My Swing... NEED ADVICE!!

[Keith Tobberman]

This is me hitting with an old Wilson Staff 5-Iron Blade. As you can see, my hits go right and/or very high with very little distance. Any advice is needed!!
The link to my swing videos on youtube.com are below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1UOp2gwbNk
Sorry for the video being dark.


-thanks

[Rackster]

Re: My Swing... NEED ADVICE!!

Keith

You look as though you are cutting across the ball. It looks as tho you are moving your body too quick in the downswing and your right hand is not releasing.

Try hitting shots with a closed stance, so your body stays behind the ball more and hopefully your hands will start releasing as well.

[oldwease]

Re: My Swing... NEED ADVICE!!

You're certainly holding the club open through impact, promoting the high push-slice. Learn to release the club properly through the ball. When this happens, your right arm will rotate over the left on the follow through.

[jbrunk]

Re: My Swing... NEED ADVICE!!

You open the clubface too much on the backswing, then to compensate, you come over the top on the downswing, and you also look as though you don't release the club.

Try to get your left wrist flat or arched at the top, this will prevent the clubface from opening too much. (Take a look at Tiger's swingvision at the top and see how flat his wrist is) Hit half shots this way and then work into a full swing. When you have learned the proper clubface position at the top your body will adjust and eliminate that over the top move.

Once you have mastered this move, come back and we'll discuss your release.

JB

[Keith Tobberman]

Re: My Swing... NEED ADVICE!!

Thanks so much for all the tips and advice!!
-thanks

[Martin Levac]

Re: My Swing... NEED ADVICE!!

Keith, do you know if your clubs are fit for you? My impression is that they are not fit for you and you are forced to do something you would not normally do otherwise.

You posted two videos, one with a 5 iron, the other with a 7 iron. In the 7i video, it appears that you are hunched over and that perhaps your club is too short for you. I will explain certain concepts so it will help you learn what you are doing.

The swing plane. It's the plane in which the club is swung. We swing the club in an arc, this arc follows a plane. The alignment of this plane is quite important with regards to the direction we want to send the ball. It is important because combined with the alignment of the face of the club, we determine which direction the ball goes and also what spin we put on the ball. If you have played tennis or soccer or ping pong before, you understand what spin does to a ball. It's the same with a golf ball.

Alignment of the face of the club. It's the surface of the clubhead that strikes the ball. It is even more important than the swing plane because it determines the initial direction the ball travels and, if there's no side spin to the ball, it also determines where the ball will land. The alignment of the clubface is mostly determined by your hands. You control the club. When we speak of a strong or weak grip, we talk about the relationship between the hands and the angle of the clubface. A strong grip means a closed clubface, a weak grip means an open clubface. An open clubface means we send the ball out, a closed clubface means we send the ball in. Rest the club on the ground and rotate it in your hands to see what it means. Now imagine it striking the ball and ask yourself where will it go.

Alignment of the club lengthwise with your hands, arms and shoulders. Look at your 7i video, notice at address how the club is not aligned with your hands and arms. Instead, it's at an angle and the butt is pointing very low below your shoulders. As you swing the club, it will tend to align itself with your hands, arms and shoulders. As it does align itself in this fashion, the clubhead will also change angles.

The lie of the clubhead. The lie of the clubhead is the angle, upright or flat, which the clubhead sits on the ground when you hold it normally at address. Look at your 7i video again. Notice how the lie angle is pretty much flat at address. But then notice how you appear hunched over as well. At address is the static lie. Dynamic lie is when you swing the club to strike the ball.

Loft. Loft is the angle of the striking surface of the clubhead relative to vertical. For example, your 5i has less loft than your 7i. It determines primarily how far we send the ball. A low lofted club will send the ball farther than a high lofted club. For example, the lob wedge is used for very short distances and the driver is used for very long distances.

Now let's combine lengthwise alignment and lie and loft. If you were to align your 7i lengthwise, the lie would change. The heel of the clubhead would rise, the toe would dig itself in the ground. Also, because the clubface has loft, its angle changes. In our example, it would now point out.

Now let's swing that club and strike a ball. Look at your 7i video again. The clubhead looks like it's sitting properly on the ground. You look hunched over. As you swing the club to strike the ball, the club wants to align itself with your hands, arms and shoulders. As it does so, the lie changes. As that does so, the loft now points out. As you strike the ball, the tendency is to send the ball out. You must have done some serious correction for that shot to end up where you wanted.

Now that you understand a whole lot about clubhead, clubface, lie and loft, dynamic lie changes, etc, it would be a good idea to check whether your clubs are fit for you. If not, it would be wise to fit them. Perhaps you'll not have to change much in your technique with that 5i after you've had your clubs fitted. Perhaps it will become so much easier to strike a ball where you want then.

[Keith Tobberman]

Re: My Swing... NEED ADVICE!!

Thanks for the advice. It seems very helpful. The 5-iron I was using was an old blade my grandfather had. The 7-iron is from my real set. And as far as fitting, I am about 6'2 and recently found out my irons are about .5-1'' shorter than standard, so I should probable get a new set.
-thanks

[jbrunk]

Re: My Swing... NEED ADVICE!!

Keith,

While it is important that you get a set of clubs that fit you, .5-1 inch short cubs are not the reason for your hitting problems. Your issues are mechnical as I discussed. Probably should look at that piece first.

[Martin Levac]

Re: My Swing... NEED ADVICE!!

Thanks for the advice. It seems very helpful. The 5-iron I was using was an old blade my grandfather had. The 7-iron is from my real set. And as far as fitting, I am about 6'2 and recently found out my irons are about .5-1'' shorter than standard, so I should probable get a new set.
-thanks

If you like the set you have, you can change the shafts for longer ones and have the heads bent to the proper lie angle instead of buying new ones. But before you buy anything, try a few things. Compare your clubs to a "standard" set at the store, you don't need the whole set, just bring one club like your 7i. Check for lie angle and shaft length. It appears to me that your set was built for a much shorter person than you. Perhaps it was built/bought for you when you were younger and shorter? If so, check for grip size while you're at it.

As I said, get your tools sorted out. Then your technique will not need so much adjustment. It will become much easier to strike a ball and send it where you want then. Would you rather learn techniques that you must use with improper tools? I prefer to learn with proper tools, my technique will be impeccable then.

[shootin4par]

Re: My Swing... NEED ADVICE!!

you crowd the ball way too much and it is not cause your clubs, you are standing too close to your hands. because of this there is not enough space for your hands to clear your right hip on the downswing, so you cannot come from the inside, you must come over the top, to get around your right hip, to hit the ball

[BrianW]

Re: My Swing... NEED ADVICE!!

Hi Keith,

Brave guy wearing those shorts in the snow

Keith, you have a number of problems in your swing as has been pointed out, if you can afford it you should get some professional lessons to get you on the right track.

Have a look at Luke Donald's swing frame by frame in this link and see the way he rotates his right shoulder under his chin and extends his arms down the target line then finishes with his arms coming high over his left shoulder. You collapse your elbows through impact then pull them across your chest, this is causing weak shots with poor direction.

http://www.golfonline.com/golfonline...634632,00.html

[Keith Tobberman]

Re: My Swing... NEED ADVICE!!

Thanks again,
I REALLY appreciate all the great advice. There are no courses or driving ranges around here open so I have to practice in my yard, hitting into a muddy potatoe field, but I'll work on my swing for a few days, and when I, if I can hit a little better, I will post a new video in a week or so and we can see from there.
-thanks