Can't get through the ball

[Easy Ryder]

As someone who played of 2 in my youth and until recently was still able to go round in not many over par though the ball striking was getting worse as time marched on - I have had one of those years when the game has gone downhill seriously. My main faults are not getting through the ball, resulting in high weak pushes. I rarely hit it crisp and never take a divot. How I would love to hit crisp low shots again.....any suggestions that I could work on?

[garcia]

Re: Can't get through the ball

I often find that I get the high weak ball flight when I do not have a solid impact position. By not solid I mean I tend to get very wristy at impact almost like I am flicking at the ball. The low powerful ball flights come when my hands return to impact slightly ahead of the ball, and it feel like I am pushing the ball down the target line. I find the best way to get the feel of this motion is to hit punch 7 irons on the range with a half swing, little or no wrist break. This helps me get the feeling of a solid powerful impact position. Hope this helps.

[TeachingPro]

Re: Can't get through the ball

Easy Ryder, my sincere sympathies! Take it from a teacher who can't play worth a damn anymore, I know how you feel.

If you played off 2, I assume you have good fundementals (grip, stance, blaah, blaah, etc.). So, we'll skip that part ...

Good ball striking relies of 4 things:
1. A consistent spine angle
2. A good position at the top of the swing
3. A proper release where the wrists are uncocked before impact (not necessarily a powerful release, that is a modern idea)
4. good weight transferance in the swing

I'm almost certain you have a good enough swing to eliminate the first 3. Number 4 is where I think your problem is. This is almost always where good players' problems are. Jose Maria Olzabal has always struggled with this and hence he blocks a lot his his drives. When Tiger hits right - his problem is purely not getting his weight to transfer with his shift in body position.

If you are hitting high blocks, you are most likely hitting from the 'back foot' - that is where the weight is. There is absolutely no way you can release and turn through from a position like that.

Okay, to learn a good weight transfer is as simple as walking. When you walk, all of your weight moves from one foot to the other. Correct? Walk sideways ... same thing. The weight transfer in a golf swing is identical to walking sideways. An exagerrated image is that of a pitcher ... he winds up, moves all his weight to 1 foot and then moves it all again to the other as he throws ...

You need to do the same in a golf swing but with less motion than a pitcher.

To get the feeling, stand in an address position on some soft-ish turf but put a golf ball under each heel. As you swing back, push the ball under your right heel into the ground. As you swing through, but before impact the left ball should be pushed into the ground. Don't hit any golf balls with this drill becuase you will be changing your height!

Another I drill I use often is to get the student to swing back but on the way passed impact lift the right foot off the ground, pushing all the weight onto the left or else you will fall over. When you have the feeling of that ...

Address the golf ball, tee it up a bit to help you. Move the left foot next to the right. Swing back ... start the move down to the ball by taking a step and putting the left foot back and swing through in a fluid motion, almost hitting it on the move.

Also, you need to turn through impact properly. You need to do the correct things with the weight transfer.

A good feeling for this is: stand and turn your body to the left, like a finish position. What has happened? Your left hip hasn't travelled anywhere - all it has done is turn left, behind here it started. Everything else has turned around it. A golf swing is the same movement.

Stand on a secured bench with a medium-iron, with your left foot an inch from the edge. Slowly turn back and turn through impact and finish. If you're still on the bench then your left hip has turned correctly and you've stayed balanced. Slowly speed up until you're at normal swing speed. If you ever fall off, you've made the wrong move.

Once you've got that waxed, go to the range and hit golf balls standing in the same way on a piece of lumber. You'll have to tee the ball up to make sure it is level with your feet.

If you can do this consistently then you're making the correct moves and staying balanced.

There's lots of info here. Take it slow ... and focus on transferring the weight first and then move to 'turning' correctly through the ball.

I sure this will help you! Post if you need more help.

[ph_kingston]

Re: Can't get through the ball

As a clean hitter that also hits pushed shots regularly I welcome the advice. My coach offers me similar advice on getting the weight transferred through the shot to cut out the blocks.

I also like the tip of hitting a few punched 7 irons when you're struggling to make a crisp contact. The feeling of a clean impact on the ball helps the confidence return to rip it with a full swing.

[TeachingPro]

Re: Can't get through the ball

Careful with 'punching' 7-irons - the movement and the practice regime is fine but all you want to gain from that is the feeling on going from hip-high right through and to the left hip heigh.

I've seen so many students who come to me saying "I practice punches ... and my swing is all out of sorts...". Well, that means you're taking the wrong things from the practice. Don't practice the punch swing per se, you only want to retain that hip-impact-hip feeling of getting through!

Hitting the shots that easyryder is struggling with is all linked to body movement. Trust me on this one.