Swing changes for the Winter.

[sawtooth]

This winter I intend to do some minor (possibly major) surgery on the swing. I taped my swing on a recent visit to the local range and a couple of things (at least) stood out.

Any comments, suggestions welcome and I apologise in advance for my attire and silly looking Movember. I dont dress like that on the course honest!!

Before:

http://youtu.be/cvzdHyJIIcc


After:

....Spring 2013.

 

[JustOne]

I'd love to get my claws into that!!!!!



Seems like you might suffice by just holing some flippin' putts!!!! :rofl:

 

[sawtooth]

Fill your boots James but be gentle.oo:

Putting is suspect to say the least but I might ask for a V-Easy stocking filler this Xmas.

 

[JustOne]

Fill your boots James but be gentle.oo:

Gentle? ....not one of my strengths

Seriously though it depends what you want to achieve. I reckon your current (over the top) swing could get you down to 7 h/cap as you can certainly improve your short game and putting without actually changing anything to do with your swing. Lower than 7 h/cap I reckon would be a push as your swing is really robbing you of any real length. You are so sat down in your legs (with an upright spine) that your swing doesn't really involve your body... more of an arm swipe with a quick wrist action through the ball.

Was that gentle?... fancy a massage?... cake?

 

[richart]

I can only get the video to play in slow motion Sean.

 

[JustOne]

I can only get the video to play in slow motion Sean.

He said BE GENTLE!!!!!










Bloody funny though!

 

[sawtooth]

Nice one Richard

Swing speed wasnt on the list of things I spotted but duly noted nonetheless.

TBH James you picked out exactly the 2 things that hit me when I played back the clip. I couldnt believe the excessive knee flex and had no idea that I was crouching that much. First thing to do now is to stand with less knee flex at address!

And yes the OTT "feature" of my swing is definitely something that I am aware of and was the main motivation for getting a camera on my swing. I'm not concerned with gaining any more distance at all, I'm keen to eliminate the wayward shots and try to get nearer to the bloody pin!!

You will have noticed that I am a bit flat on the backswing and this encourages the downswing return on a higher plane. So I am hoping to redress the balance here and make my backswing a little steeper, in theory it should make it easier for me to flatten my downswing a little. I'd settle for something that resembles a 1-plane swing or possibly a reverse of what I am currently doing but I'm not sure if any of this is in my DNA will have to wait and see.

 

[JustOne]

Nice one Richard

Swing speed wasnt on the list of things I spotted but duly noted nonetheless.

TBH James you picked out exactly the 2 things that hit me when I played back the clip. I couldnt believe the excessive knee flex and had no idea that I was crouching that much. First thing to do now is to stand with less knee flex at address!

And yes the OTT "feature" of my swing is definitely something that I am aware of and was the main motivation for getting a camera on my swing. I'm not concerned with gaining any more distance at all, I'm keen to eliminate the wayward shots and try to get nearer to the bloody pin!!

You will have noticed that I am a bit flat on the backswing and this encourages the downswing return on a higher plane. So I am hoping to redress the balance here and make my backswing a little steeper, in theory it should make it easier for me to flatten my downswing a little. I'd settle for something that resembles a 1-plane swing or possibly a reverse of what I am currently doing but I'm not sure if any of this is in my DNA will have to wait and see.

Sounds good Sean, I've always though of you as a decent golfer because you are good at what you do.

I'd suggest that because you squat into your legs (with your spine too upright) your shoulders are turning too flat. If you get into a better posture (straighter legs, upper body has more forward tilt) then your left shoulder can turn downwards a little more on the backswing... bringing the club up on plane better. From there it's a case of keeping your pelvis back (whilst shifting weight into the left side) so that you can turn your right shoulder back down to the ball on that same shoulder plane.... you might find you start hitting a draw and possibly a few pulls to start with....

Interested to see a second video :thup:

(don't know what happened to the font there!!)

 

[sawtooth]

Thanks James for the excellent feedback. If I have time tonight I will go to the range and start working on the posture as you say. Cameras are very useful but also very scary!!

 

[virtuocity]

I love watching amateur swings- they are so unique. Your back-swing is tremendous viewing!

As a newbie, can I ask:

-What got you started with the slow backswing? Self-taught?
-Is your bad shot a slice? If so, how often?

 

[timchump]

That swing looks like mine did a year ago, and for the last 10 years.
My aim this season was to get rid of my OTT move.
What i found that worked best was the intial movement from the top, focusing on letting the club head fall back away from the ball, down my back (to the left from a down the line angle).


What is confusing is every where you read says lower half starts the downswing which stops the over the top movement, this wasn't the case for me, i could easily get OTT despite good lower body movement.
I do think the a good lower body movement does help you hit from the inside which is a slightly different thing to an OTT move in my humble opinion.

To me it looks like you do use your lower half of the body fairly well.

So yeh i'd focus on your intital movement from the top.

This video expains what i'm talking about
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P38JNe-HMsM

 

[sawtooth]

I love watching amateur swings- they are so unique. Your back-swing is tremendous viewing!

As a newbie, can I ask:

-What got you started with the slow backswing? Self-taught?
-Is your bad shot a slice? If so, how often?

I read about taking the club back with moderate speed......perhaps I over do that a bit and might need to speed it up a tad now that I've seen the tape! But I do agree with logic that a backswing is a precision movement so I take my time and try to get the club in a decent position at the top.

My bad shot is more likely to be a straight pull or pull hook but I used to slice like crazy.

 

[sawtooth]

That swing looks like mine did a year ago, and for the last 10 years.
My aim this season was to get rid of my OTT move.
What i found that worked best was the intial movement from the top, focusing on letting the club head fall back away from the ball, down my back (to the left from a down the line angle).


What is confusing is every where you read says lower half starts the downswing which stops the over the top movement, this wasn't the case for me, i could easily get OTT despite good lower body movement.
I do think the a good lower body movement does help you hit from the inside which is a slightly different thing to an OTT move in my humble opinion.

To me it looks like you do use your lower half of the body fairly well.

So yeh i'd focus on your intital movement from the top.

This video expains what i'm talking about
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P38JNe-HMsM

Thanks for the interesting clip I will have to give that a go with an old club.

 

[timchump]

give it a go mate, i know im not an expert though your swing is the spitting image of mine not too long ago, focusing on the club falling back behind me has really helped get my swing on a better plane

 

[JustOne]

Yeh good video that...

Here's it taken to the extreme.... (don't go this far if you can help it)

[video=youtube;qWEGdRtOc8s]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWEGdRtOc8s[/video]



... passive wrists baby!

 

[Bucket92]

Lovely rhythm as you swing through the ball :thup:

 

[timchump]

i love that swing wish i could drop it like garcia but it feels so unnatural...

out of interest why do you say not to go that far?

i always thought lagging like garcia is mega efficent, but haven't thought about the downsides...

 

[Hooper]

Do I see the OP taking the club back too much on the inside on the way back? I maybe wrong.
I would be interested to see what the swing gurus think about this as there are loads of instructors on the web advocating keeping the clubhead out in front of the hands on the way back. They say this helps get the club more on plane when at the top.
I am interested because I know I do this.

 

[JustOne]

i love that swing wish i could drop it like garcia but it feels so unnatural...

out of interest why do you say not to go that far?

i always thought lagging like garcia is mega efficent, but haven't thought about the downsides...

It's a lot of hand movement Tim, thats's all. If you've got 20yrs to perfect it then feel free.... I think to an extent that's why many people are switching to a one-plane swing so the drop isn't as severe (few inches) instead of a foot!

Sergio gets the club laid back as much as any golfer you'll see.. that puts him on the extreme side of 'normal'. His clubshaft gets below the plane of the right forearm (approx 20secs on the vid) ... and technically that's erring on the side of being 'stuck'.

 

[SamQuirkePGA]

You can indeed have too much lag. Not many get close mind you!!