Casting, Casting, Casting....shoot me

[shadymg]

I'm driving myself insane with my swing, knowing the very obvious issue that is plaguing me but having yet to find any way to solve it, so reaching out again after a while to see if anyone has any better ideas. I've tried 2 different coaches since my last swing video, but alas....still this casting issue & early extension plagues me. I have tried EVERY drill. In my practice swings, i see perfect form and lag. But then as soon as i go up to the ball, blah.....casting. 

 

Detail about me: Been golfing 5 years, go to the range almost every day. First coach taught me the one-piece takeaway. 40 years old. Driver SS is around 99-103, Using Ping i210 with stiff, and Cobra F9 driver with xstiff fujikura atmos black.

 

Here are the videos, any/all help/suggestions/abuse/sarcasm/humor appreciated:

https://imgur.com/a/OkAb4YI

 

 

 

Thanks in advance!

[Valtiel]

The one big thing that can get you stuck is trying to focus on the lag itself, it happens every time. The lag is a product of other swing elements happening correctly, not something you should be trying to do. 

The second video (down the line iron, black shirt) is a perfect example of the problem. Everything actually looks pretty good going back, but then it all completely comes apart in transition. Your arms are coming down so much faster than your hips, which by comparison are doing almost nothing, and this will always lead to a cast/flip because your stalled lower body means there is nowhere for the hands and arms to go. You need to completely reorder the way you're looking at your downswing because it sounds like you're so focused on what your hands/arms should be doing that you're neglecting the most important part which is the lower body rotation. 



You can really see the difference if we compare these two impact positions. In fact, if I photoshopped the ball out of your impact position, you'd be forgiven for thinking it was actually your address position, heh. Your hips are completely shut and have barely rotated which creates the flip, because once your arms catch up to your hips, you can not maintain any kind of lag or forward shaft lean, so your hips have to be leading the arms, not the other way around. 

On the other side, Rory's hips have cleared, creating all the rotational room for the arms to come down to ball and accelerate through with shaft lean. 

So how do you fix this? Completely abandon any focus on your arms and what they are doing and focus on driving your swing, and mainly your transition, with lower body rotation. Let your arms fall and be pulled down and through by your lower body. You can rehearse this move like you did once in the fifth video (down the line driver practice swings, black shirt):



These were the two "impact positions" you reached in the two practice swings and one actual impact position you reached with your real swing. You can see how they are completely different. From left to right, the first practice swing you actually cleared your hips first, which is good! Your arms are a little wonky because it looks like you're exaggerating the held off "lag" position, but we don't need to worry about that too much here. The second practice is much closer to how you actually end up swinging the club, which is mostly arms with little hip rotation. What you need to do is practice drilling that first swing above without that exaggerated lag position with your hands. Get those hips going first from the downswing and make sure they are well beyond the ball when you are making impact while feeling like your hands are just being pulled along for the ride, almost like your arms are literally doing nothing but holding on to the club.

Keep videoing yourself and use these images as a reference for what your impact position should look like. You will likely hit some terrible shots even when getting into the right positions because you have what looks like an overly strong grip to help you "flip" the club to square in your downswing, so don't be discouraged if that starts happening. From there you can slowly start neutralizing your grip as you start relying less and less on your hands to square the club and more on the rotation of your body. Don't be afraid to take it slow at first and feel free to check in here if you have questions!

Edited December 9, 2020 by Valtiel

[shadymg]

Thank you so much @Valtiel, I can't thank you enough. This is the struggle with golf and various coaches. I've had some say I "fire my hips too much" and then I focus on"arms starting the downswing". I'll give it a whirl, thank you! 

[Valtiel]

15 minutes ago, shadymg said:

Thank you so much @Valtiel, I can't thank you enough. This is the struggle with golf and various coaches. I've had some say I "fire my hips too much" and then I focus on"arms starting the downswing". I'll give it a whirl, thank you! 

You're welcome! Yeah, definitely never go back to a coach that saw the swings you linked in the Imgur video page and said you were firing your hips too much, haha. Getting the downswing order reversed and leading with the arms while the hips are passive is easily the single most common thing that pops up in this forum, and in the wild. The complete misunderstanding of the whole "X-Factor" hip rotation concept combined with too much focus on the parts directly connected to the club creates the classic stalled hips, casting/flip, early extension move that plagues so many people. Once you're stuck there, you'll end up employing all sorts of compensations to square the club, most commonly an overly strong grip which gives you more "club flipping" power and various other alignment adjustments, some of which i'm working on myself. 

Best of luck!

Edited December 9, 2020 by Valtiel

[shadymg]

On 12/8/2020 at 9:07 PM, Valtiel said:

You're welcome! Yeah, definitely never go back to a coach that saw the swings you linked in the Imgur video page and said you were firing your hips too much, haha. Getting the downswing order reversed and leading with the arms while the hips are passive is easily the single most common thing that pops up in this forum, and in the wild. The complete misunderstanding of the whole "X-Factor" hip rotation concept combined with too much focus on the parts directly connected to the club creates the classic stalled hips, casting/flip, early extension move that plagues so many people. Once you're stuck there, you'll end up employing all sorts of compensations to square the club, most commonly an overly strong grip which gives you more "club flipping" power and various other alignment adjustments, some of which i'm working on myself. 

Best of luck!

 

Okay, been working on this quite a bit....seeing some improvements overall which is great. I've really focused on shifting weights during the swing and trying to insure my left side turns back against the wall. THe part i really am struggling with though is keeping my chest/head down during the swing. I keep getting higher at impact, which with my butt against the wall means it's resulting in some thin shots. Any ideas? Thanks to all!

 

Videos from today:

https://imgur.com/a/TcyHOwR