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Analyze my swing

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sacul1573

sacul1573

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Hey Andy,

I'm gonna swallow my pride and post some video of my golf swing for you to take a look at, but first want to know what you prefer to see? I was planning on taking a behind shot (looking down the target line) and a side shot (me facing camera) with a 7 iron and driver. I can also slow down the video with the software I use. Does this sound alright, or anything else you'd like to see?

I plan on video taping myself tomorrow morning provided weather is okay. I've not had any formal lessons, just mostly teaching myself from Ben Hogan's Lesson. Dont be afraid to be critical, I have no golf ego, and would rather hear the truth than cheerleading.

Kinda scared at what I'm going to see...
 
saul1573 that would be perfect. I prefer the videos from the behind (looking down target line) and side (facing the camera). If you can post it slower than real time that would be a huge help. I tell you what you post that and I will get you as much info on your swing as you want. Sound fair?
 
Sacul, what software do you use to slow the video down? I have V1 and I can slow it down when watching it, but can't figure out how to send it slowed down. The nice thing about V1 is I can put two videos side by side, like me on one side and Zack Johnson on the other and slow or stop each at certain points to see where the club or arm's/legs, etc are during the swing. It's pretty cool.
 
There is a website you can use to post your swing videos and I think you can slow it down to frame by frame. Others can leave comments. I think it's free, but I can't remember the name of the site. I'm pretty sure it's been mentioned here before.
 
Smallville said:
There is a website you can use to post your swing videos and I think you can slow it down to frame by frame. Others can leave comments. I think it's free, but I can't remember the name of the site. I'm pretty sure it's been mentioned here before.
Click to expand...

Now thats just a tease smally, lol. Hope someone remembers and posts it. Thanks!
 
amollerud said:
saul1573 that would be perfect. I prefer the videos from the behind (looking down target line) and side (facing the camera). If you can post it slower than real time that would be a huge help. I tell you what you post that and I will get you as much info on your swing as you want. Sound fair?
Click to expand...

Sweet! Thanks Andy. The wife's lesson was cancelled today, so it might be a day or two more before I get to the range...

thedue said:
Sacul, what software do you use to slow the video down? I have V1 and I can slow it down when watching it, but can't figure out how to send it slowed down. The nice thing about V1 is I can put two videos side by side, like me on one side and Zack Johnson on the other and slow or stop each at certain points to see where the club or arm's/legs, etc are during the swing. It's pretty cool.
Click to expand...

Due, I use Adobe Premier Elements. Had to pay for the software, but I have one of those newer HD camcorders that uses the AVCHD encoding... very heavy workload on the dual processors....

Dont know if I can put two videos side by side, that would be interesting...
 
My swing

My swing

Here you go Andy. I included 2 shots for each angle/club. 7 iron typical ball flight is straight with sometimes a touch of draw. My miss for the irons is a 10-15 yard push. Driver ball flight is straight, sometimes finishes with a little draw or fade. My miss with the long stick is a ball that starts straight and then finishes with a strong fade, slight slice (about 15-35 yards). 7 irons distance is 155 carry. Driver distance is 220-240 with carry and roll. Regular flex.

In the video, you can see a small green down and slightly left of that pine tree standing alone. That is my target, and while I think the video angle kind of exaggerates it, I do believe my stance is a bit closed. Anyway, have fun, and dont be shy.

Alright Hackers, let the heckling begin! :soldier:

 
Saul1573 there are some good things going on in your swing. The first thing that jumps out at me is the left knee and foot as you go to the top. It looks to me like you are trying to create a weight transfer by sliding and kicking the left knee around. I would like to see this much more stable. The chair against your right thigh is a good start. Place a low back chair against your right thigh at setup. Swing to the top maintaining contact with the chair to the top. Stop here and feel your sternum get over the back of the chair. This is the feel for a proper weight shift. Next I want you to practice (around the house) with a beach ball or similar size ball between your knees. This will help keep the left leg more stable and keep the feet on the ground. Try that for a while and I will get you more once you feel that is dialed in.
 
Thanks Andy. I'll work on this for a while, and let you know when I feel I'm ready for the next step.
 
sacul-
Sounds like you and me have the same swing flaw.
Band together... We can do this!

(Best of luck!)
 
I'm guilty of the left knee slide for weight transfer, thanks for the drills!

amollerud said:
Saul1573 there are some good things going on in your swing. The first thing that jumps out at me is the left knee and foot as you go to the top. It looks to me like you are trying to create a weight transfer by sliding and kicking the left knee around. I would like to see this much more stable. The chair against your right thigh is a good start. Place a low back chair against your right thigh at setup. Swing to the top maintaining contact with the chair to the top. Stop here and feel your sternum get over the back of the chair. This is the feel for a proper weight shift. Next I want you to practice (around the house) with a beach ball or similar size ball between your knees. This will help keep the left leg more stable and keep the feet on the ground. Try that for a while and I will get you more once you feel that is dialed in.
Click to expand...
 
Just an update. I worked on the drills Andy mentioned at the range after work, and when I got home from work today. My goodness did I have a slide in my hips! I suspected it was a bit too much after watching the video, and glad Andy brought it to my attention. This slide is actually fairly new in my swing, as I've been trying to work on weight transfer, but apparently the wrong way. Now that I know what this feels like, I dont think this will take long to unlearn and relearn.

Two questions Andy. First, my left knee is still breaking (as I believe it should), but should it break out infront of me, or more towards my right knee? My left foot is no longer lifting. Second, once I get to the top, I am free to bump my hip a bit to the left and turn left, correct? My right thigh comes off the chair in the downswing, and ends up about 4-6 inches away at finish.

I'm hoping this thread inspires others to get out there, tape their swing, and take a look! It is very revealing, and I'm learning alot!
 
Saul1573 the left knee is going to have some bend and movement to it and that is ok. It was in the original video it came close to touching the right knee. The knee will move a bit towards the ball and a bit in to the right knee. A hip bump with the left hip is a great way to start the downswing.

The thigh should come off of the chair in the down swing. We are just trying to stop the sway on the way to the top at this time.
 
Alright Andy. I've been to the range 4 times in the past three days and have been practicing your drills at home each night as well. As I've stated, the hip slide/knee kick is fairly new. I have it down pretty well now, I do feel more balanced, but also feel a slight distance loss. I am (much) more consistant with accuracy.

I'll be spending some time at the range this weekend and am ready to work on whatever you have next for me, and will continue working on the weight transfer.
 
Sacul1573 I think the next step for you is the baseball diamond drill. You club is getting a bit vertical to start the downswing and you have developed a little cast and flip at the bottom to make up for the vertical start. I am sure you have come across this drill in other threads. This will help you getting the club moving more towards the plane line early and stay there.

For the drill imagine a baseball diamond. Your ball is on home plate. You want to hit the ball back over the pitchers head and if anything have the ball fall towards right field. To do this you need to swing out to right field. Place a tee in the ground 4-5 inches in front of your ball and 1-2 inches to the right of it. As you swing down I want you swinging through the ball and out over the tee you put in the ground.

This drill comes in steps and will help you get some of the distance back. Step 1: you should hit a few ball very thin to start. Step 2: as you get down to it you will start to hit it solid but it will be a push out to the right. Step 3: as you get the timing down you will start to see the ball straighten out and occasionally draw. Let me know how this goes for you and keep me up to date.
 
Yup, I can see that now. Almost like a Jim Furyk type of move with the hands dropping inside like that... only mine take my club almost vertical, and kind of make a pulling motion towards my body at impact (and I dont drive 300 yards:banghead:). This will probably take me longer to work on, as I will be changing my swing plane a bit. Anything I should focus on with takeaway, it looks to me like my hands are getting to far behind my body? I have a journal to write all this down in...

Thanks for everything so far. Everyday I look forward to getting out to the range, and I love practicing!
 
sacul1573 the hands and the takeaway didn't look too bad. I would work more on getting into the slot and getting on plane in the downswing at this stage. Good luck and let me know how things progress out there.
 
Well, I'm pushing, pushing, and pushing some more....
 
sacul1573 I would like to see you work into the baseball diamond drill to start to curb the over the top move to start the downswing. This will also help you start to get the distance back. If you don't know this drill let me know and I will put it up here. Work on that with the low body work and I want to know how things go for you.
 
You described the baseball drill below. I just got back from the range, and I'm finally seeing some progress. I now (think I) understand the purpose of the drill. I was dropping my hands which brought the clubshaft down almost vertical on the downswing. By feeling my hands pushing out into right field, I'm actually keeping the club on plane into the ball. Its just a different wierd feeling, but I'm finally starting to get the hang of it. Timing is now the issue. I have to remind myself to let my wrists go naturally, but not think about it too hard, cause then I'll hook. If I dont remind myself at all, it's a push.

I've also been trying to get my takeaway and top position less behind me. When I first started teaching myself, I made a concious effort to feel my left shoulder touch my chin on the backswing. I think over time my backswing shallowed out to the point where my shoulder no longer touched my chin, which means I feel like I'm twisting my hips around more than I'm turning my shoulders.
 
The push is a good sign! That means we are getting the club more on plane on the way down. That should be your miss so great work! Are you starting to see more solid contact and a bit of a draw out there yet?

Keep at it and I love the updates.
 
Boy that original video looks pretty similar to my swing.
 
amollerud said:
The push is a good sign! That means we are getting the club more on plane on the way down. That should be your miss so great work! Are you starting to see more solid contact and a bit of a draw out there yet?

Keep at it and I love the updates.
Click to expand...

Alright, just spent about 2 hours on the range this morning, hit probably 150-200 balls. After about 20 balls, I got dialed in on feeling the right swing and now I'm straight as an arrow, yeah, I'd say drawing just a slight bit, but nothing more than 1-5 yards. And yes, Andy, the push is my miss (about 15-20 yards with my 7i).

The local pro who gives my wife lessons came down and we were chatting about perhaps golfing together this weekend, and I mentioned my swing fixes... the knee kick, the over the top, my effort to get the takeaway less behind me. He took a look and said I was still sometimes trying to kick my knee, it's my swing trigger. GAAA! Anyway, I now am making an effort to keep my lower body more still. My hips arent rotating to the right as much, and my left foot stays planted.

So, my three mental thoughts right now in my swing is dont overrotate/slide right (dont lift my left foot), higher takeaway (shoulder need to touch the chin), and TEMPO! I need to slow my tempo down, because once I did that, it was 7 iron all over the 160 marker EVERY TIME. No fats, no thins, no pushes, just nice long divots. It was beautiful. I then proceeded to hit all my clubs from 5i-LW, with the same results.

Anyway, I'll continue practicing this for a while yet, and then perhaps post another video of my progress?

The pro also said something else interesting. He mentioned that I might be outgrowing my regular flex stock shaft in my R9 460. I mentioned that when I was hitting my 3w at the local shop, I was swinging in the 89-93 range. He then replied that TM reg flex shafts are best for SS of 80-90, and the torque I'm putting on the shaft could be leaving the clubface open on impact. Is this something I should be looking at? I do push my driver more than any other club.
 
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I think your pro is onto something there. Is the miss higher and a push? IF so this is a great indicator that the shaft doesn't hold up for you.

I like the sounds of the progress that you are making. Keep at this and I would love to see an updated video of your swing.
 
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