Hi Tyler!(no rush)

Hi Zach,

Thanks for the post. It sounds like you have a good diagnosis on the hook issue; Triangular divot, high right shoulder, and a stall/flip. So the next step is picking the element or two that will have the biggest impact. The stills help, but a video or two might be easier for me to provide help.

Looking at your images, the first impact image with the bucket hat is the most telling. To fix the hook, we gotta get some more shaft lean. The second, posed picture looks better, but possibly the shoulders are too open (part of the right shoulder high pattern). That shoulder move seems to show up in the actual hit. I like a LOT of the elements in that picture, but it does look like an overdraw or pull draw is a likely miss. The ulnar deviation is a good place to start as it will help you allow your hands to get more forward, the complimentary piece will be working on the high trail shoulder.

Good luck.

Happy Golfing,
Tyler

Wow Tyler, thanks for the prompt response! Video is something I have plenty of; I’ve attached slow mo DTL of a trophy snapper, a reasonably successful driver F/O, and regular speed of me chunking short approaches from two angles.
Excessively open shoulders and not enough side bend are for sure my least favorite elements of my impact alignments, and I’m all ears when it comes to which changes may have the biggest impact. I’m willing and able to work, and I’d really especially love to be solid from about 130 yards. Again thank you for the prompt response; I know you’re busy and it means a lot to me that you took the time!

Cheers,
Zach

-Double Update-
Then I found lead arm raise and shark fin and head tilt… your content is amazing! You’re golf’s Willy Wonka and this is a giant Montessori chocolate factory. I’ll stop bothering you and be in the corner over here… see you probably in 6 months 😂

PS I’ve included this morning’s 9-3s; it’s amazing how fast the ice is breaking

-Update-
Looks like the magic formula is me spewing some maudlin word vomit and then coming across a magic drill that unlocks a new key area for me! This time it was “Trail Wrist Unhinging”- it’s the wipe PLUS the unhinge! At impact the trail elbow is closer to the target than it was at address! It’s every bit as simple and profound and fundamental as I’d thought; my previous mental picture of impact had my trail elbow and my trail hip fused at the moment of impact. That is not so; and if the two are together during the strike it is happenstance. That also necessarily changes attitude of the lead arm at the strike; I’ll add a little clip of what seems to me now to be correct! Thank you again, end of update—

But if I had to pick one thing…

I’d like to be able to “bunt” straight, ie hit a club 80 percent or less and be confident that it will be solid-ish and straight-ish.

However, in real life, in order to get the ball anywhere near where I want it to go I have to be able to “throw” my right hand at it. No matter what I try, I can’t seem to find a way to make it natural to deliver the club with my upper right arm against my ribs and the clubhead trailing my hands. I can pose the impact position I want to be in all day, but even if I start there and try to make a 9 to 3 swing I can’t get back to it(editor’s note- the lead arm raise and trail arm unhinge with wipe has solved that). When I let my mental guard down and just swing I find myself way overdoing the throw with the trail arm and it looks kind of a righty Phil Mickelson. The video is me just throwing a ball down and swinging at it, and the result is pretty typical- it’s fat and left or both. It’s less left than it’s been though, so hopefully I’m improving! (Editor’s note- I’ve included today’s version of me just throwing a ball down and swinging- it’s getting better.)

My ball striking is just a mystery to me. It gets better through the course of a day; 44-38 is a very common 18 hole scoring pattern for me, but if I don’t get at least 15-20 warm up balls in order to figure out which hoodoo bandaid will keep the ball on the planet that particular day I’m liable to shoot 50 on my first 9. I feel like there’s something basic I just don’t get, and it’s not for want of practice or study.
I apologize for the length of the above diatribe, but I promise I did make an effort at restraint.
Thank you in advance for your time!

Zach

Hey Zach,

I'm enjoying the swings and descriptions. Keep grinding at it. The goal is to get to a place where you don't need an extensive warm-up to have decent ball-striking. Let's see if we can figure out the keys.

I do think there's something to the arms that looks a little off. Can you do me a favor and film a right-arm-only and a left-arm-only swing? For a lot of people, I ask for 9-3, but for you, I want transition as well. So at least a 3/4 swing. Don't try to hit it hard, maybe a 70-yard 7-iron or something like that.

I think the unhinge and the elbow position will be huge for you, but I want to see how it all plays out in the single-arm versions. Looking forward to seeing your swings.

Let me know if you have any questions,

Tyler

Well sensei, you went and kicked an ant hill there. My arms are clearly working at cross purposes, and I chose examples that were representative rather than flattering.
I eagerly await your diagnosis, but in the meantime my amateur Rx is as follows:

Individual training. For the trail side I’d be inclined to add some shoulder retraction going back. Clearly there’s a wipe shortage, but I feel like the trail shoulder joint being so far away from the ball at the start of the downswing can’t be helping me.
For the lead side I almost think I’m overdoing the idea of the left wrist flexion. It wants to go low left when I do lead arm only, so my inclination is to let the wrist extend and work back inside post impact. I won’t do a lot of lead side work until I hear from you though.

I have two related questions: at the range, I can only really stop at 3 on the 9 to 3 drills by squeezing my arms tightly against my ribs and contracting my core quite a bit. Are these sensations I should be trying to incorporate in my regular swing?
And, how crucial is it that I be able to apply a short finish to my swing?

Also, I’ve included an action still from today- improvement!

Thanks in Advance,
Z

Tyler,
I’ve been looking through some of your correspondences and I believe some triage may be in order. First I need to settle myself down; I’m here now and I’m not going anywhere; I may be a little beat up but there’s time to get to what I’d like to get to.

Big exhale.

Of primary concern is face control- the hook is so bad. I feel like I spend at least 60% of my mental energy during a round of golf just keeping it out of the marsh and the woods on the left hand side. I can skank it around with less than optimal contact and put some sort of round together if I have some confidence it’s not going lost-ball left.

Number two is distance wedges. They’re steep; the exit plane is steep, and I think it’s because I’m float loading them and I just need to ingrain the proper sequence. I can handle that, I think.

The hook though, I may need a priest or an exorcist or a shaman or all three. The clips are from today; none hooked OB but they all felt like they wanted to, if that makes sense. Fun fact- I was trying to cut all of these.

Update- I just thought to add my drive on 18, and the rehearsal. It was a push draw, and wound up center fairway, and it didn’t feel like it wanted to hook in an evil way. The only difference to me was a lead hand feel in the post follow-through, where instead of a kind of handshake rotation I felt like the hand stayed all the way pronated and palm down, and my elbow hinged so that the back of my hand came straight at my face. In my mind it’s how Adam Scott and Justin Rose and Nelly Korda and Cam Champ and Max Homa move their lead hands. I stumbled on the feel by accident on the back 9 as I so often do; it was like a life raft floating amidst the wreckage of my front nine (48-42 yesterday; +8 through the first 6).

I also included a distance wedge, and it’s fairly typical of those for me. I can perform them somewhat correctly on the range; I’m just looking for your confirmation that it’s a sequence issue related to lack of UD, if you’d be so kind.

TIA Tyler, really a lot.

Kind of in the same vein of that through swing feel… I’ve noticed that I can change a lot about the strike and character of the shot by intentionally altering the feel of the the through swing. I’ve also noticed that it’s really hard to find people writing about that space of the swing beyond “high finish for high shot“ type of platitudes.
I’ve also noticed that I truly do not understand the dynamics that put people into the spot I want to get to. Compared to where I’d like to be, my clubhead goes up and then inside instead of inside and then up, and I have way more shoulder tilt at the shaft parallel follow through position, and I have kind of a sideways chicken wing thing going on.
I believe that much like the idea I had that my trail elbow and hip have to be touching at impact was preventing me from arriving at impact with the look I wanted, there’s some mental artifact that’s preventing me from achieving the look I’m going for in the through swing.
Any ideas? I’ve included pics of the freewheeling look I’m shooting for.

As always, thank you for your time.

Zach.

———The Following is an update from the Mississippi Hooker Man——-—-

As long as you don’t mind me talking myself through my troubles here in the forum, I’ll continue to do so. So far it seems that if I verbalize my goals here they manifest.
For example, it’s been a number of years I’ve been trying to get my through swing to look as I described, and I was finally able to pull it off at slow speed, so… Huzzah!!
I also used a small break at work to get a couple great angles of the hook in the wild.
It just looks to me like my clubhead arc drops down too much before it comes forward, so is it a transition issue? Maybe so. I’m trying to go through the swing in order, and those release drills are helpful- I can’t believe how much my impact has improved in such a short amount of time- wow! Thank you!

Update to the update- here’s one with the feel that the back of my lead hand is looking at me through the through swing, and it was straight as a string. I think I’ll keep that feel.

I’ll be grinding!
Z

Some one-armed swings, lest you think I’ve forgotten my assignment.

The sensation I have through impact on a normal swing- the one that gets me in trouble- is like the carousel swings at an amusement park, where the seats are suspended by chains, and the carousel rotates until the swings are flying through the air nearly perpendicular to the ground. This feels powerful to me, but as the “chains” of my arms and the club swing away from the carousel of my body, my lead arm rotates with it until the radial bone of my left forearm arm feels like it’s leading my arm as it knifes through the air, and that is a surefire worm-burner.

The feelings that accompany successful one armed swings are different. With my left arm I feel a distinct snap down into the ground, and then the whole apparatus of arm and club rotate while still in ulnar deviation. That lines up pretty well with your description of the one armed release, so I’m reasonably confident of its correctness. I’ve also had to tinker somewhat extensively with how the club is turned in my grip, otherwise the ball hooks terribly. It’s hard to describe the change because it looks only somewhat weaker but feels very foreign. The only way I can describe the pressures within the hand are that the last three fingers are simultaneously pulling and rolling opposite the thumb and forefinger, so they if the grip of the club were soft clay it would be twisted and lengthened within the hand.

The right hand role has been uncomplicated considerably to a simple piston. Again, this is in concert with your descriptions, so I’m feeling pretty good about it.

The trick then is to get those motions to work in harmony and eventually supplant my old sensations. The difficulty I’m having with that is my successful one handed swings have a high exit plane and my trail arm retains its bend for a long time after impact. When I make a two handed swing with a high exit plane and right arm bend like that it’s a certain snap hook. In order for me to hit it straight with both hands I have to feel like the club is exiting low and my wrists are breaking immediately after impact, and that my right arm straightens immediately after contact. It’s extremely frustrating, to say the least. Is that one a crutch or band aid, and the other the correct path to golfing truth?

Some good news is I’m a trim carpenter by day and our latest job is out in the boonies, so as a perk I get to hit a few balls through the course of the day, and even if I hook the bejesus out a 6 iron it impresses the electricians. So I have that going for me, which is nice.

I’ll keep working as I always do, and until the next time I’ll be

Grinding While Confused,
Zach

Hi Zach,

Thanks for doing the one-arm swings. You can see how different the body position is at impact for the left and right arm. The left arm needs more body rotation and a little less slide. Especially to match your strongish lead hand grip. But the lead arm appears to pull more, while the right arm tends to synch up better with the body. I'd use the right arm to help train the left arm to work better. That lead arm pulling will become more of the lead arm bend/chicken wing when both hands are on the club.

If I were you, I'd stick with the one-arm drills for a week or so, then we can circle back to the pivot, or top of swing to try and complement the arm release better.

In the last pic, I have the picture we are going to try and change to improve the hook. It's steep and deep, and the catch-up move with the arms during the release is a real hook creator. Too much timing to not hook it.

Good luck!

I’m a believer! Today among other things I’m thankful for your work, and I’m very thankful I chose to give your program a real shot.
It’s been a week, and I’ve been assiduous with the one arm practice. I’ve gotten pretty handy with the trail arm, and am using it to inform the lead arm. I’ve included an exaggerated picture of what it’s learning and I haven’t found any descriptions of it so I’m going to go ahead and call it the Pimp Slap Lead Arm Load Pattern. I’m using that to describe the combination of new feels- elbow away and bent to elbow in and straighter, wrist flexed to wrist extended. It seems I need to weaken my lead hand grip somewhat, but I haven’t arrived at exactly the correct amount yet.
I played some with family yesterday and hit the approach shots I’ve always dreamed of, straight and flighted and off-speed, and I want more. The long clubs weren’t exactly cooperating, but that’s ok. You mentioned pivot work? Changing that one deep and step frame? I’m all ears.
Included are one arm examples and a couple neat things I never could do before- a straight bunt and straight hit with ball way above my feet, as well as a driver from yesterday. It looks to me that deep and steep frame is slightly better, although that could be wishful thinking on my part.

Thank you so very much for taking the time!

Zach

-Update- I’m posting these two wood swings because I’m proud of them. I’ve never before understood the body dynamics that create this look, and I believe I may have just now connected the dots between shaft rotation and body rotation through the strike- see stripey sweater

——————-

I have a question and a logic check when it comes to the one arm swings. Logic check: it seems like my heavy contact issues come from my trail side- you can see that in the series of four balls I try to hit. I believe I’ve traced that back to a lack of motorcycle move; and I was shying away from the motorcycle move because I already hook the ball, so why would I want to close the face earlier? However, the motorcycle move seems to allow me to bring my trail elbow more in front of my body and move the low point forward, whereas before my trail elbow had to straighten so I could close the face with in plane rotation. Does that check out?
My question is this:
If my low point issues originate in my trail side, it seems my pulling down and smother hook issues originate in my lead side, and looking at material on your site I believe that may be traced back to a faulty backswing load. What would you recommend for me to practice with the lead side to get that arm under control and complementing my improving release?

Also, these represent my “Sunday best” L to Is. I do quite a bit of these, so any feedback will be much appreciated.

Thank you so much in advance,
I truly appreciate you taking the time!
Zach

Hi Tyler!

You can probably disregard all the previous stuff; you’re a super busy guy. Summation for me so far is I’ve increased shaft rotation both going back and coming down. I have kind of a hockey miss pattern, even the fat wedges, but it’s getting better and my low point control has improved by a mile.

Included are latest 9 to 3s with 8 iron.

My one arm work taught me that the clubface and pull-down issues stem from lead arm. My strong grip is a security blanket but I feel like that has to go.

I’ve had some success in the yard working backwards from follow through to top of backswing, and then just *not-doing* with the lead arm.

Included are latest yard 3-woods. Angles are a little wonky; apologies there.

If you get a chance to go over these and you see anything, please let me know. Otherwise, I’ll keep to my current course!

TIA
Zach

PS sorry for all the spam. I get real excited about golf, and it’s been many years since I
made this much progress this fast. Going forward, I’ll try and keep it reined in.

Cheers
Z

Right when I said I’d ease up 😂

I had an unexpected chance to hit the range today. This is by leaps and bounds the most intentionally and well I’ve ever struck a golf ball.

So, thank you. Thank you thank you thank you!!

I had to adjust the early transition feel, and save the motorcycle move until about halfway down. At the beginning of the downswing, in order to move my path enough to the outside and in a shallow fashion I have to feel that the butt of the club comes straight out toward the ball without any closure as the shaft lays down, like Hogan used to demonstrate.

Pictured are 58*, 4i, and driver,
One armed swings with 9i.
Lead arm still needs work.

I can’t wait to play this weekend!!!

Zach

Dear Tyler,

Coming in to this program, I had a few ball striking goals. These are goals that I haven’t been able to accomplish for at least ten years, and for a couple of them it’s been more like 30.

Remember when I said I’d like to be able to bunt straight? It was that bunt, the low straight knuckle ball off the tee into the wind(low fade to me was the absolute apex of control), the straight Fleetwood style approach iron (any attempt at an abbreviated follow through was a sure hook), and, maybe most elusive of all, the chest to chest high flighted shallow lob wedge. I have their scalps for you here, sir. I’ve also included an action shot of driver impact that you might like.
It is only because of your painstaking thoroughness and thoughtfulness, your attention to detail in arranging your book and cataloging your site , your patience and piercing insight into cause and effect that I am now able to not only perform these tasks but, even more important to me fully and completely grasp the how of them.
Probably the best thing about it all is that the design of your resources allowed me to connect the dots on my own, in a fairly short amount of time, with the most minimal oversight. A couple of thoughtful, probing questions sent me the right direction.

So thank you, Tyler. I have friends and the occasional music show out in Colorado; I’d love to buy you a beverage of your choosing some time, or maybe even check out your elusive dojo.

I truly, really appreciate it.
Zach Fellman

The antidote to pulling down with the lead arm is leaving it up while you turn against it, right?

Hi Zach,

I'll try to answer these in reverse order:

Yes, The antidote to pulling down is leaving the arms up...or powering the swing more from the legs and core, and less from the shoulders. With the lead arm only single arm, the latest videos look good. Maybe a little under rotated with the body, but overall looks a lot cleaner. Good job!

Thanks for the story! glad you can bunt it straight. As far as buying me a beverage, I appreciate it. But I'm actually no longer in Colorado. I've been in the Bay area for almost 7 years :)

Yellow hat swings - looking a lot less hooky. If it still persists, perhaps working on that trail arm connection in the release. But honestly, the delivery position looks good and less hooky than your initial swings. I agree that the lead arm needs some work, but it looks like the most recent post is better. A lot less choppy.

No worries about the multiple posts. I get excited about golf too, it's why I do what I do :) I'm thrilled that you're enjoying the process. you're working hard and making some good changes, keep it up! I can get busy, in the process of moving to a new house, and that's taking up some of my normal website time. I hope it normalizes soon! But keep grinding, and keep posting if you have questions as you work through it. It's good learning for everyone here!

Happy Golfing,

Tyler

The move is going. Definitely still dealing with boxes everywhere, and not knowing exactly where everything is. But it's all in the new house and out of the old one. So progress. Thanks for asking!

As far as the bad round/bad practice. It's hard to be patient so I usually put a rule of 3. I don't allow myself to get too upset, or too happy, based on one practice or round. The basic rules of three for practice.

If the swing is looking better, I don't jump ship unless I have 3 bad practices in a row.
I don't consider myself finding a key move unless it looks better and I have 3 good practices in a row.
When I have a really good key, it'll solve the same issue 3 times in a row. (Maybe every time I start hooking it, I do this one move and it fixes it right away).

It's not always easy to stay patient, but as long as we play this game, the alternative isn't any better.

As far as feeling lost on what to work on, you need to have some structure to how you assess your swing. A good principle is working from impact backward to the most likely issue. In your case, I think right now the transition pull-down is the most pressing hook causing (see the attached screen capture)

The scapular feel is a game-changer for a lot of golfers. I think it's one of the most important concepts for many.

I also think it might be time to address a backswing issue. It's not always the most comfortable component, but it'll help. We need more tilt of the pelvis in the backswing. That's why in the second recording you get so tilted away from the target at the top of the swing. That sets you up for the arm pull at the top, so tweaking that will help depower the arm pull transition move.

https://www.golfsmartacademy.com/golf-instruction/backswing-hip-tilt/

You're swing is moving in a good direction, keep it up.

Tyler

See the response above, just putting a break so I know where to start catching up next time!

Hey man!! Happy Holidays!!

Certified fact: moving is the worst. My family and I did it three years ago and swear it’s the last one. Although we are in our early 40s, we’ve adopted the Swedish Death Clean as our template going forward so in the event we have to move again someday hopefully we won’t have nearly so much stuff. I hope it’s getting less bleak for you.

Ok so good news and updates for this post; next one questions. Little background on me - I’m a trim carpenter and a musician (the professional kind), and between the two I typically work at least 6 days a week. I’m lucky if I get to play golf 3-4 times a month, and range trips happen maybe with about half that frequency. Ergo, most of my practice happens in my backyard, in my head, or hitting an odd ball at the beach or on the job, so it’s probably not super realistic for me to expect massive improvements, and certainly not quick ones.

With that said… I got to play yesterday, the first time since my last “woe-is-me-and-I-quit-golf-because-it’s-stupid” post, and it was encouraging. I hit no absolute snappers, and over all I felt a heightened sense of control of the ball. In an interior 9 holes I was +1, which was an ok little heater for me these days. Of course I was +9 through the first 7 and I limped in +3 for the last 2, but who cares.
I’ve included a couple highlights- one is a driver from the same hole where you got the screen capture of the one frame we’re trying to change, and I believe we’ve made a good bit of progress there. One is kind of a sweet knockdown into the wind(it was cool and breezy yesterday), and one is a decent, safe short iron approach.

As I said, I have a question round coming, but this is a thank you/update. It’s going the right direction!

Your pal,
Zach

Oh and! I’ve been working on the hip tilt addition to body and arm moves; lest you think I’ve been slacking on my assignments. Per your recommendation I’m combining the tilt and pelvis punch.

Alright my dude, question time, and I might have to break this up into parts to fit the images.
This one falls into the Talladega Nights “What Do I Do With My Hands?” category, and it relates to the landmass between follow through and finish(not to explain a joke, but I reside in what CNN described as “The Landmass between New Orleans and Mobile,” which is to say a very real but often overlooked area in between two familiar locations). I can’t find anyone describing this area with any accuracy or detail, except to say it “happens naturally “ and if the rest of the swing has happened as it should, this part will “take care of itself.” Hell, more than a few instructors describe everything that happens after transition the same way (looking at you, Scheinblum) and I deeply disagree with that notion, as I feel confident you do. I know from personal experience that any portion of the swing can be isolated and trained, and I need some of that love for the landmass. I’m living proof that you can take the space between impact and the finish and make it weird.
I just don’t get it!! Trying to exit low and left is no good for me; I even think it may be the root cognitive cause of my deep and steep pull-down(steep because it’s gotta go left and deep because it’s gotta come from inside). Somehow I think this may be also be responsible for this odd protracted trail shoulder look . If I try and keep the clubhead outside my hands I get massive extra hooks; it seems I have to allow my lead wrist to go into extension. If I do that with my arms extended I get a look where the clubhead is still on a super steep track and its rotation is weirdly stunted, but my body looks fine. If I allow it to turn over and get that natural Cam Champ look it’s big ol extra hooks again. If I hold off, I really hold off. If I focus on allowing my wrists to rehinge, that happens way too soon and I lose my trajectory, and it’s back into trail shoulder protraction. When I try to finish at the follow through position it looks like the punch approach… not terrible, but somehow not correct. And as for the dynamics that allow the arms to finish high and the shot go on a penetrating trajectory like Cam Champ, or Min Woo, or you? Mysterious! I just don’t get the forces at play. I’ve included some of my weirdnesses as proof that I can exert awkward control over this “natural” and “reflexive” part of the swing.

All things being equal, when I’m hitting it well my look is a bunch of clubface rotation immediately after impact, but not forearm rotation, then the clubface held off at the trail arm parallel position(how do I do that?), and the clubface going at a super vertical arc after impact regardless of whether I draw or fade the shot.

Something to maybe keep in mind- I’ve felt conscious control of the swing in my left arm since Bobby Jones told me to do it in print, so I’ve been doing it for about as long as Min Woo has been alive. Do I need to switch to trail side control? It would be nice if I could just figure out exactly what my lead side needs to be doing, but…. I’m all in at this point, and I’ve retrained stranger things.

As always,
Thank you in advance

Z

The echo chamber of intention has worked again! I’ve drawn a map and it’s passed the rule of three, so I’m going to keep with it. Sending two clips and a pic of the fruits.

I do have another question though: can you tell what my little hop is from? I’m sure it stalls me when I do it, and I’d like to have control over it. This short swing with the weird angle is probably the best I’ve ever captured it.

Thanks Tyler!!

Zach

Happy Holidays to you too Zach!

Catching up on things after my travels, and the holidays. Still dealing with trying to find which box I put that thing I didn't think I'd need, but ended up needing right away 🙄

Anyway, to your questions:
As far as practicing in the backyard compared to how much you play. I think you'll want to do a fairly good chunk of more variable practice, with a preshot routine, to simulate the on-course challenges. My two favorites are either the 4-club circuit or playing your course on the range. In both of those scenarios, you don't get to hit the same club twice, so it makes it harder to "time your bad swing" and forces you to come up with a recipe for each shot.

What do you do with your hands? Attached are 2 sets of graphs (trail and two lead) for two players. The follow-through part you're talking about is the right half of the graph past impact. I put a yellow square to indicate that space in one of the graphs. Flat horizontal lines mean that nothing is changing. So you'll see that for most of the graphs and lines, there's very little change in the hands/forearms during that zone. To do little with the hands, you have to do more with the body. Specifically, the blend of extension (probably most important), side bend, and rotation of the spine.

Low left exit thoughts are usually bad for golfers who get over the top at the bottom with the shoulder blades.

You can rotate the club with the forearms, or the shoulders, so that shoulder move you like can cause the club to rotate, even if the forearms are stiff and doing very little. In this follow-through screenshot, you can see that your thoracic spine is still flexed, and the right arm has a fair amount of protraction, that combination usually aligns with a dominant shoulder move at the bottom. It lacks what I call bracing and can easily contribute to hooks.

I think it's good to know which arm you are more dominant with, but you might benefit from some trail arm focus in practice. You can always think about the lead arm when you play, but training less throw of the right arm might help the lead side behave.

The little hop move is influenced by the rib cage being back a bit (not covering the lead side) which is really common when the shoulder throws at the bottom.

The setup epiphany makes sense. 👍

Eating the deltoid comes from the lead shoulder shrug, that's a good shallowing move to do later in the downswing. Also, if you look at his backswing, he tends to stay flexed in his spine a little more than most in the backswing, so that deltoid much is a way to create arm height if the spine isn't doing it.

Here's to a good 2024!
Happy Golfing,

Tyler

Hi Zach, Happy New Year to you too.

Yes, it's always tricky chasing a look or a ball flight. Sometimes you can create a messy situation for the body.

Working on the distance wedges could be a helpful exercise. Usually, golfers with your pattern do complain about contact issues or distance control with the distance wedges. So it could reveal a new way to think about the hook pattern. The distance wedges will usually require earlier width than your stock driver pattern, which forces a little more stacked pivot location. So sure, start a new thread and we'll dig into that as a 2024 project.

Happy Golfing,

Tyler

Hey Zach,

I might have missed your comment about the cutty stinger as a goal. It's not a bad one. Especially if done well. Try to avoid a deep divot and that should help you get more neutral with some of your more draw elements.

The role of internal and external rotation of the hips also has to do with what's happening at the core. The danger of dual internal rotation is that it typically restricts spine rotation. So if you're feeling like you get some more rotation there, then sounds like the rotation is the priority for the brain and not the internal rotation. But whatever you're doing, the swing is looking less hooky, so keep it up!

Tyler

I've actually been on the road for almost 2 weeks, but I'll return to a mostly box free home soon!

To be honest, I'm not a huge fan of the dual internal hip rotation look. When the hips reach maximum internal rotation, it locks down the lower body. But, I like the actual drill, the step back drill. You might be late with your verticals because of the overemphasized internal rotation, but I think it'll mostly have a positive effect. Not every drill has to be perfect to train improvement.

The apple drill. I'm not 100 percent that it's either extreme. It's probably slightly in front of the golf ball, not all the way at the target. The IG golfer slinging the apple didn't get a whole lot of shallowing, or verticals, which would cause it to dumb a little earlier than he demonstrated. Those two golf pros you mentioned do the best they can, they just don't know anatomy, so they have a hard time unifying all their little sound bites into a cohesive description. And they often contradict themselves. But I love the data and visuals, even if slightly miscommunication.

Good start to '24

Tyler

Thanks for the quick summary :D

Yes, the blue pants looks like a more "stable" release.

If you can do it without the ball, but struggle with it, often times it's tied to a body movement. I know you just gave up on the pivot (for now) but that could be part of the issues. The two posted pictures look way more stacked and less throwy, but it's still a little flexed in the follow through. That might creep in more when you really go at it.

As far as the HackMotion guy. I've done stuff for them for a few years, but we've ramped up our partnership. It's a great tool, but they recognize that it doesn't do everything. You need to understand what the body needs to do, even if you're monitoring and training the wrists. So I'm working on some more blended education for their users.

My wife laughed at the mountaintop comment. I am a very spiritual person. I've read a lot of books on the topic and have meditated fairly regularly since college (when VJ and Tiger were on top of the golf mountain). It's a big part of my personal life, and golf, philosophy.

Looking better, keep it up,

Tyler

Thanks Tyler!

Please don’t misunderstand me, sir! No element of the swing has been abandoned; it’s just that the pivot had become for a moment a less squeaky wheel. I grind on my golf swing the same odd way I eat my food, which is to take a bite of each dish in proportion so that they all finish roughly together. I imagine dozens of boiling cauldrons, each requiring their own attention and ingredients and care.

You’re right about the pivot, though. It’s time for me to focus on bracing.

It’s funny how balletic and amazingly athletic and breathtakingly coordinated these body motions felt, compared to how ordinary they look.

Your Pal,
Z

If I'm looking for one picture that worries me about that pattern, it's this position here. It's part of the steep early, shallow late pattern that causes the block/hook combo. Because you have a stronger grip, you're more prone to the hook side of that equation. Usually, golfers with the stronger grips are going to be on the flatter side of the spectrum, not the steeper side. The steeper transition also has a harder time matching up with the longer/flatter clubs.

I think changing power sources is one of the hardest parts of online coaching. But the transition video looks to me like the swing is being pulled down from the arms more so than turned from the hips and lower spine. Here's a video I did on that topic that's part of the Stock Swing course. https://www.golfsmartacademy.com/courses/build-my-stock-swing/steep-early-shallow-late. Maybe it'll help connect the dots better.

Go 9ers!
Tyler

Hi, I'm a new member. Just curious and don't mean to go off topic here....I see the Shell Landing Golf Course sign. Is that in Gautier, MS? I checked the their website. Membership is $150 per month with grass range....wow. Good deal. Is this a nice course? Would this be a nice course for snowbirds (October to March)? The website states it is the #6 ranked course in Mississippi.

Oh man, couldn’t recommend it highly enough! Gorgeous scenery all the way around and the bayou is in play on a number of holes. The only drawback is the bayou is in play on a number of holes. 😂

I’ve played almost all the courses on the coast with the exceptions of Grand Bear and Fallen Oak, and Shell is legitimately my favorite public course.

Hey Zach,

Way to push forward. A couple of comments about the posts. I appreciated reading the last post the state of your game. I'm thrilled that you've dialed in a bunch of the skills.

Changing power sources is one of the hardest elements. I think you're looking in the right areas, and I just think that some of the elements can take time to discover. Consider it the mountain-top philosophy.

One element of that philosophy, that I pass on to a number of my students, is that one good practice doesn't mean you've solved anything. Just like one bad practice doesn't mean you've lost it. I like 3's. I usually say that 3 good practices, working on a similar theme, means that you're working in a good direction. But the harder one for a lot of students to grasp is the idea that if you're finding one of your keys, it'll solve the same problem multiple times. So, if you have the same problem (like pull hooking it), and the same theme fixes it. And over a couple of months, each time you lose it, the same them gets it fixed again, then you're really on to something.

So back to your power source issue, the primary issue during the release is the shoulders working too flat and in a similar direction to the hips. See the attached video examples of you and Cam. The big difference is the angle of the scapulae (trail more depressed and lead more elevated), which is combined with more extension of the mid spine compared to staying more flexed. One common cause of power source issues is the swing can look better at slow motion and struggle as you add speed. That's not the only reason, but it's a key component. It shows up even in the still image you posted which I reposted. Muscle-wise, it can be overusing some of the larger muscles and underusing some of the smaller muscles. The larger muscles that could be getting overused are the pecs and obliques on the right side or the lat on the lead side.

Some of the common feels that will be associated with the different impact looks are:
Body: more thoracic spine extension, more right rotation, more right neck rotation, and side bend (looking at the stills between you and Cam, this could be a big one)
Lead arm: more lead shoulder up and/or closed, more lead arm staying internal rotation, less flippy, more ulnar deviation
Trail arm: more trail shoulder staying back or down, more wipe of arm in front, more wrist extension with ulnar deviation

I hope it's obvious that you don't need all of those thoughts, so don't be discouraged by the length of the list (in fact, it's not exhaustive, just some big ones). But it might take some very different feeling movements in your head, neck, shoulders and ribs to crack this nut :)

Happy Golfing,
Tyler

Catching up.

With the question, "is this proper bracing?" See the first picture, you're upper body is behind the lower body, which could have low point issues or still have more hook tendencies. Perhaps the two-bucket station could help your axis tilt awareness.

Grading the stinger: Usually stingers don't have a full finish. It's part of the upper body being more stacked and the hit being more torso rotation. So I'd give the stinger about a b- Although, with the actual shot, it looked like good ball flight height.

The new grip looks less strong, still on the stronger side for the trail hand, but less so. I'll be curious to hear how your brain likes it.

Jake Knapps release has some nuance to it. But as far as your question about moving relative to the merry-go-round. I think I follow it. It would be easy to say that only one thing moves, but unfortunately, that's not the case. Both shoulders, elbows, and wrists are moving. Now, I think a more body-driven release will feel more like the hands are doing less. And it seems to be easier to time consistently while eliminating more of the big left misses.

Happy Golfing,
Tyler

I see…. I was trying to be reductionist but in the process I oversimplified things. I confess I still don’t comprehend the body movements in the release in a way that I can visualize them individually in detail.

Editors note- none of this truly applies after grokking what the thoracic spine extension entails. I think allowing the chin swivel is still a good idea because it enables post impact head tilt/pillow lay, but now I’m not even sure about changing my grip. Like you said and I’m just now fully grasping, my main issues are centered in my scapulae and T spine.

End of note

My brain has adapted to my new grip rather quickly, or rather my lead hand doesn’t seem to hate it. My trail hand seems much more reluctant to adopt a weaker position than the lead hand, which I find curious. I shanked/dribbled half a dozen(my first try is the beach video) then when I focused on my shoulders feeling closed through impact I was able to square up the face again with no problem, and was soon enough battling a left miss on the course again (face on clip on grass). I was able though to carve out a couple of nifty intentional slices(DTL grass clip), which is not something I’ve been historically able to do. Flighted approach shots were also much easier for me to execute for whatever reason, and if I’m being honest those are my favorite full shots of all to hit.

I think the next conscious step for me is to allow some chin swivel through the shot. I’ve observed on video that the traffic jam in my rotation seems to originate in my head stopping its rotation through impact, which I recall began as a conscious movement backwards through the ball with a resulting counter rotation of the head. Am I correct in my apprehension that the bracing maneuver is primarily a lower body affair, and that the upper spine does not throw on the brakes through the ball?

I have two stills included- one of me allowing of the continuous head rotation and one from before(captain’s hat), where I see my shoulders all bunched up around an artificially still head.

That’s the latest from my end.

Hope you’re well!!

Respectfully yours,
Zach