Ball going right of target.

[miffin]

I have had lots of trouble with my re-gripping club for over a year. But, thanks to golfers on this site, I HAVE CURED IT! I have developed another slight problem that hopefully I can get help with. I get the occassional shot that appears perfect (no slice) but sets off and stays 10 or more yards right of my target aim. I carefully line up my feet and body but this still happens. Can anyone point me to the reason for this and hopefully a cure please as I am just beginning to enjoy my golf again.
Brian

[LowPost42]

Re: Ball going right of target.

Ball position. I get a case of the blocks when I let it creep too far back in my stance.

[GregJWillis]

Re: Ball going right of target.

...I carefully line up my feet and body but this still happens....

One possible reason: You have your feet/shoulders/hips lined up AT the target. RH golfers need to be lined up left of their target, LH to the right.

Imagine the distance between your feet and the ball. It is about 2 1/2 feet apart. Draw a line like railroad tracks to your target where the ball to the target to one track, and your feet/hip/shoulder line is parallel and 2 1/2 feet to the side of the other.

When you setup, only use the "ball to target" line (when standing behind) in your preshot...then when you step in to hit, imagine that railroad track line to align the feet. (I basically stand inside a box).

If you line your feet to the target you will always be pointing to the push side. Short shots get the most deviation, where longer shots are not as bad, but still, you will be misaligned every time.

Another Reason: Not staying behind the ball into impact...you are sliding forward and like LowPost said, that is like putting the ball in the back our your stance.

[GolfJunkieSr]

Re: Ball going right of target.

I don't know if this will help with your question. I think your question has already been answered above. Take a look at your divot and see if the club head toe is deeper than the heel portion of the club head. What happens is the toe digiging in opens the clubface a little, and sends the ball to right. I am guessing you are right handed. If the divot is deeper on on the toe end, maybe you are doing something different with your grip from time to time that you don't normally do that could be changing your lie angle to a flatter angle just enough to give you this right of target ball flight. Maybe you are choking down too far with out realizing it on some of these wayward shots. I am also assumining your clubs are a fitted set which would eliminate different lie angle with in the set. Just food for thought....GJS

[rotator]

Re: Ball going right of target.

Misaligning is a problem, which even the pros have to work on all the time.

The majority of golfers will have a common tendency, a right handed golfer will misalign to the right, and visa versa for a left handed golfer.

How many times have you told a fellow player that he's aiming way to the right. This could cause a couple of problems. It could be the cause of a slice or pull, depending on the angle of the clubface, as the player redirects the club to the true parallel track line. The other result could be they may just hit the ball exactly where they were lined up to hit it, that is a good swing with a puzzling result.

So you stand behind him and tell him to shift his stance. He'll say adamantly 'no way', and he tilts his head and looks down the line, and at his hips and feet. He may even try to disprove you by laying the shaft of the club across his hips and shoulder line. When he finally agrees to try a shot in the alignment you said was correct, before he pulls the trigger he will end up shuffling his feet and eventually get back to the original position. When you tell them they are doing this, they will say that they did not shift.

Apparently, there are two reasons for this anomoly. One is because the rear hand is below the front hand on the grip, that can open your front shoulder. The other reason, is when you look down the line with your head tilted and eyes vertical to each other, your visual perspective is distorted. If you lift your head up and turn your head so both eyes are more parallel with the ground, you will have a truer perspective.

The parallel train track idea which Gregg mentioned is a good one, which I use in conjunction with aligning my clubface parpendicular with a reference point a few feet ahead on the target line track.

Ted

[dagoos]

Re: Ball going right of target.

hi miffin I know you might not believe this but you must check your finish,make sure you are not hangin back. by hanging back I mean are you on your right toe not on the ball of your foot,,,,if you are on the ball of your foot you are hangin back just enuff to make you go right. I have found that by making sure a full hand release is done it carries me to that full finish on the toe ,,,I think its the weight of the clubhead that pulls your body though the finish. One good swing thought that works for me is visulize the shaft to be vertail at impact ,I know alot of people will say your shaft should be forward but after watching lots of videos I see for a split second the shaft is vertial on the pros , I think Mr Jones said it best 'let the loft of the club do the work", I am trying this and I strike the ball so pure I love that sweet click when the clubhead hits the ball . try it and let me know if it helps . dagoos

[miffin]

Re: Ball going right of target.

Thanks to everyone who are trying to help me above. I am on the course tomorrow and will be trying these things and will let you know what happens.
Brian.

[miffin]

Re: Ball going right of target.

Only pushed one shot out to right today. I concentrated on my body allignment (I appeared to be aiming a little more left than usual) and I made sure that I didn't have the ball too far back in my stance. I normally play it a ball or two back compared to others as I find that I do not seem to pull as many that way. Hope this sorts it permanently. I will be looking at the other suggestions too but I couldn't do them all at once.
Bri

[miffin]

Re: Ball going right of target.

hi miffin I know you might not believe this but you must check your finish,make sure you are not hangin back. by hanging back I mean are you on your right toe not on the ball of your foot,,,,if you are on the ball of your foot you are hangin back just enuff to make you go right. I have found that by making sure a full hand release is done it carries me to that full finish on the toe ,,,I think its the weight of the clubhead that pulls your body though the finish. One good swing thought that works for me is visulize the shaft to be vertail at impact ,I know alot of people will say your shaft should be forward but after watching lots of videos I see for a split second the shaft is vertial on the pros , I think Mr Jones said it best 'let the loft of the club do the work", I am trying this and I strike the ball so pure I love that sweet click when the clubhead hits the ball . try it and let me know if it helps . dagoos

I think you might have something here. Last time out I started drawing balls, some almost to a pull or hook. So, I fiddled around with it and then started pushing right again. On looking at it, I do not think I was going right through with the shot and getting up onto my toe. Will have another fiddle next week and see what happens.
Bri

[msridharan]

Re: Ball going right of target.

hi miffin I know you might not believe this but you must check your finish,make sure you are not hangin back. by hanging back I mean are you on your right toe not on the ball of your foot,,,,if you are on the ball of your foot you are hangin back just enuff to make you go right. I have found that by making sure a full hand release is done it carries me to that full finish on the toe ,,,I think its the weight of the clubhead that pulls your body though the finish. One good swing thought that works for me is visulize the shaft to be vertail at impact ,I know alot of people will say your shaft should be forward but after watching lots of videos I see for a split second the shaft is vertial on the pros , I think Mr Jones said it best 'let the loft of the club do the work", I am trying this and I strike the ball so pure I love that sweet click when the clubhead hits the ball . try it and let me know if it helps . dagoos

Hi, I am a beginner and facing the same problem - ball going to the right. Read the posts above. I will try this tip this week and share my experience. Thanks.

Sri

[miffin]

Re: Ball going right of target.

OK sri, keep us posted.
Bri

[jbrunk]

Re: Ball going right of target.

OK sri, keep us posted.
Bri

Miffin,

You are likely swinging too far inside out. When you keep the face open you get a push. When you close the face a bit, you get a draw/hook. Try swinging more left after impact.

[miffin]

Re: Ball going right of target.

Hit some of my best shots for ages today. dagoos has something with finishing on the toe. I do not think i was really letting go. I really cracked some balls today and felt the club was taking me right through and I was ending up on my toe. The ball was going really straight. hope it lasts.
Bri

[Jeff Mann]

Re: Ball going right of target.

I think that there are many potential reasons why a golfer may push the ball right.

Here are some potential reasons.

1) An in-to-out clubhead swing path - rather than an in-to-square-to-in clubhead swing path.

2) A failure to square the clubhead by impact because of a number of factors (that can be additive).

- 2a) tilting the right shoulder towards the ground, rather than moving the right shoulder downplane in the early downswing => arms are dropped behind the torso => golfer cannot easily move the arms sufficiently outwards by impact in order to completely close the clubface by impact.
-2b) excessively fast pelvic rotation movement at the start of the downswing, where the pelvic rotational movement outraces the upper torso and arms => arms get trapped behind the right hip area => golfer cannot get the arms past the right hip area fast enough => blocked shots to the right.
-2c) driving the hands towards impact too fast in the late downswing (relative to the passively releasing club), which can be causally related to an over-active right arm straightening action in the late downswing => excessive push-pressure at pressure point #1 => pushing the left hand too fast into impact (relative to the passive release swivel action that automatically causes the clubface to become square by impact).
-2d) a failure to paddlewheel the right forearm into impact on-plane, so that the right palm can face the target at impact.
-2e) too much tension in the left arm/forearm that prevents the necessary amount of passive internal rotation of the left humerus and passive left forearm supinatory movement needed to successfully complete a release swivel action => an incomplete release swivel action => open clubface at impact.
-2f) stiff left/right wrists that prevent the club from releasing automatically/naturally during the release swivel action phase of the downswing.

Jeff.

[dagoos]

Re: Ball going right of target.

Hi MIff dagoos here I hope the fininsh worked for ya ,,,it is a simple thought and cures more problems than thinking I must turn hip create lag and all that other stuff ,,,I really dont think you have time to put that into a 1.5 second golf swing .what you mite want to try now is to start comin from the inside . to do this get a broken staff and put it a foot or so behind the ball just in front of the target line on the same plane as your impact position for that club and try and swing under it . ,,,,it is not as easy as it sounds ,,,, you will find you really have to get something movin in order to swing under it .dont forget to finish,,, in your finish if your clubshaft is pointing down at the finish this is a draw finish , if your shaft is horizontal behind your neck it will be a straight shot , if the shaft is abit up from horizantal this will be a fade ,,,,the most trusted shot . try it and let me know ,,,,dagoos