Swing help please

[cj3wood]

Been about 3 years since swinging a club...

Hi all,

First off thank you looking and I appreciate any help given.

It's been about 3 years since I've played any golf. I've been to the range a handful of times the past two weeks and I think I'm now at a point where I have a consistently sucky swing :) . But unlike the past, I want to make sure I really make good use of my range time. I'm looking to work on one or two major things to really focus on when at the range. I play for recreation only, and I just want to get enough confidence to be able to go play at a course.

In the .mil and I'm afraid to get lessons because I end up moving very frequently and having different instructors, don't know if that's a good idea or not.?

Any help is greatly appreciated, thank you!!!


dtl
http://www.youtube.c...h?v=RFWw0a3NE-o
face on(practice swing)
http://www.youtube.c...h?v=ViXj3wE3sR8

[kellygreen]

[quote name='cj3wood' timestamp='1331662205' post='4499897']
Hi all,

First off thank you looking and I appreciate any help given.

It's been about 3 years since I've played any golf. I've been to the range a handful of times the past two weeks and I think I'm now at a point where I have a consistently sucky swing . But unlike the past, I want to make sure I really make good use of my range time. I'm looking to work on one or two major things to really focus on when at the range. I play for recreation only, and I just want to get enough confidence to be able to go play at a course.

In the .mil and I'm afraid to get lessons because I end up moving very frequently and having different instructors, well you know...

Any help is greatly appreciated, thank you!!!

dtl
[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFWw0a3NE-o"]http://www.youtube.c...h?v=RFWw0a3NE-o[/url]
face on(practice swing)
[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViXj3wE3sR8"]http://www.youtube.c...h?v=ViXj3wE3sR8[/url]
[/quote]

Three things jump out at me.

1. Your lower body is "dead". I see very little weight shift back to your right on the backswing, or onto your left foot on the downswing. Which leads to the second problem...

2. Your swing path is "over the top" (OTT) and cuts across the ball from "outside" the target line to "inside' the target line. As a result the shot you hit on the DTL video was probably either a pull or a slice.

Third thing I noticed is your backswing is upright and shallow...which is contributing to your OTT downswing move. But that is an issue that can be ignored for now...and will get a lot better if we address the other two problems

Simple advice?

1. You have to get your lower body working properly. I'd recommend doing what is called the "baseball drill". Set up to the ball as if your were going to hit it normally. Then take your left foot and put it right beside your right foot so that your feet are together. Then---like a baseball hitter---take your backswing then STEP FORWARDS so that your left foot goes back towards where it was originally, then swinging to hit the ball.

The point of the drill is to ingrain the feel of getting shifting your weight through the shot. First back (when your feet are together) then THROUGH the shot as you step forward, shifting your weight onto your left foot and hitting the ball.

2. Master that drill, and you will be 90% of the way to fixing your over-the-top move. Since most OTT slicers create their poor swingpath mainly because they don't shifte their weight and use their lower body properly.

The other 10% will require you to do a little more homework and decide what kind of swing you wish to develop.

Your hands are (if I'm not being fooled by the camera angle) are in the right position for what is called a "two plane" golf swing. Without getting into a lot of swing theory...your hands at the top of the swing are WITHIN the space mapped out by your shoulders...near your center of mass. Its an acceptable position. The problem is that in order to swing the golf club correctly from that position you need to shift your weight to the left (as in the drill above) then swing your arms straight DOWN. As if you are trying to hit your right ankle with the butt of the golf club. That is the DOWN part of the swing is provided by your arms...while the out-and-around is provided by the rotation of your body. But that out-and-around has to wait until your weight has shifted ont your left foot, and your arms are about halfway back to the ball.

Don't shift your weight, or try to supply the "around" too soon with your upper body....and you get that OTT move and a pull/slice.

The feel of the correct move (if you have any baseball experience) feels a lot like throwing a baseball 3/4 underarm (like the old submarine pitcher Dan Quisenberry) or like skipping a rock across a pond.

Or...like you were going to throw the golf club itself AT THE TARGET (not the golf ball). Always rememeber that the target is the focus of the swing...and the ball just gets in the way.

In fact, another good drill are simply right-hand-only swings...with the "baseball drill" footwork. It will show you how the correct right arm action in the swing is basically an ATHLETIC throwing motion.

That should get you started. Any more would only cause confusion, imo.

[cj3wood]

Thank you for the quick reply. I did forget to mention most of my misses or pulls with the wedges/short irons and a slice with the woods.

Years ago, i read Slicefixer's ET, and started practicing w/ the ideas in it but that was right before I stopped playing, does it look like I would have to make too many changes to go about using that swing style?

[kellygreen]

[quote name='cj3wood' timestamp='1331664509' post='4500189']
Thank you for the quick reply. I did forget to mention most of my misses or pulls with the wedges/short irons and a slice with the woods.

Years ago, i read Slicefixer's ET, and started practicing w/ the ideas in it but that was right before I stopped playing, does it look like I would have to make too many changes to go about using that swing style?
[/quote]

To be honest, I'm relatively new to this forum, so I'm not that familar with what Slicefixer teaches. But---based upon what other people have to say about it---it sounds similiar to the one-plane/body-rotation swing. It is a great swing (it is what I use in my own game.)

So I'll answer your question from that perspective. Apologies to Slicefixer fans if I misrepresent what he teaches.

1. Regardless of whatever swing model you follow, you HAVE to get your lower body working properly. So the baseball drill will help you regardless...and needs to be mastered. in order to correct your swing path. Without a proper weight shift through the shot, you will always have that OTT move.

2. The swing image of a one-plane/body rotation swing is very different from that of a "classic" or two-plane swing (which is what I described in my last post). In a one plane action, the motion of the arms is controlled by the ROTATION of the body core (chest and shoulders)...and the arms are CONNECTED (I call it keeping your armpits closed) to the trunk. The engine of this kind of swing is not from the swinging of the arms...but the rotation of the body. The arms simply act as levers to transfer that energy to the club...and from the club to the ball.

A few images. The move is like a track-and-field athlete throwing a discus or a "hammer". In both kinds of throws the arms are atheltically "passive". Or a more familiar feel is that of a baseball swing (not throw this time)...but TIPPED OVER to hit a ball off the ground.

If you are going to use this kind of swing you will probably need a strong grip (until you get get more comfortable releasing the club)...and your arms will need to get BEHIND your center of gravity on the back swing.

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C99qT-nf3hQ"]http://www.youtube.c...h?v=C99qT-nf3hQ[/url]

The swing on the right is a beautiful one-plane/body rotation action. Notice---at the top of the swing---his upper arms are still in close proximity to his trunk ("connection"), and his hands and lower arms are back behind his sternum (center of the chest). This position is called "deep". This puts him in perfect position to deliver the club back to the ball by shifting his weight left, then rotating throught the ball with his trunk. The arms FEEL like they are just along for the ride.

The swing on the left is what happens when you get mix in techniques from the other kind of swing I mentioned in my first post. His backswing in this swing is more appropriate for that first kind of "two plane" swing. Where the swing feel is that the arms swing straight down. At the top of this swing, you'll see that his left arm is way above the line between his two shoulders, his right upper arm has come away from his trunk, AND his hands are above his right shoulder (rather than behind it as they were in the swing on the right).

You CAN play from the position on the left, but you have have the downswing motion that I described to you in my first post. The motion has to be that the arms swing DOWN...then reconnect with the body...before the body rotates.

The problem here, is that the body action for a body rotation swing is different. Since the arms don't disconnect from the trunk, the one-plane swinger can shift his weight, and then rotate his upper body right away. Whereas if you tried to do that from the position at the top in the swing on the left...you will go OTT.

Becuase the arms are too "steep" (too high above the shoulders) and too "shallow" (hands out in front of the body center, rather than behind it)....

...and the swing on the left shows what happens when you try to rotate the body from that arm position.

A good drill to engrain that feeling of connecting the arms to the rotation of the body, is to take a bath or beach towel....orient it lengthwise...then run it accross your chest, and through your armpits. Hold it in place with your upper arms. Then hit upto 3/4 shots WITHOUT LETTING the towel fall out.

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwYlkYJyLgM&feature=relmfu"]http://www.youtube.c...&feature=relmfu[/url]

Notice how his upper arms never stray away from his trunk (on a full shot your right arm may wander away slightly), and how much more active his lower body is than yours? At the end of his followthrough he could pick his right foot up off the ground and balance easily on his left. Whereas in your swing--if you tried that---I'm betting you'd fall over. Because you still have a fair amount of weight on that right foot.