Non-Traditional Golf Swing Discussion

scotts33 · 2018-09-08T18:16:05+00:00

Since, there seems some interest in non-traditional methods of the golf swing. Here are 3 that I have tried or used. There are more but these three I feel...

scotts33

Great video as to why you are not getting any better at golf with a swing change.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qop6UakSwEk

pellmell

scotts33 Video is instrumental when making swing changes. For a change to be successful exaggeration is required and without video we don't know what we're actually doing. The complication is analysis. For example, a fundamental problem of the guy in the video is early extension (goat humping).

garyt1957

scotts33 That was one long video to say "Give it time, changes don't happen in one bucket"

scotts33

Golf season for me is waning. Bowling leagues/tournaments starts next week for me. I have devoted a month to JV and though I see some benefits staying that "still" is almost impossible. I guess, I am just used to moving.

Played Labor Day weekend trying Easiest/P.I.G. which is the exact opposite of JV. I did this just to see if all those moving parts of Easiest can be done after being in the "stillness" mode for weeks. Amazing you can move that much and make solid centered impacts that go dead straight without really thinking about it as long as you keep tension and a smooth tempo ala La Danse Du Golf. For me JV is a learned swing takes a lot of effort. Easiest practice a few swings before round with an old SwingRite and waalaa solid shots dead straight as long as you don't over swing and balls goes further.

The more, I think about it go with the swing technique that is least foreign and produces decent results round after round. Forcing a swing method that takes so much time and effort isn't worth it especially at 70. 😀

sdandrea1

scotts33

LeDance is soooooo much easier on the body too.

kelco9

I think one of the greatest challenges about golf (and perhaps the most fun thing about it) is that you can never perfect it. And since you can't perfect it, we are constantly working on improving our games/swings. We're in a perpetual change/fix mode, which means that we never fully focus on playing our game.

Judy Rankin made this point during the Canadian Women's Open. She said (I'm paraphrasing), "Everyone is always trying to make that change [and I'll add, buy that new club] that will allow them to hit the ball 4-5 yards farther, rather than just playing the game they have. Learn your game and then use it to score the best you can."

Now, I (nor Judy, I'm sure) am not saying that we shouldn't continue to try to improve, but I do think a lot of us overthink things. A lot of us would do well to keep the difference between a practice range and a golf course in mind. 🙂

sdandrea1

kelco9
Agree, except I gave up looking for distance long ago. I ho clubs out of boredom and the "gee, I've never tried those" syndrome. My swing daliances are mostly in searrch of a good inside out path and more solid contact off the turf. In the end, no matter what swing or clubs are at the dance, I'm gonna cobble together a score somewhere between 75 and 85. Once on the course, it's all about the game. I see a lot of guys chasing launch monitor numbers who can't break 90.

pellmell

kelco9 you can never perfect it.

Proper mechanics can be achieved. It's not a prerequisite for a good score, but it helps.

kelco9

pellmell This is a really late response to this comment, but I was just lured back onto this thread by recent posts.

I agree that proper mechanics can be achieved and that they do heighten your chances of playing better golf. Like I say, I think you should always be working on your game and trying to improve it (if the game is at all important to you). But I don't think you should be in perpetual "rejig mode," particularly when you are on the course.

I play with guys (my dad is particularly bad) who never seem to just stand over the ball, look at their target, and make the swing. They're constantly "working on things": "Ya know, I just don't think I'm getting over to my left side quite right, so I'm going to...." Then that won't work, or it will work for a couple of shots (or games) and then not work, so they're off "working on" something else. (I have place working on in quotations because they're not really working on anything -- they're just reacting to single events.) And they'll change what they're working on about two or three times through the game. They never get to the point where they say (as Steve said beautifully), "Well, this is the swing I have today, how am I going to claw and scratch my way to a decent score with it?"

In my mind, by the time you get to the point where you working on your swing while on the course, your game is basically over for the day.

garyt1957

So I went out the other day after a couple weeks off due to a bad back and a case of pneumonia ( believe me back spasms and pneumonia are not a good combination.) So my only thought was to get to a complete finish. No backswing thoughts, no downswing thoughts, just standing over the ball and picturing a good finish. Had a really good day so I tied it again and had another really nice day. Am I on to something? Next round will be the key as almost anything I try works for two rounds but no more. This , I think does have staying power. Anybody play this way?

fatshot

garyt1957
I used to....in fact I used to love going to hit balls with a hard wind right in my face and TRY to hold my finish for a count of three, or until the ball started its flight downward. It was (and is) a great thought, and really smoothed out my swing. Thanks for the reminder.....I need to go back to this!

scotts33

garyt1957 So I went out the other day after a couple weeks off due to a bad back and a case of pneumonia ( believe me back spasms and pneumonia are not a good combination.) So my only thought was to get to a complete finish. No backswing thoughts, no downswing thoughts, just standing over the ball and picturing a good finish. Had a really good day so I tied it again and had another really nice day. Am I on to something? Next round will be the key as almost anything I try works for two rounds but no more. This , I think does have staying power. Anybody play this way?

Unsure if you are on to anything other than making sure you transfer weight and get it all forward Gary. If it works time and again the majority of the time then you are on to something.

What I found this year using any kind of swing methodology or swing technique (it doesn't matter if it's Venetos or Sparks or any other non-traditional swing or traditional PGA swing) is this.....if it becomes such a job and needs so much repetition to drum into your golf psyche....it will become a job and not a fun recreation any longer. If that happens I see the majority will quit playing. Just a thought.

DonM

scotts33
Good food for thought, Scott.

scotts33

DonM Very serious here Don. It's one thing to practice on range and get good it at a facet of the game. I have found myself that over doing it can lead to a point of drudgery that can follow you to the course. It also depends on your personality. PGA pro's have to do this it's their job but it's not ours and many haven't thought about that part of lessons and trying to get better.

I also have an issue with instructors that have the opinion that it's their way or the highway. Since most of us are in the twilite of our golfing life we better have some fun with playing the game and not make it a job. JMO! 😃

Rickochet

Eguller I have a friend who has played the same putter for over 60 years....guess how good he putts.

One of my playing buds is 76 and he has used an original Acushnet Bulls Eye putter since it came out and he is an excellent putter. I have been using the same putter for at least 10 years if not longer and I would consider myself a very good putter. The rest of my game sucks this year. I hadn't played much in the spring and just now finding a decent swing tempo, ball placement, etc. and my ball striking is getting better. I, too, having been switching out irons and driver about every round looking for the magic poon. With only a few weeks of golf left this season looks like I am about there. ☹️

Tinker

What I have noticed with my senior buddies or even the younger guys like my son in law is that most recreational golfers hit at the ball rather than swing the club at the ball. I have worked all year and gotten pretty confident hitting 4,3, or even 2 iron with traditional blades irons. I found that the longer the iron gets the slower and smoother you have to swing to get results. The longer club will generate more speed all by itself. It will go as far as your capable of hitting it, that’s ok as long as your ego doesn’t get in the way. A friend of mine looks great on the takeaway but at contact he falls backward, takes steps sideways or follows through around his waist. I think a lot of this style of hitting started when clubs started getting big, it subconsciously lets golfers think they can swing like wild men.

sdandrea1

Well, after back spasms and pneumonia, I usually focus on being glad they're over.......
😃

HagFan87

Wright balance!! I’m a believer!! Just a little background. I’m 50 and started playing in 1982/83. I played college basketball and baseball. This game drove me crazy for 37 years. Got to a 3-5 handicap in my 40’s but I always knew I was just holding on. I was always tinkering. Read every book it seems, had every magazine subscription, took lessons from time to time but nothing worked. I was trying to get my daughter interested in golf this spring and took her to an instructor. Not a wright balance instructor bty watched a few lessons Liked what I was seeing and said what the heck I’ll take one too. So I took one he videoed me and I said to myself you know what I’m 50 I’m not gonna get any better Go with what he says. I started the club back with my back hip looped it kind of furyky but not on plane. He said I needed to “drop it under the table”. So I tried it. What I started to noticeD was that I used to set up with a narrow stance with my hands behind the ball slightly and now to try to get the club under the table I started moving my hands toward the target and my ball position back which would have been disaster for me before. I also noticed that I felt better with a stronger grip. It progressed to where with irons the ball would be in the middle of my stance with the butt of the club pointed to the outside of my lead thigh where before the shaft pointed at just left of my sternum. In 2 weeks I was absolutely puring it on the range. Then about a month later I was browsing you tube and ran across wright balance and rinker. Everything started to make sense. I was a low core player!! As I said before I played college baseball and basketball. I’m 6’1” weighed 178. I couldn’t bench 155 once when I was 18 but I could dunk it 2 handed and hit a baseball 450’. My lean fast twitch muscle is in my legs. I watched all the videos and discovered only 6 percent of men are low core players because most men have their lean muscle in their upper body. For golf biomechanically I’m built like a female. Most females by contrast are low core.
think about it if only 6% of males are low core it would have been hard to find an instructor in the early 80’s that would steer me in that direction and every instruction article Or book would more than likely not fit me either. In a month I’ve shot 3 under par rounds. I’m gonna be a plus handicap prob a plus 2 this year. It’s bittersweet because I’m 50 and I had my swing speed measured at one of my lessons and I’m still 116. If I had discovered this when I was a teenager who knows. I don’t want anyone to struggle with this game the way I have. There were times where I may have had a low core posture and an upper core grip or many different variations. Believe me if one of those factors is off it makes a big difference. I just never Got lucky enough To stumble upon “my” way. The upper core player resembles Laura Davies one of the few upper core females. Mid core is Adam Scott Jason day swings the “sweet” swings. Low core like me are the Dustin Johnson’s Daniel Berger’s Paula creamers where you look at them swing and you don’t know how they do it. It all makes sense now.

Typhoon

pellmell All that matters is what happens at impact. Get in this position and you're golden.

You know.... this is it for me.

I mentioned in another thread how I’ve been fed the wrong info for years. At impact I was told u return to address position. This makes me flip the irons at impact. I’ve worked on it but never with a lot of success. I read an article with George Gankas teaching Butch Harmon and THAT was Butchies issue... he stops rotating . Just like I know I do.

George put him in the correct position with the hips open 30 degrees to the target. Funny thing is in other pieces in magazines when you see Butch demoing something in a swing, his hips stopped rotating... apparently even he didn’t know!!!!

I just can’t believe I’ve not seen this or had somebody tell me. I took some swings last night. Held myself in the proper impact position. Now I’m excited to hit some balls into the Covid 19 driving range tarp!

garyt1957

Typhoon I'd say a majority of us older guys quit turning due to a lack of flexibility, but yea when you really get through one the ball goes.

Eguller

Typhoon

Looks like a 3 wood stinger !

Typhoon

garyt1957 Typhoon I'd say a majority of us older guys quit turning due to a lack of flexibility, but yea when you really get through one the ball goes.

I think me quitting came from hitting a smother hook years ago. My thinking was I was getting past the ball and my right foot was releasing too early. I started keeping my right foot down at impact and it’s been great. But over the past couple years I get flippy. My flexibility is still stupid good, it was just me fixing something the wrong way.

My pro and everyone else tells me my hip speed is very quick. But they just look at my driver swing.

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