Hand path vs Shaft path

[HawkeyeMS]

I think its a bit pointless that people playing off low handicaps just think that "go out there and swing the club", is all the advice thats needed. People who are struggling obviously have a technical flaw in their swing when they go out and just swing it.

If the OP is too steep in to the ball and its causing all sorts of problems, then a swing thought such as " flatten the down swing " (just an example) might help him to get everything in sequence and produce better shots.

Half mocking posts about keeping it simple or just watch the ball is fine if you already have a fairly decent swing... also its frankly a bit boring just hearing people talking like that because somehow they think they have all the answers.

The point your missing is that those low h'cappers (I'll stretch it and include myself as it's my post ) have got to that low h'cap without worrying about the technicality talked about in this thread and I can guarantee that a higher h'cap golfer that is struggling is doing so because of something far more fundamental than this.

That said, if the OP is interested in this stuff, that's his perogative and good luck to him, but I think he'll see bigger improvements by working on something more basic.

 

[SGC001]

Agree 100%.

However, if a player ENJOYS concerning themselves with it, then who are we to begrudge them such an indulgence?

That's fine, but some of that stuff may clash i.e. may help the teacher and hurt the player.

If you can find that video I wrote of in my initial post, it is likely that you will find it comments on the area you expressed an interest in.

 

[Foxholer]

I think you are insinuating that I am intending on doing something more than trying to discuss the shallowing of the shaft on the downswing on a golf forum.

Why would think that?

The spaghetti is on the move again!

Or as an old and somewhat (in)famous Caddy would say 'Yer foo'ed in heed!'. I'm sure a couple of folk on here know who I'm talking about!

 

[Deleted Member 1156]

Now to try and get an in to out path, I've slowed down a lot, the first action on the down swing is to drop the club to what feels behind my right hip, I keep my left arm in tight across my chest, then as I transfer my weight, the club comes inside, I unhinge my wrists, make contact with the ball, let the club follow through for a full release away and what feels like slightly right of the target line.

All this in about 1/10th of a second?

The point I was trying to make earlier is very relevant here....KISS. It's not physically or mentally possible to think of all these individual movements and adjustments in the time it takes to make a downswing. Or if you can do it then you are a golfer of extraordinary talent and should be on tour.

Get your setup correct, take the club back on line, make a full shoulder turn and then reverse the process the other way and you will swing the club well.

I'm not trying to stop anyone from analysing their swing if that's what they want to do but unless you have the talent to back it up, getting too technical won't improve your golf.

Bottom line though......you pay your money and you make your choice. Good luck and enjoyable journey whichever way you choose, the most important thing is you enjoy the game.

 

[garyinderry]

is this an overly hard this to even do?


I watched the mark crossfield videos quite so time ago and did give this a try. now if I was doing it right or not is a different question as I am flat as a pancake already.

I had a little success with this swing thought at the time although I stopped even thinking about it by the next time I was out!


try it out the the next you play or at the range. if it works, go with it, if not, don't worry! :thup:

 

[Hallsy]

Is this what the OP means?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P38JNe-HMsM

 

[virtuocity]

Is this what the OP means?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P38JNe-HMsM

Not really- it was just that I noticed a lot of good golfers' shafts were flatter on the downswing than on the backswing. A fleeting curiosity which quickly turned into a telling off from good golfers.

 

[ArnoldArmChewer]

Not a scoobee what's being asked here.

 

[Sybez]

Is this what the OP means?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P38JNe-HMsM

Great vid thanks for posting!

 

[kid2]

Not really- it was just that I noticed a lot of good golfers' shafts were flatter on the downswing than on the backswing. A fleeting curiosity which quickly turned into a telling off from good golfers.

Have a read of this pal..... It might give you a little insight into what I think your after.......

It's something I don't worry too much about anymore...

http://www.aroundhawaii.com/lifesty...ane-path-and-other-considerations-part-1.html

 

[Khamelion]

Now to try and get an in to out path, I've slowed down a lot, the first action on the down swing is to drop the club to what feels behind my right hip, I keep my left arm in tight across my chest, then as I transfer my weight, the club comes inside, I unhinge my wrists, make contact with the ball, let the club follow through for a full release away and what feels like slightly right of the target line.

All this in about 1/10th of a second?

Yes all the above in about a 1/10th of a second, but the thing is you're not thinking about all those things at the same time, all the things I mention above, for me anyway have been addressed as individual items and worked on individually until I no longer have to think about them. At the moment I'm trying to get the release right, to get the extension away from the ball on the follow through, the other 5 things I mention above I no longer have to think about, but to get to the stage where I no longer have to think about them, I have hit literally thousands of balls at the range, spent hours in front of a mirror practicing my swing, so I could get rid of my bad habits and grove in the better new ones.

 

[Foxholer]

I have hit literally thousands of balls at the range, spent hours in front of a mirror practicing my swing, so I could get rid of my bad habits and grove in the better new ones.

And you are still only an average handicap (or maybe a shade poorer) golfer?

Dedicated? Daft? Or focusing on the wrong things?

Not meant to be particularly critical, just an observation that you may be focused on the wrong aspects of Golf. The handicap system has the wonderful benefit that, like sex, you don't have to be particularly good to enjoy it, but need to be aware of how your performance affects your fellow participants!

 

[Deleted member 15344]

No idea what the OP is going on about but I do agree that far too much thinking goes on in terms of the swing from amateur golfers.

Sometimes people need to relax and enjoy it more and just go out and hit the ball without thinking so much stuff in their head - they could be very surprised at how well they play.

 

[Khamelion]

And you are still only an average handicap (or maybe a shade poorer) golfer?

Dedicated? Daft? Or focusing on the wrong things?

I got my HC this year just before the H4H day, I'd previously been hacking around the course, in the mid 90's to 100, then over a period of time, as I wrote in the lesson's thread, I had a period of time where things started to click into place, the lessons and practice were paying off and I started to card better scores.

I broke 90 for the first time this year, then went on to break 85 and was only one crap hole away from breaking 80. Based on three mid to low 80 scores I got my handicap. I did not play in any comps last year as it was to late in the season, but next year I fully intend to play in as many as I can.

You may remember that I have said that for the H4H day 2014 I will be playing off a single figure HC, that's 8 shots I have to find consistently each round to achieve that goal.

So dedicated, you bet I am I WILL be off a single figure HC for H4H next year. Daft, maybe, I have no vices in the traditional sense, so I guess my vice is golf, I enjoy it and my other half supports me in my golfing. As for focusing on the wrong things, far from it, through my lessons and practice my swing has changed for the better, it is evolving and rather than change everything at once my teacher is giving me stuff to groove in which individually may seem like the focus is wrong, but collectively over time they all fit together. I'm about 65-70% the way towards being able to shoot a round of less then 75 and over this winter I will be hitting many more thousands of balls, it's not a case of if I will get better, or if I will play off a single figure HC, but when, and I promise you that in the 11 months before H4H 2014 I will be off a single figure HC.

 

[bozza]

I can't see why people are suggesting you that if you play off a higher h/c that you shouldn't be thinking about your swing plane or something slightly technical.

What's the point of getting down to say a 8 h/c after playing golf for 10 years with a poor swing that you can get away with but to get lower and more consistent you then have to start looking into the more technical side of it to try turn a poor/average swing into a more "textbook"/consistent swing to get them to say scratch or better.

I'd much rather have a good solid swing Ingrained as soon as I can before too many bad habits creep in the could take years to get rid of.

 

[Deleted member 15344]

I can't see why people are suggesting you that if you play off a higher h/c that you shouldn't be thinking about your swing plane or something slightly technical.

What's the point of getting down to say a 8 h/c after playing golf for 10 years with a poor swing that you can get away with but to get lower and more consistent you then have to start looking into the more technical side of it to try turn a poor/average swing into a more "textbook"/consistent swing to get them to say scratch or better.

I'd much rather have a good solid swing Ingrained as soon as I can before too many bad habits creep in the could take years to get rid of.

Disagree - i have got down to cat 1 without even thinking of any technical parts of the swing and i know scratch players and players around scratch who do the same - they just play the game. If the ball flight is right then the swing isnt poor

Textbook isnt always the answer

 

[HawkeyeMS]

I can't see why people are suggesting you that if you play off a higher h/c that you shouldn't be thinking about your swing plane or something slightly technical.

What's the point of getting down to say a 8 h/c after playing golf for 10 years with a poor swing that you can get away with but to get lower and more consistent you then have to start looking into the more technical side of it to try turn a poor/average swing into a more "textbook"/consistent swing to get them to say scratch or better.

I'd much rather have a good solid swing Ingrained as soon as I can before too many bad habits creep in the could take years to get rid of.

But you don't need to be this technical to have a good solid swing. You also have to have certain physical attributes to perform a lot of the moves the pros do and many of us simply don't have those attributes. The most important part of the golf swing is impact, for many of us the key is finding a swing that we can make that delivers the clubhead to the ball in the right way. That swing may be flawed and ugly but unless you have time on your hands to spend hours on the range every day, flawed and ugly is what it's all about.

 

[Oddsocks]

I'm too laid off as it is, this would kill me and result in a big case of the shermans

 

[bozza]

Disagree - i have got down to cat 1 without even thinking of any technical parts of the swing and i know scratch players and players around scratch who do the same - they just play the game. If the ball flight is right then the swing isnt poor

Textbook isnt always the answer

But if the ball flight/shot isn't right then surely you need to work on it to fix it and of you the fundamentals are right, grip/stance/alignment/posture etc then you probably need to be working on something a bit more technical no matter what your handicap is.

 

[bozza]

But you don't need to be this technical to have a good solid swing. You also have to have certain physical attributes to perform a lot of the moves the pros do and many of us simply don't have those attributes. The most important part of the golf swing is impact, for many of us the key is finding a swing that we can make that delivers the clubhead to the ball in the right way. That swing may be flawed and ugly but unless you have time on your hands to spend hours on the range every day, flawed and ugly is what it's all about.

But for me I wouldn't see what the OP is talking about as "technical" it's about dropping the club on the inside to stop a out to in swing which can cause pull or a high left to right shot, to me getting on the right swing plane/path is a basic fundamental part of golf.