Orikoru's Swing Thread (with videos)

[Deleted member 35927]

Hit plenty of pulls lately and don't mind them so much, but the three alarming ones I was talking about there definitely hooked. Maybe I just hit them out of the toe.

Yes possibly gear effect. I played with a pull for long time, still do but working hard on straightening up

 

[Depreston]

Last night on a nine hole practice round, I experimented with actually aiming straight at the target, rather than 20 yards left expecting a fade. Reason for this is that I've lately been aiming left and going straight there or pulling it slightly further left, and not slicing as much as before. It was working alright, until I hit one slightly sliced one on the 7th, but then an enormous hook on the 9th! I hit two hooks last week on my golf trip as well, in a row (first and provisional), so I guess I now have a hook in the locker. Great. Never used to do that at all.

Driving is such an annoying balancing act for me. I go from hitting slices all last year, to making a decent job of fixing it, but then I start hitting left pulls and big hooks instead. So I guess I'll dial that back and go back to slicing it again, and repeat the process for the rest of my life on this earth. Golf is fun isn't it?

On a serious note, I'm guessing that hitting the odd hook means that my swing path is better than it used to be, and maybe less out-to-in, but I'll get the hook if I accidentally shut the face too much on the way through??

Do you actually know you’re aiming straight on the course during these practice rounds ? Do you put a club or an alignment stick down?

It’s really easy to align up decent at a range where the mat practically guides you

I’m prone to aiming right on the course and can come across it and pull/slice or hook it when it gets really bad

Well it’s not exactly right it’s more my feet aim at the target rather than parallel

 

[Orikoru]

Do you actually know you’re aiming straight on the course during these practice rounds ? Do you put a club or an alignment stick down?

It’s really easy to align up decent at a range where the mat practically guides you

I’m prone to aiming right on the course and can come across it and pull/slice or hook it when it gets really bad

Well it’s not exactly right it’s more my feet aim at the target rather than parallel

I was just using the trick of drawing a line from the target down to the ball, and then picking a spot two or three feet in front of the ball to line the club face up to. A generally recommended method of getting your alignment correct I think. I'm not one to faff about with alignment sticks, in fact I don't even own any. Also, rightly or wrongly, I feel silly practicing with an alignment stick when I wouldn't be allowed to use that in a real round, so I want to practice with the same routine I will use in a proper round.

Small sidenote, I don't think that's the case at my driving range either, all the mats are a bit of a funny angle, and the range is a bit diagonal, so if you did hit it straight off the mat, the Trackman says you've missed right.

 

[Orikoru]

Last night on a nine hole practice round, I experimented with actually aiming straight at the target, rather than 20 yards left expecting a fade. Reason for this is that I've lately been aiming left and going straight there or pulling it slightly further left, and not slicing as much as before. It was working alright, until I hit one slightly sliced one on the 7th, but then an enormous hook on the 9th! I hit two hooks last week on my golf trip as well, in a row (first and provisional), so I guess I now have a hook in the locker. Great. Never used to do that at all.

Driving is such an annoying balancing act for me. I go from hitting slices all last year, to making a decent job of fixing it, but then I start hitting left pulls and big hooks instead. So I guess I'll dial that back and go back to slicing it again, and repeat the process for the rest of my life on this earth. Golf is fun isn't it?

On a serious note, I'm guessing that hitting the odd hook means that my swing path is better than it used to be, and maybe less out-to-in, but I'll get the hook if I accidentally shut the face too much on the way through??

Range again last night. Hit a couple more hooks with driver, so had to sort that out. I think I need to abandon dropping my right foot back in set-up. It definitely helped me improve my path to stop the slice, but it's now brought me a big left miss instead. I'm going back to setting up with the feet pretty square aiming about 5 yards left of target, then have to trust that my swing-path has now improved enough that I can get back to hitting gentle fades. It's funny how slicing it feels so game-destroying, until the day you have a two-way miss all of a sudden, and then only missing right doesn't feel so bad.

Board comp tomorrow morning. I'm sure it'll all be fine.

 

[Orikoru]

Range again last night. Hit a couple more hooks with driver, so had to sort that out. I think I need to abandon dropping my right foot back in set-up. It definitely helped me improve my path to stop the slice, but it's now brought me a big left miss instead. I'm going back to setting up with the feet pretty square aiming about 5 yards left of target, then have to trust that my swing-path has now improved enough that I can get back to hitting gentle fades. It's funny how slicing it feels so game-destroying, until the day you have a two-way miss all of a sudden, and then only missing right doesn't feel so bad.

Board comp tomorrow morning. I'm sure it'll all be fine.

Well, I dialed back the dropped right foot as above, and went back to hitting massive fades that bordered on slices. Luckily they all stayed in bounds for me and so didn't impact my score too much - but I did change to 3 wood on a few holes that I normally hit driver on, only hit driver six times in the end.

It's frustrating at the minute, as it feels like I need to choose between hitting a massive fade, or a left pull that sometimes hooks. Even very slight changes in set-up just make me swap between those two eventualities. Perhaps that is the way forward - play the slice set-up when trouble is on the left, and play the pull/hook set-up when trouble is on the right.

 

[Deleted member 35927]

If it switches between banana slice and pull when you vary the feet then you need to do some proper work on getting that swing path straightened out as opposed to looking for quick fixes.

 

[Orikoru]

If it switches between banana slice and pull when you vary the feet then you need to do some proper work on getting that swing path straightened out as opposed to looking for quick fixes.

Yes - I realise that a slice/pull two-way miss comes from an out-to-in path, which I definitely have. I've worked on changing that path, which is why I was dropping the right foot back a little - it almost forces you into a better path. This worked for a little while, but then it brought me the hook into the mix. So it's just a balancing act now of finding the set-up that enables me to swing a repeatable path that actually works. Fun and games.

 

[Deleted member 35927]

Yes - I realise that a slice/pull two-way miss comes from an out-to-in path, which I definitely have. I've worked on changing that path, which is why I was dropping the right foot back a little - it almost forces you into a better path. This worked for a little while, but then it brought me the hook into the mix. So it's just a balancing act now of finding the set-up that enables me to swing a repeatable path that actually works. Fun and games.

Do you do any drills or just hit balls. I've found drills helpful , they take effort to do though it can be boring

 

[Orikoru]

Do you do any drills or just hit balls. I've found drills helpful , they take effort to do though it can be boring

Like what? Trying to hit a ball differently to how you normally do it is a drill in itself isn't it? I just take videos every now and then to see if anything's actually changed or not.

 

[Deleted member 35927]

Like what? Trying to hit a ball differently to how you normally do it is a drill in itself isn't it? I just take videos every now and then to see if anything's actually changed or not.

Thats just bashing balls. Rehearsal of what you are trying to achieve and in the case of the golf swing , massive exaggeration of said move.

 

[Orikoru]

Thats just bashing balls. Rehearsal of what you are trying to achieve and in the case of the golf swing , massive exaggeration of said move.

Yeah, that's the practice swing.

 

[Neilds]

I agree with @hambugerpete. At the moment you are just tinkering with things to try and get the ball flight you are after. When you get it, you get lucky as it just seems to be trial and error. My advice would be get a lesson, get a proper drill to practise and practise that drill and that drill only. This is obviously an ingrained fault and it will take a while to get the changes made.

 

[Deleted member 35927]

Yeah, that's the practice swing.

So no then I am getting from this.

 

[Orikoru]

I agree with @hambugerpete. At the moment you are just tinkering with things to try and get the ball flight you are after. When you get it, you get lucky as it just seems to be trial and error. My advice would be get a lesson, get a proper drill to practise and practise that drill and that drill only. This is obviously an ingrained fault and it will take a while to get the changes made.

Honestly a bit scared of getting another lesson to be honest, since the last time I did that I played absolutely awful for the next year. And aside from tweaking the driver am I actually playing well at the moment. I don't want a repeat of what happened last time.

So no then I am getting from this.

I don't really think anything you've said to me makes sense, you seem to be just saying standard things that other people generally say, then not explaining them at all when I ask you to.

 

[Deleted member 35927]

Honestly a bit scared of getting another lesson to be honest, since the last time I did that I played absolutely awful for the next year. And aside from tweaking the driver am I actually playing well at the moment. I don't want a repeat of what happened last time.


I don't really think anything you've said to me makes sense, you seem to be just saying standard things that other people generally say, then not explaining them at all when I ask you to.

I'm asking if you do any drills with regards to changing your swing path. You appear to be just bashing balls and hoping for the best.

 

[Orikoru]

I'm asking if you do any drills with regards to changing your swing path. You appear to be just bashing balls and hoping for the best.

What's a drill? In your words I mean. If I practice my new swing path before every ball that I hit, to try and emulate that - is that not a drill? If it's stuff like sticking a pool noodle in an up-turned range bucket behind you then no, I'm not going to muck about with silly stuff like that.

 

[Deleted member 35927]

What's a drill? In your words I mean. If I practice my new swing path before every ball that I hit, to try and emulate that - is that not a drill? If it's stuff like sticking a pool noodle in an up-turned range bucket behind you then no, I'm not going to muck about with silly stuff like that.

I've mentioned it a while back

 

[Orikoru]

 

[Neilds]

For @Orikoru: a drill is a practise exercise that is used to break down a swing so the whole swing can be improved. It is not always a full swing and can use aids such as a towel, alignment sticks, head covers, etc.

End of mansplaining

 

[Deleted member 35927]

For @Orikoru: a drill is a practise exercise that is used to break down a swing so the whole swing can be improved. It is not always a full swing and can use aids such as a towel, alignment sticks, head covers, etc.

End of mansplaining

No it's bashing balls and hoping it will all work out