My Road to Improvement - 7/9/25 new swing video

[bortass]

The range was a mixed bag for swing video. It's over 90* out and no shade at the range, so my phone gets hot and the screen gets too dark for me to see it well. I also had a FUBAR with my clicker when I tried to get the slow motion clips. I had to take the regular speed swing clip and set it to play at 1/4 speed. Both swings are with my 7i.

 

Looking for any feedback. The arms and shift during the takeaway look better but I'm still OTT.

 

   

 

 

[TheDeanAbides]

3 minutes ago, bortass said:

The range was a mixed bag for swing video. It's over 90* out and no shade at the range, so my phone gets hot and the screen gets too dark for me to see it well. I also had a FUBAR with my clicker when I tried to get the slow motion clips. I had to take the regular speed swing clip and set it to play at 1/4 speed. Both swings are with my 7i.

 

Looking for any feedback. The arms and shift during the takeaway look better but I'm still OTT.

 

 

   

 

 

I'm going to focus on one single thing because it was the first thing I saw. Sequencing. Your hips begin to move just before the clubhead. I understand that changing motor patterns is tough, but you have to get the sequencing correct. Got to allow the parts to move when they are forced to. It's subtle, but that's how coiling works. 

[bortass]

3 minutes ago, TheDeanAbides said:

I'm going to focus on one single thing because it was the first thing I saw. Sequencing. Your hips begin to move just before the clubhead. I understand that changing motor patterns is tough, but you have to get the sequencing correct. Got to allow the parts to move when they are forced to. It's subtle, but that's how coiling works. 

I still have to think about moving my hips to get them to go to the right otherwise I'm liable to have them go left. I don't know how long it will be before they can move to the trail side w/o me thinking about it. In theory if I could get them to the right w/o thinking then I'm at least doing it better albeit too early and hopefully fixing the "when" of the movement wouldn't be as difficult.

 

All I have been working on is that drill Iacas suggested in Brad's thread and I think I'm making progress with it. Wish I had my V2 license still but I lost that email a decade ago and then I could put the older and this swing video side by side. I'll have to see if I can figure out a way to do it with my video editing software.

[bortass]

I figured it out. Not perfect but I can do side by side now. 🙂 

 

I did a screen grab from the video below:

 

 

 

 

 

 

[RayPlan]

3 hours ago, bortass said:

I figured it out. Not perfect but I can do side by side now. 🙂 

 

I did a screen grab from the video below:

 

 

 

 

 

 

That's what I'm talkin' about! The backswing work is paying off big time. Keep up the good work.

[iacas]

Can you do this more/better?

 

 

P.S. Bonus points if you can figure out what series my wife was watching in the background. 😄 

Edited July 9 by iacas
Added postscript

[NosajNeelik]

1 hour ago, iacas said:

Can you do this more/better?

 

 

 

P.S. Bonus points if you can figure out what series my wife was watching in the background. 😄 

Friends 

[bortass]

2 hours ago, iacas said:

Can you do this more/better?

 

 

 

P.S. Bonus points if you can figure out what series my wife was watching in the background. 😄 

Shoulder turn to get the left shoulder lower? I assume the 45* line is good but I lift and seem to flatten my shoulders after that spot.

 

The dot near my belt buckle and the line around my head show I went to my trail side and I assume they are okay.

 

No clue on the TV series but I don’t watch much TV, lol.

 

Thanks for sharing that drill in Brad’s thread. It seems to have really helped me make a change.

[iacas]

The dot near your belt was a mistake. It's not marking anything.

 

You are still in a bit too much forward flexion and your head drifts too far back with too little turn at that point in the swing. Rotation is still a bit slow.

[bortass]

10 hours ago, iacas said:

The dot near your belt was a mistake. It's not marking anything.

 

You are still in a bit too much forward flexion and your head drifts too far back with too little turn at that point in the swing. Rotation is still a bit slow.

Let's see if I understand. I found an AMG video related to spine movement and may use non technical terms since I'm trying to connect the dots.

 

Problem: Too much forward flexion, so I am bent forward too much at that point.

Solution: Left side bend along with extension of the spine which lets the head stay at roughly the same height/place but gets the lead shoulder to turn under the chin more.

 

Problem: Rotation is too slow

Solution: Rotate more by that point in the swing or is it rotate faster? I assume the former even though I don't swing fast.

[iacas]

56 minutes ago, bortass said:

Problem: Too much forward flexion, so I am bent forward too much at that point.

Solution: Left side bend along with extension of the spine which lets the head stay at roughly the same height/place but gets the lead shoulder to turn under the chin more.

 

Yes.

 

56 minutes ago, bortass said:

Problem: Rotation is too slow

Solution: Rotate more by that point in the swing or is it rotate faster? I assume the former even though I don't swing fast.

 

Those feel like the same thing to me. If you rotate faster (relative to what your arms are doing) you'll have rotated more by that point.

[Chip Duffer]

Bortass, the swing is looking soooo much better!  Congrats on the gains you are making!

 

As for the OTT, from the top of your backswing if you were to drop the hands down (rather than around) as if you were going to throw a ball sidearm, that “feel” may help you drop into the slot and result in the inside to out path.

 

Just my .02 cents.

[bortass]

4 hours ago, iacas said:

 

Yes.

 

 

Those feel like the same thing to me. If you rotate faster (relative to what your arms are doing) you'll have rotated more by that point.

More like this? Also are my hips okay? It doesn't look like I'm getting to my trail side to me but I could very well be wrong.

 

 

Video is set to 1/4 speed.

 

 

[iacas]

That's much better. To be clear, the above is an exaggeration (though not a huge one) from what you'll see in your golf swing.

[MidwestHacker]

@iacas is "more left side bend" the same as "more right side extension"? IE the correct way to get the left shoulder down on the correct plane is to increase right side extension/left side bend in the backswing. 

[bortass]

13 minutes ago, iacas said:

That's much better. To be clear, the above is an exaggeration (though not a huge one) from what you'll see in your golf swing.

Once again, thank you so much for taking the time to offer feedback and pointers. I greatly appreciate it.

[iacas]

10 minutes ago, MidwestHacker said:

@iacas is "more left side bend" the same as "more right side extension"?

 

No. Not really the same. If you extend both sides, you stand up a bunch.

[bortass]

I am at a loss with my driver. I actually had a chance to play 9 this evening solo. I moved up to the gold tees, 2811 yards for the front. I shot a 48 which is better than I have been doing but driver killed me. It was statistically the worst area of my game. I can't believe my approach game which has always been bad was better than my driving SG. The reason driver is bothering me is it used to be a strength of mine, compared to everything else. I will have to go back to see but about the time I started to try to fix my pivot and takeaway my driver became a massive liability.

 

So tonight, I hit a push fade OoB and I had a slice OoB( slices are rare for me). The swing that had the slice, I had the thought of doing Cast B to try to prevent the push fade. I started the ball left and it curved way right. Add in a two thin shots and a top that went left on me and it was just a mess. My push fades are not the kind that may be borderline okay either. I may aim down the center and the ball will enter the trees any where from 50 - 125 yards off the tee. They just start way right and go in  on the fly and are mostly lost balls.I don't stand on the tee box with driver in hand and think "don't hit it into the trees". I just go through my routine and the results are horrible.  I no longer know what to do...

 

I had some pretty good iron shots and one great 4w off the deck. I hit my 9i( 120) club over the green on a par 3. A nice high draw that landed on the back of the green and hopped a couple of feet off it. I also had a couple solid partial wedges that went a bit further than normal.

 

The 4w was on a par 5 after I hit my sliced my tee shot OoB. My provisional was a 235 yard fade down the middle and just short of a fairway bunker. I was about 220 yards out, blind shot to a green that is lower than me. I decided to push my comfort zone and go for it. I made great contact, high draw, 215 yards and into the rough next to the green. I chip it to 2 feet and save a bogey thanks to my 2 stroke penalty.

 

I started with two bad holes caused by short game and putting. I chipped through the green on #1 and my next chip was 9 feet short, led to a double. On #2 I chipped 19 feet short and missed my putt 3 feet long. A three putt double. 

 

I had a triple on a par 5 when I hit the push fade OOB, followed by a meh provisional and then two mishits with irons. A triple is my likely score when I have S&D penalty off the tee, so I am not too surprised by it.

 

Strokes gained compared to a 20 HCP. I changed the target HCP in Arccos to what I am now versus the 10HCP I have been using for comparison for over a year now.

Overall: -2.4 strokes

driving: -3.6, with 4 penalty strokes

Approach: -1.9, this is a big improvement for me but still pretty weak overall.

Short game: +2.3 , I had 4 chips to 1 - 2 feet.

Putting: +0.7, 16 putts with one 3 putt and four one putts thanks to chipping it inside 2 feet.

[RayPlan]

4 minutes ago, bortass said:

I am at a loss with my driver. I actually had a chance to play 9 this evening solo. I moved up to the gold tees, 2811 yards for the front. I shot a 48 which is better than I have been doing but driver killed me. It was statistically the worst area of my game. I can't believe my approach game which has always been bad was better than my driving SG. The reason driver is bothering me is it used to be a strength of mine, compared to everything else. I will have to go back to see but about the time I started to try to fix my pivot and takeaway my driver became a massive liability.

 

So tonight, I hit a push fade OoB and I had a slice OoB( slices are rare for me). The swing that had the slice, I had the thought of doing Cast B to try to prevent the push fade. I started the ball left and it curved way right. Add in a two thin shots and a top that went left on me and it was just a mess. My push fades are not the kind that may be borderline okay either. I may aim down the center and the ball will enter the trees any where from 50 - 125 yards off the tee. They just start way right and go in  on the fly and are mostly lost balls.I don't stand on the tee box with driver in hand and think "don't hit it into the trees". I just go through my routine and the results are horrible.  I no longer know what to do...

 

I had some pretty good iron shots and one great 4w off the deck. I hit my 9i( 120) club over the green on a par 3. A nice high draw that landed on the back of the green and hopped a couple of feet off it. I also had a couple solid partial wedges that went a bit further than normal.

 

The 4w was on a par 5 after I hit my sliced my tee shot OoB. My provisional was a 235 yard fade down the middle and just short of a fairway bunker. I was about 220 yards out, blind shot to a green that is lower than me. I decided to push my comfort zone and go for it. I made great contact, high draw, 215 yards and into the rough next to the green. I chip it to 2 feet and save a bogey thanks to my 2 stroke penalty.

 

I started with two bad holes caused by short game and putting. I chipped through the green on #1 and my next chip was 9 feet short, led to a double. On #2 I chipped 19 feet short and missed my putt 3 feet long. A three putt double. 

 

I had a triple on a par 5 when I hit the push fade OOB, followed by a meh provisional and then two mishits with irons. A triple is my likely score when I have S&D penalty off the tee, so I am not too surprised by it.

 

Strokes gained compared to a 20 HCP. I changed the target HCP in Arccos to what I am now versus the 10HCP I have been using for comparison for over a year now.

Overall: -2.4 strokes

driving: -3.6, with 4 penalty strokes

Approach: -1.9, this is a big improvement for me but still pretty weak overall.

Short game: +2.3 , I had 4 chips to 1 - 2 feet.

Putting: +0.7, 16 putts with one 3 putt and four one putts thanks to chipping it inside 2 feet.

What does your driver swing look like? Do you practice with driver?

[bortass]

1 minute ago, RayPlan said:

What does your driver swing look like? Do you practice with driver?

I almost never hit driver on the range. It’s always been that way.

 

As for the swing, I don’t know what it looks like. I don’t do anything different than I would with my irons/woods. Obviously setup is different but I don’t try to swing my driver differently.

 

I am think that I need to get some video the next time I am at the range of my driver swing to see if anyone can offer a bandaid to stop the hemorrhaging.

[SNIPERBBB]

38 minutes ago, bortass said:

I almost never hit driver on the range. It’s always been that way.

 

As for the swing, I don’t know what it looks like. I don’t do anything different than I would with my irons/woods. Obviously setup is different but I don’t try to swing my driver differently.

 

I am think that I need to get some video the next time I am at the range of my driver swing to see if anyone can offer a bandaid to stop the hemorrhaging.

You really should be hitting some drivers on the range. Especially since it's the club that can really make the biggest impact on your scores. 

 

And if you don't practice it, it's always going to be a liability unless you're naturally great with the driver. Gotta turn that thing into a weapon. You have the length for it to be one.

[bortass]

On 7/10/2025 at 9:57 PM, SNIPERBBB said:

You really should be hitting some drivers on the range. Especially since it's the club that can really make the biggest impact on your scores. 

 

And if you don't practice it, it's always going to be a liability unless you're naturally great with the driver. Gotta turn that thing into a weapon. You have the length for it to be one.

I think I’ll have to do this. I had 12 penalties off the tee today. All but one with driver. 
 

Nine of the penalties were push fades. I did have two pulls into the left trees. I also had a heel shot go about 3 yards and not leave the tee box (not one if the penalties, I whacked a 4w off the deck instead of retesting)…

 

The flip side is I cranked a high draw 264 yards down the middle. Sure I got some roll but I tend to be closer to 220ish with a decent stroke. If I could hit my driver only 200 yards but keep it in play, I’d save probably close to 8 - 10 strokes based on what I’ve been doing lately. I have the potential to hit it much further, I’ve seen it a bunch of times over the years. I just can’t do it more than once a round at best.

 

The good news is my approach game was better than normal today but driver is the main story. It’s killing me and I don’t want to go back to teeing off with my 4w like I was 4 years ago….

Edited July 12 by bortass

[RayPlan]

2 hours ago, bortass said:

I think I’ll have to do this. I had 12 penalties off the tee today. All but one with driver. 
 

Nine of the penalties were push fades. I did have two pulls into the left trees. I also had a heel shot go about 3 yards and not leave the tee box (not one if the penalties, I whacked a 4w off the deck instead of retesting)…

 

The flip side is I cranked a high draw 264 yards down the middle. Sure I got some roll but I tend to be closer to 220ish with a decent stroke. If I could hit my driver only 200 yards but keep it in play, I’d save probably close to 8 - 10 strokes based on what I’ve been doing lately. I have the potential to hit it much further, I’ve seen it a bunch of times over the years. I just can’t do it more than once a round at best.

 

The good news is my approach game was better than normal today but driver is the main story. It’s killing me and I don’t want to go back to teeing off with my 4w like I was 4 years ago….

 

 

Gotta practice driver to get better with driver. 

 

And take some video of that.

[bortass]

From this morning. Posted it to the swing video subforum as well to cast a wider net.

 

 

 

[iacas]

 

IMO not all that different from the iron swing. Too much arms, not enough body.

[GoGoErky]

3 minutes ago, iacas said:

 

IMO not all that different from the iron swing. Too much arms, not enough body.

Is the setup causing this?

[iacas]

24 minutes ago, GoGoErky said:

Is the setup causing this?

Causing? No. That doesn’t mean it’s not hurting though.

 

Almost no rotation from the pelvis here. Over-using arms required given that.

 

[bortass]

41 minutes ago, GoGoErky said:

Is the setup causing this?

What setup change are you thinking?

 

46 minutes ago, iacas said:

 

IMO not all that different from the iron swing. Too much arms, not enough body.

Guess I should be happy it's consistent. My irons and driver decided to flip flop which aspect of my game is better or worse. I'll go look for some more body driven things to learn from, probably should look at Powershift again. The only drill I am doing is the one you gave Brad and I assume that I should still stick with that one.

[GoGoErky]

11 minutes ago, bortass said:

What setup change are you thinking?

Getting hip joint inline with the ankles. 

[bortass]

3 minutes ago, GoGoErky said:

Getting hip joint inline with the ankles. 

Gotcha, still too much of a squat. I've been trying to pay attention to that when I setup but it's not enough/not there yet.