Swing analysis

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CaptainMoron

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I've recently been battling with my swing, hitting the ball thin, losing it both right and left and a decrease in distance.

So I spent some time at the range on the weekend and took some video clips on my cell. Based on what I can see, I suspect that the problem is that I'm flipping the club. I suspect that the flip is caused by a pivot stall, which can be traced back to opening my front foot at / slightly after impact.

Driver video (cellular quality)
<object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/GTsJ4ikHKqU&hl=en_GB&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/GTsJ4ikHKqU&hl=en_GB&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>

5 iron video (30FPS)
<object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/alSWNx-bkHs&hl=en_GB&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/alSWNx-bkHs&hl=en_GB&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>

Another thing that I noticed is that I could increase and retain the lag slightly, but my primary concern right now is the pivot stall.

Am I on the right track here, and if so, how do I go about resolving these issues?

Edit: Having spent a bit of time thinking about it, could it be that my left hand grip is too weak, leading to an early release and the slight flip? Thus the fix would be to open my left foot by 30 degrees and to strengthen my grip?
 
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CaptainMoron

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I spent some time reading up on this site, and a couple of others, and realized that my downswing shoulder plane was way too horizontal.

Spent some time last night trying to add more lateral bend to my swing and went off to the local golfstore to see how it goes on the Launch Monitor. WOW! My usual swingspeed is in the 106-110 range, and just by adding the lateral bend it moved up into the 115-120 range, at about 90% effort. Nothing short of phenomenal! It's still going a bit all over the place, but the new swing is less than a day old so that's to be expected.

I'll do some fine tuning over the weekend and post an updated video next week
 
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CaptainMoron

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Turning my right side downwards in the downswing, i.e. contracting the right lat and extending the left. The purpose is to ensure that I get my shoulder plane more in line with the target line through the downswing.

So the feeling I'm currently working on:
1> Ensure a proper pivot going back
2> Start the downswing by driving the hips along the target line for a fraction, causing the right shoulder to drop
3> Pivot aggressively, dropping the right shoulder towards the target line (lateral bend)
4> Keep the arms "soft", letting the pivot lead the swing and in doing so, retaining lag
 
mjstrong

mjstrong

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I don't see a "pivot stall" or a flip in those clips. My first question would be about your ball position. It could be too far forward.

The swing itself looks pretty good - always check the setup first, before you blame the swing.
 
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CaptainMoron

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In the driver clip I was hitting a ball, with the 5 iron it was just a swing.

As good as the theory was with my swing changes, I tried putting it into practise yesterday and it was a right mess. Brian, when you coming to South Africa?
 
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CaptainMoron

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mjstrong said:
I don't see a "pivot stall" or a flip in those clips. My first question would be about your ball position. It could be too far forward.

The swing itself looks pretty good - always check the setup first, before you blame the swing.
Click to expand...

Thanks MJ. I have read some contradictory statements on this though. From what I understand, Brian recommends the ball being 2 inches inside the left foot for irons. Currently my ball position is back of that though, so which is it?
 
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Kevin Shields

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CaptainMoron said:
In the driver clip I was hitting a ball, with the 5 iron it was just a swing.

As good as the theory was with my swing changes, I tried putting it into practise yesterday and it was a right mess. Brian, when you coming to South Africa?
Click to expand...

Let me guess, the lateral bend made you fat it or hit it way right? Am I close?
 
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CaptainMoron

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Didn't have a problem with it starting right, but I did lay some serious sod all over it. What I did find that was that thrusting with the right lat lead to very good contact. Then it dawned on me that I was actually performing the much vaunted underarm javelin throw.
 
mjstrong

mjstrong

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CaptainMoron said:
Thanks MJ. I have read some contradictory statements on this though. From what I understand, Brian recommends the ball being 2 inches inside the left foot for irons. Currently my ball position is back of that though, so which is it?
Click to expand...

The only issue I have with using the feet as a reference for ball position, is that it varies (sometimes greatly) when compared to the upper body. Somebody with a wider stance, and play the ball 2 inches inside their left heel will have a much more forward ball position than somebody with a more narrow stance.

Personally, I see most people (swing patterns) succeed with a ball position between their left ear and "left logo" (middle of left chest) for something like a 5 iron.

Just my thoughts. There is no ball in the 5 iron swing, so it's a bit tough to analyze...
 
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bax1865

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Next!

First I would work on fixing your camera angle! lol

Second would be the face of the club...too shut...most likely leading to steering the face throuogh the ball.

Third, the sequence of the downstroke should feel like it builds from the ground through the feet and legs, then the hips, then the left side of the chest (left lat), then the hands, then the clubshaft, then the clubhead. whew! Lag is a feel and a very important feel for a proper, repeatable golf swing

Lastly, check out the head and neck movement as you first start back....
 
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