The Pictures Don't Lie - Michael Hunt Breaks Down My Swing

If you read this post, you will remember that I was given a golf lessons from Michael Hunt, Lead Master Instructor at Miami Beach Golf Club. We worked on getting a better wrist hinge from waist high to the top of my swing in my takeaway. My initial takeaway is good, but I am still a little flat because I twist or rotate my wrists and forearms.

Michael shot video of my swing from the face on view as well as from the target view. I received the still pictures of the video today via email. To give me the best reference, Michael did a side by side comparison with me and professional golfers who have a similar body type.

This is invaluable information because now I can see where I am, and where I need to be. Michael told me that sometimes we feel like we are doing the right thing but when we get to see ourselves, it can be very telling.

You can clearly see the difference between myself and Hunter Mahan at waist high in the takeaway. By this point Mahan's shaft is pointing to a 90 degree angle while my shaft is still laid off. Michael told me that I am losing a lot of energy and power in my swing because of this. The wrist hinge is where all the energy is stored during transition. I end up having to manipulate the club to try and gather extra energy.

This is a comparison of myself and Rory Mcilroy from the target view. Again you can see the difference in the position of our club shafts. Mcilroy's shaft, at this point in the swing, is pointing just inside the ball. Just follow the red line. My shaft is pointing well out side of the ball. From this position, I have to come over the top to get back on plane. The club becomes heavier in this position as well and all the extra motion causes a loss in power and distance. Michael said that when I learn to get into the position that Mcilroy achieves, the club becomes lighter, and gravity will take over and move the clubhead through the hitting area with ease.

This is another comparison between myself and Mcilroy just after waist high. Notice the difference in the club shaft. If this was shot from the target view as in the last stills, Mcilroy's shaft would be pointing just inside where the ball used to be. My shaft is pointing well inside, which causes the weak slice.

Mahan demonstrates the proper positions at waist high on either side of the swing. Michael was pleased that I had already thought of using Mahan as a model for a swing to emulate. He has a very simple and repeatable swing without too many moving parts.

The other area that Michael worked with me was in my setup. I have too much forward shaft lean. This caused my alignment to be off at address and this is why I sometimes pull hook. Hunter Mahan is more square at address because his shaft makes a line up to the logo on his shirt. My red line is almost outside of my left shoulder.

In this picture you can see that my upper body is open at address, again because of too much forward shaft lean. Rory Mcilroy seems to be much more stable than I am as well. The swing starts with the setup. A bad setup leads to a bad swing. Now that I see what I was doing, I can make the necessary adjustments.

Again, I would like to thank Michael Hunt for all his help. He is an excellent instructor and you should make an effort to meet with him if you are ever in the Miami Beach area. If you are serious about improving, I recommend that you have someone film your swing so that you can pinpoint the areas of your swing that you need to work on. No point in practicing bad habits right? Have a great round and always hit your target.

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