Jono
20th September 2011, 01:07 PM
Just to give you a quick background ...
I used to play off single figure handicap (lowest ever was 6 when I was in uni) with a pretty consistent swing. Didn't hit it that far but far enough to reach most par 4's in two. My short game was never the best but was OK when I was playing on a regular basis.
Around 2005, I decided I wanted more distance. I started training specifically for speed and power. I worked with chains, lighter clubs, heavier clubs etc. I gradually started to lose accuracy. Duck hooks were slowly creeping into my game.
In 2006 I was diagnosed with a pituitary tumour and had surgery in 2007. My body blew up from a relatively slim 65kg to a chubby 95kg. My swing shape changed and the consistent swing that I had became nothing but a distant memory ... My swing no longer had any consistency about it. Left, right, low wormburners, high balloons ... I started to play less and less golf. When I hurt by back just under 2 years ago lifting weights, I decided to give up the game completely.
Anyway, back to the present. My back is better and I started to play again 2-3 months ago. Still scoring crap and with the new handicap system, my handicap blew up from 12 to 18. My big problem is keeping the ball in play. OB's, water hazards, lost balls in trees ... these are killing my scores.
In my quest for some consistency, I started looking at Lee Trevino's swing. Arguably the most consistent hitter of the golf ball, I thought if I can emulate the characteristics that made his swing consistent, surely I would be more consistent too. I'm built similarly now ... :roll: And I like the feel of getting my right shoulder under and through the ball ... which Lee probably did the best. Lee's head dropped at least 10 inches on his drives and his right shoulder really chased after the ball. I've been looking at his swing on youtube and I've borrowed Lee's book "Swing My Way" from Ferrins.
I've been getting encouraging results so far ... When I hit it well, I get about 10m of fade. My bad hooks are gone ... The worst shots to the left are straight or slight pulls as long as I drive the legs and get my right shoulder under. If I stay tall and rotate the body, it's big pull left.
The misses to the right are still pretty bad at the moment. If I don't release the clubhead, I can get some big push slices. I've been working on "release fades" which seems to minimise the push slices out to the right.
Anyway, it's a great feeling to stand on the tee knowing that my misses are more predictable and manageable now. Hopefully, if I continue to work on this, I can hit more fairways and greens thus giving myself more birdie and par putts instead of bogie or double bogie putts. Now putting is another story ... :wink:
I used to play off single figure handicap (lowest ever was 6 when I was in uni) with a pretty consistent swing. Didn't hit it that far but far enough to reach most par 4's in two. My short game was never the best but was OK when I was playing on a regular basis.
Around 2005, I decided I wanted more distance. I started training specifically for speed and power. I worked with chains, lighter clubs, heavier clubs etc. I gradually started to lose accuracy. Duck hooks were slowly creeping into my game.
In 2006 I was diagnosed with a pituitary tumour and had surgery in 2007. My body blew up from a relatively slim 65kg to a chubby 95kg. My swing shape changed and the consistent swing that I had became nothing but a distant memory ... My swing no longer had any consistency about it. Left, right, low wormburners, high balloons ... I started to play less and less golf. When I hurt by back just under 2 years ago lifting weights, I decided to give up the game completely.
Anyway, back to the present. My back is better and I started to play again 2-3 months ago. Still scoring crap and with the new handicap system, my handicap blew up from 12 to 18. My big problem is keeping the ball in play. OB's, water hazards, lost balls in trees ... these are killing my scores.
In my quest for some consistency, I started looking at Lee Trevino's swing. Arguably the most consistent hitter of the golf ball, I thought if I can emulate the characteristics that made his swing consistent, surely I would be more consistent too. I'm built similarly now ... :roll: And I like the feel of getting my right shoulder under and through the ball ... which Lee probably did the best. Lee's head dropped at least 10 inches on his drives and his right shoulder really chased after the ball. I've been looking at his swing on youtube and I've borrowed Lee's book "Swing My Way" from Ferrins.
I've been getting encouraging results so far ... When I hit it well, I get about 10m of fade. My bad hooks are gone ... The worst shots to the left are straight or slight pulls as long as I drive the legs and get my right shoulder under. If I stay tall and rotate the body, it's big pull left.
The misses to the right are still pretty bad at the moment. If I don't release the clubhead, I can get some big push slices. I've been working on "release fades" which seems to minimise the push slices out to the right.
Anyway, it's a great feeling to stand on the tee knowing that my misses are more predictable and manageable now. Hopefully, if I continue to work on this, I can hit more fairways and greens thus giving myself more birdie and par putts instead of bogie or double bogie putts. Now putting is another story ... :wink: