Weak Contact

[BDR444]

Don't know where to start here but on most of my clubs the lines made from the grass are at an angle. What I mean by this is that my clubface is significantly open at impact, but I usually hit straight but not very far (6 iron around 140-150). Am I leading the clubhead too much?

If needed I would post a video of my swing, the main things I have problems with is hitting a decent distance. The other day I was hitting very very long but most of my balls were slicing. Usually I hit straight but as I said not very far.

Any help would be beneficial.

[TeachingPro]

Re: Weak Contact

Without seeing your swing it is difficult to tell exactly what is going on but my educated guess is:

1. You are 'casting' at the top of the backswing which pushes the club outside of the line and impact and the through swing are inside the line - that gives you the divots at an angle.
2. Accompanied by the casting is an early release which means all the acceleration and swing speed required for distance happens early in the swing (normally above the hips) rather than below the hips.

It isn't the club face being at angle that causes the divot being at an angle, it is your swing path.

Luckily for you, both are quite easy to fix. If you need drills ... post again.

[BDR444]

Re: Weak Contact

Drills would be great.

[TeachingPro]

Re: Weak Contact

Okay,

You might want to copy and paste this into a word processor and print it. There are 3 drills here to get you started. If you need more guidance on the execution of the drills, please let me know.

Before we get to the drills, let's first cover some common things about drills and practice:
1. Drills are not quick fixes. They are excercises that develop the feeling and are designed to train the mind and the muscles to repeat the movement required in the execution in the golf swing.
2. Always tee the ball up a bit to enable you to ease through impact and focus on developing 'feeling' and 'movement' and less on hitting the ball.
3. The results may not be instantaneous but perservere and carry on practicing. Away from the course and range, reherse the movement and create the feeling to help you get used to the new changesand keep them fresh in your mind between practice sessions.
4. Don't hit more than 40-50 golf balls in each session and take your time. Those 50 balls should take about 1 hour. Hitting 500 golf balls does very little other than give you sore hands and muscles. Even with the tour pro's I teach, we never hit more than 150 in a session.

Toe-Toe Swing [Helps for takeaway and through swing]
- Do this first without ball and then with a ball once your alignment at hip height right and hip height left are correct.
- Take a 7-iron or a 6-iron, a club you're comfortable with.
- Put a club in line with the front of your feet, put a club a foot or so behind the golf ball and again pointing directly at the target. This will form a visual aid to assist later on to check your alignment. Stand behind the setup and check and make corrections where necessary.
- Grip and address the golf ball as you normally would. Make sure your fundementals are correct: grip neutral to slightly strong, hand position slightly ahead of the ball, your left arm and club should form a straight line, check your alignment and the ball position should be just forward of the middle.
- Swing the club back to hip height right
- Stop and check to see that the toe is pointing to the sky, your club shaft should be parallel to the line of the target and your feet (use the clubs you placed as a visual reference)
- Now swing through to hip high passed the ball and the club should again be parallel to the target and feet, the toe should be pointed to the sky.
- At each position the wrists should be slightly cocked, check this as well but the toe pointing to the sky and alignment are the principle objectives.
- Repeat the drill and as you get comfortable, speed it up a little.
- When your alignment is better, place a ball and repeat the drill hitting the ball
- The golf ball should go straight and about 50-60yards, maybe a bit further.

2. Feet Together [helps to create a balanced swing]
- Take a 6 or 7 iron and tee the ball up
- Grip and address the golf ball as you normally would. Make sure your fundementals are correct: grip neutral to slightly strong, hand position slightly ahead of the ball, your left arm and club should form a straight line, check your alignment and the ball position should be just forward of the middle.
- Now put your feet together and point your toes slightly to the left, pointing passed the golf ball rather than at it.
- Swing back to 3/4 of the way back (your arms should be parallel to the ground) and the club should be pointing skywards or almost so.
- Now swing through without losing your balance.
- Repeat over and over again until you can swing at 3/4 swing and almost pull power without losing your balance.
- You should be able to hit a 6-iron about 140-150yards with a higher than normal trajectory and if anything straight or a slight draw.
- If you do lose your balance, make sure your shoulders and hips turn like they would do with a conventional swing - nothing changes, only your feet position.
- Over a number of sessions as the results become more consistent, widen the feet a bit until they are normal width.

Back to target [Helps create the movement of hitting with a good transition] This is a strange one! I'll tell you the story about it at the end!
- Take a 6 or 7 iron and tee the ball up
- Stand facing away from the target, with the ball level with your feet. Take the club keeping your feet in the same position and address the ball. You should end up with your back facing towards the target and your feet and body facing away from the target. Your shoulders should be at about 45 degrees.
- Now swing back and through in one smooth action focussing on transferring your weight back and through.
- You should hit the ball starting right and then draw back to the target line or left of the target line (you might actually start off hitting straight right or snap hooking!)
- Repeat the drill over and over again until you have the feeling and movement and the ball flight is a draw.
- Over time (4 or 5 sessions) move your body back to the 'normal' position and you should not be hitting smooth straight shots and maybe a slight draw. If not, focus on the feeling of your back to the target and hitting through impact, sweeping passed impact with a good release.

Ok, the trick is always to take good practice drills and mould them into a good swing. You can practice all day long for a century and still not have a good swing ... Take each drill, 1 by 1 and work on them. Get the feeling and movement instilled into your swing in the same order as I have placed the drills (toe-toe, feet together, back to the target) and incorporate them into a full swing. I'd suggest 3 or 4 sessions doing only the drill and then 3 or 4 sessions incorporating it before starting on the next drill for 3 or 4 sessions. It seems drastic I know but to do major swing reconstruction takes effort and time. You have to give yourself time, weeks or moths even. In between the sessions, sure hit a few balls with your swing and a 3 wood or whatever but make sure you keep your fundementals and swing thought you are working on. If you can do a 'session' 3 or 4 times a week, you sould see results in a beter swing in about 6-8 weeks.

I have these drills on video if you want them. I need to get them from the editing company that is producing the video section of my website, but give me until 10th of Jan and if you want them, I can e-mail them to you.

I almost forgot - why the back to the target drill? I was teaching in Miami and I was standing watching a friend of mine help a chronic slicer. This poor guy was hitting the ball about 45 degrees right and then it sliced even more! Phil got his student to face away from the target. He put a golf club in his hands and told him to hit the ball. 1 Swing later, he had turned a chronic slicer into hooker. This guy almost collapsed when he saw the result, you would have thought he won the US lottery, he was shouting and screaming, jumping up and down! Everyone, and I mean everyone stopped practicing and wondered what the f&*$ was going on. The funniest part was when we got home ... Phil admittd he'd never done that drill before, he had got the idea from 'putting the right foot back' drill but he took it to the extreme and hoped it worked! I've used it ever since.

So work on the drills - focus on the toe of the club pointing to the sky at hips height, focus on transferring the weight and staying balanced and finally, focus on keeping your back to the target and swing through impact with the right side from the inside of target line.

If you need anymore advice or help in the process, you know where I be contacted.

[BDR444]

Re: Weak Contact

Thank you for the drills;

Just have one more question. As you said casting pushes the club out of the swing path, would you say this promotes/results in hitting shots more towards the heel end of the club?

Thanks.

[TeachingPro]

Re: Weak Contact

Oh, yes definately. It can cause shanks (sorry for swearing!) too ...

Casting causes all sorts of problems and is a major loss of power.

[Dnamixup]

Re: Weak Contact

You know the first drill, you say "swing to the thighs on backswing and same on the through swing" when you start picking up speed do you keep doin the thigh to thigh swing or put it into you normal full swing?