Help--No posture at Impact

[BigManSlim]

I am blocking balls right I believe due to a complete absence of posture at impact. It's painfully bad.

 

For some reason it doesn't show up on the range (this swing on range) but on course is bad.

 

Any drills, ideas, etc?

 

FWIW I used to play at a pretty competitive level

[Reasonability]

BigMan,

Thanks for sharing. I have some things which (were it me personally) I would look into a bit. These are interesting things yourself and a good teaching pro might enjoy reviewing together. What works a little better for me may not be the best medicine for you but it's fun here to kick the tires together and share so here goes trying.

My perspective may be just a bit off. The ground and terrain out in the distance APPEAR to indicate your camera may have been slightly tilted which could affecting my first observation. You can be the judge if the camera fooled me a bit or not.

What I notice is that your initial posture is pretty nice and then moments before the takeaway you rock back on your heels a bit. It actually seems to occur in little mini-stages leading up to the takeaway. Unless the camera angle has me completely fooled, your weight is VERY much in the heels rather evenly balance between the heels and balls of the feet once you go into motion. I think I might also consider making sure the shoulders aren't pointed just a hair left at address (a common issue since the right hand is lower which tends to pull our shoulders to left field a bit.)

The next one is subtle... I invite you to watch that little white rim at the bottom-right edge of your right shoe. Notice how as you complete your backswing the way that while sole of the shoe sinks into the ground. This is a pretty good indication you are rolling over on to the outside of the right foot.

And the next two items are (I believe) interrelated. A) if you hold the tip of a pencil on your right rump from the start to the top of the backswing you will notice that as you actually complete the backswing your hips begin to slightly advance toward the toe line as you finish the backswing. Part B of this is that I notice your shoulders turn just a bit level to the horizon versus more perpendicular to the address spine. Both (in my opine) could be addressed by applying just a little secondary spine tilt of the upper torso away from target at address and keeping the right knee just inside the right instep as you swing back. This would allow the hips to turn a little more deeply without sway and begin the process of keeping the fanny line back behind the heels. This depth of hip turn going back doesn't have to be dramatic, nor does the secondary tilt at address, nor does getting the left shoulder down under the chin just a touch more. its the subtle combo of all the above which (IMO) will allow you to then move the LEFT hip back behind the LEFT heel and get the right elbow working down in front of you for a much more solid and down-the-line release of the club through impact.

So all in all I like you swing for what that's worth. I think its a series of little things that might be plaguing you a bit. Once the weight moves from center-of-feet balanced at address and the little tips and tricks mentioned come into being one at a time... my bet is the old you will come right back to life.

Summary of things to try...

- A little secondary spine tilt at address with the shoulders squared up and weight well balanced under the arches of the feet
- Swinging it back without weight moving to the outside of the right foot - maybe by keeping the right knee inside the right instep and letting the hips turn just a bit deeper rather than drifting toward the toe line
- Getting the left hip then back behind its heel as the right elbow passes in front of you for the release. This should keep you hips back behind the heels at the top and into the downswing. That and making sure the shoulders don't turn too level should help.

That's the three or four things I might work on one at a time for a little while if it were me.

Have yourself a blast out there! I do hope yourself and a good teaching pro get to decide together if any or all of this is worth your while!

[BigManSlim]

I appreciate the thoughts. I have had trouble in the past with putting the weight into my heels. Thanks for the notice.

I also can't disagree about the weight getting a bit on the outside of my right foot. Definitely an easy thing to clean up.

Will have to look at/think abt the other stuff.

I had a top 100 teacher that was great when I was playing a ton but he semi retired and is tough to get to see. I have also seen two good teachers in my area but this block cut issue has periodically plagued me and I've never felt I had a good understanding as to why.

My inclination looking at pics/vids is that I'm pretty jammed up through the hitting area with no posture to speak of.

Anyway thanks again for the time