My drive

[fading]

Hi guys,

I've just uploaded my first video, which is of my drive. I was hoping you could take a look and see what pointers you can give me to improve my swing.

Although this particular drive was OK, this same swing often produces a low snap-hook that goes about 80 yards!

Your help is appreciated.

Cheers,

Sam

[jambalaya]

Re: My drive

Where is the video?

[fading]

Re: My drive

It's in the gallery under 'golf swing discussion'...cheers

[AvidGolfer]

Re: My drive

Hi guys,

I've just uploaded my first video, which is of my drive. I was hoping you could take a look and see what pointers you can give me to improve my swing.

Although this particular drive was OK, this same swing often produces a low snap-hook that goes about 80 yards!

Your help is appreciated.

Cheers,

Sam

I took your swing and put it next to an old swing of Phil Mickelson (Phil's swing has changed since this video, but it should be good enough to point out a few things).
http://img183.imageshack.us/img183/5...gvsphilig5.jpg

The angle of your video isn't the greatest (ideally you want the camera at hip high and halfway between your ball and your feet aiming in the direction of your target).
At setup it looks like you may be aligned (closed) well out to the left (with you being a left hander). Your shaft is also pointed high toward your stomach, not at the belt buckle like we see with Phil. These can contribute to the inside and deep takeaway we see in the next stage.
When your clubhead reaches hip high on the backswing we see that your hands, arms, and club are all well below the original shaft angle plane (blue line) and deep behind you. With Phil we see the hands and club much closer to the blue line.
At the right arm parallel to the ground position we see your clubshaft pointing at your feet, and Phil's pointing just inside the ball to target line.
At the top of the swing (which is also your right arm parallel position) we see your arm right arm has buckled and is parallel to the ground, and in Phil's swing we see his right arm in a position that is close to parallel to the original shaft angle plane.
It is worth noting that in the past two positions much of your upper body has moved left of the balance line (green line), while you see that Phil keeps the parts of his body that were right of the line at setup right of the line at this stage, and during the rest of the swing.
On the downswing we see your back foot come off the ground and your body continue to move toward the ball (and past the green line). In comparison we see Phil's foot stay low to the ground, and his body (excluding his head, shoulders, arms, and toes) behind the line which gives him room to swing his arms past his body, and release the club.
At impact (your camera was a little to slow to capture your exact impact postion, or youtube cut out frames) we see you cramped, arms and club shaft on a steep angle, and your body almost entirely past the green line. With Phil we see his body still in balance (behind the green line) and his arms and club have room to swing through on a shallow angle and release.

In summary my advice is to:
Setup: check your alingment, stand a little closer to the ball, and have the club shaft pointing more toward your belt buckle.
Backswing: Maintain your posture and balance. Keep your lower body stable and move your arms back in sync with your body turn. Tuck a glove, towel, or headcover under your arm pit to make sure your upper right arm isn't seperating from your upper chest as you swing halfway back.
Downswing: Same as the backswing - Stay in balance (and posture). Keep your lower body stable, and your back foot closer to the ground longer during the swing.

Phil's current swing is more stable with less moving parts. A bit closer to what you see with Trevor Immelman in the picture below:
http://img231.imageshack.us/img231/6...ownlinegp6.jpg

Hope that helps you.

[fading]

Re: My drive

Very comprehensive advice....many thanks indeed. Will try and put some of that into practice this weekend.