'You gotta hit the top'

[billyg]

Evening all,

a friend has kindly leant me a digital camera which has a fast frame sport mode in it's movie setting.

Have been out and filmed a few swings and i'm going way beyond flat/parallel at the top of the swing but just can't seem to find a reliable method of knowing when ive hit the top and should be in transition.

Anyone got a drill or simple trick to make sure you avoid the John Daly's?

cheers,

BillyG

 

[johng]

Very unscientific ...... but i try to 'stop' my back swing just before my hands get to shoulder height. The momentum from there takes them to an acceptable position at the top. Try experimenting with different feelings of where to stop, chest height, shoulders etc etc until you find your own system.

I also check that at the top i can rest the shaft of the club on my thumbs and it doesn't roll off, it styas flat. Useful way of making sure you don't over break the wrists (i believe).

John.

 

[TonyN]

Yes, On a sunny day is best but you can improvise with most lights.

Find your self some where that casts a good shadow of yourself out infront of you!

From here, make your practice swings and look at your shadow at the same time, when you see the club paralell(sp) in your shadow, feel it, remember the body posistion, use the hands to co-ordinate with another part of your body.

Do this for about 10 mins and in no time at all, you'll have a feel for the top of the back swing again. I often do this when I think I am over swinging.

Also, Never picked this tip up from anywhere so can I lay claim to it as my own?

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Have had the same problem, usually when I am reverse pivoting. It feels like I have turned but in truth I have incorrectly shifted the weight and the shaft goes way over the parallel.

Having been working on a better shoulder turn and keeping my legs quiet during the swing I have found that when I turn properly and get the left shoulder under my chin my swing naturally stops before it gets to the parallel. I think it is due to the maximum coil I can achieve meaning my arms can't get any further.

 

[Ronnoc1980]

lads i aint got a clue where i am at what time or point of my swing i just grip it and rip it.

Billy if i works who give a toss where you are i think we sometimes look to far into things!!

 

[cabbie]

With you Connor,cant say i often think about my maximum coil while i am swinging the club lol

 

[TonyN]

If you have a consistent back swing you should hit your shots more consistently.

Full swing= Club parallel over shoulders

3/4 swing= Club is half way between parallel with shoulders and vertical with ground.

Half swing= Club is vertical with ground.

1/4 swing= Club is parallel with floor at waist height.

Since I learnt these, my distance control is a hell of alot better and my short game has come on leaps and bounds in a few months!

 

[RGuk]

There are a good few theories about why players overswing.
Personally, I feel that most of us can play plenty well enough with a short-ish swing (i.e. just short of top) so as I practice I work harder on making a good turn and building my tempo, whilst deliberately thinking about not overswinging....I'd be pleased to see myself on video just short of top. The bent left arm is one of the biggest killers.

 

[theeaglehunter]

Could you not just use a mirror or window reflection in your garden to see where you end up? I would have thought it was pretty obvious if you are going beyond parallel. Not quite a drill but an easy way to see what you are doing wrong.

 

[billyg]

Could you not just use a mirror or window reflection in your garden to see where you end up? I would have thought it was pretty obvious if you are going beyond parallel. Not quite a drill but an easy way to see what you are doing wrong.

I live in a flat with fairly low ceilings in a tower block

Thanks for the suggestions all - most appreciated.

My reason for wanting to get some opinions is that the left arm on the take-back is fine and straight all the way to the top (and beyond) and by about hip height i'm forming a nice 90 degree angle between shaft/arm all the way to the top/parallel. Once I go further than that (..and I do) the shaft/left arm angle becomes more acute - maybe to 70 degrees or less. This places an awful lot of strain on the outside of the left hand and MAY account for some of the problems i'm experiencing with the hand at the moment (physio has diagnosed damaged ligaments attached to the Hamate bone).

Therefore If I can shorten my swing I can IN THEORY place less strain on that hand.

I have to say the video facility is fascinating to watch and ive also picked out two other factors that probably aren't helping either:

1) my left knee seems to collapse of the take-back which probably facilitates over-rotation

2) At impact my hands are (at best) in line with the ball rather than ahead which means that i'm starting a turn-over too early and slightly 'scooping' at the ball all of which breaks the flow of a nice wide swing and may put more strain on the hands.

Having spent a weekend away experimenting with this video thing two things remain clear.

1) Next stop - a pro video swing analysis and follow-up lessons before I so much as set a foot on a golf course again. (If I can see some of the things that are going wrong to my untrained eye - god knows what a pro will find and be able to suggest!)

2) The injury is simply not healing and swinging a club (in the way that I currently do) hurts in a cumulative way so no more golf until it's properly healed

Overall it's been really interesting to see and I can see some good things that I do and some bad ones too - but that's all of us isn't it?

thanks again for your comments and suggestions ,

BillyG

 

[HomerJSimpson]

I had very active legs in my swing rich ultimately was robbing me of correctly coiling and therefore power so I was overswinging and moving laterally during the swing and reverse pivoting.

My pro got me to address the ball and focus on trying to get my knees almost flared in the address position so that the weight was on the outside. I then had to sing trying to keep my legs still. Not a natural position but if you keep at it and swing and focus on keeping the knees still you'll stop. Another tip is to get an inflated beach ball and put it between your legs as you swing. The ball will resist your knee movements and should help calm the excess motion which means you should be able to get a tighter coil with a shorter swing

 

[theeaglehunter]

I thought that some people might not have gardens when I wrote that Billy! Woops! As for the mirror thing I didn't mean swinging in the house lol any half decent range I have ever been to has a mirror that you can use to check things like this. Using a video is probably better anyway, I just thought you may use a range with a mirror or two saving you the trouble.

 

[RGuk]

Another tip is to get an inflated beach ball and put it between your legs as you swing. The ball will resist your knee movements and should help calm the excess motion which means you should be able to get a tighter coil with a shorter swing

I did beach ball drills for months in my back garden a la Faldo. Towards the end, my base was really rock solid....this is prior to one of my best periods of ball striking. An old chestnut, but so, so good. I might invest in a 99p ball from Asda and get into this again, it really helps keep the flex in the knees. BRILLIANT