Help Please........Unmentionables

[Break90]

Reaching out for some help as I'm losing the will to live.

Things have been going pretty well this season, cut from 16 to 14, won a board comp at my new club, hitting the ball pretty well and scoring consistently buffer or better.

The last 4 rounds I have played I have started seeing the odd socket rocket. Not very often, maybe 3-4 times a round.

No rhyme or reason with regards to what club, its happened with 4 iron, 6 iron, wedge. Both from tee and fairway.

No idea why, or when, it just comes out of nowhere. Cost me my place in the singles knockout last night.

All advice and ideas welcomed, thanks in advance.

 

[rickg]

See this thread from earlier...some goods tips and vids.... :thup:

http://forums.golf-monthly.co.uk/showthread.php?68355-The-Nightmare-side-wards-chip

 

[Twire]

There's a great 2 ball drill on the thread link in ricks post. I've used that down the range and it works a treat.

Out on the course there's 2 quick fixes. 1 is to address the ball with the hosel this will create a similar effect to the 2 ball drill and another quick fix is to wiggle your toes while addressing the ball, not sure how this works but it does.

 

[Doh]

That drill that the coach put up is good, however if your on the course you can set up with the ball in the heal and feel that your hitting it off the toe. Gives you the same feeling as the drill.

 

[the_coach]

Reaching out for some help as I'm losing the will to live.

Things have been going pretty well this season, cut from 16 to 14, won a board comp at my new club, hitting the ball pretty well and scoring consistently buffer or better.

The last 4 rounds I have played I have started seeing the odd socket rocket. Not very often, maybe 3-4 times a round.

No rhyme or reason with regards to what club, its happened with 4 iron, 6 iron, wedge. Both from tee and fairway.

No idea why, or when, it just comes out of nowhere. Cost me my place in the singles knockout last night.

All advice and ideas welcomed, thanks in advance.

Take that it tends to happen more or only with full iron shots? Have any trouble at all with it on half wedge pitches or chipping?

As a rule what when you are striking the ball well (full shots with irons) what is your normal shot starting direction & does it start left or right of the target line with the longer clubs in the bag? & then what's your normal shot flight curvature after that? Do you tend to fly the ball low or high as a general rule?

Have you been in the recent past or are you now working on trying to have a deal more 'lag' (angle between wrists/left arm & shaft) in your downswing and/or working on moving your lower half & clearing your hips?

Unfortunately for golfers there a number of ways you can get the ball coming off the hosel. Would help to know a little more about your normal swing patterns.

 

[Break90]

Take that it tends to happen more or only with full iron shots? Have any trouble at all with it on half wedge pitches or chipping?

As a rule what when you are striking the ball well (full shots with irons) what is your normal shot starting direction & does it start left or right of the target line with the longer clubs in the bag? & then what's your normal shot flight curvature after that? Do you tend to fly the ball low or high as a general rule?

Have you been in the recent past or are you now working on trying to have a deal more 'lag' (angle between wrists/left arm & shaft) in your downswing and/or working on moving your lower half & clearing your hips?

Unfortunately for golfers there a number of ways you can get the ball coming off the hosel. Would help to know a little more about your normal swing patterns.

Hi Coach, it only happens with full shots,, no issues with half swings or chipping/pitching.

Generally speaking longer iron (4i, 5i) shots start left and end up right, sometimes a fair way right. Well struck short iron shots are typically the same but much less so. Flight is generally low with longer irons but quite high with shorter irons. (7i and above)

With regards to lag, I had a series of lessons earlier in the year, the pro identified that I was casting from the top and didn't have enough lag, so I've been trying to address this on the practice ground. When I get to the course I try not to think about the swing mechanics too much during the round.

Thanks in advance

 

[the_coach]

Obviously not seen the swing so can't be specific to what you are doing.
but here's a few pointers. Goes without saying that lessons are the best ways forwards if that's possible, but even then it would take time for new stuff from lessons to settle in, no real lasting quick fixes in golf.

Given you have the sockets with the full swing sometimes & given that the flight pattern of the longer clubs in the bag being starting direction left then the curvature to the right, so ball passing target & curving further right on the worst ones.
For sure the practice ground is where to think about technical stuff, on the course you have to just work with what you have brought with you that day, best just thinking 'complete shoulder turn', & swing with rhythm & balance.

Your swing path is more likely out over the top at start of the downswing then the clubhead is moving on a leftwards through impact with the face angle through impact still being 'open'. Tends to slice more with the lower lofted clubs, the little more backspin the higher lofted clubs impart keeps the flight a little ways straighter.

The face being open means that the heel (so hosel) is the forward-most part of the clubhead coming into the ball, so dragging it through to the left it will tend to present the 'hose' to the ball. So if you've been working on 'lag' this sometimes given these other things make that an issue, though given what you've said probably not something to think about here.

Or combine that open face with the out to in leftwards swing path you then only have to have the arms working slightly away from the body from the top to have that arm & club weight pull your balance a little ways on to the toes.
So now during the downswing the clubhead is 'further' away from the body than it started at address, so middle of clubhead at address then becomes 'socket' contact through impact.

Sometimes this is also all combined with a loss of posture during the swing motion as a player 'stands up' some out of posture, so loses the pelvic hip angle as the hips move forwards towards the ball target line which then straightens up the spine angle, all of which again throws the balance out towards the toes, again moving clubhead outwards towards the ball/target line so what was center face at address becomes socket.

So a couple of things to work at straightways are grip (as the clubface is a ways open at address it's likely that the left hand is in too much of a weak grip position, meaning the left hand is on the handle turned too far anti-clockwise to the left.

If the left hand hold on the handle is too weak.
Need to make sure of a good 'mainly in fingers' neutral grip, at address seeing 2&1/2 knuckles on the left hand at address, crease formed between left forefinger & thumb should point at the right shoulder, left thumb runs down the top right-side of the handle. *this will feel a good ways uncomfortable but the change not really negotiable if you're to change the outcome of the shots.
Right hand should be brought to the handle from the side, so not a ways under the handle, right palm cupped slightly so the right palm lifeline sits atop of left thumb, slight gap between right trigger finger to other 3 right fingers, right thumb pad rests atop left-side of the handle.

The other would to make sure of the address posture, make sure the legs & hip angle if looked at DTL isn't a ways too straight-up, vertical. You do need that hip pelvic angle you also need the spine angle tilted towards the ball, weight feeling centered on the feet as if the through laces.

Also a ways important is that all body alignments, feet, knees, hip, chest, shoulders are aligned parallel left of the target line. {A spell of slicing the golfer quite often reacts by doing the wrong thing at set-up so compounds the mistake by aiming everything further to the left of target, this with an open clubface just exacerbates the shots that end up a good ways right of target)

Even if we don't do anything extraordinary during the swing, the swing path is governed most by the direction the shoulders are in relation to the ball/target line.

So key to start off with the shoulders 'square', so parallel left of the ball/target line. This alone won't guarantee a sound swing path as we also need to keep connection between body/shoulder turn & arm swing both back & through to guarantee a sound swing path, plus transition into downswing needs to be led by the lower body moving fractionally first before the upper body, lead foot, so knee, thigh, hip the upper body follows.
Oft times an out to in swing can happen from a reasonable backswing because the hands arms shoulders initiate the first movement, if they do it's most common then for the hands/arms & right shoulder to move outwards towards the ball target line first off instead of first moving downwards towards the ground.

Good drill to start to cure the sockets with say an 8i.
Place 2 balls down around 1&1/2 inches apart, take good address set-up, posture, & address the ball furthest away (important you don't build in an over-stretch to 'reach' further to this ball) Then you make you backswing from this furthest ball but come back to swing through the ball closer to you, best done at around 60% swing effort only until you get the drift of it.
This is good because it makes the arms swing in the downswing be closer to your body so also prevents the weight moving towards the toes. May seem a tad impossible at first but worth persevering with for sure.

Another drill for full iron shots.(though you can use it for the chips & pitches too)
Place a rolled up towel behind a ball an inch further back away from you (as diagram below). Towel is parallel to the ball/target line an inch further away from you than the ball.

So you then have to both take the club back along the line of the towel but without hitting the towel, then swing back to the ball along the inside of this rolled towel. (You could use a head cover but the likelihood as you start to do this will be you'll hit it a good number of times & the leading edge of an iron can do some damage, so hence the towel) This position for the towel is to help get rid of the out to in swing that's presenting the hosel to the ball. An out to in swing will hit the towel first.
<________________
º
(So looking downwards rolled towel at the backswing side of the ball: black line is the towel < direction of target)

If you have trouble taking the club away in that it keeps moving into the towel. Get an old glove & put it underneath top of your left arm, so bicep, tricep is keeping it against you upper chest. Then focus more on the left shoulder arm & club moving away as the 'triangle' shape (formed by your arms to hands) stays intact in shape as you "turn" your shoulder, no shoulder tilt, no hip sway right.
The glove should stay in place all the way to the top then all the way back to & through impact, eventually as you left arm folds on the way up to the balanced finish position the glove will fall out.

 

[Oddsocks]

I suffered with these really bad at the start of the year, can relate big time

If your on the range hitting balls, the two balls drill really works, it you want to extreme it set up to the outer ball with the hosel and hit the inner ball.

If your on the course during your PSR, set up to a odd blade of grass, daisy or something that stands out and practice a few swings missing on the inside.

Or if your practicing at home, set up with the toe of the club touching and impact bag and look to miss the bag, while still completing a full swing.

You won't shank again.