Why do I hit it like an old man/15 year old girl?

[dschultz6072]

I'm not joking. I'm easily the shortest of all my buddies. Average CHS with driver 95, maybe top out at 100. Maybe it's bad that I play with guys who can carry the ball 285 and play off scratch or better. Here's the joke...I've played with an older dude who had a bad hip and he would punk me every hole off the tee by 20 yards. Similarly, just last week I was being punked off the tee by someone from the local college ladies team. I would literally give my tee shots all I had and still hit these little fart balls. I don't think I missed a fairway, and I rarely do, but come on. All the guys I play with tell me I have a good swing, but I know I'm capable of another 10 mph at the least.

I just don't understand what I can do to get a little more heat onto the back of this ball. I understand that whatever 70% of the work into the pivot is just done to work the pivot or whatever number it is. I don't know. I straighten my left leg and I hump the goat and come in steep is my little self analysis. This video I was really working on just staying centered and not letting my body race ahead of my arms, although Kevin or Jim (can't remember) thinks my arms get to the ball too quickly. When I played like this I felt like I hit a lot of open faced shots and used my shoulders to lunge a bit through the ball and save it. Tomorrow I'm going to the range with the idea of keeping my left leg flexed through the ball a la Tom Lehman. I also think my backswing doesn't look like it's tight enough. What can I do/feel to stop standing up out of the backswing or take it back too far?

 

[Frans@France]

Find a Trackman, measure and then post the data. Make sure that the smashfactor is 1.5 and if possible get your AngleOfAttack in the plus range. CHS of 95 is still not that bad and it's hard (not impossible) to find 15 year old girls hitting it at that speed most are much faster

 

[Kevin Shields]

Dude get a tripod!! Im still dizzy from watching!

And you may as well be swinging while suspended in air. No ground or body helping the arm swing at all...IMO

 

[ekennedy]

D-

I think you have poor sequencing in your swing. Your upper and lower body begin the DS almost simultaneously (if not the upper a bit sooner) forcing your upper body to far forward at impact. By starting your DS from the ground up (maybe a little bump of the hips), you would probably hit the ball to the right for a while until you slowed your upper body down a bit and added a bit of tilt. The difference between starting your DS with your lower body or your upper body is pretty large when it comes to generating speed.

 

[Kevin Shields]

Yeah...what he said

 

[rprevost]

Dude get a tripod!! Im still dizzy from watching!

And you may as well be swinging while suspended in air. No ground or body helping the arm swing at all...IMO

This may be a thread-jack, so ignore it if it is. I am trying to relate this question to the Coupling Point release thread. Is the additional speed in the swing resulting from using the body derived from the 25% of the pivot power that is not used up by doing the pivot itself? How does using the body contribute to closing the gap faster (Closing the gap I understand is the major source of power because the club head has to accelerate so much faster than the hands in order to line the club up and explains why I hit it farther using the CP release.)?

 

[dschultz6072]

Dude get a tripod!! Im still dizzy from watching!

And you may as well be swinging while suspended in air. No ground or body helping the arm swing at all...IMO

That's what I told one of my buddies, I've still yet to figure out how to use my legs. It feels that way to me, so I think your opinion is pretty spot on. I haven't ever played any bat/ball sports so this golf thing is foreign to me.

 

[dschultz6072]

D-

I think you have poor sequencing in your swing. Your upper and lower body begin the DS almost simultaneously (if not the upper a bit sooner) forcing your upper body to far forward at impact. By starting your DS from the ground up (maybe a little bump of the hips), you would probably hit the ball to the right for a while until you slowed your upper body down a bit and added a bit of tilt. The difference between starting your DS with your lower body or your upper body is pretty large when it comes to generating speed.

Hm...I was screwing around with the speed whoosh and was hitting some right to right shots, albeit a noticeable difference in distance/speed through the ball. So you think I might have been on the right track? Basically the big reason why my swing looks the way it does in this video is I'm trying to not give the goat any of my business. Trying to hold the tush line. I tend to stand up through impact.

 

[dschultz6072]

Find a Trackman, measure and then post the data. Make sure that the smashfactor is 1.5 and if possible get your AngleOfAttack in the plus range. CHS of 95 is still not that bad and it's hard (not impossible) to find 15 year old girls hitting it at that speed most are much faster

+2 to +4 stock shot now, 1.47 average smash.

 

[footwedge]

Hard to pivot on the d.s. when the b.s. pivot is not really working properly. Your arms and hands are so quick the bigger slower muscles that control the pivot have no chance to get going either back or through. Can you hit the ball when it's on a sidehill above your feet lie angle?

Find a different camera operator, that one has vertigo or small feet.

 

[dschultz6072]

Haha that was my mom. I can't even watch the video anymore without getting pissed off and throwing my headphones far away because of the gum chewing, let alone the earthquake cam.

 

[footwedge]

Haha that was my mom. I can't even watch the video anymore without getting pissed off and throwing my headphones far away because of the gum chewing, let alone the earthquake cam.

I apologize to your Mom I take back what I said, it must be a faulty camera, buy a decent camera will ya...lol.

 

[dschultz6072]

No apology necessary. I already gave her a stern scolding.

 

[footwedge]

No apology necessary. I already gave her a stern scolding.

Oh good, saves the price of a new camera.

 

[Erik_K]

Where are you normally hitting the ball on the face? Hitting the ball far and solid has a lot to do with hitting on the center of the club face.

It seems that everyone's stock answer is to 'Get on Trackman.' It sounds like you and I may suffer from the same problems - an upper body that is too active initially, possible loss of tilt, and hitting down on the ball too steep. The result is usually a high(er) shot and if you have an open face, it'll fall to the right.

My shot shape is anything but boring and I lose a TON of distance with the longer clubs, especially the driver.

Erik

 

[softconsult]

" I haven't ever played any bat/ball sports so this golf thing is foreign to me."

I think this really a key. I am not a golf instructor. However, I'm not bad at offering explanations to people who ask.
Doesn't happen often. I have asked that background question in almost the same wording. Chinese guy 50 years old,
beats balls daily. I once asked him that very question. He grew up in Shanghai. Nope, no bat/ball sports, actually no sports.
He has a hard time grasping the muscle movements.

Based on the declining participation in sports in favor of computer gaming, golf may be in for a struggle.

 

[Frans@France]

spin axis?

1.47 means not on the sweetspot so carry is lost and possible gear effect either vertical or horzontal. both creating even more loss of carry.

vertical launch angle?

95mph clubspeed x 1.47 = 140mph ball speed. If you would get it at around 14 degree launch angle and with that positive Angle Of attack you will be able to have low spin. total possible carry around 230.

at 100 mpg clubspeed you will have a possible carry around 250.

Please note that those values are based on "normal" atmospheric conditions

 

[Erik_K]

spin axis?

1.47 means not on the sweetspot so carry is lost and possible gear effect either vertical or horzontal. both creating even more loss of carry.

vertical launch angle?

95mph clubspeed x 1.47 = 140mph ball speed. If you would get it at around 14 degree launch angle and with that positive Angle Of attack you will be able to have low spin. total possible carry around 230.

at 100 mpg clubspeed you will have a possible carry around 250.

Please note that those values are based on "normal" atmospheric conditions

One of things I learned at the last Tour Stop with Brian was the value of hitting the center of the clubface. Your numbers help shed some light on his issue. He's likely losing 15-30 yards from off-center hits.

 

[dschultz6072]

I'm about to go see if I can't get on TM today. I change things a lot (at least that's how it feels) and I haven't been breaking many tees so I'm still hitting up. I'll let you know what's up. Thanks guys.

 

[dschultz6072]

Where are you normally hitting the ball on the face? Hitting the ball far and solid has a lot to do with hitting on the center of the club face.

It seems that everyone's stock answer is to 'Get on Trackman.' It sounds like you and I may suffer from the same problems - an upper body that is too active initially, possible loss of tilt, and hitting down on the ball too steep. The result is usually a high(er) shot and if you have an open face, it'll fall to the right.

My shot shape is anything but boring and I lose a TON of distance with the longer clubs, especially the driver.

Erik

Man...my pro has been trying to get me to not tilt. This isn't the way to go? I'm at a loss here. Yes...my miss is a steep toe shot.