To see this working, head to your live site.

Clips of my current swing - focus on getting backswing on a good plane.

With the caveat that I'm aware of changes I have to make in my downswing (notably, lateral hip move before shoulder rotation), these are two clips from a recent session at the range. My focus has been on lead arm across the chest and extension. I want to get those in a good place before focusing on the downswing. That said, I'm open to any and all comments and suggestions. I'm posting this as a follow-up to some recent correspondence with @GolfLivesMatter which you can see here: https://sagutogolf.wixsite.com/sagutogolf/forum/main/comment/62b92d93801f2f001250d83c

DTL: https://photos.app.goo.gl/NCQjYYvAYSyUijSw5

Head On: https://photos.app.goo.gl/EVhZ4dc5Xa2XGDfHA

Please let me know if the links don't work. Files were too big to embed and YouTube was converting them to "shorts" which don't appear to play well with Wix.

Thanks,

James

10 comments

10 Comments

James Flood

Aug 25, 2022

Tom: sorry for by absence of late. I've barely played this season but I'm STILL working on getting that beginning of the takeaway down when I practice in my garage. And I'm still watching (and rewatching) a ton of your clips. I really have to get you some swings for V1 analysis and will do so soon. Still having issues with the new Android app but I'll figure out a way to make it work.

I'm writing because I may have had a eureka moment after watching one of your YouTube clips and it may be beneficial to others.

One thing which has been really been giving me a hard time is transforming my swing from a "lift" style to a "turn". I know that I'm far from alone in this. What I - think - I've been doing is focusing too much on the turn at the beginning of the backswing.

Many, many, years ago, I was taught to bring the club straight back and I've been spending my time trying to unlearn this. But I now think I've been overdoing it.

I recently happened upon one of your videos from a few months back ("I Just Made the Golf Swing 1000% EASIER for You...DO THIS!") https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q79sz1oLikI and I can now see the error of my ways. Once I started applying your lesson, the swing started to FEEL so different. The first thing I noticed is that the wrist hinge feels much more natural and everything feels far less labored. I hope to get to the range sometime this week to try it out and capture some swings for you. It's the first time I've felt something other than frustration while standing over the ball so that's a plus, for now. Still in search of that "effortless" swing (my current swing is anything BUT effortless) so I can once again enjoy playing golf instead of "golf swing"

I'll be in touch.

James

Tom Saguto

Aug 25, 2022

Replying to

Nice to hear from you, James, and thanks for sharing this. A good setup is paramount, but beyond that it is indeed those first few feet - the takeaway - that will make or break the swing. I hope you're able to take this outside soon and start to really ingrain this into your swing.

One suggestion: since this comment thread is a couple of months old, you'll likely get more views if you copy your "aha moment" post and start a new thread with it. Then I can pin that post to draw more attention to it.

Thanks!

Tom

James Flood

Aug 25, 2022

Replying to

Thanks Tom! I'll do that.

James

James Flood

Jun 29, 2022

Thanks @Gerry_Lager ! I appreciate the reply. I think (but am not sure) what you're seeing isn't necessarily the rolling of my hands but, rather, my shoulders are moving out of sync with the chest. I still don't have that beginning movement down. As you note, I think I get to a decent position at the top but the problem remains that the arms are taking the long way. If they would just stay connected (as I keep telling myself they will) things would fall into place. Please correct me if I'm mistaken, but I'm starting to realize that the shoulders are not the main driver of the backswing but, rather, it's the torso/chest.

When I practice, I generally do the club across the chest drill to get the right feeling but I lose it once I put a club in my hand. I've watched that clip you linked (and many others) more times than I'd like to admit. I think I need to lobotomize myself to forget my old swing! At my next practice I plan to work on that turning my chest with a bit less focus on my chest. I'll let you know how it goes.

EDIT: I forgot to mention that I think Tom's Drill #5 in the "get out in go" section may hold the key. I understand it when I watch it - actually doing it correctly is another issue.

https://saguto.golf/courses/1436366/lectures/34054405

Thanks again.

James

burkholder.ronald

Jun 29, 2022

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Replying to

@James Flood i think you might find some success pursuing the one piece takeaway by thinking about starting the backswing with a turning of the trail hip behind you. You can see in the DTL swing that your shoulder going down has moved the arms without the trail hip moving at all. Moving the trail hip will bring the torso around and making sure the lead shoulder goes down at this time will get the hands going up without having to lift the arms.

I think just getting you brain off of the shoulder down move and onto the trail hip move may help with your arms sequencing with your torso.

James Flood

Jun 29, 2022

Replying to

Thanks @burkholder.ronald ! That sounds like excellent advice and I hope to try it out later today. Your last sentence is rings especially true. The sequencing is definitely an issue (way too much going on in my head) and having a good start point might alleviate that.

Thanks again,

James

Gerry_Lager

Jun 29, 2022

i think you have a good start. One thing I see is that on the first part of the takeaway you may be rolling your hands a bit? Or something is causing you to take the club back too shallow then lifting your arms to get into position

. However, your lead arm position looks good at the top. In this video @Tom Saguto talks about keeping the club head out in front of your hands a bit. From the DTL at around the 4 or 5 second mark see where the club is..it's more behind you, should be more in front of your hands.... go to the Problem #1 section in fixing common swing problems course.

Problem #1 - Rolling of the Hands - Fix 2 - Left Arm Connection

James Flood

Jun 27, 2022

Thanks Tom and @burkholder.ronald ! Glad to know I'm in the ballpark.

burkholder.ronald

Jun 27, 2022

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@James Flood I viewed your videos and the conversation you linked. I think you have nailed the self assessment and what you need to work on.

Tom Saguto

Jun 27, 2022

The links worked fine for me, @James Flood. I'll also tag @Russell Hogue, PhD, @burkholder.ronald, @Nocona Colt Abernathy, @GolfLivesMatter, and @Gerry_Lager to see if they might have some thoughts to offer.