Switched to the Bryson swing with my woods 3 weeks ago! Wow.

[LCP]

I estimate that 40-50% of what could go seriously wrong in my swing has been eliminated. And I estimate that 80% of what could hurt my body has been eliminated.  It took me watching a few videos one day and about 10 swings the next day to decide how much better of a swing it is.

My left wrist locks into position and there is no wrist in the swing to mess things up.  Goodbye flips, strong/weak grips and big directional mistakes.

My arm is away from my body and never gets stuck, wildly out of position or has trouble getting into the slot. The arms stay straight the whole time and don't break over at the elbow nearly as much.  Hello, coming through square to square almost every swing.

This swing works whether it's your first swing of the day with no warm up, or the last swing of three straight days of triple digit dehydrating 110+ heat index golf days.

It doesn't crunch/hurt your lower back nor aggravate (or even contribute to, I suspect) golfer's elbow.  Hello to adding swing speed if I workout/train, even at age 48.  I'm in the low 110's now.

My last 20 rounds were averaging nearly 86.  My 6 rounds I've posted since switching to this 3 weeks ago are 85-85-83-82-80-80, and that includes 4 rounds where I "forced" myself to hit driver or 3-wood on a tight short dogleg to practice the swing where I've hit a 2 iron every time for years (I made 2 doubles and 2 bogies on that hole on those 4 rounds finding the trees, with "good shots" off the tee each time).  Also, I collapsed in the heat from fatigue/weakness/dehydration playing the last 3 afternoons in a row on the last 2 holes (7 over combined on those 6 holes). That would've been 3 rounds in a row in the 70's, from a guy with a handful of 79's as low rounds.  Even with this, I'm sure this is my best 6 round average I've ever had, not one bad round.

I see how Bryson thinks he can keep adding speed, and keep hitting fairways.  I also think he has a swing he can play for life.  It wouldn't surprise me if he's 50 years old and can still hit it 330 without back injuries ruining his golf.

Findings: this swing leads to a very positive angle of attack, without the positive angle of attack wildness.  I have a G410 Plus at 7.5º with a Ventus Velocore Black 70X and I think I might hit it too high.  And my  "3 wood" is a G400 Stretch set down at 12º with a Speeder 869 8.2 Tour Spec X, and it's about right, even lofted down like that.  Only problem is I tend to top the 3 wood (very badly).  I'll get used to the tee height/ball position/attack angle to fix that.  My 5 wood (G400 at 16.5 with a Fuji Pro 2.0TS 93) is a little more hit and miss with trajectory.  Some are monster high if I hit up on it with a forward ball position like the longer two clubs, or it's a long high bomb if I keep the swing plane/attack angle flatter.  If you want to hit it right, swing a little more upright and don't put the ball forward much.  It you want to hit it left, swing a little flatter with a ball position a little more forward.

I'm comfortable with my iron swing at the moment, and can't imagine doing this with partial swings and wedges, so I don't plan to go there.  But this also creates an important distinction between my woods/driver and the rest of my clubs.  The bad habits from my high-speed distance swing where my thought is kill it no longer translate into my precision iron and wedge game where I'm thinking about targets and deliberate precision.  So my iron-wedge swing is getting better too since I never try to kill one of those (with the same swing that I use to try and kill a drive).

Yes, mistake-proof your golf swing.  It's so simple. It's a super-easy switch. It's ageless.  I think this really needs to be a foundation of teaching going forward.

I'm not quite 100% like this, but great video Todd Graves:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rNdKIKQla0

Edited August 18, 2020 by LCP

[sshadow2]

I feel ya. I've also gone Bryson for about a month now myself (though I have different feels than what you described). I'm hitting my woods straighter and further than ever. Driver goes far and straight with minimal curvature. Can even hit my 3 wood off the deck consistently now. Its become one of my best clubs on and off the tee.

[LCP]

It's a joy to play this shot, that's for sure. Tonight, I played 9 and par'd 7 of them. Greens were slower than usual and I left a birdie putt just a bit short and lipped 2 other putts on the low side.  The 2 bad holes were complicated by harsh sun right before sunset (that I mis-aimed) and hilly lies. One shot OB (with a wedge from the back slope behind a fairway bunker, believe it or not, that's how big the hill and sun factor were) and one in the drink on a tight pin.

 

The off-the-deck swing with this swing is a bit different, but it definitely works.  It's just not upward angle-of-attack like when hitting off a tee and requires a different ball position and swing plane.

Edited August 20, 2020 by LCP

[SEP1006]

I swapped to the DeChambeau method almost a year ago and you are right. TO ME this is the easiest most repeatable golf swing there is. At the time I changed my HCP stayed around 12 - 15, I am now a 6 and still trending down. If you really want to get even better swap to the Jumbomax Ultralight XL grips, by far the best golf equipment move I have EVER made!!!!

[stryper]

I haven’t really paid much attention to the one-plane v. two-plane thing, but Graves’ explanation makes sense to me.  Wasn’t planning on any radical swing changes at this point in life, but I just might give this a go next time I’m on the range. 

[nlk10010]

For me, the Graves approach is the most "intellectually pleasing" method, in the sense that the swing is broken down into a small number of simple (or seemingly simple) pieces. While he does offer a few drills, basically his point is everything is in the model, if you are not hitting the ball well then make sure you're hitting your model positions. As an alternative, Graves tells you to "compare your swing to Moe's". It all makes sense to me; e.g. swinging around a fixed lead leg which limits body rotation, once your body stops the arms whip around to the finish. This is also a part of, for example, Mike Malaska's teachings. Note I'm not saying it's a good method to latch on to, just that I like the way Graves structures his teaching. You know, sort of "theoretically......".

 

The above said, my distinct impression is that BDC's swing is NOT Graves' swing, it's not Kirk Junge's swing, it's sort of evolving into its own. At this point the consensus seems to be the essence of the swing is a very simple rotation of the body back and through, presumably on as close as possible to one plane (not the Hardy one plane, the Moe Norman one). It seems that Brandon's bulking up was to enable him to rotate quicker. 

 

But I've been wrong before..... ?

[sshadow2]

51 minutes ago, nlk10010 said:

...my distinct impression is that BDC's swing is NOT Graves' swing, it's not Kirk Junge's swing, it's sort of evolving into its own. At this point the consensus seems to be the essence of the swing is a very simple rotation of the body back and through, presumably on as close as possible to one plane (not the Hardy one plane, the Moe Norman one). It seems that Brandon's bulking up was to enable him to rotate quicker. 

 

But I've been wrong before..... ?

 

I think your right. It's not Graves swing or anyone else's that BDC didn't go to or their associates for. There are a lot of 2 plane methods and I'm sure there are for the single plane as well. I personally subscribe to the RotarySwing RS1 method myself. Looks nothing like Graves's. Very effective for me though.

[Arn]

Yup.

i quit playing after high school because it was killing my back. I was pretty good, but the high hands, shoot the hips forward swing broke me down. Didn’t play for nearly ten years, kept trying to get back at it, but was always left in pain. Switched to setup for impact this spring and I can finally play again. I’ve been going to the driving range 5 days a week and playing a few times a month. This was unthinkable before I switched. The rotational swing puts next to no strain on my back and I’m loving it. I also hit it much straighter and my misses are more fat or thin rather than wild curving shots.

 

Never been happier!

[ChaosTheory]

I switched to a Moe like swing 15 years ago as an experiment to find a swing that didn't hurt my back.  It worked, and still does.   For most of the time my swing has been more like what Kirk Junge teaches.  He has a straighter lead leg through the ball, and more of a "swing on a circle" path.   Lately I've been moving a bit more towards the Graves/Moe move of hitting into a bent lead leg.  This is to improve my path. We shall see.  

 

IMO Junge's swing is a lot closer to Bryson than is Graves'.  Regardless, I don't want anyone to over-think it based on what I am saying.  Get your trail forearm in line with the shaft, find a functional grip that suits rather than fights the swing plane, turn your body while swinging on the circle.    The face rotation is greatly reduced from a conventional swing, and your misses will be a LOT better.

 

Also check out Sandra Carlborg, long drive competitor.  As of a couple of years ago she had a great single axis swing.

 

 

Edited August 20, 2020 by Snowman9000

[sshadow2]

Just watched Junge's video about BDC's swing. Enlightening!

 

Recently I have been trying swing methods that were more natural for me because it seems like each method has something that my body  fights against. In the last 10 months I've tried several that have taken me further than before in finding MY swing:

 

Russel Heritage taught me how to use my hips (but I stuggled with over the top on longer clubs)

MDLT method taught me how to take tension out of my arms (when I grew tired, it was hard to stop my body from getting involved in the rotation)

Rotary Swing taught me how to use my body (timing the lead leg post via the "squat" on some days a lot tougher than others)

 

Along with way I discovered on my own that setting up on what Junge calls the impact plane has done wonders to my consistency especially on my longer clubs. My worse shot was woods off the deck until this, now my 3 wood off the deck is one of my go to shots. Putting a name to it is enlightening for me (Ulnar Deviation).

 

I'm still working out some kinks but I'm more confident with my game than ever before. I've even shot the lowest front 9 ever on a tour stop course recently thanks to these changes.

 

And yes, my back hurts a lot less, if at all after 18 on a hilly course.

 

I'm now subscribed to Junge's channel and I'm very interested on learning what he's about. Just his points about personalized grip and other details were enough to draw me in. Thx for the info guys.

 

Video ref:

 

Edited August 21, 2020 by sshadow2

[SwingBlues]

BDC swing is definitely more like Junge's than Graves but I did catch on the Golf Channel interview with BDC's coach after the win, that he mentioned Graves input into the swing.

 

I've been on the Graves/Moe swing for about 3 months now, seen some dramatic results with the drives and the main reason for my switch - my back. I am not sure if it's the driver (picked up a Pars and Stripes Speedzone) but I am hitting some really sweet long drives with the new Graves swing without swinging out of my shoes like I did on the old swing.

 

All of the changes is done on my own, just using what Graves has thrown out there on YouTube. I think it makes perfect sense the way Graves explain the swing but the hardest part is mentally adapting to the changes - strong bent knee and the trail foot down. I just recently picked up Graves' ball position tool, they were offering a YouTube discount so that was nice. I didn't think I would use it as much as I pretty much made my own already but it's well built, informative so it stays in the range bag.

 

There's still a few things I need to clean up like shortening my swing and less handsy take away.  But the most difficult thing is my hip on the down swing, its still has echos of the old swing and approaching the ball instead of being back. As my slomo video shows, some impacts, I am still slightly on my toes. As well, my left arm is not folding correctly.

 

Next month I will join the Graves Gold club to get some video analysis help.

 

One thing, this Graves/Moe swing when I execute, is the most straightest ball flight I have ever seen. Theres definitely something there. I did consider Junge's method but it does not resolve the spacing issue and infact, just carries on that issue like my old swing. Graves definitely improves the spacing for sure.

Edited August 25, 2020 by SwingBlues

[harolease]

BDCs swing getting a lot attention  When I attempt single plane  For me it’s too difficult to keep my hands that high for full swing. I either get to handsy cause my thumbs get to tight

I also lose the width of the backswing as I cannot turn fast and full like Bryson trying the high hands setup   Nancy Lopez has similar setup but her takeaway was super slow and she dropped her hands into more conventional slot in the downswing 

For me to create more speed it’s more of a gradual buildup from the start into transition and full follow through as my backswing has a different arc than the forward swing 

In theory I think it makes sense for single plane to have straighter ball flight and can swing fast immediately from start to finish if it’s same path 

Edited August 27, 2020 by harolease

[harolease]

I had the pleasure to attend a clinic demonstrate by Moe Norman when he was still alive in his older years

I did not know much about the golf swing back then but he was very impressive with pure strike and straight ball, however he had  ability to spin the ball right or left  on demand

Then When I see a slow motion of Moe's  swing from DTL Moe has a single plane in the back swing then shifts down ( he called it "vertical drop") and he has another single plane through the ball at impact  the planes are parallel to each other

Bryson has the same plane in both the back swing and forward swing , much different from Moe  , I think the only thing that looks the same between Moe and Bryson the might be the back swing and setup 

Edited August 27, 2020 by harolease

[LCP]

Here are the angle of attack numbers with my driver. There was a fitting day at my club this weekend, so I went over and got some swings on the launch monitor.

 

Typical driver swings were +7 to +8.  If I tried to keep it flat/low, I could see +4 to +5.  If I hit a high one and left too much weight on my back foot, it was +10.  Swing speeds were around 110.  I was down 2-3mph from what I expected, but I was also feeling kind of stiff/tired.