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Re: causes and cures for hitting it off the toe
Hey man,
I hear you, it's the most frustrating thing. Make a good well balanced swing, nice little draw, and have it come up 25 yards short. Anyway, funny you should mention it, I only recently did I get it figured out. Actually I originally started this thread 2 years ago, and since then I've fixed it twice.
The first time I fixed it was by making sure I was swinging from the inside. The feeling was to get the shaft moving out, like I was trying to hit a push. That's what my instructor told me to do. Literally the instruction was: "On the way down, think about putting my right elbow (for a right handed golfer) in my right pocket". That fixed it for the remainder of the year and I hit the ball really solidly.
Then one day last year it came back. Just showed up. I was definitely swinging out, but this was the same problem with a different cause. I played out the season trying my old fix and hitting some good and some waaaayyy off the toe, to the point that I was surprised that I didn't miss the ball altogether.
After filming my swing this winter, I realized that the problem started with my backswing. I was taking it halfway back fine, but then getting really laid off and flat from midway to the top. This caused me to be automatically stuck on the way down and the only way to even make contact with the ball was to get my body way out of the way, stand up on the way down and flip my hands at the ball. I was spinning out and stuck underneath, so my old fix was no longer effective.
So, long story short, I've improved my backswing and my balance, and I've been working on the final step, which is to try to maintain some flex in my left knee at impact to slow my lower body down a little. I'll be honest, I've NEVER hit the ball as well as I am now. Solid, right out of the middle, any trajectory I want. Other than the fact that I'm having re-learn all my distances, it feels great!
Sorry for the long post. Let me know if you have any questions or want me to dive deeper. Also, jbrunk, BrianW and the rest of the posters here have tons of insight, perhaps they'll weigh in.
Good luck man!
Hey man,
I hear you, it's the most frustrating thing. Make a good well balanced swing, nice little draw, and have it come up 25 yards short. Anyway, funny you should mention it, I only recently did I get it figured out. Actually I originally started this thread 2 years ago, and since then I've fixed it twice.
The first time I fixed it was by making sure I was swinging from the inside. The feeling was to get the shaft moving out, like I was trying to hit a push. That's what my instructor told me to do. Literally the instruction was: "On the way down, think about putting my right elbow (for a right handed golfer) in my right pocket". That fixed it for the remainder of the year and I hit the ball really solidly.
Then one day last year it came back. Just showed up. I was definitely swinging out, but this was the same problem with a different cause. I played out the season trying my old fix and hitting some good and some waaaayyy off the toe, to the point that I was surprised that I didn't miss the ball altogether.
After filming my swing this winter, I realized that the problem started with my backswing. I was taking it halfway back fine, but then getting really laid off and flat from midway to the top. This caused me to be automatically stuck on the way down and the only way to even make contact with the ball was to get my body way out of the way, stand up on the way down and flip my hands at the ball. I was spinning out and stuck underneath, so my old fix was no longer effective.
So, long story short, I've improved my backswing and my balance, and I've been working on the final step, which is to try to maintain some flex in my left knee at impact to slow my lower body down a little. I'll be honest, I've NEVER hit the ball as well as I am now. Solid, right out of the middle, any trajectory I want. Other than the fact that I'm having re-learn all my distances, it feels great!
Sorry for the long post. Let me know if you have any questions or want me to dive deeper. Also, jbrunk, BrianW and the rest of the posters here have tons of insight, perhaps they'll weigh in.
Good luck man!
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