Swing critique

Mantalios89NUFC · June 10, 2015

Hi all,

New to the forum and after reading many good things that have helped me greatly ive decided to post a couple of videos of my swing to see if you guys can help me.

I suffer from inconsistency all the time. Sometimes i hit the ball 300 yards with a nice draw then others a straight block or the odd hook. My bad shots also consist of toeing the ball.

If the vids are bot good enough ill try get some better!

Cheers

Nikos

https://vimeo.com/130361110

https://vimeo.com/130361159

Reasonability · June 10, 2015

Welcome Mant. Glad you joined and hope you get to learn and share with others on a grand scale!

There are always things others see I don't and vice versa. The net is a great place in one sense - lots of available eyes to look at things - and lots if ideas about how to best swing the club. At the end of the day - I hope a good quality teaching professional is or soon will be able to work with your face to face since that's always where the very best and most productive help is found.

As to what I see and would personally do - well this is just one golfer sharing with another so I owe you the fact that my opinions are based on my own experiences.... but glad to sort of 'kick the tires' here with you.

To me - there is SO much more to be learned in your face-on video. The first thing I see in your initial setup is that you are holding the driver. That's arguably the club where THE most pronounced secondary spine tilt (or reverse K its sometimes called) would normally be visible. When the golfer applies this to his posture there is a fraction of the lead side knee and hip being set a little tiny bit closer to the target. That lower body setup nuance doesn't involve moving the shoulders and head toward the target - which naturally lowers the trial side shoulder a bit compared to the lead side shoulder. Much is written, said, and available on the web about secondary spine tilt and the reverse K setup. If it were me I would investigate that one a little.

Secondly - you will notice your eyes and face travel away from the ball as though you are literally watching the clubhead swing back. That could lead a lot of golfers in the path of swing trouble. You have to re-establish eye contact with the ball in transition as the club starts back down. We all have little individual quirks in our swings - but I can't say I personally would ever want to turn the back of my head to the target and lose all eye contact with the ball getting to the top of the backswing.

Third - I notice your hips like to turn WITH your shoulders during the takeaway. If it were me I would let the hips turn freely - but LET them turn in response to the hands, arms, club.... all traveling as a single unit to at least get the swing started...and THEN let the hips respond and become freely involved.

Last - one you have these things up and running - there will come the time you probably feel ready for a little help with the transition. Getting into an improved setup will feel odd at first. Getting used to changes in managing the eye-line, and shoulder vs hip hip turn sequencing is also not likely to feel terribly comfortable at first. But in the weeks to come and with enough practice (if you can be patient that long) then some incremental results should start to happen. But the transition itself will then need to be studied and practiced. The goal at that point wouid be to continue finding drills and techniques to setup with and maintain your address spine posture. If the bottom of the spine (tail bone) is swaying and/or the upper body (chest and shoulders) are wander around laterally or turning too level - then your going to struggle with consistency. This would be born of the fact that as you change posture and the relative position of yourself to the ball by swaying laterally or altering your spine angle - you are in effect changing where your swing bottoms out each time. Therefore the consistency you seek will come from setting up and swinging around a more or less stable posture.

So as those first few things mentioned come to be managed better - I would think the next stage (working on your transition) would put the finishing touches on a much improved swing and the consistency part would really start to shine.

Again - welcome. Hope you enjoy WRX as have I. Also hope a great instructor is or soon will be in your future and best to you in the upcoming golf season.

Mantalios89NUFC · June 11, 2015

thanks for the warm welcome it seems like a very pleasent place!

and an even bigger thanks for the tips, looking back at my face on swing now and comparing it with some of the pros I can see all the points you are making.

will get to work on some of these right away.

thanks again really appreciate your feedback.

Mantalios89NUFC · June 12, 2015

Been on the range all day today putting what you told me into practise and my word i didnt hit a bad shot. Will try get a vid up if your interested but just wanted to say thank you so much for pointing my mistakes out i can finally play good golf again haha my handicap will hopefully drop to single figures again!

Reasonability · June 12, 2015

Wow - really good to hear it. For me once it "gels" a little its a matter of relaxing - swing "feels" and a nice tempo/balance. I say this because the old habit sometimes want to creep back in during a round and sometimes the way that happens is so subtle... about the only way I know of to keep that practice work up and running during play is to literally relax and just feel it more than trying to force it.

Anyway - glad you're seeing some good things so far. Have fun out there!

Mantalios89NUFC · June 12, 2015

Yeah you are so right once i started hitting it well i was so relaxed no tension and i wasnt even thinking about my swing it was coming naturally. Ive made some notes and took videos to watch and read before i play so i can remind myself what i need to focus on. A couple of vids below sadly not on the range but when i got home from the range. Still not perfect but a move in th right direction atleast.

[URL]https://vimeo.com/130579485[/URL][URL]https://vimeo.com/130579533[/URL]