In depth analysis of Mike Olivers swing and the changes we made

1. Nick Lewis
PGM 445
National University
SWING ANALYSIS

2. Weak/Neutral Grip
Takeaway, not picking the club up
Weight transfer, heel to heel, not heel to toe
PROBLEM AREAS

3. Mike is in the middle and we worked to get him onto the left, or stronger
grip.
GRIPS

4. Mike hits a squeeze fade due to his neutral grip
Mike’s ball flight is lower as he tends to pick the club rather than draw it back,
causing a steeper angle of attack
Getting Mike to transfer more through his heel will allow for a more efficient
turn and allow for his path on the down swing to be more on plane.
By strengthening Mike’s grip, drilling away at his takeaway and getting his
weight transferring more through his back heel through his front side, Mike’s
ball flight will become straighter and even more so a draw flight, as well as
helping him hit the ball higher, and stopping him from coming over the top.
HYPOTHESIS

5. Having played with Mike I have seen first hand his tendency's within his swing
and results on the golf course. Also talking with Mike he had expressed the
want to change a few things in order to hit the ball higher and change his ball
flight direction. With the help of video through the V1 and flight scope
analysis, it was determined that our direction and presumed “problem” areas
of focus were correct.
PATHOLOGY

6. Research has shown that strengthening your grip can help with developing a
more consistent straight to draw flight pattern, and helps with players who are
trying to eliminate one side of the golf course, as Mike is. As shown in prior
images strengthening one’s grip comes by turning your hands to the right on
the club, while your left hand will feel more on top and the right more
underneath. According to Teaching Professional, AJ Spicer, this is his number
one tip to most of his students when they are looking for improvement.
(Schiffman, 2011).
RESEARCH

7. RESEARCH CONT.

8. In the image shown, is a drill that would be used and has been used by many
professionals when working their hands further away from their body in more
of a drag and rotate motion rather than picking their hands straight up at
address. Speed and lag comes from a wider and longer turn, by having Mike
do these drills, he will have less need to compensate or re-route the club at the
top, rather being able to make his turn more efficient and producing more
speed and lag on his down swing. This also allows Mike to shallow out or
flatten his downswing.
RESEARCH CONT.

9. This image to the right shows how this particular subject rotates his body so that his right glute contacts the chair on his
back swing and by shifting his weight through his back heel on the downswing is able to turn efficiently through allowing
his left glute to again make contact with the chair at impact and through to finish. If you finish or initiate the downswing
and transfer weight onto your toes, this causes weight to go more forward, creating an off balance finish.
TURN AND TRANSFER

10. V1 tiles
Flight scope
Eyes on Swing vision
Playing
12. 6 old 6 new.
15 swings
50 swings
3 times playing
Materials Quantity
MATERIALS USED

11. Grip- Practice! Practice! practice!!!! The more often it is implemented the
more comfortable the feeling becomes. Swinging the club one handed with
the strong grip and hitting small chip shots is another good way to beat the
new grip into the mind and muscle memory.
Takeaway- Drill, drill, drill!!! Once the grip change has become more
comfortable and natural Mike will notice during his alignment stick drills,
where he places the alignment rod behind him that at the P1 position he will
have a much more shut club face and without swaying his wider and
“drawback” like takeaway will have him smacking that alignment stick every
time.
PROCEDURE

12. With regards to the stance, we reference back to the picture of the player with
the chair or wall behind him and I have even been known to use muscle rollers
behind each glute, so that the player knows he has accomplished the turn and
weight transfer the way that they want to when both rollers fall to the ground
after the swing.
PROCEDURE CONT.

13. C:UsersstudentAppDataLocalTemp151130231020Y3SV338388.wmv
C:UsersstudentAppDataLocalTemp151130230945QJ8B338388.wmv
C:UsersstudentAppDataLocalTemp151130230821ETRO338388.wmv
V1 DATA

14. FLIGHT SCOPE RESULTS

15. FS CONT.

16. FS CONT.

17. Mike and I discovered that as these changes became more comfortable over
time, his ball flight tended to straighten out, picked up some swing speed and
ball speed and his misses to the right became few and far between. He gives
most of the credit to his change to a stronger grip as he no longer has to flip
the club face on the downswing in order to square the club face.
CONCLUSION

18. We both believe that the data supports my hypothesis, as shown from the
flight scope numbers and pictures, Mike is primarily hitting a draw swinging
right with his clubface left. Prior to these changes this was not the case as he
was more right to right.
CONCLUSION CONT.

19. Schiffman, R. (2011, November 2). You Tried It: Stronger grip, better path |
Golf Digest. Retrieved December 7, 2015, from
http://www.golfdigest.com/story/you-tried-it-a-stronger-grip-h
REFERENCES