Stupid Woods

[CheltenhamHacker]

A bit of a cry for help (hard without video - will try and rectify this evening)

But why is it that even when i'm going through a good ball striking phase with my irons, making nice contact 95% of the time, including 4 irons off the tee going well 9/10 times, that I struggle to even hit the ball with my 3 wood or hybrid!!

When I first bought the clubs, they were magnificent, now I struggle to even hit them with the club face. I've tried slowing it down, gripping right down the club, moving the ball in my stance) doesn't seem to work. I managed to eventually hit the 3Wood last night by taking a pitiful back swing, and hence the ball barely travelled at all, but I just don't understand it! How can irons (even the "lower" lofted 4iron) go so well, but the wood/hybrid be such a pain!

 

[London mike 61]

Are you trying to hit them off the tee or off the deck?

 

[CheltenhamHacker]

Are you trying to hit them off the tee or off the deck?

Either. neither of them seem to work!

 

[SocketRocket]

Are you topping them?

 

[London mike 61]

I would suggest you try the feet together drill, just concentrate on making good contact. As the drill progresses, widen your stance by moving your RIGHT foot only by say 2 inches at a time until you are shoulder width apart. If you find ball striking is still not good then go back to feet together and move your left foot 1 ball width and then continue to move your right foot a little at a time until you find the ideal strike.
I often use this if I go off kilter , I hope it helps you

 

[CheltenhamHacker]

Are you topping them?

Topping them seems to happen a bit yeh, sometimes just hitting with the underside of the clubhead, othertimes shanking, or hitting off the extreme toe!

Thanks for that London mike, will definitely try that!!

 

[the_coach]

Topping them seems to happen a bit yeh, sometimes just hitting with the underside of the clubhead, othertimes shanking, or hitting off the extreme toe!

Thanks for that London mike, will definitely try that!!

Hi, newbie to the forum here but not new to golf.

You don't say what your 'normal' shot pattern is when you hit it reasonably well, does it start left go fairly straight with the shorter irons say 6i to W, but you maybe fade or slice the longer irons, hybrids, metals & driver?

If with the hybrid, 3metal you quite often 'top' or even hit with the underside of a metal and occasionally sh...k your irons. Do you also sometimes hit it 'fat'(ball & ground together) or sometimes the ground completely first before the ball?

Difficult without knowing your shot shape pattern or seeing the swing.
But it seems to me you've maybe got a bit of an out to in, shoulders starting the downswing first swing path going on, combined with a little bit of a reverse pivot. So your weight coming into the ball is still too much on your right foot making the lowest point of your swing arc before the club reaches the ball (instead of the lowest point being after the ball (target side)
If so you'll need to change so that starting your downswing your weight is on your left foot (assuming you RH) hands leading a forward leaning shaft into the ball striking the back of the ball, with the club head traveling downwards through the ball (trust the club face loft to get the ball up) with all irons and hybrids. With a 3 metal you'll with the ball on the ground want to feel a 'level' swing with the bottom of your swing arc feeling as if it's directly under where the ball sits but your weight through the strike still needs to be in the left foot.
The problem you describe quite often stems because the golfer is trying to 'help' the ball up in the air hence has their weight mostly on their right foot and shoulders and arms are hitting up, it can often through impact then also lead to a 'flip upwards' of the hands.
Although counterintuitive you have to hit down through a ball weight left trusting the loft on the face to get it airborne, which it will do as long as you strike down. (Only exception to this is a driver off a tee, where you put the ball further towards your left heel so you can swing through on slightly upwards path by a few degrees in order to get optimum launch angle therefore distance. 3 metal off a tee (or ground) you want to swing through impact 'level' weight still needs to be on your left at impact for this and the driver too, in the driver's case the more forward ball position in the stance has taken care of the low point of the arc being before the ball you still need weight left to get a solid strike plus good swing speed.)
Feet together drill with an 8i off a very short tee pushed right into the ground, concentrating on smooth rhythm is a good way to feel a solid strike and get confidence back, but the club must be traveling down through impact and you must be 'trusting the loft' and not hitting up and 'falling' back off the ball.
Cheers.

 

[CheltenhamHacker]

Hi, newbie to the forum here but not new to golf.

You don't say what your 'normal' shot pattern is when you hit it reasonably well, does it start left go fairly straight with the shorter irons say 6i to W, but you maybe fade or slice the longer irons, hybrids, metals & driver?

If with the hybrid, 3metal you quite often 'top' or even hit with the underside of a metal and occasionally sh...k your irons. Do you also sometimes hit it 'fat'(ball & ground together) or sometimes the ground completely first before the ball?

Difficult without knowing your shot shape pattern or seeing the swing.
But it seems to me you've maybe got a bit of an out to in, shoulders starting the downswing first swing path going on, combined with a little bit of a reverse pivot. So your weight coming into the ball is still too much on your right foot making the lowest point of your swing arc before the club reaches the ball (instead of the lowest point being after the ball (target side)
If so you'll need to change so that starting your downswing your weight is on your left foot (assuming you RH) hands leading a forward leaning shaft into the ball striking the back of the ball, with the club head traveling downwards through the ball (trust the club face loft to get the ball up) with all irons and hybrids. With a 3 metal you'll with the ball on the ground want to feel a 'level' swing with the bottom of your swing arc feeling as if it's directly under where the ball sits but your weight through the strike still needs to be in the left foot.
The problem you describe quite often stems because the golfer is trying to 'help' the ball up in the air hence has their weight mostly on their right foot and shoulders and arms are hitting up, it can often through impact then also lead to a 'flip upwards' of the hands.
Although counterintuitive you have to hit down through a ball weight left trusting the loft on the face to get it airborne, which it will do as long as you strike down. (Only exception to this is a driver off a tee, where you put the ball further towards your left heel so you can swing through on slightly upwards path by a few degrees in order to get optimum launch angle therefore distance. 3 metal off a tee (or ground) you want to swing through impact 'level' weight still needs to be on your left at impact for this and the driver too, in the driver's case the more forward ball position in the stance has taken care of the low point of the arc being before the ball you still need weight left to get a solid strike plus good swing speed.)
Feet together drill with an 8i off a very short tee pushed right into the ground, concentrating on smooth rhythm is a good way to feel a solid strike and get confidence back, but the club must be traveling down through impact and you must be 'trusting the loft' and not hitting up and 'falling' back off the ball.
Cheers.

Wow, thank you ever so much for the detailed answer!!

My current shape with the irons is currently small amounts right to left, but when I do connect with the wood/hybrid, it's a definite big left to right.

I'm definitely a "picker" of the ball with irons. the bad shot is a thin, although some days that works well when it trundles 200 yards up the fairway!! I very rarely make a divot. I know this is an issue, but I use Steve Stricker to show me that it can work!

I will definitely work on the left foot weight, it's something that has been mentioned in passing, and I do try and get my weight on it, but think I can occasionaly resort to reverse pivoting with the longer clubs!

Annoyingly, the only evening range at the moment is off matts, and I struggle to feel if I'm hitting before the ball or after, with these.
Will have a look at that 8 iron drill! Again, the out to in is something that has been mentioned, but I feel with the irons that isn't anywhere near as pronounced as it used to be. I'm just scared of changing so much that I lose my iron swing, and am left with nothing! (not that I have too much at the moment to be fair!)

 

[the_coach]

Wow, thank you ever so much for the detailed answer!!

My current shape with the irons is currently small amounts right to left, but when I do connect with the wood/hybrid, it's a definite big left to right.

I'm definitely a "picker" of the ball with irons. the bad shot is a thin, although some days that works well when it trundles 200 yards up the fairway!! I very rarely make a divot. I know this is an issue, but I use Steve Stricker to show me that it can work!

I will definitely work on the left foot weight, it's something that has been mentioned in passing, and I do try and get my weight on it, but think I can occasionaly resort to reverse pivoting with the longer clubs!

Annoyingly, the only evening range at the moment is off matts, and I struggle to feel if I'm hitting before the ball or after, with these.
Will have a look at that 8 iron drill! Again, the out to in is something that has been mentioned, but I feel with the irons that isn't anywhere near as pronounced as it used to be. I'm just scared of changing so much that I lose my iron swing, and am left with nothing! (not that I have too much at the moment to be fair!)

Hi, and no problem.
That you mention really struggling with golf off mats, confirms for me, you are falling back, weight on your right and have a bit of reverse pivot action because your trying to help to get the ball up, you hav to reverse all of this so the wight is on your left and you're swinging the club downwards on the back of the ball, the loft on the club will get it in the air.

At the top of the backswing your first thought should be a gentle pressing into the ground with your left foot and get your right shoulder to move downwards to the ground first, seems odd but you have to trust it, right shoulder moves down then the momentum of the swing and the weight of the arms & club will then go around as you continue your shoulder turn.
Currently you will be starting the downswing with your shoulders and arms, in particular your right shoulders first move will be out towards the ball target line (if you imagine a straight line from target through ball and the line continuing on through and past the ball) which is a big part of the problem. Weight gently on the ball of the left foot as you 'feel' your arms and shoulders have stopped at the top, it's just a feel thing they don't really stop dont' try to stop them, but as long as you start with that squeezed weight on you left foot, the its the right shoulder arms and club starting down and not out. Sounds odd to you maybe but you just have to trust it, start with easy 75% swing with that 8i ball on a very small tee with the afore mentioned motions and you should start getting some better strikes and we may even have you taking some thin divots.
Good luck.
Cheers

 

[the_coach]

Wow, thank you ever so much for the detailed answer!!

My current shape with the irons is currently small amounts right to left, but when I do connect with the wood/hybrid, it's a definite big left to right.

I'm definitely a "picker" of the ball with irons. the bad shot is a thin, although some days that works well when it trundles 200 yards up the fairway!! I very rarely make a divot. I know this is an issue, but I use Steve Stricker to show me that it can work!

I will definitely work on the left foot weight, it's something that has been mentioned in passing, and I do try and get my weight on it, but think I can occasionaly resort to reverse pivoting with the longer clubs!

Annoyingly, the only evening range at the moment is off matts, and I struggle to feel if I'm hitting before the ball or after, with these.
Will have a look at that 8 iron drill! Again, the out to in is something that has been mentioned, but I feel with the irons that isn't anywhere near as pronounced as it used to be. I'm just scared of changing so much that I lose my iron swing, and am left with nothing! (not that I have too much at the moment to be fair!)

Stricker starts his downswing with his weight on his left side and swings down and through. right shoulder moving down, arms moving down club moving down, then as that all gets to around hip high, because his weight is left and he turns and clears his left hip it all then moves out and through the ball.
The fact he doesn't really take a divot much very often is to do with the fact he doesn't really use a wrist hinge much at all, his swing is very much weight transfer and arm swing and body pivot, he's tall enough to be able to still get distance without much of a hinge (wouldn't recommend that for club golfers per se as they'll lose too much distance)
Strickers height and strength he can get away with it, but still he's not that 'long' for that reason, but he's very accurate. He a long time ago used to have much more of a wrist set and he could hit it then a fair distance but he found he couldn't control his direction and distance control as well, hence the swing he has now. Unless you well over 6ft and pretty strong wouldn't recommend it as a model
Hope this helps (typed in hurry plse excuse any typo's)
Cheers.

 

[the_coach]

Wow, thank you ever so much for the detailed answer!!

My current shape with the irons is currently small amounts right to left, but when I do connect with the wood/hybrid, it's a definite big left to right.

I'm definitely a "picker" of the ball with irons. the bad shot is a thin, although some days that works well when it trundles 200 yards up the fairway!! I very rarely make a divot. I know this is an issue, but I use Steve Stricker to show me that it can work!

I will definitely work on the left foot weight, it's something that has been mentioned in passing, and I do try and get my weight on it, but think I can occasionaly resort to reverse pivoting with the longer clubs!

Annoyingly, the only evening range at the moment is off matts, and I struggle to feel if I'm hitting before the ball or after, with these.
Will have a look at that 8 iron drill! Again, the out to in is something that has been mentioned, but I feel with the irons that isn't anywhere near as pronounced as it used to be. I'm just scared of changing so much that I lose my iron swing, and am left with nothing! (not that I have too much at the moment to be fair!)

Hi Cheltenham.
One last thing to go with all the rest, just make sure that when you take the club back and turn that you are not rising up out of your posture by straightening either your right leg or rising up from your hips by allowing them to move towards the ball so it raises your upper body, you need to turn and maintain your posture and head height.
Also at the same time on your takeaway don't sway to your right with your hips, your right hip turns behind you so if there was a stick or bag at right hip height you would touch or bump it but turn as if some behind you has hold of your right front golf slacks pocket and is pulling on it to make you hips turn.
Know this is all a lot of stuff but if you analyze it all piece by piece and work through it, it won't be as bad as all the changes would first appear.
Saying all this and if you can manage it it will help, but of course your best answer will be a series of 6 lessons with a PGA pro spread not to far apart, but far apart enough for you to practice what you've learnt in between.
Cheers.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Simple answer short. Get a lesson. Self diagnosis can lead to a myriad of problems. I know! You fix one thing but that is normally a catalyst to put something out of kilter. A pro will look at the overall swing and give you a prognosis and some fixes and drills. Has to be the easiest way forward.

 

[Pin-seeker]

Simple answer short. Get a lesson. Self diagnosis can lead to a myriad of problems. I know! You fix one thing but that is normally a catalyst to put something out of kilter. A pro will look at the overall swing and give you a prognosis and some fixes and drills. Has to be the easiest way forward.

Surely if your just going to say Get a Lesson then what's the point in having a Ask the Experts section??

 

[davidg2010uk]

So glad i found this thread. I'm having the same issue off the tee with my 3 wood, every 2nd tee shot i try i top it and I have no idea why, as i'm hitting all my other clubs ok. Cant wait to get the range this weekend and try out some of the advice above.