My Ugly Golf Swing

[vaj18psu]

This is my current swing and its so ugly so i vowed to fix it this summer no matter how much work it took. Feel free to make fun of me but in the end, some constructive criticism would be very appreciated. Thanks

also sorry its kinda long for a golf swing video (3 min) but just ignore my fooling around in the beginning

side view and front on views included

http://www.vimeo.com/1257436

[GrainFlowForged]

I am speechless.....I dont know where to start.....getting a lesson wouldnt be a bad place to start i guess....
GFF

[FreakOfNature]

This is my current swing and its so ugly so i vowed to fix it this summer no matter how much work it took. Feel free to make fun of me but in the end, some constructive criticism would be very appreciated. Thanks

also sorry its kinda long for a golf swing video (3 min) but just ignore my fooling around in the beginning

side view and front on views included

http://www.vimeo.com/1257436

Some things I'd like to see you change:

- Lighten your grip pressure. You should be gripping the club about as firm as you would hold hands with a toddler. This will remove tension from your wrists, arms, and shoulders and allow the wrists to hinge naturally and will create clubhead speed. You will also now notice that you can FEEL the weight of the clubhead which will help you to create good tempo and rhythm. Tempo and rhythm are the most critical components of any golf swing. I cannot stress this enough.

- At address I'd like to see your right shoulder a tad lower, and your spine tilted slightly more away from the target. This will do two things - create space in front of your body for the club to work, and it will quiet your lower body on the takeaway and backswing, giving you a more stable foundation.

- Your hips are sliding to the right on your backswing, which in most books is a move you do not want to be making. Imagine a javelin stuck in the ground behind you that goes right up your @$$ and up your spine to your head. That's where you want your spine to stay at all points during the backswing - your spine is the fulcrum of your pivot, and that fulcrum needs to stay put if you want to get the clubhead back to the ball the same way every time. Think of a door with hinges that are not firmly attached to the door frame. The door will only close if the hinges are tight, otherwise the door bangs against the frame and will not latch. You want properly working hinges.

A couple drills I would have you do would be to hit pitch shots with a short iron one handed, first with the left arm only - then once you are able to get consistent contact and flight like that try the same drill with just the right arm. This will remove most of your ability to muscle the club and steer it through the swing. Instead, you will learn how to let the club swing, how to hinge your wrists naturally, set proper tempo and rhythm, and use the core of your body to SUPPORT your pivot rather than propel the club down the target line. Keep it smooth and start with short swings and work your way up to longer swings as you gain strength - don't expect to do this drill at full swing length for a while. It's surprisingly difficult but the benefits will be well worth it.

I think that should get you started in the right direction - hopefully without any paralysis by analysis.



FON

[Norm3333]

I think you need to get some lessons. A pro will know what to fix first. Although FreakofNature did give you some good advice to start.

[Not a hacker]

You might have a first name in common with Vijay Singh, but that's where the similarities end.

I think you have suffered from taking too much heed of 'advice' from well meaning but ill informed golfers. The obvious case in point is that some chopper has told you to 'keep your head down'. This is one of the poorest and most misunderstood pieces of advice in the history of golf. In a good swing your head should be back and even behind the ball at impact, but should come up naturally as part of a full release. You seem to hold your head down throughout the followthrough, which completely restricts your release and I would imagine robs you of any power. If your head stays back afer impact so does the rest of your body, resulting in your current followthough of your arms collapsing and folding prematurely and going straight up in front of you after overtaking your body. What should happen is your head comes up naturally as your body comes through impact, with your arms following your body and releasing fully down the line.

I am not a teahcer or swing expert so I can't give advice how to fix it but I think it is something you should go see a teacher and work on.

[Horseballs]

You have no extension through the ball. Everything breaks down.

[The Purist]

You have no extension through the ball. Everything breaks down.

1st thing I would work on is getting the hands to work together. (V's between thumb and index fingers pointing in the same direction). Looks like the left hand is in a weak position and right hand is in a strong position. The hands are fighting each other and at the top the club is completely closed (face pointing towards the sky).

The backswing is too long (overswinging). You would be better off only taking the club back 75% as far. Things are really breaking down in that last 1/4 of the swing.

You need to feel some leverage at the bottom of your swing. I would find a spare or old tire and wack the hell out of it. You should start to feel the legs and hips generating power. (don't hurt yourself start slow....you can get all the right impact sensations from hitting it as hard as you can with a 1/4 swing).

[iWILLbeatU64]

ok "not a hacker" the person who gave him that advice is not a hacker! I will beat simple as that...I've been playing golf since I was 3 years old and in a couple of years I will probably be the pro at your golf course...that being said I sucked until I started keeping my head down. If you watch any professional you will see that there head stays down through the ball, yes eventually your head comes up but the point of keeping your head down is to keep you club on the target line for as long as possible so your mishits aren't as bad!

[Home-slicer]

ok "not a hacker" the person who gave him that advice is not a hacker! I will beat simple as that...I've been playing golf since I was 3 years old and in a couple of years I will probably be the pro at your golf course...that being said I sucked until I started keeping my head down. If you watch any professional you will see that there head stays down through the ball, yes eventually your head comes up but the point of keeping your head down is to keep you club on the target line for as long as possible so your mishits aren't as bad!

Sorry, but NaH is right on this one. When beginners hear "keep your head down" they glue their chin to their chest and restrict their turn and it actually causes the head to move up as the left shoulder tries to go under the chin as seen in this video.

[Not a hacker]

I stand by comments re:keep your head down. I agree with U64's comments that all pro's or good players keep their heads level with or slightly behind the ball until impact, as they strive for the correct impact position which is a mirror of their address position but with the weight moving forward into impact. But if you watch the rest of their swing their head comes up after impact as their body moves through the hitting zone in a natural sequence. As seen in this video, if someone hears the term 'keep your head down' and the head stays down after impact, you get a complete breakdown of momentum and no extension through the hitting area, and no realease, which results in zero power.