Dave D's swing thread - Pg 39 new putter & swing update 9th April

[i*windows]

what's the goal for this season Dave?

[Golfjack]

About the left shoulder low I saw you talk about on another thread (GG I think) it looks like GG's spine is much more straight, as it ideally should be for iron shots. In your snapshots you have much more spine tilting backwards. Took me a while as left shoulder low didn't make sense to me swing wise, but the shoulder tilt difference does. Just an observation don't know if it fits what you are trying to do.

[Dave D]

what's the goal for this season Dave?

Process goals:

- improve bunker play

- increase confidence in short game

- roll putts at the hole at a better pace, I tend to die them in and sometimes leave them short, want them rolling at a pace 18 inches past hole

- improve swing

 

Achievement goals:

- break 70

- win club championship

- lower handicap to +1

- break course record at home club

- get through to matchplay at County Amateur Championship

[Dave D]

About the left shoulder low I saw you talk about on another thread (GG I think) it looks like GG's spine is much more straight, as it ideally should be for iron shots. In your snapshots you have much more spine tilting backwards. Took me a while as left shoulder low didn't make sense to me swing wise, but the shoulder tilt difference does. Just an observation don't know if it fits what you are trying to do.

yeah that ties in, to me what feels left shoulder opening is actually too much tilt and my shoulder doesn't move much in relation to my head, the left shoulder working low actually gets me much more open and spine much straighter

[flog2]

Had a semi-light bulb moment last night when doing some swings and analysing video of my swing in relation to the left shoulder. what I feel is left shoulder opening and working around is actually it moving slightly around and up but also staying in the same place in relation to my head. As you can see below my head moves forward as my left shoulder moves, it doesn't clear away from my chin. it only starts to separate as my head also has to back out to where it was at the top of my backswing.

 

 

Whereas if I feel the left shoulder stay a lot lower and away from my chin it gets me into a much better position. I found a very good Dan Whittaker lesson video which speaks about this same thing (the bloke is quite annoying in it but the info is good):

 

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Although GG never mentions the left shoulder much, you can clearly see here how much it seperates from his chin and how low it stays:

 

 

This Dan Whittaker video is a timely reminder of Tom Watsons "secret" that is very very useful to us all

 

[Golf nerd]

[Dave D]

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perfect video illustrating what I was talking about thanks

[Dave D]

Shot 78 & 73 this weekend in the clubs spring meeting, not ideal especially the 1st round but lots of positives to take and good platform to build on as it the first comp of the year at my home club. The weather was lovely, greens a bit bumpy still and the pin positions were very tough.

 

I putted awfully in the first round, as much as I love the edel and do aim it well, I still have issue commiting to an exact line. For the 2nd round I switched to my old odyssey, with a line on the ball and LHL, and was so much better on short putts. Struggled a little with longer lag putts but that'll come with more practice. Had some real big breaking <6ft putts and made a very high percentage of them. Sadly it looks like the edel may have been a waste of money, although it technically cost me next to nothing after club sales.

 

 

Using the line on the ball really confirms the line to me and I don't then stand over it looking at an area to aim at. I know the aim is good and can just focus on speed. This is how I was putting end of last season when I was putting really well. I've ordered a superstroke 1.0 to put on in replacement of the completely round tacki-mac grip that is currently on there.

 

The other equipment change I mentioned was swapping back to my old lob wedge due to my bunker struggles, practiced with it Friday night and it was like a breath of fresh air, once again able to take a nice long shallow divot of sand. I had 2 greenside bunker shots in the 2 rounds and hit both within 5 feet. Not sure what it is about the PM grind that doesn't work for me in the sand but the difference is night and day, its a shame really as I really like it elsewhere on the course.

 

Hit the ball really solid, the left shoulder movement coupled with improved backswing pivot had me hitting the ball really really nicely, almost dead straight or a tiny fade, something I've been longing for for a while. One issue with the swing work I've been doing is that now the weather is somewhat warm again I'm now hitting the ball too far :D, carrying it about 6-7 yards longer with irons I'd say. Wasn't a noticeable issue in the cold but I'm definitely going to have to do some work to get my new distances worked out, perhaps get on a launch monitor. Not a bad problem to have at all, just led to a few unnecessary issues from good shots all weekend.

 

So all in all quite a few positives to take

 

edit: I also received this in the post today, heard lots of good things about it so thought it'd be good to give a read

 

[flog2]

Dave thanks for the left shoulder alert and video, also to golf nerd for his linked video- That one movement alone has brought back my baby draw in the long clubs and consistent solid strikes in the shorter clubs. Thank you both.

 

/sorry for the slight hijack there Dave.

[Dave D]

Dave thanks for the left shoulder alert and video, also to golf nerd for his linked video- That one movement alone has brought back my baby draw in the long clubs and consistent solid strikes in the shorter clubs. Thank you both.

 

/sorry for the slight hijack there Dave.

don't be silly, no need to apologise at all! that's what this forum is all about, helping eachother get better!

 

certainly been a light bulb for me, what I thought was the correct movement wasn't. Silly old game isn't it.

 

Best game there is though.

[Dave D]

Didn't play too much golf through April what with lots of stuff going on and trying to sell our flat and buy a house etc.

 

Had a 36 hole scratch tournament at my club this past Saturday which I won with a +3 total, shot 72, 75.

 

Wasn't hitting the ball particularly great and that showed up in the 2nd round, lots of sloppy bogeys. Also had 4 3 putts over the 2 rounds - not good enough.

 

Did have an impressive stretch in the 2nd round of -5 through 4 holes, birdie eagle birdie birdie. Then bogey bogey bogey afterwards :lol:

 

 

As you can see it was a highly entertaining 2nd round, a 9 hole stretch in the middle of level par without a single par! The 2 rounds have me back down to 0.5 so right on the border of scratch. Went up 0.2 in the first 2 comps of the year due to rustiness.

 

Have the county amateur on Friday so all focus on that now

[dg_1983]

Good Luck Dave. With all the technique work you have been doing perhaps its time to get some "golf" played in the heat of battle rather than playing golf swing, know what I mean?

 

One of my putting goals is to leave the technique thoughts at home and take what ever stroke I have into play.

 

I've committed to the fact that I will perform better letting it happen on the course after 1000 drills, rather than making that on-course first putt drill number 1001 and so on.

[Dave D]

Spent a good few hours with my coach yesterday working on all parts of my game, especially on 2 weak parts of my game, pitching and putting speed control.

 

Pitching technique-wise I have quite a wide arm swing coupled with a lot of wrist hinge, these 2 parts don't really match, lots of wrist hinge matches well with little arm movement (Garcia), and wide arm arc matches with little hinge (day/stricker). Experimented with both to see which suits me better and by far it was reducing wrist hinge, shortening my arm arc just felt awful and extremely hard to manage low point and distance control. Taking out some hinge made it seem extremely simple, almost a feel of just a really long putting stroke.

 

Zane then showed me a few drills to calibrate touch and speed on the putting green, I've always suffered with a longer through stroke than back stroke, after 30 minutes or so working on the speed drills we videoed my stroke and this had pretty much gone and my stroke had a much better rhythm to it. Amazing considering I didn't focus on mechanics at all. it sounds silly but I never necessarily thought that much about the speed, I just looked at the hole/ target and would hit the putt trying to hole it. After the drills my lag putting improved lots especially with focusing on the speed I wanted the ball to be approaching the hole at.

 

Swing wise I'd gotten a bit too under plane again, and club face much more flipped over at p9. Did lots of half shots getting more rotated and getting hands and arms working left, which I quickly got the hang of again, however in a full swing I still struggled to implement it. Zane narrowed it down to my lower body working too linear from transition down to p6, thus giving me no room to rotate. So did a few GG/Dana style drills keeping the right knee external/hips moving back until p6 then rotating through. Starting crushing the ball again, really improved strike and much more stable clubface.

 

Swing video: https://www.instagram.com/p/BUuisqZlI77/?taken-by=davedunlop87

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/BUuY_q6DvTF/?taken-by=zanescotlandgolf

 

So feel really good heading into the next few weeks, as I said above I have county championship this weekend, then a couple of comps at my club before club champs in about 5 weeks time.

[Dave D]

Good Luck Dave. With all the technique work you have been doing perhaps its time to get some "golf" played in the heat of battle rather than playing golf swing, know what I mean?

 

One of my putting goals is to leave the technique thoughts at home and take what ever stroke I have into play.

 

I've committed to the fact that I will perform better letting it happen on the course after 1000 drills, rather than making that on-course first putt drill number 1001 and so on.

Thanks, I am actually getting very good at separating the technique from playing to be honest. To me doing lots of drills is just that, and from doing more drills I now find it easier to switch from 'drill mode' to scoring mode.

 

Both rounds Saturday, despite numerous blemishes was one of the best times I've had at playing each shot as it comes and not thinking about score.

[dg_1983]

Great to hear dave. In your Instagram you talk about keeping the right knee external in transition, can you share a little more info on that? Think I could do with that

[Dave D]

Great to hear dave. In your Instagram you talk about keeping the right knee external in transition, can you share a little more info on that? Think I could do with that

 

Basically keeping the right knee cap over the right foot and pointing to 12 on a clock face, 12 being in front of you and 6 being behind. Whilst the left side clears. When the right knee moves in too quickly and lower body moves too laterally/too linear, you have no room to turn. Here's some clips and videos to help explain.

 

 

https://www.instagra...owarthgolfcoach

 

https://www.instagra...-by=ggswingtips

 

[dg_1983]

Thanks Dave, good explanation and ill check the videos out.

 

I've been working on improving my rotation and leg work through the ball, this might be another improvement I can add.

[MMB1500]

 

https://www.instagra...owarthgolfcoach

 

 

Isn't this move exactly what Gankas is teaching. Are the two affiliated somehow?

 

Sorry to hear the Edel didn't work out for you Dave. I'm still loving mine. Keep the updates coming anyway. I enjoy reading this thread.

[Dave D]

https://www.instagra...owarthgolfcoach

 

 

Isn't this move exactly what Gankas is teaching. Are the two affiliated somehow?

 

Sorry to hear the Edel didn't work out for you Dave. I'm still loving mine. Keep the updates coming anyway. I enjoy reading this thread.

Looks a very similar move to the GG move, dunno if they are.

 

Yeah it is a shame, I mean i'll never sell it, I'm half contemplating getting a line milled in the back of it, not sure if Edel will do that if you send it to them? Glad my witterings are enjoyable and not too boring :D

[Dave D]

2 goals achieved at the weekend, break 70 in competition and get through to the matchplay of the County Amateur Championship.

 

36 hole medal on the Friday, Top 16 go through to matchplay from the field, shot 69, 74 and made it in by a couple of shots. Won my round of 16 match Saturday morning but lost in the quarter finals in the afternoon 1up.

 

made a few tired swings on the back 9, cant remember the last time I played 72 holes in 2 days so honestly not surprised I made a couple of bad swings. As always its disappointing to lose but lots of positives to take.

 

The short game changes with less wrist set were working wonders, made some real good saves.

[Puppetmaster]

Well done, Dave. Great achievements either way, and the potential for more to come.

[Dave D]

Well done, Dave. Great achievements either way, and the potential for more to come.

Thanks :)

[Dave D]

Had a phone call from a friend of mine yesterday, offering me a space on a paid for golf trip to Le Touquet in northern france this weekend, who's going to say no to that!

 

Look like linksy type courses so that'll be fun. Hopefully some nice coastal views i'll take pictures of.

[Dave D]

Also a note on current ball flight, my stock shot is a tiny draw, but I've been driving the ball really solid & consistently the last 6 weeks by setting a little open and hitting a small cut. I can hit this shot with irons but I don't trust it the same and don't have as much control over it.

 

Hitting the cut driver I feel like I can turn as hard as I want along my feet line, and it is 99% straight or slight cut, near enough eliminating 1 miss (left) and no noticeable loss of distance. Unusual in that I feel more comfortable shaping driver than I do 3 wood.

 

Probably due to me getting too underneath again with my swing, whereas with the cut shot with a slight out to in path I was getting into a better position through the ball. This will probably change as i hopefully improve the technique of my swing, but it's good to know and have a go to shot.

[MMB1500]

Had a phone call from a friend of mine yesterday, offering me a space on a paid for golf trip to Le Touquet in northern france this weekend, who's going to say no to that!

 

Look like linksy type courses so that'll be fun. Hopefully some nice coastal views i'll take pictures of.

 

I've played there. Really good course and very enjoyable to play. Definitely take the camera and stay out of the gorse.

[Dave D]

Had a phone call from a friend of mine yesterday, offering me a space on a paid for golf trip to Le Touquet in northern france this weekend, who's going to say no to that!

 

Look like linksy type courses so that'll be fun. Hopefully some nice coastal views i'll take pictures of.

 

I've played there. Really good course and very enjoyable to play. Definitely take the camera and stay out of the gorse.

You thought of caddying in tournaments with tips like that? :lol: :D

 

thanks, always nice to hear that your going to play a course which is good!

[Hawkeye77]

Sounds like well deserved trip! SoCal for me and the Mrs. Monte gets to scold me, chill by the ocean, drive down the coast - I might actually relax.

 

Great work that is paying off for you!

[Dave D]

Sounds like well deserved trip! SoCal for me and the Mrs. Monte gets to scold me, chill by the ocean, drive down the coast - I might actually relax.

 

Great work that is paying off for you!

sounds fantastic!

 

thanks

[MMB1500]

Had a phone call from a friend of mine yesterday, offering me a space on a paid for golf trip to Le Touquet in northern france this weekend, who's going to say no to that!

 

Look like linksy type courses so that'll be fun. Hopefully some nice coastal views i'll take pictures of.

 

I've played there. Really good course and very enjoyable to play. Definitely take the camera and stay out of the gorse.

You thought of caddying in tournaments with tips like that? :lol: :D

 

thanks, always nice to hear that your going to play a course which is good!

 

Lol. Yeah I'm known for my advanced course management skills. Other tips include "don't fu*k this one up" and "just hit it in the hole".

 

Enjoy these continental golf trips while you can. It's going to be a lot more difficult post Brexit!

[Dave D]

Had a phone call from a friend of mine yesterday, offering me a space on a paid for golf trip to Le Touquet in northern france this weekend, who's going to say no to that!

 

Look like linksy type courses so that'll be fun. Hopefully some nice coastal views i'll take pictures of.

 

I've played there. Really good course and very enjoyable to play. Definitely take the camera and stay out of the gorse.

You thought of caddying in tournaments with tips like that? :lol: :D

 

thanks, always nice to hear that your going to play a course which is good!

 

Lol. Yeah I'm known for my advanced course management skills. Other tips include "don't fu*k this one up" and "just hit it in the hole".

 

Enjoy these continental golf trips while you can. It's going to be a lot more difficult post Brexit!

 

tips for all levels those! :)

 

haha yeah may well become harder, although to be honest i'll be happy to have a country left in a couple of years, this general election is awful, feel like its a choice between which way you'd like your nuts removed :lol: