Should I or should I not?

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tbarbertab

tbarbertab

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I've been toying around lately with a new swing feel (...new to me anyway). It's one where the arms, wrists, and shoulders are very very relaxed at address and throughout the swing. I simply use my pivot to swing the club back, introducing no conscious manipulations on the club. Not worrying about "placing" my hands in any particular place. Not worrying about setting my wrists in any particular fashion. Really, I'd describe it as a mindless swing with my attention on the movements of my pivot only. The backswing feels like I'm simply pointing the club at the sky back behind me (even though I know the club was still moving back to parallel).

The results of this was some of the most solid shots I've ever hit with the driver. It felt like I was really mashing the ball. The shots were lower than normal, with a nice little draw. If I did get into trouble with the driver, it was shots that traveled lower with a little more of a hook but not excessive. If I slowed it down and hit it with smooth rhythm, I'd rip it long with a little draw. Coming to impact, I was doing nothing conscious to square the clubface, yet it was squaring nicely. Actually, I was shocked that it was squaring. It didn't feel like it should have.

My initial experiment with this swing was about 5 weeks ago. It was something that I couldn't easily trust, so I got away from it, only to return to it this week. Seems like it's something that either you totally commit to, or ignore completely. I'm not sure if it's a road I want to travel or not. Any thoughts? Again, it feels like a total departure from what I've been doing for years, and therefore quite a "leap".

BTW, This swing was the result of watching Mike Jacobs "Explosive Golf" DVD.

Thanks,
 
curtisj76

curtisj76

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"The results of this was some of the most solid shots I've ever hit with the driver."

-I think you just answered your own question.
 
B

Biffer

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It sounds like you are going to be making fewer visits to the rough and hazards with this new method, so I would recommend you stick with it until you find something that works better. Do you have video or pics posted anywhere?
 
birdie_man

birdie_man

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Make sure you know what those hands are doing...before that success wears off and you're left searching for that same feel...better to know the alignments.

I'd say to learn as much as you can about what you're doing while you're doing it well.

Once you get that in your head....attach the feels....then go nuts.
 
tbarbertab

tbarbertab

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Biffer, I don't have pictures posted yet but may get some up soon.

I've got a lesson tomorrow morning so I'll talk this over with my instructor. I'm also going to do some video work tomorrow so hopefully I'll be able to see how it looks.

One thing I didn't mention....I've always been a flipper. It has been minimized over the last few years but the remnents are still there. That "hit" impulse is hard to overcome.

But with the swing I described above, I felt lots of lag with no flip whatsoever. I assume that's why the ball was flying lower. Hopefully I'll see that in the video tomorrow.

Thanks
 
mrodock

mrodock

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birdie_man said:
Make sure you know what those hands are doing...before that success wears off and you're left searching for that same feel...better to know the alignments.

I'd say to learn as much as you can about what you're doing while you're doing it well.

Once you get that in your head....attach the feels....then go nuts.
Click to expand...

I nominate this as a hall of fame post, easily one of the best 5 I've read, maybe the best.

Matt
 
bts

bts

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tbarbertab said:
I've been toying around lately with a new swing feel (...new to me anyway). It's one where the arms, wrists, and shoulders are very very relaxed at address and throughout the swing. I simply use my pivot to swing the club back, introducing no conscious manipulations on the club. Not worrying about "placing" my hands in any particular place. Not worrying about setting my wrists in any particular fashion. Really, I'd describe it as a mindless swing with my attention on the movements of my pivot only. The backswing feels like I'm simply pointing the club at the sky back behind me (even though I know the club was still moving back to parallel).
...................................................................
Click to expand...
Sounds like "you load and sustain the lag (smoothly enough) and the law do the rest", although it seems like a "pivot-controlled hands" swing, which shouldn't be a problem as long as it's precise enough.

A "hands (or lag)-controlled pivot" is supposed to be a lot easier to control.
 
tbarbertab

tbarbertab

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Pivot Drill

Had a lesson today. It was only a 30 minute session so we chose to limit the discussion to one topic. Didn't get a chance to talk about this new swing feel mentioned above. We talked about my inability to transport a flat right wrist/bent left wrist to impact (warning, I'm a lefty). I kinda knew this already, but he confimed that the main problem is my lazy pivot, so he gave me a pivot drill to work on.

Here it is - take the club back just to parallel with the ground (a really tiny backswing), weight loaded into the back foot, shoulders turned 30-40 degrees. Stop at this point for a second or two, then hit the ball as hard as you can WITH THE PIVOT, finishing facing the target with the club again parallel to the ground, pointing out towards the target (down the heel line really) - left foot fully up on the toe. Hips fully facing the target. No arms and wrists at all in the downswing.

Ever tried this? For someone who overuses his arms and wrists like me this can be frightening. Initially, I felt like I couldn't hit it out of my shadow with that small backswing/no arms/no wrist forward swing. To my amazement, after 10-15 balls I was able to hit it pretty good. Maybe 40 yards (I used an 8 iron). I started alternating between hitting 10 balls with the drill then hitting a few full driver shots, then back to the drill. After a few cycles of this I really started to get the feel of smashing the ball with my pivot. The driver started to feel effortless.

It will take a while to really get this down but not bad for one day!

BTW, I now realize something I was doing with that relaxed swing I described to open this thread. In the downswing I was PULLING with the right arm (my lead arm). I knew something funny was happening but didn't realize what it was till today at the range. Don't Swingers pull with the lead arm?
 
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mrodock

mrodock

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tbarbertab said:
I kinda knew this already, but he confimed that the main problem is my lazy pivot, so he gave me a pivot drill to work on. Here it is - take the club back just to parallel with the ground (a really tiny backswing), weight loaded into the back foot, shoulders turned 30-40 degrees. Stop at this point for a second or two, then hit the ball as hard as you can WITH THE PIVOT, finishing facing the target with the club again parallel to the ground, pointing out towards the target - left foot fully up on the toe. Hips fully facing the target. No arms and wrists at all in the downswing.
Click to expand...

Sounds like an awesome drill to me! Curious what other's think!

Matt
 
H

hcw

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tbarbertab said:
...hit the ball as hard as you can WITH THE PIVOT...
Click to expand...

sounds like Brian's line (courtesy of Ben Doyle, i think) of "Learn to wallop the ball with you Pivot!"
 
S

solarbear

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Problem I faced using a similar method is fat shots. Overpivoting. Had great success with it initially but started overpivoting and hitting fat all the time.
 
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