when i was hacking around for a few weeks before starting this thread, i would occasionally accidentally hit a draw, but never a fade.

today, some of my shots went straight but many of them had a pretty consistent 5-10 yard fade. maybe someone will see something in this video that will explain why. should i embrace this fade? seems like a lot of english for a PW.

Alright,, that's too much to take to the range next sesh(so i deleted it- rough draft):

1. Stand 1/2 inch or maybe an inch further from the ball. In some of those swings, as you try to hold your finish you fall away from the ball- so you're standing a bit too close and coming a bit over the top. Besides the lines and angles I'm seeing, that is a big clue that the distance between you and the ball is creating a lot of the difficulties you're running into.

2. Chill with the John Daly backswing. FFS it's just a pitching wedge, if it only goes 100 yards that's alright. You can only do so much work, and if you're backswinging to the max, your downswing is not going to make it thru the finish line.

Shortening the backswing can take a lot of dedication tho so don't try too much.. it's only March TGIGW(Thank God it's Global Warming)

Sorry bout the frantic editing... I usually let my thoughts soak in my brain but it's 10:00 and I wanna get to the casino before 11:00

as always, thanks a million. i liked your other post too

i already know you're 100% right about the full backswing without even hitting a ball, and i feel kind of dumb for not realizing it until you have just said something. my 60* doesn't go much farther at all when i full swing v half swing

His backswing isnt too long, it has too much lifting with arms so its to steep ala Jim Furyk/Nick Price. More shoulder turn less lifting with the arms.

Ball could be fading for any number of reasons, could be your pivot (if you spin out) could be the club is to outside at the top of your swing. One way or another your cutting across it slightly.

cold and windy today, so didn't feel much like hitting, but i did get 20-30 shots in and got a front view for you.

you were right, shortening the backswing is quite hard. it felt like i was at 60% but on the video it looks like about 90%. still, i think things are looking a bit more compact and solid. on the front view third swing is the best i think.

oops i meant 4th swing not 3rd swing. also my stance looks kind of wide. was pretty windy though so maybe wide stance better on windy days?

semi-grunching, but I watched most of the videos. Great job on your improved posture. However, despite what people have said about your inside takeaway being related to your posture, your club is in virtually the same spot going back in all of the videos. It's simply a muscle memory problem. Don't fret, this is totally normal. Remember that in order to achieve an inch of actual difference in the position of the club, it has to feel like 6-12 inches.... true story, bro! Pause your latest video halfway in the backswing, when the club is at the same level of your hands. The clubhead is two feet behind your hands. We want it (roughly) on your hands. Many good players (Tiger and Kaymer ,for example) even have the clubhead pass well in front of their hands. So we are looking for a 2+ foot difference... that's going to have to feel like a mile!
I suggest you put something in the way of your backswing that physically forces you to take the club away from the ball steeply. If you can practice on grass somewhere, perhaps go to Loew's and get one of those fire hydrant indicator thingys that functions as a golf alignments stick. Stick that in the ground behind your feet and make the club go over it. Then post a vid of that and we can tell you if you're doing it right. Another option is Mike Bender's slightly more complicated drill... watch this 2 min video for a great way to cure your problem.

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

Whenever I start to fade the ball I do the following to correct:

1. stand closer to the ball
2. get a full shoulder turn (helps to square the club face at impact)
3. make sure I follow through

your swing is coming along good, keep it up

jshuttles, thanks for the post, i do appreciate it, but you really don't see any improvement in my takeaway? i know it's not perfect but come on!

tier, thanks, i'm happy to report i didn't slice it at all today. maybe the shorter backswing helped.

i think the problem w the takeawy now boils down to a missing or late wrist loading or cocking.

There's almost no overdoing it with wristcock, so once your one piece takeaway has moved just 18-24 inches from the ball you should be hinging the wrists skyward.

Keep up the good work and keep working on rotating the hips. At impact, the hips should be open-pointing toward the target, and your left leg should be sturdy- weight on the ball of the little piggy. Don't get lazy and just slide the hips forwaard(at that point during practice seshuns, time to go chip and putt)

wow ur swing has gotten so much better thru a very short time, pretty impressive

thanks!!

i'll be back at the course tomorrow kyle. when i'm lifting the trophy for the vegas city amateur tournament this fall i'm going to first thank the flying spaghetti monster, then my mom, then kyle mulhesta

in other news, i need a new camera with better FPS. i wanted to see what i look like at impact...my shaft doesn't actually look like that does it? lol

Hey Augie,
Ok ok I'm sorrry!!! You're right, those two screen shots you posted are evidence that your backswing has changed a little. Remember, however, that in "crappy swing 3.02" your clubhead is significantly lower than in 1.1... i.e it's not as far along in the swing. If we were to scroll forward on crappy swing 3.02, I think you'd find a club position more in line with 1.1. Not identical, but a lot closer than the red lines that you drew indicate. End nittiness... but it is important to be precise!
Also, I can't believe I watched the videos and didn't recognize this as Vegas. Some of these look like they are at Sun City, correct? I actually live in Summerlin and am almost always looking for someone to practice with. PM me if you want to hit balls or play sometime. Were you serious about playing the city am/ SNGA events? I played the city am last year and will play as many SNGA events this year as possible, work permitting.
A new camera would be nice, and no, your shaft is not actually like that at impact. I have a $130 Casio that I use almost every day that takes really clear videos at 210 FPS. If you want you can my "another review my swing thread" to see what it's capable of. (posting a direct youtube link to my swing in your thread seems like trolling, lol.) It gets tough to click play-pause quickly in the middle of every swing to try to get the perfect look.
Also, nice grips... I have the same ones!

PS and obv if we hit together I'll bring my camera.

awesome! it's rhodes ranch, so not too far from you. i have a range pass there, $79 for a month. their practice green is not great though, i've been looking for somewhere else to practice short game. you know anywhere that you can hit 20-40 yard pitch shots?

i might join their player's club too, which gives you free greens fees before 7:30 and during twilight, but you have to pay $15 for a cart.

yeah, i'm totally serious about playing some amateur events this fall. i have kind of an obsessive personality at times and i've convinced myself i have untapped potential so i'm going to go super hard this year and if i haven't broken par once by 3/3/13 (one year from starting this thread) then i'll probably tone it down and settle for being an occasional hacker.

i haven't actually played a real round of golf yet but i played five or six rounds at the par 3 course before starting the thread and actually shot a +3 on the one round where i didn't take mulligans/cheat. so i think it's a realistic goal if i actually practice. been putting in decent putting hours.

let's play some golf! PM me your skype/phone number?

Cool man. I have a similar deal at Paiute (just north of town on the 95), which has a great practice area. It's a hike, but if you're serious about it, it's worth it, and yes, you can hit 20-40 yard pitch shots.
Nice goal with breaking par/ playing in events. Ambitious but realistic if you are serious and are obsessive, as you say you are. (I'm the same way with golf.)
PM sent!

It probably does, maybe not that much curve, but it does bend like that at impact.
Let me get to work tomorrow and Ill shoot you some thoughts on the action, it does look like you are making great strides on understanding what is happening and why you do it, without looking at it in slo-mo, you need to see what the clubface is doing and have an idea of what its doing at all times, easy with a putter, harder with an iron, harder still with a driver.

TobDog

No, this is almost completely the result of rolling shutter from top to bottom. Turn your camera upside down and film your swing... you'll love the lag you get.

wow, today was so great. worked on the wrist cocking with great success. ball flight was higher than usual and everything just felt right.

still have lots of work to do but i felt today's shots were such a monumental step in the right direction i've renamed my swing from "crappy swing" to "okay swing"

a note for kyle, i know i'm standing closer to the ball than you would like, but for my first bunch of shots i kept hitting it on the toe, i moved a bit closer and i started striking it well. hopefully it's ok.

also, random question, about balance, i know i fall away from the shot sometimes, do you think not wearing golf shoes has much to do with this?

i know the answer is obviously yes but i'm more wondering how much it effects balance. maybe a better question is, on a scale of 1-10 how important do you think wearing golf shoes is to balance?

i know it's dumb and i should just get some but i figured i could get away with not wearing them for a while until i actually got a decent swing going. or no?

your shaft doesn't get pointed to the ball until the very top of your backswing (extremely flat in relation to the ball)

I had a similar problem and it was the first thing my instructor worked with me on, getting it set earlier will help your ball striking a ton

I think the best way for you to improve is thru working out.. especially the lower body and to do yoga for core stretches. You need really strong legs to stop you from losing potential energy in your swing. For stretching that's something you can do any time of day for 5-10 minutes.

You can probably find a youtube channel for golf specific stretches that you can do at home. Be sure that you're feeling what you're doing rather than just copying what you see the instructor doing. Some time down the road you might feel ready to get a gym membership and that will only help more. I can tell you're cautious about spending money but if you feel like golf is a vehicle to a better life then you just have to bite the bullet and shop for the things you need and be willing to pay whatever it costs to get yourself to where you want to be.

A great way to get yourself in shape is just by turning on the gas for 5 minutes about 10 times a day. If you're like me you just can't run 3 miles at once, or go to the gym for 3 hours. What we all can do is turn on the gas any time we want. Run in place and practice good form for the sake of having good form. Stretch and flex your muscles to see what they're capable of. Golf has definitely become more than whacking the ball around, for myself anyway. I think it's about improving physically and mentally. It's about your game on and off the course. At the end of the day, the scorecard just helps us track how we're doing. The real game is learning to carry yourself with strength grace and confidence.

Back to the videos:

There are now just two things to work on:

First, keeping everything nice and tight- without getting tense. Don't even think keep it tight. Just think wind it up and BOOOM. Your body should be a bow and arrow, not a rubber-band man. There's no jerking one way or the other. With every push there is a pull.

So if winding up means you can only do 45* shoulder turn that's great. Practice form, don't practice distance.

Secondly, you have to get the sequence down. By having the right sequence, I guarantee you will shorten your backswing and still gain distance. You're surely going to get more consistent, too. If you continue trying to groove a long backswing like John Daly, you will fail. You will get hurt, you will lose interest, and you will inevitably give up. It's better to accept that you're a nub than to play like a scrub.

Many of the fundamental aspects of poker strategy do translate into golf strategy. At first, noobs are always going for too much. Great players don't get bored being patient. They remind themselves that great things are around the corner when their strategy is playing out.

OK, really back to video analysis:

For the face on vid I see that at 2:08 your backswing is so long that you can't keep that crunch in your abs and core muscles. This is causing you to wobble onto the heel of the right foot- and consequently wobble to the left heel with the followthru. You gotta stay connected with the core and use the instep of the feet to grip the ground - that's why golf shoes are important. Try taking the shoes off and working at 25% speed. Nobody's going to notice.. if they do they def aren't laughing to themselves they're prob silently applauding your confidence.

You should stay over your instep and get to middle of the foot. Anytime you're going to the outside of the foot it's like you're redlining your engine. Go too far to the outside of your right foot or heel or toe and everything tends to fall apart.