boss, about the grip. it's not totally in the palm but i guess a bit of it is in the palm. it starts in the fingers and part of it rests on the back of my palm below the pad...i'll get a pic/vid.

so, you think the grip should be entirely in the fingers, and then fold over the palm in a strong position? i kind of like how it feels, it will make my setup easier too...

youtube grip advice is all over the place

about the rest, thanks for the pictures, very good...in my newest video i'm still a bit on the inside i guess. it's hard to watch the videos while i'm at the range so i kind of have to just record them and see what really happens when i get home. quick point of clarification on the wrist c0ck...in the comparison, i'm flat and the other guy is steep. i should be trying to be right on plane, and not steep like fowler, right? just want to make sure.

in my first two swings i'm a little better at keeping my arms close, i did a bunch of the headcover in the armpit drills, i'll do more. third one i got loose. i know i need to keep my arms close and just get that last bit of rotation out of my body...i think i'll go back to the range in a bit and just try to exaggerate it and see what happens.

wow also just realize i've been c0cking with my right wrist and not using my left wrist AT ALL. gonna go to the range right now and figure this ish out!

It's impossible for you to be too steep on the backswing right now, it will feel incredibly steep in your mind and when you see it on video it will be a tiny tiny difference. If you post a video and its too steep on the backswing we will all congratulate you. Remember, if you are exaggerating something 200% on the driving range, when you get out on the course it might get exaggerated 10% when you are thinking about targets, hazards, pressure, etc.

edit: steep isn't really the right word anyway, the clubhead needs to stay outside of your hands longer, rickie definitely exaggerates this more than most, but as you can see at the top of the backswing it ends up having the opposite effect. Clubhead outside early = flatter at top, your clubhead dives inside early and its super steep at the top

Grip is hard to tell from video like this. It actually looks a little better in this latest video than before. What you are describing sounds right.

Well, DD did a good job of explaining this. It's feel vs. real. At the end of the day you would want your hands and club to travel along that line for the first half of your back swing. But to start you are going to have to feel like the clubs are way outside your hands. Feel like you are moving a mile to really move an inch.

And just to give a little clarification. It's not just adding c0ck. It's removing side bend of the wrist. Right now in your takeaway your right wrists flexes and the left extends, correct? Do you see that? Really get that feeling. Setup without a club and put your palms together. Now as you start your takeaway just bend your wrists like that, just straight right. That's basically what's happening in your takeaway.

Now get set up the same way again, and just to exaggerate and get an opposite feel when you start your takeaway feel the wrists bend the other way. So left wrist flexes and right extends. If you had a club in your hands you would basically be dragging it and the clubhead would be lagging behind. Make some swings with that feeling.

Yes, I see some improvement. It's not going to hurt you to hit balls where you feel like you are pinching your armpits to your side. What I'd like to see in a video is no gap between your right bicep and chest at the top, and then a very little one with your left arm and chest in the follow-through.

getting closer...

theres still way too much lifting in the backswing and your arms too far over your shoulder plane at the top of the swing.

A little closer, yes. You have to overexaggerate it just as much as you possibly can, its not there and in no danger of being "too much". As spino1i is alluding to, after you are taking it away better I would next add the swing thought of "hands low and back" in the backswing. You need to feel the left arm stretched across your chest instead of over your shoulder.

a good drill to chk if your properly setting your wrist **** at the top of the back swing is.....

your set up posture looks pretty good so from that position at address, simply lift up your club head (with your wrist only) skyward till its about parallel to the ground. from there simply turn your shoulders 90 degrees and that should be right around the position you want to be at the top with your wrist ****.

you can actually hit balls doing that drill

Based on couple previous vids and the most recent vid I think you have a wider stance than necessary, you could be losing power from this.

agreed

very productive day today. was hitting it very pure, had a beautiful mark on my PW right in the sweet spot. and for the first time i really felt like i was hitting it with my hips and legs and not my arms. hit very few bad shots and didn't get as tired!

also from my own rudimentary analysis, i think i'm taking it back above plane now! take that, death donkey!

first vid is PW, second vid is 6 iron, third vid is some 50 yard LW shots. was fading the ball a bit again today. must be coming over the top slightly?

now that i think i have the takeaway under control, tomorrow gonna focus on keeping my backswing shorter and my arms down even more. i think that will cure the remains of my head-wobble. rotation getting a little better but still rough on account of lack of flexibility.

i've figured out that i can only work on one thing at a time on the range, if i try to think about too many things it just doesn't work.








bonus game: i chunked one of my PW shots. can you guess which one?

Sorry but imho you still need to work on your takeaway. Your hands are still working away from your body so your arms get steep and the shaft gets flat.

lol don't be sorry! of course you're right, didn't mean to sound like i have any aspect of the swing down pat

HUGE improvment in the takeaway Augie! I know how hard it is to make those adjustments, well done. One thing that you might want to keep in mind: if you're anything like me you will want to revert back to the old inside takeaway. I suggest regularly taking video to keep it in check.

Great job, its not above plane, but its getting closer. The Rickie Fowler picture still shows the biggest difference, he gets his hands inside and club head outside halfway back, your club head still sneaks inside (from the back view it goes to the left of your shoulder) very quickly. It is definitely still caused by the way you bend your wrists in the takeaway. I like that drill idea 'nih han' suggested.

By my count it was the 4th PW swing that was fat? You can hear it.

meh Rickie Fowler's takeaway is not something you want to be emulating, as its not parcticularly good. He doesnt rotate his forearms right. But yeh you definitely want something close to his position at the top of the swing.

Also in a good swing, the club c0cks itself, and if the club is cocking in an odd direction its almost certainly related to the way your gripping the club. If you try to actively hinge the club, you had better be very precise or you will be hinging it off plane a lot. Its a lot easier if your takeaway is such that club is forced to go back exactly one direction and set exactly one way everytime.

Augie, definitely see some improvement, but still have the same issues. Hands work out away from your body and you side bend the wrists to get the club inside.

I really think you need to feel like your wrists don't side bend at all in your takeaway. See the angles of the green lines? Those should be almost straight at that point.

I'm still not convinced some of this isn't grip related. For example, just in your house grip one fully in your palm and then again fully in your fingers. Feel the difference in how the club moves. It's much easier to hinge (c0ck) when in your fingers.

FWIW it's not about getting Augie to exactly emulate that position. The exaggerated nature of his takeaway is why I chose him, to give OP a very distinct and clear picture of the direction he needed to go.

Graeme McDowell ‏ @Graeme_McDowell Reply Retweet Favorite · Open
RT @chilin_dude advice on the swing? Its for a friend not me #Cheers http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZHOz4ZvKr8 >>stands too close to ball so weight is in heels

That is awesome.

sweeet

btw I would never say you're too close to the ball...
if so I think that I'm way to close to the ball

the bowing of the wrist is very exaggerated at the take away. at the top of your swing your shut and the club face points at the sky. your wrist shouldnt be bowed like that unless you have a very weak grip, or your dustin johnson. your wrist should be slightly cupped at the top if you have a strong grip. basically the same angle at address.

lol i'm embarrassed that graeme actually watched my swing

practiced a bit today, i am 100% coming over the top. how to correct this? should i let my arms lag behind a bit on the downswing?

could be a couple reasons. if you start your swing with your hands, this can lead to over top motion. clearing your hips before upper body moves through impact is key for approach from the "inside." if your lower body hasn't cleared out of the way, or opened up enough, there is no room but to come over the top.

ok cool, thanks, so my instinct was sort of right that when i fade it there's way too much arms going on with the downswing

should the first move on the downswing be an aggressive move with the right foot/hips? should it be like, a whip, where all of the strength comes from the legs/hips, and the arms are just along for the ride? or should the arms play somewhat of a role in accelerating the downswing?

190 views on the video that graeme retweeted

next time you're at the range see if there is a club pro there , he could probably tell you everything everyone of us is piecing together over weeks and months in about an hour or two imo.