push shot.

[lewiscains1]

To whoever can help,


I have a problem with pushing the ball. I'm a 3 handicapper and this is my only real bad shot but i have trouble determining the cause of my problem.
Basically, my main swing thoughts are to turn well on my backswing and keep my head behind the ball on my downswing.
My difficulty is in my weight transference and my right foot never seems to finish fully up on my toe with all my spikes showing. Occasionally i am prone to hook also as i seem to get stuck on my back foot.
So my main querie is how can i transfer my weight to left side properly, keeping my head behind the ball, without making what would feel like an enormous lateral shift to the left as whenever i try this i seem to shank the ball.

Many thanks to any suggestions,
Lewis Cains

[GregJWillis]

Re: push shot.

Do my walking drill for help the good finish position.

As for the push...your keeping behind the ball is a good thought, but this might be gone to the extream as in keeping you from fully rotating through prior to impact.

Do my wall drill to help you get that feeling of full rotation.

[lewiscains1]

Re: push shot.

many thanks for your tips. I'll see how it goes. I think one of my biggest areas to work on is my hip movements because whenever i try and get the feeling of turning my hips thru the ball, i just tend to hit really weak shots out to the right. thank you for giving me something to work on

[lewiscains1]

Re: push shot.

hello again. the impact position drill has helped quite a lot actually, certainly with my ball striking. hitting fewer blocks but now seem to be occasionally hitting a big draw which starts straight. could this just be my hands compensating for previous errors? i'm assuming that it will 'iron' itself out eventually anyway...

[GregJWillis]

Re: push shot.

Yes, very common in this drill for those that have spent their life using their hands to compensate for the lack of turn at impact....they still want to do the same thing they used to. So now, all they have to do is release down only, and never side to side. Start doing the right hand drill to help that out.

Great to hear your working it out!

[lewiscains1]

Re: push shot.

thanks again. will give this drill a go. i feel like i am beginning to understand my swing a lot more. cheers

[lewiscains1]

Re: push shot.

Hello again,
Bad news im afraid i am still struggling. Keep getting stuck on my back foot which is still causing hooks and pushes which is driving me crazy. I played two rounds yesterday and shot 68 then 78. The 'hip turn' thing is causing me so many problems and i dont even know how to implement it properly. I feel i am in a good position at the top opf my backswing as i make a very conscious effort to turn back and keep my head as still as possible. Are there any suggestions or different things i could try. Your comments so far have been very helpful and i think i just need a bit more guidance. Many thanks again ps if it helps, for some reason my hands now seem to very close to my head with my club pointing almost downwards on my follow through. Hope this may give you more of an idea.

[GregJWillis]

Re: push shot.

Remember that I gave you 3 drills. The walking drill is for timming, the wall for flexability, and the right hand drill for correct impact positioning. You can't expect to do them a few times and expect instant success. It takes a lot of time to return any swing back to a consistant level. You are in a re-learning mode right now, and you body will resist. It will always want to return back to its comfortable feelings. The drills will fight with those feelings and eventually you will get into a maintenance mode, (where you get comfortable with the new feelings and begin to see real results on the course), but still needing to do the drills until you don't need them to remember the feelings.

Until then, do not let scores dictate success. Let the individule success of each shot being executed correctly be your guage.

[lewiscains1]

Re: push shot.

thanks for the re-assurance and i will persevere because i know your advice is good. the wrist drill has really helped with my ball striking actually and i get quite a good straight trajectory(whether at the target or not). As I say, the hip movements feel really awkward to get correct but if can avoid my irritating urge to lean back on my follow through (my biggest difficulty with this) then i do hit good shots. it is just that i find this movement very hard to achieve accurately. thanks again for all your feedback, Lewis.

[lewiscains1]

Re: push shot.

Dear Greg,

Have been working very hard on my swing with good and bad results. I am back down to 2.2 now which is a real bonus and have been striking the ball much better. I have more or less completely got rid of the push, apart from the odd one, but now occasionally am pulling the ball. My weight is fully through now most of the time but i sometimes feel like i have come 'over the top' of the ball which is causing inconsistencies, particularly with my driver. Wondering if this sounds normal to you? Thanks for the tips so far and it is good to feel i am on the right tracks and most importantly scoring well.....