What to fix first?

[johncdbass]

Hello all, I am a 10 handicap and of course I am trying to get it lower. I suffer from inconsistencies in the course of a round and the couple of blow up holes are destroying my improvement. I decided to video tape myself and here are ALL my faults that I observe:

Right leg straightens
Butt of club points outside target line
Overswinging at top across the line
slight body sway forward

My misses are hard to define as I make all kinds of mistakes during a round from hooks to pushes and fat shots. I would say that the most common fault would be fat shots especially with wedges.

I've attached a video if you would care to help diagnose and offer some fixes. With so many identifiable faults what would be th best drills to fix the biggest fault? Thanks a million!

[BrianW]

Re: What to fix first?

Hello all, I am a 10 handicap and of course I am trying to get it lower. I suffer from inconsistencies in the course of a round and the couple of blow up holes are destroying my improvement. I decided to video tape myself and here are ALL my faults that I observe:

Right leg straightens
Butt of club points outside target line
Overswinging at top across the line
slight body sway forward

My misses are hard to define as I make all kinds of mistakes during a round from hooks to pushes and fat shots. I would say that the most common fault would be fat shots especially with wedges.

I've attached a video if you would care to help diagnose and offer some fixes. With so many identifiable faults what would be th best drills to fix the biggest fault? Thanks a million!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCSonFbK-Fc

You seem to come out of your spine angle a little too soon, try and get that feeling like your head is resting on a pillow through impact.

[GolfJunkieSr]

Re: What to fix first?

My first question would be are your clubs fitted to your swing? Or, did someone tell you off the cuff that you are "regular" everything, and you bought a set of clubs based on that information? My next question would be what do your divots look like? Are they deeper at the toe of the club face, deeper at the heel of the club face, or pretty much level from heel to toe? Along the lines of that same question, are all your irons making the same divot from heel to toe? I did not look at your swing because I am by no stretch of the imagination a swing doctor. I am one of those who believe that impact position, and club face alignment are important regardless of how your swing gets you there. However, I have friends who have had the same ball flight problems just like you have, and their problems cleared up after getting fitted clubs. and/or having their lie angles checked.

Before I get hammered about my statement about impact position, yes I know that a good, correct swing will enhance a golfer's impact position. My point is not all swings can, or will be the same, but most lower handicap golfers will have pretty much the same impact positions.
GJS

[rotator]

Re: What to fix first?

Hi John,

What Brian says is true about the spine angle. That's a good part of the reason for your inconsistencies. The fat shots are caused, as your spine angle going up, it makes you straighten out the arms and throw your hands to catch the ball. You can see at address your arms and club form a nice angle, and your hands are close to your body. As you go through the downswing and impact, you can see the arms have straightened out and the hands are away from the body, causing a right to left steep swing plane.

You say your right leg straightens, so you then realize it should stay flexed to brace the weight shift on the backswing. But, you can see also your left knee straightens early on the downswing. It would help to hold the spine angle, if your left knee stays flexed through the swing, until it gets straightened from the full followthrough.

It does not seem that you have shifted your weight on the downswing. If you look at your right foot, it looks like there is still some weight there. If you tried to lift that foot off the ground, could you, or would it be difficult and would you fall back? If you look at the illustration Brian provided, the golfer has shifted his weighjt to the flexed left knee and pivoted on that leg as a post, and finished around and high.Your follow through indicates you are not doing that, and finishes abrupt and upright, with some weight still on the back toe.

You set the club well and have good arm action, so it's easy to see you would hit the ball well.

It's not my intention to slag your swing. It's what I see.

Ted

[johncdbass]

Re: What to fix first?

Thanks for the replies guys. Brian I do realize that I come up on the down swing and raise or change my spine angle. I have to get some drills to change that. Do you think that I do this based on bad setup or straightening the rt leg or maybe something else.However I really like the pillow idea and I will give it a try. Ted I also realize that my finish is not completely on my lt side. On a frontal video I have a slight sway left and need to swing more around than upright. Golfjunkie my clubs were fitted at both a demo and again at Golfsmith with everything being standard. I have Callaway x20 tours 3-pw with rifle6.0 shafts. Also most all my divots are fairly even throughout however whether I take a divot or not it depends and varies frequently ie: inconsistently. I have alot of faults and some are major and some are offshoots of the major swing flaws. My goal would be to identify the most important flaw first that could possibly improve other minor flaws and then move on to the second ect ect. I have tried in the past to fix too many things and the practice usually leads back to never making permanent changes. Thanks! John

[rotator]

Re: What to fix first?

Hi John,

Regarding the spine angle problem, I believe it is important to keep the knees flexed slightly through the swing.

Here's a drill you can do.

http://www.golf-tuition-online.com/w...dy-new-guy.htm

At the range, you might take a light folding lawn chair, or empty the golf bag of the clubs, and stand it behind you.

Re your stance, I think you can bend over more from the hip socket joint with the back straight and stick that bum out more against the bag.

Ted

[GolfJunkieSr]

Re: What to fix first?

Thanks for the replies guys. Brian I do realize that I come up on the down swing and raise or change my spine angle. I have to get some drills to change that. Do you think that I do this based on bad setup or straightening the rt leg or maybe something else.However I really like the pillow idea and I will give it a try. Ted I also realize that my finish is not completely on my lt side. On a frontal video I have a slight sway left and need to swing more around than upright. Golfjunkie my clubs were fitted at both a demo and again at Golfsmith with everything being standard. I have Callaway x20 tours 3-pw with rifle6.0 shafts. Also most all my divots are fairly even throughout however whether I take a divot or not it depends and varies frequently ie: inconsistently. I have alot of faults and some are major and some are offshoots of the major swing flaws. My goal would be to identify the most important flaw first that could possibly improve other minor flaws and then move on to the second ect ect. I have tried in the past to fix too many things and the practice usually leads back to never making permanent changes. Thanks! John

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Fitted clubs are a good thing when it come to scoring well. The other information you are recieving from the other posters will be most helpful. If you get a chance try and find a copy of Shawn Humphries "2 Steps to a Perfect Golf Swing", and look at his two position drills. Couldn't hurt. GJS

[johncdbass]

Re: What to fix first?

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Fitted clubs are a good thing when it come to scoring well. The other information you are recieving from the other posters will be most helpful. If you get a chance try and find a copy of Shawn Humphries "2 Steps to a Perfect Golf Swing", and look at his two position drills. Couldn't hurt. GJS

Junkie I bought the ebook online and absolutley love it. It really solidified in my mind the few hazy hand/arm positions I had in my head. I read the whole book this morning(another accomplishment) and have started the drills. Some I have tried however this will pinpoint my focus for better improvement. I practiced for about 2 hours and hit some easy 6 irons at the end and they were pure. Actually like a golf shot "feeling". This book coupled with a steady spine and rt leg and I believe I have a way to finally break 70. Thanks!