Can't duplicate practice swing lag

[ThaPebblePlaya]

My practice swing looks like Sergio Garcia, but when the ball is there I just can't replicate it. The real swing is not just slightly worse, it's another universe worse. I lose my lag and throw my arms early, no matter what I try I cannot get myself to replicate my hands forward / lag practice swing when the ball is there. Part of the problem is that the practice swing and my real swing "feel" the same to me, but the camera doesn't lie.

 

I have tried tons of stuff, obviously it's mental at this point but I don't know what I can do to overcome it. Any tips? Found a few YouTube videos but the recommendations didn't really work for me.

[ferrispgm]

23 minutes ago, ThaPebblePlaya said:

My practice swing looks like Sergio Garcia, but when the ball is there I just can't replicate it. The real swing is not just slightly worse, it's another universe worse. I lose my lag and throw my arms early, no matter what I try I cannot get myself to replicate my hands forward / lag practice swing when the ball is there. Part of the problem is that the practice swing and my real swing "feel" the same to me, but the camera doesn't lie.

 

I have tried tons of stuff, obviously it's mental at this point but I don't know what I can do to overcome it. Any tips? Found a few YouTube videos but the recommendations didn't really work for me.

 

Watch Monte's videos....you are going down the wrong path with the lag.  Also, practice swings are practically meaningless without a ball.  Even a foam ball or crumpled piece of paper would be better than nothing. 

[jut111]

it's not mental.  nearly 1000% chance if you actually did make your practice swing with a ball there you'd either miss it or hit an awful shot.  Your brain is smarter then you and does whats needed to try and hit a functional golf shot.  

 

9 times out of 9.1 club face is way open in the practice swing and you compensate to not hit it 45 degrees right.  

 

and yes, trying to hold lag is awful.  

[RoyalTroon]

55 minutes ago, ThaPebblePlaya said:

My practice swing looks like Sergio Garcia, but when the ball is there I just can't replicate it. The real swing is not just slightly worse, it's another universe worse. I lose my lag and throw my arms early, no matter what I try I cannot get myself to replicate my hands forward / lag practice swing when the ball is there. Part of the problem is that the practice swing and my real swing "feel" the same to me, but the camera doesn't lie.

 

I have tried tons of stuff, obviously it's mental at this point but I don't know what I can do to overcome it. Any tips? Found a few YouTube videos but the recommendations didn't really work for me.

 

Playing air guitar like Eddie Van Halen is actually quite easy until you have the real McCoy in your hands and actually have to play it.  Lag is the effect, the cause is_________.

[Zitlow]

The downswing circle is forward and more narrow than the backswing circle. Give yourself permission to move.

 

 

[Fuscinator]

Paint your ball to look like the grass underneath it.

[MonteScheinblum]

As Ferris and jut said, practice swings are useless in diagnosing anything.

 

Lag is also a parabolic curve.  More is not better.  In addition a lot of Sergio’s lag is a 2D camera illusion and he’s flattening versus burying the radial deviation really hard.

 

 It’s impossible to analyze what’s going on correctly without seeing your swing, but I have seen this issue.  When people try and over lag the club on purpose, they throw off their wrist angles and sequencing and have to stall and throw it all away at once.  

[Fuscinator]

7 minutes ago, MonteScheinblum said:

As Ferris and jut said, practice swings are useless in diagnosing anything.

 

Lag is also a parabolic curve.  More is not better.  In addition a lot of Sergio’s lag is a 2D camera illusion and he’s flattening versus burying the radial deviation really hard.

 

 It’s impossible to analyze what’s going on correctly without seeing your swing, but I have seen this issue.  When people try and over lag the club on purpose, they throw off their wrist angles and sequencing and have to stall and throw it all away at once.  

Is it a good analogy to thing of lag as fuel that's useless unless you use it up? (Hm...that made more sense in my head.) In other words, lag is great at the top of the backswing, but you want to get rid of all of it just past impact, right?

[BirdieBoy1]

My practice swings are perfect 

 

once the ball is there, everyone goes to hell

[MonteScheinblum]

50 minutes ago, BirdieBoy1 said:

My practice swings are perfect 

 

once the ball is there, everyone goes to hell

Again, your practice swing is functionally terrible and that’s why your body won’t do it when the ball is there.  Nearly 100% of practice swings would be bottom groove block slices.

[MonteScheinblum]

1 hour ago, Fuscinator said:

Is it a good analogy to thing of lag as fuel that's useless unless you use it up? (Hm...that made more sense in my head.) In other words, lag is great at the top of the backswing, but you want to get rid of all of it just past impact, right?

Wanna get rid of it WELL before impact.  
 

 

[MK7Golf21]

55 minutes ago, BirdieBoy1 said:

My practice swings are perfect 

 

once the ball is there, everyone goes to hell

 

your face angle in practice swing is probably pointing 45 degrees to the right at impact because there is nothing to hit.

[Pepperturbo]

I am not an instructor, but know one thing is true for ALL of us, there is NO quick external fix for the lack of self-control. 

 

If you want something badly enough you will do what's necessary to achieve the goal.  Can't teach someone control over their thoughts, restraint over emotions, behaviors or impulses.  IF you believe this is beyond your control then you're in your own way, so it will be beyond you.

 

[nvr3putt]

3 hours ago, jut111 said:

Your brain is smarter then you

Dude, my brain hurts. 😂

[bladehunter]

2 hours ago, nvr3putt said:

Dude, my brain hurts. 😂

It’s true. My brain proves that I’m an idiot daily.  

[sociojeje]

I guess your side vision matters. I look at the grass right below the ball for any shots other than driver. My task is cutting the grass with the club. Same task for any practice swing. Could work for you... 

[MK7Golf21]

4 hours ago, sociojeje said:

I guess your side vision matters. I look at the grass right below the ball for any shots other than driver. My task is cutting the grass with the club. Same task for any practice swing. Could work for you... 

 

You look at the grass before the ball? Good way to hit them fat or scoopy. Some people do this for bunker shots, look at the sand before the ball to enter sand first and not blade them.

[sociojeje]

4 minutes ago, MK7Golf21 said:

 

You look at the grass before the ball? Good way to hit them fat or scoopy. Some people do this for bunker shots, look at the sand before the ball to enter sand first and not blade them.

Yup I look at the grass right below the ball, not before (my head stays behind the ball not over). I would say I am a pretty good ball striker with a good angle and path. 

[getitdaily]

It works for putting...

 

Look at the hole when you swing *snicker

[betarhoalphadelta]

17 hours ago, bladehunter said:

It’s true. My brain proves that I’m an idiot daily.  

 

[ThaPebblePlaya]

Thanks for the comments, maybe my topic wasn't the right choice of words. I'm not necessarily holding the lag or using that as a swing thought, it just so happens that my hands are nicely ahead of the ball at impact in my practice swing and not in my real swing.

 

Here is a video of what I'm taking about - https://youtube.com/shorts/QT4CGw5TN7I

 

Look at the hands at impact position on practice swings - ahead of the ball, should be good compression!

 

Real swing - I throw my arms / hands early and hands are over the ball more or less at impact.

 

Looking at the strike location on the practice swing, I am striking roughly where the ball should be, face is slightly open at impact (but nothing ridiculous like 30 degrees open).

 

Basically I want to execute that practice swing with a ball in front of me. I guess there are no tricks, I just need to train myself to do it with various ways. I started trying to hit a tee in front of the ball (not the ball itself), that works somewhat. Next I will try closing my eyes and having a bystander usually (but not always) move the ball away during my backswing. It sounds dumb but I'm willing to try anything at this point.

[GoGoErky]

Your practice swing lacks rotation in the back swing and you fire your hips open and that leaves the hands dragging. As said earlier if you used your practice swing you would have bad results 

[chigolfer1]

27 minutes ago, ThaPebblePlaya said:

Thanks for the comments, maybe my topic wasn't the right choice of words. I'm not necessarily holding the lag or using that as a swing thought, it just so happens that my hands are nicely ahead of the ball at impact in my practice swing and not in my real swing.

 

Here is a video of what I'm taking about - https://youtube.com/shorts/QT4CGw5TN7I

 

Look at the hands at impact position on practice swings - ahead of the ball, should be good compression!

 

Real swing - I throw my arms / hands early and hands are over the ball more or less at impact.

 

Looking at the strike location on the practice swing, I am striking roughly where the ball should be, face is slightly open at impact (but nothing ridiculous like 30 degrees open).

 

Basically I want to execute that practice swing with a ball in front of me. I guess there are no tricks, I just need to train myself to do it with various ways. I started trying to hit a tee in front of the ball (not the ball itself), that works somewhat. Next I will try closing my eyes and having a bystander usually (but not always) move the ball away during my backswing. It sounds dumb but I'm willing to try anything at this point.

 

are you not reading, or I guess more accurately accepting, what people are saying above?  It's pointless to try to "duplicate" a practice swing look for all the reasons mentioned.  you need to completely forget about your practice swing.

Edited June 14, 2023 by chigolfer1

[Pepperturbo]

People are providing good information here, let's hope the OP listens.

 

When learning, the practice swing is poor example to base a golf swing off.  I've seen many people at the practice range with what appears to be a good swing.  Seen the same people later on the course with a completely opposite swing and ugly result...it's more common than most beginners realize.  Remove game expectations and counting strokes, practice swings "APPEAR" better than they really are. 

 

IMO there comes a time when a person's golf swing is good enough that he/she can practice it on the range.  Until then, the only swing that counts is the one used to hit the ball, hopefully where your mind's eye wants it to go. 

[MountainKing]

23 hours ago, ThaPebblePlaya said:

Thanks for the comments, maybe my topic wasn't the right choice of words. I'm not necessarily holding the lag or using that as a swing thought, it just so happens that my hands are nicely ahead of the ball at impact in my practice swing and not in my real swing.

 

Here is a video of what I'm taking about - https://youtube.com/shorts/QT4CGw5TN7I

 

Look at the hands at impact position on practice swings - ahead of the ball, should be good compression!

 

Real swing - I throw my arms / hands early and hands are over the ball more or less at impact.

 

Looking at the strike location on the practice swing, I am striking roughly where the ball should be, face is slightly open at impact (but nothing ridiculous like 30 degrees open).

 

Basically I want to execute that practice swing with a ball in front of me. I guess there are no tricks, I just need to train myself to do it with various ways. I started trying to hit a tee in front of the ball (not the ball itself), that works somewhat. Next I will try closing my eyes and having a bystander usually (but not always) move the ball away during my backswing. It sounds dumb but I'm willing to try anything at this point.

 

Your practice swing is cool if all you want to do is swing with the arms, that swing would be non functional as it's a mess mechanically.

[slytown]

On 6/13/2023 at 11:32 AM, ferrispgm said:

 

Watch Monte's videos....you are going down the wrong path with the lag.  Also, practice swings are practically meaningless without a ball.  Even a foam ball or crumpled piece of paper would be better than nothing. 

 

Agreed. Sergio's lag is artificial on camera because he gets the shaft so flat. Sergio is actually very under plane and flips it at impact. I would never advise someone to swing like Sergio. It's unique to him.

 

You problem can't translate the lag to the real swing because your practice swing is static, rather than dynamic. Work on a dynamic practice swing. In the video all I see is cupping the wrist to get lag and only using the arms and wrists to sweep the ground.

Edited June 15, 2023 by slytown

[GoGoErky]

53 minutes ago, MountainKing said:

 

Your practice swing is cool if all you want to do is swing with the arms, that swing would be non functional as it's a mess mechanically.

In reality his practice swing and actual swing are the same it’s just that as mentioned by others above the mind causes the changes in the swing because it knows the result will be bad. 

[chigolfer1]

40 minutes ago, GoGoErky said:

In reality his practice swing and actual swing are the same it’s just that as mentioned by others above the mind causes the changes in the swing because it knows the result will be bad. 

 

I mean yeah, but since the OP really wants to say if he could just swing like his practice swing with the ball there then he'd be in good shape ("my practice swing looks like Sergio Garcia"), then it's also important to point out, no, it's not like the practice swing is anything to emulate either.

 

 

 

Edited June 15, 2023 by chigolfer1

[MonteScheinblum]

This is a nonfunctional position here.  You’d hit every ball fat.  Your issue is not loss of lag, your issue is a narrow stance with significant pelvis sway instead of rotation and shift.  Look how far behind the ball and feet the right shoulder is.  You sway the pelvis and are stuck on right side, then you slide on downswing and leave your upper body back.  You’d hit it WAY worse if you didn’t throw it.  
 

widen the stance and learn to turn and shift correctly

 

 

[Barfolomew]

Damm bro your swing is so fast..... whole swing shouldn't take a split second.  If ya gotta go pee go before you hit a bucket not after

 

There is no hurry.... take your time and learn to load at the top for power and control not swinging super fast

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 15, 2023 by Barfolomew