey vs double, but improving your ball striking such that you will at least have a few birdie looks or easy two putt pars will have a bigger impact on your overall scores

[nsxguy]

> @nsxguy said:

> How good do you want to be ?

>

> And what are you willing to put into being that ?

 

> @shadymg said:

> **I'm very very pleased with where i'm at now**--i was REALLY bad 1 year ago, constantly losing balls, pulls, push, slice, horrible.

> Now I'm much better, with maybe losing 1 or 2 balls per round due to the straight pull or slice. The occasional duff and pull are frustrating, but honestly i'm not a pro so i think even if i had the most fundamental swing ever, those types of shots still happen (i mean, just look at PGA pros). So really the improvement would be around distance--obviously if i'm casting, i'm not compressing on the ball, costing me precious distance. I've had my swing speed measured and i range around 90-100mph for driver.

 

OK then. You're 5 years in, shoot high 90s and are pleased with where you are.

 

My vote would be to "Survive and continue".

[LeftDaddy]

I’m 25 years in and still overhauling. Every year I work on 1-3 faults that I didn’t have time or whatever to fix last year, or are new after I fixed some other fault.

 

It wouldn’t even be a question for me. You fix the swing, especially if you are a 90s player and hit a 5i only 155ish. You have many, many, many strokes to shave from your game with your ballstriking before you decide it is “good enough “.

[dlygrisse]

There is probably one fundamental thing you are doing wrong that is causing a chain of events to occur. From my experience a good teacher can diagnose the one thing and help you fix it. Find the root of the problem. You don’t need to buy a new car just because you have a flat tire.

[carrera]

OP - you are young compared to many of us - keep working on your game.

 

Get your driver and 7-iron swing speeds measured accurately. A range of 90-100 for a driver speed is a really big range and it sounds like something measured with a cheap device and not a quality LM.

 

Good luck with your game.

[TIM929]

OP, why choose to be complacent?

 

you're not old bro, we are the same age.

[shadymg]

> @TIM929 said:

> OP, why choose to be complacent?

>

> you're not old bro, we are the same age.

 

Lol not complacent but more figuring out what to do with my time, which there's only so much. So I can spend the majority on the range rejigging swing, or on chipping/putting.

 

 

[Krt22]

Do you want to go from shooting high 90s to mid/low 90s or do you want to consistently break 90?

[shadymg]

> @Krt22 said:

> Do you want to go from shooting high 90s to mid/low 90s or do you want to consistently break 90?

 

No specific number in mind, I'd just like to continue making small improvements.

 

[chigolfer1]

> @shadymg said:

> > @TIM929 said:

> > OP, why choose to be complacent?

> >

> > you're not old bro, we are the same age.

>

> Lol not complacent but more figuring out what to do with my time, which there's only so much. So I can spend the majority on the range rejigging swing, or on chipping/putting.

>

>

 

Again, an instructor like Dan or Monte can probably make an improvement to your swing in 4 swings. You don't need to spend the majority of time on the range.

[SNIPERBBB]

> @shadymg said:

> > @TIM929 said:

> > OP, why choose to be complacent?

> >

> > you're not old bro, we are the same age.

>

> Lol not complacent but more figuring out what to do with my time, which there's only so much. So I can spend the majority on the range rejigging swing, or on chipping/putting.

>

>

 

You'll get more milage off full swing work than short game.

[Krt22]

> @chigolfer1 said:

> > @shadymg said:

> > > @TIM929 said:

> > > OP, why choose to be complacent?

> > >

> > > you're not old bro, we are the same age.

> >

> > Lol not complacent but more figuring out what to do with my time, which there's only so much. So I can spend the majority on the range rejigging swing, or on chipping/putting.

> >

> >

>

> Again, an instructor like Dan or Monte can probably make an improvement to your swing in 4 swings. You don't need to spend the majority of time on the range.

 

Agreed. Especially if it's a setup/take away issue.

[chigolfer1]

> @Krt22 said:

> > @chigolfer1 said:

> > > @shadymg said:

> > > > @TIM929 said:

> > > > OP, why choose to be complacent?

> > > >

> > > > you're not old bro, we are the same age.

> > >

> > > Lol not complacent but more figuring out what to do with my time, which there's only so much. So I can spend the majority on the range rejigging swing, or on chipping/putting.

> > >

> > >

> >

> > Again, an instructor like Dan or Monte can probably make an improvement to your swing in 4 swings. You don't need to spend the majority of time on the range.

>

> Agreed. Especially if it's a setup/take away issue.

 

And especially so at his skill/swing level. Coming from the same place, there are probably pretty big "macro" issues that can be addressed immediately.

[Doubletripledouble]

I’d say you should definitely make some changes . Malaska says if shouldn’t take you 6 months to for a swing change to work if it’s the correct move, the improvement should be pretty quick. I tend to agree and if you want to improve don’t worry about how you’ll shoot with the new swing, the better scores will come if the swing is good. The guys that don’t improve are the guys who know they have issues and won’t address it.

 

As for early release It’s a pretty hard move to do if you bow the wrist at the top, but this move isn’t going to solve all your issues. I would suggest going to a place like Golftec, where you can really get a sense for what’s going on in your swing.

[TIM929]

> @chigolfer1 said:

> > @Krt22 said:

> > > @chigolfer1 said:

> > > > @shadymg said:

> > > > > @TIM929 said:

> > > > > OP, why choose to be complacent?

> > > > >

> > > > > you're not old bro, we are the same age.

> > > >

> > > > Lol not complacent but more figuring out what to do with my time, which there's only so much. So I can spend the majority on the range rejigging swing, or on chipping/putting.

> > > >

> > > >

> > >

> > > Again, an instructor like Dan or Monte can probably make an improvement to your swing in 4 swings. You don't need to spend the majority of time on the range.

> >

> > Agreed. Especially if it's a setup/take away issue.

>

> And especially so at his skill/swing level. Coming from the same place, there are probably pretty big "macro" issues that can be addressed immediately.

 

my bad OP with the complacent comment, I misunderstood.

 

Yes, another vote here on swing change with an instructor.

 

Youre from LB area right?

 

I bet there's a lot of good instructors out there because I know a lot of high level golfers get fit at Plaza Golf in Torrance. Maybe you could ask Plaza golf for recommendations with locals if you cant make the drive to Irvine to see Monte.

[Jkinluv]

I'm a similar type as OP. I developed my own swing, and find it hard to break the habits.

I'm working with a great instructor to eliminate my EE and it made a huge improvement by learning to rotate better and not slide forward, as well as the pulling the handle down feeling rather than using my arms to swing the club.

My 8 iron before 2 lessons was 120 average and maybe 7 of 10 shots good, rest fat. Now I'm at 145 with a full swing and 9 of 10 good shots and the one I miss is usually thin.

The value of lessons is far more than we pay. Well worth the money. My goal is to be a high 70's low 80's shooter.

With the swing change I went from a 85 mph driver swing to 97 mph.

[shadymg]

maybe you guys are right and i'm overthinking the whole breakdown. I just remember when I first started golfing, one of my colleagues had mentioned going to GolfTec (when they used to be in Torrance) and that the instructor there was breaking his swing down and it was a long process.

I currently have a coach that got me to where i was (I used to be a 120 shooter), so for me high 90's is a big improvement. So i guess i'll keep working with him on just evolving my swing bit by bit.

[RodStiffington]

If by break it down you mean making big changes, not playing as much and trying to get better or at all and spending time improving on your cast then you will be so much better off. Casting is a weird thing and in my opinion there are two types, from the top and at the bottom through the ball. I have a huge problem with casting from the top but can still end up with shaft lean and get really nice distance but there is a reason not a single tour pro swings like this, it just sucks and is inconsistent.

 

You sound like your pretty new to the game and I would really recommend taking your time with your shots ( even at the range) , your intents, and the people around you. Atleast once a week I see either a new guy or a really high level ball striker and it is always really good and helpfull to see what a good ball flight should look like. In my opinion , it has nothing to do with the brand of club and sometimes even age/size and strength don't matter. To me this is a great lesson for a caster, I belive that we cast because we think that at the top if we just GO the ball well go further, and for me this is always comes with a death grip and crazy fast tempo. These guys do not do that and they get a way different ballflight and usually way better carry with far less effort. I'm not sure about your size and age but my old man is 71 (he is 6'3 to be fair) and can carry his 5 iron 175 mainly just on his mechanics and his friend is 5'9 ish and about 300 pounds and n his late 60s and gets only slightly less carry on his 5 iron ( his swing is less than parallel), I am absolutely sure that once you improve your basic mechanics you will enjoy the game aloooot better when you can hit the ball further and I truly belive that you can get more out of your swing even though I haven't seen you or your swing. Deffinetly rebuild your swing .

 

Last thing I would add is that Instruction is really dangerous, especially depending on what kind of person you are. The best thing to do is to get lessons but I have never ever gotten my cast cured in a lesson but thats just me. I kind of have an annoying quirk about getting easily confused so for me finding the right instructor or even youtube channel is very tricky. Personally the only guy I can recommend in good faith is Monte Scheinblum , he is really good about not bogging you down with complicated ideas and they are really effective and best of all the videos are like 4 minutes long , and even that alone is tricky and gets me into trouble. I can't speak personally on his video swing analysis but I imagine it's the best route for your money. Just pretend the no turn cast video dosen't exist like I do lol.

 

 

 

[mikpga]

You mentioned your “obsessed” with this game. If so, I think you’ll be much happier dedicating yourself to overall game improvement. BTW, you’re not old!