Trevino Pattern

[kc8kir]

If I wanted to try swinging like Lee Trevino, what are the essentials of his pattern?

Here is what I have so far:

1) Slightly strong grip

2) Open stance

3) Shoulders square

4) Left arm takes club out and back, clubface closed

5) Continue left wrist arching to the top of the swing

6) Keep the "twist" all the way down and through the ball (holding off any release)

7) Legs drive on the downswing, then hips open

8) Clubhead worked via left hand down the target line

9) Finish under the shot

Am I missing anything?

I'm getting so sick of trying to work the club from open to closed in the swing, I think I'll try it the other way. Maybe closed to open will be my holy grail.

 

[kc8kir]

Nobody?

Next time at the range.. all I'm thinking is Lee Trevino.

We'll see how it goes.

 

[savydan]

I think you got the elements down.

If you like it at all, it would be cool to see you post your Trevino swing.

 

[Tball88]

As Brian would say, I don't work from closed, but I do work from less open and hold off any kind of real release.

I use Manzella's twistaway and then just turn through the ball, sometimes add a little bit of right arm. I would say my pattern probably looks a little more similar to Duval than Trevino...

I never could open the club and then rotate through or catch the marbles, just too much timing for me.

 

[kc8kir]

Update...

Well, I've been working on this pattern for a few days now. Things are going pretty good, with a few caveats:

Short Irons: A little too much fade to them... something I need to work out with ball position and address angles. I believe right now it's a path issue, not a face issue. I did shank a few when i started working on the pattern, but those were due to loosing my grip on the club and having it drop way inside-out. Funny things happen like that when it's 105 out on the range.

Long Clubs: Pretty good. Very few hooks. Only the occasional pull, mostly when I get my shoulders too open at impact. The driver is especially doing well when I focus on squared shoulders at impact and snapping the chain. Have to watch not to put the ball too far back or the pushes start coming into play.

Accuracy Overall: Dispersion overall isn't all that much better, yet. I do feel as though I have more control over the shots and my swing tempo / pace feels much better. No doubt this will help once I start developing a shot pattern.

Distance Overall: A little shorter in the short clubs, but in the driver my swing speed is actually up about 7 mph (from 98 to 105). The 105 is remarkably consistent as well. I think the added speed has something to do with having the hips already cleared out of the way, making my action through the ball easier.

I'll hopefully get a video up in the near future.

 

[kc8kir]

An interesting round...

Well, the open stance is working nicely. Yesterday was the best round with the driver I have had... EVER. Was consistently hitting draws off the tee, or a slight fade when I held it off. On the short par 4, 300 yards, I was 5 yards short of the green with a slight fading drive that never left the fairway centerline. Immaculate.

Barely missed the eagle chip (spun off the edge of the cup), then missed the return birdie and settled for par. Grrr....

Now... my iron play...on the other hand... hmm. Topping shots. I never have topped so many shots from the fairway. This is really a new thing for my swing. I think it's a symptom of these new mats the range had installed. They are very "squishy" underfoot, leading to a strange sense of balance and low point control. Really messing with my balance... I still haven't figured out how to hit on the mats and not mess up my swing. Trying to fix it on the course, I instinctively over-corrected and started hitting fat shots. Not fun.

Lastly... my wedge play sucked. I seem to overaccelerate whenever I have a wedge in my hands. I don't know if I need more weight in the club or what... but I seem to swing with more "kill" than "skill" when it comes to wedges. Consequently, I throw away a lot of opportunities to stick it close and make birdies. I suffered a lot of bogeys yesterday simply because of horrible wedge shots. I'm making good contact, but the dispersion is all over the place.

Total for the round... 87. And that's with starting double bogey - double bogey - double bogey because of the alternating topped / fat shots. With the drives I was hitting and the positions I had... it should have been way way better. Ended the front at +12 . Played the back in +3 ... a little better. Just a little discrepancy there front to back eh?

 

[savydan]

kc,

The first impression is that your Trevino swing is helping you come from the inside more (or underplane) which works with the driver but not so well with the irons. Topping irons is very indicative of coming from below plane.

Perhaps you could Trevino it off the tee and Trevino Lite it with the irons.

When you hit an iron decently, what's the typical ball flight?

 

[kc8kir]

Well struck irons have switched lately, from a slight fade, to slight draw. I still hook em occassionally (my bad miss).

In fact, too much draw on the 6 iron approach on #3 led to the double bogey. Was left with no way to get to the green. Had to hit a massive flop shot over a huge tree in front of me to get to the green. Open the 60 degree wedge and really swing through it. Flop shot went high enough, but too far, and I bounced off the other side of the green. Doh!

Need to be careful however on predicting the iron swings root cause. Up until the last few games, irons were my strong suit. I was flagging the pins with slight draws and having a lot of fun. I just couldn't hit the driver or woods to save my life. My grips on the irons really need replacing. Slipping a lot lately causing regrip issues. Most often this causes a hook or a shank (for me). Gonna get that fixed pronto.

Its strange. I can hit balls inside on a simulator with the irons no problem. General pattern is a slight draw, slight fade. Not hitting fat or thin either, just good contact. Get me outside in the 100 degree weather. Hmm... it's like a totally different game.

Backswing and... where did that clubface go!!?!?