Will the Basics save me

[guitarman]

Been having a real hard time lately with my swing. I could not figure out for the life of me why I went from swing half decent at the beginning of the summer to now where I am lucky to hit the ball straight. Countless hours on the range solved nothing. I recieved some good tips during a round at KF in hamilton last week and it started me on the road to recovery. I thought maybe my irons are just too hard to hit and I should go to super game improvements. Spending 2 hours at golf town the other day I found that the easiest irons to hit (even with my crappy swing) were the Adams A2 OS. But gawd are they ugly.
so I was down in my rec room the other night with my hitting mat and some plastic golf balls with the golf channel on. I started watching some lessons by the pro's on basic grip posture and back swing. It was nothing remote to what I was doing. A few tips that seem to make sense to me was in the posture and how you take your club back. According to this tip I was not near enought bent over. When I followed this tip I was bent over so much it seemed awkward. The tip was to stick your butt out and bend over with your hands on your legs. Bend until your fingertips touch the top of your knees.
In the back swing the idea was to take the club straight back with my right arm causing the movement (I'm a lefty) sort of like a one peice takeaway I guess. the club head should move away from you as far as possible with out you moving your legs.
So I go out to the range yesterday and didn't think that if I followed all these golf channel tips I'd magically start hitting balls. But thats exactly what happenned. I hit almost every ball perfectly. A cou[le were hit a bit thin but still didn't end up too bad. Because of the rain yesterday I had to hit off mats, which I never do. I'm wondering if its just easier to hit off mats or if the readjusting of my posture and back swing has helped me to hit better. I still have an appointment with my instructor on Friday. I just want to make sure that everything is moving in the right direction.

[Bellyhungry]

G-man,

Have you tried playing from the right side in your quest for the perfect golf swing?

[nearace]

Been having a real hard time lately with my swing. I could not figure out for the life of me why I went from swing half decent at the beginning of the summer to now where I am lucky to hit the ball straight. Countless hours on the range solved nothing. I recieved some good tips during a round at KF in hamilton last week and it started me on the road to recovery. I thought maybe my irons are just too hard to hit and I should go to super game improvements. Spending 2 hours at golf town the other day I found that the easiest irons to hit (even with my crappy swing) were the Adams A2 OS. But gawd are they ugly.
so I was down in my rec room the other night with my hitting mat and some plastic golf balls with the golf channel on. I started watching some lessons by the pro's on basic grip posture and back swing. It was nothing remote to what I was doing. A few tips that seem to make sense to me was in the posture and how you take your club back. According to this tip I was not near enought bent over. When I followed this tip I was bent over so much it seemed awkward. The tip was to stick your butt out and bend over with your hands on your legs. Bend until your fingertips touch the top of your knees.
In the back swing the idea was to take the club straight back with my right arm causing the movement (I'm a lefty) sort of like a one peice takeaway I guess. the club head should move away from you as far as possible with out you moving your legs.
So I go out to the range yesterday and didn't think that if I followed all these golf channel tips I'd magically start hitting balls. But thats exactly what happenned. I hit almost every ball perfectly. A cou[le were hit a bit thin but still didn't end up too bad. Because of the rain yesterday I had to hit off mats, which I never do. I'm wondering if its just easier to hit off mats or if the readjusting of my posture and back swing has helped me to hit better. I still have an appointment with my instructor on Friday. I just want to make sure that everything is moving in the right direction.it sure as heck was not the mat,bellyhungry was just pulling your chain:rofl: grip and [posture was a for sure tip I saw that show and that guy was supper tall if that was the one you saw, basic fundimentals are a sure fire way to improve your swing here is the grip pic for you http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t234/nocod/AADW001311.jpg

[cdnputter]

Hitting off mats will tell you immediately if you're hitting the ball thin or fat for sure, it's the only reason I don't mind hitting off mats.

What does your instructor say about your grip? Once you have the club feeling like it belongs in your hand, don't change it. After that you'll start grooving your swing, I wouldn't try to copy Tiger or anyone else, everyone is too different for carbon copy swings.

One thing I did a few years ago was work on my takeaway. I had a very flat swing and found that taking my stance against a wall and then taking the club back so I didn't hit the wall gave my the best feedback as to my posture and takeaway. Of course I was in an apartment that had 10 foot ceilings so I didn't have to worry about taking out any lights. :D

[el tigre]

The tip was to stick your butt out and bend over with your hands on your legs. Bend until your fingertips touch the top of your knees. Very good advice. Every golf lesson I've ever had starts with a quick review of my posture. Its very easy to get lazy and stand too upright or simply hunch over the ball instead of sticking your butt out.


In the back swing the idea was to take the club straight back with my right arm causing the movement (I'm a lefty) sort of like a one peice takeaway I guess. the club head should move away from you as far as possible with out you moving your legs. Also good advice - most of us get too steep on the downswing because we didn't have enough extension on the backswing. Just make sure you don't sway your hips going back.


So I go out to the range yesterday and didn't think that if I followed all these golf channel tips I'd magically start hitting balls. But thats exactly what happenned. I hit almost every ball perfectly. A cou[le were hit a bit thin but still didn't end up too bad. Because of the rain yesterday I had to hit off mats, which I never do. I'm wondering if its just easier to hit off mats or if the readjusting of my posture and back swing has helped me to hit better. I still have an appointment with my instructor on Friday. I just want to make sure that everything is moving in the right direction. Its not the mats. It sounds like you're moving in the right direction, but I'm sure your instructor will confirm that on Friday.

[leftintherough]

Now your scaring me. Isn't Nick from Glen Abbey your swing coach? When was the last time you seen him?

[Bellyhungry]

it sure as heck was not the mat,bellyhungry was just pulling your chain:rofl: grip and [posture was a for sure tip I saw that show and that guy was supper tall if that was the one you saw, basic fundimentals are a sure fire way to improve your swing here is the grip pic for you http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t234/nocod/AADW001311.jpg

Hey! What the...? :rolleyes: It was merely a suggestion...Nothing more, nothing less...

[nearace]

Hey! What the...? :rolleyes: It was merely a suggestion...Nothing more, nothing less...leave him on the dark side;)

[guitarman]

Now your scaring me. Isn't Nick from Glen Abbey your swing coach? When was the last time you seen him?

Yes I was hitting well after my lessons with Nick at the beginng of the summer. I should not have played so much with out seeing him through the summer. I was trying to save money to maximize the # of rounds I could play. I just got lazy and unattentive to what I was doing. I am low on patience so instead to taking a step back and review what was going wrong I just got frustrated. After all I did snap 2 shafts on my irons this summer that I had to replace. Lately I got so frustrated I put my irons up for sale (they probably won't get sold now) This week I have practiced so much that there are open bleeding blisters on my fingers. When I was watching those tips on the golf channel I took my time and incorporated them with what I remembered Nick had shown me. Sometimes we need to hear the same things in a different way. When I went back to the range yesterday with this new perspective on things I really already knew it was a different story. I was hitting balls better than I had ever. It was like these irons were now easy to hit. I still have some minor problems with the direction of the ball. Because I was so open at the top of the swing its gone a tiny bit the other way and sometimes the ball goes just a bit to the right (being a lefty) But the good news now is that I am coming on more of an inside path and I can draw the ball with the irons and my driver is hitting more solid either straight out or with just a slight fade. Right now my body has to get used to me properly setting up the posture and grip and my straight back take away. It feels a bit awkward but the results are 100% better. I will be seeing Nick on Friday to make sure I'm headed in the right direction and hopefully this winter I can move on to some more advanced lessons.

G-man,

Have you tried playing from the right side in your quest for the perfect golf swing?

Please don't make fun of me Bellhungry. I'm in a very sensitive place right now.














:D :D :D


Also good advice - most of us get too steep on the downswing because we didn't have enough extension on the backswing. Just make sure you don't sway your hips going back.



This was one of my big problems. After I straightened out my back swing by taking the club straight back and watching that my wrists didn't roll back and open the club face way open I was still coming in to steep. So when I fixed my posture I would take the club straight back as far as I could with out moving my lower body and viola no more fat shots. I'd hit the ball sweet centre.

[leftintherough]

leave him on the dark side;)

You mean on the right side, err, correct side of the ball!

Yes I was hitting well after my lessons with Nick at the beginng of the summer. I should not have played so much with out seeing him through the summer. I was trying to save money to maximize the # of rounds I could play. I just got lazy and unattentive to what I was doing. I am low on patience so instead to taking a step back and review what was going wrong I just got frustrated. After all I did snap 2 shafts on my irons this summer that I had to replace. Lately I got so frustrated I put my irons up for sale (they probably won't get sold now) This week I have practiced so much that there are open bleeding blisters on my fingers. When I was watching those tips on the golf channel I took my time and incorporated them with what I remembered Nick had shown me. Sometimes we need to hear the same things in a different way. When I went back to the range yesterday with this new perspective on things I really already knew it was a different story. I was hitting balls better than I had ever. It was like these irons were now easy to hit. I still have some minor problems with the direction of the ball. Because I was so open at the top of the swing its gone a tiny bit the other way and sometimes the ball goes just a bit to the right (being a lefty) But the good news now is that I am coming on more of an inside path and I can draw the ball with the irons and my driver is hitting more solid either straight out or with just a slight fade. Right now my body has to get used to me properly setting up the posture and grip and my straight back take away. It feels a bit awkward but the results are 100% better. I will be seeing Nick on Friday to make sure I'm headed in the right direction and hopefully this winter I can move on to some more advanced lessons.

Good stuff. When I get frustrated, I try to play minor 7ths with flatted 5ths cords all the way up the neck for every key. Then golf doesn't seem so hard. :rolleyes:

[guitarman]

I'm going back to the range after work to hopefully be able to hit off grass. And if I hit it well then I'll know what I was basically doing wrong. Oh man all those wasted rounds this summer. START THE SUMMER OVER. I WANT A REDO.

[Bellyhungry]

...
Please don't make fun of me Bellhungry. I'm in a very sensitive place right now.

:D :D :D



Sorry G...From my own experience, self-loathing with a dose of debauchery help mute the psyche :hyper:

[guitarman]

Good stuff. When I get frustrated, I try to play minor 7ths with flatted 5ths cords all the way up the neck for every key. Then golf doesn't seem so hard. :rolleyes:

Now your talking my language. I can do that with ease. I.m a great improvisor (BullSheeter) I can't improvise with golf.:D

[hogannut]

I find when someone is this frustrated to relate back to another sport they have played that may share some similarities with golf. When I taught I used that a lot, especially on beginners. If you tell me what kind of sports you have played, particularily sports you were good in maybe I can give you a drill to do.

If was funny because I did a little bit of teaching in the States one year, and because most of those people played baseball they had different swing flaws than similar students in Canada who played hockey.

Like the Leafs (ha ha) blow it up and start over. Go and get the Hogan book, and start reviewing the basics....the static positions....grip, stance, ball position. You don't have to hit balls to do this, and in fact you might want to stay away from the range for a while until you get some confidence back.

Not that I'm Butch Harmon but when I taught I found most students had some sort of issue with their static positions. I did my best to encourage them to address those issues first, and explain that is useless to look at the golf swing when you're grip, stance or ball position is wrong.

[guitarman]

I find when someone is this frustrated to relate back to another sport they have played that may share some similarities with golf.


I used to play hockey. When I got frustrated I just used to hit someone. Do you think that may help my golf game. I'm willing to try anything at this point.

[hogannut]

I used to play hockey. When I got frustrated I just used to hit someone. Do you think that may help my golf game. I'm willing to try anything at this point.

Just going by your info....and never having seen you swing my experience with hockey players is your tempo is to fast. This is a throw back to taking a slap shot. Get a shorter iron like a 7 iron and hit a half a bucket of balls with your feet together. If you fall out of balance you are swinging to fast. Once you can hit the shots without losing balance try one shot feet together, one shot "normal". See if that helped. I know it helped LIR.

I know this sounds kind of stupid, but if you have ever seen the movie "sound of music" there was a song in it called "adelvise". I highly doubt I spelled the word correctly. Try to swing the club at the same speed of the verse that went....adolvice, adolvice. I used to do that drill a lot, and got p/o'd the song got stuck in my head.

Most ex-hockey players have a tempo issue.

[guitarman]

Just going by your info....and never having seen you swing my experience with hockey players is your tempo is to fast. This is a throw back to taking a slap shot. Get a shorter iron like a 7 iron and hit a half a bucket of balls with your feet together. If you fall out of balance you are swinging to fast. Once you can hit the shots without losing balance try one shot feet together, one shot "normal". See if that helped. I know it helped LIR.


I have heard of others using the feet together drill succesfully. I'll try that on a few shots tonight.



I know this sounds kind of stupid, but if you have ever seen the movie "sound of music" there was a song in it called "adelvise". I highly doubt I spelled the word correctly. Try to swing the club at the same speed of the verse that went....adolvice, adolvice. I used to do that drill a lot, and got p/o'd the song got stuck in my head.

I've been using the song "Born to be wild" by steppenwolf but I will see if I can find this song adelvise that you speak of and learn it.

[The Troll]

I should not have played so much with out seeing him through the summer. I was trying to save money to maximize the # of rounds I could play. I just got lazy and unattentive to what I was doing.

I was going to start a post last week about what an effective lesson schedule would be for a decent player but I got lazy.

Some instructors don't like to overcoach/overteach. My instructor feels this way. I was pleased with my progress for about 6 weeks but could feel a slide in my game during that time. Knowing his thoughts I didn't race off to get straightened out either. Big mistake.

Recently we agreed that we would work together once every ten days or so next season for 7-10 lessons. In my case, just tired of backsliding.

[trunckslammer1]

When you are comfortable with any teacher, you should stick to him/her and during the season this is what I used to do until about 5 years ago.

Every Spring, at the start of the golf sesaon, I go for a tune up and check my basics etc. After that, there is no time line, but if I feel that I am struggling and fighting my swing, I will go for a lesson. Because my teacher and I have a very good relationship, I can call and he will fit me in within a day or so even if it is only for 10 minutes or so as I just needed him to see and correct the swing flaws. I find this works the best for me.

Now, because I just play for fun etc, I had not had a lesson for about 5 years. Because I might play in a few competitive events next year, I am considering a spring tune up again. I usually do not spend the winter months at a dome etc. I only pick up the club in March and go to any ranges that are open.

[Rough Ranger]

Gman!!!

1) don't sell your clubs, those are good wands!
2) nothing is easy and the elusive golf mistress is a HIGE tease! Just when you think you have it down, the mistress says "ahh not today....!"

You are on the right track; my guess is it will boil down to basics. The interesting thing about "the basics" is, once you have got that back in line, you (and pretty much every other golfer I know) look for the next thing to get them more / better. In doing this, the basics slide (again).
If this proves to be true in your case, it could very well be the best "lesson learned" in the whole 2007 season.

If I do not golf with you again this year, we will do anothe round in 08... & I expect you to still have those same irons!

BTW: based on your comments, I do recall playing a round when I as a bit err constipated... I know I was hold back the entire round...
Needless to say, I did not play well at all and I am sure it is becasue I just could not "stick my butt out" with out losing a load! Now this could be true or not, but if it brought you a chuckle, you are ready for another round!

:D

RR

[guitarman]

Gman!!!

1) don't sell your clubs, those are good wands!
2) nothing is easy and the elusive golf mistress is a HIGE tease! Just when you think you have it down, the mistress says "ahh not today....!"

You are on the right track; my guess is it will boil down to basics. The interesting thing about "the basics" is, once you have got that back in line, you (and pretty much every other golfer I know) look for the next thing to get them more / better. In doing this, the basics slide (again).
If this proves to be true in your case, it could very well be the best "lesson learned" in the whole 2007 season.

If I do not golf with you again this year, we will do anothe round in 08... & I expect you to still have those same irons!

BTW: based on your comments, I do recall playing a round when I as a bit err constipated... I know I was hold back the entire round...
Needless to say, I did not play well at all and I am sure it is becasue I just could not "stick my butt out" with out losing a load! Now this could be true or not, but if it brought you a chuckle, you are ready for another round!

:D

RR




Maybe if we get some freaky nice weather in November we can get out for a round this year.

[corchard]

... the movie "sound of music" there was a song in it called "adelvise". I highly doubt I spelled the word correctly.

Hoganut ...Ouch: Guitarman wouldn't even be able to google that. The song is named after a fairly commom flower in the apls: edelweiss.

[LowPost42]

The tune you seek is 'edelweiss'.

My coach constantly pisses me off. He wants some video/to see me once every 4 months or so. The rest of the time, he simply asks for a picture of my setup, points out a problem there, and tells me to fix it. It works uncannily well.

[hogannut]

The tune you seek is 'edelweiss'.

My coach constantly pisses me off. He wants some video/to see me once every 4 months or so. The rest of the time, he simply asks for a picture of my setup, points out a problem there, and tells me to fix it. It works uncannily well.

Hey....I learned something today! It's a flower eh? Hmmm...

[guitarman]

Hey....I learned something today! It's a flower eh? Hmmm...

Flowers and singing. I'm pretty sure this is going to get me some strange stares or kicked off the driving range.

[hogannut]

Flowers and singing. I'm pretty sure this is going to get me some strange stares or kicked off the driving range.

Just pretend you are a hippy!!

[LowPost42]

Flowers and singing. I'm pretty sure this is going to get me some strange stares or kicked off the driving range.

I tried your butt-sticking this afternoon. What a gem that is! It allows for a gigantically free turn, and a fearless return to the left side. Me likey.

[guitarman]

I tried your butt-sticking this afternoon. What a gem that is! It allows for a gigantically free turn, and a fearless return to the left side. Me likey.

yes even though I'm still struggling a bit with my irons, my driver is hitting alot more solid and straighter.