Please analyse my swing.

[catalzzy]

Hiya all,

 

I am currently fixing and improvising my swing all massive thanks to my brilliant pro. I am 5ft 8in. Somehow i needed to get the ball speed faster. Atm i am averaging 155 mph ball speed though i need to gain extra 10 mph which is pretty enough for me. I have tried to swing my maximum on my record of 161mph ball speed with 290 yard total because of a crappy shaft. What i am aiming is to consistently hit 160+mph ball speed and average from that. My aim is to average 300+ yards and to be consistent on tight ball flight 3 degrees +/- from the centre straight ball line.

 

My miss is a quite big hook/pull(club flick) and a weak slice (chicken right arm). Would the ball flight and speed be my swing fault's or the driver equipment?

 

How do i gain the extra 10mph ball speed?

 

Any help/advice would be great and i wanna surprise my pro that i caaaan do it.

 

Thank you.

 

Here is my videos below

 

Pull Ball flight with a tiny hook.

https://www.youtube....h?v=3j4-48IBjms

 

 

Quite straight ball flight.

https://www.youtube....h?v=RV8KvV-6rk0

 

 

Once again, thanks

[TheBoomer]

Good move.

[Reasonability]

Cat -

I have two basic questions for you before saying a word about swing mechanics.

Is it your goal to become a long drive competitor/champion or to play consistent and competitive golf out on the links?

Big difference - So your answer matters as to where things go from here in terms of answers,

Secondly - Do you happen to have any swing videos from face-on and/or one taken from straight down the target line where we can see the entire motion of the club (and you) back and through? (Your second video comes closer to a true down-the-line video than does your first one).

Thanks for posting and considering my questions.

[catalzzy]

Hiya,

First question, definitely not long drive competitor/champion. I am aiming to be consistent/long and competitive.

I do have a video of me face on but its a 7 iron one and its at the golf studio. however i could post it here.
[url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TiI1s1pN5ac"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TiI1s1pN5ac[/url]

Thanks

[Reasonability]

Thanks for that Cat. Very kind of you to answer me.

All of what follows would be items to review with your instructor. He/she may not entirely agree with me in every detail and I believe its fine to seek other opinions but the one TRUE guiding voice should always come first and foremost from the person standing in front of you personally who knows where you began your journey and where the current focus needs to be for now. Getting ideas on a forum for later discussion with your teaching professional is great - but if it were me I would use any other outside inputs as a great to open up discussions so that you and your instructor have the BEST opportunity to review all the progress you've made so far and how to BEST proceed deeper and deeper into how to progress your swing.

Clearly - its a very good and powerful swing. WELL DONE! Beautiful finishing balance which no golfer can achieve if he is not swinging all the way to the finish. There is little if any stalling or stopping of your body from the top of the backswing all the way to the very finish. Nice work of getting a little secondary spine tilt of the upper body away from the target. WELL DONE.

I ask you about your desire for ball speed because I am personally of the belief that a golfer "can" end up compromising a LOT of consistency in the name of a "HARD" swing, I personally gain more CONSISTENT distance from a swing that strives more for stability of the address spine angle, and allowing the wrists to very freely unhinge at the correct release point. YES there is speed and acceleration in any long distance swing... there HAS to be. BUT there can easily become many compromises to LETTING the proper motion work well delivering consistently sold strikes versus focusing only on clubhead or ball speed.

So allow me to share what I see having now learned more about your intentions and goals, and please do review all this with your instructor - I feel certain you both will be glad you did so. Some of what I suggest may point to things your instructor is quite ready to have you considering and/or he/she may completely disagree which is fine.

What I would have you look at in your own swings are the following:

1) From face on... pay attention to where your right knee and hip START at address and where they LAND at the top of the backswing.

2) Also from face on... take note of where your head starts (place the tip of a pencil on your right eye for example). Again watch what movements happen from the START of your swing at address and watch what happens as you move to the top.

3) From your down-the-line swings... As yourself if the turn of your shoulders is more level with the horizon....OR would you say they turn at more perpendicular angle (like the top of the letter "T" in relation to your address spine angle.

4) Although its a bit of a blur and will require you to carefully stop the face on video to catch this one... ask yourself if your right elbow tends to lead the hands and handle through the strike by working down in front of your right hip...OR... would you say that your right elbow is a little behind the right hip entering the bottom of your downswing and its your very high-speed turn that keeps that right elbow from getting left behind the release of your wrists. In other words is that right elbow ALLOWING the wrists to freely unhinge OR would you say you seek power and speed purely based on faster and faster rotation?

5) Would you say the hands and handle tend to stay MORE in front of the chest and sternum as you complete the backswing OR would you say they very purposefully go ever farther back behind your head in the effort to create a bigger and more powerful downswing?

After looking at these four things I can share what I would work on if it were me personally.

I believe you start off with a nice secondary spine tilt away from the target. Were it me I might bump the left hip just a mere fraction closer to the target rather than totally relying on that tilt coming purely from leaning the head away from the target but that's a minor point. BUT - I do believe happens first that compromises your consistency is that your right knee and hip begins to wander over atop your right foot as you complete the backswing.

The right knee (IMO) never needs to tense up, lock up, or freeze. BUT whenever it glides over the right foot then the hips have begun to sway away from the target. WNEN THAT HAPPENS your secondary spine tilt at address is in effect lost. You now must compensate by swaying back toward the target in the downswing and when you do the head and chest are forced into excess dipping and recreating NEW tilts in the middle of the swing. That will easily lead to losses in consistency and continue to lead you to seek power by swing harder rather than more efficiently.

As to the shoulder turn. Anytime the shoulders turn very level with the horizon - the arm flow up and down begins to work independently of the shoulder turn. Conversely whenever the shoulders turn on the same tilt as your address spine the left shoulder will move a little more under the chin going back and the right should will do the same coming through. Its far less tiring. Its easier on your back. It allows a nice rotational turn with far less up and down timing of the arm swing/flow. So there are must multiple good reasons for NOT turning the shoulders level with the horizon.

The distance from the chest down to the ball needs to be basically preserved (even though we do indeed turn back and through). The clubshaft doesn't shrink or grow and neither do our arms. So keeping that chest from lifting out of the shot helps keep us more consistent. A level shoulder turn pull the chest up to face the horizon in the backswing. That in turn requires an inefficient compensation move in the downswing.

As to the right elbow work. Your current focus on a HARD and FAST shoulder turn is great - BUT I would make sure if it were me personally to allow the right elbow to lead the hands and handle a little into the free-wheeling unhinging action of the wrists. Anytime that right elbow is the least bit left behind the hands have to flip. Sometime they will flip just right and sometimes not. If not you will see the hooks and pushes - especially if the hips are swaying back and forth more so than turning. For this very reason - fixing the right knee and shoulder turn is related in a direct way to how the right elbow plays a role in a nice free release of the wrists versus having to force the hands and an ever harder shoulder turn to add power and accuracy.

And the last point - keeping the hands and handle more in front of the chest as you finish your backswing. Technically speaking - the hands and handle CAN'T remain right in front of the chest at the very end of the backswing. BUT they can (believe it or not) ALMOST stay there until deep into the backswing and then soon reunite and travel together again until AFTER impact. When the arms run-off form the shoulder turn - there is introduced into the swing a sequencing and timing issue that ends up being a bit of a riddle that almost can't be solved. The harder you swing - the more that right elbow work becomes and issue. The harder you work to complete the backswing fully the more your hands and arms just want to keep going and going which again pulls the chest and head up out of the backswing.

What I would consider personally - is landing the hands and handle a little farther form the head and away from target. In effect - that better hip turn born of NOT drifting the right knee and hip over the right foot would end up looking like this at the top of the backswing (as seen face on):

You upper back would be a touch father from the target than the lower back and hips - as seen face on. This would be true because you would NOW be using that secondary spine tilt all the way to the top by turning right around your spine at address without any lower body sway. The hands and handle would land a little farther away from the head because that secondary tilt and better turn added a touch of width to the backswing arm flow.

This is what I see my friend. This is how and why I personally would go about adding accuracy and power. I do hope you and your instructor are able to sit together and cover all this so that your BEST instruction can truly evolve.

Power and accuracy have many sources. One of them is (in my opinion) born of a nice stable spine at address and applying the correct knee and shoulder turn dynamics to capitalize on a great setup posture.

Best to you and good luck out there!