My crazy new swing

The way you describe your method your head is lifted up before you take you swing so it really can't lift up. Maybe there is a lesson in that. Maybe your neck was bent so low you had to move it out of the way to turn your shoulders.

You can take a look at my new swing. It's in the gallery.

I wouldn't recommend anybody trying it though !

I have a couple of questions for you. First, you mentioned that went to the range with the swing you were working on (pre head change) that your swing reverted back to your upright head lifting swing. Did you film any of your practice swings on the range? (If you did) Did you make the same swing faults in the practice swings on the range? If you made the same swing faults in practice swings on the range then it probably is/was something physical (setup or takeaway related). If you didn't/don't make the same faults in the practice swing then it might be mental, or physical tension having to do with the knowledge you are about to hit a golf ball. If you find that you didn't/don't have the problem when making a practice swing, and you don't want to continue with your head pre-set movement then working on hitting shots on the range with your eyes closed, or blindfolded (like the link of Nick Faldo below) to try to break the mental or physical barrier that is preventing you from making a solid swing when contacting a ball. http://www.golfinternationalmag.co.u...ldo/tuned1.htm

It is worth noting that Nick Faldo (among others) preset his head/chin pre-swing at one time in his career, so you could try that less drastic pre-swing move, and see if it makes a difference for you.

ThePuttKing, I've looked at both your old and new swings. I see no difference aside from the head motion at the start of the new swing. You say others tell you it looks flatter. I see no difference there either. Everything that makes your swing what it is (plane angle, top of the backswing position, posture, stance, tempo, etc) looks the same with the exception of this slight motion of the head at the start of the new swing. That alone can't account for the change in ball flight. We don't strike the ball with our head. There is a reason you draw the ball.

Find that reason and you can keep your head where it is. Some help below.

The ball flies according to the speed, launch angle, spin rate and spin axis angle we give it by striking it with the club. Only the spin axis angle determines if the ball flies straight or in a curve. No matter how we strike the ball, we always brush it (strike it at an angle) because of loft. So, we always spin it. We never strike the ball so that it doesn't spin at all. There is always some spin to the ball. This spin is what makes the ball fly, is what makes the ball curve. Without spin, the ball acts like a rock.

You draw the ball now you say.

Straight: Spin axis angle is horizontal, no tilt
Fade: Spin axis angle is tilted outside
Draw: Spin axis angle is tilted inside

To produce the ball flights above, we must strike the ball in this fashion below:
Straight: Square and along the intended line of flight
Fade: Open and along the intended line of flight
Draw: Closed and along the intended line of flight

Notice that only the clubface alignment determines if the ball goes straight or curves either way. You say you draw the ball. You strike it with a closed clubface. You also say that the ball starts to the right but comes back to your target. You strike it to the right of the intended line of flight but with a closed clubface so it curves back inside. Now on to the reason you hit it in such a fashion. Let's find the technique you are using so you can replicate it at will.

As we swing the club, it may act like a pendulum or a double pendulum. If you use your hands extensively like I do, it acts like a pendulum and is simple to control. If you refuse to use your hands so much for any reason, the club now acts like a double pendulum. If you pushed one way, the club would move the opposite way. The mechanism is easy to reproduce, just use a broom or some such. Hold it on one end and move that end quickly back and forth. Look at which way the other end moves as you do that. You will notice the other end move the opposite way. For a double pendulum, attach a second broom and see how that goes. It's so much more complicated than that but let's stay with the simple stuff for now. Apply this double pendulum to the golf swing.

We always brush the ball as we strike it. By moving one end of the club one way, we move the other end the opposite way. For some reason, you used to fade the ball so you used to brush the ball outside-in. Now, for some other reason, you brush the ball inside-out. Retrace our streps to see how you moved your hands. When you faded the ball, you moved your hands inside-out (opposite direction). When you draw the ball now, you move your hands outside-in (opposite direction). Bear in mind this assumes you control the club in a double pendulum fashion. You say you don't use your hands so much to control the club so I guess it would apply here. I'm not even asking what makes your hands move the way they do.

If you want to get rid of this complicated double pendulum and do something more simple, start using your hands and start controlling the club.

__________________
Ultimately, doubt is
what makes us fail.
If we doubt that,
let us take a moment
and consider the irony.

Martin

I've got to disagree with your assessment of my swing.

My new swing with the unusual head movement is slightly different to my old swing. I have studied both swings on my V1 and cswing software. The differences are slight but obviously enough to really help my ball striking.

Differences are:

No lift up of head
Elbow more tucked to my side
Hands lower
Club aiming more to the left

PuttKing,

Looking at your swing from December I saw that a few people gave you recommendations for adjusting your posture, but didn't explain specificly how or why.

From a setup posture standpoint it looks like you were standing a little too far away from the ball, and getting your weight a little too much on your heels. If you attempt to stand closer to the ball with more bend from the hip sockets (not the waist) sticking your butt out more as one person mentioned and balance your weight more on the balls (closer to your toes, and more centerally balanced) that will allow you to setup where your hands will be a little lower, and your shaft will point more towards your belt area at setup instead of your stomach (yellow line on the pictures). That will help promote more of a rotational swing instead of one where your arms are likely to lift the club. It will also likely reduce tension you may be feeling in your arms.

(Edit: Make sure you still try to keep your hips high while sticking your butt out. If you start to sit down, as they call it, you will find that your weight will move too much on your heels again. Once again feel like your hips are held high and back which will allow room for your arms to hang closer to your legs and swing with more freedom.)

At hip high and the top because your weight was towards your heels at setup your body has attempted to rebalance you towards your toes (notice the amount of your body that has shifted past the green balance line in the pictures). Moving towards the ball with your weight is once again hindering the club swing around you, and promoted it to swing upward. In addition we see a loss of knee flex at hip high and the top.

Those positions set up the downswing we see from there. If you adjust your setup and backswing positions you should start to see an improvement in your downswing as a result.

Beside the setup changes I recommend you practice by tucking a towel, gloves, or headcovers under your arm pits and making half or three-quarter swings at a slightly slower feeling pace to get a feel for what it is like to have a more roational swing that will look and may feel more like your shoulders and torso are making a level rotation around your spine while maintaining the flex in your knees from setup. It will pobably feel like your arms and body move in a more syronized fashion. On video with the adjustments in effect you will likely see your arms and shoulders on a line more parallel to the original shaft angle plane (red line)


Here is a comparison of your swing and the swing of Steve Elkington showning the positions and lines I mentioned above:
http://img237.imageshack.us/img237/6...ngtondope4.jpg

I'm sorry that I can't convince you of what I see. If you see a difference, who am I to disagree. If you are convinced that the differences you listed are the reason you draw the ball now, then I'd be a fool to try to convince you otherwise. But as I see it, none of the differences you listed, not even combined, can form the cause of the new ball flight you produce. There is just no relationship between them and the ball flight. This means two things: The differences are inconsequential and We don't see the difference that does make a difference.

Have fun

__________________
Ultimately, doubt is
what makes us fail.
If we doubt that,
let us take a moment
and consider the irony.

Thanks for your advice and interest.

From October to December last year I worked on my swing no stop. Every spare minute I was practising. Nothing worked or helped me hit the ball better. I worked on posture and all the other methods to swing flatter.

I stumbled upon my new method my chance but after a couple of shots I knew something was different. I had a straighter and better ball flight. Why it works I don't know ?

But after a few rounds and plenty of practise sessions it continues to work. I drive the ball straight with a nice little draw and my wedges are spot on. (I holed a wedge shot from 80 yards last week for an eagle !)

My home course is flooded at the moment but once we get into spring, I expect my scores to come down. I will post any progress I make !

If I was playing off 5 and improving I wouldn't actually care why or how it worked .

However I (and most others I guess) will be interested to know how it stands up to regular play once Noah's moved that damned ark from the 5th fairway.

Let us know.

Well I'm off 6 now but I know what you mean !

I've always find when you make a great golfing discovery then the weather goes nuts and you can't practise it for weeks. The golf course looks like a boating lake and I can't see it open for at least 2 weeks. We do have a driving range that's open but that's hanging on by the skin of it's teeth. The nearby drain is about an inch from the top so anymore rain and the driving range will flood !

It's so boring and frustrating at the moment !