Lesson: This one made good sense to me

[GoldenBuff]

I started a thread so I could follow up on it and keep tabs on my swing changes over time. Very open to suggestions, feedback, and comments. I have a lot to learn.

I had a lesson today with a new guy (Woody). Very helpful. In other lessons I have felt a bit like they were trying to have me swing a specific way. Today it felt like he worked more with my swing. Two big changes: 1) I was too close to the ball, way too close, and 2) he reduced my wrist set by about 50% and put me on a wider takeaway. One more subtle change: He wants me to take the left side out of play by hitting a fade as my standard shot shape. That involved simply making my base swing what feels like a little bit of a hold off fade. Results were good. With fewer moving parts and room for my arms, both my distance consistency and dispersion improved significantly. Holding off a little bit after impact, my path went from inside-out to a neutral to slight outside-in path. Boom, boom, boom, straight to little fades. If I over cut the ball, at least I can plan for one miss that keeps consistent distance. The two-way miss was gone.

For some reason I had it in my head that I didn't want to hit a fade. I thought I had to hit a draw to be a "good" player. But this works. 8 iron, for example, I can better count on 165-170 carry with spin and soft landing. I'm not getting those occasional 180+ yard carry trap draws that can mess me up. We didn't do anything with driver (only 8i and 5i today), but I am bigtime looking forward to bringing these changes there. I have spent way too much time left off the tee.

Ongoing efforts involve slowing down the transition and keeping a consistent tempo. I've been making progress but plenty of work remains here.

 

[OGputtnfool]

...slowing down the transition and keeping a consistent tempo.

I, too, recently had a lesson (Tuesday) and the pro had me working on this, too. I knew it already, but he confirmed that this is what causes my nemesis shot (the dreaded skank or weak toe shot) to pop up. I have a tendency to get handsy and quick from the top and it wreaks havoc.

 

[Snickerdog]

That sounds great!!! Sometimes the simplest things can help the most. Amazing what a good instructor can do in just a few minutes by not changing your swing but just making minor tweaks.

 

[H8tobogie]

Sounds like you have power to burn, so a fade makes sense. Those left of left shots are round killers. I know, too, from experience Thanks for sharing!

 

[Turtlerancher]

I need to reverse engineer this, I have no idea what the left side of a course is. ?

 

[Chef23]

If you can hit the ball 165 with an 8 iron you don’t need more distance you need to be able to hit it 165 every time. I like the teachers recommendation. I moved away from the ball this year as well to help me give my arms more room to swing and keep from losing spine angle on the downswing. It definitely helped my consistency.

Regarding a fade I have always preferred to play a fade and I have nowhere near your swing speed. For me the misses and distance control are better with a fade. It also matches my natural swing a bit better. I can hit a draw but it isn’t nearly as consistent for me.

It sounds like you are on a good track. Keep it up.

 

[Brassie]

2) he reduced my wrist set by about 50%

Not sure what wrist set is in the context of what you were saying. Help me understand, please.

 

[dcorun]

I've always hit a fade (slice when I first started). I went for a fitting this year and ended up with the M6 D-Type driver. Funny that I didn't draw it, but was still hitting fades or straight. The M6 just added a few more yards distance. Those hooks put you in no man's land.

 

[GoldenBuff]

Not sure what wrist set is in the context of what you were saying. Help me understand, please.

I was making an early wrist set during my backswing. I think it was me trying to have the club face in the "magazine shot" position at waist height (9 o'clock). I was putting the club there with my wrists in addition to my shoulder turn. That added too much wrist set to my swing. So then I as I swung the club I had too much lag movement. Very hard to control. I get plenty of clubhead speed and vastly more control with less wrist set. Doing this I also have a slightly closed club face at 9 o'clock, and apparently that's OK for my swing.

 

[Brassie]

I was making an early wrist set during my backswing. I think it was me trying to have the club face in the "magazine shot" position at waist height (9 o'clock). I was putting the club there with my wrists in addition to my shoulder turn. That added too much wrist set to my swing. So then I as I swung the club I had too much lag movement. Very hard to control. I get plenty of clubhead speed and vastly more control with less wrist set. Doing this I also have a slightly closed club face at 9 o'clock, and apparently that's OK for my swing.

OK, we're talking about the cocking of the wrists during the backswing.

So, if I understand it correctly, you were doing it early, like starting in the clubhead takeaway, instead of letting happen naturally to full wrist cock as you get to the end/transition at the top of the backswing.

That's something I don't even think about. It just "happens". I just make sure my clubhead takeaway is initially straight back, don't let my right arm "collapse" too early for a big arc and one piece takeaway shoulder turn and get my tempo feeling correct. After impact, I just simply... "turn left".

 

[GoldenBuff]

@Brassie Yep.

 

[Jimmy3864]

Good stuff....sounds like you got a good coach. With your distance, absolutely nothing wrong with a fade, nice soft landings. Keep it up!

 

[GoldenBuff]

Played yesterday. Didn’t hit a single fade with an iron. Every shot was just about as straight as a ball can fly. Stuck with it and was a little left all day, right where I lined up. But distance control was excellent and strikes were crisp. I had more trust. I did hit fades with driver. Not a single hook, a very nice change. A couple of the drives had more shape than intended but I can adjust that with more time.

Besides taking away my biggest miss (left), the improved distance control is nice. I will spend more sessions working on these swing changes. This is more how I was hitting the ball last year.

Thanks for the feedback and encouragement!

 

[GoldenBuff]

I just finished another lesson, this one with a new guy. PGA teaching pro and Titleist guy. First time I have had anyone work with me on setup, foot weighting, and grip. We also made an adjustment to the top of my backswing, following up on my previous lesson referenced above. Hitting the ball after stopping the backswing at the top and holding it for a bit was very interesting. All very helpful. I also love these Montana guys. I keep going in saying I am looking for new clubs. Nah, you're fine. And using throwing bales of hay as a golf analogy is perfect. He also showed me a book that he told me not to read, which was why he had the book. I love that.

Probably the best part of the session was working on how to hit driver. I've never gone through that before. There were some fundamentals there that I needed to change. Grip change and overexaggerating it at first was one of the most helpful changes.

I like filling in these knowledge gaps and making adjustments. This is helping me see where I am going with my swing and game.

 

[Turtlerancher]

I just finished another lesson, this one with a new guy. PGA teaching pro and Titleist guy. First time I have had anyone work with me on setup, foot weighting, and grip. We also made an adjustment to the top of my backswing, following up on my previous lesson referenced above. Hitting the ball after stopping the backswing at the top and holding it for a bit was very interesting. All very helpful. I also love these Montana guys. I keep going in saying I am looking for new clubs. Nah, you're fine. And using throwing bales of hay as a golf analogy is perfect. He also showed me a book that he told me not to read, which was why he had the book. I love that.

Probably the best part of the session was working on how to hit driver. I've never gone through that before. There were some fundamentals there that I needed to change. Grip change and overexaggerating it at first was one of the most helpful changes.

I like filling in these knowledge gaps and making adjustments. This is helping me see where I am going with my swing and game.

Finding good coaching is like striking gold. I've really jived with mine. Instead of a complete swing change he just has me incorporating small changes one at a time working with what I have. Eventually my swing will be nothing like what I started with but the changes are so small I can still play well as it develops.

 

[GoldenBuff]

Update: Flailing lately. I'm not getting crisp iron strikes; I would characterize most strikes as harsh feeling. I feel it in my left wrist. Driving me nuts. My misses are high and toward the toe. Whatever I am doing I can't process where I'm off and adjust. It feels like I am hitting the mat and then yanking left. I am working on slowing my tempo, and if I just take my standard faster tempo full swing I strike the ball better. However at those speeds I don't have the control I want; ball goes far but that is the absolute least interesting part of my game. The sequencing feels off. Maybe I'm starting with my arms, raising the handle at impact, IDK. I can hit a ball around a course, but this is not how I want to hit the ball. I also find I have better tempo and strikes on grass than turf. No idea why. I am stubborn and will keep at it. Frustrated right now.

 

[GolfLivesMatter]

IMO a wide takeaway is not a good thing because the arms can disconnect from the torso and everything goes to crap no matter what change is made. If the handle is not rotating with hip turn on the downswing, i.e. the club handle is trailing, or being lifted, then anything can happen from having good days to very bad spells. Try swinging with a headcover under your right armpit and make sure it lands to the left of the ball after hitting. This will indicate if you're connected.

I've been through the trials and errors and have found about 95% of the time when my swing goes south, it's due to a lack of connection on the downswing.

 

[GoldenBuff]

I have continued to work on the swing. Getting closer to where I want it. The work on setup, takeaway, and transition have given me more path control. But I was getting into trouble trying to steer the ball instead of swinging around it. there plenty of ball meet hosel moments. As that worked out, the next challenge was face control. That's comging around. My path still varies a bit but it is settling into a more consistent pattern. The last couple of days have been nice as the pieces are coming together. Here are a couple shots from GC Quad. One of these days I'll get up the course to post swing video.

7i (Mizuno MP-18 MMC) -- a fairly standard shot for me, could go a little left or right still at this point:




Driver: G400Max 9*. Spin is still on the high side, and ball speed could be a little better..

 

[GoldenBuff]

Keeping up with this. I had a breakthrough with my swing. I can now feel and incorporate a better move from back to downswing. When I wanted to take bigger swings (e.g., driver) I had this bad habit of starting the swing with my arms. I have always been a physically strong person and can muscle together swing speed this way. Unfortunately it is a "violent" swing with great tendancy to come OTT. Hips can't clear or if they do, given the path, I pull hook a ball left. And I can struggle to square the face. It is also hard on my body.

I can now start the swing with my hips and let the arms follow. I think about starting from the bottom up before I finish the backswing. It is a feel I couldn't pick up previously, like a little lag from lower to upper body as I start the swing. This allows me to drop the club into a slightly flatter plane and keep my left wrist straighter, and my hips don't get in the way. My swing path now becomes controllable. Swing speed gets generated more from sequencing, and I have had fun playing with that. With this adjustment I am working to control face to path a little better and sorting out a tempo and swing speed that gives me the most control. I like it so far. I haven't lost the ability to hit my favored fades but can now also hit draws and much better flight the ball. Plenty of work to do and some misses are worthy of youtube humor, but the swing is coming together. I hope this leads to more consistency and helps me move my game forward.

Heading to the sim today for more swing work and a sim round. The owner has a new puppy (will be his shop dog), and I am bringing him a toy and treats. I love dogs, and Woody is the nicest guy. I always feel comfortable there. Hopefully my new MAV Max driver and SZ fairway are in. I am ready to put them into action. We are weeks from playing here.