I would say that the last year in which I did a lot of ball-striking and swing work would have been 2017 – after that, I would just go to the range once or twice a week, if that, to see if I could optimize the swing model I presented in the 2017 video “E = MCS.”
There is a swing I kept going back to from July 2018, because it was so pleasing to my eye, which is rare, as most of my video swings I detest nearly immediately afterward or shortly following, after I’ve identified a flaw.
But there were no actual mechanics “flaws” in this particular swing, it was just halfway between the traditional Classic Golf Swing model as seen in “E = MCS” and the swing I am envisioning now.
Setup
Face-On: The only issues would have been my grip (the right hand, specifically) and that I was swinging left-dominant, which is not actually a flaw, if your setup is proper, it’s just not what I want to be doing in a right-handed golf swing – and that would be to swing right-dominant.
With a proper grip and swinging right-dominant, this would have been close to what I would be doing right now at this moment working on my personal swing model.
DTL: Nothing to fix except to be a little closer to the ball, as you can see I’m extending the arms Hogan-style, but which I wouldn’t want to be doing now. Notice the squared shoulders to the target line as well.
I only lose that position when not hitting balls regularly, and the feeling of being square returns to the open-shoulders position that feels natural with my scoliosis. Above however, everything is great.
The Swing
As for the swing itself, it’s one of the most pleasing swings to my eye that I’ve recorded on video.
The back pivot is money, with the stable head and full shoulder and hip turn with an almost zero-lateral-shift of the head on the transition, and as close to a pure vertical drop of the hands and club coming down.
The lateral head shift, even ever so slight, and the trailing foot release on the down swing rather than post-impact are the clues that I’m swinging left-dominant in this motion. Right-dominant, it would be very close to what I’m envisioning at the moment.
DTL
So, the ironic thing about having a lot of athletic experience outside of golf (and I only came to golf at the age of 25), is that your instincts will at times over-ride what you’re trying to do, which in my case was to set up for a standard Classic Golf Swing action.
My athletic instincts however didn’t agree and without knowing, I was setting up almost exactly as I am doing currently while working out the exact setup for my personal right-dominant swing model based entirely upon what feels natural and athletic to me.
Now, I’ve been talking about the difference between right and left dominant swings for years, but just not in those terms.
I used to say “Push & Pull” or “Push vs Pull,” the “Push” being controlling the club with one’s right hand and arm, with the “Pull” then being with the left.
That picture sequence is one that I had in a 2018 posting here on WAX Golf but I’m pretty sure it’s much older than that, having been taken from one of my earlier blogs, either the Smash Golf or DJ Watts Golf blog site back around 2010-2012 (and I haven’t worn black golf spikes since 2014), so I’ve always discussed the two aspects.
So, being cross-dominant, I naturally tried to control the club with my left arm and hand, when my athletic instincts have always tried to get me to swing right-dominant, because I know now that this is how I want to swing a club from now on.
I’ve always had the double-cross going on.
And it only took a decade and a half to come around to it!
More to come.
WAX Golf 