golfrewind.com

Don't laugh everyone! Following are the pictures from the GolfTec/Cialis sponsored swing analysis during the Byron Nelson Classic. (I'm the chubby one in the pictures LOL!). For whatever reason, I couldn't find out a way to save the video clip of the swing, but following are the still pictures, and the notes from the instructor:

Setup - Is fundamentally good, a little too much shoulder tilt, keep hips more level


Takeaway - I take the Club inside of the proper swingplane, clubface is too shut/trapped, which can lead to the over-the-top move on downswing.


Backswing - shoulder turn is good (91*), Too much hip turn (70* is too much, they recommend 50*), hands should not disappear behind head, don't lock up Right knee, keep hips more steady. Apparently, I turn TOO much, and that right leg shouldn't straighten up like that.


Downswing & Impact - Club is too much above plane. This is the fundamental problem of my recent slicing with the Driver.


So.............that's it! Lately - I'm struggling with slicing off the driver especially. Occasionally - I'll come over-the-top with a shut clubface, and block balls straight left. Other times I'll lose it to the right.

Does anyone have any recommendations or input into anything you see? If you have any tips, drills, suggestions, or other observations, I'd love to hear them.

I don't see anything?

Nice legs!

However, with long pants on, that stiff right leg wouldn't have shown up so clearly. I used to have that problem too, and fixing it was a real help.

Your right leg being straight at the top is only a problem if you've lost the tension/bracing function it should be doing at the time. You look fine at setup and at the top to me. None of your body positions look all that bad actually, though your hips may not be clearing early enough through impact. I'd be more concerned with something you said about keeping the clubface closed during take-away. I've had problems going right at times and have sub-consciously kept the clubface closed through my take-away to compensate. This would inevitably lead to 2 things... I'd either keep it closed and hit it dead left or open it through my downswing and slice the heck out of it. Just 1 hacker's $0.02.

Sam, looks like you're not far off from having a great swing. The main things you can grok that will help you are keeping the clubhead outside your hands throughout the backswing, starting your backswing on a steeper plane, and allowing your hips to remain quiet as you begin your backswing.

Setup - can't tell from your photo whether you're just tilting more to the right, or whether you've rotated your right shoulder forward too much. The guy in the pic on the left is rotating his right shoulder just slightly forward toward the ball.

Takeaway - The trick is will be to work in front of a large sliding glass window or large mirror so you can see yourself.

1st - start your backswing by rotating your shoulders only. Let your hips remain quiet until you have that feeling locked.

2nd - this will feel really wierd, but - as you start your takeaway, imagine that you are swinging the club straight back along the target line, and that your right arm is directly on top of your left arm. This will help you rotate your shoulders naturally and get you started on a steeper plane. You might need to do this several times a day for several days until it feels more natural.

While doing this exercise, make sure the clubhead stays outside your hands at least until you get the club to hip level. If you keep your right arm high, the club will naturally rotate during the last half of the backswing.

Another sensation that might help while doing this drill is to imagine that you are rotating your left arm straight back and under your right arm.

Note: it's okay for the clubface to appear shut during the first part of the downswing (it can be parallell to your spine angle).

3rd - once you have this feel ingrained, continue doing backswings and feel that the right arm is always above the left arm. Carefully check the relationship of your arms at setup and maintain that relationship during the backswing.

Shoulder turn - allowing your hips to remain quiet will reduce extra shoulder turn. Also, you don't need to get the club parrallell to the ground at the top of the backswing (look at the photo of the pro - his hands are outside his shoulder at the top).

Downswing and impact - this will take care of itself, for the most part, if you do the first exercises correctly. Maintain a constant feeling that the right arm is above the left arm through impact.

Another thing that might help - some folks have a tendency to want to hit hard from the powerful right side (left side for lefties). Instead, try feeling that the left arm is swinging the club in the downswing, with the right arm just going along for the ride.

Lastly, as some of this stuff sinks in, allow your right knee to stay flexed in the backswing and the left knee to stay flexed as you start your downswing.

Good luck and let us know if this helps!