Have you changed anything for this season in your swing?

[MadAdey]

Just wondering who has made a swing change for this year and is it working? Getting towards 50 now and after a bad car crash a few years ago damaging my back and neck has caused me to lose a lot of driving distance, I've gone from 10 years ago being up around 115MPH to being just over a 100MPH now. I watched videos over the winter of big hitters and what is it that they do and also watching stuff on how to hit it further with the same effort. A lot of coaches are saying that lifting the front heel will help generate more swing speed. Also watching big hitters most of them do this.

So I decided to start lifting my left heel off the ground on the backswing, then doing the driving it down on the downswing to get my body moving faster. Well after 2 months it has finally grooved itself in and is working fantastic. 2 months ago, I was maybe hitting the range net about a quarter of the way up. Well today I was hitting the top half of the net and even cleared it a couple of times. The net is about 50-60 foot high and 230 yards away, this is using limited distance range balls. I have no idea what this is going to translate to in actual distance, but if the ball is about 30 foot higher up the net now then there must some real distance difference.

I only post this as I know people would all love a bit more distance off the tee and I have not actually had to make any changes to my swing really apart from lift me heel up on the backswing and plant it down to get my weight transferring. Yes, it will take a bit of practice as it did feel weird to start with and a lot of bad hits. But if you want more distance then this could be the key for everyone.

 

[chico]

I've changed the weight distribution when I'm hitting driver. I was always 60-40 on the back foot and to be honest my driving has always been wild.
Whilst watching a Golfmates tips video on YouTube the pro Simon Edwards (I think that's his name) mentioned 55-45 split on the front foot. It's transformed my accuracy, hitting a lot more fairways and I think some gains in distance.

 

[Orikoru]

I think I have but no idea if it's for better or worse. Had a lesson in January but it had the opposite of the desired effect and made me play ten times worse. Main goal was to be more upright (I had a hunched reaching stance before) but now I've just muddled through the quagmire and I have no idea if I've changed it or if I've gone back to what I was doing last year. My desire now is simply to make my swing smoother and more natural and stop thinking about it. (Trying to rescue a bad job really.)

 

[MadAdey]

I think I have but no idea if it's for better or worse. Had a lesson in January but it had the opposite of the desired effect and made me play ten times worse. Main goal was to be more upright (I had a hunched reaching stance before) but now I've just muddled through the quagmire and I have no idea if I've changed it or if I've gone back to what I was doing last year. My desire now is simply to make my swing smoother and more natural and stop thinking about it. (Trying to rescue a bad job really.)

I would really suggest trying the lifting the front heel trick. My swing feels so much more powerful, with no more effort. Not sure if you are having the same problem as me but I was not able to get my hands parallel at the top, so not completing my backswing.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

Yes - everything…well as per other thread, it’s my completely new PSR that sets everything up for the swing. The swing then happens without much thought.

Not looking for more length off the tee…I get maybe 230yds mostly reasonably straight fairway found, and that’s fine. Short game is tidy and putting good. Change is aimed improving inbetween. If I get that my pro is confident I can play mid SFs and enjoy it. The ‘enjoy’ bit is what I’m mostly after. Following three lessons in last two weeks and some range sessions, first outing today of most recent work.

Hopeful - but I know that things could go easily go wrong as I’ve not had any time to bed in most recent lesson (yesterday), and we’ve been using alignment and target sticks on the range. So to range I must go for half hour before I go out.

 

[Crazyface]

I seems to have made a aweful change to my swing with the driver. I'm slicing and hooking all over the place.

 

[bigyin55]

Loose grip. Think I've been far too tight since I started really. Seen Dan Grieves and otherwise talk about 3/10 pressure with 10 being the strongest you can grip it. Definitely feel capable of more power with the lighter grip.

 

[Mandofred]

Keep trying to shorten my backswing. I relaxed and shortened it a little after a few holes on Thursday and birdied 3 holes in a row.....then.....that little spot in your brain (which I should have removed) talks me into trying harder. For me, trying harder is a death sentence.

 

[Beezerk]

I've completely lost my iron swing after the extended winter break if that counts

 

[Lord Tyrion]

Loose grip. Think I've been far too tight since I started really. Seen Dan Grieves and otherwise talk about 3/10 pressure with 10 being the strongest you can grip it. Definitely feel capable of more power with the lighter grip.

For the last two rounds I've been squeezing the life out of my clubs, unsurprisingly leading to poor outcomes. I went out today with the mindset you describe, much better. I just have to remember to keep doing it, not go tight on a difficult shot.

In answer to the question, yes. I was swinging around myself too much so I'm trying to take the club back straighter. It feels 45⁰ out but it isn't of course. When I get it right it's much better. It doesn't feel natural yet though so I don't always get the angle back right. Work in progress........

 

[harpo_72]

Set up, club toe up and grip pointing to my belt buckle. Also some chipping stuff and short game work.
I see an improvement in all these areas .. will keep plugging away

 

[Springveldt]

Switched to an open stance with my hips but my shoulders square to the target. Feeling like I’m taking the club away slightly inside, flatter swing and I’m hitting the ball great with it. Last few rounds tee to green have been as good as anything I’ve had in a long time.

 

[MadAdey]

Switched to an open stance with my hips but my shoulders square to the target. Feeling like I’m taking the club away slightly inside, flatter swing and I’m hitting the ball great with it. Last few rounds tee to green have been as good as anything I’ve had in a long time.

That is something that I got shown years ago by my pro, slightly open feet with a square body. Really helped me to clear my left side during impact. It changed my draw to a power fade, totally got rid of my bad miss to the left that could really hurt me a couple of times a round as it was that bad.

 

[full_throttle]

Yes, wider stance, I had a very shallow back swing, I'm trying to get the club head higher and when I get it right it works great, slow progress but feeling a bit more confident

 

[Springveldt]

That is something that I got shown years ago by my pro, slightly open feet with a square body. Really helped me to clear my left side during impact. It changed my draw to a power fade, totally got rid of my bad miss to the left that could really hurt me a couple of times a round as it was that bad.

The first couple of rounds I tried it it worked really well. Then I had 2 horrible rounds in a row with massive left pulls that ruined my card and I had some contact issues as well.

I’ve stuck with it though and the last 4 rounds now my ball striking has been very good for me, as has direction. Handicap is starting to work it’s way down as well, I’ve gone from 5.5 to 4.7 and if my short game was a bit better it would be even lower. I’ll continue on with it until the wheels come off and then I’ll go searching for the next magic fix.

 

[Billysboots]

I’ve been working really hard on shortening my backswing. I have been battling an overswing for years and, whilst I got away with it more often than not, I struggled for consistency.

I’ve worked with a shorter swing before but never felt entirely comfortable with it, especially with the longer clubs. But I knew if I wanted more control I had to really work hard to make it feel natural.

Two or three months in I am starting to see results. I’ve lost a few yards but my accuracy is massively improved and my golf way more consistent.

 

[Maninblack4612]

"Have you changed anything for this season in your swing?" Are you kidding? I change something every time I play. When I have a lesson & the pro says" let me see your swing" I reply "which one?"

 

[clubchamp98]

No I havnt but think I might have to.
Something has gone wrong and my ball striking is abysmal atm.
It’s one of them that I just can’t tell what’s wrong.

I’m normally pretty good at self analysis but I’m scratching my head .
Yesterday was awful with a lot of very low and left grass scorchers!

 

[HeftyHacker]

I've shortened my driver backswing. My driving used to be a real strength but in early 2023 I went chasing distance and so developed a longer swing but lost all control and, due to the strike being dreadful, distance as well.

Since shortening my swing again a few weeks ago my driving has improved massively and I'm seeing a noticeable drop in scores. My last 3 rounds have all been handicap counters as a result and the scores are about 8 or 9 under what I'd been averaging for the past 8 months or so.

 

[Imurg]

Being totally honest I've never knowingly changed anything in my swing.....and I ain't starting now!