Help me drop 10 strokes this summer!

[coolmonk]

Driver and 6 Iron video

I started playing golf in June of 2011. I mean, I hit a few balls at the range back in 2002 but that doesn't count as playing golf. I'm 30 years old now, stand 5'5" and have a medium build for my height. When I started, I shot anywhere from 120-130 per round but have since gotten pretty consistent with my iron play in the past 2-3 months. Within less than a year I'm now consistently scoring between 85-90. My goal this season is to shoot in the mid to high 70s. Any helpful critique about my swing is greatly appreciated as I am self-taught and have never had a fitting or lesson.

For a better idea of what I've done so far in my short time golfing, here was my swing back in October 2011:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pefrPQY60s0


And here is my swing as of today (Driver and 6 Iron...both FO):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLQyG3AFQVk

[MadGolfer76]

10 strokes?

Stop focusing on the full swing and get your short game and putting together.

[tfish]

^^^ i think going from 90 to 80 is very much about ballstriking.

to the OP....you're only gonna get as much help as you put into it. the best instructors in the world won't be able to offer much based off a practice swing from one angle in your living room. your body reacts differently when you actually hit a ball compared to just trying to swing in your minds eye of what's correct. to produce better ballstriking, you need to fix flaws in the former, not the practice swing.

i'd turn your right hand counter clockwise on the grip a fair amount. the seam in the middle of your right palm should cover the top of the knuckle on your left thumb. we shouldn't be able to see your left thumb at address.
then tilt your spine away from the target more...so your upper body is leaning a bit right at address.
something strange is going on with your left leg in the backswing....the knee moves towards the target and you shuffle your left heel. something to be aware of...not necessarily sure how to fix it.
and sit down and watch some youtube videos of ernie els and fred couples. you're way robotic and forcing it. get a club and put your feet together and swing back and forth and back and forth as smoothly as possible. no stops at either end or in the middle. loose muscles, loose wrists, light grip....swing freely. then you can do it with a ball....set up at address.....swing the club a bit forward of the ball (over top of it) without hitting it....then loosely into the top of the backswing (doesn't have to be full) then swing through the ball.

[coolmonk]

tfish, thanks for the analysis. I agree...I'm not sure what's going on with my left knee during the back swing. I've always had the impression that the left hip shouldn't sway away from the target so I'm probably over just over doing it thus incorrectly using my left leg/knee to prevent that from happening. I'll work on staying loose throughout the swing and post some videos of me actually hitting balls from different angles. Thanks!

[jvang85]

IMO..If you want to shave 10 stroke from your game, than I would suggest that you play from closer tee box. Because of the amount of time you've been playing and shooting scores like that, I think all you need is experience on how it feels to shoot low. Not to disrespect, but i would challenge you to play the womens tee's the next round of golf and see if you can shoot in the 70's. You don't have to play any different, you can use driver on whatever hole you please. The reason i'm suggesting this is because im assuming that playing from where you play now, i'm sure you haven't experienced playing 9 holes at even par or at 2 over par. So, lets see how much better you can play by playing closer tees, and how you handle the mental pressure of maintaining it.

As for your swing, i think it looks good enough to get you on the fairway. I would suggest you think more about 3/4 swings verse the full swing if you want to shave shots.

[coolmonk]

Thanks for the feedback so far guys. It's warming up real soon here in MN so hopefully next weekend I'll get a round in a report back on my scoring and whatnot. In the meantime, here's a DTL video at the indoor range:

Driver and 6 iron:

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEpYHUpa5Qw[/media]

[tfish]

standing way too far from the ball with the driver (and not enough knee flex? hard to tell from the angle). with the long clubs your hands don't have to hang directly below your shoulders... but the inside of your left hand shouldn't really be outside a line that drops vertical from the face of your shoulders (if that makes sense?). your reaching like a foot+ out.
examples:
[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Iq7sdhj4Fk"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Iq7sdhj4Fk[/url]
[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUfnZuHPrvo"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUfnZuHPrvo[/url]

i'd work on turning your hips deep in the backswing with the feeling of not moving your right kneecap backwards. right now your legs straightening and locking out at the top. that's not a correct coil or necessarily a good position to be in.

shoulder turn is also too flat in the backswing (partially because you're standing too far from the ball). making it more vertical with your left shoulder under your chin will give your arms more room to work with coming down.

but once again, if you want good consistent advice to help you improve your swing you gotta provide good angles with the video (while hitting a ball). on your foot line, at hand-to-waist height & face on at hand-to-waist height.

[Aithos]

You're going to pick the next 10 strokes up with consistency (putting the ball in play), short irons (inside 100 yards), chipping (up and down) and putting. If you really want to mess with your swing I'd find a teaching pro who you mesh with and can work with every 2-3 weeks locally. Also, a defined practive schedule is a good idea. Rotate what you work on but make sure your practice time is structured and doesn't just amount to pounding balls at the range with different clubs. I saw a guide on here about breaking 80 and it was just a PDF with 4-5 drills and a schedule for 8 weeks worth of practice, it was very simple but the idea is a powerful one.