2017 Swing Changes

[JJFWebster]

Hi all,

 

Looking for some constructive criticism on where I should start to rework parts of my swing this year. I have fought an over-the-top move, that leads to wild inconsistency, for years. I am an 8 HDCP (up from a 6) but I played some incredibly draining rounds in the 90's this past season. I felt like I was scrambling every hole during those rounds and often lost a few balls in the process.

 

Driver I hit an average of 290 but 310+ when I catch it pure. (3500 ft above sea level) I swing hard which may be partly where the over-the-top comes from but consistency does not improve when I let off. During my practice swings I try to force the feeling of letting the club fall out of my hands at the top of the back swing. It hasn't translated well to actually hitting the golf ball. My miss with the driver is either a pull hook (consistent with my line coming down) or a high fade due to coming across the ball.

 

Irons I would say my yardage averages are low for my swing speed. My 9 Iron is ~145 - 150 but very high. It's often windy here so I end up hitting a lot of half irons to keep it near the green. My miss with irons is usually a high fade but I will toss a pull - draw in there every now and again.

 

Things that I've been able to identify so far.

1. I cross the line at the top of my back swing. (Driver especially)
   
2. I dip down and closer to the ball nearing the end of my backswing (possibly forcing the change in path?)
   
3. My first move on the downswing is where it appears I change path and steepen.
   
4. Coming through the ball it looks like I am fully extending and forcing myself to reach for it. It seems like a very strange back position when I stop it in slow motion. I don't know why I would be making this move as I've never struggled getting the ball in the air. Possibly trying to get more distance?
   

Driver - Down the line

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5 Iron - Down the line

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Any ideas on how I should tackle some of these issues this year? I think I will have to pick one at a time and really exaggerate the fix. I've played golf since I was 5 years old, without lessons, so muscle memory is very much ingrained.

 

Thank you,

Justin

[Sebmour]

I am not a teacher but what I see is that you swing pretty long and your wrist set is late. The first thing I would work on is to shallow your club on the downswing. You see when you are midway in your downswing, your grip is aiming way in between your feet and the ball. It need to be aiming more towards the ball and even a touch outside.

I am guessing from your swing that you hit low hooks pretty often.

 

I am doing this to help shallow my downswing. I am also a touch too steep.

[JJFWebster]

Excellent tips in that video. Thank you.

 

For those that don't want to watch it - Chris simulates a swing, holding an alignment stick, with his back about 1 ft away from a wall. At the top of the backswing the alignment stick touches the wall. On the downswing he keeps it against the wall until the stick is roughly parallel with the ground, forcing a more inside path.

[sjo89]

Excellent tips in that video. Thank you.

 

For those that don't want to watch it - Chris simulates a swing, holding an alignment stick, with his back about 1 ft away from a wall. At the top of the backswing the alignment stick touches the wall. On the downswing he keeps it against the wall until the stick is roughly parallel with the ground, forcing a more inside path.

 

It all looks very armsy to be honest. If you ever want to hit the ball further and strike it more consistently you're going to have to get your body more involved and calm down your arms.

 

First off you're standing way too upright, which is gonna make life difficult from the off. You need to bend from the waist a lot more. Your arms are having to reach out to the ball instead of hanging down from your shoulders naturally, because if they did that with your current setup your hands would be between your legs and the club wouldnt reach the ball! A good starting point is to flex the knees a little, then bend forward from the hips with floppy arms until the point where your hands dangle naturally a few inches (maybe a fist's width) from your thighs.

 

Once you've improved your posture, I actually think you should spend a lot of time on the range hitting 1/2 swing punch shots, whereby your arms remain glued to the side of your chest and you let the body rotation control the club more. Right now you pick the club up with your arms, throw it WAY over your shoulders and then have to cast the club massively from the top. And because you're not using your body to driver the downswing, the club shaft gets super steep on way down, you thrust your hips towards the ball and your handle is crazy vertical at impact.

 

You're going to have to spend a lot of time on the range making very short, controlled, body driven swings me thinks.

 

The best thing you can do is go and have regular lessons. You've a lot of issues, which are all fixable, and you're clearly athletic. But that swing right now is not one you can be consistent with.

 

Start watching some youtube videos and get your basics and fundamentals down. Mark Crossfield and Me and My Golf would be good starting points.