Indoor Video Lesson.

[Wooky]

So I have been struggling with an overly strong grip for ages.
Just recently, this has been causing more & more bad shots (low hooks)
Even though I guessed my grip was the issue, I could not cure it.
It sounds easy changing your grip, but it's not.

Anyway, I went for a lesson at an indoor simulator with a teaching pro.
The facilities were amazing, a screen set up as a driving range, after every ball had been hit, the stat's were displayed.
Launch angle, carry, length, spin rate, club speed, ball speed, club path.
As well as multi angle video camera's for instant playback.

I hit a few balls with my normal grip, the pro watched & noted the stat's.
He asked me if I struggle to hold the greens in the summer? As my ball flight was a little low.
I said yes, I try to pitch it short & run it in.
He then showed me the video playback, which confirmed my overly strong grip, causing a shut club head in the back swing, a low ball flight (14 degree launch) with a 7 iron, a low spin rate & the dreaded hook.

He then set about correcting my grip, a little at a time, all the while pointing out the improvement in the swing, launch angle & spin rate.
At the end of the hour, I had gone from a launch angle of 14 degrees to 23 degrees, doubled my spin rate & was managing to rotate the club on the downswing, as I should.
The before & after video of my swing was e-mailed to me, along with written notes of what I should be working on.
Money well spent on a very worthwhile lesson.
I went to In Play Golf in Bristol.

 

[garyinderry]

Any chance of uploading that videos. I. Suffer from the dreaded strong grip. Yes it's a hard one to shift.

I went for a driving lesson and first thing I asked about was the grip but he said to leave it alone as I was doing ok as it is.

I knew it wasn't a long term fix. He mostly got the ball much further forward in my stance and said hit up. Fixed the low.duck hooks into his raking hooks. Lol

 

[Wooky]

Will try to upload tomorrow when I can get to my PC.
Strangely, I don't have a strong driver or 3 wood grip & hit both these clubs very well, it just affects my irons & especially my hybrids?
Anyway, I have played 2x rounds since my lesson & haven't hit 1x hook!!!

 

[garyinderry]

Good stuff lad. Yeah makes such a difference. I'll adjust my grip strong or weak depending on whether I absolutely can't go right or left.

 

[shewy]

Might give it a try to get my launch down,only over the bridge from me

 

[Oddsocks]

Where and how much wooky

 

[Wayman]

i had same problem
went for a lesson changed grip and angle of attack and hitting the ball sweet now

 

[pbrown7582]

Where and how much wooky

in Play in Bristol...

seems quite a few of these centre popping up around the country.
Sounds great, seen a trackman studio at moor allerton advertising session at £10/hour which seems very good value.

 

[MendieGK]

Im off to InPlay on Monday, not for a lesson but just to have a knock with some mates. Its half price in January, so works out at only £6 per hour each, cant complain at all.

the system they use doesnt look as good as the GC2, but its got some pretty good reviews.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

I've had a strong grip and funnily enough the pro I have lessons with has just started working on weakening that as a start on making the impact more stable more often. We used a monitor and were mainly trying to tie club path (in to out by approx 4 degrees) with the face to that path. Hit loads of pushed shots and distance was way down but bit by bit, its starting to fall into place, the strike has improved and the distance returning.

It's not easy making such a "big" change (in terms of how unnatural and awkward it feels) and I'm not totally happy with it. Let me know how you get on and what problems you encounter. It might help me!

 

[Sybez]

I used Golf DNA's services at Surbiton Golf Studios this week and was really impressed with the setup. Full GC2 HMT sims, loads of club and shafts, as well as loft, lie machines. Would highly recommend!

 

[road2ruin]

I used Golf DNA's services at Surbiton Golf Studios this week and was really impressed with the setup. Full GC2 HMT sims, loads of club and shafts, as well as loft, lie machines. Would highly recommend!

I visited Surbiton Golf Studio last week and it was a real eye opener for me. I have always had issues with my Driver and whilst I have had lessons it's never totally solved the problem although it has got considerably better. The main original fault as an over the top swing and hitting down on the ball and this is what I have always attributed to the occasional day when things go horribly wrong off the tee.

Anyway, having spent half an hour hitting balls we had a good look at my driver swing. With cameras both front and back you can see every movement and with the info that comes up after every shot it really does help to diagnose the issue(s) being faced. In my case the swing was either in to out or straight down the line and I was hitting up on the ball, both things that I wasn't totally sure I was doing. The ball, on occasion, was still going right.

The data was showing that the club face was anywhere between 0-3deg open at impact which meant that whilst some do go nice and straight others (my bad shots) do head off in the direction of the nearest trees. Yet on these swings I was coming from in to out and hitting up so not the faults that I'd always assumed were the cause.

When looking at the recordings it is clear that whilst I have a decent enough takeaway and back swing I really do have a lot of lateral movement of the hips towards the target when taking my down swing which is actually (we think) the root cause of having everything open at impact. I now feel more confident knowing what the issue is and not what I thought it was and can work towards solving it!