BigTerp's swing journey

[BigTerp1524]

1 hour ago, TheDeanAbides said:

Yes, your left hand is a bit weak now. Err on the side of strong. 

Thanks. To strengthening my left hand I want to roll out over the top of the grip more, correct?

[rondo01]

2 hours ago, BigTerp1524 said:

Thanks. Chicken wing on the follow through?

 
Yup - Jordan and Bryson both demonstrate this well.

[TheDeanAbides]

1 hour ago, BigTerp1524 said:

Thanks. To strengthening my left hand I want to roll out over the top of the grip more, correct?

https://golfinsideruk.com/how-to-hold-golf-club-proper-golf-grip/

 

Edited April 17, 2021 by TheDeanAbides

[BigTerp1524]

4 hours ago, TheDeanAbides said:

https://golfinsideruk.com/how-to-hold-golf-club-proper-golf-grip/

 

Thanks. I knew my right hand was pretty strong when I first started this, but didn't pay much attention to my left. Here is how I previously gripped a club. It was a big change for me weaking my right hand. But surprisingly didn't take long to get used to. Hoping it'll be even easier strengthening my left hand a bit now. Also, standard grips are too small for me. I'm having my test 7i built with midsize. Depending on how this feels, I may even go oversized/jumbo. This should help my grip be more comfortable, if nothing else.

 

Edited April 17, 2021 by BigTerp1524
Additions

[TheDeanAbides]

Can you post just your left hand grip?

[BigTerp1524]

11 minutes ago, TheDeanAbides said:

Can you post just your left hand grip?

I'll do that later this evening.

[rondo01]

This has actually been a really good series of posts for me because I think it’s made ideas about matchups click. @TheDeanAbides and @glk, could you all check to see if this math works out?

 

I really like the feeling of the motorcycle move through impact and going back, but given my grip which has strengthened over time, I tend to over do it so my miss is left going left. The motorcycle move has proven to be the only reliable way for me to get a bit shallow. I don’t have great control over path and naturally try to come ott, so when I then try to fade it, it’s banana slices. I also feel like I have to hold off the release, which is not tenable with how much I rely on the motorcycle move. At this point, I want to make it so that I can motorcycle to no end throughout the shot without worry, and know it’s starting straight. That means relying on being able to “max out“ lead wrist flexion, versus working on “degrees of flexion” - that way my worry becomes path.
 

Rambling post, but it means I need to weaken the left hand slightly to match up how I want to release the club. 

[TheDeanAbides]

2 minutes ago, rondo01 said:

This has actually been a really good series of posts for me because I think it’s made ideas about matchups click. @TheDeanAbides and @glk, could you all check to see if this math works out?

 

I really like the feeling of the motorcycle move through impact and going back, but given my grip which has strengthened over time, I tend to over do it so my miss is left going left. The motorcycle move has proven to be the only reliable way for me to get a bit shallow. I don’t have great control over path and naturally try to come ott, so when I then try to fade it, it’s banana slices. I also feel like I have to hold off the release, which is not tenable with how much I rely on the motorcycle move. At this point, I want to make it so that I can motorcycle to no end throughout the shot without worry, and know it’s starting straight. That means relying on being able to “max out“ lead wrist flexion, versus working on “degrees of flexion” - that way my worry becomes path.
 

Rambling post, but it means I need to weaken the left hand slightly to match up how I want to release the club. 

The one thing I will say is that if something is a good thing then more of it is almost definitely not better. 

 

Yes, if you're intent on using the motorcycle move aggressively you're probably going to have to weaken your grip, but it sounds to me like you're adding compensations. I've rarely seen anyone play well consistently that way. Always better to move more towards neutral if possible. 

[rondo01]

22 minutes ago, TheDeanAbides said:

I've rarely seen anyone play well consistently that way. Always better to move more towards neutral if possible. 

 

Heard that - my thought is that I’m too strong; and what I feel is “max” flexion for me is nowhere near say a DJ or something, it’s very tame. But theoretically, the match up goes that way. 

 

edit: I should also say this is what I feel is “max” - I’m not actually near max flexion. In reality I think I’m avtually headed toward neutral 

Edited April 17, 2021 by rondo01

[TheDeanAbides]

1 hour ago, rondo01 said:

 

Heard that - my thought is that I’m too strong; and what I feel is “max” flexion for me is nowhere near say a DJ or something, it’s very tame. But theoretically, the match up goes that way. 

 

edit: I should also say this is what I feel is “max” - I’m not actually near max flexion. In reality I think I’m avtually headed toward neutral 

Video? 

[rondo01]

50 minutes ago, TheDeanAbides said:

Video? 

I’ll shoot you one later this week. 

[BigTerp1524]

6 hours ago, TheDeanAbides said:

Can you post just your left hand grip?

 

[TheDeanAbides]

5 hours ago, BigTerp1524 said:

 

Okay, so you need to strengthen that as shown in the post I sent, but I'd also suggest getting your thumb closer to your pointer finger. You don't really want a gap between them. 

[BigTerp1524]

On 4/18/2021 at 2:50 AM, TheDeanAbides said:

Okay, so you need to strengthen that as shown in the post I sent, but I'd also suggest getting your thumb closer to your pointer finger. You don't really want a gap between them. 

Thanks. I'm going to work on it this week. Had a super busy weekend so didn't spend anytime working on my swing. I have another tee time scheduled for this Sunday. Looking forward to it.

 

In other news, I picked up a 12 pack of Maxfli Tour X balls yesterday at Dicks. Decided it was time to pick a ball and play that one exclusively, for no other reason than consistency. We'll see how I like them. While I was there I messed around with the putters. They had a 38" (no idea what brand/model) that felt GREAT. Everything else (36" and under) felt too short. I'm currently putting with a hand me down Top-Flite putter that is, I think, 34" and definitely too short. I should've taken the tame to figure out what the lie was on the putter because the length and lie had my setup comfortable, for the first time ever, with my eyes right over the ball. Will probably go back and try to figure this out. I'm having Maltby build me a putter along with my other clubs. So I'd like to get it built to the same as the putter I played around with at Dick's yesterday.  

[TheDeanAbides]

I'm actually surprised that your left hand grip isn't naturally much stronger because I bet those grips are waaay thin for you. 

 

Putting is so player dependent - glad you've found one you like. 

[BigTerp1524]

6 minutes ago, TheDeanAbides said:

I'm actually surprised that your left hand grip isn't naturally much stronger because I bet those grips are waaay thin for you. 

 

Putting is so player dependent - glad you've found one you like. 

No sure, it just always felt natural the way I gripped a club (more neutral left and stronger right). After testing midsize and oversize grips at my fitting, standard are for sure too small. I messed around with some oversize grips yesterday and may actually prefer them over midsize. My hands are not overly large, even for my height. I fit in XL golf gloves that actually fit a little big after breaking in. We'll see how I like the midsize grip once I get my test 7i in from Maltby. The wait on this is driving me nuts!!! 

 

As far as putter goes, what I use now is ridiculously short for me. 33 or 34". Figuring out exactly what I need/want is difficult though because demo putters over 35" are few and far between. I'm actually going to do this DIY putter fitting before making a final decision.

 

https://www.liveabout.com/diy-approach-to-putter-fitting-1562708

Edited April 19, 2021 by BigTerp1524

[TheDeanAbides]

3 minutes ago, BigTerp1524 said:

No sure, it just always felt natural the way I gripped a club (more neutral left and stronger right). After testing midsize and oversize grips at my fitting, standard are for sure too small. I messed around with some oversize grips yesterday and may actually prefer them over midsize. My hands are not overly large, even for my height. I fit in XL golf gloves that actually fit a little big after breaking in. We'll see how I like the midsize grip once I get my test 7i in from Maltby. The wait on this is driving me nuts!!! 

XL is pretty big. I use a small glove and have an extra wrap of tape under my standard grips. 

[BigTerp1524]

Just now, TheDeanAbides said:

XL is pretty big. I use a small glove and have an extra wrap of tape under my standard grips. 

I have a feeling I'll most likely fall in between midsize and oversize. The extra wrap of tape or two with a midsize might be just what I need. I've regripped my own clubs successfully before, so this is at least something I can experiment with at home on my own.

 

Either way, the bump up from standard to midsize should be a welcome change for me. 

[BigTerp1524]

Worked on strengthening my left hand this evening. Really awkward and uncomfortable at first, but after a few swings it wasn't so bad. It was weird but it felt uncomfortable yet good at the same time. Hard to explain. My miss was instantly  left, further left then I've ever been, which makes sense since I was essentially closing the club face at impact it I swung "normally" with a stronger left hand. Was easy to asses this and make a slight adjustment(s) to straighten it out. My adjustment was the feeling of shallowing the club a bit more and having a more in to out path and maybe not pronating my right arm as much at impact. This seems like a lot, but it was honestly my feels after a few swings to correct the hard push left. Definitely not as consistent as I previously was, a few shots went ricocheting around my rec room, but it feels like this little grip change is forcing me to swing a bit "better". 

 

New grip

 

Comparison with my previous grip.

[TheDeanAbides]

Much better.

[BigTerp1524]

2 hours ago, TheDeanAbides said:

Much better.

This grip change is really highlighting that I need bigger grips. My driver is midsize and a lot more comfortable with this new grip. I have to wonder if that's why I've always had some funky grips?

[TheDeanAbides]

quite possibly. 

[BigTerp1524]

1 hour ago, TheDeanAbides said:

quite possibly. 

On the same note, is my new miss going left normal for increasing my left hand grip to me more strong? And in relation, are my thoughts/feels on how to straighten it out appropriate? Last night the feeling of shallowing the club a bit more, coming a bit more in to out and less right arm pronation at impact straightened my shot out. At least from the little bit I could see hitting into a net 15 feet away with foam balls. I can also see how the last part (less right arm pronation at impact) would help extend my follow through like @rondo01 mentioned earlier. All of this sort of feels like I'm getting more power and more efficiency in my swing. What's encouraging now is I feel like I've worked out a fairly decent swing and am able to troubleshoot a bit and make appropriate small adjustments on the fly. Hopefully that's another step towards locking in this swing and getting some consistency going. I want to work on this new grip for a few days to get it comfortable and then take some video to see how everything looks overall. Feeling like I'm headed in the right direction though!!

[TheDeanAbides]

1 hour ago, BigTerp1524 said:

On the same note, is my new miss going left normal for increasing my left hand grip to me more strong? And in relation, are my thoughts/feels on how to straighten it out appropriate? Last night the feeling of shallowing the club a bit more, coming a bit more in to out and less right arm pronation at impact straightened my shot out. At least from the little bit I could see hitting into a net 15 feet away with foam balls. I can also see how the last part (less right arm pronation at impact) would help extend my follow through like @rondo01 mentioned earlier. All of this sort of feels like I'm getting more power and more efficiency in my swing. What's encouraging now is I feel like I've worked out a fairly decent swing and am able to troubleshoot a bit and make appropriate small adjustments on the fly. Hopefully that's another step towards locking in this swing and getting some consistency going. I want to work on this new grip for a few days to get it comfortable and then take some video to see how everything looks overall. Feeling like I'm headed in the right direction though!!

I caution against deliberately trying to change path without knowing how to do it properly. The likelihood is you'll do it by dropping your right shoulder and pushing your hips forward. 

 

Yes, a stronger grip might result in the lefts at first. As always, video is good here. 

[BigTerp1524]

Just now, TheDeanAbides said:

I caution against deliberately trying to change path without knowing how to do it properly. The likelihood is you'll do it by dropping your right shoulder and pushing your hips forward. 

 

Yes, a stronger grip might result in the lefts at first. As always, video is good here. 

Thanks, all good points. Surprisingly, I haven't had much issue dropping my right shoulder when working on cast A/shallowing the club on the way down. I attribute that to the wall drill I posted on here previously. So, hopefully I'm not getting in that habit. I plan to work on this for the next day or two before I video and assess. Another positive is that with all the work I've put in the past few months, the recent smaller changes have come much easier that the complete rebuild I was starting with. I know it's obvious, but it's encouraging for myself. 

[betarhoalphadelta]

I'm in the same boat re: grips. Currently I'm using standard, and wear XL gloves. Mine are Kirkland gloves, which I understand may run a little small, but the XL is actually usually tight on me. 

 

However, I used one of the online guides and measured my hand length, and it would put me in midsize whereas XL gloves often suggests oversize. 

 

So I need to hit a golf store and see what feels good before I get new clubs.

 

I think the smaller grips are making me more prone to turning the hands over too much through impact, leading somewhat to my case of the lefts that has been getting worse and worse lately. I think getting a little stronger grip with more flexion in the wrist will help too, but larger grips probably can't hurt if they're better fit for my hands.

[BigTerp1524]

34 minutes ago, betarhoalphadelta said:

I'm in the same boat re: grips. Currently I'm using standard, and wear XL gloves. Mine are Kirkland gloves, which I understand may run a little small, but the XL is actually usually tight on me. 

 

However, I used one of the online guides and measured my hand length, and it would put me in midsize whereas XL gloves often suggests oversize. 

 

So I need to hit a golf store and see what feels good before I get new clubs.

 

I think the smaller grips are making me more prone to turning the hands over too much through impact, leading somewhat to my case of the lefts that has been getting worse and worse lately. I think getting a little stronger grip with more flexion in the wrist will help too, but larger grips probably can't hurt if they're better fit for my hands.

I never knew any better and always played standard. During my fitting I was amazed how much better the midsize felt. Last night while working on strengthening my left hand it was really noticeable how my standard grips were too small for me for whatever reason. I'm sure it's why I had such a strong right hand grip previously. If larger grips even just feel better for you, I think it's definitely worth the change.

Edited April 20, 2021 by BigTerp1524

[BigTerp1524]

Continued working on my grip last night. It's still a little awkward, but getting more and more comfortable. Initially results were all over the place. I got frustrated and started working on 3/4 or so swings. This felt better, and results were better. I decided to video this and realized that even though the initial results were better, I was also breaking down my swing in a bad way and creating other issues. So I scraped the 3/4 swing, regrouped and went back to work on full swings with my new grip. MUCH better results, feels, etc. Just needed a little reset and some video confirmation that I need to embrace the process and keep moving forward. Learned pretty quickly that getting frustrated and attempting to make big changes to correct little things is not the way to go.

 

Overall I'm feeling pretty good. The new grip has definitely caused a bit of a back step, but that's alright and expected. I expect this to work itself out quickly and I'll be back to working on getting really consistent with my swing in general. Working on half  swings (left arm parallel) has been helpful lately. When I feel like my full swing is breaking down, these half swings get me back on track pretty quickly. Taking these swings to the course when my full swing is out of whack, uncomfortable, etc., etc., like @TheDeanAbides suggested should really help in the real world as well. 

Edited April 21, 2021 by BigTerp1524

[berndgeurts]

XL glove here, midsize + 2 tape. Fits like a .... This will effect your swing a lot.

 

Tip for the grip change: leave a club hanging around your main area. Everytime you see it, take and grip it. Don't need to swing. Just feel the weight of the club and head position with the new grip. Set it aside and take it again again again and again. Even with eyes closed. It will help you get accustomed with the new grip.

[BigTerp1524]

7 hours ago, berndgeurts said:

XL glove here, midsize + 2 tape. Fits like a .... This will effect your swing a lot.

 

Tip for the grip change: leave a club hanging around your main area. Everytime you see it, take and grip it. Don't need to swing. Just feel the weight of the club and head position with the new grip. Set it aside and take it again again again and again. Even with eyes closed. It will help you get accustomed with the new grip.

Thanks!!

 

I'm going to stick with the standard midsize and see how it feels. Like I said, I fit an XL glove, but it gets a little big on me once it breaks in. Easy enough to change though if I feel I need a little extra. Do you do 1 or 2 extra wraps of tape under your grips?

 

Good advice on the grip. It feels pretty normal at this point, but I do have to consciously check it fairly often to make sure I'm getting it right.