Bigger Guys Golf Swing - Differences I have Learned

[BogeyBrian]

On 2/15/2022 at 8:57 PM, cardoustie said:

Well as another “husky” fellow, here’s a few things working like magic for me currently

 

1. Jon Kim Moss vid of extension of right side going back and left side going thru … wow … so much more room past the ball For my arms targetwards.  Eye opener

2. Right shoulder direct to target from top, never drops and resultant right side tilt is gone … and stay taller

3. Feeling a tiny bit of hit hit from the inside by leading downswing with right elbow and arms tight together

4. Letting my takeaway go where the left shoulder sends it.  Not trying to artificially keep the head going straight back or way outside the hands … I am way more connected … downswing simpler

 

took down two +3’s yesterday … chest puff 

Do you remember the title of that Jon Kim Moss video? Thanks!!!

[cardoustie]

4 hours ago, BogeyBrian said:

Do you remember the title of that Jon Kim Moss video? Thanks!!!

How to keep your left arm straight 

 

 

 

[slantsflood]

Great thread!  Got a lot of help with these issues by going to a clinic of Monte's years ago.  One other thing I would add that I've learned from my journey is grip.  I have long "meaty" fingers/pad.  The grip likes to split out of my left heel pad mid swing.  Had to go to much smaller grips to have it stay under the pad throughout the swing.  If you have this issue, choke all the way down your grip and take a few practice swings.  If it stays under your left hand pad, then there is your answer.  Big hands doesn't always equate to larger grips imo

[BogeyBrian]

On 2/12/2022 at 8:13 AM, Hstead said:

This thread is turning into a good one, thanks fellas for sharing. 

 

I was able to hit some balls yesterday and play some.  Here are the Goals - low point control, be able to hit down 4* or more, be able to change swing path from 5 left, 0, to 5 right.

 

I have two different feels.  What Chase calls, "Lasers", and "Left Arm In".  Lasers means keeping my eyes down and left like I had laser beams coming from my eyeballs and tracing a line on the ground down and around to the left then up.  It also helps to think about my nose moving in those directions.  The Left Arm In is trying to squeeze my left arm against my chest so I do not get the hands way out and over the top left.

 

The way we changed the swing from too much right tilt, was to learn how to hit little over the top pull cuts.  I would take 8 iron or 9 iron and hit 110 to 120 yard little pulls cuts.  You cannot pull cut it if you are under plane right tilting.  Once I could get the pull cut established consistently and hit the ground in the same place all of the time, then we added in draws with the arms.  That is the left arm in feeling. So hit little low slices for better players right tilting, and then add the draw arms.  If you're a higher handicap that comes over the top already, maybe just jump straight to the draw feel with the arms.

 

One other issue I get into is getting too deep.  If I get too deep, I cannot get my chest open at impact in time like Chris S said.  I have to have my shoulders a little open at impact to control the low point.  I am trying to slowly get deeper and also get the chest open so I can add more speed.

 

 

 

 

can you please explain left arm in more? don't quite understand. excuse my ignorance! lol

 

great thread!!!!

[Hstead]

5 hours ago, BogeyBrian said:

can you please explain left arm in more? don't quite understand. excuse my ignorance! lol

 

great thread!!!!

If you can imagine on the downswing, when your left arm is parallel to the ground, if you video yourself from down the line, you want to see your hands in about the center of your chest, in a little bit, so your left arm is angled away from the ball slightly.

 

The feel is that I am holding my arms and hands in closer to my body on the downswing.  Steve Elkington called it "pinching the t I t t y" because it feels like you are squeezing your upper left arm against your pec.  

 

Make sense?

[BogeyBrian]

1 hour ago, Hstead said:

If you can imagine on the downswing, when your left arm is parallel to the ground, if you video yourself from down the line, you want to see your hands in about the center of your chest, in a little bit, so your left arm is angled away from the ball slightly.

 

The feel is that I am holding my arms and hands in closer to my body on the downswing.  Steve Elkington called it "pinching the t I t t y" because it feels like you are squeezing your upper left arm against your pec.  

 

Make sense?

Perfect sense. Appreciate the reply 

[games]

Coming back from PHX striking the ball really well.  @lv_2_hack wants me to feel lead wrist more extended than flexed at the top. Helps me feel more shallow on way down.  @MonteScheinblum wants more vertical drop before hitting ball with horizontal “broom force” move.  
 

I’ll post video on my swing thread when I get back.  I’m going to start Stack system when I get back, too.

[games]

My latest swing.  This is only 91 mph with 132mph ball speed for 1.46 smash.  Tough to see with MEVO camera, but exit is markedly improved as much lower.  Sad struggle to swing "over em" or "under em".  But, the wrist position Chase has me in, and Monte's Sledgehammer drill are helping me learn to make it work for me.  Will discuss more detail in my own thread.  

 

 

 

[eric61]

I'm bumping an older thread here because I love it so much. This thread has led me on a path to some serious improvements -- so thank you, @Hstead, for starting it! 

 

I've been working a bit with @lv_2_hack, who I found out about thanks to this thread. He has shown me some things that are much different than what I'd heard from a couple coaches before him who were having me try to do stuff that wasn't working for me (and I now understand why). 

 

It's taking time, but I'm seeing some real progress. My handicap is 11.7 right now and it's been inching down thanks to rounds of 82, 82 and 80 since my last lesson from Chase. (Home course is about 6,700 yards, rating/slope about 73/135, shifts a few decimals depending on which two of the three 9s you're playing.) 

 

I've had a couple stinkers in there too. I can start strong and then develop a nasty mid-round case of fats and pull-hooks. But overall I think I'm on the right track.

 

On 2/10/2022 at 6:48 PM, Hstead said:

 

I also tried to get a ton of extension past impact, I tried to get the butt of the club as far from my belt buckle as I could.  Those two goals led to continued consistency issues, mostly controlling low point.  I would get the club way too under plane because I would right tilt too early and that caused low point control issues, blocks, and hooks.  I also lost speed because I would hold off the release thinking I wanted all of this arm extension past impact.

 

 

This part of @Hstead's comment describes me too. I've worked with coaches who have focused a ton on arm extension past impact. And I do get why. But trying to achieve it causes all kinds of problems before impact for me. 

 

Looking at videos of my swing, what I see is myself leaning back before impact -- trying to get arm extension by not just extending my arms, but by getting my body away from the butt of the club. As I'm driving up from my lead leg, there's just not enough room for me to chase that arm extension past impact and keep my hips from sliding out from under my upper body. I can do it right on slow practice swings, but just can't do it at any real speed. I've been having low point control issues and that's been a part of them.

 

On 2/12/2022 at 8:36 PM, lv_2_hack said:

3. Can’t have a lot of lateral motion off the ball. Have to stay fairly centered. Also don’t need a ton of width in backswing. Tends to pull upper center to far off ball when chasing width. Playing from a narrow armed P4 could help a lot of you stay in your tilts and stay centered. 
 

4. Can’t get the arms super deep in backswing. Just not enough room to make it work. 

 

These are two of the big things that Chase pointed out recently. I had a lot of load into my trail side (left side -- I'm a lefty) late. And I've been getting too deep in the backswing, resulting in my trail elbow sort of getting stuck. 

 

He's used Colt Knost's swing as a guide for me. In particular, the idea of soft arms was as game-changer. That's something no coach has ever told me before -- and most have said the opposite. 

 

Right now, the things I'm working on are: 

 

1. Just setting up more open to the ball. Before I started working with Chase, I had a really strong grip and had that tilting-back move before impact, which meant I had to flip. Because I had to flip, I'd been setting up too closed to keep from hooking the ball way off target. Problems compounding themselves here. 

 

2. Less depth in the backswing. The goal is to free up my trail elbow. What @Hstead does in the video he posted early in this thread looks like a great example of what I'm trying to work toward on this point.

 

3. That Colt Knost-inspired backswing. Stop the heavy load late and keep my arms softer. Keeps me in a much more centered position. Yeah, it probably costs me distance, but honestly my course isn't that long -- I'd sacrifice distance for consistency in a heartbeat, and can figure out how to add the power back in afterward. 

 

Anyway, just wanted to bump this thread up, thank everybody who has contributed so far, and throw in my two cents! 

[me05501]

On 2/24/2022 at 10:51 AM, games said:

My latest swing.  This is only 91 mph with 132mph ball speed for 1.46 smash.  Tough to see with MEVO camera, but exit is markedly improved as much lower.  Sad struggle to swing "over em" or "under em".  But, the wrist position Chase has me in, and Monte's Sledgehammer drill are helping me learn to make it work for me.  Will discuss more detail in my own thread.  

 

 

 

 

 

I saw a TikTok or similar last year with a woman golfer who joked that the lead arm had to go "over t**" and the trail arm had to go "under t**." 🙂 

Edited July 12, 2023 by me05501

[ApostateDrive]

Oh man, what a great thread! I golf as part of a much larger initiative to get healthy in my life. I'm currently 5'9" and around 400lb, so to say my swing is an event is an understatement. The biggest struggle for me has been activating the lower body and not just swinging with all arms/flipping through impact, etc. Great thread!

Edited July 12, 2023 by ApostateDrive

[Hstead]

@eric61Glad it helped.  That is the reason I used to post on this site, I enjoyed sharing with people what I had learned.  With Chase's move to Oklahoma City, it is more difficult for me to get there from Chattanooga.  I will make it out there soon though I am sure.  Chase is as good of a person as he is golf coach.  I can't wait to listen to his new podcast with Raymond Prior.  Chase has taught me at least as much about playing and the mental game has he has mechanics.

 

I am actually heading down to get a tune up with iteachgolf this weekend before I play a couple of big qualifiers and tournaments.  I can drive to see Dan now so its more convenient for me.  You can't go wrong with Dan, Chase, or Monte though, they all three have forgotten more than most PGA teachers ever learned.

 

As for the "Big Guy" part, I have been working hard on that and losing quite a bit of weight has required swing changes too.

 

 

[jonsnow]

I'm 65, 6'1" & 234 (down from 255 in the last 5 months). Were most of you always big guys? I weighed 160 when I finished HS & 175 when I finished college, then the weight started accumulating around a pound a year until I reached 255. I think my swing changed subconsciously as I got bigger. I started taking the club back outside because there was too much in the way as I got thicker through the middle. I'm working to get back to 185 as I've had some health issues that required a pretty drastic change in my diet, not just how much I eat but what I eat.

 

I took a lesson last Saturday from a guy who is about the same size as me & the first thing he picked up on was my takeaway getting outside immediately. He had me hitting it much better by the end of the lesson & I've been working on the drills he gave me. Looking forward to getting out tomorrow & seeing what it feels like.

[cardoustie]

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