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Jay,
I'm in East Tennessee along Tellico Lake.
Yeah, you have to change your timing slightly to hit a long driver...mostly
because of the higher swingweight, I think. It takes a little longer to
accelerate a high swingweight from release and most players who are used to
the timing of a D2 or less start with the body way ahead and slice the ball,
then throw the club over the top to get the face to the ball square.
Then, they take it back too far inside to try and stop the over the top
action. Makes it worse...laid off and big slices again. Most get frustrated
and say a long driver isn't as accurate as a short driver. Well, it is when
it is swung properly. I've hit every fairway with my 48" driver more times than
I can remember...even hit every fairway and every green in regulation once in
1999 for a 4-under 68. Think that is more rare than a hole in one. :-)
Slowing down, taking the club straight back and keeping your head
behind the ball in the downswing usually gets better results. Took me about 2
hours at the range to get consistently straight shots from a 46" D1 to my
first 48" D6, which I found out later was too much s/w for me to get around
18 holes without losing control. Once you find your timing, though, you don't
forget it. Now, I can pick up any 48" (or less) driver and have the muscle
memory to hit it OK after a couple of swings. Didn't affect my irons (D2) much,
either. But, I do warm up with driver and irons before a round so
I retain a feel for both. Once I had the timing down, I found I could speed up
the swing and add some yards when I needed them. At age 65 (6 years ago) I went
from about 245 yards with the D1, which I hit all over the place, to 260 yards
with the 48" E0 and straight where I aimed it almost every time. I could never
feel the head position with a D1, but could feel the head at E0 and make a much
better pass at the ball.
Get a club with 193-196 gram, 450cc head closed 1°-2°, 50-something gram
shaft and a 40-45 gram grip. Swingweight will be about E0 and total weight under
300 grams. Low total weight makes it easy to swing and control. Swingweight is
manageable. I have about 10 senior friends playing great with 47" and 48"
drivers like that. One with a 47" Bangenstein was 80 years old a couple of weeks
ago and still can get it about 235.
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Monday, May 08, 2006 12:41 PM
Subject: Re: ShopTalk: Tips for out to in
swing
Geezz, I wish you could personally look at my swing. Maybe i'll
have someone run a video clip and email it to you. You don't happen to be in
NE Florida do you?
I think your comment about (Swaying the
upper body forward on the downswing) hit's home. I think it was the additional
weigth of the 48" driver that caused the (between the ears) problem.
As
I think about it more and more, I think it's both "swaying" and "rolling my
right-hand over the top".
MTIA
Jay
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----- Original Message -----
Sent: Monday, May 08, 2006 10:05
AM
Subject: Re: ShopTalk: Tips for out to
in swing
Jay,
I've built a lot of 48" drivers for golf course play and that's kind of
an unusual result for someone hitting a long driver for the first
time...usually the high swingweight and extra length result in high slices.
Most players can't get the head to the ball in time and have the face open
at impact. Sure sounds like you are coming over the top or rolling your
right hand over too soon, or both.
If I hit a shot low left, I'm over the top and swaying my upper body
forward. Swaying the upper body forward on the downswing brings the club
down on a steeper angle reducing the loft. Over the top sends the ball left
if the head gets to the ball on time. Swing a little easier. Take the club
straight back, not inside. Slow down your backswing and transition to
downswing, then accelerate, keep your head behind the ball, aim your
right arm at the target and finish high.
What are the specs on that driver? I play a 48" driver all the time and
have found most players do OK with a club weighing 300 grams or less and a
swingweight of E0 or less...feels and plays almost like a shorter club.
Unless you are very strong, a club weighing 325 grams and swingweight of E6
is too much to control. I hit some 48" Pings that felt like tree trunks
at one of our demo days demo last year...hit my BOM much
better. Long drivers designed for 18 holes of golf course
play and long drivers made for distance competition, or with components
for shorter drivers are different animals as far as I'm
concerned.
I'm as accurate with my long driver as a shorter one. I had a bad
left knee last fall and built a 44" driver to reduce the shock on the
knee...little higher swingplane and less speed into the ball did help the
pain. I alternated the two drivers for two weeks (6 rounds) and kept
records of fairways hit, distance and score. I was off the fairway just
as many times with the shorter club, 15 yards shorter and 3 shots more on my
scores. Swing mistakes cost me the same with either club and distance lost
with the shorter club resulted in the higher score.
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Sunday, May 07, 2006 10:29
PM
Subject: Re: ShopTalk: Tips for out
to in swing
This sounds like something that might help me.
About
10 months ago, someone talked me into buying a long 48" driver.... and "H
e l l" followed me.
I started/ended-up with a "low hook" that was mostly
worm-burner. Many told me that I was shutting the face down but fear that
was just for starters.
I seem to still hit my middle to short stuff fine (but
anything long) and it's like the above mentioned.
Appreciate any ideas?
Jay
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Sunday, May 07, 2006 2:02
PM
Subject: Re: ShopTalk: Tips for out
to in swing
Sadly, it seems I have an ability second to none
in the heartbreakin' bidness! So buck up, and when you speak of it, be
kind ;-)
Now for the inside/outside stuff. I went through
much of what you're describing. My handicap went from 7 to 14 within a 9
month period. No distance, a lot of pull/push stuff, etc. I was hitting
the ball on the range a couple of months ago when our ass't pro yelled
at me from the proshop "Flan, you're shutting the face down." What I was
doing to compensate for the weak sclaffs was to close the clubface,
which of course made it even worse.
In desperation I went back to a lesson I had in
the early '60's. I think it was called something like "basics".
Re-examine grip, feet separation, distance from ball, ball position, hip
and shoulder turn, starting down, and so on. Then I started, with a 6
iron, a really simple drill. With feet about 4" apart, I pulled my right
foot back from the square setup line about 6", lifted the right heel off
the ground, and hit about 10 shots with half-swings, with the ball at
mid-stance. Then 10 more full swings/square stance, and back to the
narrow stance, and so on. Voila! It started to come back.
When I said it isn't possible to hit a ball
inside out from a square or open stance, I meant it. Too often what
happens when a person starts hitting weak shots to the right, or low
pulls, the reason is mostly because there's little or no lower body
movement. The club is "cast" from the top, the angle formed between the
left arm and club shaft breaks down, and a weak hit results.
One way to visualize this is to get a plate, or
a disc of some sort, and set it parallel to the intended line. Then
simply twist the plate in one direction or another and observe which way
the arc of the swing changes. It's interesting.
TFlan
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Sunday, May 07, 2006 5:33
AM
Subject: Re: ShopTalk: Tips for
out to in swing
Tom, you're breakin' my heart.... congrats on the
grandson... what am I going to do with all my spare time?? ;
))
Re: square stance... are you saying I must be open or closed
to accomplish this poor swing? Honestly... if I had a camera I'd
take a video. I don't know when this started but I swear I am
square to my line according to the video I've seen of my swing during
lessons. To make your head shake a little more... I seemed
to start doing this last year some time, at the beginning of the year
my index was 10.3 and at the end of the year it was 7.3... all the
while losing a lot of distance and accuracy with this. Lowest
handicap of my life, but it felt like the most frustrating golf year
of my life. Go figure. I was taking lessons this winter
indoors to work on it and the instructor just kept saying I'm getting
away with it because I'm athletic. I interpret that as "I can't
figure out how the h*** you are hitting the damn ball with that
swing"!!
Jen
TOM FLANAGAN wrote:
Jen, my once and only;
You may recall I had a long give and take about this
very subject a couple years ago. Briefly, the point
was this; unless you adopt a particularly awkward
stance, it's physically impossible to drive the
clubhead through the hitting zone with an inside path
with even mediocre results. As I recall, another one
of my idols, Professor Tutelman, agreed, as did
several others. Quite simply, ya can't do it from a
square stance. Nope. No can do.
TFlan
BTW: I guess it's over between us, romantically.
JanFlan and I became grandparents for the first time a
couple of weeks ago. Now, Nolan Gibson Flanagan is "He
Who Must Be Obeyed". Son Mike and his SWMBO, Missy,
finally came through! So, it's been fun. Try to
remember the good times.
--- Jen Kuntz <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Hey gang,
I've been fighting an out to in swing path for a
little over a year now
and having trouble with ways to practise to get rid
of it.
I tried the "inside approach" thing this winter and
it was ok but I
don't want to buy one. I've also tried just using a
couple
sticks/shafts parallel to the swing path on the
ground and trying to not
hit them. I find I keep hitting the damn inside
stick and it just
reinforces the problem instead of helping me work
through it.
Anyone have any drills they've tried that worked for
them to get rid of
this?
Thanks in advance,
Jen
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