Frustrating driving range session

[GolfSpy WD]

Thanks for the replies. I'll try out the mirror for position and sticks for takeaway. Unless I hear otherwise, I'll stop doing full swings unless I can set up a camera.

[JBones]

I also have the Home Depot version of alignment sticks. This is how I set them up; I put them down and use the reflective bands as "critical" points, one is where I tee the ball and the other is where I let the club head start "lifting" in the backswing. Using the band on the inside is a big help in taking the club away low and slow. When I'm swinging at home without a ball, I barely put the tee in the ground, so that when I hit it, it comes out cleanly and I can get a general sense of where a ball would be flying (straight, left, or right). I also use this same setup on the range. This also helps a lot if you are trying to teach yourself a fade or draw; just move the sticks for the path you want to practice.

 

As you can see from the grass, I do all my swinging in one specific spot in the yard. LOL.

 

[GolfSpy WD]

So you take your club straight back rather than a inside arc? (or is it just the picture?)

 

I've been setting up my alignment sticks in a V shape using four sticks. I've also been putting another near my foot so I can stay a consistent distance from the ball.

[JBones]

So you take your club straight back rather than a inside arc? (or is it just the picture?)

 

I've been setting up my alignment sticks in a V shape using four sticks. I've also been putting another near my foot so I can stay a consistent distance from the ball.

It's just the picture, they are angled for a slight inside path. The main point of the drill is to not let the clubhead pass the inside stick until it reaches the reflective band. If I can get to that point without getting inside, I can swing down as hard as I want and start the ball on a good line.

[Tyk]

I don't practice full speed swings very much where I can't hit a ball to verify that I am getting the results I'm looking for or not. Swinging without a ball probably has some value as exercise and helping with flexibility but the potential trade off of ingraining bad habits is worrisome. Since you have the orange whip I would stick with that for conditioning. I do however spend time daily with a mirror behind me practicing my take away all the way to the top of the backswing and the path back down. I am a notorious over swinger and have to fight to not go way past parallel and not coming down over the top. Practicing taking the club back on plane and setting it right at the top helps me quite a bit although I do still have those swings on the course where it all breaks down. I also practice from the top into the first move, working on activating my core first and letting the hands follow. These are just a couple specific drills for me to help with muscle memory.

 

Of course the golf swing is mostly technique! Proper technique comprises everything so becomes a bit meaningless at times imo. Proper balance, proper grip, proper sequence, proper positions and tensions of the body and proper body/joint/muscle alignment etc etc! Of course the better condition you are in the better results you will get from using proper technique, but if you have a bad swing and can't bring the club through the ball square and on plane, it doesn't matter how strong you are. Proper technique CREATES speed, power, and accuracy! You want to know more about relaxed power, check out some of Bruce Lee's Tao of Jeet Kune Do, much of what he has to say about speed, power, balance and body alignment can be applied directly to the golf swing. He also has some interesting things to say about the proper mental state for a martial endeavor. Which if one thinks of it, there is not so much difference between swinging a golf club, or swinging a staff! Both are trying to focus power through the body to a very specific point of impact in the most efficient way possible.

[GolfSpy WD]

I don't practice full speed swings very much where I can't hit a ball to verify that I am getting the results I'm looking for or not. Swinging without a ball probably has some value as exercise and helping with flexibility but the potential trade off of ingraining bad habits is worrisome. Since you have the orange whip I would stick with that for conditioning.

 

I definitely plan to continue with the orange whip. It's a fantastic device and I can say with absolute certainty that it has increased my swing speed, balance, and accuracy (probably due to balance).

 

I do however spend time daily with a mirror behind me practicing my take away all the way to the top of the backswing and the path back down. I am a notorious over swinger and have to fight to not go way past parallel and not coming down over the top. Practicing taking the club back on plane and setting it right at the top helps me quite a bit although I do still have those swings on the course where it all breaks down. I also practice from the top into the first move, working on activating my core first and letting the hands follow. These are just a couple specific drills for me to help with muscle memory.

 

This leads to another question I have. When I took lessons, I could tell I was going past parallel and I asked my instructor about it. His response was it's only overswinging if it draws you off plane and I didn't have that problem. Frankly I haven't looked at myself in the mirror in a while, so I'm not sure if I still do this or not, but I was wondering if anyone else was given this same sort of advice.

[RoverRick]

For what it is worth, unless you want to practice something quite unusual, swinging without a ball is of dubious value. It is well-documented that golfers do NOT swing the same way when they employ a "shadow swing" versus hitting a ball. It may be of some value to practice something that really feels strange, but Haney's philosophy baffles me. I would think that such a practice technique could just as easily introduce a bad habit as reinforce a good one. With no feedback from a ball, how would you know?

 

 

I watched this show again and the deal was he had older people who did not play golf regularly or just starting. He told them to take 100 swings per day to improve there flexiblility and toughen up there hands. Now that I think back other than an exercise he did not make it seem like a substitute practice, but in addition to practice.

[Tyk]

Going a bit past parallel if it isn't taking you off plane isn't such a problem. I can tend to go WAY past parallel (I have been known to hit my left shoulder with the shaft in the past, I can go so far as to see the clubhead left in my peripheral vision, I could if I wanted tap my left knee with the clubhead!) The further the club is traveling, the more mistakes can be made. It also means you are relying more on proper timing and "feel". When its on, its great, when its not things go south in a hurry. The thing is that a big swing does not generate more power, it just makes it harder to get the speed into the impact zone because everything has to come together at the right time, always.

 

I'm not as bad as I used to be, but a big part of my problem is that I am very flexible so there is no natural stopping point that gives me a key where parallel (or near parallel) is. Its my biggest struggle with my swing. But, its getting better!

[JMiller]

Flexibility is a key to power, consistency, accuracy. It is what a 'good swing' is built on with a straight lead arm and shoulder turn against a stable body.

 

There is a lot that goes into a golf swing when trying to analyze it, that is why I recommended going to a trained professional instructor that knows all the various positions in the swing down to the little things.

 

The best way to get a really good look at your golf swing is to get two video cameras recording at the some time, one Down the line (DTL) and the other in front of you Perpendicular To the Line (PTL). It will record the same swing that way it is not two different swings as with high handicap golfers duplicating swing to swing is one of the weak points. Even for really good players this is a great tool to see one swing from two angles.

 

This is an overview look at what to see in a good golf swing from the DTL view

--> spine angle is not upright or rounded over (needs to be straight)

--> knees are not too straight or too bent, need a medium knee flex.

--> the takeaway is DTL and at 7 o'clock the shaft is parallel to the ground and perfectly pointing DTL

--> at the 9 o'clock the wrists are fully set, spine angle hasn't changed, left arm is straight, left wrist is straight, right arm is bent at 90* angle

--> the 10, 11, 12 positions are just more shoulder turn everything else should stay the same.

--> the transition starts from the 'ground up' hips turn leaving the shoulders and wrists cocked locked and ready to rock.

--> the release is from the slot to impact doesn't change spine angle (lots of people straighten their legs too soon)

--> the follow through is extended and spine angle kept until well past the impact

 

This is an overview look at what to see in a good golf swing from the PTL view

--> mark the address position of the hips, head, feet, knees (just typical basic address things)

--> watch the knees in the backswing and feet to see if they get wild

--> watch the hips turn / sway away from the ball (should be a turn not a sway)

--> watch the body in what starts the down swing (should be right leg or hips turning)

--> watch the hands at impact (club head should be behind the hands without left wrist breaking down in the 3 feet behind the ball or 3 feet after impact, for iron shots and look more like an extension of the lead arm on drivers)

--> watch the left arm in the 3 to 6 feet after impact it should folder under the right making and X when fully extended. no 'chicken wing' bent outwards left elbow

--> weight at impact mostly on the front foot (if there is a large shift in weight after the ball is struck that's bad) The weight should be 80% front 20% back (without swaying the upper body towards the target)

--> the person is in well balanced position throughout the swing and effortlessly moving weight from side to side.

 

I probably missed a few things in there but that is the basics sometimes you have to look hard for errors in super slow motion in the swing, others they can be seen from a mile away at full speed.

 

You seen that guy in front of you that takes a practice swing that looks like he is chopping wood he has axe ha bad out to in swing? That is the kind of thing I am talking about. That you can see from the tee box and he is 200 yards down the fairway

 

One way to practice is to look at slow mo videos of tour pros, a lot of them they draw lines and stuff to help you visualize what is going on in that swing that is good about it.

[GolfSpy WD]

--> at the 9 o'clock the wrists are fully set, spine angle hasn't changed, left arm is straight, left wrist is straight, right arm is bent at 90* angle

 

I've tried this before and it totally throws off my swing. I personally like to let the weight of my club finish my wrist hinge.

 

http://www.ehow.com/video_4947093_jack-nicklaus-wrist-hinge-golf.html

[JMiller]

I've tried this before and it totally throws off my swing. I personally like to let the weight of my club finish my wrist hinge.

 

http://www.ehow.com/video_4947093_jack-nicklaus-wrist-hinge-golf.html

 

A later wrist set is not that big of a deal in the full swing.

 

For a lot of golfers (myself included) it is easier to get into a full wrist set at 9 o'clock then just turn the shoulders more for consistency in distance on partial swings (9, 10, 11 o'clock) and full swings (12 o'clock). In my swing when my left arm is straight across my chest (9 o'clock) that club is set to go. This is more prominent on my wedges and irons then my driver I should probably clarify that.

 

Just went with it as a rule of thumb, some people don't like an early wrist set and it won't work for them I agree with you. That letting the club set up for you is also fine.

 

here is a good video of Mr. Nicklaus --> www.youtube.com/watch?v=ar0qLYWdD28 (not set at 9 o'clock)

Here is a good video of Mr. Hogan --> www.youtube.com/watch?v=QL_6M_xZvq0 (set at 9 o'clock)

Here is another one with Mr. Hogan hitting --> www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWLLPKiSMRk (set at 9 o'clock)

 

whatever works for you both men are some of the best at golf in history no one method is better then another IMHO.

 

Mr. Hogan has a closer to modern golf swing in terms of leg action, Mr. Nicklaus had his legs going all over the place but that was the style then, think more people attempt to copy Mr. Hogan then they do Mr. Nicklaus.

[GolfSpy WD]

Just to update this thread. Over the winter I had been practicing at home with my medicus to increase my swing speed, but without being able to hit a ball, my contact went to s***. But, I have been able to reproduce the swing at the range, so I've been tuning my swing to get better contact. I'm at a point now where I'm happy with my driver and irons, but my hybrids and 3 wood are still off. Next time I go to the range I'll focus on those clubs.

 

It's been a slow process to regain consistency, but it seems to be working. I've stopped swinging at home based on advice in this thread, but I do think spending the winter on my form at home was beneficial. I had definitely taken some steps back because I was swinging at home without a ball, but as I start to regain my consistency, I think I'm better off. I'm guessing a few more weeks of practice and I'll have both consistency and swing speed. Then I can focus on my putting .