My son's swing

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curtisj76

curtisj76

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Here are a couple of swings from my 7 year old boy. His shot is normally right to left that can sometimes turn into a hook. Earlier this year he was swinging really flat/laid off but he's getting better. He also likes a pretty strong right hand grip but I normally tell him to get it back to more neutral. Anyways, he has a ton of potentiol and I'm about tapped out on how to get him better. Anyone have any suggestions? Thanks

PS - He played in his first tourney ever today and lost by a stroke. 2nd hole he aimed too far to the left and then hooked it into knee high grass and then missed a close putt near the end of his round. The good thing is that he really didn't play his best and still came pretty close.

Bad shot
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2p4wIC02iM


Better shot
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A08-OK6DnX0
 
K

Kevin Shields

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Juuuuuust a bit inside out on the first one. He's already figured out how far under and right he needs to swing to put some loft on that closed face at the top.
 
curtisj76

curtisj76

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Kevin Shields said:
Juuuuuust a bit inside out on the first one. He's already figured out how far under and right he needs to swing to put some loft on that closed face at the top.
Click to expand...

My hunch was that he was swinging from the inside but I have the worst golf eyes in the world. I also thought his clubface was dead shut at the top but then found a way for it to work. Would you fix the face at the top and then try to get him more on plane? Anything else? Thanks Kevin
 
magicmarker

magicmarker

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Looks like he just needed someone to hold up the quiet please sign. I wouldn't fix anything, I would encourage his development by making sure he is enjoying himself, your attitude towards his game will set the tone for how much passion he will have. But 'fixing' his swing all the time may do more harm than good when it comes to how much he will want to keep getting better. JMO

When the PGA tour commercials come on showing tour players playing golf as youngsters, what sticks out to you? I would doubt that it's the overplane/underplane issues, and would bet it's the passion and smiles on their faces.
 
curtisj76

curtisj76

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Yeah that was his 3 year old brother in the background.

As far as fixing him I just don't know how to help him adjust his swing if it's off. Like when the ball goes too left I don't know if it was his face or path. I also know what it's like to swing too far from the inside and didn't want him to ingrain bad habits that I currently struggle with. He's also just a natural athlete that can do anything I tell/show him so I know he could do any swing/move. He's a competitor (state champ in wrestling) and loves the game and I just want to give him the chance to play his best. If I could sit him in front of Brian I would but the distance is just too much.
 
magicmarker

magicmarker

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If it starts left, I'd point to the face. If it wants to turn left then it's a combo of face and PATH, or a toe hit.

If I were in your shoes, I would want him to be trying to hit all the shots on command (if the putting green is closed). high draw, draw, low draw, high fade, fade, low fade, high straight, straight, low straight. Obviously every shot isn't going to immediately come off as expected, but learning to conceptualize what makes what happen will probably be better for him than getting into positions that he may soon grow out of.

Guan Tianlang's swing is far from the 'perfect model swing'. He's shown us that the game is more about short game, strategy and determination than it is about making really pretty looking swings.
 
hp12c

hp12c

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Up the wall, down the wall, left of the wallk and get a towel roll it up and put it next to the ball with the lenght of the towel paralell to the target line, not too close and have him swing away.
 
dschultz6072

dschultz6072

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he's a push hooker for sure. very similar to tom lehman. i bet he can hit a pretty mean power draw and knock it out there good for his age/size. put up a stick to represent the ending target line down the line and offer him 10 dollars if he can hit a legit pull fade around it. 20 if he can pull off three in a row. he'll probably figure out how to fix the clubface if he wants to have any chance of pulling that shot off without hitting some ho hum push/push cut like most push hookers do when asked to hit a real left to right fade.

the other option is just let him grow and develop the hand eye skills and later on in life he will figure out the distance between two points is always shorter when the line connecting them is straight. if he fights a hook, he fights a hook. so be it. he's swinging out to the right because of the face. he's developed that coordination and feel. if he didn't, he'd be hitting hooks that wouldn't go ten feet off the ground.

it's gonna be a grind to fix it, whether you want him to do it now or later. i would leave it alone for a long time if it were my kid, though.
 
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curtisj76

curtisj76

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He's swinging more left now and the hooks are completely gone. Making divots that point left, he could be a little over the top but the ball is going straight so I'm not complaining. He used to swing to parallel (sometimes even past) on all of his shots but to get more control it's more a 3/4 backswing now. Distance really hasn't changed much and has improved his consistency.

Swing from today:

Swinging more left - YouTube
 
johnnymarlboro

johnnymarlboro

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I thought the good swing from before was way better. Seems like an overdone NHA to me. He's swinging more left, but only because his hands are so much higher and less deep so it's easy for him to have it pointed left at the top and then try to dump it down on the ball. Slippery slope though in my opinion. In this last swing it looks like he's just standing there and his arms are swinging, and he has to pull up for dear life before impact so he doesn't stick it in the ground. Look out for shanks, blocks, and swipey slices with that hand path. I think his body was much more dynamic and athletic looking in the old swing. Anyways...just one man's opinion.
 
curtisj76

curtisj76

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johnnymarlboro said:
I thought the good swing from before was way better. Seems like an overdone NHA to me. He's swinging more left, but only because his hands are so much higher and less deep so it's easy for him to have it pointed left at the top and then try to dump it down on the ball. Slippery slope though in my opinion. In this last swing it looks like he's just standing there and his arms are swinging, and he has to pull up for dear life before impact so he doesn't stick it in the ground. Look out for shanks, blocks, and swipey slices with that hand path. I think his body was much more dynamic and athletic looking in the old swing. Anyways...just one man's opinion.
Click to expand...

Well crap, I don't know. Can't change anything right now as he has a tournament tomorrow. Just went out and he hit the ball very well.
 
curtisj76

curtisj76

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hp12c said:
Does he like these new moves?
Click to expand...

Just asked him and he said yes. As far as his swing, I basically just showed him what swinging too far from the inside looked liked and then what more on plane looked like and he did the rest, I really didn't show him anything.
 
johnnymarlboro

johnnymarlboro

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curtisj76 said:
Well crap, I don't know. Can't change anything right now as he has a tournament tomorrow. Just went out and he hit the ball very well.
Click to expand...

Hey, I'm not a teacher so don't get too worried, that's just what I saw based on my own swing experiences. Obviously you're just trying to do what you think is best for your kid. In my experience, sometimes trying to get better on your own without the eye of an expert or professional you'll make a change and think you're fixed only to realize you've traded one set of problems for another. Anyways he looks like he's probably athletic enough to make a lot of stuff work. I'm with the others though; stress short game, putting, and fundamentals (alignment, grip, posture) and his athleticism will do the rest.
 
johnnymarlboro

johnnymarlboro

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curtisj76 said:
Just asked him and he said yes. As far as his swing, I basically just showed him what swinging too far from the inside looked liked and then what more on plane looked like and he did the rest, I really didn't show him anything.
Click to expand...

I just saw this post before I wrote my last. Interesting, because I didn't start playing golf till 26, and once I started swinging too far inside out I made the exact same change on my own in an effort to swing left and hit a fade or straight ball. Higher and less deep hands, and pointing the club to the left of the target at the top. Also my hips turned back less in an effort to keep my hands from getting too far behind me and in hopes of getting more open at impact. I was hitting my wedges and short irons great, but eventually I over did something and had big problems with longer clubs and my driver and that used to be the best part of my game. Actually I'm struggling again with this same issue right now, I just have been too busy to work it out at the range.

It's interesting seeing how different people intuitively react to the club in an effort to get it to do a certain thing.
 
curtisj76

curtisj76

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Played in his 2nd tourney today and won by 6 strokes. Still not sure if anything should be changed, scared I will lead him down the wrong path.
 
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