July DTL vs Yesterday (Improvement Notes)

Some of you, I’m sure, look at my swing clip offerings and think, “there’s no change, what’s he talking about?”

I wouldn’t blame you, because one rarely ever makes radical changes to one’s swing when using the exact same model, but I can show you what I see different in my swing from July to yesterday, showing the improvements I’ve made working on my setup and pivot.

It is slow work, but the fact that I can see differences shows that it is possible to keep improving one’s swing, up to a certain point, I suppose, and I haven’t yet reached that point myself.

Here are a couple of swing Gif.s from yesterday, before I point out the differences I see in my down swing viewed down the line from July:

Face-On – October 4th

And the down the line which I’m going to compare with roughly two months ago, here is yesterday’s swing:

Down The Line

… which we can compare with a swing from roughly two months ago, July 6th:

July 6th Drive DTL

Aside from the obvious differences I can point out with the setup pre-swing, let’s take a mid-downswing snap of the two for comparison’s sake:

From virtually the same angle (which isn’t too difficult because I like to place my camera with the view down the line over the target line, sometimes I get it perfectly like above), I can see some distinct changes:

  1. Starting with the club itself, yesterday’s shaft looks longer and the head is higher than July’s because at the same point in both swings, the July down swing has already released some, while I retain more “lag” in yesterday’s swing,
  2. The shaft is not only more behind me but lower in yesterday’s swing, showing a greater distance from the top of my shoulder than in July’s, and by quite a good deal if you want to measure increments,
  3. When I talk of early or over-rotation in the down swing, you can see both knees still in yesterday’s swing, while I’ve rotated more in the July swing with my hips parallel to the camera and only the right knee showing in July’s position vs yesterday’s.

These little things seem insignificant, but when you’ve got less hip turn and more lag at the same point in the down swing compared to another swing, you’re getting increased leverage coming into impact.

To put it very basically – I have a natural swing tempo that won’t change, so if my club head is further away from the ball at this point but reaches the ball at roughly the same time, it will of course be travelling at a higher velocity at impact, having travelled a greater distance in the same time.

9 thoughts on “July DTL vs Yesterday (Improvement Notes)”

  1. JJ

    They told me there wasn’t going to be any math.

    Just kidding – very cool stuff, DJ! Your next video is going to be epic. And I hope you write a book. I think this could begin a much needed new direction in swing instruction that could eliminate injury and return golf to a more sane and optimal methodology – one that the old timers (Jack, et al) would recognize as correct.

    1. DJ Watts Post author

      JJ, it seems at times I’m so close to the end, but I’m still finding things as I move away from being cross-dominant to swinging right-hand dominant.

      So many things that would have worked or been necessary swinging left-dominant are completely unnecessary or different when swing RD.

      Today I established another tentative principle which I’ll be testing out next session.

      And as usual, it could either be the end or open yet another avenue of investigation.

      All I know is that things are getting simpler and simpler, so on I go until I’m done 😂

      1. JJ

        I hear ya. I’ve been writing a book, and in the last month, I’ve rewritten it 5 times. Always something to improve. Finally, I just gave it to the editor. It was a freeing feeling, ultimately, to hand it over and be done!

  2. Joe Gallant

    Hi DJ,I know you’re figuring out Mike Dunaway and his swing and you are so close,it’s crazy.One thing I noticed in one of his swing sequencing,one entitled Mike Dunnaway,supple smoothness.I noticed something unique in his hand position on the way back,he rolls his left hand inside slightly, knuckles toward the ground but only slightly before turning.I tried this today in my indoor practice space and when you get to the top and transition down and finish,everything happens almost automatically,face squares and the speed generated is fast.It seems the timing and sequencing just happens,if you get the pivot correct,ball placement etc just right,sorry for the long comment.P.S. I think Dunnaway’s mechanics for full swing are perfect,he was just a shifty teacher.

    1. DJ Watts Post author

      You’re not wrong, Joe – I was at the Tracer Golf facility today and had a devil of a time making proper swings (something about simulators just throws me off), but the one adjustment I made that got me back on track was that move you’re talking about.

      Good stuff! 🙂

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