Started with golf - looking for swing advice / really appreciate your help

You look very good for only have been playing a short time. I would love some of the speed that is apparent in your swing.

Definitely try to find a good pro. I can't believe there are only two pros in your town. Even if you have to drive 30 minutes it will definitely be worth it. If you post what area you are in I am sure someone can find a recommendation for a teacher to work with. At this point in your development getting a good teaching pro to work with is invaluable.
 
You look very good for only have been playing a short time. I would love some of the speed that is apparent in your swing.

Definitely try to find a good pro. I can't believe there are only two pros in your town. Even if you have to drive 30 minutes it will definitely be worth it. If you post what area you are in I am sure someone can find a recommendation for a teacher to work with. At this point in your development getting a good teaching pro to work with is invaluable.

:)

Thanks!

Well, I am located in Czech Republic and I live like an hour drive from our capital Prague. There are many golf teachers, but how can I know which one is good? :D
 
:)

Thanks!

Well, I am located in Czech Republic and I live like an hour drive from our capital Prague. There are many golf teachers, but how can I know which one is good? :D

It may be a bit harder to get a recommendation there. There are some teachers that do video lessons I haven’t worked with any.
 
Hello guys,

I need to rest for a week or so, because my lead wrist & fingers hurt - probably it's because I was hitting off those mats too much 🙂

We will see...
 
I see a lot of sway to your trail leg during your backswing. That's ok if you can consistently get back to a good position but most can't. I would bet you hit it fat(behind the ball) a lot. Try keeping your head still in one place instead of allowing your whole body to sway back behind the ball. One other thing. And this is really hard for guys like you and me who are used to using our muscles. Do not muscle the ball. You will hit is more consistently and just as far or further using what feels like 20-30% less effort. You will find the center face more often for one but the main reason is our muscles are tight when we try to use them to muscle the ball and when we do not they are nice a loose. Loose muscles are not tense and in the golf swing will actually generate more speed because there is not tension.
 
My only suggestion would be to not neglect the short game. A decent short game can be a real stroke saver. Good luck!
 
Don't overlook getting the right clubs. Experiment if possible. There are some retailers offering guarantees. Buy used. No you can't buy a game. But, some clubs are more user
friendly than others.
 
I can't add much more to what's already been posted above. All good advice, especially about getting lessons. Also, being a baseball player, the importance of continued instruction is already known. Golf swing instruction is no different.

I played college baseball on a scholarship. I wasn't golfing at the time. My baseball coach would have killed me running the stadium bleechers up, and down if I owned a set of clubs.

A few things my golf instructor told me, using baseball analogies after finding out I played a lot of baseball.

A golf swing is similar to baseball player swinging at a low, and outside pitched base ball. A tough pitch to hit.

A baseball swing involves more of an earlier release of the wrists than a golf swing. This is really tough to over come for a ball player, turned golfer. I still suffer from this even today. 40+ years later

As for the down swing club head path, align the feet, knees, hips, and shoulders through the pitcher's mound, to second base. Then swing the club head towards the middle of right field. This helps to prevent casting in the down swing, an early wrist release, and tends to help prevent slices.

My golf instructor also had me hitting a lot of pitch shots. According to him, a pitch shot, when done correctly, is just an abbreviated driver swing with a shorter club. These were pitch shots done with a lot of weight transfer.

I do know a baseball player can have a good golf swing. Years ago I played a couple charity events with both Greg, and Mike Maddux. At the time they played decent golf. Then again, neither one of them were known for having a home run swing.
 
Ignore advice about swing position, body positions, parts of the swing, etc... You will progress MUCH faster by letting your brain automatically put your body in the right places. Don't think about positions at all, certainly not when starting but even when you get really good.

To simple, right? Don't believe me?... try this... Take a nice light grip of the club and feel, really feel the heaviness of the club head. Stay loose and relaxed. Really get the feeling that the power of the swing comes from the weight of the club head whipping through impact. Just practice swing the club back and forth and feel the heavy head whip through the air. Remember a light grip to allow you to feel the heavy head. Once you get the feeling I'm talking about, just whip the heavy club head through the back of the ball. You don't need to exert much effort to get a decent whip of the heavy club head. When you really want to smash it, you can boost the whip with a little extra effort, but still, let the weight of the club head dictate the swing. The body mechanics are a natural result.

95% percent of modern golf instruction focuses on what you should do with your body when really you just need to focus on the tool and the task and let your brain and body handle the rest automatically.

Obviously it helps to understand ball flight laws, hook and slice, etc... even a perfect swing will have a bad result with a really open club face, for example. But give this a try and you'll be making crisp contact, swinging smooth and hitting rockets in no time.
 
Hello guys,

I need to rest for a week or so, because my lead wrist & fingers hurt - probably it's because I was hitting off those mats too much 🙂

We will see...
Glad you mentioned that. Your grip looks a little off. You look like you are trying to help the ball get airborn with your right hand, "scoopy" looking.

Lot of play at the top of the backswing. Not so long, you should maintain more of your wrist angle at the top for power. Swing from the inside just like baseball.
(Third baseman here.)

Work on the grip and hitting down on the ball to make it go up.
Mats are bad. Hit off grass as often as you can. Bad habits especially fat shots with mats.
 
I would echo Wildthing's suggestion of looking at teachers who emphasize allowing your body to utilize your already-present athleticism. You just need a few firmed up fundamentals.

YouTube instructors who focus on allowing the swing to happen:
Shawn Clement
Fred Shoemaker
Manuel de la Torre
Adam Bazalgette

Since you're instructor challenged, you also could arrange a Skype or video analysis lesson. I know Shawn Clement offers that and Adam Bazalgette does too. It's obviously not as good as in-person, but better than nothing.

From watching your videos, I'd look at tips on grip, ball position, and keeping the club face square. You appear to have the ball too far forward and/or your shoulders too open at address. Your club face also appears slightly closed during the swing - but that's something I don't know that I'd mess with without the guidance of a pro.

Fantastic swing for a beginner though.



 
Hello guys!

Thanks you very much for your comments & guidance! It really helps me.

I played my first tournament yesterday and the result is my first win :D
It was in HCP category 29,6-54 and I started with 54 HCP. I had 60 stableford points and my new HCP is 28,6. I scored 1 par (on par 4), 7 bogeys, 5 double bogeys, 3 triple bogeys, one +4 and I lose the ball on one hole :)

The result isn't bad -- but I think it's a lot better than it looked in reality - I wasn't really satisfied with my game. Putting was good, but I wasn't really consistent & confident with irons, which is a big problem. I didn't use driver, because I can't hit that well, so I used Cobra 3 19degrees hybrid for long shots - btw that's the club I am most comfortable with - don't know why - maybe because I am not afraid to hit the ground with it, as I am maybe subconsciously afraid of it with irons... Don't know..

So I feel I really need to work on my irons & get to the basics (that feels weird if I say back to basics, because I just started, but yeah..)
I think golf should be mostly about iron play :)

I'll go to the range during the week and I'll share the updated video of my swing - I am a bit afraid of how it's going to look like, really. We'll see.

Next Saturday, I play another tournament and it's going to be a tougher course...

Thank you very much guys for your help!!
 
Btw I think that most of my slices were a result of over the top swing - not the obvious one with rotated shoulders, but I think I was casting the club a bit and it wasn't swinging from the inside. Maybe it's because of my right hand dominance -

so if I try to hit irons on driving range and focus on leading the club with my left hand, the result is usually a draw - but it feels really weird to me, the feeling of it. My left hand isn't really precise, because I didn't used it like this.

And there was another problem, which I think is caused early extension - I think I have problems with that, it looks my trail heel comes off the ground too early. I tried to focus on that, but it's not very easy for me -- I made a video and I felt that I am not doing that but it was still there on the video :)
 
You have a lot of swing thoughts going on. That's hard. A good pro will get you down to one or two to focus on and practice.
I'll just give one drill to work on: swing with clubhead covers under your arms. If they fall out, you are losing connection between arms and body working in unison.
That will make ya slice or hook. Gotta get the timing out of the swing and get it synched up it sounds like. (y)
 
You are right. I know that thinking too much about it results into tension & bad sequencing during the swing, it has to be automatic..

I try to focus on stable lower body & relaxed elbows and shoulders during the swing.
But the results are not very good :)

I tried to use clubhead covers under my armpits and it was really a weird feeling - I'll try to do that with a shorter swing.
 
You are right. I know that thinking too much about it results into tension & bad sequencing during the swing, it has to be automatic..

I try to focus on stable lower body & relaxed elbows and shoulders during the swing.
But the results are not very good :)

I tried to use clubhead covers under my armpits and it was really a weird feeling - I'll try to do that with a shorter swing.
It's also a good indicator of flexibility. If they fall out, you might need some stretching. Yep. Start short and lengthen. Good idea. It really helps promote a turn, which you need to keep those arms and body synched up and those covers to stay in place. (y)
 
Btw I think that most of my slices were a result of over the top swing - not the obvious one with rotated shoulders, but I think I was casting the club a bit and it wasn't swinging from the inside. Maybe it's because of my right hand dominance -

so if I try to hit irons on driving range and focus on leading the club with my left hand, the result is usually a draw - but it feels really weird to me, the feeling of it. My left hand isn't really precise, because I didn't used it like this.

And there was another problem, which I think is caused early extension - I think I have problems with that, it looks my trail heel comes off the ground too early. I tried to focus on that, but it's not very easy for me -- I made a video and I felt that I am not doing that but it was still there on the video :)
Swingman, check out the THP section of the True Motion Golf website (stickie at top of Swing Tips Section of THP). There is a slice fixer series in there that may help you a bit. Let me know if you have any questions. Matt
 
2. I suspect you offer your baseball background as proof you are an athlete (and you are). In my experience baseball doesn’t translate to golf (hockey and tennis do), if anything it starts you at a disadvantage.

I don’t agree on the baseball. There’s a lot of raw power there. No way he’s there in 3 months without a base in swinging something, hard, in the past.
 
I don’t agree on the baseball. There’s a lot of raw power there. No way he’s there in 3 months without a base in swinging something, hard, in the past.
Check this 👇 out...It depends! 😉
 
I don’t agree on the baseball. There’s a lot of raw power there. No way he’s there in 3 months without a base in swinging something, hard, in the past.
Start talking to people to find out how many played hockey, tennis and baseball. I can just about guarantee you I’m right about baseball (position players / hitters).
 
@swingman123123 our two sons were national baseball players (catcher and shortstop) and neither took to golf. I can understand why, golf is too difficult for most and is a really perverse game. It can make the best players in the world look foolish. It can reward mishits and crooked shots, while penalizing good shots. Golfers are nuts.😊
 
Hello golfers,

I started with golf 3 months ago. I was a professional baseball player (catcher/outfielder, batting left/throwing right) 10 years ago.

I struggle with my golf swing and I tried many things. I had/have a problem with chicken wing, extension, hitting fat, hitting thin, slices, push slices, etc. (everything :D)

Here's a quick video of some of my "better swings".

it's on youtube: Hello golfers,

I started with golf 3 months ago. I was a professional baseball player (catcher/outfielder, batting left/throwing right) 10 years ago.

I struggle with my golf swing and I tried many things. I had/have a problem with chicken wing, extension, hitting fat, hitting thin, slices, push slices, etc. (everything :D)

Here's a quick youtube video of some of my "better swings".




Can you please suggest, what I should focus on?

I'd appreciate any help :)

Thank you!


The best tips I can give you after playing for 40 years is........

1. Go see a pro, and instruct him beforehand that you want to keep the swing as simple as possible.

2. Get fitted, and stay with what works. Your clubs never change.......... you do.

3. Keep it fun............ and repair your ball marks. ;)
 
I think you need to first decide if you want to be a 'swinger' (like most PGA pros ) who power their left arm with an active pivot action , a right arm swinger (who powers the left arm mainly with his right arm - no active wrist torque) or a 'swing-hitter' where the left arm is powered by a mix of the upper body pivot, right arm straightening and active wrist torque.

A swing-hitter technique , imho, is more difficult to master than a 'swinger (active pivot)' or a right arm-swinger.

If you want to use a 'swinging' technique , then you are going to have to learn how to change your downswing hand path using passive wrists while improving your upper body pivot with the intent of accelerating your left arm through impact for several inches (with something called a 'geometrically flat' left wrist ).

Without going into 'paralysis by analysis' biomechanical details on the different 'swinging' techniques , I would give 'throwing the club to a target' drill a try (but go somewhere safe and use some old irons).

Imho, Shawn Clement is the best 'how to' swing instructor out there and he has some nice videos on how to throw clubs to a target.




I suspect that when you first attempt to throw the clubs they will go high and left if your upper body pivot stalls. Once you learn how to throw effortlessly to a target , you will then intuitively feel how the pivot can power the left arm (especially in the early downswing). It will also help you time your 'release' better without actively using wrist torque plus get your body, especially your upper body, moving 'out of the way' without stalling in the late downswing and through impact .

Good video. I think I could benefit from this one.
 
Start talking to people to find out how many played hockey, tennis and baseball. I can just about guarantee you I’m right about baseball (position players / hitters).
Baseball is a tough crossover sport because hitters hit off there back foot, Period. That is why the majority of them flip. They have 10s of 1000s reps of making this motion. Golf is a front sided game at impact. That is why Hockey players rule give me a hockey player and I can get him to a scratch way way before a baseball player. I love hockey players. Matt wrote a great article on this.
 
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