Due to overwhelming popular demand

[tongzilla]

I had one request via a PM, so here it is...



I know, still a loooong way to go. That's the fun thing about this game -- you can always get better.

 

[Tom Bartlett]

NORMAL VIEW

Would like to see a face on view and down the line view. Swing looks pretty good. It looks like your head moves backward quite a bit on the down swing, but it worked for Seve.

 

[Tom Bartlett]

Check it out...Leo's swing is now embedded in the post!

 

[tongzilla]

Does anyone think they can fix my head from bobbing in the downstroke, without screwing my game up? I have worked extremely hard on this, and for long periods, but my game comes apart everytime I do. I tried many things including adjusting my setup, decreasing axis tilt, and just trying to 'keep it there'. So, if anyone has an innovative solution to this, I'm all ears.

 

[bts]

Eliminating that "hacking" intent might help. Also, need more "lag" coming down.

 

[Perfect Impact]

Why would you want to fix/change something that is perfect. The head is not the swing center; UNDER your head is. So your head pivots to the rear as the other end of the pendulum - your hips- swings/pivots to the front. The pivot is a sideways followed by a turn; pivoting around the C-7 bone in the back of your NECK, not your head.

If you are of the "I am always imperfect and must fix my swing" school, you may miss the oppy to use your platinum gift of golfswing for PLAYING GOLF.

Do you play golfswing?

 

[Brian Manzella]

Paging Leo Tong(zilla)...Leo Tong......

I can see your face at address.

I'll bet you a box of PRO V1s, that Ben Doyle looks at this video and says (before you start the club back)...

"I can see his face, I shouldn't be able to see his face."

Fix it.

 

[Tom Bartlett]

I believe a lot of good players set up with their head in the wrong place and instinctively it searches out the correct place during the swing; Gary Player, Seve Ballesteros, Tiger Woods, etc. Even from the goofy angle, it looks like it is moving back and down (trying to face the ball). Video your swing or have someone you trust watch you and start with your head in the position it wants to be in at impact. This head position also includes looking directly at the ball out of the middle of your eye sockets. Not out the bottom of them a la Tiger's putting set up. One of the first lessons I had as a kid just starting out was to hold my chin up so I could turn my shoulders under it. It took a while to fix that bad advice.

 

[Damon Lucas]

Tom,

Not quite the forward bend of the head, but ...
what do you think of eye dominance as it relates to address position.
Personally, I am so right eye dominant, that I have a slight rotation of the head towards the target at address and impact

What are the ramifications of eye dominance?
As it relates to shoulder turn?

Thanks mate,
D

 

[Tom Bartlett]

Tom,

Not quite the forward bend of the head, but ...
what do you think of eye dominance as it relates to address position.
Personally, I am so right eye dominant, that I have a slight rotation of the head towards the target at address and impact

What are the ramifications of eye dominance?
As it relates to shoulder turn?

Thanks mate,
D

I don't think whether you are right or left eye dominant will change the 'turn' of the head at address too much (so shoulder turn shouldn't be affected), unless you are overdoing it. When I target shoot with handguns I keep both eyes open, because that is how you would be shooting in a 'real' situation, and from just looking at me you couldn't tell which eye is dominant (right eye). I have a friend, Jurek Pol, who has no sight in his left eye (he is right handed) and is an accomplished golfer (2 handicap) when he sets up and makes a swing you wouldn't know he could only see out of one eye.
Then, you also get into binocular vision and depth perception. How is that affected if your head is cocked? Of course Nicklaus cocked it to the right before his backswing but it returned to normal on the downswing.

 

[pieman]

tom:
what does this mean? "I can see his face, I shouldn't be able to see his face." also, when you say you see many players with their heads in the wrong place, where exactly should it be at address,and then where should it be at impact? thanks

 

[Spike]

Tongzilla,

Have you tried a bit more axis tilt at address to help with eliminating the head down movement? This may mellow out the axis tilt in the downswing necessary to get into impact postition.

 

[Tom Bartlett]

tom:
what does this mean? "I can see his face, I shouldn't be able to see his face." also, when you say you see many players with their heads in the wrong place, where exactly should it be at address,and then where should it be at impact? thanks

When Brian said, "I can see his face" he meant that he is not looking directly at the ball (like he ends up doing at impact). Ideally you want your head to be in the same place at address as it is at impact. But, some people aren't physically capable of this.

 

[tongzilla]

9 iron and 7 iron. Aug '07

 

[KOC]

swing clip comments

Leo and other experts,

Guess what, a hacker said: Let's see the consistance impact position...Cutting and blocking as per the picture he made!

http://f20.yahoofs.com/hkblog/69__D...log/ap_20070827054756992.jpg?ibAcL1GBfIIgQ1Qd

And, he also said hips has stopped turning, everything is blocking to the right...going to flip

http://f20.yahoofs.com/hkblog/69__D...log/ap_20070827054752201.jpg?ibAcL1GBXxm5yx1V

As for my own opinion, will it be better for a little more room between hands and body at impact (that means also at setup)?

 

[JeffM]

I think that you have a beautiful swing, and I agree with PerfectImpact that you shouldn't change it if it works well.

I think that I can understand why your head drops during the downswing. I think that it is due to your tendency to drive your right shoulder down the RSP line at the start of the downswing.

See - http://perfectgolfswingreview.net/Tongzilla.jpg

I have placed a red line at the top of your head at the end-backswing position, a green line over the likely position of the C7 vertebra, and a yellow line horizontally in line with your left shoulder. In images 2 and 3, you can see how you drive your right shoulder downwards (below the yellow line) and that causes your upper thoracic spine to tilt downwards in the direction of the ground, and that causes your head and C7 to drop.

Note in images 4 and 5, that Sergio Garcia does exactly the same thing (it is easier to note how his upper thoracic spine is tilting groundwards in the late downswing).

Brian can comment as to whether this "upper thoracic spine tilting phenomenon" is a fault. I always thought of it as being perfectly acceptable, and I have personally tried to drive my right shoulder more aggressively downwards in the direction of the ball at the start of the downswing.

Jeff.

 

[tongzilla]

brute strength, no technique swing (but quite long!)

 

[puttmad]

tong,
Just an observation (from the three frames prvided by JM), and I will accept corrections....

Your right lower body seems a bit slow and your chest is dropping....you must have to do some real shifting to get your left shoulder high enough at impact

In the second frame look how much your shoulders have moved, but your right hip and knee have hardly made any progress...and your left hip seems too low at this point...
Look at Sergio's hips in the second pic....he is not as far along in the swing as you are in the third pic, but his hips are nearly facing the target...

 

[tongzilla]

thanks for the advice JM and puttmad, i will try my best to implement your advice, but not sure exactly how.

 

[Jared Willerson]

I like the first swing the best....looks more free flowing and not like you are consciously trying to keep the left wrist flat.