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Over the Top - the importance of the instructor

wubears71

wubears71

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I’ve been fighting a slice and gave up with the self diagnosis - it’s a slice so I must be coming over the top.

I had a lesson with my instructor today and after watching and then recording a few swings, I had 2 things going on - flipping the club and poor rotation. My downswing looked perfect up until a few moments before impact. I would slide instead of rotate and the flip to recover. I was over 5 deg outside to in due to it.

We spent the next 50 min working on 1 drill - one I’ve done with him before. It’s to get the hands out of the swing and get myself rotating. The goal in the drill is to feel like I’m blocking the ball but in reality I’m not. I have to do it every day until our next lesson next week.

My point is that actual lessons are so valuable. I risked going down the YouTube rabbit hole trying to correct an issue that I didn’t have. Please, instead of buying a new, shiny club, find an instructor. It really is the best money spent.
 
wubears71 said:
I’ve been fighting a slice and gave up with the self diagnosis - it’s a slice so I must be coming over the top.

I had a lesson with my instructor today and after watching and then recording a few swings, I had 2 things going on - flipping the club and poor rotation. My downswing looked perfect up until a few moments before impact. I would slide instead of rotate and the flip to recover. I was over 5 deg outside to in due to it.

We spent the next 50 min working on 1 drill - one I’ve done with him before. It’s to get the hands out of the swing and get myself rotating. The goal in the drill is to feel like I’m blocking the ball but in reality I’m not. I have to do it every day until our next lesson next week.

My point is that actual lessons are so valuable. I risked going down the YouTube rabbit hole trying to correct an issue that I didn’t have. Please, instead of buying a new, shiny club, find an instructor. It really is the best money spent.
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I would love to but there are none in my area. At least not any that are worth the $ and travel time involved
 
Ok, so if a slice is caused by OTT, then try the opposite of OTT.
 
So much truth to this. No matter how much you self diagnose/self fix/self sabotage, getting a pro to check out your swing is super valuable.

Had a similar experience last year, and 10 minutes in we had fixed an issue I had been fighting for probably 5 years.
 
I have a slight OTT that my instructor identified. Doing 1/4 and 1/2 swings, I have a nice inside-out swing. My slow-motion and practice swing looks good. But as soon as I do a full or 3/4 swing with a ball there, somehow it always goes back to OTT. I’m close giving up that I’ll ever be able to correct it
 
Andrew808 said:
I have a slight OTT that my instructor identified. Doing 1/4 and 1/2 swings, I have a nice inside-out swing. My slow-motion and practice swing looks good. But as soon as I do a full or 3/4 swing with a ball there, somehow it always goes back to OTT. I’m close giving up that I’ll ever be able to correct it
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My stupid advice....check to see if you lead with your right shoulder on the down swing. It's subtle, and often hard to "feel" if that's your dominate side.
 
OTT is my go to swing as I know I will make ball contact. This particularly wants to creep in after a bad shot or two as my brain knows that an OTT swing will make contact-it doesn't care about the result.

When I go to the range or indoor practice, I take a pool noodle and curve it to mimic my takeaway. I then lie it on the ground so that it sits just outside my intended swing path. This has helped me to not come over the top nearly as much. I'm not suggesting anyone else do this as I am in no way qualified, but it has definitely helped me.

I also get lots of questions about the pool noodle. My stock answer is "my swimming sucks as bad as my golf"--haha
 
neophyteguy said:
OTT is my go to swing as I know I will make ball contact. This particularly wants to creep in after a bad shot or two as my brain knows that an OTT swing will make contact-it doesn't care about the result.

When I go to the range or indoor practice, I take a pool noodle and curve it to mimic my takeaway. I then lie it on the ground so that it sits just outside my intended swing path. This has helped me to not come over the top nearly as much. I'm not suggesting anyone else do this as I am in no way qualified, but it has definitely helped me.

I also get lots of questions about the pool noodle. My stock answer is "my swimming sucks as bad as my golf"--haha
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Michael Breed was constantly using pool noodles and other items like that on the golf channel years ago. I’ve never actually seen anyone using on at the range though.
 
Agree 100%. I did have a big over the top issue and thought i'd figured it out before going to a lesson after looking at all kinds of tips to do with the top of the back swing.

Turned out I was looking at it all wrong. All it needed was a slight change to the takeaway and the improvement was drastic.
 
wubears71 said:
My point is that actual lessons are so valuable. I risked going down the YouTube rabbit hole trying to correct an issue that I didn’t have. Please, instead of buying a new, shiny club, find an instructor. It really is the best money spent.
Click to expand...

Can't argue with this. So worth it if you find someone close who you connect with
 
wubears71 said:
I’ve been fighting a slice and gave up with the self diagnosis - it’s a slice so I must be coming over the top.

I had a lesson with my instructor today and after watching and then recording a few swings, I had 2 things going on - flipping the club and poor rotation. My downswing looked perfect up until a few moments before impact. I would slide instead of rotate and the flip to recover. I was over 5 deg outside to in due to it.

We spent the next 50 min working on 1 drill - one I’ve done with him before. It’s to get the hands out of the swing and get myself rotating. The goal in the drill is to feel like I’m blocking the ball but in reality I’m not. I have to do it every day until our next lesson next week.

My point is that actual lessons are so valuable. I risked going down the YouTube rabbit hole trying to correct an issue that I didn’t have. Please, instead of buying a new, shiny club, find an instructor. It really is the best money spent.
Click to expand...

This couldn't be so true.

This post was so me last year. Fighting it all least year, glimpses of good some days, and some days you just don't have a clue. Last October I went back to my instructor and told him I don't care what it takes, I'm his from now on. I see him every Thursday at 5:30 for 1 hour. And to tell you we have made strides is an understatement. From driver to putter we have been covering it all. Golf is so hard, and to play good golf is even harder. What feels right, is completely wrong. And what feels wrong, is right. I cant tell you how pleased I am so far.

Lessons can be intimidating financially but a lot of places have packages and/or group sessions that make them much more affordable.
 
wubears71 said:
I’ve been fighting a slice and gave up with the self diagnosis - it’s a slice so I must be coming over the top.

I had a lesson with my instructor today and after watching and then recording a few swings, I had 2 things going on - flipping the club and poor rotation. My downswing looked perfect up until a few moments before impact. I would slide instead of rotate and the flip to recover. I was over 5 deg outside to in due to it.

We spent the next 50 min working on 1 drill - one I’ve done with him before. It’s to get the hands out of the swing and get myself rotating. The goal in the drill is to feel like I’m blocking the ball but in reality I’m not. I have to do it every day until our next lesson next week.

My point is that actual lessons are so valuable. I risked going down the YouTube rabbit hole trying to correct an issue that I didn’t have. Please, instead of buying a new, shiny club, find an instructor. It really is the best money spent.
Click to expand...

And this is why I have never looked to online videos etc to try and diagnose any issue with my swing, as what you think is the problem may not actually be the problem

I am not saying it won't work for everyone, but I would always go for a lesson with an instructor over watching instructional videos
 
Great post. I have finally gotten away from my slice, as it only happens once in a while now. The thing I do is get armsy later in the round as I tire down some. I think an instructor could help with that some, yet that is more of a focus thing for me. There are things that an instructor can be vital for because he or she can see exactly what is going on with the individual.

In some cases guys will leave happy from their lesson and tell others, to do this or that because their instructor told so and then the person changes their swing only to no avail. This is often bad advice. I have heard this on the course quite often last year. I have a fellow golfer that takes the bits and pieces and doesn't really improve because what worked for others is not what he needs.

The thing that a lot don't understand is that an instructor may be making you do something more or even heavily exaggerated to correct something whereas this is not a fix that would work on another person's swing. An example might be someone with a bad over the top out to in might be taught to do a circle swing with the clubhead in front the ball back around left to the strike zone behind the ball which could work for that person. The next person might be setup with the wrist in a bad position and only needs to focus on that. The next person might merely need their elbows a tad closer to their body a bit. In my case as long as my right elbow tracks properly I am good to go with my driver. My irons are pretty much automatic and with no thoughts whatsoever. It is really an individual level needed and good coaches/instructors are really good at seeing this.
 
Love hearing the success of getting instruction. I too try to self-diagnose and by the time I see my instructor, I’ve got VERY different issues going on than what I had thought.

Keep it up dude!
 
good advise.
 
I learned two key things today. What I think is center position of the ball relative to my body is actually 2-3” forward. My eyes are off that much. Wow.

Second, we analyzed my weight shift on his fancy mat and I am putting too much weight on the outer part of my back foot on the backswing. I need to keep more on the inside. Also you can see exactly where I generate all my power from. I am extremely efficient using the ground - I am actually creating 2x my body weight in force on the ground and then releasing it all at impact. It’s pretty amazing when you see it in graphical and image form.
 
wubears71 said:
I learned two key things today. What I think is center position of the ball relative to my body is actually 2-3” forward. My eyes are off that much. Wow.

Second, we analyzed my weight shift on his fancy mat and I am putting too much weight on the outer part of my back foot on the backswing. I need to keep more on the inside. Also you can see exactly where I generate all my power from. I am extremely efficient using the ground - I am actually creating 2x my body weight in force on the ground and then releasing it all at impact. It’s pretty amazing when you see it in graphical and image form.
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I was working with a guy last week that has the very same problem. He will setup to the ball and thinks the ball is inside his heal or toward center and it will actually be around the center of his left foot!

I showed him by laying a club down pointing to the target and then one across the ball toward his heals. He simply could not believe how far off he was. The thing is this is a hard habit for him to break and his game struggles because of it, but he is working on it. He also has a slight weight shift issue that throws him off.
 
Thanks for sharing this. I have been chump slicing my driver lately, and it is driving me crazy. Your flip and rotation cause helps me adjust my thinking. I don’t think I’m OTT. And your advice hit even harder. Time for another lesson. ?
 
GoldenBuff said:
Thanks for sharing this. I have been chump slicing my driver lately, and it is driving me crazy. Your flip and rotation cause helps me adjust my thinking. I don’t think I’m OTT. And your advice hit even harder. Time for another lesson. ?
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Just curious, what is a "chump slice"?
 
wubears71 said:
I learned two key things today. What I think is center position of the ball relative to my body is actually 2-3” forward. My eyes are off that much. Wow.

Second, we analyzed my weight shift on his fancy mat and I am putting too much weight on the outer part of my back foot on the backswing. I need to keep more on the inside. Also you can see exactly where I generate all my power from. I am extremely efficient using the ground - I am actually creating 2x my body weight in force on the ground and then releasing it all at impact. It’s pretty amazing when you see it in graphical and image form.
Click to expand...

And that is known as having athletic talent. Which I do not seem to possess much of:ROFLMAO:. But I always related it to boxing or Martial arts - where those devastating punches are a result of getting your entire body weight moving with the punch.
 
Grins said:
And that is known as having athletic talent. Which I do not seem to possess much of:ROFLMAO:. But I always related it to boxing or Martial arts - where those devastating punches are a result of getting your entire body weight moving with the punch.
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It's a big reason why I was such a good offensive lineman. I was not the strongest in regards to the power lifts (I was respectable but there were lots of guys benching 350+ and squatting 500+), but I was extremely efficient with my feet and using the ground.
 
wubears71 said:
It's a big reason why I was such a good offensive lineman. I was not the strongest in regards to the power lifts (I was respectable but there were lots of guys benching 350+ and squatting 500+), but I was extremely efficient with my feet and using the ground.
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That comment should actually be quite interesting for mainstream golfers. Well done!
 
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