FAO JustOneUK

[golf_bug]

Another frustrating night at the range tonight. Trying to strike my irons better by getting my hands ahead of the clubhead all the way down past impact. Didn't feel like I got hold of any and was catching a lot fat. Took a few vids and the answer is clear - hands still not where i need them to be and looks like my swing plane is a pile of rubbish. IN fact swing looks the same as it always has:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGqvfqj7vzo

So feeling throughly hacked off and only a couple of balls left, thought I'd give S&T another go:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Q_7g-hx-L0

Best shot I hit all night! Right out of the middle and ball flight was good - penetrating with a slight draw. Not sure if I am doing it right but looking at the vid I would say my hands are still not in the right place at impact? But the swing feels so much better and I at least stand over the ball thinking "this is going to be a good shot".

Let me know what you think. I have a medal on Saturday so I might pay S&T for a laugh and see how I get on.

 

[JustOne]

Hiya,

I really like your conventional swing. You have a very good, very natural looking swing. I know you have a nice set up position, nice spine angle and your swing plane is ok. I'd stick with it for sure. A tweak here and a tweak there and you'll be single figures if you can putt!!

Looking at the recent vid there are a couple of things that I'd like to bring to your attention which should make you more comfortable with your striking.

Your setup looks excellent as usual

1) Your head moves to the right about 4 inches which is leaving you jammed there over on the right. Try and resist moving it to the right, keeping it still would be nice
Try and keep your weight on the inside arch of your right foot so that it doesn't get flat footed in your takeaway, brace against it if you will. This should help with keeping your head still and just behind the ball where it was at address. In turn this should make it easier for you to strike DOWN onto the ball with your irons, giving you almost that stack and tilt sensation that you're looking for.

Take a look at the pic..

If your head didn't go back then this position would feel a lot more comfortable, hitting down onto the ball with lag.
Your hands should be more over your left thigh at impact meaning that your head will feels MILES behind the ball

Just to TRY to clarify that a bit more... here's another pic

...miles behind



2) Decide if you are going to swing from the inside (draw) our outside (fade) Your hand release doesn't really work well with a fade swing.
You are really rolling your wrists over which is ideal if you are swinging from the inside, hitting the ball 10 yards right and drawing it in.

Not so great if you are coming from the outside, aiming 10 yards left and trying to fade it in, if you release your hands fully you're going to pull the life out of the shot and be 50 yards left. You need to resist over rolling your wrists and concentrate on simply striking down into the ball and through.

Try practicing lots of shots from the 9 o'clock position. Keep your head still, brace against the inside of your right foot and hit down into the ball. You should be able to come in pretty straight to the ball from this position and make good contact. We are looking for a divot with EVERY iron shot you play!

Then build up the sensation into full swings, but most of all make up your mind.. fade or draw?



Hope this helps mate. I don't mind giving you the low down on your stack and tilt swing if you REALLY want to change, but it's a HUGE step to take as there's a lot more to the swing dynamics than just leaning to the left

Hope this helps. By all means PM me again if necessary.
regards...

 

[JustOne]

One other thing about your 7-iron swing...

If we could swap it out and make that your driver swing then that would be something


As you can see it's pretty close to being a perfect driver swing... (if you can get those hands forward a couple of inches) it's just not a 7-iron swing though. Which is why I think you should stay with a conventional type swing.

People would pay good money to have your spine angle, your set up position and your swing plane. With those in place you are damn close to breaking through into something very playable.

(by the way, that's Adam Scott on the right)

Regards...

 

[golf_bug]

J
Cheers for your comments and taking time to have a look. Seems I may not be too shabby after all.

I will stay with my conventional swing I think and try and make the tweaks you suggested. Looking at the conventional swing vid again its clear that my head moves back a long way. This is probably something that I have always done but has never had pointed out to me.....so thanks! Maybe the reason my pants attempt at S&T worked was that my head didn't move back?

Now if I can only get these pesky hands to be where I need them to be I am sure I can improve.....maybe not in Adam Scott's league tho

PS - I can't putt for toffee!

 

[JustOne]

It's interesting that you address your ball with your hands pressed forward nicely yet actually hit the ball from 3 inches further back.

If you can get somewhere near the pic above with the yellow/blue lines so that you retain lag and strike down on the ball (with your hands pressed) then that'll be excellent. Go buy one of those neck restraint collars, it'll stop you moving your head and look great at the range!!!

 

[golf_bug]

It's interesting that you address your ball with your hands pressed forward nicely yet actually hit the ball from 3 inches further back.

If you can get somewhere near the pic above with the yellow/blue lines so that you retain lag and strike down on the ball (with your hands pressed) then that'll be excellent. Go buy one of those neck restraint collars, it'll stop you moving your head and look great at the range!!!

I'll keep that in mind!