Hitting Straight

[Dickybran]

Hi, I'm new here.

Sorry if this has already been discussed, but I am just getting back into golf after living in London for 18 years. I'm hitting my 6-7-8-9-PW straight, but I'm slicing my woods, 4 and 5 iron. I assume this is something to do with the length of the shaft increasing. Does anyone have any tips or can recommend a website/video that can help?

Thanks in advance.

 

[One Planer]

Bobs headcover drill:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsrovFJ3o9I&list=TLWVYnDq9t2f4

Works a treat :thup:

 

[In_The_Rough]

As above the drill is a good as anything. You will have a swing fault which is what is causing the slice and this will highlight whatever faults you are suffering with as well as training you to attack the ball from the inside path

 

[Spark.]

May not necessarily be a swing fault, i had same thing and went for lesson last night. Fault stemmed from my grip and over compensating to hit straight. Reason my short irons are fine but worse with length.

Go for lessons mate, they will tell you straight away whats wrong rather than trying to correct a fault by adjusting other factors rather than the root cause.

 

[Sid Rixon IV]

Bobs headcover drill:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsrovFJ3o9I&list=TLWVYnDq9t2f4

Works a treat :thup:

Ive asked this before on here but didn't spot a reply.
Whats happening in that clip?
Presumably the objective is to hit the ball without disturbing the covers?
How are they spaced on the ground?

 

[In_The_Rough]

Ive asked this before on here but didn't spot a reply.
Whats happening in that clip?
Presumably the objective is to hit the ball without disturbing the covers?
How are they spaced on the ground?

It trains you to swing more on the correct swing plane, if you are coming over the top you will smash the headcovers. You place them I think about a foot in front and behind the ball

 

[JustOne]

I'm hitting my 6-7-8-9-PW straight, but I'm slicing my woods, 4 and 5 iron.

Perfectly normal. We hit down LESS with the longer clubs so the ball will tend to fade/slice more. It's not a fault, it's PHYSICS.

If you swing left on a wedge at 5 degrees you'll probably get 5yds of fade but if you are hitting down on it you will get NONE so you therefore hit a straight shot.

If you swing left on a 7-iron at 5 degrees you'll probably get 5yds of fade but as you are hitting LESS DOWN than you were with the wedge you WILL get 5yds of fade

If you swing left on a 4-iron at 5 degrees you'll probably get 5yds of fade but as you are hitting LESS DOWN than you were with the 7-iron you will actually get 7.5yds of fade/slice

If you swing left on a DRIVER at 5 degrees you'll probably get 5yds of fade but as you are hitting LESS DOWN than you were with the 4-iron you'll actually get 12.5 yds of fade... you might even be hitting UP with your driver in which case you'll get 20yds!


The less down.... the more the fade/slice will happen. Perfectly normal.


The quick fix is that as the club gets longer you have to aim the club face a little more LEFT at setup to get the face closer to the path = less curvature.

The slow fix is to try and change your path so it gets closer to the face, because then you actually have to change the face as well (or else it will be miles open!), so that's now a path AND face fix instead of just a face fix


I'm sure that's clear as mud but everyone else is just blowing smoke. Hope that helps.

 

[Sid Rixon IV]

It trains you to swing more on the correct swing plane, if you are coming over the top you will smash the headcovers. You place them I think about a foot in front and behind the ball

But not in a straight line with the ball?
The one on the right "outside" the ball, the one on the left "inside the ball"?

 

[In_The_Rough]

But not in a straight line with the ball?
The one on the right "outside" the ball, the one on the left "inside the ball"?

Correct. Obviously if you had them in a straight line you would nearly always hit them

 

[Sid Rixon IV]

I see now you'd already explained the placement.
I read it too quickly.
Many thanks.

 

[JustOne]

I'll add.....


We also (generally) play the ball more forwards with the longer clubs so there's a good chance the path of the club is returning back to the inside (leftwards) somewhat, adding to the 'slice spin' so to speak. The wedge would have less as it's probably closer to the middle of your stance.

Again... this isn't a swing fault.. it's PHYSICS.

 

[bobmac]

Hi, I'm new here.

Sorry if this has already been discussed, but I am just getting back into golf after living in London for 18 years. I'm hitting my 6-7-8-9-PW straight, but I'm slicing my woods, 4 and 5 iron. I assume this is something to do with the length of the shaft increasing. Does anyone have any tips or can recommend a website/video that can help?

Thanks in advance.

I guess you have an out to in swing and your club face is open at impact.
This wont show up much on the shorter clubs as they tend to have more backspin than side spin. As the loft decreases, the less backspin you will produce and you will notice the side spin more.
Fix the swing path and the clubface often fixes itself.

 

[Dickybran]

Thanks guys. I found this video helpful...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EyRux9xuDtQ

So I will be back down the driving range tomorrow, and I've got a lesson the following week. I hope he can do something about it.

 

[Dickybran]

Just an update. I went to the driving range after watching the previous video (see above) and started whipping the club-head through on the down stroke. What I am trying to do is get the club head to hit the ball at the same time my hands become level with the ball. This was working quite well, hitting the ball almost straight (sometimes even drawing the ball slightly) and getting lots of distance. I then had a round a few days later and tried the same, but for some reason it wasn't working. I probably wasn't slicing the ball as much as before, but still quite a lot. On the second hole I sliced quite far right from the tee but was only just off the fairway in an ok patch of short rough. I took out my 4 iron and again whipping the club-head through managed to hit a great shot over a fairly large oak tree and it was virtually straight. So I cannot understand why I hit pretty straight with my 4 iron but not with my driver.

 

[Beezerk]

Welcome to the crazy world of golf
I had/have the same issue, the pro I had a lesson with said exactly the same as Bob, I had in out to in swing path which also meant the club face was slightly open at impact although I'm also liable to snap hooks when I don't concentrate properly.
He showed me a drill using two sticks to make sure the club stayed on target path after impact, he also got me to really pull in after the transition from the backswing, almost like he was getting me to keep my hands closer to my body.
It worked straight away but getting it consistent is a long hard slog as I often slip back to my old bad habit.
Swing path and club face pointing to the target = straight shots.

 

[Dickybran]

I find it difficult to see how I'm swinging the club. I'm not sure if I'm swinging in-to-out or out-to-in etc. In the past I've tried to keep the club head going straight towards the ball and through for as long as possible.

 

[Pipetwister]

As I understand it, the direction of your divot will give you a good idea.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Where abouts are you and where do you play? My advice would be simply go and see a pro. Get the set up looked at (grip, stance and alignment) and then get him to see your club path. I bet he can fix you in minutes and give you some drills to take away and work on

 

[Dickybran]

I play around East Herts and Essex. I have a lesson tomorrow morning, I really hope he can fix it, I've put up with it for far too long. What's annoying is I hit the ball really well, I just can't hit it straight.

 

[Dickybran]

Ok so I've had my lesson and am now hitting the ball a lot straighter. Basically my wrists were not rotated enough when striking the ball. Thanks for all your help!