Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Golf Swing Update Wednesday 1.5.09

Here's the latest swing update, hitting the old Macgregor 985 blade (5-iron).



First off, I want to once again state the absolute importance of having a camcorder handy to look at your swing. A lot of golfers would rather spend their money getting a $300 driver or putter, but they would be far better off spending $175 on a decent Mini-DV.

I had been swinging the club pretty well the past week or so and yesterday I was swinging the club quite well on the video at the PGA Superstore practice bays. But then today I went out and noticed I was reverting back to my old problematic swing where I would have a short, laid off backswing. I don't know about you, but reverting into old habits or developing new bad habits is something that happens to me all of the time. But with the camcorder handy, I can get those bad habits before they become permanent.

Anyway, I toyed around with my address position and liked a little more what I have going on here than last week.

THIS WEEK'S ADDRESS POSITION



LAST WEEK'S ADDRESS POSITION


This week's address position I am still the same distance away from the ball, but I'm using more waist bend and less knee flex at address. I haven't really 'cocked the right ankle', but I'll be working on that.

You'll notice that in my new address position my right forearm is no longer on plane, but that's something I'm trying for now. I don't think getting my forearm on plane or bending the plane line at impact is an issue right now, so having the right forearm on plane isn't quite necessary. But if things go awry, then I'll just bring the right forearm back on plane. It should be noted that my right elbow is still bent at address, I find that something very advisable to do, if anything to square up the shoulders.

My clubface at P5-P6 is looking quite good right now.


I'll probably be getting a lesson pretty soon. Hopefully to create a plan towards my neck/head tilt (which is slightly better, but still problematic) and maybe work on getting more towards the elbow plane on the downswing. But, I'll have to wait for the weather to get a little warmer as it's supposed to snow tomorrow and stay in the 20's and 30's for the next week or so.






3JACK

13 comments:

Kevin said...

Looking good!

Rich H. said...

Thanks, Kev. We need to get some video of your swing soon!

Kevin said...

HaHa, maybe after I lose some tonnage. You don't have a wide enough angle lens right now! :-)

Kevin

Unknown said...

Richie, What type of camcorder do you use? Thanks.

Jim.

Dave @ Mud Ball Golf Blog said...

Richie

Yes I can see the changes and they are for the better. So much to say so little space :o)
1) I tried this setup procedure (holding club out in front of you - bend at waste to clubface meets ground without altering arms, then bend legs) I was surprised at how much more waste bend I had.
2) Re habits - just finished reading The Inner Game of Tennis (stay with me on this one it's relevant...) most people do not experience their bad habits/errors in form so they become habits they cannot break - first you have to be aware of them and actually experience them. I think your regular camera use is a way of achieving that. Book is worth a read - best book I've read on sports psychology!
3) As you may recall I complain about the neck thing as well. I've noticed that it disappears if I swing without a ball and swing easy. I am thinking it's muscle tension that might be causing it... unfortunately the best I can get to try out this theory is swinging in the garden in the snow...!

Greg Brown said...

Looks really good Richie,

Hope you don't mind but I threw together a swing sequence, only the finish photo has been scaled down to get the whole club in. The camera missed perfect impact but its still good to see the pieces.

Link - http://i802.photobucket.com/albums/yy308/gmbblue/Richie3jackSwingSequence01-06-10_ed.jpg

Image if it shows up
[IMG]http://i802.photobucket.com/albums/yy308/gmbblue/Richie3jackSwingSequence01-06-10_ed.jpg[/IMG]

GG said...

Richie,
I have a little bit of video of Kev's swing, but I'm giving him first dibs. I need the cash for fuel this winter. Geez, it's cold up here.
I like your thought on purchasing a camera instead of a club. What the heck did you get for 175?

Rich H. said...

Jim - I use a Samsung Mini-DV SC-D382. Got it for $175. Whatever type of camera you use, you want a shutter speed of *at least* 1/2,000. The one I have goes as fast as 1/10,000. Often times these camcorders will have a 'sports mode' which is the same thing. But if you're looking for one, I would suggest telling the clerk at say Best Buy that you're looking for a camcorder to record your golf swing and you're looking for a shutter speed of at least 1/2,000th. There's also the Casio line of cameras that have that 'swingvision' super slow-mo speed. I think you can get them for $300 now.

Rich H. said...

Thanks Greg for the awesome sequence. I'm starting to get some clubhead throwaway and I think that's due to the head moving back. That's why I want to get a lesson soon. Lots of good parts, but I'm kind of stuck as to what to do to make the next improvements.

Greg Brown said...

Rich,

The head moving back on the downswing for me, big part of throwaway that I am just learning on my swing.

I know the club is hard to see but at P5 (think thats the top) the club looks a heck of a lot more square.

Rich H. said...

P4 is the top of the swing. The clubhead is much more square than it was 2 weeks ago. I'm pretty happy with most of the backswing and address position (p1-p4), but most of the downswing looks like a mess to me.

Seizo said...

I completely agree about the use of video. I do some video work every single day. Usually it's from a DTL view, but every once in a while, I also check the Face On view.

The camera I use has a sweet mode where I can do 240 frames per second. This is excellent for swing analysis. When I'm doing the analysis (on the v1 Home) I use both a full speed and slow mo version. It does keep bad habits from coming back. I also edit in camera, to shorten the video clip so that it is 2 seconds long before the swing starts, and continues for 2 seconds after. This makes it easier when i bring it in to do the analysis.

Great work on your swing.

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