In the slot

[Artoist]

After recently struggling with shanking my shorter clubs whilst playing comp on Sat i shanked a 7 iron and had to do the walk of shame to play my second shot infront of the group following us(100 yards @45 degrees to us).
Decided to film my swing on my camera phone and saw that i was coming over the top terribly.
I decided to look back at some notes i made from a previous lesson i had when i re-took up the game and remember pro telling me about the mythical "slot"
Had a game alone today and tried my best to incoperate this move.Now whilst i found it difficult to do when i got it right i had a much better strike .
Just after some swing thoughts that other people may use to prevent the over the top move and what are your swing thoughts to getting club into slot as at the moment its a very un-natural almost looping feel to me.

 

[DaveM]

Hard to say, without seeing your swing. I start my downswing with hip and shoulder turn. I find this pulls the arms into the slot as you call it. This is just what I do, not saying it will work for you. But no harm in trying.

Over the top can also be caused by to much independent arms putting you in the wrong position at the top of the backswing.

I always think that the downswing is just a reaction to the set up and backswing. Get those right and the downswing should look after its self. After all it over so quick you dont really have time to think about it. Or I dont anyway.

 

[SocketRocket]

Its about getting the club on plane and keping there as you swing down. OTT moves are normally a result of a steep backswing and starting down by rotating the shoulders first and casting the club away from you.

In the downswing focus on where the butt end of the shaft points, if it starts to point inside the ball and towards your body early in the downswing then you will be comming OTT. Try and get the butt end to point at the ball untill you are halfway down where the clubshaft is horizontal and the butt points towards the target, from here let the clubface track towards the ball into impact.

 

[StrangelyBrown]

I've had a similar problem and it was caused by an overactive lower body. My pro is getting me to concentrate on keeping my hips quieter on the backswing then starting the down swing with a bump of my hips towards the target.

As said above, without seeing the swing it's hard to say.

And even if I did see a video of the swing I'm in no way qualified to give advice

Good luck with it

 

[Wolfman]

I was plagued with the OTT swing for years until i changed my swing

Basically i was overswinging and the way back down i was using my shoulders first

Changed to a 3/4 swing and felt like i was keeping the club more in front of my chest and then on the downswing i feel like i am swinging down the line but slightly out to the right more say 1 o clock instead of 12 o clock ( right of target )

Although this feels odd the divots and strikes tell a better story, as soon as i forget i look to see if my divot is pointing left to confirm i have not followed this line.

The other bonus from a reduced swing ( 3/4 ) is my direction improved and distance increased as i was using a better wrist hinge and timing the release better.

I think the 3/4 swing is the key to improvement for alot of struggling golfers

 

[sawtooth]

One simple thing to try, swing one handed in practice (left arm only for right handed player). Your right arm could be overpowering your left and this drill can help to build up left side control. Some say that the left hand/arm should play the dominant role and has a guiding role but because its often the weakest side , the right can have too much say. No harm in trying this you never know....

 

[Artoist]

Thanks for replys,going to try and get a game today and give these thoughts a go.
Cheers.

 

[Dave B]

If I shank the ball it's because I'm not cocking and releasing my wrists properly. A few pre-shot practice 1/2 swings usually sorts it out