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Good swing vs my swing

THE_Liam

THE_Liam

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So, here's my dilemma. Being playing around 6 months and had a few lessons, but can't afford many because I'm short of cash recently.

I've developed a fairly reliable swing on my own. I make good contact on most shots and can hit pretty straight, and have a consistent enough gap between clubs to pick the right club more often than not. I'm an ex rugby player so not very flexible in the shoulders, so my swing is very arm-heavy, which restricts my distance, so my average is say 180 yards with my Strata driver, 120 with my Strata 6 iron and 80 with my Strata PW.

I've had a few lessons and tried to get more shoulder and hip turn in, and when I can make clean contact I'm going about 30% further with each clean hit, but I'm struggling to get consistent hits and accuracy because the swing feels uncomfortable.

I'm not going to be able to afford many lessons, and this obsession with a better swing is spoiling my scores and fun. Would you guys stick with the new swing and try learn it on my own, or just go back to the old way?


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Just six months in I really think you should suffer in the shorterm and try to ingrain that better turn. There is just a massive difference in hitting it 180 versus 235-240. It will be all the more difficult for you to add those lost yards later on.
 
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Your potential in golf, to a large degree, is determined by how much speed you can generate. Hitting a driver under 200 yards will seriously limit your potential. Hitting it 235 and straight is long enough to be a low single digit index.
 
Thanks guys. Its just really difficult when its undermined my confidence to the point where I'm shying away from playing and choosing to go to the range, abd after a couple of thousand balls its no better.

Think it might be worth running through it with a different instructor?

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I'm very much in the same boat as you. An arm swinger mainly and struggling to co-ordinate the lower body into my swing. My first lesson recently and I took away a few grip and swing fundamentals to work on until I recommence lessons again in the new year. I committed to at least returning to my lessons with the same instructor with at least some improvement in these aspects and so I've purposely focused on the long game. I try to keep in mind during my rounds that I'm a work in progress.

If lessons in future are fewer than you may like perhaps you could discuss this with your instructor and he might able to give you some things to work on. IMO if you return to your next lesson having made at least some progress that can only be a good thing.
 
Definitely work on your flexibility, flexibility creates length. Work on getting your spine and shoulders flexible and that will go a long way. Look up Dustin Johnson stretches or exercise, he has a lot of good one out there you could do against a wall or door or something like that. He has a stretching pole but I think you could do it with a lot of other things.

I would definitely try to gain some length, at only 180 yards you're leaving a lot of strokes out there just to get to the greens. Being a rugby player you have to possess a lot of athleticism, I don't see any reason you can't get up to 250+ yards being at 180 now just 6 months in. Find some stretching that works for you, get loosened up, and get longer.
 
Ex rugby player. I would give my whole lower torso to have your mass.

I agree with the rest of the guys, you have the potential to hit way farther. I weigh in at 135 lbs, or 67 kilos, and I hit my driver 220 minimum on good hits.

Try this drill. Try doing swings where on the backswing your arms go up only to hip height. That way you can't use your arms. That way, you have to turn your torso back and through towards the target.

Maybe that will help.
 
If your problem is restricted turn maybe the first step is a stretching regimen instead of lessons???
 
Double said:
I'm very much in the same boat as you. An arm swinger mainly and struggling to co-ordinate the lower body into my swing. My first lesson recently and I took away a few grip and swing fundamentals to work on until I recommence lessons again in the new year. I committed to at least returning to my lessons with the same instructor with at least some improvement in these aspects and so I've purposely focused on the long game. I try to keep in mind during my rounds that I'm a work in progress.

If lessons in future are fewer than you may like perhaps you could discuss this with your instructor and he might able to give you some things to work on. IMO if you return to your next lesson having made at least some progress that can only be a good thing.
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I wish I could afford more lessons but in the past few months I've bought an engagement ring, paid for 2 holidays, over a grand in vet bills, the car needed a new clutch and a cambelt, and I'm trying to save for the wedding, literally the worst few months I've ever had money wise!

Problem is I just don't feel like I'm making any progress at all except for the occasional clean 200+ hit :(

so-illhacker said:
Definitely work on your flexibility, flexibility creates length. Work on getting your spine and shoulders flexible and that will go a long way. Look up Dustin Johnson stretches or exercise, he has a lot of good one out there you could do against a wall or door or something like that. He has a stretching pole but I think you could do it with a lot of other things.

I would definitely try to gain some length, at only 180 yards you're leaving a lot of strokes out there just to get to the greens. Being a rugby player you have to possess a lot of athleticism, I don't see any reason you can't get up to 250+ yards being at 180 now just 6 months in. Find some stretching that works for you, get loosened up, and get longer.
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I'm definitely an ex player these days, but I still have a lot of shoulder and neck muscle that makes it difficult to loosen up. Stretching is definitely worth a try, thanks for that.

theoverswinger said:
Ex rugby player. I would give my whole lower torso to have your mass.

I agree with the rest of the guys, you have the potential to hit way farther. I weigh in at 135 lbs, or 67 kilos, and I hit my driver 220 minimum on good hits.

Try this drill. Try doing swings where on the backswing your arms go up only to hip height. That way you can't use your arms. That way, you have to turn your torso back and through towards the target.

Maybe that will help.
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I'm not huge by any means, I'm 5-9 and I played centre so I'm much smaller than a prop or second row, don't be too jealous. The beer gut spoils the look!

That's the drill my instructor gave me, and even with the short backswing I'm hitting further, but it causes a huge draw that I can't get rid of.
tequila4kapp said:
If your problem is restricted turn maybe the first step is a stretching regimen instead of lessons???
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Yeah I think this may be the way to go, seeing as it costs nowt!

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The draw is good news. That means there's body turn, just not in the right place. Try moving the ball more towards your center than off your left foot. Or make like you're throwing out your arms to your right as you turn.
 
Sounds like you have the right ideas, keep the draw. Try what theoverswinger said, and getting it to a little draw.
 
theoverswinger said:
The draw is good news. That means there's body turn, just not in the right place. Try moving the ball more towards your center than off your left foot. Or make like you're throwing out your arms to your right as you turn.
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Trey3d said:
Sounds like you have the right ideas, keep the draw. Try what theoverswinger said, and getting it to a little draw.
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Thanks for that lads, that sounds really positive. I'm gonna go hit 50 balls this afternoon so I'll give it a go and report back.

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So, tried again and although when I do hit it there's less draw than where I was positioning the ball before, now I'm struggling to hit the ball at all :(

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THE_Liam said:
So, tried again and although when I do hit it there's less draw than where I was positioning the ball before, now I'm struggling to hit the ball at all :(

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Stick with it. Golf is hard.
 
blugold said:
Stick with it. Golf is hard.
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Problem is I've got no idea whether what I'm doing is right, and I can't afford any lessons just now. Very tempted to hang up the sticks until I can afford lessons but I am enjoying it, as poor a golfer as I am.

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THE_Liam said:
Problem is I've got no idea whether what I'm doing is right, and I can't afford any lessons just now. Very tempted to hang up the sticks until I can afford lessons but I am enjoying it, as poor a golfer as I am.

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What if I told you, you could record your swing with your phone and post it to an internet golf forum where a gentleman/panda, who works with golfers of all levels (kids to PGA Tour Pros) could look at the swing and give you some pointers...for free?:smile-big:
 
blugold said:
What if I told you, you could record your swing with your phone and post it to an internet golf forum where a gentleman/panda, who works with golfers of all levels (kids to PGA Tour Pros) could look at the swing and give you some pointers...for free?:smile-big:
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This is the best idea so far, nobody can really tell you what you need to do unless they see your swing. Even then you get some misinformation. Post a video in the swing tips subforum and Freddie can help you out. That's why I only suggested working on getting more flexible, that's something that won't hurt a golf swing.
 
Change feels uncomfortable. I'd say take two videos of your swing: one from behind, and one from face on. I'll put two examples to give you the proper angles from which to take the videos. Improper camera angles can give misleading information.

Like these taken of Na Yeon Choi:





Then post the video in Freddie's section of the forum and have him look at it. He'll give you some pointers, and probably one thing on which you should focus. It's usually best to focus on one thing at a time instead of trying to fix a bunch of things. Fixing one thing usually changes other things. However identifying the proper thing to change is most critical.

Flexibility will never hurt. Stretches always help. I'm pretty flexible for my age.
 
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blugold said:
What if I told you, you could record your swing with your phone and post it to an internet golf forum where a gentleman/panda, who works with golfers of all levels (kids to PGA Tour Pros) could look at the swing and give you some pointers...for free?:smile-big:
Click to expand...

so-illhacker said:
This is the best idea so far, nobody can really tell you what you need to do unless they see your swing. Even then you get some misinformation. Post a video in the swing tips subforum and Freddie can help you out. That's why I only suggested working on getting more flexible, that's something that won't hurt a golf swing.
Click to expand...

InTheRough said:
Change feels uncomfortable. I'd say take two videos of your swing: one from behind, and one from face on. I'll put two examples to give you the proper angles from which to take the videos. Improper camera angles can give misleading information.

Like these taken of Na Yeon Choi:





Then post the video in Freddie's section of the forum and have him look at it. He'll give you some pointers, and probably one thing on which you should focus. It's usually best to focus on one thing at a time instead of trying to fix a bunch of things. Fixing one thing usually changes other things. However identifying the proper thing to change is most critical.

Flexibility will never hurt. Stretches always help. I'm pretty flexible for my age.
Click to expand...


Cheers lads, didn't even know there was such a facility on here! Been to the range today and got a couple of videos so I'll post them when my phone decides to work properly

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Daddio said:
Just six months in I really think you should suffer in the shorterm and try to ingrain that better turn. There is just a massive difference in hitting it 180 versus 235-240. It will be all the more difficult for you to add those lost yards later on.
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I completely agree with this. I'm going through the same process. One thing I've gotten used to telling my coach is "this feels really weird, so I must be doing the right thing."

More lessons won't get over the weirdness, only practice will do that and you can (hopefully) do that for way cheaper. Even if it's just getting a doormat you can smack with a club and practicing in your living room or back yard, not even hitting balls, just doing the right motion over and over until it feels normal.

Swing changes always suck in the short term. What you're doing is learning a new gross motor skill (big shoulder turn) and you haven't developed the matching fine motor skills (little motions to make clean contact with good aim) yet. Stick with it, I promise it will come together eventually.

I was in the exact same boat a year ago when I started lessons. I could hit the ball, it would go up in the air, and it would go relatively straight (I could hit fairways). But my distance was super short, and I was crazy inconsistent with what direction the ball was going or how far it was going, and about every 5-10 shots I'd top one or chunk it badly. Now after a year I have a swing that is starting to look really good, but my aim and ball striking are still inconsistent. But that's because I've overhauled literally every part of what my body is doing in the swing. I'm confident that now that things are settling down, the good contact and aim will come with practice. And I've gained a lot of distance with less effort than what I was doing before.
 
Dave Alvarado said:
I completely agree with this. I'm going through the same process. One thing I've gotten used to telling my coach is "this feels really weird, so I must be doing the right thing."

More lessons won't get over the weirdness, only practice will do that and you can (hopefully) do that for way cheaper. Even if it's just getting a doormat you can smack with a club and practicing in your living room or back yard, not even hitting balls, just doing the right motion over and over until it feels normal.

Swing changes always suck in the short term. What you're doing is learning a new gross motor skill (big shoulder turn) and you haven't developed the matching fine motor skills (little motions to make clean contact with good aim) yet. Stick with it, I promise it will come together eventually.

I was in the exact same boat a year ago when I started lessons. I could hit the ball, it would go up in the air, and it would go relatively straight (I could hit fairways). But my distance was super short, and I was crazy inconsistent with what direction the ball was going or how far it was going, and about every 5-10 shots I'd top one or chunk it badly. Now after a year I have a swing that is starting to look really good, but my aim and ball striking are still inconsistent. But that's because I've overhauled literally every part of what my body is doing in the swing. I'm confident that now that things are settling down, the good contact and aim will come with practice. And I've gained a lot of distance with less effort than what I was doing before.
Click to expand...
Cheers for that mate, sounds like your swing was very similar to mine, or at least the results it was producing anyway. I've uploaded a video in Freddie's section so just waiting for some comments on that.

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