One more thing that came to mind.
When you step up to the teebox on your 7200y golf course, with a 460°ccm and a shiny Titleist in your hand do you sometimes feel like cheating the game of golf? Do any of you sometimes play the Lady tees? So whats happening from there - i bet you score better from the ladies tees due to distance decrease than from your regular tees?
With the average driving distance increasing by 10% over the last 3 decades - did your golf course adjust? A bit i guess, but most didnt expand for 10%. That would mean that a a 7200y layout would have to be stretched to almost 8000y!
So how does this stack up against players from the past and their achievements? Can we say, we are just as good when we shoot 72 nowadays as a guy in the past who shot 72? I guess not? And everytime we step on the teebox, isnt it a strange feeling “playing the ladies tees from the past” due to our modern day equipment?
Its weird that the entire golf industry is focused on creating more distance with more forgivness in every product the release - but what would happen if they would be able to produce a driver within regulations that guarantees you 350y straight drives everytime. I´m sure such a driver would generate tremendous short term profits cuz EVERYBODY would buy it - yet it pretty much would make the game of golf itself surrender to you and in the mid- to longterm would destroy the game, since golf courses cant be lengthend to 10000y to adjust to such ridicioulous “innovations”. This example is a bit “over the top” - yet it happens on a daily basis, just in smaller steps.
I saw a video of Lee Trevino a couple days ago in the British Open from 1980 or 85 - on a Par 5, he was hitting Driver / Driver and still had 100 y to the green (on a calm day that is). Next time you smash one down the middle 320y and hit a 7i into a Par 5 ask yourself, how this compares to the old days and if it was intended to be like that…
I think i havent read much about Walter Hagen on this board. I googled around a bit regarding the right leg in the backswing and having it kicked in on the beginning of the backswing, since it seems to help me get off my right side a lot quicker and lets my hips work “quicker”. I know that quite a couple of guys had a slight knee “kick in” to start off their swing - but when i saw this - now that is something “exaggragated” - and i kinda like it - he is basically standing on the right inside of his foot:
When he turns back he actually takes some of the knee kick in back to normal - but what do you guys think of this?
Here is the full video of his swing i took it from. youtube.com/watch?v=wmC1_JQH71I
Did Hogan do something similar just a lot less obvious? On some footage i thought as if he steps into the ball and once he is set up, his right knee just slightly kicks in stays that way just as described above?
Knee kicking as a trigger got me thinking of a great Aussie golfer whose name doesn’t appear much in conversations about great golfers.
GRAHAM MARSH
I played with Marshy a fair bit and I just loved the way he composed himself, played well within himself, worked on the fairways and greens motto, and grinded it out no matter what and played the most appropriate shot for each situation he was in.
69 International wins is nothing to be sneezed at… resume below…will post some swing videos also…the man was as consistent as they come and well worth a study
Huge shoulder rotation…(“X” factor myth buster)
Drop it in the slot
Rotate level while keeping the arms tight on the body
Hold wrist cock through impact with a heavy persimmon
IMO, if a guy wins 69 times on any Top-Level Tour in any kind of sport, 69 wins should be what they are - a great life achievement. What always strikes me with amazement - i never heared of this guy before - anywhere!
So thanks for mentioning him.
After playing a few good rounds in a row out at Mare, 67, 68, 69… I thought it might be interesting to shoot the swing on the course and see what’s currently working. Certainly the putter has been working a bit better also.
Been slowly flattening the backswing over the year, and if I can keep it right here, I’ll be happy. I tend to get upright more than I like so I have to keep on it before it’s really DNA stuff… but if feels good to be right here for the time being.
Flattening out means you need to make room for the arms to hit the 4:30 line, so I have worked on adding a bit more spine tilt to clear the pathway on the downswing. As long as I do this, I will never ever feel stuck.
It’s always a challenge to turn level with the shoulders post impact, but on this day I was getting them moving correctly, and this little 8 iron shot shows how working the club left post impact does not mean the ball has to go left.
It’s inspiring how just doing module work daily over the months can move things around a few inches. My basic action feels the same. It really doesn’t feel flatter than last year, but it is. It allows me to get more aggressive with the pivot and hand firing without the fear of the ball going left. I moved my persimmon to 14.5 ounces from 13.5 also. I definitely hit is straighter. It sure reminds you when waggling that you better get busy with the pivot and hands. It’s a lovely feeling to really be able to feel the clubhead only playing once a week. I have 4 drivers I like. The Wood Brothers is gaining status… my two Pena’s and my DX Keyhole MacGregor. I have and M85 Super Eye O Matic that has this amazing head on it I need to flatten out soon.
With irons … over the three rounds I played the MacGregor VFQ’s, the 62 Haig Ultras, and yesterday the 53 MacGregor Silver Scots, which I think are close to the model Johnny Miller used during his peak years in the 70’s. I’ll jump on the MacGregor M85’s next.
Right now I think the Haigs are #1. I’ll probably bring those over to Vegas for the TRGA event in January. They just set up so good.
I have the third groove looking right down the center of the shaft with zero offset on any club. Stock propel shafts, heavy and a joy to look down at. I just found another set on ebay everyone here overlooked so I picked it up as a backup for those, but I don’t think they have the same shafts… but those heads are a dream.
I used to worry about setting up in a ‘pre-impact’ position. (is that what they call it?) I often had a lot of success when I did it, and it looks like what you’re doing is similar… you’re recreating your impact position at setup?
I always thought this was bad to look like you are hitting the ball at set up. But to see your -reverse K- setup makes me think I should have kept the idea. The one thing I did do though is I set my club head back of the ball, deeper in my stance (like Moe, but not as much). It sat the driver head more back, and more inside and it forces you to see the path of the club (going in-to-out) before you even start your take away.
It looked goofy so I stopped doing it. Maybe it isn’t for everyone BUT I really didn’t know entirely why I did it, but when you explain how the lean in your setup ‘reserves’ room for 4:30… that’s pretty big. I suppose you do it less with irons, the shorter, the less lean?
On a side note, the placement of your ball deep in your stance, hitting a wood… is that your normal placement?
The swing looks great! I especially like the right shoulder - looking like a backstop or launching pad for the straightening right arm and a powerful pivot rotation.
One thing about viewing ball placement in photos is that the ball will appear to be forward or back depending upon camera placement. If a camera is more forward toward the target from a caddy view, then the ball will appear more back in the stance, and the opposite if the camera is more left from the caddy view. In this clip, I made no effort whatsoever to align the camera at right angles to low point.
However, because my stance is wide, and this was a 2 wood off the ground, my ball placement here would be back a couple inches from where I would have a driver. Another factor would be that this particular shot had the ball below my feet (sloping toward the camera) because there are no level lies anywhere at Mare! So in that case I would tend to aim a bit left of target which also would appear to move the ball back slightly.
Also back to the wide stance, the wider your stance, the more the ball is going to appear to be toward the middle of your stance. The relationship to low point does not change, and this is why using your feet as a gauge for ball position is a flawed concept. The amount of spine tilt you use effects ball placement… not just at address but at impact… this is what is critical.
There’s lot to it… it’s not to be done haphazardly.
Lag,
Your footwork looks great i like the DTL pics we can see the post impact Pv4 really good in photo number2. The third pic is ABS to the max low left hands and flat shoulder turn wow great stuff which equalls 3 rounds in 60’s! I think its great how we should always try and flatten are swing like you said it takes time just to move it a couple of inches flatter! You said you fight upright at times can you share the mods you grind on a weekly basis?
Just seeing those pictures of the Mare makes me want to get on the first plane and get out there!