Swing Help!

[kevster84]

Just back from a great weekend trip at Ufford Park, Woodbridge. My mate was able to video a couple of swings which are shown below. I am 18 handicapper but looking to get down further this year. Generally hit the ball OK although can struggle with consistency. Appears to be some strange stuff happening with my feet (and probably a lot more...!!). Always had the squat in the transition.

Driver Swing

https://youtu.be/siLeBGkmcZw

Pitching Wedge

https://youtu.be/IImzFi8X1w0

Thanks in advance.

 

[bobmac]

2 things I would look at........

1. Compare your position at this point of the backswing with Luke below


Note the toe down clubface and the shaft direction.

You tend to roll your wrists and fan the club open.

2. Your posture changes during your swing which leads to your inconsistency

This explains early extension

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6pODCOwkQI

 

[kevster84]

Thanks Bob, noticed the potential issue with wrists myself after seeing the video. How would I stop doing this as I don’t consciously do this.

 

[bobmac]

Thanks Bob, noticed the potential issue with wrists myself after seeing the video. How would I stop doing this as I don’t consciously do this.

Keep your right thumb on top of the grip as you swing back

 

[kevster84]

Thanks Bob, much appreciated.

 

[bobmac]

You're welcome

 

[kevster84]

Is my overall posture OK, I feel I look a little slumped and need to straighten my back?

 

[bobmac]

Is my overall posture OK, I feel I look a little slumped and need to straighten my back?

It looks ok to me.

 

[the_coach]

op how is the part wedge game ? meaning those 'pitch' distances between say 30 to 80 yards

that wedge shot was approx what distance?

posture looks in a pretty good ballpark area - aim maybes there's a tendency to be aligned a tad rightfield of target ?

what part of the lead hand is the handle in & is it more diagonal across the palm ?

 

[kevster84]

Hi Coach, alignment was identified upon review, second round kept laying club on floor and everything was right! The pin length was 140 to middle, slight into wind, over hit green. Grip was checked in last lesson and been told its good.

 

[the_coach]

Hi Coach, alignment was identified upon review, second round kept laying club on floor and everything was right! The pin length was 140 to middle, slight into wind, over hit green. Grip was checked in last lesson and been told its good.

alignment for sure something to keep a good monitor on - could not see where that wedge shot finished but (like the driver) alignments seemed a tad rightfield - now alignments are all relative to the shape of the shot so if driver shot shape is norm a draw shape then ok but it's a tad more difficult to hit a draw with a wedge because of loft & higher spinrate - often times a natural leaning to align rightfield can tend to produce a pull which is emphasized thru the shorter clubs

reason I asked what kinda shape the part-wedge shots was in & also what the distance of that full wedge was - being often times when I see folks who have that pronounce 'drop' in transition plus the big straighten-up (that straighten-up or ee is totally necessary cause of what has gone before simply put if you didn't you'd dump the club in the ground back of the ball) through the ball means they either have a real hard time of the part-wedge game through difficulty with distance control along with quality(consistency) of strike ...... or if the part-wedge game is in pretty good shape then those swings are made without the 'big height drop' in the swing motion

my observation would be that bunch aggressive drop at transition in the full swing has developed more subconsciously as the brain has instinctively used that in how to be able to produce power/club head speed

so that wedge shot of 140 yards being produced at full tilt so the full drop aggressive transition it's then real real difficult to be consistent in both direction & distance control because this action will always give less consistent control of strike
so that wedge shot - even if in this shot it produced a good result - there would be more chance of a good result 8 times from 10 with a controlled less aggressive 9i swing
wedges short irons are about control & accuracy not full tilt power or at least they should be

if you look at the position in your swing compared position that luke donald is at - note that his clubhead is a tad higher up - so level to even a tad higher than his hands when the shaft is around that parallel to the target line position & the hands are inline with the clubhead your wedge is a deal lower than the hands - this plus how your hands work from that position is why I asked about the lead hand position on the handle - tend to see the club head being lower than the hands as it is in the vid plus from there then a marked lead hand goin overtop of the trail to 'set' the angles happens often times because the handle is too diagonal & up in the lead palm which also then doesn't allow for an optimum set - so folks then look to find 'power/speed' elsewhere in the motion (the big 'drop' move)

lead hand goes on the handle more like the position would be if you tried to pick-up a heavy suitcase so more at the base of the fingers & importantly more at a 90º angle to the hand/fingers - that ways it's a ways easier to 'set' by having the hand set on the snuff-box joint in more of an 'up' direction (thumbs more point to sky at the 'set' rather than point more behind you) so lead hand sets up as opposed to the 'rolling' the lead hand overtop the trail hand -

hit some 40 yard pitches & note if you stay more in posture with a tad more level head height throughout so hardly any big "drop" happening
- my hunch would be that would be the case - if the part-wedge game is in decent shape

& it's more that kinda swing motion with the part-wedge & the more level height posture thru the swing that is goin to be needed to have a more consistent strike with the full swings
- plus if the hands are in decent shape to 'set' a tad better that will provide more than enough club head speed/power - without having the need for that pronounced 'drop' in transition & then subsequent stand-up to provide power
for sure all elite players have a small drop in height at transition & a lower body move first it's just the real aggressive nature of that part of the swing is a key player in not having as much control of strike that you would like in order to progress the game further

below lead hand on in position to pick up case then how that relates to golf club handle note the position & gap with the pointer finger - trail thumbpad would just sits overtop of that lead thumb position

 

[kevster84]

Thanks once again Coach. Will look at grip again, but that is something I do always check, more so recently due to some pulls (see an earlier post), however the alignment right probably contributes to this. I have a lesson this evening so will see how this goes, the big drop and raise is something I need to sort. I did notice that a couple of dreaded shanks appeared, assume this is due to the early extension and hips moving towards ball. Must tell myself not to hit it too hard!!!

 

[kevster84]

Had my lesson, these were some of the issues:-

Grip - this was OK, neutral, no change required.

Alignment - feet and shoulder alignment (along with the overall feet alignment as discussed above)

Transition - trouble with correct weight transfer

Head dip - noticeable increase in head dip by pro, slowing it all down helped, told me to stop trying to kill the ball as distance was good with normal tempo swing

 

[the_coach]

Had my lesson, these were some of the issues:-

Grip - this was OK, neutral, no change required.

Alignment - feet and shoulder alignment (along with the overall feet alignment as discussed above)

Transition - trouble with correct weight transfer

Head dip - noticeable increase in head dip by pro, slowing it all down helped, told me to stop trying to kill the ball as distance was good with normal tempo swing

cool - sounds like a good working plan in place

the last para was what I speaking to earlier - the subconscious way that power has been put into the motion - would also look at those part wedge swing distances
so with a wedge just have a smooth swing (body & arms feeling in sync) & just make half a swing so hands to mid chest height goin back & thru to mid chest height - focus bein on smooth motion & feeling you maintain posture height throughout - get used to that motion & what 'distance' solid strikes give you - then make that swing a number of times with the objective bein consistent distance to whatever that swing length & smooth motion gives you - goal bein 10 shots all around the same distance

then with that feel of the 'smooth motion with good posture height thru it' then make the same motion through a good 3/4 length (hands to shoulder height) wedge swing - this bein the length of a good normal pw swing - goal is the same with the motion & goal with good struck shots is the ball traveling the same distance so within a good tight circle

then again with that same swing motion feel in mind switch to a 7i & repeat the same task
anytime you got trouble with good execution with the 7i switch back to the 3/4 pw (3/4 bein the 'full' wedge swing length)
anytime you got trouble with good execution with the pw then switch back to that part wedge swing & go through the sequence again 'part pw' - 3/4 pw - 7i

re weight transfer issues - its good to feel that during the takeback to backswing part of the motion you feel the rotation of hips & upper body put the weight pressure 'down' thru the trail leg into the ground - so the feel of the weigh is more vertical downwards & not a lateral shift - earlier in the takeback (meaning early takeaway) the weight pressure can be established as downwards pressure in the trail leg/foot then the earlier that trail leg can be 'stable' to support the upper body turn to the top of the backswing - then from the top it's just really a sense of the vertical weight pressure 'fallin back' onto the lead leg to start transition

just be aware at any point if 'fats' or any kind of inconsistent ball contact starts to creep in that you have not replaced your 'big drop in height subconscious power source' for a lateral slide during the backswing &/or put in a big forwards lateral slide at transition as a replacement power source

hope it goes good - good luck