Simplified swing dropped me 7 strokes

[Albatross330]

Hi all!  I’ve never posted to a golf forum, and have no great reason to do so now but I’m bored at home in COVID-mania and wanted to share something with you all. Maybe it helps someone with some aspect of their swing or approach, and if so I’m glad I shared!
 

Some history - I’ve played golf since 8 years old - now 51.  I’ve always been decent, ranging from an 12 to a 16 index for 35+ years, most often around 14.  I go to the range a lot and play 30+ times a year in the northeast.  I’ve changed my swing now and then with limited success - sometimes with pretty good results and sometimes really bad results lol :).  I did something exactly 12 months ago that DRASTICALLY changed my game and I’m ecstatic with where I am - down to a 7.0 index from 13.5 a year ago, and I can play to that 7.0 with NO problem.  My scores deviate between mid to upper 70’s to the low 80’s on any course and I have not shot over 83 this year.  I can shoot scores now in my sleep after double vodka tonics (haha) that I had to pray for a year ago.  Old me - driver was 30% fairway, irons were left, right and center and impossible to predict.  My driver (average 260 yards) could land anywhere in a 75 yard spread, mid irons (130 - 180 yards) a 35 yard spread and low irons (under 130 yards) a 20 yard spread. I could not control my accuracy any better but always struck the ball well.  So, trial and error, it was three things I did - first two probably “duh” moments but #3 is where everything about my game changed.  I’ll keep this short but happy to elaborate if any interest or questions.  

 

Duh moment (1) — I dropped my hands down and let them “hang” from my shoulders naturally throughout entire swing.  This eliminated reaching for the ball and an overly stiff and expanded swing plane.  If my hands were dropped at address, they came back there on the downswing.  
 

Duh moment (2) — I made damn sure my swing was on a good plane.  If you take an aiming stick - or up here a snow marker lol - hold that as an extension of your club, at the top of your swing that stick should be aiming at or just slightly above where the ball sits, not way beyond it and not at your feet either. I posted a pic here I found online that shows how I check my plane with an aiming stick. Yeah, I know two “no kidding” tips but these were key in a swing with 1000’s of possibilities, those two items meshed with #3 for me like I can’t explain. 
 

So (3) - and some will say this is not normal while others will probably have a technical name and who knows some may name famous golfers that do this - the thing that meshed with everything above and my swing was to STOP hinging my wrists. I’ll explain this more - and it did shorten my backswing from near parallel at the top to just over 3/4 - but it has absolutely changed my life.  To elaborate on this swing change (3) - it’s two really simple things (potentially hard to explain in a post) but here they are:  (a) I’m right handed. At address of the ball, I hold my right wrist/hand toward the ground. That means you’d feel a little tightness in the left side of your right hand wrist, which wrist points toward the sky. Turn that hand down which in theory lifts the heal of the face of your club very slightly.  And then (b) when I make my swing I don’t change that position in my wrist - in home video I can see that wrist try to flatten at the top, but I work to keep the wrist in that same position, which shortens the backswing slightly, and when I come down the face of the club is square EVERY time because I haven’t changed a thing.  I have a solid swing plane, good arm location, and wrists are out of the equation.  
 

In about 2 months of heavy golf I dropped 7 strokes on my handicap and never looked back. My friends and guys at the club are in shock and sad to say I never gave much for details but just said I finally figured it out.  My driver is straight all day long - I’ll hit it on any hole.  My irons are dead straight. I never miss one unless a little fat or thin - but ALWAYS straight.  My putting and chipping are seriously AWFUL lol, so I’m working on those now.  I lose all my strokes around the green.  Had my 1st hole in one last week and have been on a high that I hope lasts forever.   I don’t even hit balls before I play anymore.  I used to get to the course an hour early to figure out what my swing would be that day.  Never an issue anymore.  I get out of the car and boom.  

 

Oh, and distance with 3/4 swing.   About 5% longer with every club including driver.  Go figure.  
 

Anyway, hope someone finds this useful.  It has been incredible for me.  
 

Cheers all!!!
 

- J

Edited August 26, 2020 by Albatross330
Add pic and typos

[Gsea]

Lost me on #2. Could u put up a pic with the aiming stick

[Albatross330]

Sure!  Added pic and edited a typo.  You want a swing plane that is not upright.  Hogan discusses this at length.  This is a good check using your actual swing. 

[Gsea]

Yes thank you. My motto is can't be too flat.

[Outpost31]

Hi, can you post a picture of your wrist at address please? "I’m right handed. At address of the ball, I hold my right wrist/hand toward the ground." Thanks! 

[Keith S]

I’ve just started playing and haven’t taken a lesson yet. At the range, I noticed the same tension in my left wrist at address and try to create the same sensation as was felt on a good drive.

 Also, I fall apart with more than a 3/4 swing. There may be distance ( for a beginner) but the direction makes the distance useless.

[moehogan]

OP, just a friendly suggestion ... you might want to ask the mods to move this thread out of the Hogan sub forum and into the main instruction forum. You would probably get many more views/comments by having it moved. 

Edited September 5, 2020 by moehogan

[Shilgy]

Wrists in the picture look hinged to me. What am I missing?