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View Full Version : kwantfm's swing - help!!!



kwantfm
7th November 2007, 06:57 PM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTsSUIsbiGY

Hi all,

I'd like to request a little help with my swing. Let me give you a little background.

I've been playing golf for almost 20 years picking up the game at the (too late) age of 16. I'd been a reasonable tennis player and have some level of hand/eye coordination although was never a great sportsman. I am now a struggling 14 handicapper. I reached 11 at my peak (on an A-grade Sydney, Australia course). I have broken 80 only once, but it was on a championship Peter Thompson designed course.

Let's fast forward to now. I'm the father of two young children and work demanding hours, so there is not much time for golf. But, like many here, I dearly love this game and have spent considerable sums on golf club membership and equipment (much more on the latter in the past few years and after discovering websites like this). I now only manage to play a full round perhaps once every quarter. The main problem is that I don't play frequently enough to have my (major) faults grooved. My quarterly games are therefore increasingly discouraging.

What are my recurring faults?
I tend to stand up through my downswing and hit the ball with very high hands. Impact tends to be off the toe. My bad miss is a spear right. Good shots tend to start right with a little draw. I believe that these various flight patterns are explained by my getting a little stuck on the downswing. I define stuck as the clubhead lagging well behind my hands through the downswing or the clubhead being below plane. Ideally I'd like the clubhead to be directly in line with my hands when my hands are hip height on the downswing but right now the clubhead tends to be further away from the target line. If my timing is good on a particular swing I'll recover and hit an okay shot... otherwise one of the above bad shots will occur.

What am I currently working on?
1. Maintaining my posture through impact.
2. Flattening out my downswing plane (I have, for most of my golfing life, had an incredibly steep, yet in-to-out, downswing).
3. Keeping my hands as low as possible through impact.

I've recently discovered the joy of video and have taken quite a few swing sequences. I'm getting great feedback so have made some (IMO) improvements.

I'd really appreciate it if you could give me some feedback on the current swing sequence and how I can improve the below plane nature of the clubhead on the downswing. Perhaps I am barking up the completely wrong tree and there is another approach to improvement that I have not contemplated.

Think of it as a favour to a middle-aged, father of two, golfing addict who doesn't manage to feed his habit very often.

Thanks so much,
T

Jarro
7th November 2007, 07:01 PM
Try the Stack&Tilt mate, it'll fix ya quick and easy ;)

AndyP
7th November 2007, 07:10 PM
Are you still only going to be playing once every quarter? If so, how are changes going to stick?

That's playing less than goughy, so I'd follow his style and enjoy the game as much as possible while you have the chance to be out there regardless of how you are hitting it.

kwantfm
7th November 2007, 07:13 PM
I'm able to get out to the range more often so was hoping to make lasting changes on that basis.

I'm not mature enough to enjoy the game if I don't strike the ball reasonably well...

3oneday
7th November 2007, 07:14 PM
Change jobs, head to the range weekly and play at least fortnightly... otherwise you got no hope at all ! oh, and practise putting at home, a decent swing only gets you so far ;)

rick3003
7th November 2007, 10:10 PM
I am no expert but I cant see too much wrong with your swing. I have played with plenty of low markers with swings far worse than yours.

scarfie1
7th November 2007, 10:55 PM
Yeah I like it too. I tried finding faults based on what you said, but the clubhead does not lag too much behind your hands on the downswing. Lag is what gives you clubhead speed, and you definately don't have too much, I have seen swings with MUCH more lag. Your backswing looks pretty much spot on, perfect takeaway and you manage to get into a nice position at the top and just short of parallel which I like. A nice gap can be see between the right elbow and the left arm half way down the downswing, which is good, and shows you have a nice plane coming through. If anything I say you have a very slightly more outward path on the downswing than the backswing if that makes sense. It might sound weird but it looks a little weak coming through the ball, coming up around impact, I would just try and stay down through the ball and take a good divot. I'm no PGA professional but that's my amateur opinion.

miro
8th November 2007, 07:13 AM
Ok here is my two cents worth. Your backswing is sweet.

There is no doubt you lose your angles on the way down most specifically at the waist. I believe this results in high hands at impact hence your focus is on correcting the wrong thing i.e. high hands is an outcome of a prior fault.

To me the prior fault is a general "stalling" of the body through impact. Whilst your hips start your downswing by impact your whole body has simply stopped turning. When this happens the only way to get the club back to the ball is to "stand up" i.e. lose your angles. Have a look at the video paused at and slightly after impact and I believe it is very easy to see this.

Have you eer spent time practicing with the thought "keep your head still through impact"? or similar because this looks somewhat like the culprit as your head remains "on the ball" long after its gone. This makes it impossible to correctly turn the body out of the way.

So there it is -my two cents worth.

kwantfm
8th November 2007, 08:19 AM
Thanks for all of the comments... much appreciated.

Miro, thanks for the feedback. Scarfie's observation of a weak impact position and my sense that my hands are too high may all be related to your thinking.

I have struggled in the past with spinning out of my hips and have practised to minimise this. I've also tried to "leave my shoulders until last". Perhaps this is the root cause.

I have footage of a low mark friend of mine who has an awesome swing. His shoulders are square through impact so do you think this could also be a sequencing issue?

Thanks,
T

addamsmith
10th November 2007, 10:57 AM
Hi there
You don't want square shoulders through impact, See this pick below. The pic below is one of the best to discribe set up to impact, I will send you a few good drills
Addam

addamsmith
10th November 2007, 11:06 AM
Hi Again
During impact your head comes up and does not stay down through the ball so some good impact drills will be a good start for you. Thes to pics show you a good address to impact difference.
Addam

scarfie1
10th November 2007, 11:08 AM
Sorry to threadjack, but Hey Addam, I've always wondered about left leg position at impact, I can't quite see it in the first pic you showed, but is it supposed to be straight, or have some forward flex to it? My problem is that I straighten it heaps, maybe a bit early, which causes me to come accross the ball on impact.

addamsmith
10th November 2007, 12:30 PM
Hello Mr Scarfie
At impact you should have a flex in the left knee and right knee.
In the pic's below you can see how the left and right knee are at impact

addamsmith
10th November 2007, 12:37 PM
Also on the Above first pick I posted you can see in the impact pick from above how the left knee is forward and bent that is a great pick to show.
PS
Scarfie did you want to play This sunday afternoon 2.00pm colonial
Addam

scarfie1
10th November 2007, 12:40 PM
Thanks for that Addam, great pics.

Yeah 2:00pm sounds good, see you there

addamsmith
10th November 2007, 12:50 PM
Good Stuff
I am getting there at 1.30 to hit balls if you want to meet in the car park.

kwantfm
10th November 2007, 02:04 PM
addamsmith,

Thanks very much for your input... look forward to some impact drills.

T

Grunt
10th November 2007, 02:21 PM
Impact Drills could help me too, I have myself an impact bag, drills to help would be appreciated.

Jono
10th November 2007, 03:40 PM
I agree with 3oneday. You need to play more. 8)