# Swinging to 1 o'Clock?



## One Planer (Jul 29, 2013)

Question on the above statement.

While I was signing for my score at the weekend, I over heard a chap say:

"My pro is trying to get me to swing to 1 o'Clock, with 12 being my target line."

I understand this is to get a player swinging from the inside, but the more I thought about it, the more I got confused (... Easy done I know).

The main thing that confused me centered around the swing path at *impact* with the above statement.

Should the club face be travelling more towards 12 (Target line) at impact or should it still be moving towards 1?

Daft question I know. Could someone clarify?


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## JustOne (Jul 29, 2013)

In a perfect world you should swing to 12 o'clock and NEVER swing the club away from yourself. With an iron this would produce a soft draw (all things being equal) as you hit down on it. With a driver it would produce a fade as you hit up on it.

BUT people have all sorts of swing faults and someone who swings big-time left might need a 'feeling' of swinging more 'out' in order to fix his path (feel and real).


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## duncan mackie (Jul 29, 2013)

Gareth said:



			I over heard a chap say:

"My pro is trying to get me to swing to 1 o'Clock, with 12 being my target ...."

Could someone clarify?
		
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once upon a time the bar opened at 12 o'clock - trying to keep people on the course beyond that time was a huge challenge in hot weather, but the Pro's are always up for a challenge.......  :cheers:


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## Piece (Jul 29, 2013)

The idea is that the club face is swinging towards 1 o'clock with a view that the ball starts there and draws back to 12, the target line. This assumes that the swing path is also correct to do this.


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## kid2 (Jul 29, 2013)

JustOne said:



			In a perfect world you should swing to 12 o'clock and NEVER swing the club away from yourself. With an iron this would produce a soft draw (all things being equal) as you hit down on it. With a driver it would produce a fade as you hit up on it.






BUT people have all sorts of swing faults and someone who swings big-time left might need a 'feeling' of swinging more 'out' in order to fix his path (feel and real).
		
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Exactly what I was
 given by my Pro...... Its worked alright.... But now i can't get away from pushing the ball as I think I'm to in to out now.......... Like JO has said....  I very rarely draw the driver... And have settled for a fade but I measured 2 drives yesterday..... Both fade flights.... 270 on one and 262 on the other....

Upside is I know I can pull off a fade 9 out of 10 times.... My issue now is to try and see which shape of shot to use through the rest of the bag because I couldn't draw  a long iron if you gave me a pencil....


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## One Planer (Jul 29, 2013)

JustOne said:



			In a perfect world you should swing to 12 o'clock and NEVER swing the club away from yourself. With an iron this would produce a soft draw (all things being equal) as you hit down on it. With a driver it would produce a fade as you hit up on it.

BUT people have all sorts of swing faults and someone who swings big-time left might need a 'feeling' of swinging more 'out' in order to fix his path (feel and real).
		
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That clears it up for me. Thanks James.

He doesn't actually swing to 1, he just needs to feel as though he is, when in fact, he'll be swinging towards 12.


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## Alex1975 (Jul 29, 2013)

"I over heard a chap say"..... hehe


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## One Planer (Jul 29, 2013)

Alex1975 said:



			"I over heard a chap say"..... hehe 

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What you smirking at!


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## JustOne (Jul 29, 2013)

kid2 said:



			Exactly what I was
 given by my Pro...... Its worked alright.... But now i can't get away from pushing the ball as I think I'm to in to out now.......... Like JO has said....  I very rarely draw the driver... And have settled for a fade but I measured 2 drives yesterday..... Both fade flights.... 270 on one and 262 on the other....

Upside is I know I can pull off a fade 9 out of 10 times.... My issue now is to try and see which shape of shot to use through the rest of the bag because I couldn't draw  a long iron if you gave me a pencil....
		
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For *Driver* Keep your swing path the same but try to FEEL like thru impact you keep the toe of your driver more UP, so you graze the grass with the heel of the club, this alone will keep the clubface closed to the path thru impact if you get it correct. it sounds like what you're doing is coming in with 'high hands' and this has the effect of putting the toe of the club DOWN (heel up) and the face is pointing too far to the right (inline with your path rather than closed to it)

*Long irons* are harder to draw as the ball position should be more forward (path will be less from the inside, perhaps even travelling a little left) the old school method of aligning yourself a little to the right (to get the path travelling a little more out) does actually help with this whilst you keep the ball position the same. It's a balance, you COULD try swinging to 1 o'clock in case your path (natural swing) isn't quite right and you can check where the ball is starting (close the face more) so you can see at exactly what stage the ball will start drawing instead of fading, and that will give you some idea of your true path thru impact.


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## Alex1975 (Jul 29, 2013)

Gareth said:



			What you smirking at!
		
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I was trying to suggest that your "mate" that you over heard was actually you.... you know that old "my mate has a growth on his...."

or whatever....


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## One Planer (Jul 29, 2013)

Alex1975 said:



			I was trying to suggest that your "mate" that you over heard was actually you.... you know that old "my mate has a growth on his...."

or whatever....
		
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I get ya pal. 

Definatley not me. Like I say, something I over heard and peaked my curiocity :thup:


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## kid2 (Jul 29, 2013)

JustOne said:



			For *Driver* Keep your swing path the same but try to FEEL like thru impact you keep the toe of your driver more UP, so you graze the grass with the heel of the club, this alone will keep the clubface closed to the path thru impact if you get it correct. it sounds like what you're doing is coming in with 'high hands' and this has the effect of putting the toe of the club DOWN (heel up) and the face is pointing too far to the right (inline with your path rather than closed to it)

*Long irons* are harder to draw as the ball position should be more forward (path will be less from the inside, perhaps even travelling a little left) the old school method of aligning yourself a little to the right (to get the path travelling a little more out) does actually help with this whilst you keep the ball position the same. It's a balance, you COULD try swinging to 1 o'clock in case your path (natural swing) isn't quite right and you can check where the ball is starting (close the face more) so you can see at exactly what stage the ball will start drawing instead of fading, and that will give you some idea of your true path thru impact.
		
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This explains why i get the draw the Odd time so James...... Its an issue with the hands.....Funny thing is.... I can do it more with the 3 wood than with the driver also....Probably because of the extra loft....

Im thinking of playing a push fade for everything now bar the shorter stuff as i think its a bit more consistent and easier to play.


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## JustOne (Jul 29, 2013)

To hit the push FADE you have to aim left to give yourself space to push the ball into. Also you don't want the ball tooooo far forward as the last thing you'll be wanting is the face to close if you're already aiming left. Nowt wrong with a nice push fade though, all you gotta do is stop the face from closing and the ball WILL fade.... you can even have high hands


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## kid2 (Jul 29, 2013)

JustOne said:



			To hit the push FADE you have to aim left to give yourself space to push the ball into. Also you don't want the ball tooooo far forward as the last thing you'll be wanting is the face to close if you're already aiming left. Nowt wrong with a nice push fade though, all you gotta do is stop the face from closing and the ball WILL fade.... you can even have high hands 

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Its no break from what im at anyway James..Thats why im pushing the ball at the moment....Im not closing the face in my longer clubs...I seem to be holding it open......It feels too  awkward to close it down throuh the shot..... My problem at the moment is im aiming square ........Thats fine with the shorter stuff....Say from 6 up to wedges...Im drawing them... When i do it with anything longer then im hitting the pushes.......If i can convince myself to aim a little left of the target with the longer clubs then im sure ill drop a lot of strokes..... Trying to draw the ball off some of our tees at the moment is causing me to hit the cabbage when i dont pull it off and loose vital strokes.

But i can hit the fade with my eyes closed..... Think ill just settle for that and push on and try get the handicap down..



So i think this weekend ill try open the body a little to give myself some room.....
The few good drives i hit last weekend after twigging where i should have been aiming let me go at the ball as hard as i liked without the fear of it going left......Its a great feeling to be able to hit the ball that hard knowing its going where you want :lol:


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## JustOne (Jul 29, 2013)

Indeed. Our 10th 11th 12th 14th 15th 17th 18th all have trouble on the left so I just aim there and let it slide right to safety, well that's the plan, had a bit of a glitch at Gainsborough the other week when I just kept hitting *everything* straight left (no fade) until it dawned on me that my shoulders were a bit straight compared to my toe-line so my path wasn't as far left as I thought it was. Smashed the skin off a load of drives yesterday and today.

I'd say when I set up to the ball my plan is something like, (if the target is at 12 oclock) my clubface is at 11 and my swingpath is at 10.


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## kid2 (Jul 29, 2013)

JustOne said:



			I'd say when I set up to the ball my plan is something like, (if the target is at 12 oclock) my clubface is at 11 and my swingpath is at 10.
		
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Thats the way i see the shot..... Except after my lessons because i have to feel like im swinging to one im actually attacking the inside portion of the ball and it feels like im pushing my hands out away from my right hip at the ball....In reality its probably not even close to that...But thats what i feel like im doing.....Im trying to hit the 7 o clock mark on the ball and push it into the middle of the fairway with a fade....
My hands are tracking my feet line..... Clubhead is swinging inside that line again and the ball is starting very straight with a slight turn at the end of its flight to the right.....


Our 14th yesterday..Par 4..325Mtrs up over a hill.... Aimed up the left edge of the fairway with the feet, clubface just a few yards inside that and i was left with the ball in the middle of the fairway and a 70mtr wedge shot into the green.... walked off grinning with a par.


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## JustOne (Jul 29, 2013)

kid2 said:



			Thats the way i see the shot..... Except after my lessons because i have to feel like im swinging to one im actually attacking the inside portion of the ball and it feels like im pushing my hands out away from my right hip at the ball....In reality its probably not even close to that...But thats what i feel like im doing.....Im trying to hit the 7 o clock mark on the ball and push it into the middle of the fairway with a fade....
My hands are tracking my feet line..... Clubhead is swinging inside that line again and the ball is starting very straight with a slight turn at the end of its flight to the right.....


Our 14th yesterday..Par 4..325Mtrs up over a hill.... Aimed up the left edge of the fairway with the feet, clubface just a few yards inside that and i was left with the ball in the middle of the fairway and a 70mtr wedge shot into the green.... walked off grinning with a par.
		
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If I tried to hit at 7 then my path would be too much from the inside... I try to hit at about 5.15 - 5.30 (green dot) and the geometry of the shot looks _something_ like this: a cut shot whilst still hitting from the inside.... (although because of the geometry I can get a little outside if I want and STILL hit the required fade)


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## kid2 (Jul 31, 2013)

JustOne said:



			For *Driver* Keep your swing path the same but try to FEEL like thru impact you keep the toe of your driver more UP, so you graze the grass with the heel of the club, this alone will keep the clubface closed to the path thru impact if you get it correct. it sounds like what you're doing is coming in with 'high hands' and this has the effect of putting the toe of the club DOWN (heel up) and the face is pointing too far to the right (inline with your path rather than closed to it)
		
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Did this tonight at the range James.....Worked a treat...... Much easier to draw the ball doing that..... Felt like my hands were low coming through the ball.......Had great fun though fading and drawing it at will.....


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