We've launched the new forums! Read more here

Swing Overhaul

Smithfaced

Smithfaced

New member
Joined
May 22, 2013
Messages
4,835
Reaction score
0
Location
North Carolina
Handicap
11.1
I'm not sure if this would be better served in the swing tips section so please move in necessary.

My love/hate relationship with Stack & Tilt has been well documented on THP. I have had some phenomenal ball striking days with it and I've had the worst days ever. When I hooked my first tee shot this weekend JB told me that was his miss when he was using a similar swing. After the round I really started thinking about this all over again. Why on Earth would I want to be so inconsistent? By inconsistent I mean that I can shoot anywhere from 76 to 100 (drastic) anytime I go out. Then I thought maybe it would be time to shock the system a little bit.

I'm at a point now, especially with the MC coming up, that I can either see a different pro all together or really grind S&T hard for the next 4 months. Some of the positives I have going for me are that I have the ability to practice a lot, plenty of motivation, a general understanding of the golf swing and why certain things happen, and I'm athletic.

So, who out there in THP land has gone through drastic swing changes and what was your experience? How long did it take you to groove that swing? Why did you change and how is it going for you now? I'd love to hear everyone's input.
 
I'm going through a change now so can't tell you a turnaround time but I've laid my goals out in front of my pro and he knows the deadlines we have in place.
 
Im not the guy to ask, but will just say this.
You are an athletic dude. You are a hard working guy. And you love to have a purpose.
You can be where you need to be in 3 months. Guaran-Effin-Teed!

Will it be perfect? Nope. But you can be there...
 
What are we, four months from the MC? Personally, I would not try a full fledged swing overhaul with that time window, I'd fine tune what I already was working with.
 
tequila4kapp said:
What are we, four months from the MC? Personally, I would not try a full fledged swing overhaul with that time window, I'd fine tune what I already was working with.
Click to expand...

Good point. I have good pieces and a full swing overhaul was probably a drastic statement that I made. I just feel like something is going to have to change though and it likely won't be one tiny piece of a swing.
 
mikedean441 said:
I'm going through a change now so can't tell you a turnaround time but I've laid my goals out in front of my pro and he knows the deadlines we have in place.
Click to expand...

How did you approach your first lesson with him? Did you just say these are my goals and this is my time frame? Go!
 
What do you feel the most comfortable with? By that I mean if you grind S&T for the next four months and get it working well can you get to the point where it will also stand up under the pressure of the MC rounds. I think the important thing for you to decide is which route will lead to the best results under pressure. I think the only person that truly knows that is you.
 
Smithfaced said:
How did you approach your first lesson with him? Did you just say these are my goals and this is my time frame? Go!
Click to expand...

Started with my goals...deadlines where I've been and where I want to go.

Then a bunch of swings and we got right to work tweeting things. Now it's a matter of en graining those in my head and body and make it my new swing.
 
lightningbolt44 said:
What do you feel the most comfortable with? By that I mean if you grind S&T for the next four months and get it working well can you get to the point where it will also stand up under the pressure of the MC rounds. I think the important thing for you to decide is which route will lead to the best results under pressure. I think the only person that truly knows that is you.
Click to expand...

My main hesitation is that I've been grinding it out since August and can still be wildly inconsistent.
 
Smithfaced said:
My main hesitation is that I've been grinding it out since August and can still be wildly inconsistent.
Click to expand...

With the practice you have been doing I think anything is doable even in the 4 months. What made you change to s&t originally in august? Is it just small issues that you revert to on your bad days or is it major issues? Is it something you can diagnose mid round? Meaning if you are having a problem that doesnt seem to be going away can you figure it out and fix it or at least minimize the miss for the majority of the round? Do you have anyone that you play with that knows your goals and what you are being taught? Not someone to give you swing tips but more another set of eyes that knows when you do a certain thing it has a certain result.
 
lightningbolt44 said:
With the practice you have been doing I think anything is doable even in the 4 months. What made you change to s&t originally in august? Is it just small issues that you revert to on your bad days or is it major issues? Is it something you can diagnose mid round? Meaning if you are having a problem that doesnt seem to be going away can you figure it out and fix it or at least minimize the miss for the majority of the round? Do you have anyone that you play with that knows your goals and what you are being taught? Not someone to give you swing tips but more another set of eyes that knows when you do a certain thing it has a certain result.
Click to expand...

I changed to S&T because the pro where I go to school teaches it. It's the same recurring issue (snap hook) and I know it is partially because I'm swinging too far to the right with a closed club face but I can't ever seem to fix it mid round. I just have to kind of suffer through it. Pretty much a big fat no on the last question.
 
I've told you my thoughts on when I was doing S&T and then switched. My short irons were freakin' awesome when I was a S&T student, but I got into snap hooking everything off the tee box and with long irons and switched. I was a 12 when I started S&T, an 18 when I gave up on it. Now I'm just a complete mess with too many swing thoughts in my head.

I've talked about going back to S&T just to get my short iron game back, but I'm really scared of getting the snap hooks again and feel that I can fix the rights easier than my low snap hooks. Obviously I haven't gotten them worked out yet though. You're a lot more athletic than I am, so 4 months may be doable for you, but it's been almost 2 years and I'm not back to where I started before a single lesson S&T or not. I guess that would be my concern if I were you, how long is it going to take to get back to acceptable golf? I'm still not there and it's seriously irritating after this amount of time.
 
Smithfaced said:
I changed to S&T because the pro where I go to school teaches it. It's the same recurring issue (snap hook) and I know it is partially because I'm swinging too far to the right with a closed club face but I can't ever seem to fix it mid round. I just have to kind of suffer through it. Pretty much a big fat no on the last question.
Click to expand...
I've done lessons three times. I've been told three times that a slice is hard to fix and takes time, but a hook is easy to fix. That was also my personal experience through those lesson series.

Maybe you would have better results if you approached lessons not from the perspective of "abandon S&T" but instead something more tangible like "hit the ball straighter and have enough knowledge to self correct." Something like IS more than doable in 4 months (again, speaking from experience).
 
I am rather simple when it comes to golf. It has been my experience that when I have issues it is usually ball position or grip related. I think that we all have a way of doing things that comes natural to our bodies. I think you should just swing your swing and concentrate on how you intend to control the clubhead. Good luck with whatever you decide and relax and have fun, its golf. We as humans try to complicate things, you are basically hitting a ball with a stick.
 
That is a tough question. My first instinct was to tell you to go with your gut, so I'm sticking with it. Get after it if you want the change. Decide to be great!

JM
 
Tiger said it took him a year to fully accept a swing change. Of course, his was much more ingrained and critical to his livelihood than yours or mine is.

I'm working on a major overhaul as well. it's rough during the transition for sure but so far I've forced myself to stick with it 100% and am liking the results. it has been 99 holes and 3-4 hours of range time in the last 2 weeks or so. it's not fully natural yet, but it is certainly much, much better than the first round out. scores went up (way up) for a couple rounds and then back to normal, and have finally started to improve.

on a side note - one thing I've noticed with this swing change is that since my body is moving differently, certain muscles and joints that weren't used to being used that way are really complaining. I was hoping to really work hard at this, but I'm having to take it a bit slower to let my body adjust and avoid injury. Instead of practicing every day I'm doing a day or two of rest in between. That might not happen with you but it's worth considering.
 
I am currently changing my swing plane but so much that my weight shift, back swing, downswing and release all have changed. After 4 range sessions quite a bit of time swinging in front of a mirror and slown practice swings I am already seeing quite a bit of progress.

If you have the time and the motivation to make it happen then I think you can.

I am am not very athletic and golf is the only sport I have ever really played. Just as a side note.
Goodluck in whatever you decide.
 
majBC said:
I am rather simple when it comes to golf. It has been my experience that when I have issues it is usually ball position or grip related. I think that we all have a way of doing things that comes natural to our bodies. I think you should just swing your swing and concentrate on how you intend to control the clubhead. Good luck with whatever you decide and relax and have fun, its golf. We as humans try to complicate things, you are basically hitting a ball with a stick.
Click to expand...

I agree wholeheartedly with this. I focus on PGA = posture, grip, alignment. Tempo is super important as well. I try to correct flaws by focusing on my setup - it's too difficult to try to control what's happening once I initiate my swing.
 
With a major event like u are going to be in,,,a major overhaul may be a bad move. What about just sticking it out? Learn to play your misses
 
Mystery Meat said:
With a major event like u are going to be in,,,a major overhaul may be a bad move. What about just sticking it out? Learn to play your misses
Click to expand...

There's no playing your misses with a snap hook on a tight course with trouble everywhere. Water right/OB left and vice versa.
 
Tempo Tempo Tempo. Slowwwwwww take away. Possible grip modification. I use a double overlap grip which putts both of the last two fingers on overlap position . Slows the hands down?

Make SURE your hands are not too low.

These are my fixes and I hope one can help you. It won't hurt will it?

I've been a hooker all my life. I understand ya pain. Try these little tips?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
This is a tough one. I honestly don't know much about the stack and tilt as I've told you, but I know how much you do not seem to like it. It seems like when things go bad, it just seems to snowball for you and you lose all confidence in your swing. I know you are motivated and will work hard, so finding a teacher who understands what your goals are, can get you where you want to be. I think if you find a swing you are comfortable with, you will be a beast in July.
 
Smithfaced said:
I'm not sure if this would be better served in the swing tips section so please move in necessary.

My love/hate relationship with Stack & Tilt has been well documented on THP. I have had some phenomenal ball striking days with it and I've had the worst days ever. When I hooked my first tee shot this weekend JB told me that was his miss when he was using a similar swing. After the round I really started thinking about this all over again. Why on Earth would I want to be so inconsistent? By inconsistent I mean that I can shoot anywhere from 76 to 100 (drastic) anytime I go out. Then I thought maybe it would be time to shock the system a little bit.

I'm at a point now, especially with the MC coming up, that I can either see a different pro all together or really grind S&T hard for the next 4 months. Some of the positives I have going for me are that I have the ability to practice a lot, plenty of motivation, a general understanding of the golf swing and why certain things happen, and I'm athletic.

So, who out there in THP land has gone through drastic swing changes and what was your experience? How long did it take you to groove that swing? Why did you change and how is it going for you now? I'd love to hear everyone's input.
Click to expand...

Bro I'm going to tell you straight up that you're too athletic for stack and tilt, I was watching you hit balls in Hilton Head and going to a traditional style swing would be easier for you short term and in the long run. When I took a few lessons to get sorted out a few years ago it took about a year of hard work to get in the mid to upper 70s and I'm beginning the journey again now. You have a ton of talent buddy, make the change or not but commit to whatever you decide and do it.
 
I too am going through a swing overhaul that started back in August though not S&T.

If I remember correctly the whole idea of Stack & Tilt is basically a more simplified swing that will provide you with more consistent contact and ball flight. Sounds like it's not really working for you right now but the question you should ask yourself is when the S&T is working, is it significantly better than what I was doing before? If so, keep at it - consistency comes with work and patience. If not then that's a hard choice because of the upcoming event.

With the change I'm making, I could tell in the first bucket of balls I experimented with that what I'm doing now is much better for me than the swing I was previously using. Maybe in the first 20 balls. My swing is freer and when I do it correctly the contact has a totally different sound and the ball is compressing like crazy. One of my main problems I've had in the few times I have been out in the past few months is that when it works I'm hitting the ball TOO GOOD. I'm talking 10-15 more yds with my irons - Nice problem to have.
 
Im going through a pretty big change right now and I say that you just have to trust your guns and go full out until you have the confidence. There will be good days and bad days but you have to stick with it. In terms of the method, think about how good you are hitting it on your best of days and compare that to how bad you hit on the worst days. If you get more consistent but are still worried about that big msis then maybe look for something that is a little more consistent and the miss isnt as bad..... Look at it also as is this how you want to swing for the rest of your life post MC. dont just go about it as you are trying to put a band aid on the problem. You are putting the effort forward so you might as well have a great result to show for it
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top