Willow's Swing

[David Williams]

Taken a number of months ago when the weather was a touch warmer here in Melbourne.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqwS9BUuEY4

[adlo]

Pure

[Yossarian]

Come to perth?

Love that tempo!

[LarryLong]

The swing almost makes up for the white belt. :)

[Scottt]

Step away from the donuts!

PS - Nice swing.

[Jarro]

Nice tempo for sure 8)

[sms316]

Must have been a heat wave for you to be wearing shorts in Victoria.

[PeteyD]

It was one of the 12 days of summer.

[razaar]

Stretch your upper left side at address a bit more for better connection. Breathe in on your whole left rib cage and breathe out on your right side to get the feeling.

Just kidding!

Should be on tour.

[Eag's]

Now that is what you call a relaxed and balanced swing.

[idgolfguy]

I can swing like that too, but the ball goes half the distance.

[Yossarian]

X stiff shafts will do that.

[Johnny Canuck]

great call yoss.

nice swing willow. i thought swings weren't supposed to be that smooth.

nice comment scottt.

[idgolfguy]

X stiff shafts will do that.

That is likely to be true, still does not explain why, with an 18inch height differential between us, I still hit the ball longer than you do.

[Yossarian]

With driver you do sometimes. I've caught you in the irons, and my hybrid goes further when I top than your two iron does! :)

[Johnny Canuck]

pygmy power.

and the fact that you probably weigh close to double yoss' 47kgs.

[idgolfguy]

It's the lag of my belly catching up with the rest of me on the downswing.

[Bruce]

I reckon there are a few kilos gone since that video was shot.

Go low at Barham mate.

[David Williams]

Thanks all for the comments... Scottttt, I'll step away from the donuts when you step away from the keyboard ;)

I practiced for 3 hours yesterday afternoon and the head pro had a quick look at my swing last night as I hit it terrible last week.

I had a little too much lateral movement in my lower half causing block fades. I think this has come from tightness in my left hamstring and lower back. Massage today with some stretching to release it. As soon as I stabilised my legs and felt like I'm swinging more in a barrel instead of driving my legs through so much, I started striping it again. I picked up the 10 - 15 metres I'd lost off my drives after I started releasing the club properly.

[Sydney Hacker]

It must be nice to understand your swing to an extent that a couple of quick check-ups starts to immediatly improve things. Us mere mortals tend to search for something for weeks/months before stumbling on the answer and not really understanding how or why things have improved !

[razaar]

Thanks all for the comments... Scottttt, I'll step away from the donuts when you step away from the keyboard ;)

I practiced for 3 hours yesterday afternoon and the head pro had a quick look at my swing last night as I hit it terrible last week.

I had a little too much lateral movement in my lower half causing block fades. I think this has come from tightness in my left hamstring and lower back. Massage today with some stretching to release it. As soon as I stabilised my legs and felt like I'm swinging more in a barrel instead of driving my legs through so much, I started striping it again. I picked up the 10 - 15 metres I'd lost off my drives after I started releasing the club properly.

David
Feel free to post your swing here when it is a bit off, we'll fix you. But we need all the info about tightness, sex life, diet etc to get it right.:lol:

[David Williams]

SH... I still need to see it or have another trained eye to see what I am doing wrong. I regularly video my swing but in this instance the head pro wandered down to the range.

As you can see my swing is fairly simple and smooth... it's easier to see what the problems might be because they stand out. If the ball is blocking then the path and face is too far right, if I am slicing then my clubface is open to my path... Once we know what is happening we can work out what is causing it to happen.

To steal a phrase off someone else on here, when golfers swing looks like an octopus falling out of a tree, it is more a case of trying to get them to find some tempo first and then we can try and implement some simplifications to the swing.

Most of the time however, just by swinging easier, with better tempo and rhythm will allow even the wildest swing to make more consistent contact with the ball. Your swing changes little between a good shot and a bad shot... its your timing that is different.

[Sydney Hacker]

Timing is an amazing thing, most of the time when my swing has gone to the doghouse it is because my backswing has become too fast and I pull the club all over the place trying to come back down. If I slow down my backswing the transition becomes a lot easier.

Of course there is also 1,000 other things wrong with my swing but that is a tale for another day ! I would just like to get to the stage where you don't need to hope you are having a great ball striking day or depending on the short game to get you out of the s**t.

[PeteyD]

I am quite fond of my octopus.

[Webster]

Almost as good as my swing Willow.

[Lucasto23]

oh so so so smooth, thanks for the barrel reference just reminded me of something :)

[David Williams]

Almost as good as my swing Willow.
There is a truth to the rumor that you are my swing model Jack... I often get asked if I model my swing on Jack, being so good and all.

I reply "There is no better person to model not only one's swing on, but one's life!"

[timah!]

Nice swing David.

Is it a conscious thing to press your hands forward as a first movement on your irons, rather than maintaining your position the same as your driver?

[Courty]

To steal a phrase off someone else on here, when golfers swing looks like an octopus falling out of a tree, it is more a case of trying to get them to find some tempo first and then we can try and implement some simplifications to the swing.

You need to talk to Haysey. ;)

[haysey]

You need to talk to Haysey. ;)




I dunno about that. Willow can you help someone who looks like they're trying to chop down the tree the octopus just fell out of?:mrgreen:

[Courty]

:lol:

[Outcast]

I dunno about that. Willow can you help someone who looks like they're trying to chop down the tree the octopus just fell out of?:mrgreen:

I wouldn't describe Courty's swing quite like that....

[haysey]

I wouldn't describe Courty's swing quite like that....


:-s

[Outcast]

Oh, sorry were you describing your swing....

In that case you were far, far too kind to yourself:mrgreen:

[David Williams]

Nice swing David.

Is it a conscious thing to press your hands forward as a first movement on your irons, rather than maintaining your position the same as your driver?
Nothing I do is conscious Timah... I just happens on autopilot. That is why I practice... to make everything just a part of the routine so I don't have to think while trying to swing.

I built it into my swing to help feel like I'm going to compress the ball and lead with my hands and not the clubhead. No need with driver as I feel the hands are where they need to be at impact when I address the ball.

[timah!]

Cheers David,

By conscious, I meant was it something that you set out to do, which it seems you did.
Not being the most technical of golfers, i'm assuming you've done that to promote better contact, trying to minimise 'thin' shots if the clubhead were leading?


Nothing I do is conscious Timah... I just happens on autopilot. That is why I practice... to make everything just a part of the routine so I don't have to think while trying to swing.

I built it into my swing to help feel like I'm going to compress the ball and lead with my hands and not the clubhead. No need with driver as I feel the hands are where they need to be at impact when I address the ball.

[David Williams]

Correct... it is to promote the feeling of the hands leading through impact to compress the ball better. A mini preview impact before I swing if you will.

[timah!]

Other than the obvious benefits of contact, do you find it gives you a better ball flight? Height, penetration etc...
And do you use the same movement for say a 3iron?

[David Williams]

Each club is designed to be hit with the hands ahead of the clubhead at impact with the exception of driver. The more loft the club has then the further forwards the hands should be at impact.

I have no idea if I have any forward press with the longer clubs as I said it's all automatic... I'd have to film it and look. The longer clubs however are positioned further forwards in the stance and don't require my hands to be as far in front of the clubhead so I doubt I have as much forward press with the longer clubs as I do with the shorter clubs.

I trained to preview impact on the practice fairway and then swing, so now it is a little forward press to get the feeling like I'm going to compress it. Trajectory will be governed by how much you are lofting or delofting the club. The more you deloft it the more penetrating flight you will get. The typical amateur adds loft to their irons causing high ball flights, less spin and a loss of distance. The typical pro will deloft their irons a little which promotes a more penetrating ball flights, more spin and greater distance.

Timah, I do not live by rules which says my students must do anything in their swing that I say. There is no ONE way or MY way. I teach my students how golf works ie golf science. We then figure out how they are going to apply the correct science to their swing to make it work. Play golf your way BUT be applying the correct science when you do so.

So should you forward press your hands with your irons at address? It can't really hurt but as long as it promotes the correct impact on the ball otherwise its a waste of time. Only do something if there is a reason for doing it, not just because someone told you to or you read it on the interwebs and thought you'd give it a shot :)

[MegaWatty]

Bit of TGM in there Willow?

[David Williams]

Just a bit of Golf in there Mega ;)

[MegaWatty]

I've been taught some TGM basics from someone you know and one of the first things I was taught was an impact fix and forward press. Has helped my game no end.

My brain sucks though. ;)

[sms316]

Your putter doesn't seem to fit in the bag properly. :-s

And what's with the Piranha rubbish? Is the game so easy you need to use niche gear to give you a challenge?

[David Williams]

What makes you say Piranha is rubbish SMS? How many Piranha clubs have you owned to form this opinion?

They're some of the best stuff I've ever used.

[MegaWatty]

I think you just gave him the bite that he was after. ;)

[razaar]

Would I be incorrect in saying that Willow's swing is a right handed version of SMS's swing? Swing twins, ying and yang.;)

[timah!]

Thanks David. I know that all in all I need to get a lesson.
I know that my stock shot is a high fade, which is especially noticeable on my irons. I seem to have a good swing for my metals, and even though I hit my irons well, it needs some tweaking. I'd be too afraid that pressing my hands forward at address would make it worse at impact.
I guess time back in the game will help, and a camera on the range might be useful also.

[David Williams]

Instead of starting a new thread I thought I'd post these in here... a couple of video's of me messing around trying to hit the ball as high and as short as possible the other day.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHMFE9FzG_o


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sR4_XH9zBHc

[sms316]

Shit... Dennis can do that and didn't even need to practice.

[David Williams]

SMS a lot can be learned from the Dennis Lob. Don't under estimate it's usefullness

http://img707.imageshack.us/img707/1296/dennisfreshairswing.gif

[Yossarian]

Show off.

[MegaWatty]

SMS a lot can be learned from the Dennis Lob. Don't under estimate it's usefullness

http://img707.imageshack.us/img707/1296/dennisfreshairswing.gif

I can't stop watching this. Is this SMS' mate?

[mike]

Willow, the ball didn't even make the green.

I would've moved the bag first.

[Yossarian]

Actually is dennis wearing tracksuit pants? Only at Southern.

[David Williams]

Willow, the ball didn't even make the green.

I would've moved the bag first.
It's hard to find a good caddy these days :D

[mike]

Very nice flop btw.

I remember a few years ago seeing Tiger doing something similar but he had Earl standing there instead of a golf bag. I wonder how many times the old man copped it in the nads.

[razaar]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OatuBMMgOKE
This is impressive.

[David Williams]

If I have a volunteer... I now have a 62* lob wedge to mess around with!! ;)

[hocko]

Good to see the practice fairway at Beacon Hills hasn't changed in 20 years Dave.
You mentioned the head coach gave you some pointers, who is this man?

[Daves]

Nice job on the articles in Inside Golf Willow, the May one is a cracker.

[oncewasagolfer]

Nice Willow! I used to muck around trying to hit the ball over higher and higher objects when I was younger got pretty good at it. We should have a flop off one day:)

[hocko]

Nice Willow! I used to muck around trying to hit the ball over higher and higher objects when I was younger got pretty good at it. We should have a flop off one day:)
You guys are obviuosly not on those "blue" pills are you!

[David Williams]

Hocko, The practice fairway now has one big flat tee and not the stepped tee as you probably remember it. Hasn't been open long and won't be in it's prime until the end of the year but it's pretty good now. Mark Griffin (the head pro) had a quick look at my swing and pointed something out for one of those original swings...

Daves, Thanks mate... I am working on a couple more for the next few issues as well. Glad you like them

Oncewasagolfer, sounds like a "who's is bigger than who's" contest if we're comparing flops!! :D

[oncewasagolfer]

Oncewasagolfer, sounds like a "who's is bigger than who's" contest if we're comparing flops!! :D
Yeah after I posted I thought that it sounded a little gay...anyway:)