Garage Grind - Swing Theory and stuff

[DriverBreaker]

What’s good fellow spies.

I have the good fortune to have space to hit balls in my garage(10ft ceilings and such). I also love golf theory and get to teach as part of my job. 
 

This will be sort of a housing thread to put my thoughts on my own swing.  If anyone gets benefit from it great! I’ll keep doing them.  If not, no big deal.
 

Note: No two swings are alike.  No two bodies are alike. What I may need and work on may not apply to you.

First on my list is maintaining extension and width in both arms at the first half of the backswing.  My feel is to exaggerate both arms (keep elbows straight).  At some point the right elbow will bend and the wrists will hinge, but I was folding the right elbow too early in the backswing and right wrist too early. 
 

I also wanted to shorten my backswing a bit to improve consistency of strike.   So far, I’m liking the results after about three days of practice. 
 

I made a short video of my thoughts here:  

Face On:

DTL:

DTL Ball flight: 8 iron

https://youtube.com/shorts/-2niMHhhLu0?feature=share

[DriverBreaker]

More swing work lately.  Been fighting nagging lower back injuries so I figured it was time for two things:  1) get my core strong again. 2) swing with 75% effort

My swing focus has been on 75% effort max, right elbow on the right hip (not stuck behind for me due to an aggressive downswing effort level).

Results have been phenomenal.  No lower back pain, club path and face inside of 2* and mostly club path right around 0*.  Long irons go dead straight. Removes all but the face angle as a variable.  I check my club face in my pre swing routine, adjust my grip if needed, then swing freely at 75% effort.

 

[Goober]

Right elbow at the side is what I’ve been working on with my teacher for 4 months now. He has me shallow behind me. And then think right elbow stays at side and the lower body pivot is the clubface. My hands shoot off towards the target from my right hip past impact. My arms feels so loose and close to my body at hip high and slightly after impact. This has been a real process. And still a work in progress. He has me elbow behind my right hip so I can learn a body motion versus a flip of the hands and early extend motion. If I don’t pivot hard and to the left .. than I stall and flip it. My body and mind are still trying to grasp this slowly. So far mine has been tons of half speed work. Mine haven’t come close to your speed yet. Great job 

Edited September 21, 2022 by Goober

[Wildthing]

Swinging left and having the trail elbow pitched above the right hip as you pivot through impact without running out of right arm (ie. the right arm and wrist still bent through impact) means you will have a significant amount of 'crunch factor'.  Increasing and excessive chest side bend and pelvis side bend through impact may eventually cause back problems.

Check out Dr Phil Cheetham 3D data on tour pros in the video below from 13:59 -16.:09.

Also check out 19:25-21:48  where your technique with more side bend seems to correlate with low handle twist velocity and therefore low clubface closure rate at impact.

 

The risk of injury probably depends on your flexibility in the pelvis and between pelvis/torso.

 

 

 

 

[DriverBreaker]

22 hours ago, Goober said:

Right elbow at the side is what I’ve been working on with my teacher for 4 months now. He has me shallow behind me. And then think right elbow stays at side and the lower body pivot is the clubface. My hands shoot off towards the target from my right hip past impact. My arms feels so loose and close to my body at hip high and slightly after impact. This has been a real process. And still a work in progress. He has me elbow behind my right hip so I can learn a body motion versus a flip of the hands and early extend motion. If I don’t pivot hard and to the left .. than I stall and flip it. My body and mind are still trying to grasp this slowly. So far mine has been tons of half speed work. Mine haven’t come close to your speed yet. Great job 

This drill is exactly what I give to a lot of my stall/flip students.  I add another component to it:  hit half swing shots from 9 to 3 o’ clock and hold the finish.  From there simply turn back to the ball.  If your position is still in an impact spot where you could hit another ball, you aren’t flipping and will likely have solid impact conditions.  If you’ve flipped and turn back to the ball, you’ll see it clear as day.   Can’t go too hard though with this drill, otherwise you can’t hold onto it anymore and the club will release at the hands/wrists.  

[DriverBreaker]

41 minutes ago, Wildthing said:

Swinging left and having the trail elbow pitched above the right hip as you pivot through impact without running out of right arm (ie. the right arm and wrist still bent through impact) means you will have a significant amount of 'crunch factor'.  Increasing and excessive chest side bend and pelvis side bend through impact may eventually cause back problems.

Check out Dr Phil Cheetham 3D data on tour pros in the video below from 13:59 -16.:09.

Also check out 19:25-21:48  where your technique with more side bend seems to correlate with low handle twist velocity and therefore low clubface closure rate at impact.

 

The risk of injury probably depends on your flexibility in the pelvis and between pelvis/torso.

 

 

 

 

Yes indeed.  This is not for everyone.  No two bodies are alike and not everyone can do this safely.  All depends on what you can do with your own body that doesn’t cause injury. 

[NC Golfer]

Thanks, for the videos DriverBreaker. Good thoughts on the backswing. What are your downswing thoughts? Is a bump of the hips or swing from the ground up mandatory for a good downswing?

Edited September 22, 2022 by NC Golfer

[DriverBreaker]

1 hour ago, NC Golfer said:

Thanks, for the videos DriverBreaker. Good thoughts on the backswing. What are your downswing thoughts? Is a bump of the hips or swing from the ground up mandatory for a good downswing?

Thanks for the comment!  Honestly it is Player dependent.  It is true that for many, the kinematic sequence (starting from the ground up in the downswing) is visible in just about all athletic motions.  A pitcher throwing a fastball, a quarterback slinging a spiral, shooting a basketball, even corn hole all start from the ground up.  

Having said that, for players who get too far ahead with the lower body in the downswing and get out of sync or stuck, they might need to feel that it all goes together in unison.  The lower body will still slightly lead for those types of players.

The old “feel vs real” thing.  

[DriverBreaker]

Experimenting with a high draw swing at the moment.  Several reasons for this:  

1) it’s fun and it’s how my brain processes; I learn lots of different swings to better understand what my wide range of students experience in their own motions (helps to teach more effectively)

2) it’s a fun personal challenge to try new swings 

Some key feels for this motion: high hands in the backswing and then feel like I’m dropping it way behind in the downswing (not true at all).

Ball goes stupid high and far with this swing.  

 

 

 

[DriverBreaker]

Swing changes with internal vs external focus.  Shallowing in the downswing.  Internal focus example: left palm faces ground (for righties). External focus example: swing under something hanging above the ball line.