Happy after round.....unhappy after lesson

richy

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Feb 9, 2010
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Ok, first of all Im not normally one for coming on here and moaning about my game but I just have to get this off my chest and hopefully understand things a little better.

Saturday gone I played in the monthly medal and played to my handicap for the first time this year. During the round I was hitting my irons and wedges probably the best I have on the course, so naturally my confidence was high. However my driving was a little sloppy and as I had already pre-booked a lesson I decided to work on my driving.

Once I told the pro what I wanted to work on he asked me to hit some 7 irons which I did and slightly tugged them to the left but not by much. He then told me my club face was closed during my backswing and I was swinging a little too steep. For the remainder of the lesson we worked on opening the club face so the toe of the club was pointing up when the club is parallel to the ground and flattening my swing.

I couldnt hit a thing and Ive been to the range everyday since with no improvement. Ive pulled out of the comp on sat and I honestly dont know what to do next.

I really need some words of wisdom.

(for those that stayed with me, THANK YOU! :D)
 
Richy,this is a prime example why i stay away from lessons.
All its done for you is put thoughts in your head,thoughts you never had before.
The only thing you can do now is work through it,until its natural.
 
Is this the normal step back before it improves. I understand PJ's point of view, my approach is that I don't have any lessons during the season only through the winter and then stick with that swing for the coming year.

In effect I try to get the step backwards out of the way before the season. Seems to have worked for the last 2 years so I'll stick with it.
 
Your club head should be roughly in the 11 o clock position when the shaft is paralell with the ground. He's got you having the face open, if it's pointing up. Maybe he has you over egging the pudding to get some feeling of what's righ/wrong maybe??

Where do you get your lessons?
 
Sorry... It'll come in closed making the ball fly left, I'd say your swing seems flat but video is hard to tell. A flat swing means you can't compress the ball and you're basically loosing power and direction.

Some more knowldegable people may spot other things but I'd work on getting club head to 11 o clock on back to level and then think of a line coming out of the but of the club tracing the target line behind the ball this will give you the correct angle of your club.

However saying that I'd still be inclined to listen to the pro and work with him, pratice and give it say 4 months and maybe try another Pro... what club is this once based

Another thing too... practicing off carpets can mask some errors as the club just bounces up and hits the ball, try and practice off grass.
 
Your body is working towards the ball on the backswing.

Its as though once the club is off the floor your balance is all out.

This is causing you to drag the club along the inside and pull it out left as you mention.

Slow your swing down and concentrate on keeping your body still through the complete swing. Then worry about your swing plane etc. as if your too close or swaying then its voiding your swing plane anyways.

Ash!!
 
Richy, first of all I think you have a very good swing.
But, and there's always a but, here's what I see.

I think its the first move in the backswing thats causing the problems.
As you take the club away, it goes out the way. Especially obvious in this pic.

Photo4-1.jpg


The position at the top is very good however and you almost rescue the swing plane on the downswing.


Id like to see a more natural one piece turn in the backswing where you just turn your body and let the arms stay closer to your chest.

As you can see below, your takeaway is left of the target, feet right and in the downswing still a touch left.
Is you grip a touch strong too I wonder?

Richy3.jpg


I feel if you have a more rounded swing, you would improve those positions and get the club more on line throughout the swing.
HTH :)
 
I has some lessons when I was playing well and it screwed me up. I was told to swing more steeply and was given some positions in my backswing that I needed to hit to be on place. Feels really weird. I have decided to stick to it religiously on the course and the range until it feels natural.
The benefit is this..
When I was playing well I didn't worry about it, but I also wasn't making great improvments, just scoring well off my handicap. I believe the changes will eventually lower my handicap considerably. I am current 17 but hope next year to get down to 12.
What I like is that before the lesson if I wasn't playing well, I would simply go to the range and hit loads of balls trying allsorts until it got better.
Now I have a model in my head, a set of points that i can relate to. On the range I can check I am doing all the right things and it gives me something to concentrate on. In turn this makes practice more focussed and effective. Stick with it my friend and over time you will see the benefits. As I always think to myself , the top pro's still have coaches (which is basically a lesson!) so if it's good enough for Luke then it's probably good enough for me.
 
Richy, first of all I think you have a very good swing.
But, and there's always a but, here's what I see.

I think its the first move in the backswing thats causing the problems.
As you take the club away, it goes out the way. Especially obvious in this pic.

The position at the top is very good however and you almost rescue the swing plane on the downswing.


Id like to see a more natural one piece turn in the backswing where you just turn your body and let the arms stay closer to your chest.

As you can see below, your takeaway is left of the target, feet right and in the downswing still a touch left.
Is you grip a touch strong too I wonder?

I feel if you have a more rounded swing, you would improve those positions and get the club more on line throughout the swing.
HTH :)

Thanks as always bob, Ive been struggling to get to grips with what you've said all afternoon. Reading and reading your post, then I had a few looks at a couple of swings on youtube and I think I get it now.Keep my hands a little closer to myself on the takeaway.

Abit like this (but nowhere near as good):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6bREev1swQ&list=FLrqif998oMbUpnJIxnWMwSg&index=1

I dont know how to take sreen shots
 
Exactly. When the shaft is horizontal, it should be more pointing at the target like MM. You can see how yours points way left.
Also to get a screen shot, press the "PrtSc" button top row of your keyboard towards next to the F12
 
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