Thoughts and Comments Please

[HomerJSimpson]

OK forummers,

Went to the range today. Not the best session I've had but the first real practice session in nearly a month. I had a chat with one of the pros who was reasonably happy with the swings but thought my posture was too slouched so I'm making a real effort in these to maintain a better posture. I have been struggling again with overswing and reverse pivot which is especially clear in the side on. Whilst I'm still making good contact I need to find a way of stopping fractionally shorter where I am in a decent position.

The irons are all 6 irons. All the shots were good solid contacts and all flew with a touch or right to left draw. The 6 iron flew about 145 (ish) and the driver pitched about 210/215 and would have probably rolled to my average driving distance 225

 

[mansell]

i'm no expert, far from it but on the third video it looks like the grip is wrong the V looks like it is pointing straigh up instead of pointing to your right sholder but this is only my observation

 

[scottyfan]

Homer,
I had a similar overswing problem.
The pro told me to aim to swing the club back until the head was just past shoulder high. What happened in my case was that while I thought like this and vizualised this in actual fact the club continued on past this point some way but the peak of the backswing was sooner with less tendancy to go too far. The other thing that has caused this problem with me was loss of extension in the left arm.

Regards,
Scottyfan

 

[bobmac]

All the shots were good solid contacts and all flew with a touch or right to left draw. The 6 iron flew about 145 (ish) and the driver pitched about 210/215 and would have probably rolled to my average driving distance 225

It seems like you are happy with the contact and shape of the ball flight.
That only leaves one thing, distance.
Considering the cold, the ball will fly less distance so you can add at least 5 yards to that, maybe more.
The length of backswing is good, maybe a tad long for a 6 iron but within acceptable parameters (WAP) you must have worked hard at that.
Waht are you thinking about during the swing?

 

[edgey]

Homer

I am no expert but,

I have only looked at your vids very briefly but their are 2 things that jump out to me.

1. You are very crouched for a tall man

2. You are losing your height through the swing (you are at least 4-6 inches taller at the top of your backswing)

I am curious as to your club spec and whether you have a "typical" bad shot

Edgey

 

[DCB]

Homer,

Looks reasonable enough for your first effort in a while. One thing I noticed is a slight loss of hight as you strike through the ball. You do end up 'tall' at the end of the follow through.

Did you learn your original swing in the days of the 'reverse C' school of swing thought? It has a look of that after the strike and into the follow through.

As for distance, Its not too bad if it goes where you want it to go. Keeping the height may help with a little more distance, but I haveno idea how to keep the height as I have a similar problem with my own swing.

Dave

 

[Twire]

Have you got the video on double speed? It all seems very quick.

Look at your posture between the first still and the last. The last still you are very crouched, and the ball is way to far from your feet, try standing closer to the ball and that your back straight.The way your standing on the last still meens your swing will be very flat.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Apart from thinkiing about not slicing/hooking, topping, fatting or hitting a sh**k - only kidding I was focusing on trying to make an even tempo'd swing back and through and focussing on a point at the back of the ball.

If you think I am crouched there you should have seen the position before the pro had a chat where my chin was tucked right down on my chest with no room to turn. I know I am losing height which is a result of the overswing and reverse pivot where my shoulders have gone too far and I have to dip in at impact to try and get back to the ball. As a result my hands get active and the stock bad shot is a hook.

The 6 iron is TM tour burner and it is 37.5 inches in length and 28 degrees and fitted with a regular flex TM Burner shaft. This was what cam out best at the TM demo day although they do a flex which is between what you would call standard S and R which I was sort of on the limit of but felt the ball flight was better in R.

I hit my 6 iron an average of 154 according to SC and so I was probably being a tad over-optimistic with this range yardage but not being able to tell accurately in the sno where they land made it a bit of a guesstimate.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

My swing is very old school and very much a product of the late 70's and early 80's. If you look at video of Johnny Miller or Howard Clarke from that time and that is very much how I was taught to swing. I know times have changed and that pros are advocating hitting against a firm left side but my coach and I have discussed it at length and he is happy to work within the confines of what I'm use to.

 

[Cernunnos]

The odd thing consider how much you are being forced to raise up in the backswing you'd think the shaft would have passed paralell. But having watched the videos numerous times, the shaft never does reach paralell, or should I say horizontal.

To be honest if something works & you are returning the head back to the back of the ball with consistency, then perhaps it might be best left well alone.

Yes there is a bit of a reverse pivot going on. the upperbody at address appears to be a bit open, your left leg seems to fold a bit during the swing & you are staying more on the lefthand side, with no apparent transfer of weight onto the back foot. The takeaway does seem a bit quick as well.

A lot could be solved with better posture at & preferably before address. Its not uncommon for people of a very high stature to have very crouched over shoulders, due to needing to, or at least feeling the need to crouch when going through doorways & in rooms with very low ceilings.

I see in Video 4 in the photobucket page, that you are aware of the need for better posture, but the speed of your takeaway means you are allowing yourself to be pulled up out of your swing.

Heres two things I think could help. I'm no teacher, but have experienced most or all of these problems in the past & some of which recently so anyway here goes.

Try putting your club down the spine to get the feeling of good posture & a proper angle, where the small of your back comes in a short way.

The second & probably the most helpful will be in the takeaway to try & not let your hands get higher than the level of your right ear.

I could add one or two more things to this, but I recon these two thoughts will sufice until you see your pro for expert advice. Rather than the likes of myself.

To be honest you probably already know all these things, but doesn't hurt being reminded every now & again.

 

[edgey]

Hi Homer

Looking at your swing i notice that you are very flat in your takeaway and come back a long way on the inside. I think thats why you get handsy.

I think you need to make a few set up adjustments.

1. I suspect you need to listen to your pro and Stand up taller to the ball which will make your takeaway more upright. (If you do this i suspect you will find your irons are to flat and possibly to short and will need tweeking) This will allow you to deliver the club more from the outside. This will give more room to deliver the clubhead and more time to allow you hips to clear all of which will minimise your wrist flip.

I never work on more than one thing at a time so, for me at least, thats what i would work on.

Hope thats of interest

Edgey

 

[nicksampo]

I'm no expert, but if you pause the behind view videos and look at your posture at impact compared to address then you will see you are much more upright at impact. I'm only a newbie so I have no idea how to correct this but I thought it may be worth saying.

 

[RGuk]

Homer, you know me....PPP....

If we add another "P" (your idea, i.i.r.c.) to this, that's
POSTURE.
PIVOT.
PLANE and
PATH.

So here's your swing.....

I think you know what I'd say.

Nice vid's....well done....

 

[bobmac]

Wow. I thought I was the only pro in here. What a lot of good advice!!!
Homer's problem is now to know what to change first there are so many good tips.
Homer, when I first saw your swing it reminded me of an octopuss sh*gging a set of bag pipes. Just kidding
Having read your post, you are happy with the quality of strike and the ball flight so I suggest you dont fix those. So the distance is your problem.
The ball flight laws state that if you want more distance, basically you need to increase your clubhead speed, as long as you dont lose your angle of attack, swing path, centredness of strike on the clubface and clubface position at impact. You follow so far lol?
I would suggest making the backswing a bit smoother and give it a bit of oomph. In other words, make your downswing faster than your backswing. At the moment they both look about the same speed.
A word of warning though. Dont think of the backswing being slower, think of it being smoother. That will give you more time in the transition to maintain your posture.
The hook probably comes from the slight out to in downswing with the slightly strong left hand. Just something you can keep an eye on when there's out of bounds left.
So to sum up, check grip and posture at address.
Have a smooth takeaway, and HIT THE BLOODY THING lol
PS. Great diagnoses Cernunnos

 

[John_Findlay]

Really interesting to watch, Homey.

First of all I'm only telling you what I have learned from my own lessons so don't be offended. Our builds and swings are very different so what applies to me may not apply to you.

What height are you? 6'2? Why aren't you using it? You are so crouched at address...and yet so upright at impact (almost standing bolt upright). There's a big change, so much leg movement (as you said old school). I've been told to quieten down the leg action. Your spine angle at address and at impact couldn't be any more different. They're meant to mirror each other.

You seem to have the clubhead waaayyyyy behind yourself on the way back, incredibly deep, not in front of your body... and yet the shaft is very steep on the way into the ball (look at the shaft when your arms are at the 9pm position on the way down..it's almost vertical. It should be pointing at the ball)

Are you giving yourself enough room to get to the ball with that crouched posture and deep backswing? That may explain the jump up into your upright position. It's probably the only way you can make that room for the clubhead to get past you. That's where the clubhead speed comes from.

I would try to keep the clubhead in front of yourself longer on the backswing. You seem way below plane. It's my common fault on wedges.

 

[scottyfan]

Homer, re reverse pivot
I spent a bit of time stepping through your side on swing.
What I see is that while you swing back pretty well loading your right side, when you swing down there is a massive lateral movement to the left and you left leg bows out collapsing rather rather than sraightening into in a fairly solid position. At that point it looks like you have moved your body away from the target and are leaning back. I think this because of the excessive bend flex in your left leg. As you sing to the finish beyond impact you then straighten up into a more normal position.
I reckon if you work on fixing this left leg collapse your problem will dissapear.
Regards,

Scottyfan

 

[Herbie]

I think you do have one of the 'old school' methods there Homer but I also think you have had all the advice you will need for now, all I would have said after noticing you come taller through the swing and the speed of it has already been said, so I'll shut up now as you have an effective tool there Homer, just need to get the best out of it.

 

[HTL]

Your swing works mate, you need to sort your short game out. I know your a range junkie but you even said you needed to prioritise your short game.

I dont really feel as if I qualify to comment. If I had to I would get you to reduce the amount of up and down movement and the plane your swinging on aint great. Pot kettle black on the swing plane!

 

[HomerJSimpson]

OK guys many thanks for the feedback so far. So I know what I should be working on I think the main points are:

1) Standing taller at address and possibly a fraction closer to the ball.
2) More width as opposed to coming inside too early
3) A smoother takeaway to allow more time for transition into the ball
4) Trying to maintain my height throughout the swing without lifting through impact.

OK so not tooooo much wrong then. I'll guess I be putting a set of tour burners on e-bay later then. Only kidding. Thanks for being so honest guys. I actually thought my swing was in better shape than it is. I played with HTL and ademac last weekend and thought I hit the ball especially with my irons really solid.

I should reiterate this was at the end of my session today and I hadn't been hitting well so maybe was trying too hard for the camera and was generally out of synch anyway. I think I'll look at posture and takeway on Tuesday night and see what difference it makes.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

HTL - I will be working on my short game but Ascot's practice ground is shut and the other short game area I use at Wexham in Slough is also closed so I thought I'd keep the long game ticking over (or not)