(Pull) hooks

[aj748s]

Quickly want to introduce myself to the forum. First introduction was by watching Volume #1: "Secret of the Nuclear Golfswing" on Netflix, which immediately led to improvements in my ball striking (so bought all 4 volumes and downloaded on my iPhone to study while commuting to work). Booked my first lesson with Mike for May 29th, really excited about that.

Also put 2 recent recordings (using a cheap Aiptek-HD camcorder) of my swing on YouTube:
(DTL) YouTube - FILE0015trim.mov
(Face-on) YouTube - FILE0016trim.mov

The DTL one (ball flight) illustrates my biggest problem: (pull)hooks, especially with short/mid-irons. This makes it impossible for me to hit greens from 80 yards out. My strong feeling is that this is caused by not being able to keep my left wrist flat during impact. Lots of work to do...

Alex.

[Michael Jacobs]

Originally Posted by aj748s

Quickly want to introduce myself to the forum. First introduction was by watching Volume #1: "Secret of the Nuclear Golfswing" on Netflix, which immediately led to improvements in my ball striking (so bought all 4 volumes and downloaded on my iPhone to study while commuting to work). Booked my first lesson with Mike for May 29th, really excited about that.

Also put 2 recent recordings (using a cheap Aiptek-HD camcorder) of my swing on YouTube:
(DTL) YouTube - FILE0015trim.mov
(Face-on) YouTube - FILE0016trim.mov

The DTL one (ball flight) illustrates my biggest problem: (pull)hooks, especially with short/mid-irons. This makes it impossible for me to hit greens from 80 yards out. My strong feeling is that this is caused by not being able to keep my left wrist flat during impact. Lots of work to do...

Alex.

Alex,

Welcome to the website and our instruction, we will make sure you reach your golfing goals. I took a look at your swing videos and the basic framework looks very good, should not be a problem at all upgrading your consistency of ball striking.
Looks like we have some work to do in an around the hands, wrists, & club face. Review grip and wrist action before you come and watch this tip several times:



See you soon!

[aj748s]

Thanks Mike, I just viewed it and will do several times more before my lesson! Also viewed the sections on the swivel and the 9 wrist conditions on your DVDs (the one with Brian Manzella and the last one with Rick Nielsen). Very interesting, never heard of those concepts before in golf instruction, but it makes a lot of sense, just hard to get it ingrained in the swing! Also practiced your sandtrip drill trying to increase pressure through the finish swivel.

[Michael Jacobs]

Originally Posted by aj748s

Thanks Mike, I just viewed it and will do several times more before my lesson! Also viewed the sections on the swivel and the 9 wrist conditions on your DVDs (the one with Brian Manzella and the last one with Rick Nielsen). Very interesting, never heard of those concepts before in golf instruction, but it makes a lot of sense, just hard to get it ingrained in the swing! Also practiced your sandtrip drill trying to increase pressure through the finish swivel.

All good stuff and thoughts for you AJ, a lot of what you are going to learn will be ideas and concepts that you have never heard anywhere else.

Your understanding of these concepts will make our lesson time much more effective

[aj748s]

Had my first lesson with Mike yesterday. Was a great experience (should have done that years ago! Mike is really a great golf teacher) Got a lot of stuff to work on, especially in the takeaway and flattening the shoulderturn. Went immediately back to the range today, here is a video of my swing "under construction" taken today:

YouTube - sun053010-FO.mov

The takeaway move (pulling the right shoulder back and low) is obviously hard for me since it is so different from what I used to do. Lots of work to be done, will be back on the lesson tee soon! Will be at the Chelsea Piers driving range this week before work!

Thanks Mike for your patience! (Also spent an hour on the putting green today with my new Lightspeed putter, feels a lot better than my old one!)

[swingobsessed]

Originally Posted by aj748s

The takeaway move (pulling the right shoulder back and low) is obviously hard for me since it is so different from what I used to do. Lots of work to be done, will be back on the lesson tee soon! Will be at the Chelsea Piers driving range this week before work!

Was the right shoulder getting too high the cause of your pull and pull hooks? Can you elaborate on the backswing fix? Thanks.

[Michael Jacobs]

Alex,

Enjoyed working with you in the One Day Golf School program. Always great t o work with an eager student who understands modifications and can apply them.

We made some modifications to Alex, he had the long standing impression of trying to keep his head still over the ball by using his head as the body pivot center. This created a very steep shoulder / trunk movement which elongated the right side of his body extremely on the backswing. This body movement coupled with a very flat shaft movement on the backswing and a very low clubhead on the impact approach was a recipe for a heavy hook.

We steepened the shaft on the backswing

We achieved a higher club head relative to the ground the downswing

And we flattened the pivot movements

All in all a great day and some better putting with a fitted Explosive Designs putter should help Alex out a whole lot.

The video you posted above of your first practice session looks very much improved. Keep us posted on your progress and I will see you for the Flightscope session next time you come.

[aj748s]

A few more practice videos posted on YouTube. I am still having trouble with the flat shoulder/trunk movements, somehow my hips and head keep swaying way to the right when trying to make that move. I am trying to practice the shoulder movements in my living room but it is hard. Good news though is that I am definitely hitting some better shots with the steeper angle of attack.

Some more range sessions at Chelsea Piers this week and back with Mike next week Saturday. Can't wait!


YouTube - roycebrook-hybrid-dtl-5-30-10.mov (Royce Brook, Hybrid, DTL, 5/30)

YouTube - roycebrook-multi-fo-5-30-10.mov (Royce Brook, Multiple Shots, FO, 5/30)

YouTube - cp-iron-dtl-6-2-10.mov (Chelsea Piers, Iron, DTL, 6/2)

YouTube - cp-hybrid-dtl-6-2-10.mov (Chelsea Piers, Hybrid, DTL, 6/2)