Could an excessive hip slide be my problem?

[Redwood]

All,

Hoping to share in the combined wisdom of the Forum.

Every so often I hit certain types of rubbish shots that I think may be caused by an excessive hip slide. The shots are;

Driver - big slice off to the right. The ball basically starts right and keeps curving right.

Short irons - coming down too steep and hitting them very fat.

Usually this happens when I'm trying to put a bit more on the driver, and I think I'm getting trapped behind the ball and leaving the club face massively open at impact, and for the short irons just the oppsoite. I'm just trying to get a nice rhythmical swing on the ball and certainly not force the swing, and just seem to come down way behind the ball.

So, could this be caused by too much hip slide? I tend to feel like it is, more so when hitting the short irons as I can tell that my weight is shifting forwards, whereas with the driver it's a tad harder to tell as I'm swinging faster.

I'll try and get some video up at some point.

 

[RGDave]

So, could this be caused by too much hip slide? I tend to feel like it is, more so when hitting the short irons as I can tell that my weight is shifting forwards, whereas with the driver it's a tad harder to tell as I'm swinging faster.

Hip slide, excessive lateral movement, these things can and do cause massive inconsistency i.m.o.
Now, I can't talk because I move too much laterally, but *if* I take out most of the lateral movement, my irons get crisper, but my woods get shorter.
I played with a chap the other day who moves way back and then way through to the finish and not only does he crunch the ball a mile, but the "low" part of his swing (where he catches the ball with an iron) is much longer than mine. His strike with an iron is just beautiful, and I told him as much.

If you feel you are simply sliding to the right why not do lots of "feet together" drills where you just turn your shoulders (and your backside accordingly!), maybe even as I do with a straw sticking out of your mouth as well, aiming the straw at the ball and resolutely refusing to do anything other than turn.

Works for me, but eventually I have to stop it as I don't want to compromise my usually quality hitting with woods.

Other than that...

 

[JustOne]

I'm an advocate of sliding the hips towards the target on the DOWNSWING, it gives me a great sense of getting through the ball onto the left side/proper finish position... but there are rules I follow:

Make sure you complete your backswing properly.

Don't slide them away from the target on the backswing, just TURN.

Make sure your arms keep up with the swing.

Don't lean the upper body away from the target.

 

[Redwood]

Thanks guys,

RGDave, your right, if I feel i don't slide towards the target a tad then I loose a lot of power, especially when driving.

I think you've highlighted my problem there, James. I don't slide on the way back, or have been making a deliberate effort not to, but I think my whole swing is a little out of sync, so the arms are not keeping up with the rest of the swing. Would that cause me to hit the type of shots I described, if they get trapped behind me?

Cheers,
Redwood

 

[JustOne]

Would that cause me to hit the type of shots I described, if they get trapped behind me?

Just about all bad shots come from being stuck behind the ball or not turning through the ball properly onto the left side. The question is WHY is that happening? It's possible that your worse shots come from when you DON'T slide/turn through the ball properly and get trapped way back instead - fat (behind the ball) So it wouldn't be the slide that is the problem, it would be not sliding

Where do you position the ball for your short irons... too far back perhaps?

 

[Redwood]

Ball for most irons are central, move them a tad forward for the longer irons.

 

[JustOne]

Sounds like you need to commit to the shot by hitting through it, getting onto your left side (in a nice finish position) and letting your hips open so your tummy button faces the target.

As soon as you don't commit then you are going to be left behind the ball, releasing your lag too early and hitting fades/slices and fat shots, same goes for your driver, however if you are really trying to rip a drive then you should think about how your hands need to catch up... but don't let them lead the way or you're going to slice the life out of it. Balance is normally the key to ripping a drive.