jlukes' Swing Overhaul

[yungkory 9,418]

Sounded like a gun shot 

Excited to see how the season plays out for you

[jlukes 12,759]

Lesson #8

Today I had the final lesson on my winter program and I am really happy with the progress I have made.  I have really embraced the new concepts and movements I was taught and will continue to work to incorporate them into my swing.

While my left leg action has become repeatable, today we identified a small issue that crept into my swing from time to time.  Even though I am consistently posting up on my left leg, I sometimes let my rotation stall out after the post up which causes my right hip and upper body to never fully release and leads to some early extension.    

 

In the lesson today we really focused on continuing the rotation after straightening my left leg.  The good part about this swing fault is that it is blatantly obvious when I stop rotating because I never pivot my back foot to the point where the top of my foot (shoe laces) face the target when I stop rotating.  This is evident in the swing on the right, whereas with the swing on the left I properly finish my rotation.

Overall, this lesson program was incredible.  I have several things I will be continuing to work on in addition to the hip rotation.  The main thing I will be working on is keeping my arms inside my chest during the backswing.  Doing this will allow me to rotate more and not collapse my arms and hing my wrists to fake  longer swing than I am actually taking.   Other than that, it just comes down to consistency.  I will keep working in my living room, in my basement, on my patio and at the range to make these new moves become second nature.  I know that it won't be smooth sailing this season due to the limited time I have to practice and play, but there is no turning back.

I will keep updating this thread with progress and I really appreciate everyone's comments and feedback I have been getting.  I am more self motivated to change my golf swing than I ever have been before, but all of the support I get on here just adds more motivation!

[cksurfdude 7,927]

22 hours ago, jlukes said:

The main thing I will be working on is keeping my arms inside my chest during the backswing.  Doing this will allow me to rotate more and not collapse my arms and hing my wrists

Wow .. great key to stay connected!!

 

22 hours ago, jlukes said:

I am more self motivated to change my golf swing than I ever have been before

Awesomeness Keep up the great work, and make it happen in the course!

[THEZIPR23 5,139]

How is transition from lesson tee to course going? I have found that I can do it but it is a sacrifice. I have lost about a club of distance trying to incorporate it on the course. I know that it will come back but it is a terrible ego struggle. 

[jlukes 12,759]

35 minutes ago, THEZIPR23 said:

How is transition from lesson tee to course going? I have found that I can do it but it is a sacrifice. I have lost about a club of distance trying to incorporate it on the course. I know that it will come back but it is a terrible ego struggle. 

It's been a we winter here to I've only gotten out once but it was good. I've gained a good amount of distance but I still need a lot more swings on the range until the new swing is a full time thing 

[jlukes 12,759]

It's amazing how far my swing has come in less than two full months. Here are 7 iron and driver swings from the range today 

 

[yungkory 9,418]

If you had that squat  into the ground in transition, I'd think this was a video of Rory swinging driver

[jlukes 12,759]

1 minute ago, yungkory said:

If you had that squat  into the ground in transition, I'd think this was a video of Rory swinging driver

I'm actually working on that. Now that I have the sequence down I can start to drive more with my lower body 

[Kwoodfield 84]

Looks great! Would love to see that right foot stay down a little bit longer. It’ll help eliminate some early extension and allow for the squat you are looking for. Great swing though!


Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

[00sportsman 2,160]

Keep it up.  Looks pretty darn good to me.  Anxious to hear how it affects your play on the course after a few months.

[jlukes 12,759]

In order to give my elbow and wrist a bit of  reprieve, I have been doing a lot of club-less drill lately.

I have been listening to some Golf Science Lab podcasts and learning more about skill acquisition and making swing changes and it seems a really popular technique is to do movements in slow motion over and over again.  

I have been doing a lot of weight shift, rotation and transition drills in this fashion and I can really feel my muscles engaging throughout the different movements.  I will soon introduce holding a club to these drills (but still not hitting balls) and then will eventually transition into hitting balls.

The biggest proponent of practicing a swing in slow motion to fully train the muscles and understand the movements your body is making?  Ben Hogan

 

 

 

 

[bens197 5,883]

Your new swing DTL looks a LOT more confident. Nice work


Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

[romeopapazulu 621]

The impact with the driver sounds like a cannon in slowmo.
And I would award +1 pts for tour sauce on the 7 iron for the long hold at the finish followed by the shaft slide.
Swings look really nice.
Do you have distances for your whole bag with the new swing yet?

Sent from my SM-A600A using MyGolfSpy mobile app

[jlukes 12,759]

45 minutes ago, romeopapazulu said:

The impact with the driver sounds like a cannon in slowmo.
And I would award +1 pts for tour sauce on the 7 iron for the long hold at the finish followed by the shaft slide.
Swings look really nice.
Do you have distances for your whole bag with the new swing yet?

Sent from my SM-A600A using MyGolfSpy mobile app
 

Haven't done any formal gapping yet, but I did do a driver fitting back in January and played golf outside on a 60 degree day in February.  I saw at least a half club longer with my irons and about 10-12 yards of carry increase with my driver.  Looking forward to see what things are like as I move into the spring.

[yungkory 9,418]

On 1/2/2019 at 7:45 AM, jlukes said:

Bingo. 1000% this. Don't treat the symptom, treat the disease. 

The disease for me is poor wrist angles and rotation/weight shift. 

My shaft can get steep or a can get flippy with the hands because I am putting myself in poor situations and the only way for me to make proper contact with the ball is to stand the shaft up and/or flip my hands

Any swing thoughts for flippy/hands closing too fast? I kinda had an impromptu coaching session today at my Flash fitting. My swing path was too far outside at the beginning (8 or so degrees) and when my clubface was shut (often) my typical duck hook crept in. He got my swing path back down around 3* out with a simple thought to try and hit a fade, but I'm struggling with getting my hands to stop closing the clubface down.

Sorry, I don't mean to hijack your thread but it seems like we might have something in common (at least with your old swing) and maybe he had some magic words that made it click in your brain?

[perseveringgolfer 4,792]

6 hours ago, yungkory said:

Any swing thoughts for flippy/hands closing too fast? I kinda had an impromptu coaching session today at my Flash fitting. My swing path was too far outside at the beginning (8 or so degrees) and when my clubface was shut (often) my typical duck hook crept in. He got my swing path back down around 3* out with a simple thought to try and hit a fade, but I'm struggling with getting my hands to stop closing the clubface down.

Sorry, I don't mean to hijack your thread but it seems like we might have something in common (at least with your old swing) and maybe he had some magic words that made it click in your brain?

could be your lower body is stalling causing the upper body and arms/hands to overtake- just an idea.

[jlukes 12,759]

7 hours ago, yungkory said:

Any swing thoughts for flippy/hands closing too fast? I kinda had an impromptu coaching session today at my Flash fitting. My swing path was too far outside at the beginning (8 or so degrees) and when my clubface was shut (often) my typical duck hook crept in. He got my swing path back down around 3* out with a simple thought to try and hit a fade, but I'm struggling with getting my hands to stop closing the clubface down.

Sorry, I don't mean to hijack your thread but it seems like we might have something in common (at least with your old swing) and maybe he had some magic words that made it click in your brain?

 

29 minutes ago, perseveringgolfer said:

could be your lower body is stalling causing the upper body and arms/hands to overtake- just an idea.

 

^^^ my thoughts exactly.  Lower body is either stalling or moving too much laterally, so you are literally trying to save it with the hands.

[cksurfdude 7,927]

26 minutes ago, jlukes said:

Lower body is either stalling or moving too much laterally, so you are literally trying to save it with the hands.

Obviously without seeing what's going on, and without being a teaching pro!, but based on my recent experience - I'd also agree. I had several lessons over the winter.. and still a total work in progress.. but essentially comprising a compete swing overhaul.. and I find if I over-emphasize the ("new") weight shift/movement forward that the ball tends to go left......

YK - maybe think about getting a full coaching session? It's amazing what a good instructor can pick out.

[chisag 11,563]

11 hours ago, yungkory said:

Any swing thoughts for flippy/hands closing too fast? I kinda had an impromptu coaching session today at my Flash fitting. My swing path was too far outside at the beginning (8 or so degrees) and when my clubface was shut (often) my typical duck hook crept in. He got my swing path back down around 3* out with a simple thought to try and hit a fade, but I'm struggling with getting my hands to stop closing the clubface down.

 

... Just be careful with advice on line YK. There are many reasons someone may be flipping or closing the face thru impact resulting in a hook, and it is impossible to know what it might be unless an instructor has eyes on the student and sometimes additional film they can slow down and show the student. And remember a cornerstone of teaching is exaggerating a move. For instance if someone is swinging well past parallel causing inconsistent contact, I often asked them to make a 1/2 or what I called a big pitch shot. With that in mind many students shortened their swing by a few inches, still swinging past parallel but when asked for feedback said something like "wow, that 1/2 swing felt weird. I could never hit the ball anywhere with that short of a a swing". 

... Exaggerating a wrong move for your swing can really send you down a rabbit hole. Again one of the reasons I told my students to never repeat advice I gave them because that advice is tailored to their swing and their mental approach. So if you are inclined, feel free to try different advice as you might get lucky and something that worked for someone else may work for you, but just be careful you don't create a new problem trying to fix an existing one. 

Edited March 16, 2019 by chisag

[yungkory 9,418]

6 hours ago, cksurfdude said:

Obviously without seeing what's going on, and without being a teaching pro!, but based on my recent experience - I'd also agree. I had several lessons over the winter.. and still a total work in progress.. but essentially comprising a compete swing overhaul.. and I find if I over-emphasize the ("new") weight shift/movement forward that the ball tends to go left......

YK - maybe think about getting a full coaching session? It's amazing what a good instructor can pick out.

Yeah, I'm definitely considering going back to him for some coaching. I have $100 credit now after the fitting (since I obviously wasn't buying anything yesterday) and might ask him if I can put that towards a couple of sessions.

3 hours ago, chisag said:

 

... Just be careful with advice on line YK. There are many reasons someone may be flipping or closing the face thru impact resulting in a hook, and it is impossible to know what it might be unless an instructor has eyes on the student and sometimes additional film they can slow down and show the student. And remember a cornerstone of teaching is exaggerating a move. For instance if someone is swinging well past parallel causing inconsistent contact, I often asked them to make a 1/2 or what I called a big pitch shot. With that in mind many students shortened their swing by a few inches, still swinging past parallel but when asked for feedback said something like "wow, that 1/2 swing felt weird. I could never hit the ball anywhere with that short of a a swing". 

... Exaggerating a wrong move for your swing can really send you down a rabbit hole. Again one of the reasons I told my students to never repeat advice I gave them because that advice is tailored to their swing and their mental approach. So if you are inclined, feel free to try different advice as you might get lucky and something that worked for someone else may work for you, but just be careful you don't create a new problem trying to fix an existing one. 

As always, I appreciate your feedback. I'm being cautious for sure and I know the detriment that can be caused by online advice. Just searching for a swing thought that might help me out, since the guy yesterday couldn't get my brain and my hands to work together with "the magic word." He was trying to get me to hold off the face like I'm trying again to hit a cut, but my face to path was always like 5 shut. It was encouraging though, at least he understood how the Trackman data can be used to help instruction. Heavily considering going back for a couple of sessions. I just wish it weren't indoors :(