Need your help

Hi Bud,

Thanks for sharing your swing, there's a lot in there to unpack. I am a big fan of getting clear on goals. You can work on your swing, you can work on shot ability, you can work on scoring, but those aren't always the same. So I'm a little unclear what you're trying to improve. As a 3.2 it sounds like your goal could be score, but then most of your comments about what you want to work on refer to more swing style issues (like across the line, or foot spinning out).

So maybe we can figure out which problem we are trying to solve, or, I have some students who aren't concerned with score, but want to have a swing that they are proud of. If your goal is scoring, and fixing the blow-up hole, we have to look for the trends causing the blow-up (tee shot, iron play, wedge play, or putting). It could come from practice system, course management, or law of distribution for a swing that requires more timing. Not all blow-ups are equal.

In general, I'd say if you want more consistency, I'd start with working on a little less upper body sway. I don't think the motorcycle is the best fit for you as a starting point because of the strong grip and scoop tendency. Like you said, if you add more face closing to that scenario, it could produce really left shots.

So, I would start by deciding one problem you want to solve.

Driver slice?
Iron contact?
Blow up holes?
Pain patterns after a round?

Each one might have a different fastest route.

Happy golfing,

Tyler

Thanks for taking the time to look at my swing. I guess during the season I'm looking to score better. Pretty much narrowed it down to shots between 30 & 100 yards being my biggest nemesis. Blow up holes (occasional chunk) or proximity when I don't chunk.

My long-term goal to gradually work into the season or off-season, is fixing the sway to have better iron contact. I hit balls today trying to have a more centered pivot & hit 75% of them fat (deep divot) so now I understand I was using my sway/slide to move the low point forward.

I would have never guessed to work on the upper body sway so I'm glad I reached out. Once again, thank you for your time and I'm looking to sign up for the long term.

Hey Bud,

I think that's a good choice. So looking at your wedge swing, it looks like the arms get behind you and the release is overly up in the exit. Meaning, you have too much lift of the arms and not enough body rotation on the way through.

Here are two videos scrubbing through the key areas. In the DTL, see how the club exits straight down the target line, which comes from an overly active pull of the arms rather than a unified turn of the body. I'd start with some 30-yarders focusing on the follow-through. The other option is focusing on the trail arm staying more connected in front of your chest. I think one of those will help you figure out how to clean up the ground contact.

Tyler

Cool, thanks I'll get to work on correcting.

Frustrated, ready to sell everything! I've worked on hitting 30 yarders (both options) with minimal improvement.

Can you tell me any specific drills to do please?

Some fixes are quick, some take time. But the way to own your game, and be your own coach, is to understand what the changes actually did to improve. So in order to suggest more drills, we have to know which problem we are trying to fix. So what is the common pattern with your 30-yard shot?

What happens with the arm straight idea? what happens with the follow-through hold idea? If you can't really tell, then we probably need a video to help come up with an accurate plan.

The 30 yard shot is hit good just about every time. Follow through checkpoints seem to be in order, ground contact crisp & forward, ball flight straight. Problem is not so much with short swings but when transitioning to full swing everything breaks down again. Little bit of left elbow pain as I try to keep the arms straight. I must be pushing off the ground incorrectly because the ball of right foot is sore. Start line is 70% too far right, then occasionally starts left (scoop, flip) probably because I'm so sick of seeing the ball start right. Contact sometimes gets in the heel but not always.

With short swing worked on a lot of follow through drills:
9 to low point
9 down not up
Rewind to impact
Shaft parallel checkpoint
Stab wall
Single arm drills
Supination drills
L to L
Merry go round
To many to list...

Here's a few videos, hopefully you can direct me to specific drills, or concepts that will help

Hey bud,

Since you said it's fine on 30 yards and then gets worse on the longer swings, we should definitely look at what happens on the longer swings. What I see with the swings you posted is a number of good things:
The swing plane isn't too bad (maybe a touch steep but definitely usable). Club face looks pretty square early. Keep you posture pretty well from the down the line.
But, the one big issue I see is the amount of lateral movement from the face on view. With a wedge, the upper body should shift toward the target slightly during the backswing. This puts you on top of the lead leg so that you can push vertically. If your body is moving a lot linearly toward the target then you won't be able to push vertically.

So for your shots inside 100 yards, that would be my big theme and then I would add on other things depending on what happens as you work on it. For instance, if you are working on it and you start getting deep divots, or top the ball, or heel, or direction issues then you might have to add some other arm things to help. But the centered pivot idea is where I would start for your wedge play.

https://www.golfsmartacademy.com/golf-instruction/stacked-backswing/
https://www.golfsmartacademy.com/golf-instruction/upper-body-awareness-pool-noodle/
https://www.golfsmartacademy.com/golf-instruction/head-on-the-trail-corner-of-a-wall/

Happy Golfing,

Thank you for the compliments & giving me drills/direction. Much easier with your guidance on exactly what to do.

Happy to help when I can, Bud, I hope you're seeing some more consistency this week.

Oh yeah, not allowing my head to sway as much made all the difference in the world. But I did experience a few heel shots just as you said I might. But overall ground contact has cleaned up a ton.

What arm movement drills, I should do for correcting the heel shots, now that you know my swing?

Thanks Tyler

Glad to hear it's working better for the short irons.

Remember, the goal of this site is to help you learn to be your own coach so that you can make small changes and fix things on the course and save rounds from getting too far off course. So, as far as the heel contact, what have you tried? Why do you think you're hitting the heel?

Misunderstanding, I apologize. I thought I could send any/all problem areas of my swing, & you'd guide me in the right direction forgetting the fact, you have several members on this site, in person lessons & a billion emails to answer.

I've tried being my own coach, & figuring out my swing flaws but misdiagnose most of the time & work on things that are not the root cause. Wasted time & energy.

I'll continue to work on the faults you've pointed out. They seem to be working.

Thanks for your help.

You're welcome to send in any questions. I'd rather have students/members who are engaged and trying to get better. But I think one issue is many golfers try to find a fix before diagnosing a problem. So I wasn't trying to be difficult, but my students would tell you that I ask a lot of questions. Also, in lessons, I often give students multiple options. There are usually a few different ways to fix each problem. After working with a student for months or years, I can usually solve problems faster because I know which kind of drills they like and learn from the best. But initially, in a lesson, we might try half a dozen drills and ideas before we find the "right one".

With heel/toe contact, we often start with face spray just to see what kind of pattern we're actually working with.
https://www.golfsmartacademy.com/golf-instruction/face-awareness-foot-spray

So maybe run that contact test with both driver and iron to see what the contact pattern looks like, see if you can deliberately move it or if you're stuck with one pattern, and then report back and we can go from there,

Happy Golfing,
Tyler