I've indicated where the ball went too

Hi Lewis.

The swing is  fine, has a nice tempo and is nice and smooth all the way to a good finish.

The problem is that you are swinging the club on the wrong plane caused by throwing the right shoulder forward as the first movement of the downswing, putting the whole path of the clubhead outside the line causing you to come from the outside in.

I could cure this in ten minutes but I live nowhere near you, unfortunately.

Harrogate is lovely in the Winter John....I'm sure you would like it if you came up ;-)

You are confirming my thoughts....when I look at my swing it looks dis-jointed, I guess this is the throwing of my shoulder. I think I also don't get my hands high enough on the backswing.....which if I fix should help me keep my right shoulder back for longer.

 When I see my own swing I'm amazed I ever managed to hit the ball at all

cheers

Any method will, on occasion hit a good ball, but to do it consistently, a sound method must be adopted.

There are many schools of thought on how a golf club should be swung, but I only endorse the method that gave me what I ever wanted from this game, i.e. a scratch handicap.

Todays thought of the day by Wayne was spot on and you would do well to take that advice to heart as it is the basis of a sound swing.

A couple of thoughts that might help you. Keep your right elbow close to the body on the downswing, yours is nowhere near it, and secondly at impact the shoulders should still be square, only the lower half of the body has turned towards the target.

cheers again John

Also Lewis just standing there and knocking balls is not adding focus to your shot, you should stand behind every ball, pick your target and then align yourself.

It helps to add aim to your mind.

First of all Lewis, for someone who has only been playing a few months it looks good.

To be critical, and going towards perfection:-

1. Straighten your legs more.

2. Tuck your right elbow more into your side from the top.

3. Clear your left side more through impact which will allow more room for your right hip.

TheLyth

was just going to say you are swinging on a bad plane and hitting the ball with an out to in movement which will usually give you a big slice. had the same problem myself and now i actually have adjusted myself so my swing means im hitting the ball on an in to out plane which i find helps me hit much straighter. now just for my cronic distance and ill be sorted but ive shaved 6 shots off my handicap in the last couple of months and i think if i play the way ive been playing this month at our next outing next week i should get my handicap to below 20 as im playing quite a bit better than that in my day to day games now. just one thing i find most people myself included naturally get on that out to in plane because they already have a bit of a slice and hitting in on it seems like it will make it better but it has the opposite effect. from i started hitting out towards it ive found my problem was more to do with my grip in that i was striking it with the clubface slightly opened so after turning my left hand in a bit so that both v's point in the same direction between my neck and right shoulder i hit it much straighter time after time. good luck with it anyways as it can be frustrating trying to figure it out on your own when things are going wrong. lol

 Lewis, I reckon it's all covered by the wise words above. My observations were I thought you crouch. I think you have a good tempo and backswing albeit not on the perfect plane but the damage is really done on the dowswing as the reason fror your slice is obvious. I'd also try giving it less humph as you start your downswing as this is where the I think this is when you really start to come accross the ball.

 Having said that, it's not a bad WIP swing.

 PS Take your time, you can learn from bad and good shots.

cheers chaps. I'll practice the suggested changes, then update this thread with a new clip to see how it going

See you out there

Just a little bit more info to show what you guys are saying below is a side by side comparison of my swing at impact with a pro....and my right elbow is far from my side as stated

Just watched your video 6-7 times.  I found it very useful because I have a slice.  When people talk about an out to in swing its not always obvious what they mean. Watching you I can see how you get the side spin.

Jon, I would say that getting yourself filmed is one of the best ways of finding out what is going wrong in your swing - it is very difficult to feel exactly what is happening as you swing but obvious when you see yourself on a screen

"Demonstration" and "Manipulation" are two of the biggests assets you get from a one-to-one lesson with a Pro.

Putting into words what you mean is difficult at times, it depends on what the Reader thinks you mean.

When you are learning something new, it is always easier to understand it, if you know why you need to do it that way. It is easy for someone to say "Keep your left arm straight" but it helps to know that the reason why you do that is to keep a constant distance from your left shoulder to the clubhead (even if that distance is bent at the wrists).

Looking at Lewis's swing, a the top of the backswing his shaft is pointing at the target and the clubhead is square (good). He then seems to start his downswing with a turn of the shoulders rather than dropping the hands.

What do I mean you ask?

There are three "Trigger Points" that start the downswing, 1. The Hips, 2. The Shoulders & 3. The Hands, each one will trigger the same movement but the initial direction of that movement has to be correct. The Hands being dropped is the one most people find works best. By thinking of the hands dropping it usually brings the right elbow in close to the body so allowing for a release of the club down the Target Line. Its like a salute, Long way up - Short way down.

Hope this helps for now.

TheLyth

I'd agree with most on here.

However, nobody seems to have mentioned your address. You seem to give the thumbs-up to shots that go way left of where your body indicates your aiming.

If you look at the top photo, that red line is where you are aiming - I make your spot right in line with the last white post on the driving range - or just to the left.

The second photo, shows the path your ball travels on a 'good' shot.

I suspect your simply swinging at a target that is left of where your body wants to go - and the only way to hit there, is to hit the ball from the outside, and seperate the elbow from the body.

I which case your swinging fine, just at the wrong target.

I'd go back to the range, and put 2 clubs down on the floor - align yourself to these.

PS: If you find yourself still hitting from the outisde and the elbow coming away from the body - just feel like you keep your back turned away from the target on your downswing - I.e in the same position it is at the top of your backswing. It's impossible to hit outside if you do this.

Jonny your pics are not showing...

 you are probably correct with what you are saying, my thumbs up means its gone roughly where I wanted...and with no fade,draw,slice etc...In fact only one of the shots was good  - the second one !.......the first one was just a good connection I think.

I think the camera angle isn't good either.

my alignment does need work though.....also I think my left foot is turned way too much to the left

pic

must be an issue there Jonny

How do you actually post pics into the forum area?

Hi Lewis

This is the most common fault with amateurs and so as a coach I have had a lot of experience. Your set up and backswing look good enough but on the downswing you are out of sync.

The first move down should always start with the hips - the weight should shift back onto your left side, but try not to slide too much.

As this happens your arms will fall into the delivery position, a good check point is to keep your glove hand behind your left shoulder when your hands get to hip height.( you can check this on your camera)

From this position you then clear your hips to the left and your arms will now have room to follow down the target line instead of to the left.

A great drill to practice your path is to get a golf club box and place it at an angle approximately 1 oclock to your target line ( the middle of the box is where the ball sits). To start with only use a 6 iron and a three quarter swing. The aim is to swing along the line of the box without hitting it, so you need to have it close to the ball.

This will groove a more in to out swingpath. If you miss the box the ball should start slightly right of your target, it all depends on where your clubface is then to where the ball goes.

Let me know how it goes.

Steve