i used the 3 skills and nailed it!

[ubizmo]

Re: i used the 3 skills and nailed it!

Tod,

You should visualise the nail at 20 and 10 degrees respectively not the shaft. Hit at the nail and just let the club swing, it should take care of it's self.

Yup. I was only responding to the comment that's it's easy to determine whether my hands are ahead of or behind the club head. I don't find it that easy. I don't really try to visualize the shaft angle.

It occurs to me that visualization might work better for some than others. I wonder if that has ever been studied. Never really thought about it before.

I wonder if marking a "nail spot" on the ball would be helpful...

[BrianW]

Re: i used the 3 skills and nailed it!

Apart from video, I don't find it that easy to work out. My hands are certainly ahead of the club head coming down, but the impact zone is a blur and I can't really tell what's happening there. Even with video, that critical part of the swing is generally a blur, at least with the kind of video equipment I have.

The idea that I should have a 20* lean of the club shaft with short irons and a 10* lean (at impact) with longer irons certainly makes sense, but those are small angles, maintained for a fleeting moment. The lean of the club shaft isn't something I can consciously control. Not yet anyway.

Tod,

You should visualise the nail at 20 and 10 degrees respectively not the shaft. Hit at the nail and just let the club swing, it should take care of it's self.

[bill reed]

Re: i used the 3 skills and nailed it!

hi Todd
i always think of the impact point a good few inches in front of the ball, a point where both arms are fully extended. when i make impact with the ball i still have some bend in my right elbow and only past the impact point that both arms extend and the clubhead passes my hands.
hope this helps
bill

[oldwease]

Re: i used the 3 skills and nailed it!

Then, Todd, something like the right hand drill may be worth a try. Just remember to still release on the follow through.

[ubizmo]

Re: i used the 3 skills and nailed it!

It surely ain't that hard to work out if your hands are leading the club head or not.

Apart from video, I don't find it that easy to work out. My hands are certainly ahead of the club head coming down, but the impact zone is a blur and I can't really tell what's happening there. Even with video, that critical part of the swing is generally a blur, at least with the kind of video equipment I have.

The idea that I should have a 20* lean of the club shaft with short irons and a 10* lean (at impact) with longer irons certainly makes sense, but those are small angles, maintained for a fleeting moment. The lean of the club shaft isn't something I can consciously control. Not yet anyway.

[oldwease]

Re: i used the 3 skills and nailed it!

I only made the point that sometimes the hands can be way too far in front because I have played with a guy who does just that - the ball goes all over the place with no power at all. (Does quite a bit of damage to the ground at times, though.)

[bill reed]

Re: i used the 3 skills and nailed it!

hi oldwease
sorry i see what you mean. you mean a long way out with your hands and club face. yes i agree with you.
bill

[oldwease]

Re: i used the 3 skills and nailed it!

No, it's worse than that Bill; if you're way ahead, your hands have already bottomed out and you won't have a square clubface most likely. But, I'm talking here about taking it way too far. (Edit : sorry, Bill, I think that's probably what you said, having re-read your post.)

You certainly NEVER want the clubhead ahead of the hands going into the ball though.

I think I'm losing track of all the different strands in this particular thread......

[qassim]

Re: i used the 3 skills and nailed it!

I've just read through most of my copy of the book - I was also present at the Forest of Arden. Before I read the book I was hitting the ball pretty well and like to think I had a fairly decent swing. However what I didn't know was what I was actually supposed to be doing with the clubhead at impact - i think I was employing the the 3 skills to some degree without knowing it.

Having read the book (and without practicing any of the drills!) I think my ball striking has definitley improved as I now know what I'm actually trying to achieve at impact. My own conclusion is that if you already have decent fundamentals the extra knowledge that 3 skills gives you about impact can only improve your game. I remain to be convinced about absolute beginners benefitting hugely from 3 skills alone.

[bill reed]

Re: i used the 3 skills and nailed it!

hi oldwease
if your hand are to far ahead the the only really bad thing is face deloft's the club and hit it longer and lower, same if the club starts to lead the hand you add loft and hit high but sometimes find the equator with the leading edge if the club get to far ahead.
think its safer to have the hands ahead always than letting them fall behind.
bill

[BrianW]

Re: i used the 3 skills and nailed it!

It's quite possible to hit a thin shot even though the club is generally on a descending arc. If you catch it above the equator , particularly off a mat, you'll certainly get that type of result.

But, you know, this isn't rocket science folks. It surely ain't that hard to work out if your hands are leading the club head or not.

One other thing I'll throw in, though. It is possible to get your hands too far ahead of the clubhead - pretty hard to hit good shots with an excessive hand lead.

Yes, that's correct, you can thin the ball with a descending blow if the club is too high, you cannot do it if you are making a descending blow with a divot just in front of the ball though.

[oldwease]

Re: i used the 3 skills and nailed it!

It's quite possible to hit a thin shot even though the club is generally on a descending arc. If you catch it above the equator , particularly off a mat, you'll certainly get that type of result.

But, you know, this isn't rocket science folks. It surely ain't that hard to work out if your hands are leading the club head or not.

One other thing I'll throw in, though. It is possible to get your hands too far ahead of the clubhead - pretty hard to hit good shots with an excessive hand lead.

[snowman]

Re: i used the 3 skills and nailed it!

Todd:

I will be real frank with you. You are never going to get any better until you know how to use the duck feet in the swing.

Coil from the lower body is from the knees and with your feet being spread out so goes the knees.

We could have you to squeeze the ball between the knees, but that also resticts the swing process.

There was more than one of the three that had duck feet, I am one and I speak from experience.

You can go Moe, You can go Yogi or Norwood from the back leg or find an instructor that knows how to work with a person with duck feet from a square stance.

Yes but what the hell do all those random words above actually mean. I am no dummy (I have a PhD) and I cannot fathom what the heck you are talking about.

I am sure you know what you are trying to say, but even ignoring all the jargon, some of the sentences make no sense what-so-ever.

[bill reed]

Re: i used the 3 skills and nailed it!

hi Todd
i think Brian is right with his hands behind the club face at impact, its sounds very like that to me too, do you get a better result if you take only a half swing.
bill

[BrianW]

Re: i used the 3 skills and nailed it!

hi
you keep talking about hitting downward on the ball but really you can't hit down on the ball, you can have the club-head swinging in a downward direction but it is also swinging in a forward direction and due to the loft on all clubs you always hit below the equator of the ball, if you really were hitting down on the ball you would hit the equator or above the ball and you would drive it into the ground. if you were driving a nail into the ball with say a 9 iron the the nail would be half way below the equator and pointing down about 45% to the ground and the loft of the club would drive the nail in upwards through the ball, not forwards like you would have a nail pointing out the back of the ball parallel with the ground.
with the driver the nail would be close to being parallel with the ground but your swing is more on the upswing then but still make contact just below the equator of the ball.
maybe your talking about swinging down but saying hitting down on the ball ???.
bill

Bill,

I take it your post was directed at me. All this is related to the book and the diagrams in it, the images of a nail are with it entering above the equator and pointing down by 20 degrees, with longer clubs at 10 degrees and with the driver and 3 wood horizontal. I think you need to relate this to the book and not simply words like hitting down to see it, the idea is that the core of the ball is compressed into the sweet spot with all clubs.