Hey folks, if any one is bored and has some free time, please give my swing a critique. Be as honestly brutal as you want to be... heh. There is no ball (though I did plant a tee) since the video was taken while waiting for the group in front of me to clear.

In both swings you'll notice my lead foot rotates about 30 degrees before impact as a result of a history of knee injuries. It takes a bit of the torque-pain away.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4eUixCPGS8
Long irons (4-iron here) have either a slight draw or a low snap hook with most of the hooks happening off of the tee. I seem to be much better off the deck...

My drives tend to fade and fly 250-310 yards depending on how much slice it has. I worked to correct a nasty pull hook by steepening my swing path a bit, maybe too much...

Thanks in advance folks!

DaveMBarb wrote:

Hey folks, if any one is bored and has some free time, please give my swing a critique. Be as honestly brutal as you want to be... heh. There is no ball (though I did plant a tee) since the video was taken while waiting for the group in front of me to clear. In both swings you'll notice my lead foot rotates about 30 degrees before impact as a result of a history of knee injuries. It takes a bit of the torque-pain away. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4eUixCPGS8 Long irons (4-iron here) have either a slight draw or a low snap hook with most of the hooks happening off of the tee. I seem to be much better off the deck... My drives tend to fade and fly 250-310 yards depending on how much slice it has. I worked to correct a nasty pull hook by steepening my swing path a bit, maybe too much... Thanks in advance folks!

Can't really tell from the video why you're doing the things you're doing. you do have a very upright swing so that may contribute to the fade with your driver. That's a helluva drive too.

Something you can try with your feet is to actually turn that foot about 30 degrees out to begin with. My local pro had me do that once upon a time anyway because i swing so fast that i don't clear my hips in time. It affords me that clearing time and also makes it easier to rotate my hips and move my weight forward over the left side. From the second swing, it looks like you have a little problem falling back - either because of your knee or because of your balance.

Hope this might help. can anyone confirm?

Yeah, that falling back on the driver swing was an abnormality, if anything I tend to fall towards my left toes and not back. I'll blame not having a ball in front of me for that one (or something like that).

Any thoughts on what an upright swing might do for/against me? Should I try to change that? Basically I"m looking for a bit more accuracy as I can't seem to hit a GIR to save my life. Though I AM getting some good practice chipping close...

Thanks!

A more upright swing with the longer clubs is going to do a few things... it'll dig the toe into the ground a little as you're upsetting the lie angle of the club. This will in turn cause the face to open up a little on the through swing and cause a fade or slice. What you say about hooking the ball off tees bad, that could be the dreaded pull-hook. This can also be caused by a more upright swing due to an over the top move and hard rolling of the forearms.

I'd say if you're hitting strait balls though, i wouldn't change it, but it sounds like it's at least hurting your drives. Try to set up a couple clubs like todays article and practice taking the club back a touch inside the line and make the arc a little wider on the way back. Get that club to come through along the same lines. Release through freely and that should help. The release is key. Trying to widen the arc generally makes people want to try to hold that angle through the ball to keep the club on the "right" path. Make sure to load and release pointing down the line with the shaft and head. If you don't, you're gonna spray it right just as bad as before. I know that from experience. been there.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NK6yc8zQluY

Here's a driver swing from the range today after I played 18 holes. I had been pushing shots today hard right and worked to fix it on the range. This shot has my alignment clubs removed but I'm aimed in line with the edge of the hitting mat.

The ball flight was on my normal trajectory for my 9 degree driver and had a decent draw to it, maybe 10-15 yards worth. Carry was around 260 yards as it entered the woods 240 yards away on the fly at the base of the tree canopy there.

Thanks for the tips earlier, I've tried to flatten my swing a bit though I notice that my finish has m club a lot more vertical than I'd like. Any ideas/comments folks? Anything I should work on or change?

Thanks!

Hey Dave,

It may be intentional but your last video posted is listed as private. I'm not sure how many people will able to view your video.

Great looking swing. I used the second swing for better camera stability.

Slight inside takeaway but you get to the right position at the top mostly...

I see your hands being over the top just a little on the downswing, the blue lines especially coming into impact show it. Our pro's hands are coming into the ball from the inside. If his clubface is square he's gonna slightly draw that ball. In your shot, unless your clubface is open, you're gonna pull it. If its closed, you're gonna pull hook it.

Our pro stops his swing when his club is right around parallel, enabling the club and the hands to come down on the same path. At the top of your swing there is a lot going on with over extension, but I wanted to comment that your position at the top is money if you abbreviate that swing at parallel. Your downswing is already outstanding but its going to come more consistently inside when you start down on the same path that you came from.

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Of course extra credit for the name of the pro

Thanks! I've fixed the 2nd swing video, that's what I get for posting it right before I go to sleep... I'm certainly fighting a consistent pull/hook if I don't consciously throw my hands forward after impact but as a result I lose about 10-15 yards of carry.

I appreciate the analysis! it'll help me alot I'm sure.

And I'm not positive, but is that Miguel Ángel Jiménez? I'm not sure but there might not be enough hair for it to be him...

The driver swing was a lot better, great looking swing, looks like you can hit it a ton. Club is well past parallel again but nothing wrong with overextension if you can get the club on the correct downswing plane and get the rest of your body in sync. It just makes it harder to control as the swing path gets longer.




A lot of power hitters get great distance without overextension in this parallel position. Note the angle between the left arm and the club. Much of that angle is not released until just before impact.


As usual extra juju for the pros name.

2nd swing video was even better. Tried something new to show plane. Green is backswing, red is downswing.

Those images are ridiculously helpful. Thanks! Are you still using that V1 software? I downloaded the free version but it wouldn't work on my Windows 7 64-bit machine. Boo...

And I don't even have a good guess who that 2nd pro is... Not enough hair for Adam Scott... I'm stumped.

1st one is Berhard Langer, second one is Aaron Baddeley. Yep its the V1 Home version.