Swing Changes

I've been borderline complaining about issues with my game lately and I thought I'd be constructive and post some changes on THP. Hopefully there are some people who can learn from some of the mistakes I was making. Going through a swing change is so difficult but I think a lot of times it is absolutely necessary. This was definitely the case with me. I'll break down my issues as best I can picture by picture. Hopefully other people will post some changes in this thread also so we can all learn from each other as well as encourage.



The photo on the left is the "before" on all of these. I had a tendency to dip my left shoulder on my back swing which caused me to hit a lot of fat shots and I "fixed" that by putting my weight back and dropping my right shoulder as you can see. This "fix" insured that I would never take a divot and I wasn't making very solid contact. I also used that forward ball position with every club in my bag. The change has me more duck footed which helps me move my hips better and my stance is also widened a bit. The shaft is pointed to the left of my zipper now and my weight is a little more forward. This may seem like a small change but the result was this;



That is a divot pattern! May seem stupid to many of you but it is a big deal to me. Moving on...



This was a drastic change. That ugly thing on the left equals a big fade (when I don't compensate correctly) and when I get to longer clubs it equals a slice. The change on the right was just the first piece to getting me a more consistent ball flight. You see above where I said "compensate?" I somehow figured out how to make this work for me for the most part but I was very inconsistent and consistency is the name of the game. Now check this one out...



When I saw this picture I was just about in shock. I would lag that chicken wing back into my body at the end of my downswing and somehow make contact with the ball. Remember me saying the "S" word with longer clubs? This is why the OptiForce wasn't working very well for me at first. That swing was more or less going out to in and causing me to come across the ball which isn't a good thing. The picture on the right is why the OptiForce is much better now. Indian not the arrow. It's much easier for me to swing in to out now and produce a baby draw.

I am still piecing this all together and it has been a big struggle for me but I am confidant that with hard work my scores are going to drop significantly. Scores haven't started dropping yet but I have seen some flashes of awesome golf so I'm keeping the faith. There are still a few tweaks to be made but the major stuff has been fixed. Thanks for reading guys and clothing in the last picture was brought to you by Canadan, thanks dude!

Night, meet day. Drastic differences there partner, looking good!

Great looking changes! I can't imagine all the work that goes into something like this.

Looks like you've been putting a lot of work into this. Keep up the good work!

OhioMatt said:

Great looking changes! I can't imagine all the work that goes into something like this.

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Like I said man it's a lot of frustration training your mind all over again. I have unlimited range balls at my disposal so I have the means to make the change but it's going to take a while. I haven't gotten comfortable with everything yet so when it is good it is amazing but when it is bad, well, it is absolutely atrocious.

Holy mackerel! That was exactly what I discovered this afternoon at the range when I tweaked my swing. The steep angle was a culprit, as well as the early release at impact. Just like what you found out, I produced a nice little draw. The swing was effortless yet powerful thanks to the pivot generated by shifting the weight onto my right big toe. Hopefully with more practice I won't hit any more fat shots, nor unintended fade, while improving distance and accuracy.

glad to see you putting the efforts and this is pretty cool. The pics on the right just look so much better to me. Good luck with it all.

Like to ask a question if you dont mind? It could be the angle of the camera but it looks like to me in the swing pic's that your weight is back on your heels. More so in the left side pics but still somewhat in the right side ones too just not as much. Was wondering if I am correct or just the angle of the pics and if thats anything you thought about.

WOW! That's impressive bud. It'd be good to see a front on shot ?

Huge improvement! Would like to see the new swing on video. I bet your getting a lot more swing speed with it

Hang in there. Based on the pics, and the commentary, sounds like you're putting in the work that will eventually lead to a better game, even though it seems tough right now. Good luck, and keep us posted!

Improvement takes a while because there are only a few big things and a million little things that go into a good golf swing. Looking good so far though.

Are your hips turning well though? Kinda looks like the legs are doing a bit too much work. Do you have problems with sliding your hips instead of turning? A good rule of thumb is that at the top you should half as much hip turn as shoulders. ie Shoulders 90, hips 45.

Incredible improvement Jordan! Have you been working with a pro on this I assume?

rollin said:

glad to see you putting the efforts and this is pretty cool. The pics on the right just look so much better to me. Good luck with it all.

Like to ask a question if you dont mind? It could be the angle of the camera but it looks like to me in the swing pic's that your weight is back on your heels. More so in the left side pics but still somewhat in the right side ones too just not as much. Was wondering if I am correct or just the angle of the pics and if thats anything you thought about.

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Good eye! My weight does tend to shift to my heels a bit. I don't shift like Kuchar does but occasionally it gets me off balance. I haven't thought too much about changing that but I'll experiment a little bit with it.

wadesworld said:

Incredible improvement Jordan! Have you been working with a pro on this I assume?

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I have been working with a pro on this once a week.

Smithfaced said:

I have been working with a pro on this once a week.

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The swing is looking good, keep up the work.

Keep up the good work. The last picture was a huge fix for the better. I'd still like to see you get your weight more towards the balls of your feet though. It may just be the angle of the picture, but it looks as though that would be good. Again, keep it up!

Wow Smithfaced, those are some great adjustments, well done! Do you have any pictures from a front view (before/after)? I would be curious to see those. Is your instructor working with you on a particular method, meaning a standard swing, one plane, S&T, Foley method etc? What are you guys working on currently?

Callawaygolfpro said:

Wow Smithfaced, those are some great adjustments, well done! Do you have any pictures from a front view (before/after)? I would be curious to see those. Is your instructor working with you on a particular method, meaning a standard swing, one plane, S&T, Foley method etc? What are you guys working on currently?

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For the most part it is S&T which has been very difficult for me to get down. I struggled a lot at first but I had a lot of issues with my swing. I was swinging as much as 14* degrees left or something around there and have gotten that closer to a coupe degrees left or right. We are still currently working on that because it was a major issue. Golf isn't very much fun when you swing that far left.

I'd say that's some great progress. Your before pics look just like mine before I started working with a swing coach. I'm hitting from the opposite side of the ball though. Your after pics look stellar.