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.

Crap, I was hoping you wouldn't agree. And that's EXACTLY what's happening. Now I have to convince the wife about a new shaft... :banghead:

I'll get you an updated video maybe by the end of this next weekend, or the weekend after that.
 
Crap, I was hoping you wouldn't agree. And that's EXACTLY what's happening. Now I have to convince the wife about a new shaft... :banghead:

I'll get you an updated video maybe by the end of this next weekend, or the weekend after that.

MIYAZAKI!!!!!! (sorry to interupt andy, just think that sacul would love this shaft)
 
MIYAZAKI!!!!!! (sorry to interupt andy, just think that sacul would love this shaft)

Lol, that's the first thing that came to mind, and the second thought was my wife pummelling my head with it after I told her how much it cost.
 
Well Andy, progress is being made. I'm seeing great results from my irons and wedges, proof in the pudding is the fact that I hit almost every green from 170 and in last Friday on a 9 hole hike. It was unreal, ball striking was great, ball flight right where I wanted it to be.

The fact that my driver and longer sticks (fw and hybrids) were horrible is what contributed to a 46. I just cant seem to straighten out my longer sticks for any resonable amount of time. A few shots might be straight, but I'm consistantly getting that high push with a fade. I went to a golf shop and had my SS measured for my driver, it's peaking out around 92-93, so it'd be far fetched to say the shaft is the reason for that dramatic ball flight. I'll keep plugging away at the baseball diamond drill, but it seems harder to get a feel for it with the longer shafts. Any other tips or swing thoughts you think might help? The driver is really, really killing my scores.

Thanks for all your help so far.
 
That swing speed puts you into a very solid stiff shaft! I would also look at the kick point and total gram weight of the shaft. In terms of feeling the move with the longer clubs sometimes laying a headcover down or a towel to help visualize and force a more in to out move can be very helpful. Place the headcover just inside the ball and a touch past it. this will force you to stay moving out through the ball. Try that and see if it helps.
 
Well, here's an update of my swing. I was sick part of this last week, so hitting yesterday and today I just felt kind of detached from my swing, but I gave it my best. Today I still felt like I was coming over the top more than I have been in the last two weeks, but compared to the last video, it looks a little better. My hip is still sliding a little... Anyway, I'll let you analyze the rest and wait to see what you have to say...

Only 7 iron this time, but tcalloway has been kind enough to offer trading R9 shafts, my regular for his stiff, so I'll be giving that a try in a week or so!

 
sacul1573 the swing is looking a ton better! Great work on the drills to this point! For starters today I would like to clean up ball position. In the video that looks like it is getting too far back in the stance. Try this for 3 wood through 7 iron. Start with the ball in the middle of your feet with your feet together. Step your left foot to the side for now and rest your club head against the instep of your right foot with the toe of the club pointing to the left foot. Now bring in your left foot til it touches the club head, your left foot is now set. Step to a comfortable width stance with your right foot.

Having said that the next step I see in your swing is adding lag and getting you to turn more through the ball with your body. For lag I want you to work on this with slow motion drills. I want you to feel the right elbow get into your side (from the top) from there I want you to get your hands in front of your belt buckle while the club is parallel to the ground. From here I want you to turn the body to deliver the club to the ball. This is a great slow motion drill to get a feel of the moves. Chipping and pitching are great to help you get the feel of the hands out in front of the ball at impact as well.

To turn more through the ball I have a different drill. For around the house work I want you to put a chair behind you in your setup position. As you swing to the top I want your right cheek on the back of the chair, now when you start the downswing I want the left cheek on the chair. This will get you to post more and turn more through the ball. This will allow you to hold more lag. To do this on the range take 2 drive way marker stakes (or broken shafts) and stick them in the ground behind you. From here it is the same drill right cheek to the stake to the top and left cheek to the stake on the down swing.

I hope this makes sense and let me know how things go for you.
 
Thanks for mentioning the ball position. I do feel like I've been getting lazy or sloppy with that lately. I like that little drilll, gives me a better reference on where to place the ball in my stance.

Yes, your drills make perfect sense, and I"ll start to work them into my swing. I'm going to keep on the diamond drill, as I feel like I've lost my swing a bit as I mentioned before.

My driver is the greatest hinderance to my scoring right now, and depending on how much this new stiff shaft will change things, I might concentrate on that for a little while before I move on to the other drills. I'm hoping I plug the shaft in and start getting nice, high draws right away, but we all know golf isnt that easy...:banghead:

Thanks again for everything, and I'll keep updating on my progress!

P.S. I see others are starting to post swing videos as well, good to see people are coming out. You are really helping out alot of people on this forum! :clapp:
 
Update:

Due to a recent change at work, I have hardly been able to play at all in the last 2 weeks. I stopped by the range today after work, and of course, the range was closed because the stupid ball picker was broken and they had to go out and pick up balls by hand. So, I putted around for 45 mintues hoping to get a few full swings in. Finally able to get a small bucket and hit 30 or so. At first I was pushing every shot by 15 yards, but then realized my aim was off by that much. Corrected, and sure enough, felt like it came back to me. Not as consistent as I've been, but most balls were dead straight with a nice medium high flight. Need to work on the baseball diamond more, especially with the longer clubs. 5i-LW were fine, but my 3w, wow, slice galore. Anyway, I havent even thought of Andy's other drills, still working on the diamond drill, the knee kick, and hip slide.

Hey Andy, if I'm hitting a 7 iron 155-160 yards carry, what shaft flex does that put me in? I prefer steel shafts...
 
It is tuff to fit a shaft just by carry distance, and I have a feeling that number is going to change with the changes to your swing. My guess is that club head speed is in the high 60's to low 70's with a 6/7 iron right now. That would put you on the line between reg and stiff. If you could get me a swing speed I could tell you a more specific type shaft flex.
 
Andy, what causes shanks and what can I do to rid myself of them? I am completely shanking my shorter clubs, and the longer ones 5i to 3wood I'm slicing something horrible. I dont know whats going on, I'm trying the baseball diamond drill to no avial, I just feel like the club is a dead stick in my hands. I tried slowing the tempo, limiting my hips, focusing on my knees, nothing...
 
Sacul1573 a lot of time if you try to go too much in to out with the shorter clubs you can bring the hosel into play. I would tend to lead towards this as the cause being that you are working on the baseball diamond drill. When this happens step away relax and slowly work back into it. Hit some half swings and work back into a tempo. Don't let it get to you. I am still working with my coach and in the last lesson (working connection) I hit 6 straight shots off of the hosel. It scared the crap out of me. Once I settled down and got back in there and started the drill at half speed and worked up to full speed and had no problems after that.
 
Well, did as you suggested, working with my wedges at half swing, and working my way up... issue seems to be gone. I thought I would update this thread with another post I made, since this is sort of my progress journal:

"Just got back from the course, and shot my personal best, AND broke into the 80s today with a 44/45, for a 89 total. Super stoked, especially since I didnt feel like my iron game was very on today.

My driver has been in timeout lately, but I decided to give it a chance on the second hole. It didnt listen to me, so back in the bag it went, and stayed there the entire round. 3 wood off the tees, and I found myself with consistantly better lies, and more fairways. The game just "felt" easier, even though I was hitting 20 yards longer with my irons. As I mentioned my irons were not on today, as this is only the fourth time hitting the new sticks. I also left a few putts out there, a couple brain farts I'd rather not discuss.

But all in all, the round felt less like "scrambling" and more like "playing" golf. Didnt add up my scores until the end, because I felt I was playing well, and didnt want the added pressure. Only 3 double bogeys, a bunch of bogeys, and a handful of pars. NO blowup holes = :clapp:

Anyway, I'm super stoked right now, thanks for reading my rambling excitement! "
 
Sacul1573 That is awesome!! Into the 80's for the first time, the good news is the first time is the hardest to do. You will start to see that a lot more often. Keep at it and keep me up to date with the progress.
 
Hmm... so I went to the range this morning to work on my driver, and things went very well. Almost too well, makes me suspicious. Things I did differently today: dropped my right shoulder a little more at address, tilted my spine a bit to the right as well, did not try to transfer my weight as much like I do with my irons (I think that was getting my body ahead of the ball), my takeaway was straighter back on the target line (I used to take the club back more behind me, using my wrists), kept my wrists and grip loose, and focused on a slower tempo and smooth transition. I dont think I've ever hit the driver this consistantly or accurately. I was dropping balls right down the line to the 250 marker, most carrying between 220 and 245, and landing +/- 15 yards from the centerline. Some with a fade, most of them straight, quite a couple with a little draw, and two duck hooks. Made me really want to go out and play, but I had to get to work. Oh, I also hit a few PW shots around 150 yards... wtf? I hit my 7 irons 160. I still hit my 7 iron 160... I still cant hit my 5 iron.

Question for you Andy. How do you cut or draw the ball with the driver? Perhaps if I understand this better, I can get a feel of what my body is doing to vary the ball flight, and work on making that more consistant.

Almost time to work on the new drills!
 
Cut and draw with the driver can be done a couple of ways. I move the ball with the driver by changing up the ball position. I move it up in my stance to hit a fade and back to draw it. Make sure that you double check the ball for each shot that seems to be a tendancy.
 
Update to my "swing journal":

My driver is behaving. I'm looking forward to using it on my next round. I'm typically hitting the ball within 10 yards left or right of my aimpoint.

My iron striking discovery: I've been ball striking slightly off towards the toe for the last 9 months! (about 1/2 - 1 inch off center, right about where grooves meet shiny metal) Due to my former GI irons, I never knew this was a problem. I just discovered this looking at the wear marks on my newer irons, corrected the problem, and I'm getting alot more distance, better ball flight, plus better gaps in my long irons. PW=135, 7i=165, 5i=195. Effortless swing. Go figure...

Starting to work on lag and posting sooner...
 
Keep at it and I love the updates. Sounds like things are going well so far!!!!
 
Well, Andy, things are good and bad. The good is that on the range, I'm hitting great. Solid contact each time, I'd say 8-9 out of 10 balls landing within +/- 5-10 yards of where I'm aiming with the irons, and 8/10 drives are straight or have a slight draw or fade to them.

The bad is that I just cant seem to translate this performance to the course. I played 18 this morning, and almost walked off in disgust after 9 holes. I warm up before hand, everything seems great on the range, then I step up to that first tee and blam, topped the ball. Then I pushed a 6 iron 20 yards right and left myself a pitch over a bunker. My decent short game "saved" bogey. Second hole: tee off a wicked slice, this thing landed 30 yards in the bushes going dead right. Bright yellow Srixon... never found it. Second shot (hitting 3), was a 3wood, hit perfectly, lands on front of the green. Good, bad, bad, bad, good. Totally unpredictable. This continued all day.

It just seems that I dont have a reliable, repeatable swing when I'm out playing. I try to tell myself to slow down and keep good tempo, to relax when standing over the ball, and clear my head, but every swing it seems like something else goes wrong. This is extremely frustrating, especially considering that i'm a range rat, out there almost every day hitting a bucket of balls and chipping/putting. Short game is fine, but anything with a full swing, all bets are off.

Any tips or advice?
 
You need to find one key swing thought that seems to pull it all together while you are on the range. Or start using your practice to play holes while on the range. Give that a try and tell me what happens.
 
Update: I took about 10 days off to visit WI, and was afraid I'd lose it all coming back. Not so. I think clearing my head, and forcing myself to rely on hip turn instead of trying to muscle the ball (with my upper body), really contributed to a good range session this afternoon. I need to trust in the mechanics of the golf swing instead of brute strength. And I need to stop thinking so much! :D

Alright, next topic!

TRANSITION. It sucks right now. My wife's instructor took a look at my swing this afternoon, and said that the biggest hinderance to my consistency is my transition at the top. Mostly with the longer irons/driver/fw. My club is still moving back in the backswing when my hips start firing forward for the downswing. Any drills or advice to help get this right?
 
For transition you need to know where the arms are going to start the down swing. I don't mind the idea of the hips firing early (most don't fire near enough). At home go to the top of your backswing and stop. From here I want you to feel the right elbow pull towards the golf ball. THis will get the arms much more connected to the body for the down swing. If you start the downswing with your shoulders you will NEVER get the arms connected to the body. Work this in slow motion for a bit to get the feel and let me know how it goes.
 
Thanks Andy, feeling the right elbow pulling towards the ball helps. I'm making a focused effort to slow down on the longer clubs, not painfully slow, but not whipping them back either...

Shot an 84 (43/41) on a par 70 course today. Didnt hit my driver too much, alot of 3wood and hybrids off the tee. 5/13 fairways, although alot of those misses were in the primary or secondary cuts of rough. 8/18 GIR, which I think helped tremendously. 38 putts, which is a good 4-6 strokes lower than normal, I've been "fixing" my putting stroke though the use of a SeeMore, and it's really been helping. I'm alot more confident in putts under 10 feet, and distance control is spot on with the longer putts.

I spent a half hour last night in front of a mirror looking at my swing, and noticed I've been bending over the ball more than I perhaps should be. I think I then tend to drive my left shoulder down at the ball in my downswing, leading to inconsistancies. I tried standing up a bit taller and bringing the ball a little closer in my stance today, and the result seemed to be better ball contact and better ball flights.

So anyway, after getting setup correctly, my only swing thought today was tempo, smooth transition. Seemed to help.
 
I am going to try that tip about the right elbow myself. I have been complaining about my right elbow positoin for awhile now because I know it is killing me. In fact I know I have tried exactly what Andy has suggested here in slow motion just to see if I could correct my right elbow issues but then would not actually start the downswing with my right elbow since I have been so convinced that I must start with my hips followed by my shoulders. I never thought to try to point the elbow before starting my shoulders going.

I don't think getting the hips moving forward as you describe it is a bad thing either. You will hear a good many teaching pros discussing the power that comes from the dynamic tension built up between your hips and your shoulders. They often recommend that if you can start your hips just the instant before you reach the top, you will get the maximum benefit form the mechanics of the golf swing. I have been working myself at doing a better job of getting my hips firing with the help of our THP pro.
 
I know getting the hips moving first is essential to getting that tension, but I think I got a little to much in there along the way. I'm talking hips start forward while the club shaft is still around the vertical position in the backswing... it hasnt even gotten past vertical. Too much of a good thing can be bad... at least that's what my wife keeps telling me about my beer... :D

I just need to keep it in my thoughts for a while, and make sure my arms reach a point like Andy suggests.
 
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