need some help with my swing

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By JPHB

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  1. JPHB

    JPHB
    Brooklyn, NY

    hi guys,

    I reviewed my swing on video today and did not like what I saw one bit - a tiny bit of background, I'm an 11 handicap, and this season I posted a lot of rounds in the 80s, a few in the 90s and two in the 70s (a 77 and a 79).  I can generally get the ball around the course decently, my short game needs work.  But lately, towards the end of the season I started hitting it really inconsistently off the tee, at times I would flat out top it or duck hook it.

    About my swing - I see on the video that I start the swing with my hands, opening the club up almost right away, and then I have sort of a false backswing, quite short, pulling it way inside and around mainly with my arms, with little real shoulder turn/coil.  My downswing action is a lot better, legs leading and a nice aggressive move through the ball - but sort of a lunge, I suppose as a reaction to my limited, powerless backswing.  

    I am really determined to reshape/revamp my swing - so although I know it is difficult to give someone tips and advice without actually seeing me hits balls, any suggestions and/or drills that you may have, please send them my way.

    Thanks,

    Jason   

  2. Joe D

    Joe D
    Boulder, CO

    hey JPHB a good thing for you to do is go to the range and get a bucket of balls and hit your driver with your feet together starting with really small soft swings and working your way up tell you are hitting full shots this will help your tempo and your balance trust me it will work. :)

    Joe

  3. Lou G

    Lou G
    San Diego, CA

    I see it because I had the same problem about 4 years ago and the GolfTec video showed I had about a 60 degree hip turn. Turning the hips too far makes it difficult to release and the back foot gets stuck on the ground in the downswing. You can have a compact backswing and still knock the snot out of your drives. I have what amounts to a 3/4 swing (my arms don't go past shoulder height and my hip turn is almost nil). This is a combo of the stack n tilt and Don Trahan's Peak Performance Golf Swing. Paul Wilson of Revolution Golf (the recent change in name to Peak Performance Golf) has some nice tips about torque at the top of the backswing (if you do it properly, you should be barely able to speak at the top). In other words, it should feel a bit uncomfortable at the top of the swing. Also, if you shift too much weight to the back foot it makes it harder to lift it to fire the hips.
  4. JPHB

    JPHB
    Brooklyn, NY

    Hi Lou,

    thanks for the comments - interesting, but none of that applies to my swing at all,

     

    Jason

     

  5. Lou G

    Lou G
    San Diego, CA

    Jim McClean (and Martin Hall among others) have a couple checkpoints in the golf swing. When the club is waist height, the face should be perpendicular to the ground on both the backswing and follow through. Hips should still be somewhat parallel to the target line at that checkpoint on the backswing.
  6. JPHB

    JPHB
    Brooklyn, NY

    Hi Lou,

     

    I am currently studying out of Jim McLean's book - 8 Steps - really the best book on the swing in my opinion

     

  7. Lou G

    Lou G
    San Diego, CA

    I have his book "The Three Scoring Clubs" and that helped in a wedge/short iron problem I had in 2008 where I had a sudden swing fault that would pop up after an hour of practice where I would pull a pitch rather severely or shank it. The bottom line is the right foot gets stuck on the downswing and the hips don't clear. Jim McClean is now on the staff of Revolution Golf (along with Paul Wilson, who authored Swing Machine Golf). There is also a volunteer Titleist wielding teaching pro at www.allexperts.com named Eddie Kilthau (he also has a Facebook profile). He has helped me quite a bit with my golf swing. The "Palm Down, Palm Up" drill with the forward arm (backswing, follow through) is effective; the so-called wrist *** and hinge come automatically (front arm and wrist rotate). Too much hip turn on the backswing, along with too much weight shift to the back foot, are a couple of the evil roots of the back foot getting stuck on the downswing (that causes about 99 percent of all swing faults - topping, shanking, duck hooks, hitting it fat, etc). One thing I see is a lot of golfers lift their front foot on the backswing in an effort to get the "big 90 degree parallel at the top" backswing. A lot of pro golfers are going to a more compact backswing where the front foot stays planted on the backswing - makes for more pure shots and an easier weight shift on the downswing.
  8. Jackson V

    Jackson V
    Lafayette, CO

    Try looking for the book "Ben Hogans 5 fundamentals".

  9. JPHB

    JPHB
    Brooklyn, NY

    Thanks Jackson - I have studied out of that book extensively - for more than 20 years.  I don't know too many serious golfers who haven't.

    Thanks fellow TT members - I am in the process of implementing some changes, mainly based on McLean's book, things are feeling much better as of my practice session today and I'm hitting the ball well.

     

     

  10. John L

    John L
    Dewey, OK

    good luck brother i was taught by a PGA pro that gave me home work out of the swing machine book and used the McLean video as a little visualization to help me understand it. I'm sure you'll go far with this. 

  11. John L

    John L
    Dewey, OK

    I like what lue G started with the jim mclean thing. Look it up on you tube there is a nice short video that gives your the basics im sure a veteran golfer such as your self and see what hes getting at and make the adjustments. 

    so first lets look at those hands. they are so important i bet your hands are active even in the begining of the back swing. it great to have alittle waggle when your at address and trying to keep relaxed but as soon as you make that first move back quiet the wrist. make that first 6 to 8 inches back from the ball a solid move straight back. this will get you started with good form

    as you draw back your club will naturaly arc as you go from address to waist high you should have only moved a few parts of your body. Obviously shoulder turn maybe alittle front knee bend and some slight waist turn. when you look back the club should be parrallel to the ground face should be faceing away from you not at the ground or at the sky almost just a 90 degree turn from were it started. 

    from here you just make a nice relaxed turn and back swing to the top. dont over speed it or try to over strech your self when your body tightens up naturaly your at the top. 

    on the down swing (ofcourse with a relaxed grip not chokeing the life out of the club) start that hip turn that pulls the sholders. your hands should still be quiet at this point holding that angle that you always see in magazines. dont force holding the angle let it be naturla almost like your pulling a rope. by the time you get the shaft back to parrallel you should still be olding that angle. almost like your driving a nail into the ground with the head of the club. from here its the simplist thing but so many people over work this part. 

    If you stop your swing right there at that parrallel point you'll notice you have your club hinged. (not wrist cocked just hinged) if you Roll your hands back to the where the back of your hand is facing down the target line you'll notice the club moves alot forward. this is the power move. and its as simple as this

    Keep TURNING the sholders  KEEP it moving and just roll the wrist. that all roll them not un hing them or over hing them just roll them. dont over roll them witch is hard to do but i've seen it done many times. remember what they say at impact the back of your glove should be facing the target this is what your rolling to.

    again keep the sholders moving threw impact and then turn that face over to were when your club is parralell to the ground on your fallow threw the face is the opposit as on the back swing.  give this a try you'll see what im talking about in the 8 step swing video online use a mirror and practice it a few times to the the feel of it hit some balls and let me know how it goes.

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