Taking too much divot pre connection.....

[turkish]

Hi all,

I'm going from one problem to the next at the moment. I'm a newbie so I'll give a timeline of past 2 months with regards to my iron shots....

1)was thinning and topping the ball a lot with no loft
2) my dad told me to get more loft try puttng more weight on my left hand side
3) started getting reasonably straight, lofted flights which was great until.....
4) had a lesson and was told I was punching my shots instead of following through..... Started making sense why I wasn't getting up and down shots and they would run and run when the ball hit the ground.... Ie landing on the green could be a nightmare as would often skid off
5) started following the pros advice trying to follow through, have hips rotate to target and finish with club round other side for full swing.... On the driving range was getting good motion with this but rubber mate a lot different from grass
6) on the course so many times I'm taking so much divot. Sometimes as long as a foot long and 1/2" thick(green keepers must love me)
7) had another lesson with a range Pro last week and worked on my posture, ball positioning and feet positioning.. Was told it should help
8) played again today still happening a lot???

any help appreciated- any drills or advice?

 

[the_coach]

currently the issue is hitting most iron shots fat, heavy, ground before ball?

{on the pretty decent shots if you draw aline from ball to target which side of that line does the ball direction normally start?
if you have curvature in the ball flight with the longer clubs which way does the ball curve?}

it that's the case there's still too much weight on the trail leg at impact.

so the low point of the arc is trail side before the club head arrives at ball, instead of weight left - Dad was right here (but head still over the backside of the ball) as you swing down & through so the low point of the arc is target side of the ball.
driving range mat will give you some help with fat shots as the club head will skid on the surface & still strike the ball.

the tops & fats are part of the issue of weight on the trail leg at impact instead of being on the lead leg (but swing path & the direction you're swinging through impact will also play into the issues) left hip turned & cleared as you swing downwards & rotate the upper body through so you end up with the right shoulder being the nearest part of your body to target, hands over your left shoulder at finish, trail foot at 90º on toes right knee touching or almost touching left knee, weight at finish more on the left heel, should be balanced enough to hold this as you count to 3.

Have a read of post #4 of this thread:
http://forums.golf-monthly.co.uk/showthread.php?70257-Swing-advice&p=1132747#post1132747

 

[srixon 1]

How long have you been playing? Unfortunately golf is one of those sports where you have to put the time in on the practice ground if you want to be a good player. Keep doing what the professionals tell you and you will see some improvement out on the course. It can take some time though so do not expect to be playing like Rory after only a few lessons. Welcome to the forum.

 

[the_coach]

[video=youtube_share;p_ZWt38d2Vc]http://youtu.be/p_ZWt38d2Vc[/video]

 

[the_coach]

[video=youtube_share;d94xZK7VroE]http://youtu.be/d94xZK7VroE[/video]

 

[the_coach]

[video=youtube_share;9jLLG8SKhY0]http://youtu.be/9jLLG8SKhY0[/video]

 

[the_coach]

[video=youtube_share;EG_tzlFMorU]http://youtu.be/EG_tzlFMorU[/video]

 

[the_coach]

[video=youtube_share;IVG3de4UED0]http://youtu.be/IVG3de4UED0[/video]

 

[turkish]

Thanks a lot of Coach... only been a member for a short term but can clearly see you are an asset to the forum . I will view these today and get up to practice tonight.

Re: Srixon1, I have only been playing regularly the past 2 months, prior to that I had probably played 10 rounds of golf over the past 5 years. In the past 2 months I have probably played on average 2-3 rounds a week in addition to twice a week at the range. I know it's gonna take a lot for me to progress but I am willing; I am probably the worst out of my friends though we are all similar levels.... My aims to improve as much as I can. My old man wants me to get into medals so I can get a handicap but not confident enough yet to complete a full round.... hopefully get this done in next few months

 

[JustOne]

Hi all,

I'm going from one problem to the next at the moment. I'm a newbie so I'll give a timeline of past 2 months with regards to my iron shots....

1)was thinning and topping the ball a lot with no loft
2) my dad told me to get more loft try puttng more weight on my left hand side
3) started getting reasonably straight, lofted flights which was great until.....
4) had a lesson and was told I was punching my shots instead of following through.....

Sounds like you were swinging well but had your head/upper body too far in front of the ball. You need your weight into the left side (as your Dad said) but you MUST keep your head behind the ball which shallows the angle of attack and stops you taking such monster divots. Majority of amateur golfers don't take a divot at all so you should be doing something right

 

[turkish]

Thanks a lot... I think those videos will help a lot for both my understanding and practice drills. Going to try them tonight.

One last question- from those videos it appears the wrists appear hinged throughout full swing- is that correct? I always thought they were to be hinged on back swing but brought back round to neutral upon contact? Got a feeling this is going to feel really awkward but i'll keep trying the drills to build up the motion

 

[JustOne]

Pic straight off my tele of McIlroy at impact.....

 

[turkish]

So I'm correct in saying that the wrists naturally come back to a square position on impact?

On the 10.28 vid when he gets on to actually striking balls his wrists appear more hinged throughout the full swing

 

[JustOne]

Here's the guy from the vid...

and here's McIlroy

as you can see the angles are similar, therefore you should do what the guy in the vid is telling you to do.

There is a difference though which can be critical... the guy in the vid is too far in front of the ball with his head and upper body so he will be too steep and hit shots that are more like punch shots, McIlroy's head is behind the ball... his upper body is tilted more AWAY from the target as he gets into his left side. That said the guy in the vid is only trying to show you how to strike the ball and not really focusing on the entire swing.

 

[the_coach]

So I'm correct in saying that the wrists naturally come back to a square position on impact?

On the 10.28 vid when he gets on to actually striking balls his wrists appear more hinged throughout the full swing

Remember key point is looking for better solid contact, better if someone has the patience, not always easy I know. To learn the correct impact conditions with a smaller so less speedy swing motion, hence all these vids about the little shots - but the principal of the impact position is the same as previously explained & again in these vids.

The other thing to remember is if you're going to effect lasting good change on a swing motion that isn't working (ie. fat shots clubhead moving to hit the ground but the cluhead often in front of the hand position) you're going to have to show slightly exaggerated fix position that a player is looking to feel in order to change the swing motion to one that gets the hands arriving first. Which is what you are referring to here.

Difficult but you need to go through the steps as outlined, jump a step go straight to the ball in place & it won't really work, as if you can't get the hands there first to scrape the ground on or even better slightly in front of the line -so ground contact in front of the ball if it was there on a real good regular basis, you definitely won't do it with a ball there.

Likewise if you can't do it with a slower smaller hip high to hip high swing motion consistently well you sure as h€ll won't be able to do it with a full swing at normal speed.

Not really much to be gained about exactly comparing the 'drill' half swing position without a ball, with a pic of a top tour pro at impact whilst in the midst of a swing to get ball to target. (JustOne just showing you that the principles in both though are the same)

As to the hands, providing you have a good neutral grip more in the fingers of both hands so you can see at least 2 knuckles of the left hand when you look down at address & that crease between left forefinger & thumb points to around midway right shoulder, & the crease between the right thumb & forefinger is more or less parallel to the lefts also pointing to the similar place on the right shoulder, so the right hand in the fingers the hand is more on top of the handle, & definitely not under it so the handle then in the palm more of the right hand this is definitely what you don't want -may feel more powerful here but it really isn't.

Then when the left hand/wrist sets all the at happens is the thumb moves upwards (no rolling or bending of the left hand)
All that happens is they then just take a relaxed hold on the handle through the entire swing motion, you don't actively try to do any manipulation with them, no hit no flip providing the swing motion is smooth & in sequence the hands will return square.

As to the actual left hand set itself it shouldn't start to happen until the hands have passed the right thigh.
The motion the left hand makes is as if you had a hammer in that hand & where just raising it with the hand action only to gently start to tap a nail in.

To feel what the left hand/wrist does simply hold your left arm relaxed straight out in front of your left shoulder at shoulder height (so pointing the same direction as you feet) close your fingers gently so hand still relaxed your left thumb just lying on top, then without moving the arm just point your left thumb directly upwards, what you are feeling is the only motion the left hand/wrist does in the setting of that hand in the backswing.

Then keep it pointing up to the ceiling/sky then just simply point the left thumb straight out in front of you so if echoes the arm direction what you are feeling here is all the left hand/wrist does coming into impact, most folks find it real difficult to get their heads around that's this is all the left hand/wrist really does in a good swing motion as it's so little, but it is exactly just that nothing else.

Just to see what this very small left thumb motion does & how far it alone moves a shaft, now hold a club halfways down the handle (just easier to control the weight with one hand rather than at the very end of handle) Then standing upright as before lift the left arm in the position before straight out in front of you around shoulder height pointing the shaft so it forms a straight-ish line with the left arm, now just simply move the thumb only upwards to point to the ceiling/sky when you reach the end of the thumbs travel the shaft will have moved through 90º to now have the shaft & clubhead pointing at the ceiling/sky.