The Dangers of Fixing a Swing Fault

[TheDIYGolfer]

Just wanted to touch on something that popped into my head today as I was practicing on the range...

 

I had just filmed my swing DTL, and noticed that on my takeaway, I had the club slightly shut, which was causing me some problems later in the swing.  I fixed that, and then filmed again.  Now my club was too flat at the top of the swing!  

 

I'm a bit of a nut when it comes to swing mechanics, but this scenario brings up a point that is so important for us swing tinkerers to be aware of!  If you're trying to change something in your swing, it is imperative that you constantly monitor it (via video or a swing instructor) to make sure that the change you are working on isn't causing another problem.  

 

I've had it happen so many times where I would try and change one thing which would just lead me to another thing that I needed to change.  

 

Ever since I purchased a little Iphone Tripod on Ebay, my swing has become much more consistent.  With the tripod, I can record my swing alone, which allows me to always monitor where I'm at with things.  

 

If you're a player that doesn't like to worry about the swing, this all doesn't apply, but I thought I would share this with anyone who is more like me!

 

Cheers

 

The DIY Golfer

[revkev]

Great advice!

[PlaidJacket]

I've videoed my swing many times but not recently. (probably should. I've been playing poorly lately) I have a phone holder that's called CamCaddy. Bought it off Amazon. $20. Basically it's an alignment rod with a phone holder that will slide up and down the rod so you can set the video at the proper height. I also use the HUDL Technique (free) app for the actual recording and analysis. Works for iPhone or android. Combined and for almost nothing you'll have a great way to easily video your swing. One thing that's important is how you go about setting up the phone in the CamCaddy or other device. I can also recommend a book by Michael Breed called, A Picture Perfect Swing. It goes into detail and with pictures how you should set your phone or camera to capture your swing movement properly. It also has lots of great instruction with pictures. I use an Android phone that takes great slo-mo. The HUDL app also helps control the slow-mo and provides various tools to assist you in the analysis.

[TheDIYGolfer]

I've videoed my swing many times but not recently. (probably should. I've been playing poorly lately) I have a phone holder that's called CamCaddy. Bought it off Amazon. $20. Basically it's an alignment rod with a phone holder that will slide up and down the rod so you can set the video at the proper height. I also use the HUDL Technique (free) app for the actual recording and analysis. Works for iPhone or android. Combined and for almost nothing you'll have a great way to easily video your swing. One thing that's important is how you go about setting up the phone in the CamCaddy or other device. I can also recommend a book by Michael Breed called, A Picture Perfect Swing. It goes into detail and with pictures how you should set your phone or camera to capture your swing movement properly. It also has lots of great instruction with pictures. I use an Android phone that takes great slo-mo. The HUDL app also helps control the slow-mo and provides various tools to assist you in the analysis.

Ive heard good things about the CamCaddy!  I'll definitely check that book out.  I think filming the swing correctly and knowing what to do with the video is extremely important, especially since it's so easy to do with smartphones these days.  

[revkev]

I was on the range yesterday with our teaching pro who was practicing. He's a big videoguy, good guy really and good teacher. He told me he was giving himself a lesson because he was struggling with his swing. Looking at the results it was working quite nicely.

 

He has a set up with his IPad. I will have to ask him what software he was using.

 

My swing is very simple so long as I rotate. When I don't I start sliding and then all sorts of moving parts creep in. Fix the moving part instead of the rotation and it getSo regressive lay worse. You'd think I would know better. The problem is that I don't feel the difference between the slide move and the rotation. Honestly I have trouble seeing it in my lower body but when I watch a video my swing has a loop in it when I'm sliding, at least I've learned that much.

[TheDIYGolfer]

I was on the range yesterday with our teaching pro who was practicing. He's a big videoguy, good guy really and good teacher. He told me he was giving himself a lesson because he was struggling with his swing. Looking at the results it was working quite nicely.

 

He has a set up with his IPad. I will have to ask him what software he was using.

 

My swing is very simple so long as I rotate. When I don't I start sliding and then all sorts of moving parts creep in. Fix the moving part instead of the rotation and it getSo regressive lay worse. You'd think I would know better. The problem is that I don't feel the difference between the slide move and the rotation. Honestly I have trouble seeing it in my lower body but when I watch a video my swing has a loop in it when I'm sliding, at least I've learned that much.

I use an app on my Iphone called "Coach My Video."  It's free, and has frame by frame clicking.  It doesn't draw lines or anything fancy, but I don't generally need the lines to see where I need to go with my swing. 

 

For your issue, you're not alone!  The difference between what something looks like and what something feels like is tremendous.  The hardest part about "giving yourself a lesson" is figuring out how to translate between the two.  

 

For example, when I want to come more from the inside on the downswing, I think about keeping my weight to the right foot as long as I possibly can, and then ripping it.  Many coaches would tell me to just initiate the swing with the lower body, but I literally cannot do this consciously.  It's all about finding a swing thought that achieves the results you want, regardless of if it makes sense in theory.

[jaxbeachpackerfan]

Tell me about it!  I've been doing lessons at GolfTec and picked it up much more seriously over the last 2-3 months.  First step in this phase was to address swing plane and over the top.  I've now fixed my turn and stuff, so most of the time I start the downswing on plane.  But big, big problems with early release and what we've now figured out is stopping my turn prior to impact.  Video evidence of that is dramatic and I've not really been able to address that.  Causes huge inconsistencies and some wild mishits, but addressing the swing plane issues has increased the number of quality hits.  Had a lesson today, lot of discussion, looking at the videos.  The pro was originally going to address the stopping the turn issues later on after I've mastered the swing plane things, but because I've been having such wild swings (in more ways than one), we addressed the turn things.

 

So we looked at turn through the swing zone numbers (numbers are big at GolfTec).  I had red numbers on hip turn and shoulder turn through the impact area, which under the GolfTec system are indicative of a very large variance from ideal.  So, first swings showed actually a negative number on the hip and shoulder turns at impact.  Pro said should be way higher (+).  Worked on trying to emphasize turning both during the downswing and actually got some significant improvement and some quality shots.  Got them up to the 8 to 11 degree range.  But the video showed that, while improved, I was way behind behind where I should be.  I asked the target numbers.  Was told shoulder should be around 37 degrees and hip somewhere in the thirties.  Wow, way, way, away.  

 

I tried a couple slow motion practice swings with all turn, no swing.  Said that felt like one of my playing partner's swings.  An older guy, 6 handicap, seems to hardly swing at all, hits it 260, always down the middle (claims his distance is because he goes commando and his junk provides the resulting forward momentum!).  Tried another one to  imitate his swing.  Pro said look at the video--my little quarter swing with the exaggerated shoulder hip turn looked spot on!  Actually looked like a real good swing.  Numbers were right on the high thirties on the turns!

 

Now, of course, the results with the balls I hit trying this were abysmal, but the feel of the swing was totally unique, felt good and so, so foreign to what I've been doing.  

 

So, maybe I've discovered the secret of golf, but its so foreign to my deeply, deeply ingrained swing patterns that its obvious its a whole lot of work to get there and a whole lot of bad golf in the interim, but seeing it and feeling it, I got to try to get to that swing stage!  

 

I'm an inveterate fiddler with my swing.  I'm doomed to the problems that entails, but today was the very first video of my swing that actually looked like a quality, good swing.  

[TheDIYGolfer]

Tell me about it!  I've been doing lessons at GolfTec and picked it up much more seriously over the last 2-3 months.  First step in this phase was to address swing plane and over the top.  I've now fixed my turn and stuff, so most of the time I start the downswing on plane.  But big, big problems with early release and what we've now figured out is stopping my turn prior to impact.  Video evidence of that is dramatic and I've not really been able to address that.  Causes huge inconsistencies and some wild mishits, but addressing the swing plane issues has increased the number of quality hits.  Had a lesson today, lot of discussion, looking at the videos.  The pro was originally going to address the stopping the turn issues later on after I've mastered the swing plane things, but because I've been having such wild swings (in more ways than one), we addressed the turn things.

 

So we looked at turn through the swing zone numbers (numbers are big at GolfTec).  I had red numbers on hip turn and shoulder turn through the impact area, which under the GolfTec system are indicative of a very large variance from ideal.  So, first swings showed actually a negative number on the hip and shoulder turns at impact.  Pro said should be way higher (+).  Worked on trying to emphasize turning both during the downswing and actually got some significant improvement and some quality shots.  Got them up to the 8 to 11 degree range.  But the video showed that, while improved, I was way behind behind where I should be.  I asked the target numbers.  Was told shoulder should be around 37 degrees and hip somewhere in the thirties.  Wow, way, way, away.  

 

I tried a couple slow motion practice swings with all turn, no swing.  Said that felt like one of my playing partner's swings.  An older guy, 6 handicap, seems to hardly swing at all, hits it 260, always down the middle (claims his distance is because he goes commando and his junk provides the resulting forward momentum!).  Tried another one to  imitate his swing.  Pro said look at the video--my little quarter swing with the exaggerated shoulder hip turn looked spot on!  Actually looked like a real good swing.  Numbers were right on the high thirties on the turns!

 

Now, of course, the results with the balls I hit trying this were abysmal, but the feel of the swing was totally unique, felt good and so, so foreign to what I've been doing.  

 

So, maybe I've discovered the secret of golf, but its so foreign to my deeply, deeply ingrained swing patterns that its obvious its a whole lot of work to get there and a whole lot of bad golf in the interim, but seeing it and feeling it, I got to try to get to that swing stage!  

 

I'm an inveterate fiddler with my swing.  I'm doomed to the problems that entails, but today was the very first video of my swing that actually looked like a quality, good swing.  

 

"So, maybe I've discovered the secret of golf"

 

This is why we love the game  

 

Anyways, just keep working hard on it!  There is this thing in the brain called "myelination" that explains how we form "muscle memory."  Just remember that in order to myelinate a position in the swing most effectively, you can only be thinking about one thing at a time.  Hit balls in groups of 20, and think about just that one thing.

 

Trying to build a golf swing can be extremely overwhelming and frustrating, but just keep in mind, you can't fix it all at once!  I've been building my swing for years and years and still run into some of the problems (on a much less severe level) that I had when I first started!  

 

If there is anything I've realized about golf, it is that the "secret to golf" comes in increments of about five days at a time and then leaves right when you need it most