Any tips plse for my son (sry if this is a duplicate post)

tried to post this before but it doesnt seem to have worked so here goes again - apologies if its a duplicate post as computer seemed to jam up.

Recently my son seem to be hitting everything with his 3 wood and driver- starting off to the right or straight and then going way off to the left.

This is only over the past few weeks and before that he was fairly consistant and especially with his 3 wood  he used to hit that straight all the time

He's not knowingly changed anything.

Ive posted a few videos of his swing just in the garden but its more just general ideas of the main reason that would cause this ball flight so he can try a few  things out at the range tonight

Any tips /advice appreciated

thanks all

John

forgot to mention - he's already working on the overswing!

but finding it hard not too.

1st point - at address he appears to have a closed stance - try getting him to move his left shoulder back.

Also he is aiming way right with his legs.

get the allignment posture stance worked on and then hit balls

This young man has enormous potential as he has a natural swing path that many others will never achieve in their lives. The fact that he is drawing the ball is in itself a good sign. When the ball travels further left, developing into a hook,  is usually because he is starting to hit it too hard, after more length all the time.

His top of the swing position is what needs urgent attention, lovely straight left arm, oh how that brings back memories, clubface nicely open, bvt because of the overswing he is well out of line.

I thought his impact position was very good, right arm tucked in and inside the left.

He really should be under the instruction of a good teacher as I feel he has a lot of potential.

Thanks all

Nice to hear your comments John P.  - at least makes me think the money he's had spent on his equipment recently has not been a waste anyway.

He's only been playing properly this year & only had a proper/decent set of clubs since early July 08.   He loves the game though and asks me to take him to the range most days and then plays at weekends  (over the summer holidays he spent up to 12hours some days at the golf club mostly on the practise area when I was at work and just said he didnt even realise where the time had gone)

We'll be off to the range tonight to try out a few things that people have posted above.

thanks again everyone.

John

p.s  I think I had better move that net in the garden so its not facing our neighbours consevatory.

No, J P, I am not advocating a flying right elbow even though the great Jack Nicklaus played that way, but if you look again he has an excellent straight left arm and sets it very high which makes it pretty difficult to keep the elbow relatively close to the body on the backswing. I was more concerned that he was right coming into the bal, and as I said, he has an excellent position at impact for one so young.

At the top of the backswing his shaft alignment is well to the right of target, in fact I used to like to have my club pointing just right of target at the top, helps to promote a draw.

Most of the modern players lay the club off at the top of the backswing, I don't like it, but it is their choice.

John,Your lads swing is a perfect example of what i described in your thread "right arm half way back" with his right elbow  slightly below left. I admire his swing very much and its really not that far away from a being a solid dependable swing.

Heres my assessment (use or discard at your discretion ,im not a proffesional)

The main problem is the hip turn, its to much and causing the overswing and dipping of the left shoulder , this is putting most of his weight on the left side.He also pulls the club from the top causing a bit of casting .He has a good transition on the downswing bringing the right elbow back close to the body and underneath the left arm. Imho impact position is a bit weak with the club head slightly ahead af his hands caused by the castiing effect.This is what will cause the to far left(been there) with club head closing early through impact.

The positsion your lad needs to get to is in your second video, if you pause  it at 12 seconds where both elbows are almost level,you can see at this position where the hip turn has finished (all be it a tad to far) and that the club is parallel to the target line,also notice the slight cupped wrist at the top which i like . At this position he needs a bit of knee flex in the right knee this will transfer some weight  into the right side.

When you continue the vid you will notice his right hip keeps turning in to the right side with his say his belt buckle facing almost parallal to the  target line and his spine angle tilting left. This is causing the swing to be a bit weak as there is no resistance in the core muscles.

On the downswing ask him to imagine leaving the club head behind this will generate lag and improve club head speed at impact and eliminate the slight cast. If he gets this right his cupped wrist at the top will transfer to bowed left at impact and thus keeping the clubhead squarer longer through impact.

In summary

1) Stop backswing at top when right elbow and arm are at 90* keeping elbows at about the same height.(How he gets to this position is already spot on)

2) Resistance in the right hip,flex in right knee,turn into the right side keeping a strong right leg ( if he feels his abs working and weight going down his right leg into the ground  he's got it)

3) His downswing from position 1, just leave the club behind when unwinding . He should feel the weight transfer  from the right leg  into a solid left leg giving him a srong pivot to swing around (His left knee is working really well on the take away and its his key move in the down swingwhich is good.)

As JP said a young lad with a lot of potential and i agree.

I'm a firm believer youngsters learn alot more from visualisation so if you study this video you should see what ive tried to explain.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O39k3E_36yo

OK  Thanks David

Was hoping to get to the range last night but didnt manage to with one thing and another.

Will be going tonight and he'll try what you suggested.

Unlike me he seems able to be able to make changes to his swing without much effort so we'll see how it goes.

Funny you should mention that about feeling the club being left behind as thats something Ive personally just started doing and it does make a big difference.

Many thanks

John

I like your summary, David, you obviously looked at it in more detail than me.

No problem John, Hope the range session goes well. He just needs to get a bit more connected, which will make his swing a  more dynamic,look forward to future vids good luck.

Dave

Thanks JP, what do you think of the swing in the link? this guy has been getting swing info off the same guy as me (just listen to the ball strike). Try stopping video at about 12/13 secs at impact dont get any better than this.I which i had some knowledge 20 yrs ago, im 45 now and can honestly say I now feel im playing golf for the first time. It beggars belief how i had managed to get to single fiqures not knowing much about swing mechanics. Short game is still a problem ,i may have have to come down and see your good self.

Hi all

Thanks for all your posts and advice on this and other topics over the past few months.

Anyway thought I'd give you an update on my lads progress

To be honest ive just let him do his own thing, taking him to the range 3 or 4 times a week (no lessons) and he's getting 1 and occasionally 2 games at weekend.

He is still overswinging but he cant seem to stop it.

Anyway, he's off 23 handicap still (recent comps for a month have been pairs so cant affect his handicap).  Prior to that he was scoring low 90's for 3 or 4 weeks.

Anyway, the little beggar got a gross 82 on Saturday (even with a 5 on the par 3 18th)

Knocked 8 shots off his previous best of 90.

Annoying me somewhat after 4 months with a proper set of adult clubs to get an 82 and I'm still struggling round in the low 90's.  (of course pleased for him really)

Just wish I'd started playing at 12 yrs of age.

John

John, you will learn that it is impossible to compete wiith an improving youngster. Pleased that he has now started to make real progress, but real progres will only be made with ensuring that his swing mechanics are sound. David L gave you a comprehesive explanation of what is required and I can assure you that anything he says is correct.

Any method will hit a ball well, on occasions, but to do it all the time requires a sound method.

Hi JH,   glad to hear your lads playing well,they do have a tendency at that age to sort themelves out. They usally just look at the ball and then where they want it to go smash it, go find smash again.Its good he he's getting range time ,try using  it to instill some fundamentals though , and not just hitting balls into nowhere.It's quite easy to ingrain some bad swing faults at the range.Make every ball hit is meaningfull,step away from the mat look at the target and go through a preshot routine . Challenge him on different shots,get him to try and land a ball on a specific target using his wedge to 3 iron. This will also help your game and you never now you might just  beat him...........Good luck

DL