Ball Bound

[tommyc]

I've taken so many lessons, worked so hard on my swing, have developed a pretty good understanding of the swing - but I still can't SWING through the ball like it's a real swing. My subconscious has control over me, and it wants to HIT the ball. I try to feel the clubhead (ala Ernst Jones) - works fine during practice swings, and then bang, an explosion of hit occurs during the real "swing" and my muscles are totally ignorant of any clubhead feel. Even during punch outs from beneath trees, I inevitably jab at the ball following numerous good practice swings. I can't find a way to fool myself that I'm not trying to hit the ball. No matter what type of swing I use, my hands always want to find the ball and then tighten up. Never mind that I end up swinging too fast, lose rhythm, and definitely lose confidence.

Does anybody have any ideas how to resolve this dilemma? Or books to read? I read once about a former pro who got so ball bound that he couldn't look at the ball during the swing. He instead looked at the inside of his visor. He said he was screwed if he didn't wear a hat.

[neergan1216]

Re: Ball Bound

I had the same problem. I would even swing with my eyes closed to help prove I could hit the ball. Heck, even blind people can play golf. This concept that has cured me. "It's my job to swing the club; It's the club's job to hit the ball". This lets me concentrate only on my swing. I find that if I perform my swing, the ball will take care if itself. I don't think about hitting the ball.

[bill reed]

Re: Ball Bound

hi
one thing to try is putting a tee peg about 2 inches ahead of the ball and think of that as your target. set up like normal to the ball but look at the tee peg and think of that at your impact point.
this is a drill that helps you swing through the ball and does work really well.
cheers
bill

[chessbum]

Re: Ball Bound

I have three very nice tips for you that came from one of the best pros/teacher I have ever met.

Tip #1:

Use the following drill:

During your practice, place a second ball 12" behind the ball you are going to hit. Now practice hitting DOWN on the ball (pinching it) so that your club misses the second ball but hits your first ball. If you hit the second ball you have immediate feedback and know that you didn't hit it like you are supposed to. Believe me, you will begin to love the feel of a squarely hit ball.

Tip #2:

Visualize a big nail running through the ball and at about a 15 degree angle. Your task is the hit the nail through the ball by hitting directly on the head of the nail. You want to drive that nail right though the ball. Think of your clubhead as a hockey stick with the flat surface hitting the head squarely on the head of the nail. This thought is VERY POWERFUL and if you master it you will be hitting the ball much better and can give immediate improvement. Make this your only thought when actually playing.

Tip # 3:

Practice using an impact bag. Make sure you are leading the clubhead with your hands. The impact bag helps with this. You don't have to buy one, I use an old computer bag. You also don't need to hit the bag hard. Just working on hitting the bag squarely and with your hands leading.

Good Luck,

Chessbum....

[tommyc]

Re: Ball Bound

Thanks Neergan,

Your success is what I'm striving for. I try to think only about my swing, but trying to hit the ball takes over. My personality's probably a factor: analytical, trouble giving up control and trusting. Anyway, I'll try to incorporate your suggestion.

Cheers,
Tom

[tommyc]

Re: Ball Bound

I don't look too bad on video. I have decent lag. What doesn't show up so well on video is rhythm and timing, which are affected by the mental state of trying to hit the ball.

[BrianW]

Re: Ball Bound

The problem is due to tense muscles. When you take your practice swing you know the ball is not going anywhere so you swing nice and easy with relaxed muscles, the moment you put a ball down you have the need to muscle it a mile so everything gets taught and inefficient.

The way to improve is to convince yourself that a loose free flowing swing that lets your arms extend down rather than them cramp upwards will hit the ball farther. Work on the imagery, see yourself swinging freely through the shot, get that picture in your mind as you swing.

[tommyc]

Re: Ball Bound

Excellent image Brian. Thanks.

[kbp]

Re: Ball Bound

For confirmed and unapolagetic "hitters", the phrase "hit the ball with the hands, not the clubhead" is sometimes helpful. This is intended to change the focus from pushing the clubhead at the ball to moving the hands to the correct impact position. The intention is to discourage "swatting" with the wrists and encourage leading with the hands. There may still be a "hit" impulse but by focusing on the movement of the hands rather than the clubhead, hopefully the "swatting" muscles will not dominate and bind up the wrists. Some "hitters" get a lot more natural, less forced release witht the hands ahead.

[Neil18]

Re: Ball Bound

A fantastic topic this one, Tommyc.

I am a firm believer that so many golf swings, and subsequent shots, go wrong because the mental image so many of us have of what we're trying to accomplish is incorrect.

I understand fully that you can produce smooth and easy practice swings that feel as though you're swinging freely through where the ball would be. But are you really? Are you sure you're not simply practicing a smooth hit? Food for thought.

The difference between truly swinging the club down to the ball rather than hitting at it, in my view, definately stems from the perception of what method will produce that which we desire; the heavy thud and squeezed "suck" of the ball onto the clubface that results in the ball being over 100 yards away before we've looked up to track its' flight.

We may be able to effectively chop a log with a full and immediate acceleration from the top, snapping/flipping our hands into the log for extra chop, but it's a different task. The log ain't going anywhere, we don't have to worry about it going to a target. We just need to hit the log with the axe. It doesn't need to be that accurate................unless it's a small log..............in which case, why use an axe?...................anyway.........

Imagine yourself as a medieval trebuchet style of assault weapon. Your legs form the base, your body the part that attaches to the arm (your arms), and the rope with the cradle containing the missile is your club. Picture yourself positioning your trebuchet in order to aim at a piece of a castle wall (a portion of the green/fairway). This is your posture and set up for the shot in hand.

http://www.physics.sfasu.edu/astro/c.../trebuchet.jpg


When the man on the ground flips the switch, the trebuchet doesn't suddenly accelerate to top speed within a nano-second. It builds. The trebuchet is designed and set up so that the moment of highest velocity is reached as the missile is naturally launched from its' cradle at the peak of the arc. After that, it'll go to its' target.

The picture above illustrates perfectly what we're tryng to achieve in the golf swing.

Turn the trebuchet upside-down, and the peak of the arc should coincide with and just after the golf ball. You'll notice that the natural swinging motion of the arm means that even when the arm is approaching pointing toward where the maximum acceleration point is, the cradle with the missile (the clubhead) still has a long way to go before launch. There is no system required between the arm and the rope to add any more speed or control. If there were, it would lose a lot of accuracy and power. Man in castle will laugh. Army goes home having peppered a square mile of countryside with rocks.

As an additional point, you will notice that the post-launch phase of the trebuchet sees the rope naturally follow the arc and bend due to the weight on the end being removed. This is not the same as extra wrist action. Think of it as the reactionary shaft bend we all see from good ball strikers post-impact:

(Notice at 34 secs the shaft bends forward post-impact)

Maybe it may help to imagine that the ball is already attached to the clubface when you swing? Then all you need to do is fling it, but I think you need to change your mental picture of what flinging the ball to the target is. It's not by flicking the hands at the right time. Too inconsistent. It's by building the speed gradually from the top.

When you first try this it will seem like you spend an incomprehensible (and surely incorrect) amount of time facing away from the target during your backswing and downswing. But I asure the feeling is absolutely correct and will revolutionise the way you look at the game.

There are many other facets of using this imagery to help, but I'll leave it for now otherwise this post could get too long...........................

I'll just say one more thing . You know doing what you currently do doesn't produce what you want, so you'll have to find the courage to try something that feels totally different. This will feel very different.

[ben hogan]

Re: Ball Bound

[Neil18]

Re: Ball Bound

i like the trebuchet analogy, good post

but what do you say would be the large weight that pulls the trebuchet rope around?

I knew someone was going to ask that!

The counter-weight you refer to is the driving force in the trebuchet. Without it there is no engine to the sling and it goes nowhere.

We mortals have our own internal combustion system and a bunch of muscles, bones and tendons that are our driving force, allowing us to move without external forces having to be applied.

The time in the pure swing where a counter-weight system can be seen is just at and after impact where there is a slight movement of the head away from the target as the club is released.

It's the equal and opposite reaction to the club weight pulling the arms straight after impact and is indicative of the fact that maximum speed has been reached and we're hanging onto the club for dear life. It's counter acted with this small rocking away from the target of the rib cage/shoulders/head. So, albeit extremely briefly, there is a mini-counterweight system involved, but it's reactionary rather than the driving force.