Everyone's Favourite - a Swing Video!

[Canary_Yellow]

Erm, I'm just not very good? I took a bit of a backward step last year, it wasn't caused by anything in particular. Just make too many doubles and it's always a different reason. That's why I went for the lesson - just wanted to him to have a look and hopefully make me more consistent. I'm hoping this swing change will do that, and I can generally hit more greens, make less crappy errors, etc. I don't lose many balls with driver really, but I don't hit it very long either.

I don’t think you need to be able to hit it long to play off 12. If you can hit it 200 yards in the fairway consistently, that’s more than good enough.

Combined with a good short game and just being able to do that should see you single figures in my opinion.

I’m sure you can reach your goal this season.

 

[Orikoru]

I don’t think you need to be able to hit it long to play off 12. If you can hit it 200 yards in the fairway consistently, that’s more than good enough.

Combined with a good short game and just being able to do that should see you single figures in my opinion.

I’m sure you can reach your goal this season.

I agree but at the same time, my mid-to-long game needs to be better. If I could hit my driver 20 yards further then it wouldn't.

Cheers. My chipping is the only thing that got better last year in my opinion (thanks to Dan Grieve's book & videos). If this swing change helps I see no reason why I shouldn't be at 12 or even 11. But then I thought that last year as well.

 

[Beezerk]

I don’t think you need to be able to hit it long to play off 12. If you can hit it 200 yards in the fairway consistently, that’s more than good enough.

Combined with a good short game and just being able to do that should see you single figures in my opinion.

I’m sure you can reach your goal this season.

Only thing with 200 yard drives though, any par 4 over say 400 yards instantly becomes a par 5.
Re the swing though, I agree about the hips, it’s very armsy with a massive follow through like you’re not fully in control of the club at and after impact. Of course I may be massively wrong

 

[Neilds]

I agree but at the same time, my mid-to-long game needs to be better. If I could hit my driver 20 yards further then it wouldn't.

Cheers. My chipping is the only thing that got better last year in my opinion (thanks to Dan Grieve's book & videos). If this swing change helps I see no reason why I shouldn't be at 12 or even 11. But then I thought that last year as well.

Could the lack of distance be caused by you just using your arms? As I mentioned previously, it looks like you are suffering form the same thing as I am, a lack of hip rotation. Not using the larger muscles and half the body equals a lack of distance. In a range session after my lesson I was hitting it just as far but with a much shorter swing so hopefully I can get more distance when everything clicks and I swing a bit longer/faster

 

[Orikoru]

Only thing with 200 yard drives though, any par 4 over say 400 yards instantly becomes a par 5.
Re the swing though, I agree about the hips, it’s very armsy with a massive follow through like you’re not fully in control of the club at and after impact. Of course I may be massively wrong

Agree with the first point - that's where I am at this time of year. 400 yard par 4s stop being reachable in two when I can only hit 200 yard carry and the ball just stops dead. Which puts pressure on the short game as you can't make a mistake or it's a double.

Second point - I've never really cared much what happens to the club after I've struck the ball to be honest. It try and make sure I turn enough that my chest is facing the target, but then the club just goes where it goes.

 

[Orikoru]

Could the lack of distance be caused by you just using your arms? As I mentioned previously, it looks like you are suffering form the same thing as I am, a lack of hip rotation. Not using the larger muscles and half the body equals a lack of distance. In a range session after my lesson I was hitting it just as far but with a much shorter swing so hopefully I can get more distance when everything clicks and I swing a bit longer/faster

Yes, I'm hoping this swing change may see a touch more distance due to better rotation than before (emphasis on better rather than 'more' rotation). It's hard to see on the angle given, but in my old swing my backswing was quite short, so the club was almost straight vertical at the top, whereas last night I can see the club gets further than that when I wasn't even trying to - just a by-product of that improved rotation I think.

If you still think the new swing is armsy then I dunno, I think this is as good as it's going to get for now. I'm not the most flexible person in the world.

 

[bobmac]

A massive improvement on your old swing, especially the wrist hinge. Well done.
In the recent video, if you aimed all those shots 10 yards right of the green and let the swing go where it wants to go, all balls would have landed on the green.
The ball doesn't care where you aim.

 

[Orikoru]

A massive improvement on your old swing, especially the wrist hinge. Well done.
In the recent video, if you aimed all those shots 10 yards right of the green and let the swing go where it wants to go, all balls would have landed on the green.
The ball doesn't care where you aim.

Thanks Bob! I wasn't expecting them to draw as I predominantly hit fades in the past - we'll see if the draw persists or whether the fade returns. And I agree with you, I'm more than happy to aim for my shot shape.

 

[bobmac]

Thanks Bob! I wasn't expecting them to draw as I predominantly hit fades in the past - we'll see if the draw persists or whether the fade returns. And I agree with you, I'm more than happy to aim for my shot shape.

I'm pleased to read that, many aren't.
I can't be certain from that angle but your right hand looks a touch strong (too much under the grip) If the ball keeps drifting left, you might want to tweak it A LITTLE.
Good work though, you're 95% there

 

[Canary_Yellow]

Only thing with 200 yard drives though, any par 4 over say 400 yards instantly becomes a par 5.
Re the swing though, I agree about the hips, it’s very armsy with a massive follow through like you’re not fully in control of the club at and after impact. Of course I may be massively wrong

Yes, but that’s fine if you’re targeting a 12 handicap. You don’t need to try and hit every green in regulation.

If you’ve got a good short game and you get up and down a few times each round, you’ll be down to a low handicap very quickly.

Say 6 greens in regulation (par 3s and par 5s plus a couple of par 4s to compensate for any par 3 or 5s you miss), 6 up and downs and 6 bogeys (hopefully no worse), and you’re in the 80s. That should be very doable with a 200 yard tee shot, and near the green after 2.

If you’re targeting 12 over, you can afford fewer GIR and a couple less up and downs too.

 

[Orikoru]

Yes, but that’s fine if you’re targeting a 12 handicap. You don’t need to try and hit every green in regulation.

If you’ve got a good short game and you get up and down a few times each round, you’ll be down to a low handicap very quickly.

Say 6 greens in regulation (par 3s and par 5s plus a couple of par 4s to compensate for any par 3 or 5s you miss), 6 up and downs and 6 bogeys (hopefully no worse), and you’re in the 80s. That should be very doable with a 200 yard tee shot, and near the green after 2.

Agree, just with the caveat that you can't make as many mistakes. That's always my problem when laying up on a hole - it putts a bit of pressure on you when it plays like a par 5 with no shot rather than a par 4 that you get one shot, if you see my meaning. Most of the greens on my course are easily three-puttable for a start so I prefer to save my shot for that if I can.

 

[Canary_Yellow]

I agree but at the same time, my mid-to-long game needs to be better. If I could hit my driver 20 yards further then it wouldn't.

Cheers. My chipping is the only thing that got better last year in my opinion (thanks to Dan Grieve's book & videos). If this swing change helps I see no reason why I shouldn't be at 12 or even 11. But then I thought that last year as well.

I’m a big fan of the simplicity of Dan Grieve’s method.

If you keep practicing that your handicap will tumble.

 

[Deleted member 15344]

Seems solid enough , smooth but doesn’t seem to be giving much power on impact and looks a little bit like most of the power is coming from the arms as opposed to a body turn.

Might be worth using a 6/7 iron and then seeing what it’s like

 

[BiMGuy]

A massive improvement on your old swing, especially the wrist hinge. Well done.
In the recent video, if you aimed all those shots 10 yards right of the green and let the swing go where it wants to go, all balls would have landed on the green.
The ball doesn't care where you aim.

100% this.

My best score of last year was in a board comp final after pulling every iron shot warming up.

I just closed my stance to aim right of the green and hit 14 GiR, 3 of the missed greens were on the fringe and just the one missed by a loooooong way.

I would happily do that every round to shoot low scores.

 

[bobmac]

100% this.

My best score of last year was in a board comp final after pulling every iron shot warming up.

I just closed my stance to aim right of the green and hit 14 GiR, 3 of the missed greens were on the fringe and just the one missed by a loooooong way.

I would happily do that every round to shoot low scores.

It has lots of advantages.
The main ones being it's easy to do and frees up the mind to let the swing go where it wants to go... a great advantage on the course.

 

[Deleted member 1147]

Certainly an improvement, and I wouldn't make recommendations of what to do, as you have a pro who should be doing that for you.
Only thing I would comment on is use of the lower body. I believe you play a fair bit of football, so you should have decent leg strength and explosive power. I think you need to learn how to harness that, which should help with distance (but maybe only once the technique is sorted).

 

[Mel Smooth]

Only thing with 200 yard drives though, any par 4 over say 400 yards instantly becomes a par 5.
Re the swing though, I agree about the hips, it’s very armsy with a massive follow through like you’re not fully in control of the club at and after impact. Of course I may be massively wrong

Driving the ball 200 yards would leave a player an average of 170 yards into our par 4's. You'd have to have some short game to get down to 12 or single figures from that average distance. 7 of those par 4's are protected at the front with either water, or multiple bunkers as well, so running the ball into the green isn't an option.

I'm off 16.5, hit it about 220 ish - and there are 7 holes where if I hit a good drive, I'd expect to have a make-able shot to the green, all the other par 4's - a good drive would either leave me taking a risky approach, or, choosing to lay up.

 

[Orikoru]

100% this.

My best score of last year was in a board comp final after pulling every iron shot warming up.

I just closed my stance to aim right of the green and hit 14 GiR, 3 of the missed greens were on the fringe and just the one missed by a loooooong way.

I would happily do that every round to shoot low scores.

My problem has been the other way around on occasions. I usually aim left edge of fairway with driver to compensate for my fade. On the odd day I hit everything perfectly straight I'll just keep missing left - never have the confidence to aim at the middle.

 

[Deleted member 1147]

In my opinion you have to hit it longer to get down to low handicaps.

You need to be able to reach nearly all par 4's in regulation, you should be getting to a position where you can reach virtually all par 3's with irons and reach some par 5's in 2. Otherwise you are permanently on the back foot trying to maintain a score rather than push for a lower one.

 

[mister v]

i thought it looked a good solid repeatable swing, the tempo was really good. Im determined to get a few shots lower than the 13.6 hcp which im currently at, i've had the lesson and am now just thinking about one thing, it seems to be working. lets see where we both are in 3/6/9 months time!