Winter practice and my swing issues (in detail)

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birdieman

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I spent 2.5 hours on Saturday and 1.5 hours on Sunday practising off grass which I have to say gives miles better feedback than range mats. At this time of year I have no mileage in the golf muscles and no strike consistency so this year I want to hit the new season in April stronger and with a more grooved swing, rather than taking until June to get my swing going!. Without getting buried in swing thoughts these are the swing problems/issues that I have to address when practising-

• Shoulder turn can be poor with a tendency to lift arms to compensate for the poor turn. Probably not helped by colder weather but I have to really focus on making a full shoulder turn i.e. back facing target.
• Need to keep my chin up to allow a better shoulder turn (always think of a pic from Tigers book with Butch Harmon holding Tigers chin up with an outstretched club)
• Downswing can get started by hands, this is a terrible intermittent flaw and I have to concentrate on leading the downswing with the body weight shift i.e. body leads arms and hands not t’other way round. Also have to watch getting too quick from the top, transition from backswing to downswing needs to be slow and controlled.
• Club takeaway can be too far inside leading to it getting loopy coming back down outside the line. An object placed 18” behind the ball on the target line helps me guide the club back correctly.
• Right hand grip gets too lazy and loose and I don’t fire through the right hand to turn the club over through impact, results in a power loss and weak fade. Gotta grip better with right hand and less with the left.
• Sometimes tend to stand too far from ball with straight legs and over-reach, gotta flex those knees a little and think about remaining more upright.
• A problem I’ve always had is I take my eyes off the ball for the first foot or so of the takeaway (I actually follow the clubhead for a split second then revert my gaze back to the ball), I must keep an eye on the back of the ball for the whole swing despite how weird it feels.
• With lob wedge pitching practice (no other clubs thankfully) I shank a few, caused I think by my head moving down through the shot, gotta keep my chin up, get the takeaway right and not sway through the strike.

When I get all of the above working I actually started to hit it pretty well and my mid iron shot shape goes from a horrible low fade to a great high flying draw. Feel it was time well spent partly due to great weather and granny babysitting.

A point of interest is that when I’m going through a pre shot routine for each shot I can’t carry 5 or 6 swing thoughts per shot, I can manage about 2 of the above swing thoughts per shot – I am a thicko or is that normal?

I’m sure we all have our swing concerns but those are mine (at the moment!) for what it’s worth. Looking forward to Blairgowrie Rosemount on Friday; it will probably find me out – 8 degrees, wind and rain/sleet – lovely but at least I’ve managed a bit of practice for this one.

Anyone’s thoughts on any of the above (where I'm going right/where I'm going wrong etc) are most welcome and I would be interested to hear what you are 'working on' over the winter with your swings.
 
Birdieman,

thanks for sharing that with us. The right hand grip thing spoke to me becasue I'm a leftie playing right-handed so often get loose with my RH too.

As for holding all those swing thoughts. Well, as far as I can see the chin, right hand and knee flex are set-up thoughts so you can check those before you swing. As for the others, that's way too many to have if you want a swing rather than a contrived lurch. Work on just one or two.
 
"A problem I’ve always had is I take my eyes off the ball for the first foot or so of the takeaway (I actually follow the clubhead for a split second then revert my gaze back to the ball), I must keep an eye on the back of the ball for the whole swing despite how weird it feels."

I have this exact problem with sand shots....I think I know why; somewhere in my history, a lesson led me to concentrate on swinging along the line of my feet (open to target) and I've never got out of the habit!

This is a lot of stuff birdie, I'm have no doubt you are right about the lot.....but wouldn't it be easier to choose one or two things to work on and see how the rest "adjusts".

My pro has me working on 2 things only a.t.m. when I asked about takeaway, posture, grip etc. he told me he wouldn't give me any more lessons if I kept being obsessive about small details, in short, he will address any small things that become worse as and when we fix the big stuff. I like this attitude and it's stopping me lose sleep about set-up basics.

Good post though.....I'm glad I'm not the only one getting serious for the impending season.
 
Birdieman I think we suffer from many of the same faults!!!

I used to spend hours on the range beating ball after ball thinking about 3 million things as I "swung" my club.I had a steep steep swing and used to open the face causing shots to shoot right all the time.

After discussion with my pro I now do the following........

Grip- check to see if I can see the dot on my 2nd knuckle right hand
Stance- am I "sitting" on a bar stool? If not flex those knees
Backswing- low and slow, knock that ball away behind the one you are addressing. I know I am at the top of my swing when i can feel the muscle between my shoulder blade and shoulder is "stretched"
Downswing- Left foot down hips through to target

It is starting to show dividends I am getting a more consistent strike when I do all these right.

My biggest fault is when a shot goes wrong I break down my swing and try and correct everything!!
 
I like the bar stool analogy - easy one to remember.

Just to be clear I'm not suffering from all the faults all the time but I just need to be aware of them particularly early in the year when the swing is rusty.

My practice at the moment of which there has been a distinct lack of is 2 things mainly - watching the right hand grip and making a good shoulder turn.

My one main swing thought when on the course is always the takeaway - slow and low back.

Hoping this open weather continues, could easily be under snow at this time of year.
 
set up thoughts - all the usual ones

swing thoughts- let the left knee flex properly- this results in a 'sit' feeling as the hips turn away and allows a full shoulder turn.

more than that I haven't got RAM space for. Short term memory of a ZX Spectrum :(
 
My one main swing thought when on the course is always the takeaway - slow and low back.

Might I humbly suggest you change this swing thought? some very very good players I talk to always say the backswing thoughts on the course are poison. They prevent us focusing on the object of the game - getting the ball to the target.

Since making all my on course swing thoughts downswing and beyond oriented I've struck the ball much better.
 
I would contend that by the middle of the swing it's too late to be formulating swing thoughts.
Monty and a few others all talk about the takeaway being critical to a good swing and at least you can rehearse it a la Mike Weir before you attempt to hit the ball, then think slow and smooth just before you start away.
If you get the club away properly hopefully the rest should fall into place....at least that's what I thought!
How good are your good players out of interest?
 
Well, it's up to you, mate. I'm just offering it as something to consider that's worked well for a lot of folks.

you're not attempting to contrive the downswing or finish, but by having a thought/feeling that is forward focused you're giving the brain a positive signal. It just confuses it to think of the target and something that appears to be going the opposite direction.
 
Cheers Stu,

subconsciously I suffered from MOST of the flaws you so kindly shared with us and now I don't think I will ever again stand over a ball and just hit the bloody thing due to all the points you mentioned running through my head.

Blairgowrie day out ..... advantage Birdieman cos our heads will be full of 5h1te.
 
Have only been playing the game a few months and is does seem to me there is an awful lot to remember in the 20 seconds or so from address to actually hitting the little white thing. It also cheers me up a little when I see the pros on tv whacking it into the rough! I practice at the range at least 2 nights a week and find that if I forget just one of the points my shot goes haywire. Good luck with your game!!! My thoughts are with you.
 
Birdieman, i can sort out all your problems with one bit of advice. GET A F....N LESSON OF A GOOD PRO, most swing faults are related to a bad posture at set up.
 
Need to clarify again, as 23rd man says the target is the most important thought to have in the brain, I would agree with that totally.
I do always pick a target on the course and in practice and focus on it. However sometimes on the course if I've hit a couple of poor tee shots I make a point of telling myself to get the club back correctly during takeaway and rehearse it on the practice swing, then for the actual shot I do a pre shot routine focusing on the target and only have the target in mind. It often results in a much better drive.

You know what it's like, if you're playing well your head is empty and you're relaxed, if you're not swinging well you sometimes start to analyse too much and look for fixes.
 
Need to clarify again, as 23rd man says the target is the most important thought to have in the brain, I would agree with that totally.
I do always pick a target on the course and in practice and focus on it. However sometimes on the course if I've hit a couple of poor tee shots I make a point of telling myself to get the club back correctly during takeaway and rehearse it on the practice swing, then for the actual shot I do a pre shot routine focusing on the target and only have the target in mind. It often results in a much better drive.

You know what it's like, if you're playing well your head is empty and you're relaxed, if you're not swinging well you sometimes start to analyse too much and look for fixes.

That, my friend, is absolutely the perfect way to do it :cool:
 
Blimey!

I’m surprised you can hit a ball with so many issues in your swing…

Let’s not forget, you know how to play the game (better than me). Some pro’s have awful swings and hit the ball wonderfully.

I definitely think you can over analyze your swing. I would recommend working on the big 1 or 2 issues you have, then confidence & repetition will correct the rest.

I’m currently working on starting the backswing with my shoulders/arms rather than hands and accelerating through the ball. I have quite a fast swing and people have always told me to slow it down. I have done this in the wrong way and it leads me to blocking & slicing the ball. I still have all my other faults, but when I do these two, a good shot tends to be the outcome.
 
Golf is a uniquely personal game. Look at Furyk. You'd look at that swing and never suggest he'd be a top pro but he has found something that works for him. There are no pictures on the scorecard. It is all about finding a way of getting it round.

We'd all like picture perfect swings but it ain't going to happen. My suggestion would be take anything you have been taught in lessons etc and practice it to feel comfy with it and then trust your swing

Thats what all the hours of practice is trying to achieve, something 1/2 reliable that you can instinctively use. If your head is so full of thoughts it is impossible for your sub-conscious to release and the muscles to repeat what you have ingrained through repetition.

You know how good you are, your friends on here know how good you are. Just trust that swing and let it rip
 
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