I have been trying to fix a loop that has crept into my swing. When I first started playing, I did not have it. I have tried everything and nothing seems to help. I shared video of my driver swing from the front on position in a prior post. I received some great feedback. Mike Southern of Ruthless Golf and others seem to think that it may be something in my takeaway.
In order to be sure I was ask to post video of my swing from down the line. Well here it is. And I still need a fix. This footage is from my round on Sunday with my buddy Marc. Yesterday I posted video of us mimicking Happy Gilmore, but today it's time to get down to business. I need a fix. A golf fix that is.
I played pretty well. I have been struggling with a groin injury and had not played since returning from Hilton Head Island. I just wanted to take it easy as it was still kind of sore. The injury is on the left side, so it was difficult to finish on my left side with a balanced finished. After a few holes though, I warmed up and it was hardly noticeable.
After posting a triple bogey on the first, I settled down and played pretty well for my standards. I am a bogey golfer right now, but I feel I can improve my distance if I can get rid of my loop. There are so many moving parts, that I know I am sacrificing a lot of distance off the tee and from the fairways. The first video is of my tee shot on a par 3 with a 7-iron. I Came up about ten feet short of the green. Again, I feel like I am not getting the most out of my clubs because of the loop. The second and third videos are with my driver. I hooked both of them. I do have footage of a drive that was perfect and the loop was barely noticeable but I can not post it due to the fact that Marc likes to do commentary, and sometimes said commentary is filled with colorful language if you know what I mean.
I actually drove the ball well hitting 10 of 14 fairways. We just happened to catch the my worst swings. Isn't that always the way. Whenever you do something good, no one is around to see it. With my luck I will probably get my first hole in one when I am out on the course by myself.
I need to work on my greens in regulation. My best rounds have been when I hit a lot of greens. I am mostly shooting in the 80's now, and when I shoot in the low 80's, it is due to the fact that I am putting for birdie instead of trying to save par with an up and down. I know this aspect of my game will improve if I rid my swing of the loop.
So here it is. What's the fix? I need to change it so that I can take my game to the next level. My goal at the beginning of 2010 was to break 80 and get down to a 12 on the handicap index. To date, my best round is an 81 and I currently have a 13.3 handicap down from 17.0 at the beginning of the year. I still have some work to do.
Well, I am off to go practice. Hopefully I can conquer this thing soon. I have about three and half months to break 80. I am close. A few better approach shots, and a few more made putts and I am right there. And then what...? Set new goals and work from there. Golfers are always trying to get a little bit better. It is what draws us to the course. The quest for the elusive perfect round. Have a good round and always hit your target.
Did you fix your loop? You have a super flat backswing so there's really nowhere else to go but steepening your downswing. Most tour players have a slight loop but in the opposite direction - steeper backswing and then a slightly flatter downswing - you may have heard it as finding the slot on the downswing, the slot being sort of the ideal plane to swing down and hit the ball on an in to out path creating a nice draw that gives the most distance out of your club.
I'd suggest working on really steepening up your backswing so you can reverse your loop on the down swing and finding the slot.
jim mcclean teaches this looped swing and loves to use sergio garcia as the ideal candidate for this type of swing. that's not to say you can't keep your reverse loop - lee trevino and i think bobby jones had reverse loops however they correctly found the slot on the down swing after having a very flat back swing like yours. i only watched your first video but it seems you are too steep on the downswing despite the flat backswing. it just takes slow, deliberate practice and alot of time to make swing changes as they must be ingrained into muscle memory to the point where you can make the movements naturally without thinking of it.
lookup jim mcclean's slot swing tips or other slot swing drills they really help. i also have a slight reverse loop that i'm trying to reverse. i recall ray romano on the haney project had a reverse loop as well and haney got him to just practice reversing the loop on half swings while hitting balls.
I'm just trying to get better at the game I love. This blog is kind of a journal of my progress. I will share all the tips, drills, exercises, and experiences that I am using to improve. Hopefully they will help you too.
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Did you fix your loop? You have a super flat backswing so there's really nowhere else to go but steepening your downswing. Most tour players have a slight loop but in the opposite direction - steeper backswing and then a slightly flatter downswing - you may have heard it as finding the slot on the downswing, the slot being sort of the ideal plane to swing down and hit the ball on an in to out path creating a nice draw that gives the most distance out of your club.
I'd suggest working on really steepening up your backswing so you can reverse your loop on the down swing and finding the slot.
jim mcclean teaches this looped swing and loves to use sergio garcia as the ideal candidate for this type of swing. that's not to say you can't keep your reverse loop - lee trevino and i think bobby jones had reverse loops however they correctly found the slot on the down swing after having a very flat back swing like yours. i only watched your first video but it seems you are too steep on the downswing despite the flat backswing. it just takes slow, deliberate practice and alot of time to make swing changes as they must be ingrained into muscle memory to the point where you can make the movements naturally without thinking of it.
lookup jim mcclean's slot swing tips or other slot swing drills they really help. i also have a slight reverse loop that i'm trying to reverse. i recall ray romano on the haney project had a reverse loop as well and haney got him to just practice reversing the loop on half swings while hitting balls.
hope it helps somewhat.