Oct
28
2009

Progress Update: October 27, 2009

Posted by Double Eagle in My Progress

Angry GolferOh boy, I went and did it.  It’s the end of the season here and I put myself in a very bad position.

The days are getting pretty short now, so most of my work is accomplished on the weekend, though I have tried to make arrangements here and there to play a round or hit the driving range during the week.

As you may recall from my previous update, I was a little torn about trying to make one last surge to improve my handicap, versus doing things that might cause short-term pain for long-term gain.  I chose the latter, but, well, this isn’t what I had in mind.

Let’s rewind a couple of weeks.

I was preparing for a weekend driving range session and it occurred to me that I hadn’t taken video of my swing for a while, so I took my camera with me.  I had been hitting the ball fairly well, but I wanted to look for improvement as well as things still needing to be improved. I recorded a number of swings with a number of different clubs, both down the target line and face-on.

I went home and started analyzing swing after swing in slow motion.  Immediately, it was apparent with every club that I was having problems staying on plane.  My takeaway was decent (but not quite where I want it to be) but right at the top of the back swing, I was cupping my left wrist and getting the club way across the plane.  This led to a steep, over the top down swing, which kind of explains why I’ve been missing to the right lately.

I also noticed that my stance was a little wide and I wasn’t getting my weight all the way to the left, especially with the driver.  That also explains why I started slicing it recently.  I was hanging back to the right just a little.

So, I contemplated a couple of minor fixes.  First, I would keep my wrists more quiet on the back swing, making sure to keep my left wrist more flat and the club more on-plane.  Second, I would narrow my stance a little, making sure to transfer my weight to the right on the back swing and then to the left on the down swing.

The next day, I went out to the course.  Because it was late in the day, I only had time to hit a few warm-up balls.  I tried to feel the changes I wanted to make, and had some nice results.  I don’t typically try and make changes on the course, but I was just playing a practice round, so it wasn’t inappropriate for what I wanted to accomplish.

After a few holes, I noticed some excellent improvements.  I was hitting my irons very crisply.  The narrower stance had me really killing my driver.  I had two in excess of 320 yards, and that was on a cool, 50-degree day, when the ball doesn’t carry quite as far.

I did notice something odd. The shots that I didn’t hit well were contacted more toward the heel of the club, whereas all year, my misses were toward the toe.  I even shanked one or two.

Fast forward a couple of weeks and I hadn’t gotten any work in, due to lots of rain around here at all the wrong times.

When I got out to the course again, I tried to continue the changes that I had success with, and what did I find?  Awful slicing and and ever-increasing number of shanks.  It got so bad that during my next practice round, I didn’t even finish.  I packed it in.  The improvements were gone and I was left with smoldering ruins.

I made a critical mistake. Two, really.

First, I committed to making a couple of changes to my swing when I knew that I might not be able to put in a lot of work because of short days and the possibility of bad weather. Not being able to get in enough repetitions, when I went back to trying to change again, I very likely wasn’t changing exactly how I had intended and with long breaks between sessions, it just got worse.  By the way, Joe warned me about this a few weeks ago. I should have heeded that advice, but in fairness, I think my logic for tinkering wasn’t outrageous, but had I listened, I would have avoided these problems.

Second, I made a couple of changes without consulting my pro. It’s not that I intended to do that.  It’s just that I assumed I would tell him the next day and see what he thought, but bad weather rolled in and we still haven’t crossed paths.  I don’t feel like I should make a habit of making changes like that without talking it over. We have a plan and he’s the pro, and keeping that in mind will help keep me on the right path.  One of my problems is a tendency to try new things all the time. That’s good in some ways, but when there’s an existing plan, it can be a hindrance.

At the point of meltdown, I did the only thing I could.  Last weekend, I went back out to the range and just tried to go back to where I was. I concentrated on the things I’ve been working on all year and just tried to feel my “old” swing.  And I scheduled a lesson for this Saturday.

Unfortunately, Murphy’s Law was working in over-drive.  I was striking the ball better, but things were still out of place.  I was slicing the ball.  My divots were pointing left.  That tells me I was probably coming over the top.  I didn’t have my camera with me so I don’t have a definitive answer.

On top of that, my pro spends the late fall and winter in Florida.  Fortunately, I have a lesson scheduled for Saturday, which is his last weekend here for the year.  That’s good, at least, but it means I’m going to be on my own over the winter.

If I’m not restored to my previous glory after that lesson, then I’m going to have to rely on myself to keep myself on the right track over winter.  I don’t expect to improve much with irregular winter play, but I’d at least like to remain stable so I can start where I left off when spring arrives.

If this had all happened in July, it would almost be a non-issue.  Being the end of the season makes the timing just awful.  After my lesson Saturday, it’s going to be hard to get enough regular practice to fix whatever went wrong and groove it properly.  During the summer, when I was able to work at it all the time, things were moving in a positive direction virtually all the time.  Now, it’s like everything fell apart.

Oh well.  These are the trials and tribulations that make life interesting.

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There are currently 12 responses to “Progress Update: October 27, 2009”

  1. 1

    TP Golf Online said:

    In my opinion I would suggest that you wait until spring to try and fix this issue. I am not sure if you would benefit working on something you will have a hard time trying to practice. Even if the weather cooperates it sounds if you are pressed for time at this time of year and would not be able to commit like you want to resolve the problem.

    Instead ask him if there are any drills/exercises you can do without a golf club that you can do indoors during the winter months.

    But that is my opinion. Just do what you think is best.

    Posted on October 28th, 2009 at 6:04 pm

  2. 2

    Double Eagle said:

    I sort of agree, TP. I don’t want to take on any more changes that I won’t be able to effectively groove. In this case, though, I’m really only looking to go back to where I was a few weeks ago, and my suspicion is that a quick diagnosis can be made.

    I expect to be able to play a couple of times per month throughout the winter (maybe) and I don’t want to go that stretch shanking the ball. My grooved swing hasn’t been ungrooved, I just need to brush off a little dust.

    However, I am committed to not trying to introduce new improvements like the ones that got me in this mess.

    Posted on October 29th, 2009 at 11:16 am

  3. 3

    Joe said:

    I am going to make some swing changes after I rehab a knee injury I incurred five weeks ago. Just now getting to where I can get around fairly well again. Perfect time to make those changes after rehab complete. Until then, I will continue to work on basics, grip, stance, etc. then, when it gets warm here again, I will begin working on the switch. In the spring, when I can get out again, I will test out the changes hitting balls.

    Posted on October 29th, 2009 at 10:09 pm

  4. 4

    Paladin said:

    Sorry to hear about your problems, but I’m sure you’ll get them sorted out.

    On a different note, have you ever discussed Moe Norman’s method of playing? I’m the Paladin who posted many comments in the Stack & Tilt section, and I still love the method and believe it’s the correct way to play golf. Having said that, I’m always trying to discover the whole truth with respect to the swing, and I found Norman’s one-plane theory involving an arm position in line with the club at address very interesting. I tried it a while back at the range along with his wider stance, and I seemed to lose a lot of power; I just felt locked in, in that position. I didn’t try it for too long, so I suppose you could chalk such results up to sample variance. but the ball definitely wasn’t going as far.

    I just thought it was an interesting discussion. Sorry if I shouldn’t have raised the matter in this thread.

    As for your shanking, remember that if you were crossing the line and over-corrected, it would put you in a somewhat laid off position, which caused you to approach the ball on too flat of a plane with the clubhead passing through the impact zone further away from the body (this area is known as Shanksville).

    Posted on October 31st, 2009 at 8:41 pm

  5. 5

    Double Eagle said:

    Paladin,

    No problem discussing something like that here. These “my progress” posts are great spots to talk about swing theory and that kind of thing because I’m always interested to learn anything I can to help me progress.

    I heard about Norman’s Natural Golf style early in my playing days (probably mid 90′s) but I never really studied it much. However, I definitely do think there’s something to it. Moe Norman is pretty much universally known as one of the best ball strikers ever.

    I think people tend to dismiss his style maybe because he was somewhat eccentric. But he definitely simplified the swing. He really reduced the number of necessary movements. As we know, the more possible variations there are in a swing (more moving parts) the more difficult it is to get the club back to a very precise impact position.

    As I was composing this comment, I took some time to refresh myself on Moe and watched some video. Most surprising is that his setup position was wildly unorthodox, but his impact position really wasn’t. At least not to the degree as his setup. I definitely don’t think it’s a coincidence that he hit the ball straight.

    Here’s a good video that demonstrates that Norman basically just started the swing on the impact plane: click here. In a sense, it’s not all that unorthodox if you consider that he just cut to the chase right at address and removed a lot of the variation.

    I wonder about the distance. I wouldn’t be surprised if the swing tends to produce shorter shots. It seems like maybe it’s a generally shorter swing, but I’m not really sure if that’s because some of these videos showed him as an older player. Perhaps some of the moving parts that are eliminated are those which produce power in a conventional swing. That would be an interesting analysis.

    Regarding my shanking, I think your analysis is right on. I believe that in trying to be more on plane at the top, not only did I lay off, but I think I was also taking the club back a little too far inside and getting stuck some.

    Unfortunately, my lesson got rained out today, so I’m on my own until spring. I think I might take some more video and just try and return to where I was before I started tinkering. I can still feel the right swing from all my work this summer.

    Posted on November 1st, 2009 at 1:39 am

  6. 6

    Joe said:

    Funny you mentioned Moe Norman and his “single axis” golf swing. We have someone right here in our state that is the authority on the Norman swing. He has an excellent website and offers lessons, videos, training aids, live simulcasts, on line lessons, etc. to teach the single axis swing. I am actually a member of his web network and have, after much investigation and studying, begun experimenting with the swing due to some injuries I have sustained. It is definitely easier on the back and highly recommended by those who have taken it up and made it “their” swing. Their philosophy is the less moving parts the better. Start the club on plane and you don’t have to re-route it and make adjustments in the downswing. Yes, the method is a little unorthodox but if you hit it better and straighter than ever, who cares? I have a very good friend who has been playing this way for several years and he is an excellent golfer. No loss of distance and very accurate. It is definitely something to “check out”, especially in the “off season”.

    Posted on November 2nd, 2009 at 4:44 pm

  7. 7

    Double Eagle said:

    Well Joe, I say if you can hit the ball like Moe Norman, then it doesn’t matter much how you look while you’re doing it. I’m interested to see how you progress with it as time goes on.

    This is a good time for me to study it a little and maybe write up a post about it. Maybe I’ll even give it a try at the range for a few shots (and this point, you’ll understand why I’m gun shy about trying anything new for more than a few experimental shots ;) )

    Posted on November 2nd, 2009 at 8:49 pm

  8. 8

    Pat said:

    I feel your pain on the regret involved in changing your stroke. For me, the issue was my putting. My lines were all off, and after trying some self-medicating for my stroke–it got even worse.

    I picked up the Champion’s Edition Putting Arc at putting-arc.com, and at least it brought me back to some structure in my practice, instead of letting me “feel it out” and do terrible experiments with my putting stroke. My stroke is consistently good now, and with the device I now have something to go back to, just in case I can’t play for a few weeks (or the entire offseason).

    Seems like a common thread in this whole thing is to find some structure, set goals for practice, and stick to one thing at a time in order to get a hold of your swing again. Just my two cents. Good luck with your swing adventures.

    Posted on November 3rd, 2009 at 12:58 pm

  9. 9

    Patrick Oden said:

    I see in your reply-comment above that your lesson got rained out. Just out of curiosity, what do you plan to do over the winter (besides the couple of games/month, if anything) to either keep the swing from deteriorating or to ideally try to pull it back in shape?

    Posted on November 9th, 2009 at 6:48 am

  10. 10

    Double Eagle said:

    Patrick, I’m probably going to do a post here shortly about that, but mainly it’s going to consist of working out and whatever weather will let me do at the driving range and on the course through the winter. Stay tuned for more detail.

    Posted on November 9th, 2009 at 11:32 am

  11. 11

    Paladin said:

    Don’t you have a range with heated stalls where you live? We have a couple around here. But I imagine they’re not as common in many parts of the country.

    Posted on November 11th, 2009 at 1:07 am

  12. 12

    Double Eagle said:

    There are a couple around, but the heated stalls are typically ineffective in the really cold weather. The wind howls through there and the balls are usually kept outside, making it like hitting stones. My course doesn’t have heated stalls, but they typically keep some balls inside so that’s where I’ll focus my effort.

    My “go” threshold for temperatures is mid-40′s or so. That should get me plenty of shots throughout the winter, unless we have a serious cold snap or a lot of snow.

    I’m surprised there’s no indoor range around, but I suppose our winters aren’t terribly long or all that harsh, so it must not be worth it for those 3-4 months (late November to early March).

    Posted on November 11th, 2009 at 1:19 am

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