Rebuilding My Swing (Boomersooner1331)

[boomersooner1331]

Thoughts and critiques more than welcome

I'm a lefty, so some of yall might immediately x this out. But I play at about a 5-7 handicap right now and have been playing for quite some time. I'm pretty much completely redoing my swing to be more "soft" and "gentle" like Fred Couples (as far as irons go).

Sorry the videos are kind of weird colored. It started to rain so my phone tried to adjust to the lighting so I tried to change it back in movie maker. If you tilt your laptop screen back it kind of looks a little better....sorry guys. I also couldn't get a front shot because the range was kind of full, but I'll work on getting those soon.

Last but not least, take it easy on me


The first video is of my 7 iron. I didn't have a stand so it's angled a little "up" at me so it's kind of hard to see my swing plane, knee flexion, etc. You may or may not be able to see the small white flag in the distance inbetween my feet and the shaft. That is my target.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNIzw_zXHqU



Here is my driver. I know my driving mechanics are wayyyy off. I've just learned to hit this way since I was a little kid....Too much twist, I know I know.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rdd1KepkJNo


It might look like my drive is pushed right or hooking (i'm not even sure, I can't see the ball) but it's just because my feet aren't exactly square with the camera. It actually ended up going straight with a slight <5 yard fade. Just a heads up

[boomersooner1331]

And this was bugging me. I don't know why it looks like my drive just went straight to the right. Maybe it was the glare off the face of the driver or something? No clue. Here's a screenshot to show I came in square.

[tfish]

the thing that stands out about that still shot isn't the face angle....its the position of your body. you're basically standing straight up and down, with a huge hump in your shoulders/head to try to get to the ball.

that screams early extension and flipping. big power suck, completely timing dependent swing, no real consistent low point....etc

setup angles appear to be solid with the irons, given the camera angles we have (NEED a face on view)
although you do a good job keeping the club outside, your hands are lifting straight up and rotating too much. this gives you an armsy takeaway, also sets up making your shoulder plane too flat (and not perpendicular to your spine)
your right shoulder and arms run off and get behind you at the top which means it's very difficult to get your core/arms connected and working together. so you basically end up swinging with your arms. but because they've gotten so far behind you, and your left hips turning and moving towards the ball....it blocks the left shoulder and arms from coming back on the path they should to get you swinging inside-square-inside.
couple that with this early extension where your pelvis moves towards the ball and you stand up, and then can't continue turning and thus a stall and flip....and that's where you're at.

fixes and some videos to watch...
takeaway....we want no breakdown of the wrists/hands, no turning over of the clubface until ~8:00 in the backswing. everything should be initiated by the shoulder turn. and in this case because we want the shoulder turn to be steeper, it'll feel like your right shoulders going down and under your chin, and your hands are passing by your left pocket. clubface will look like it's going in a straight line away from the target for the first 1-2 feet.
stopping the runoff and getting your core/arms to work together.....big thing is to keep your hands (and your left elbow) in front of your chest at all times, which means keeping your elbows close together. good video on the subject here.... [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rge4wGMcGdM"]http://www.youtube.c...h?v=Rge4wGMcGdM[/url]
regarding the early extension and standing up out of your posture....
[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1K6c7LCh0Uo"]http://www.youtube.c...h?v=1K6c7LCh0Uo[/url]
[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUQmjdywsio"]http://www.youtube.c...h?v=jUQmjdywsio[/url]

i'd watch this too...
[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDa_K3RVKno"]http://www.youtube.c...h?v=QDa_K3RVKno[/url]

fred couples has a nice tempo which is good to copy, but he's a fantastic ballstriker because he's hit a million golf balls in his life and has always had great hand eye co-ordination and natural ability for golf. in terms of swing mechanics, he's the biggest staller and flipper of the golfhead in the game, can't even keep his right hand on the grip....and i'm not sure it's good for any amateur to copy that.

[boomersooner1331]

tfish,

I really appreciate the response. Those videos were very helpful in getting the information through to me on what I really need to work on. The one thing I'm really concentrating on the most about Fred Couples's swing is his tempo.

1. I agree. The still shot is far far far from ideal as far as positioning goes. Like I said, I've just swung that way as a kid and never really grew out of it; instead, I just learned to "work around" it. That's the one thing my father never really tried to break me off of. I play 9.5* drivers so I guess that "flipping" motion with such a flat face kind of gives me a little more power output, in a way. If that makes sense? Something I've actually started to work on in the last few weeks is being more on plane with my driver. The video talking about a hand on your hip and one on your shoulder really helps a lot. Thanks.

2. I'm going to get a face on view and a better DTL view by the end of the week. And you're exactly right, my takeaway is very "armsy", without a doubt. That's something that I always find myself doing after hitting a few balls on the range. I think my problem is that I try initiating with my shoulders, but then I get "lost", so to say, and abandon it. But you would recommend using the shoulder turn with the takeaway without movement of the club face until the ~4:00 position (for me as a lefty)? That's something I'll really need to start doing.

3. You're exactly right about arm/core separation and I'm glad you pointed it out. I've got exceptionally long arms even for my height, so it's difficult sometimes to "keep them where they're supposed to be". When I first started trying to create club lag, that's the only way I could figure out how to do it. The very first video is great though because I feel like that will help me make a more conscientious effort to keep my left elbow in front of my body. Although the video doesn't show it due to the angle, my wrists are just slightly forward at impact position, so I'm atleast halfway there?

So I guess my main problem is weight shift too soon? Unfortunately it'll be hard for me to break this habit because that's one of the only ways I've ever known to drive down "into" the ball. So you're suggesting that my weight should be shifted mostly on the follow through? This is where I'm lost the most I guess haha.

Thanks again though. I'll be sure to work on these and get some new, better videos up by the end of the week.

[tfish]

[quote] I play 9.5* drivers so I guess that "flipping" motion with such a flat face kind of gives me a little more power output, in a way. If that makes sense?[/quote]
yea, this is why there's quite a few women on the lpga tour that flip it pretty good through impact (lexi thompson comes to mind immediately). flipping it over can generate more clubhead speed. but like you said, you have long arms.....there should be no issues creating power. and if you put yourself in positions to strike the ball with a descending core driven blow in the middle of the face, distance won't be an issue until you're in your 50's.

[quote]3. You're exactly right about arm/core separation and I'm glad you pointed it out. I've got exceptionally long arms even for my height, so it's difficult sometimes to "keep them where they're supposed to be". When I first started trying to create club lag, that's the only way I could figure out how to do it.[/quote]
my wingspans like 6'8, so i understand this completely....and it's gonna take a lot of repetitions to start keeping them in front of your body. the idea isn't to create lag with loose arms that runoff behind you and then you fling them through, it's to keep your arms in front so they're connected to a powerful core and always have room to come through....and then swing with loose wrists to generate unforced lag that will naturally create a descending, powerful blow.

[quote]So I guess my main problem is weight shift too soon? Unfortunately it'll be hard for me to break this habit because that's one of the only ways I've ever known to drive down "into" the ball. So you're suggesting that my weight should be shifted mostly on the follow through? [/quote]
not at all.
(without seeing a face on view)....it's not a left-to-right weight shift thing. it's an arm runoff thing which has direct relation to what's happening in the downswing where you lose your posture and your pelvis moves towards the ball.

attached a picture. green lines were your spine angle, butt, and head position at address.
in virtually every pro, we see that spine angle stay the same or dip down to compress into the ground, head stays out over the ball instead of backing away (and head usually dips down too), and the right butt goes through the line where it was at address.

seems like a lot to fix, but the good news is that when you can keep the arms in front, and get the butt going deep behind you in the downswing instead of towards the ball.....the spine angle and your posture will naturally return to good positions, and you won't need to back your head away through impact in order to not hit the ball way fat and fall over on your toes in your finish.