Warning, long rambly post ahead.
As a relative newcomer to this swing style, I've had a lot of changes to make, and although I try hard to remember them all, inevitably I forget some of the key points... and usually at the worst possible time.
For example, if I were to video myself, and stop the video right before I start to take the club back, I would check for: grip(both creases pointing towards right ear/shoulder area) backwards K for proper weight distribution, butt of club shaft pointing towards my belt line, hands forward creating forward shaft lean, feet turned out, and maybe my spine tilt if it's a DTL view, although usually the butt of club shaft pointing at belt line takes care of that.
The problem is, once I get to the course, I seem to revert back to my old swing. For example, the other day I played, and for fun took a quick video of my swing.. grip looked decent, feet were OK, but the butt of my club shaft was nearly pointed at my sternum! WAY off.
So on to my questions:
1: What do you consider critical checkpoints at.. let's say at address, top of back swing, impact and end of swing(not sure what the proper term is for this?)
2: How on earth do you remember them all? It seem like I can never remember all of the things I need to do to hit the ball well. Some days, my weight is forward like it should be, but I forget to keep my elbows together.. then other days my elbows are super glued together, but I forget to keep my hands forward so I have no shaft lean.. etc..
And if it sounds like I'm frustrated, I'm not :) I know golf improvement is a long term journey, and I'm having a great time, just curious what tips and tricks everyone has to help me get good faster..
Thanks!
I am with Tom K.
It also helped me to do the routine without a club, just while waiting in front of the microwaver.
First times on course I had to much tension, because of my competetive thinking. It helped me to lose the tension by playing scramble in a flight, to take the pressure out of my brain.
Thanks so much for the encouragement and tips everyone! Even if the videos weren't amazing(and they absolutely are amazing just to be clear), this forum alone makes the time and money spent well worth it!
Tom S. and Tom K. made good points. It is important to hit balls on the range before playing. The warmup bucket size is all you need before playing. In addition to just loosening up the golf muscles, take the time before each shot to ensure the setup is solid and then just have one swing thought. But which one, you ask. That would be dependent on what your last training range session showed you. Could be “shoulder down” or “hands in” or “ forward forward forward” or any other swing thought that proved successful on your last range session. Then swing your swing, analyze the result and go find it, then repeat. You may have a different swing thought for the next shot, but the setup fundamentals are pretty much universal for most full shots.
After the round, recall what worked and what didn’t. Then ditch the memory of what didn’t and focus on what did. If you can, and I know it’s hard to do, after the round go to the range with a warmup (now a cooldown) bucket and reinforce the swing thought (s) that worked.
As a final reminder, don’t neglect the short game. Especially if you had a pretty good ball striking round but didn’t score well. Failed to get up and down a few times or had four three-putts, work that out before pounding range balls at your next training session.
Above all, keep having fun.
For me - I have had to watch and rewatch the videos multiple times. It seems like I pick up something small every time that I watch them. And I have zeroed in on a handful of drills that seem to work the best for me.
I have also had to video everything that I have done - including doing the drills and hitting balls at the range. Feel is not real sometimes. And video is the only way to see if you are doing it correctly. I don’t complicate the video process - I just set my phone on my golf bag. Take videos from front, beh a rear.
And I do my drills at least twice a day in the garage. I purchased an indoor contact mat. It lets me know exactly where I’m hitting the ground and the direction of my swing. There is no way around it - I’m having to practice the basic drills over and over in order to change my swing.
As for what I’m doing on course - I’m making sure that my setup and ball position is correct. I do a practice 1/2 take away swing. And then I‘m ready to swing.
On the take away and backswing I‘m just trying to get my left shoulder down and my back to the target / against the wall. It’s the combination of the 90 percent forward and tailbone to the target drills. The other key for me is my wrist. I have to keep the club face square - not rolling on the backswing. I feel it still being square at the top. For me - the key to doing this is keeping the elbows together and turning my chest / shoulders and not swinging my arms. Keep your arms straight / connected. My right arm naturally bends at the top.
Now the hard part for me. The downswing has been the hardest thing to change - but I’ve been able to do it. Being in the correct position at the top of the backswing is key. And I have to feel like I’m turning my chest / shoulders - not my arms. I feel like my arms are connected and I turn in a manner that brings my arms down from the inside. This keeps me in posture and I don‘t have to think about my follow thru. My miss now is hitting the ball thin / hitting the ground to far forward. I’m working on drills to correct that now.
I hope that helps. Keep practicing - it will come together at some point. And I would also suggest taking a lesson from Tom after you feel like you have reached a point that you need some evaluation. I took a lesson after I had been thru the various video courses and had a two driving range sessions. Tom found some basic things I wasn’t doing correctly and suggested some specific video drills. The lesson helped a lot - I don’t think I could have figured it out by myself.
I only work on my swing on the range or at home in the garage or yard. When I get to the course I only concern my self with my grip, alignment and weight forward. I take note of how I'm Hitting the ball throughout my play. I then work on the "bad" stuff from my playing back at the range or home. Tom is right, the more we ingrain the drills (on the range) the more second nature they will become. On the course I want my swing to be like driving a car. I never have to think about how I'm driving to get some where. Seems I unconsciously arrive at my destination with no thinking about how to maneuver the car to get me there. That is how I want my golf swing to be. So on the course my main focus is to have fun and let the swing take care of it self. Trusting the drills to takeover and "drive" my play. Try to keep your mind clear of "swing thoughts". Give it a try and happy golfing!
@Julian - Hopefully you'll get some great responses here. All I'll say is that most of the things you are trying to consciously remember will eventually transition to autopilot with proper practice and by ingraining the motions through the specific drills. Ultimately, I want you out there playing "golf" and not "golf swing", and that can only happen with a bare minimum number of mechanical thoughts while on the course. You will get there. In the meantime, enjoy the journey!