Driver, Woah! Irons, No!

[Colin]

Hi everyone,

I just finished day 27 of the program.. really enjoying it. anyway, i’m a beginning golfer and had always struggled with consistency with the driver. After starting the training at the end of feb, i’m now smoking balls that have a great draw at about an 80% clip… and even the majority of my misses off the tee tend to just be hooks that still end up playable. i’d move back from the whites to the blues but….
those irons, though. i’m not going to feign as if i was good before the training… but yikes. my top three outcomes:
1) low hook, directly into the woods. can’t blame that on the wind!
2) a wide open hozel-rocket, going either directly lateral or 30 degrees off to the right (if 90 degrees is my target and in front of me). watch where you park the cart! no kidding, i once sent a ball off the tee box marker on a par 3. it careened off the marker, and if the ball had hit me three inches to the right, my golf career would’ve been derailed by emergency surgery.
3) the vile, vile chunk. fracking is illegal in my county, and i’m pretty sure what i’m doing to the course would also be considered illicit.

I know the pressure is supposed to be the vitality and the glue that holds everything together… but for me, its sort of been the death knell and the glue remover that makes everything fall apart.
so i dont know… this seems backwards. don’t most people usually have problems with the driver and not their irons, since this swing is based around a stock 7? what i do know is i’m only going to be going to the range until i unravel this issue…

help help!

[Tathata Staff]

Hey Colin! Thanks for reaching out, our thoughts would be to go back to chapter 1 and make sure to really dive into the intricate details of the body movements. Practice these movements diligently with pressure. Make sure to download the chapter support assessment forms to help you too. We have to make sure as we train that we are performing these movements accurately and sense something incredible out in front. If there is one piece we have to make sure we get correct let’s make sure we understand how to support the stance with energy first. Let’s make sure we answer the questions of how to stand with strength, how to move energy to the top of the backswing with strength, and how to send energy to the finish. Let the hands and arms react to the changes in your body movements. Train these movements with energy and find safety in knowing you are learning from the greatest golfers and athletes of all time. For personalized assistance we encourage you to sign up for a live / online chapter follow up and/or submit us a golf swing!

[Colin]

thanks for the response and the ideas! my last range session (which was may 29), i noticed that my back shoulder had a propensity of moving down and towards the ball as i “baseball throw/snap to level.” its only one day at the range, but i think that the additional, unadvised shoulder move may have been a prime culprit in my toe shots! this is also a rookie mistake… but i think i was standing too far away from the ball (i used a 7 iron all day).
one of my other big issues has always been (incorrectly) thinking of the swing as a set of pieces… color by the numbers… step one, move this, step two, etc.
it’s been really difficult for me to pressurize and move things as a unit, and i think that may also be contributing to the breakdowns! i know i’d feel that squeeze in my upper half and through my hands, but the lower body was not generating the same pressure.
finally… how can i submit a golf swing for the viewing pleasure of the community and for critique? and uhm… is that an upcharge?
thanks again for the suggestions and the help!

[Les]

Colin,

To post a video just upload it to YouTube then post the link here. I assume that will work.

Looking at your misses without seeing your swing I would surmise that you just need more time with the movements to gain control of the clubface. One thing that is common for most beginning golfers is early acceleration with the arms and hands. This will lead to a throw out of the arms and club and inconsistent striking. I struggle with this as well and I need to work on the pressure movements to make sure I feel building pressure and speed through the strike. I almost have to exaggerate that building of pressure where I feel like before impact I am at a 3 or 4 then after impact a 8 or 9. Also, that increase in pressure is smooth so that the 8 or 9 isn’t felt until the end of the swing.

One drill I do to help with this is, when on the range, I feel like before the strike I am going in slow motion then after the strike full speed. That really helps build that feeling of acceleration and building pressures.

Good luck and keep up the hard work.

[Tathata Staff]

Colin, if you would like to submit us a golf swing you can do so from the additional training tab at tathatagolf.com. Hover over the additional training tab and click Tathata Online Support. From here you can submit us a full swing video for $99.95! We look forward to working together soon!

[David]

Colin,

Below are some tips for filming your swing that will be beneficial whether you’re taking advantage of the Tathata swing submission ($99.95) or tossing up a link for community feedback. Hope this helps!

Camera Placement for Filming Online Golf Lessons

Camera placement should be on a tripod or some other stationary mount to avoid shaking. Accurate video analysis of golf swings really needs a steady camera especially for the graphics and line-drawing features of the video software. In addition, camera angles and distance from the subject are very important. The camera height ideally will be about waist-high. For a face view shot, the camera should be perpendicular to the player’s belt buckle – basically dead center of the golfer’s body. Down-the-line shots need a camera mount pointed on a line inline with the players hands at setup or roughly half way between the player and the golf ball. If the camera is mounted inline with the players feet, this is acceptable, but inline with the golf ball does not work well for accurate assessment of swing plane.

An additional detail to be aware of with camera placement is the distance from the subject. Most often we see video from clients that is shot from too great a distance or with a wide angle lens and the detail we would like is missing. This is especially true for video shot with mobile phones. Test your shot beforehand to make sure you have the tightest view possible which still gets the entire arc of the golf club in the shot. Mobile phones should be turned on their side in a horizontal landscape format. Historically for standard camcorders, we have found this distance to be about 21 feet. But wide angle lenses which are typical on smart phones and some of the newer pocket cameras require shooting the video at closer distances. Be sure to test your system before sending us video of a golfer who looks like an ant in the distance.

Source: http://www.hermanwilliamsgolf.com/how-to-film-golf-swing-video-online-golf-lessons/

[Colin]

thanks everyone for the suggestions! i just bought a $14 tripod from amazon. it’ll be on the door saturday, and wife-willing, i’ll be at the range!
as soon as i’ve got something on tape, i’ll post it up.
so curiously… why do you folks think i’m able to pummel the ball of the tee with well more than reasonable accuracy and still have the woes with the irons?