Against my better judgement I'm going to solicit advice. Last week I decided to completely revamp. My backswing was all jacked up with way too much leg/foot movement. Tempo was way too fast Grip was super strong.

Things I'm working on are shortening the backswing, unsuccessfully so far. Balance(you'll see I have an issue falling over the ball at times).

This is the end of my range session last night. The last two swings were my best(meaning I executed how I intended to, mostly) and happened to produce the best ball flight of the evening. They start at 1:55. You can slow the video down to 1/4 speed.

Things that bug me about this video -

• Still going past parallel at the top
• That move I do to start the downswing is shallowing the plane. I'd like to get on one plane, preferably shallower on the backswing? I started doing this in the middle of my session because I was casting pretty badly and pulling the ball. This seemed to help me drive the right elbow inside and stay inside the ball.
• Straightening the left leg at impact. Might not be a problem, but I suspect it would lead to inconsistency
• I realize it's kind of a poor camera angle. Need to find a tripod or something.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwjHe9gd9IVeUW5kT25xb2xDNzA/view?usp=sharing

[puts on flame suit]

Are you working with a pro?

cevans_40 said:

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At no point in that swing are you inside the ball.

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Well, avoid casting as badly then. I have prior video where I'm way outside and pulling the ball hard. That 2nd to last ball went dead straight and long way(for me).

No I'm not working with a pro. That just ain't happening. 4 month old at the house. Lucky to get to the range or play at all. Completely dropped the game for a couple year. Just now trying to get back into it with the hope of maybe playing once/month.

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Lucky to get to the range or play at all.

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Then for the love of god dont make and swing or grip changes.

powerbelly51 said:

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Quote:

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Lucky to get to the range or play at all.

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Then for the love of god dont make and swing or grip changes.

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That was probably a little extreme. The last few weeks I've carved out enough time for a weekly trip to the range, and I think I can keep doing it. Also have a couple of fields near by where I should be able to go hit PW/9i for 30 minutes midweek.

You would smoke Steph Curry

I would try swinging with a rolled up towel between your right arm and your ribs. Really try to keep your right elbow tight to your body. Make sure the towel doesn't fall out until well past impact. Start doing this drill with 1/4 - 1/2 swings. Hopefully it will allow you to feel what getting inside is like.

would you say you have good balance and connective-ness to the ground? Your right foot moves completely out of place post impact on one swing.

That was the first thing that jumped out to me because they (good athletic posture and quiet lower parts) are foundational and can easily be worked on.

BigHitterDaLama said:

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would you say you have good balance and connective-ness to the ground? Your right foot moves completely out of place post impact on one swing.

That was the first thing that jumped out to me because they (good athletic posture and quiet lower parts) are foundational and can easily be worked on.

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No I would not. It's something I'm working on and big part of what prompted the change. This is actually a MAJOR improvement. That step out happens a lot. Even on that 2nd to last swing there was a small one despite getting my best ball flight of the evening. I've been practicing taking the club away with a quieter lower body at home quite a bit, just to get to this point.

I think the towel drill suggested above might help as well, because I suspect part of the problem is getting outside pulls me over the balls of my feet.

jj9000 said:

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10 PRINT "Never take swing tips and advice over the Internet"
20 GOTO 10
RUN

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Memories of High School computer programming

'03ag said:

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BigHitterDaLama said:

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would you say you have good balance and connective-ness to the ground? Your right foot moves completely out of place post impact on one swing.

That was the first thing that jumped out to me because they (good athletic posture and quiet lower parts) are foundational and can easily be worked on.

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No I would not. It's something I'm working on and big part of what prompted the change. This is actually a MAJOR improvement. That step out happens a lot. Even on that 2nd to last swing there was a small one despite getting my best ball flight of the evening. I've been practicing taking the club away with a quieter lower body at home quite a bit, just to get to this point.

I think the towel drill suggested above might help as well, because I suspect part of the problem is getting outside pulls me over the balls of my feet.

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I know its only practice here but practice like you are going to/need to/ want to play. When you are setting up, you bounce a lot with your knees and have a lot of hand wiggle movement. My guess is that you do this during a live round, yes?

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I know its only practice here but practice like you are going to/need to/ want to play. When you are setting up, you bounce a lot with your knees and have a lot of hand wiggle movement. My guess is that you do this during a live round, yes?

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Yes. I bounce to remind myself to stay relaxed in the knees and stay down. I have a tendency to stiffen up and straighten the legs through the swing.

'03ag said:

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I know its only practice here but practice like you are going to/need to/ want to play. When you are setting up, you bounce a lot with your knees and have a lot of hand wiggle movement. My guess is that you do this during a live round, yes?

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Yes. I bounce to remind myself to stay relaxed in the knees and stay down. I have a tendency to stiffen up and straighten the legs through the swing.

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Hopefully some others will chime in here but relaxed knees (ie bouncy) is not the same as having "knee flex". A base has to be firm to allow for more power, repeatability and to reduce "moving parts".

I was in a good groove with my golf game earlier this summer and I was out for a few holes late one evening, and the wifey was riding shotgun an enjoying the scenery. She took an unauthorized video of my swing. Naturally, I was interested in seeing it. I did not like my backswing; my left side was breaking down and the swing was a little too long. So I "fixed" it. Now my back hurts and my handicap is skyrocketing. There's a golf lesson in there somewhere, and it isn't about shortening the backswing and keeping the left side stable.

Trust me, I get what you're saying. But I struggle to break 100 anyway. It's not like I'm tinkering with great results. I'd like to build a good swing, not just be able to get around the course.

Which of course everyone will say go get lessons then, and they're right. But like I said, it ain't happening.

If you can get away for an hour that time is better spent with an instructor....trying to work on 6 things will never work. Tinkering only lasts a day...go get a lesson and work on one or two things tops.

Don't judge your improvement on where the balls goes yet...judge whether u made improvements if you are physically doing what you want to do.

You should watch the Me and My Golf videos. They have some great drills for making better contact and improving consistency.

Aggie369 said:

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I would take a **** looking swing and 75 all day errday

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If you can consistently repeat that **** swing and produce results, then go for it.

Furyk has for years.

Very few others can.

I'd suggest getting a better angle to view your swing from.

This may not be too popular on here but watch a bunch of youtube videos. Watch vids of the pros. At least you can get some basic set up/posture feedback that way and try to incorporate it into your swing. You may find better results standing straighter up with less spine angle, legs bent less, and hands not down by your knees.

That is not a bad swing, especially for someone who shoots in the 100's. But if you are not going to see a pro (which I never have, and am hesitant to do), you could at least stop reinforcing potentially bad habits and try to model your swing off golf pros and tour pros on youtube.




Compare these setups to yours for example. See where their hands are compared to yours? Is their spine angle more upright? May want to just try some of this stuff because it can't really hurt.

Wycliffe_03 said:

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You may find better results standing straighter up with less spine angle, legs bent less, and hands not down by your knees.

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What do you mean by less spine angle? Would seem to me that straighter needs would necessitate leaning over more at address(is this not more spine angle?). I would actually like to do this, as it would seem to facilitate a very simple, single plane, inside-out-inside swing. But when I stand up straighter I find it difficult to lean over enough to address the ball without feeling like I'm gonna fall over.

'03ag said:

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Wycliffe_03 said:

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You may find better results standing straighter up with less spine angle, legs bent less, and hands not down by your knees.

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What do you mean by less spine angle? Would seem to me that straighter needs would necessitate leaning over more at address(is this not more spine angle?). I would actually like to do this, as it would seem to facilitate a very simple, single plane, inside-out-inside swing. But when I stand up straighter I find it difficult to lean over enough to address the ball without feeling like I'm gonna fall over.

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Check out the guy in the light blue shirt above. You definitely want to have the feeling of being over the ball, but you don't want to be hunched over the ball, which is what is kind of seems like from your video...although that could be exaggerated by the camera being on the ground. Ideally, you want to be more upright, with arms pretty much hanging straight down. Legs should be your solid foundation, and torso and arms should start off feeling like they're turning as a unit imo.

FYI, I am far from a golf pro...just someone who had a horrendous swing and was routinely shooting in the 100's 5 years ago and now is on a quest to break 80 and routinely gets very close but can't seem to break through. I really appreciate the trial and error part of the game and when I do break 80 someday, I want to be able to say I did it on my own without help from a guru.

You can make great progress mimicking the common attributes of the pros setup and swing and taking that to the range.

I will play around with setups tonight. Part of the problem, I think, is I'm moderately tall but have relatively short arms. My clubs are an inch over standard, but I still feel hunched over unless I have a 5i or longer in my hands.

'03ag said:

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I will play around with setups tonight. Part of the problem, I think, is I'm moderately tall but have relatively short arms. My clubs are an inch over standard, but I still feel hunched over unless I have a 5i or longer in my hands.

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I hear you. But your hands appear to almost be between your knees to me. That may not be part of the problem, but I would try to mess around with a more upright stance and arms hanging down. Ideally your hands should be at least 4 or 5 inches in front of your knees, generally speaking. There are exceptions (even in the pros) to this though obviously.

The sucky thing about golf, is that so much of what you are supposed to do, feels unnatural and uncomfortable until you've done it so many times it becomes natural.

You don't have a bad swing at all, just throwing out some little things you may want to try.

Wycliffe and I saw the same things, 03Ag. Honestly, I didn't look at your swing path, whether you were casting or not.

Posture, bent over too tall, bouncy knees vs flexed knees.....these are the "being in an athletic" position we always hear about.

I'd echo 2 things that have already been posted:.

1) Go to a pro vs taking advice here

2) if you are going to take advice here, start with your hands and posture at setup. You should have enough space to wave your right hand between the butt of your club and your jimmy. Getting into a proper setup position can change a ton about your swing. Right now everything has to stay outside because there is no path to do anything else.

Stand up straighter and get your hands out from in between your legs

Start your swing with your left shoulder. Nothing moves before your left shoulder.

Keep your right elbow in.

Keep your feet still.

That should keep you busy for a year or so.

Nevermind I'm dumb...i thought u were giving advice for starting down swing

cevans_40 said:

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I would try swinging with a rolled up towel between your right arm and your ribs. Really try to keep your right elbow tight to your body. Make sure the towel doesn't fall out until well past impact. Start doing this drill with 1/4 - 1/2 swings. Hopefully it will allow you to feel what getting inside is like.

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I did this drill for a few range sessions in a row (only difference was I pinned the other end of the towel under my left armpit...basically held it tight to my chest). Really helped create crisper contact with the ball and turn all the upper body noise down. Made the swing a lot simpler.

That was last year, of course. This season I go out and I'm not striking my irons for **** so what the hell do I know.

Good luck with the tinkering. I agree with the others...if not working with a pro, do your best to mimic one.