I started this program last June 2020, I am a 12handicap left handed golfer. I have watched so many of Tom's videos and worked to improve my swing. I think I understand the concepts and have seen some positive changes, but overall my iron swing is not getting more consistent. I hit more fat iron shots and have lost 20-25% of the distance I previously had before starting the program. On top of that, I hit more S&*nks than I have ever hit in my life. I am embarrassed to go play a round of golf, because I have no confidence. I have videoed my swing and used Tom's comparison swings to try to pinpoint the issues. I identified that I roll my hands on the takeaway. I have tried to fix this issue with some of the drills, but I cannot seem to eliminate the roll. When I practice short shots in the yard I seem not to roll as much, but as soon as I take a 3/4 swing, still rolling (club is behind my body). Then I have a severe layed-off position at the top of backswing. This is probably a result of some take away issues. Then I notice that I have this very bad head dip and back arch in the downswing (not good on my back), which is probably leading to the fat shots and loss of power. I feel that I cannot turn my shoulders together around my spine. It seems that the my trail shoulder lags and I go around my body alot and loose my relationship with the ball. I am not one to quit, but I have become so belittled trying to improve that I have wondered if I should just quit. However, I do believe that these issues are fixable because I did play two times where I actually hit more crisp iron shots than normal (shot an 83 one of those days). I think need to figure out how to get the take away and backswing correct first. Any suggestions on how to accomplish this would be appreciated. I need to get back to having fun.
In my experience, fat shots are caused by a weight drift to the trail foot. I posted elsewhere here (and I don't know if Tom would agree) that I have to be very aware of two things on the backswing.
1) Rotation to the top with the lead shoulder pointing down at the ball...and I mean DOWN. It "feels like" down, but it's actually correct because I'm used to a flatter and steeper backswing with my old swing. In your photo, the line on your shoulder angle at the top is not positioned correctly. The line should be more towards flat, or more parallel to the ground.
2) I have to be VERY aware that upon my takeaway, the weight of my arms and the club can cause a weight drift to my trail foot. My fix is to pre-tilt to the left at address. I "feel" pre-tilted but in a mirror I'm perfect. Again, this is a remnant of setting up with a shoulder tilt at address in my old swing. Tom covers this in his PGA Player taking a Lesson video.
It's VERY easy to fall into the traps, habits, of the old swing....and the feels in the new swing need to be very exaggerated to counter-balance the old feels because we're used to the old feels.
As for shanks, I've done them too...but in my case, it's because I didn't rotate back and also my weight drifted to my trail foot, so I did what I call a "windmill" half-backswing, meaning the swing was more in front of me vs. rotational. At that position, my right hip and right shoulder want to rotate out towards the ball....shank.