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Well I'm still new to the sport and am very eager to learn more and better myself (who isn't?) I went out today and got some video of my swing since I couldn't get to the course. I'll take any advice that I can get on my swing. I have a very nasty slice where I can start it on one side of the driving range and it almost slices off the range. I'd love to correct that. Sorry for the poor quality and cut off sleeves

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First off, we'd like to see you really hit a ball, not just practice swings. Also, one of the first things that jumps out at me is the shoes...you need to stabilize your base. You may not think it makes a difference but it sure does...your lead foot is spinning out every time. You also have quick hips...try to keep your thighs from going past setup position until you get back to impact...you won't lose much power and you'll be more accurate. Last thing for now...you make a move at the top of the swing. Try to really hold steady at the top and not "go after" it so much. Work on throttling the swing back a little and work on hitting it straight...after you gain some confidence then you can add a little power later.

Shade

Ok thanks, I'll get a video from the course tomorrow when I'm hitting some real balls. I come from a baseball background where the hips are supposed to bring the hands so I think that's where I get the quick hips action from. But thank you keep the advice coming

i can really see a baseball swing in there. i used to play baseball too and had that chronic slice. a good exercise i do is overlap the back of my hands together so that my palms are faceing opposite directions and take a swing with my arms in this position and it helps with my swing a lot. alos loosens you up and straightens out your swing

Ha I can my baseball swing pretty easily in my golf swing. I've taken years to perfect my baseball swing so I figured it would translate some into my golf one. I'll try out the drill with opposite hands tomorrow and see if it can fix me up

Edit:
Shade, I've been swinging a club around in my room with your suggestions about a solid base and the hips/thigh thing and it feels really good. When you're talking about the backswing and going after it I get a little lost. Are you saying to just shorten the backswing?

A couple of things to work on which will feel a bit odd at first is grip and stance. Your left hand is in what is known as a very weak position. See how it is under the grip? Rotate the left hand on the club so you feel the palm facing the target. Your left thumb will then be on the right side of the shaft. The V of the left thumb and forefinger should point about to you chin. Your right hand looks about right in the vid. That thumb should be on top of the shaft. Partly because of the grip you are in the hit position with the clubface wide open (see how the back of your right hand is facing the camers at hit as compared to address?), but that is not the only reason, and Shaderunner hit on it. See how you are way out in front at the hit as compared to the Nicklaus hit? (sorry I don't have any good lefty pics on file). Nicklaus's hands and triangle are right back to the center of his body at hit.

Now note how relaxed Nicklaus is at hit and compare to your hit. This starts with setup, and you are tense there. First thing would be to narrow your stance by bringing your left foot in a few inches. That is part of what causes you to get out ahead of the ball, and results in your left heel coming up so high so early. Kick your knees in toward each other a bit so your weight is on the insides of your feet. You do a good job of keeping your knees flexed. You might want to flex them a little more, then try to bend at the hips instead of the waist.

Relax your arms at address but keep the elbow creases pointed like they are. Bring your hands a bit toward the center of your body; they are too far forward.

With these setup adjustments, try to swing slow and smooth keeping the arm triangle intact and see what happens.

Attached Images

	Southpaw set.JPG (14.7 KB, 3 views)
	Spouthpaw hit.JPG (15.6 KB, 3 views)
	Nicklaus hit.JPG (12.0 KB, 52 views)

Thanks a ton Crossgrain, the picture comparison helped a lot. I'll definitely be taking all the advice and seeing if I can't work out a better golf swing. Keep the advice coming, I'm learning a lot!

Sure. And thank you for posting vids. That realy helps. Work on it then post some more. It's fun to watch progress, and us old coots get a bang out of seeing young enthusiasm for the game.
Another thought. Looks like you are "pulling" the butt of the club through impact which may have something to do with baseball thinking. Have you ever tried this with a baseball swing? Keep your shoulders connected and use lats to drive the bat with palms of the hands square to the pitch? Produces a killer line drive. Good for a golf swing too.

No, not necessarily...your backswing's not getting to parallel and that's just fine, looks like you have plenty of power. When I first viewed the vids I thought I saw a little move at the top where the head and shoulders drop a little in an attempt to make sure you get the ball well up on the clubface. It's a pretty common thing (Tiger even does it at times), but after looking at the videos again it looks like you do pretty well at keeping the shoulders and particularly the head at the same level (no dipping or raising up ) But I notice the head moves back a little in the backswing, which is not ideal but at least you don't move your head forward. I guess what I see is too much head movement and "lateralling" (moving forward toward the target during the downswing). So I'd say just work on keeping the hips and the head "quiet"...but don't just swing with the arms, like crossgrain said, maintain the triangle and bring it as a unit back to square before releasing the hips (try to keep your zipper facing the ball until contact)...try it at the range and let the club do the work, you'll get plenty of distance with a square blow and a straight ball flight, no need to swing so hard, you'll see.

Shade

Alright thanks, I understand what you're saying now Shade. I went out to the course yesterday and had a much improved day just incorporating these things into my drives. I hit maybe one or two slices the whole day. I'll be going back out again today and get some more video because yesterday was just to crowded to get good video.

I like your initial takeaway move. You seem to be avoiding the common mistake of bringing the hands and club too far inside.

Hi Southpaw02,
In your setup it appears you have a little too much curvature of your spine. It should be relatively straight and your grounding of the club accomplished by bending at the hip joints instead. When you do this you will find your hands will fall slightly further from your body.

If you want a southpaw baseball analogy for impact and beyond, look no further than Barry Bonds' action. He hits into his solid right side without a millimeter of forward movement; but, still transfers most of his weight to his forward hip joint.

Hope all these tips get you hitting well down the fairways, not over the fences.
Cheers, Bob

ha, well I'd like to be hitting over the fences also :P

So I went out to the course today and was hitting some much better shots, they did still have a slight slice but I think I hit every fairway but 1. I'll continue to use all these things in my swings and see if I can't work out that slice completely

Great improvement....congratulations, keep on working hard at it, have fun always.

Bob

Ok, I've been working with this new swing for a little bit now and I've noticed one thing. With my feet closer together I feel sort of restricted. Is this how it's supposed to feel and I just have to get use to it or is this a flaw in what I'm doing? Every now and then I'd feel it with my old swing also.