jlukes' Swing Overhaul

[revkev 17,325]

Come on Rev. No way jlukes pro knows more about the golf swing than I do.
He just needs to swing harder

Of course that’s always it!


Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

[sgold7 147]

My biggest swing fault is that on my down swing, like you, my hips dont stay thru the wall---as I approach contact my hips go towards the ball. 

When I focus on my hips and 'ripping' or 'pulling' them left--- either my swing plane becomes very over the top and I slice, or my swing plane is fine and my contact is bad. 

So I'm debating just focusing on contact and improving with my swing default vs. focusing on the default and taking some short-term steps back in my ball striking. 

Have you seen any improvement in your hips? And how so? I take dry swings in front of the mirror with a video camera on me and my swings are fine. But when you put a little white ball in front of me I just cant focus on my hips and the ball at the same time---not possible so I either make good contact by my hips are way too right or I focus on my hips and everything else falls apart. 

How have you begun attempting to correct your fault?

[jlukes 10,092]

33 minutes ago, sgold7 said:

My biggest swing fault is that on my down swing, like you, my hips dont stay thru the wall---as I approach contact my hips go towards the ball. 

When I focus on my hips and 'ripping' or 'pulling' them left--- either my swing plane becomes very over the top and I slice, or my swing plane is fine and my contact is bad. 

So I'm debating just focusing on contact and improving with my swing default vs. focusing on the default and taking some short-term steps back in my ball striking. 

Have you seen any improvement in your hips? And how so? I take dry swings in front of the mirror with a video camera on me and my swings are fine. But when you put a little white ball in front of me I just cant focus on my hips and the ball at the same time---not possible so I either make good contact by my hips are way too right or I focus on my hips and everything else falls apart. 

How have you begun attempting to correct your fault?

Yes I've started making changes and have noticed improvements when I can execute the new move. Check out my post regarding my first lesson and then the one about my subsequent range session 

[Shankster 18,019]

What has it done to your ball flight?

Any change of shape or trajectory?

[jlukes 10,092]

6 minutes ago, Shankster said:

What has it done to your ball flight?

Any change of shape or trajectory?

Lower (relative to where I was) trajectory for sure. Presenting less dynamic loft at impact 

[GB13 5,401]

Watching your before swing, is like watching a carbon copy of my swing. Were you able to fix all of the other wrist angles and standing up at the ball just by rotating instead of sliding? No other adjustments? 

I'll definitely be following along. 

[jlukes 10,092]

8 minutes ago, GB13 said:

Watching your before swing, is like watching a carbon copy of my swing. Were you able to fix all of the other wrist angles and standing up at the ball just by rotating instead of sliding? No other adjustments? 

I'll definitely be following along. 

There will definitely be some more changes over the next 7 weeks, but getting proper rotation and weight shift had a profound impact on my other swing faults. Excited for my next session tomorrow 

[sgold7 147]

On 1/4/2019 at 2:24 PM, jlukes said:

He said I could do it with my back against the wall, or with a club against my left butt cheek - whatever it takes for me to concentrate on firing my left hip up and behind me.

Yesterday I hit balls with all my clubs with my butt against the back of a chair. I'm a half cm in front of the chair so I need to 'feel it' hit my right cheek on my back swing. Then on my down swing I should feel the weight of the chair in my left cheek right before, as and slightly after I make contact. 

My right arm is so sore today because it's such a different motion. Firing my left hip back while dropping my club (opening hips to the left while keeping shoulders closed and dropping my right arm) is such a new move for me. 

Normally I'll do some chair hits and then move the chair but I'm using you as motivation to fix my ailment instead of using bandaids. I'm hoping to get a few more chair sessions before I even think about hitting balls without it. 

[jlukes 10,092]

45 minutes ago, sgold7 said:

Yesterday I hit balls with all my clubs with my butt against the back of a chair. I'm a half cm in front of the chair so I need to 'feel it' hit my right cheek on my back swing. Then on my down swing I should feel the weight of the chair in my left cheek right before, as and slightly after I make contact. 

My right arm is so sore today because it's such a different motion. Firing my left hip back while dropping my club (opening hips to the left while keeping shoulders closed and dropping my right arm) is such a new move for me. 

Normally I'll do some chair hits and then move the chair but I'm using you as motivation to fix my ailment instead of using bandaids. I'm hoping to get a few more chair sessions before I even think about hitting balls without it. 

Yup it really is a completely different movement.  I have been doing squat and rotate drills all week just while standing in my living room without a club in my hand.  Just thinking about the lower body movement and left him firing up and back.  Heading to my next lesson in about an hour.  Really excited to see what's going on and what's next

[Golfspy_CG2 16,833]

Great thread Joe and congrats on great progress already!  

[jlukes 10,092]

5 minutes ago, Golfspy_CG2 said:

Great thread Joe and congrats on great progress already!  

Thanks Rob! Hopefully one day this spring I can show you my swing in person down at your club or somewhere in between us

[sgold7 147]

2 hours ago, jlukes said:

Heading to my next lesson in about an hour.  Really excited to see what's going on and what's next

Awesome! Enjoy and keep us updated! 

[jlukes 10,092]

Lesson #2

I had my second lesson today and it was nice to see my work I did throughout the week payoff.  Again, we focused on the lower body: straightening that left leg through ground force and getting that left hip behind me.  My coach was very pleased with the results he was seeing already and wanted me to continue to focus on the lower body. (Lesson 1 on the right, today's lesson on the left)

 

One thing, he said, would come with more time is that my left leg would straighten even earlier in the swing.  He said that my left leg should be fully extended by the time I reach impact.  It was clear that while left hip was rotating and my left leg was straitening, that it was still happening passively and not driving my downswing.  In order to demonstrate what he was talking about, he put my side by side with Lydia Ko.  Lydia does a great job of rotating and posting up on her left leg so that she is fully posted up before she reaches the ball and then she can just rotate around that leg through impact.

 

The one thing we talked about at the end of the lesson was taking this move to the next level, which is the slight squat to begin the downswing so I can really load up and push of the ground the get extra club head speed.  My swing is already pretty fast, but it is inefficient, so once I start rotating correctly AND start using the ground forces to my advantage, he expects my clubhead speed to make a nice jump.

Over the next week I will be working on the same drills I have been, while adding the slight squat the the beginning of the downswing.  If I do get to the range to hit balls, I will simply work on the movement and the feelings - while not hitting balls at more than 80% speed, in order to make sure I stay properly sequenced.

I absolutely love the direction these lessons are taking me in.  I am hitting the ball in the center of the clubface now rather than off the bottom groove and the wear patter on my 7 iron from this lesson proves it.  I have yet to hit any balls on a launch monitor yet, but I am really excited to see what happens to my distances. When you combine more clubhead speed, more centered strike location, and optimized dynamic loft, it can only lead to good things!

 

[Shankster 18,019]

That’s a gorgeous strike pattern.

[jlukes 10,092]

1 minute ago, Shankster said:

That’s a gorgeous strike pattern.

First time I've ever had anything close to that

[PMookie 4,939]

It’s neat to see how pros are so different. My pro in New Orleans shows me video and pics of how the front leg is still bent at impact and straightens after. Not saying right or wrong, simply pointing out how there are so many different theories out there. Good stuff! Keep up the hard work!!!

[jlukes 10,092]

5 minutes ago, PMookie said:

It’s neat to see how pros are so different. My pro in New Orleans shows me video and pics of how the front leg is still bent at impact and straightens after. Not saying right or wrong, simply pointing out how there are so many different theories out there. Good stuff! Keep up the hard work!!!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

My coach did talk about how that while the leg should be near straight prior to impact, it doesn't mean that the weight shift should finish prior to impact.  It is important for the maximum weight shift to happen after impact - this insures that I am accelerating through the ball.  I should be pushing up through the ground and the left leg straightens as a result of that ground force.  Impact should ideally happen at the point of maximum acceleration, which is right before the left leg completely straightens. It is great to have the pressure mat so I can see how I am shifting my weight in different parts of my swing

[Golfspy_CG2 16,833]

5 hours ago, jlukes said:

Thanks Rob! Hopefully one day this spring I can show you my swing in person down at your club or somewhere in between us

That has to happen!

[Har in the Hat 1,577]

I wonder if thoughts about what you read on this thread will creep into your head while you are practising? 

Not to be dismissive of all the posts here and the contributions, but I  agree with Chisag, taking advice from others or thinking of what others say about your swing could create chaos in your mind as you process this information  or worse yet... start second guessing and thereby damage the progress by your instructor. But my 2 cents only.

[jlukes 10,092]

On 1/10/2019 at 8:30 PM, Har in the Hat said:

I wonder if thoughts about what you read on this thread will creep into your head while you are practising? 

Not to be dismissive of all the posts here and the contributions, but I  agree with Chisag, taking advice from others or thinking of what others say about your swing could create chaos in your mind as you process this information  or worse yet... start second guessing and thereby damage the progress by your instructor. But my 2 cents only.

Not at all. Why would I take swing advice from anyone other than the man I'm paying a lot of money to give me swing advice. 

This thread wasn't made to solicit swing advice, it was created to share my journey.