A day of NOTHING but shanks

Okay. Here is a little video of you and Luke Donald compared that I hope will help. It is not polished and has no audio but I will explain what is going on and what you should notice.



1. Notice your club to hand relationship (swing plane) going back. Your club is inside of your hands going back and outside coming down. I've seen decent players play like this, but even the slightest bit of tension will throw the club further outside and.... well, you know. Work on your swing plane.

2. Very important. Notice how your butt is moving all over the place and specifically down and towards the ball during the swing. You really need to focus on keeping those hips still going back then swing away.

and finally.

3. Nothing horrible, but you might try lowering your right shoulder just a little. That is just a minor nitpick.

I hope these observations help. I struggle with the exact same thing you are going through and I can always trace it back to swing plane and moving my hips all over the place.

Good luck.

That is very much appreciated, Brad. Thanks for the overlay of the two swings, really help showed some flaws. I do notice that my left knee bends quite a bit inward towards the ball. Does this vary from swing to swing, or do I need to make a conscious effort to use more of my hips? I know it's impossible to not use your knees with the rotation, but my left knee just looks like it is causing me trouble coming in that far. Maybe a posture problem that's not allowing me the proper takeaway?

Your setup posture looks very good. Just double check your weight distribution. I would try to keep my lower body as still as possible during the back swing. Set your angles at address, then turn your shoulders back maintaining a good extension of the club. Then unwind by pushing off with your right foot, uncoiling your hips and rotating your shoulders through the ball. But try to maintain your spine angle and the extension of the club. A good rule of thumb for the back swing rotation is knees 25 degrees, hips 45 and shoulders 90. But that's not set in stone. But what is set in stone is, that you must not let your hips waver around on the backswing. They should only rotate against your right leg. I would really recommend you find a good pro to help you with these things if you're unsure.

One more thing to look at with Luke Donald. See how well he keeps the shaft plane parallel to or inside of the hands-to-ball plane? The butt of the club points across it only momentarily on the way down. I strive for this.