Lesson with new instructor -- take advice?

[hlca]

We are traveling and I decided to go in for a lesson with an instructor in Malaysia. I usually see someone in California. They have different teaching philosophies and some of what the new guy was telling me seemed to make sense, and other things didn't. Wanted to run some of the new thoughts by you guys before I commit to making any changes.

 

The biggest changes were in the setup. In the pics below, the new swing is on the left and old swing on the right.

 

1. Stand further from the ball. I was letting my hands hang with a 7 iron. He wants them out more. This feels odd to me and not sure I will stick with this one. Caused me to overcompensate and hit the heel on a lot of shots.

 

2. Front foot flared about 20 degrees and back foot not flared at all. This seems to help so will probably keep this change.

 

3. Knees pointed outwards at address to prevent back knee from straightening. This seems to definitely help my position at top of backswing and prevent over rotation of the hips.

 

4. Changed my neutral/weak grip to very strong -- three knuckles. With weak grip, I typically have a two way miss and come a little steep and over the top. With a strong grip, I have huge hooks. Maybe adopt this over time but not playable until I can correct the swing path. The club face also seems very closed at the top, but he seemed to like it like this... maybe go the middle ground and strengthen grip until club face is square?

[MonteScheinblum]

You need more knee bend and less forward bend.

 

The other things is hard to say if it's good or bad without seeing the full video....from face on as well.

[hlca]

You need more knee bend and less forward bend.

 

The other things is hard to say if it's good or bad without seeing the full video....from face on as well.

 

Thanks Monte. Unfortunately didn't get a video from him. I will try to be more upright and will reassess distance to ball. Will keep the knee thing going as well.

 

I guess I will have to experiment with grip and path for now. I think he was trying to get me closer to the ideal when I really just want a bandaid fix to keep the ball in play on a regular basis while we're on the road.

[jslane57]

His advice seems to mesh with itself just fine. Looks good, aggressive, and repeatable. Just like many golf lessons (and maybe it is his plan) you will probably end up meeting your old and new in the middle and it will be just right.

[ryan983]

His advice seems to mesh with itself just fine. Looks good, aggressive, and repeatable. Just like many golf lessons (and maybe it is his plan) you will probably end up meeting your old and new in the middle and it will be just right.

 

You got all that from 4 pictures?

[jslane57]

His advice seems to mesh with itself just fine. Looks good, aggressive, and repeatable. Just like many golf lessons (and maybe it is his plan) you will probably end up meeting your old and new in the middle and it will be just right.

 

You got all that from 4 pictures?

Nah, I read the descriptions as well;) The instructor is putting the student into a more athletic position. Asking home to use his lower body in a stronger way. Strengthing his grip. It meshes. That's all.

[GatorPaul]

I agree with Monte. The distance from the ball doesn't look dramatically different in the two images. The weight in the 'before' set-up appears to be too much in your toes.

[TB07]

Mixing and matching styles is not a good idea which is why taking one lesson from someone different almost never leads to long term success. I think most people do this because they think there are many universal truths about the swing. Reality is most instruction is way different from instructor to instructor.

[hlca]

Thanks for all the feedback. Sounds like I can start trying to ingrain this stuff without heading in the wrong direction.