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View Full Version : Quest to cure my flat swing.



Ferrins
16th March 2015, 06:26 AM
This is me and has been me for a while, cursed by a flat swing. To describe where I am at the moment is to look at one par 5 and a par three from yesterday. Par 5: Duck hook off tee reload then drive and hybrid onto green. Par 3: 6 iron pushed first shot and then tried to draw next one and push faded a brand new Pro V into the adjoining cow paddock.
"A flatter golf swing can cause you to push or hook the golf ball. The golf swing hook will sometimes results because the club is being swung too much around you, thus putting a right to left sidespin on the ball when you swing through impact.

You may also have a tendency to push or block some of your shots out to the right if your swing is too flat. The hook and the push result from the same error in your swing path. The push will happen because your club gets too "stuck behind you" as you swing down towards the golf ball. Your club comes too far underneath the swing plane line coming into the ball causing a blocked shot."

This thread will outline the due process of correcting this with the help of a professional and the necessary drills plus any leads or advice by members on here,

mrbluu
16th March 2015, 06:51 AM
Buy a new driver???

Ferrins
16th March 2015, 07:10 AM
I average a new driver every 6 comp rounds!

markTHEblake
16th March 2015, 07:20 AM
I don't think you have a flat swing Ferro. You look like you get into a pretty good position to me. I don't buy into the argument that a flat swing in itself is a fault.

The problems you have described like getting stuck inside is something else, and is a common trait of the happy hooker (flipper)

Captain Nemo
16th March 2015, 08:01 AM
Calling Virge...
Oh, and we need a video please ferret!

Ferrins
16th March 2015, 08:14 AM
How do you post a video? What shot do I video?

Scifisicko
16th March 2015, 08:43 AM
I suspect i can out flat you....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Upo0jPeYXAc
I dont have a problem with the left (any more than the right).... although i do when i take the club back inside and get stuck ala comment from MTB

razaar
16th March 2015, 09:38 AM
Chris
What does the right arm do through impact with a forearm drive in tennis? The same thing applies in the golf swing. The racket is squared up early in the fore stroke and the elbow leads the hand into impact with the wrist extended back. This has the racket in front of the body which is powering the stroke by a burst of rotation at impact. Same principle applies in the golf swing. The main difference is the ball is on the ground and the left hand controls the club and clubface.

In the golf swing the normal tendency is to allow the clubface to open freely during the backswing, usually exceeding 120 degrees of rotation at the top. To square the clubface at impact the player has to rotate the clubface the same amount and maintain clubhead lag as well. Usually the answer is the flip where the right hand comes to the rescue just before impact because the rotation isn't doing the job.

The ideal backswing controls the rotation of the clubface to 90degrees at the top. The leading edge is parallel to the ball/target line with the shoulders rotated 90 degrees. With the right technique it is much easier to square up the clubface to the swing plane and hold lag during the downswing without using the right hand at impact.

Ferrins
16th March 2015, 09:46 AM
Thanks Ray will study what you have said later, asI'm on course. Have tried hard today to keep club on plane and get a smooth sequence. It's a bit cooler here today and am struggling with winky getting into nest tangles.

razaar
16th March 2015, 09:55 AM
Chris
The simple version is to shut the clubface in the takeaway and resist the clubface opening excessively. The other element is to keep the elbows close together especially in the forward swing. This has the arms working as a single unit. Have fun.

Ferrins
16th March 2015, 01:11 PM
Okay shot 76 gross with one in the water and two from a green side trap. Did not make a putt but no 3 jabs.
3 great drives and some good long irons but struggled with some short iron approahes.

Shreko
16th March 2015, 02:24 PM
Okay shot 76 gross with one in the water and two from a green side trap. Did not make a putt but no 3 jabs.
3 great drives and some good long irons but struggled with some short iron approahes.

Where are you playing?

Ferrins
16th March 2015, 03:38 PM
Tenterfield.

Ferrins
16th March 2015, 03:42 PM
I play the Saturday comp on Monday so I put the $10 in a jar and when I win spend it on golf stuff instead of getting a $25 voucher. It takes me 1/2 the time and I win a prize at least 10 times the value. Plus I get to play off the tips and don't have to put up with anything mentioned in this thread,

Hux
16th March 2015, 03:48 PM
Have you tried swinging more upright - that would be one way of correcting the flat swing :-)

Ferrins
16th March 2015, 04:14 PM
I tried hard today to swing on plane today so I after hitting 3 cracker drives decided to stand the club more upright. Resulted in two well struck drive blocked to the right.

Ferrins
16th March 2015, 06:53 PM
Going tp go and do a weekly Super Drive clinic at Victoria Park range.

Ferrins
18th March 2015, 08:30 AM
Had the lesson last night and found it rewarding. The guy told me I had a great swing which was a bit like a prostitute saying you are a great lover.

davidw88
21st March 2015, 06:39 PM
My problem is a flat swing as well, prone to the hook. Can do it without a ball but once the ball is there seem to get fairly flat.

Ferrins
21st March 2015, 07:31 PM
Big overhaul for me of my swing and game.

mrbluu
21st March 2015, 07:43 PM
Had the lesson last night and found it rewarding. The guy told me I had a great swing which was a bit like a prostitute saying you are a great lover.

Post acknowledged!!!

oldracer
21st March 2015, 07:55 PM
played with bloke on thursday that had the flattest swing I have ever seen and stood as far away from the ball as i could imagine you can and missed 1 fairway FFS, tried to work out what he was doing but he obviously got the clubhead around to the square face point very regularly

olddogmike
5th May 2015, 06:44 PM
I currently have a similar problem, up to three weeks ago I could place the ball wherever I wanted on the fairway with my driver. For no understandable reason I am now hooking left. The only way I can correct this ATM is to into slow motion and the ball goes in the required direction all but less distance, if I try to then increase swing speed the hook re appears.

aussieashley
5th May 2015, 06:58 PM
I'm interested in this thread too. I think I have a pretty flat swing. My 2 bad drives are the low and left duck hook, or the high and right block cut.

Hatchman
6th May 2015, 12:07 PM
I'm interested in this thread too. I think I have a pretty flat swing. My 2 bad drives are the low and left duck hook, or the high and right block cut.

Reverse pivot will help hit those shots.
You sure your flat?

markTHEblake
6th May 2015, 12:29 PM
Player, hogan and many other greats have had flat swings of varying degrees. Nothing wrong with flat.

I think you are all looking at it wrong.

aussieashley
6th May 2015, 05:22 PM
Reverse pivot will help hit those shots.
You sure your flat?

I'm not sure. I'll stop thread jacking Ferrins thread now.
I'll try and get a video next time I'm at the range and get a thread going here. I'm definitely in need of help with hitting the driver straighter.

gotitat last
6th May 2015, 06:18 PM
ferrins-after a huge amount of trial and error(25 years),i have found that you can swing like hogan which was very flat because he was such a small man and he had to incorporate his bottom half more into the shot to get the power.the only problem is that you are prone to duck hooks.
the best way i found is so simple it is just crazy.everyone says that the backswing is a swing to the right.it is and it isn"t.ok,the easiest way to explain it is via a tennis player making a backhand drive.(by the way,that"s why great tennis players are very good golfers).
a backhand drive is not thought of in their subconscious mind as that,but rather a forehand drive in reverse. that also is the only way you can do a golf backswing without locking your muscles up-you trick and say to your mind that you are doing a forehand drive as you do the backswing.of coarse some people are born with this gift and do not need brain manipulation.
that all works fine in tennis as you are basically vertical ,but in golf you must allow for your spine angle,so all you do is imagine you are forehanding your backswing(clubhead) to an imaginary ball to your right, allowing for the angle.
i am only at development stage with this,but the swing feels so free and easy,with so much natural power,it"s scary.
cheers

razaar
6th May 2015, 08:51 PM
Haha... The ferret teaches tennis as a profession.

Scifisicko
7th May 2015, 10:11 AM
I'm interested in this thread too. I think I have a pretty flat swing. My 2 bad drives are the low and left duck hook, or the high and right block cut. Is your swing like Tigers? Point I'm making is these misses aren't a symptom of flat per se. Plenty of good players with flat swings!

markTHEblake
7th May 2015, 11:21 AM
The tennis analogy works if you are a right handed golfer and a left handed tennis player.

I am RH for everything but found out at tennis I can hit better backhanders with my left than I can with my
Right.

razaar
7th May 2015, 01:02 PM
Like Blakey I can't see a problem with a flat or under plane swing provided the trail elbow stays ahead of the hands until just before impact. The tenancy with an inside takeaway with the minimal arm lift in the backswing is the tendency to get too narrow and allow the trail elbow to get trapped behind the hip. Once that happens the right shoulder fires early causing a steep early release outside the plane.
Flat arm plane at the top can also be caused by an early arm lift before the pivot which has the arms lift and then drop near the vertical as the pivot progresses. Lee Trevino and Ricky Fowler ( before the swing change) had this lasso type action.

davidw88
7th May 2015, 04:47 PM
Like Blakey I can't see a problem with a flat or under plane swing provided the trail elbow stays ahead of the hands until just before impact. The tenancy with an inside takeaway with the minimal arm lift in the backswing is the tendency to get too narrow and allow the trail elbow to get trapped behind the hip. Once that happens the right shoulder fires early causing a steep early release outside the plane.
Flat arm plane at the top can also be caused by an early arm lift before the pivot which has the arms lift and then drop near the vertical as the pivot progresses. Lee Trevino and Ricky Fowler ( before the swing change) had this lasso type action.

I think I have this problem as when I transition my shoulder plane gets steeper than it was on the backswing.

gotitat last
7th May 2015, 06:10 PM
markthe blake-that's only because you haven't coached your mind to do otherwise.but being RH and able to hit left backhanders much better than RH backhanders,implies that you are a "natural" with a golf backswing,which is a huge asset,as i have to train myself to become left side dominant . that"s probably why ,and this is only a hunch ,you could be a lot better at golf if you actually forgot about all the mumbo jumbo about positions throughout the swing and just realized that the swing is a natural movement totally controlled by our nervous system,and a "neutral"setup with the correct initial thought to set the club in motion is all that is required.

razaar
7th May 2015, 07:39 PM
Hey got it,
I've totally agree with this quote by Ben Hogan.http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/b/benhogan100543.html

gotitat last
8th May 2015, 06:48 AM
that"s an interesting quote from hogan-it"s exactly what i am trying to do,but the only way you can actually do it is not during the actual swing with certain specifics,but rather at the start of the backswing with only one initial correct thought,as the swing is a totally natural movement as long as you program your brain to be left dominant.also,another critical point is a nuetral setup.that means the chest,not necessarily the left shoulder,is pointing slightly left of target,as your right hand is lower than your left.if you do this,you will feel totally free of tension as it is a natural position.the left shoulder joint can move forward independent of the chest,so that should not be used as a guide that you are doing the setup correctly.