I know I said that I would post video from Tuesday’s session once I’d had a chance to review the swings more thoroughly, but I am not satisfied with the overall, so I’ll have to renege on that promise.
The issue is too much rotation, and it isn’t the pivot action but the setup that was causing the issue.
If not set up properly, especially if you’re a left-dominant person such as me, you will always struggle with early rotation in the down swing, but that’s only so you can make contact with the ball.
It seems to be an easy fix however, as I was doing the things I was supposed to do, just not far enough away from before – an adjustment in the setup and everything seems to be working properly.
Face-On View – 5 Iron
There are of course more indicators than the one I mention (early rotation) that told me I still wasn’t there – again, the difficulty I had in getting settled swinging is a big key, because even if it feels “different,” it shouldn’t be that difficult to get going.
Another indication was my top position, which again I feel goes too far past parallel for what should be an optimal action.
Finally, the early rotation, which I can show in the 5 iron swing down the line – if you get to the top and the shoulders begin to turn rather than the trailing shoulder dropping as the first action of the transition:
Early Rotation
If you just watch the gloved left hand getting to the top, on the transition pause, it moves slightly higher and closer to the target line, when it should do the opposite in a proper transition.
That is not actually a mechanical flaw but a hand-eye coordinated reaction to where my hands and club are at the top compared to what my eyes are seeing looking down at the ball.
I can virtually guarantee that once I get that optimal setup position to go with the pivot action I have already developed, you won’t see that early rotation at the top in the transition.
So, if I have indeed found the setup flaw, I should know very quickly next time out, because I can’t keep getting closer to my goal without actually reaching it.
More to come!
WAX Golf 
Honest question: Why are you working so hard on parts rather than just going back to the model itself? Executing the model is obviously your focus, but you seem to be stuck, as if you change one thing, something else tweaks as a result. Just go back to the original model. I mean, to me, if I had a building to construct, the blueprint shows me what’s required. If I work on parts, it’s maintainance, not building.
Just a thought. But that’s at least what I’m seeing. Correct me if I’m wrong.
I regret to to say that you are indeed wrong, sir.
The model is the model and before I pronounce it optimal, I must be able to perform it as such.
Here’s why:
– It is still, currently, the same model I devised in the years up to 2017.
– I was not performing the swing according to the model, never have. You may say that at best, I had a pretty good swing based upon the model, but it was not the model in action.
– I do not do what you will see from gurus, instructors and analysts where they say “do this” and then proceed to swing in a way that comes no where near their instruction or analysis. I mean to do what I say to do, or else I don’t know why anyone would listen to a word I say.
– The model may end up exactly the same model I have talked about for years, but if my own swing doesn’t match the model, I can’t really say that’s the way to do it.
Lastly, I could have stuck with the swing I’ve had any number of years and done pretty well, but that was never my mission.
My mission was to either find the proper swing model out there or, failing that, to build my own.
In this regard, “good enough” is nowhere near the return on the years-long investment of time, effort and sanity figuring this stuff out.
I have come to believe that it’s my own failings as a swinger that I am fixing and that the model is bang-on.
I will insist however on achieving that same swing action before I discuss it further, because that’s what I’ve decided.
There are people who feel they benefit from my swing work and this blog is for them, as well as to document my personal journey – if some feel this is tiring and boring, they will find other blogs to visit, as I’m sure some have.
But this blog is to document my journey and help others if they feel they can benefit from the work.
So, I’ll keep doing what I’m doing.
Thanks for clarifying. I appreciate it. I didn’t mean to come off as difficult, I was just asking an honest question. But what you said makes sense. I didn’t think of it that way prior, as I saw it as tinkering and not trying to make the model work. Anyhow, thanks for the clarification. My apologies if I came off the wrong way.
No worries MMJ – in fact, I AM most definitely tinkering trying to figure out where I’m not exactly following the model setup procedure.
It is a result of having swung so horrifically wrong with regards to swinging left-dominant (swinging with the left arm) due to my cross-dominance, because as soon as I figured THAT out last winter, I’ve made more progress in the last few months rectifying my issues than in whole years past.
It’s a matter of, as soon as I hit that optimal setup, I’ll know it instantly and will be able to explain what I did and how anyone else with setup or dominance issues will be able to overcome them.
It’s painfully obvious once you get it, but unfortunately it takes some work to get there.
And you didn’t come across in a negative way – you were unsure as to what I am doing and why, and I tried to explain it as best as I could.
Really, I think it’s taken longer than it should have, but then others have spent lifetimes on the golf swing and were still nowhere near devising an optimal swing.
Many like Hogan or Moe Norman were able to groove their own actions through years of incessant effort and millions of balls struck – but their models were their own and not for anyone else.
I’m being a little more ambitious in that I’m trying to carve the proper standard way to swing out of that block of wood – the Fosbury Flop of golf swings if you will.
So, perhaps it takes as long as it takes. 😉