Too many swing thoughts, prioritize?

[rbarthle17]

I have been working on a lot of changes to my swing lately. When it all comes together it feels great and the results are stellar. But the problem is that I am having to spend a lot of mental energy over each shot, and it's causing problems.

Here is what I am working on, in order of least to most proficiency:

• Grip: I am working on getting the right thumb and index finger to make a "V" over my left thumb (I am RH). That's a big change for me.
• Front shoulder in on follow through: I have a bad tendency to rotate my trunk and my front shoulder goes flying out on my follow through. This leads to pulls and pull hooks. This is a holdover from my baseball days. I had to take a very open stance and step inwards to keep it in. Think Rafael Palmeiro from the Rangers and Orioles.
• Takeaway: I find the best results are when I keep my right elbow against my side, and drag the club on the ground at the start of my backswing. If I don't do this, I chicken-wing my right arm and it's a guaranteed slice. I'm good with this most of the time, but occasionally I forget. I have not made it an unconscious thing yet.
• Stance: I waffle on this a lot. What feels best is an open stance. But when My shoulder goes flying out it leads to disaster. I think I will stick with this and just fix my shoulder.
• Tempo: The Orange Whip has been giving me a lot of feedback on slowing down my backswing, and waiting until I am in perfect balance before starting the downswing, so no energy is wasted fighting opposite momentum. Also not over-swinging on the downswing. I am almost there on this one. I can feel the weight of the club head and let it do the work.
• Hip turn at the start of the downswing: I used to start the hips way late, have gotten this one pretty much ingrained.

When on the course, I need to cut down on this dramatically. I think that if I focus on my grip when I get to the ball, and just worry about the takeaway, front shoulder, and tempo that is all I need. Is that an okay amount of thoughts?

 

[Hawk]

I don't think setup thoughts are swing thoughts. Just my opinion on that.

Instructor always says he just wants me to think turn/turn on the course and trust the range work will bring the right movements. Easier said than done. I probably fail on that 97% of the time.

 

[jmatt]

I have room for maybe one thought in my head. Any more and it's disaster.
Your grip and stance are static. You can set those up before the shot and it's done.
At that point pick one. The shoulder turn seems to be the major concern, run with that.

You say the tempo and hips are getting there, so let them happen.

 

[Brianbigoats]

I had one of those days at the range yeasterday too many things in my head messes with my swing a lot

 

[ohio_striker]

i say one thought/ feel on the backswing and one on the downswing so 2 ...

 

[Germerican]

I don't think when I swing on the course. I work on the thinking on the range, and let the muscle memory take shape. My swing is about 1.5-2 seconds long, no time to think. Just go up there, take a deep breath...

...and swing.

 

[rallo]

Prior to the swing i am thinking alignment... i have a routine that works decently at the moment but i could always improve.

Otherwise my big snafu is tempo... sometimes i get REALLY QUICK... when i do, i don't make the full turn and my distance suffers.

My buddies' friend is a golf pro in town, and he has me saying (or thinking) "Helloooo Dolly" as a pace aid... it sounds really stupid, but if i start to get quick i'll return to this and it can usually straighten me out.

 

[Mystery Meat]

"You think..you stink" .. Ball flight / and score are the only judges on the course

 

[Philadelphia]

As a beginner I feel your pain. People always say to get lessons before any bad habits are ingrained, but sometimes I feel like if I had a repeatable swing (even if bad) than I could work on just 1 thing at a time and see improvement more consistently. Sometimes I over think and don't get a solid strike on the ball, those are always the most disappointing.

 

[rbarthle17]

So went out today and went with just thinking tempo and shoulder while over the ball. It was pretty good only had a couple of bad pulls and some nice hits. And it made things a lot more relaxing.