Lessons

[ali23]

Yesterday I had lessons with my local pro after shooting the best round of my life 91. First because i am so use to having balls closer to my right foot than center, he told me to have it more center, which made it a little awkward. Then he tried taking me into a three swing take away rather than my 1 piece take away, taking weight back, pulling down then down shifting your hip first and pushing forward till your b.button is pointing towards the target. He wanted me to keep my weight forward, and having my body weight closer to the toes than the heels.

Are these the right things to do, is the money im paying worth it or not

[GregJWillis]

Re: Lessons

OMG! What were your results? Did all that work for you?

[TeachingPro]

Re: Lessons

Then he tried taking me into a three swing take away rather than my 1 piece take away, taking weight back, pulling down then down shifting your hip first and pushing forward till your b.button is pointing towards the target. He wanted me to keep my weight forward, and having my body weight closer to the toes than the heels.

I can't really comment because I haven't you swing but:
<1> the 3-piece swing is to get the key positions and movements correct. Eventually they'll blend into each other to make a technically correct golf swing
<2> the basic movements sound fine, there's nothing that screams out "WRONG!". The suggested movements starting with the hips is pretty classic text book sort of stuff.
<3> the weight must be forward on the balls of the feet and not the heels. You need the centre of gravity to be under hips and not behind them. The C.O.G. is very imposrtant to maintain spine angle and maintain your balance. If your COG changes, you need to make additional movements in your swing to correct your balance. If you take a technically correct stance and posture, the balls of your feet should be just a bit forward of your hips and at impact they'll be under your hips - so he's quite correct on that.

If you are unsure of anything always ask questions. Don't just take what the pro says for granted ... ask him why this or what effect will this have? Ask questions!

[bonzi_532]

Re: Lessons

Why the crazy reaction Greg?

[ali23]

Re: Lessons

i dont know why but what he tought me completely ruined my ball striking. I was at the range and shanking and hitting thick most my balls. I think if i had more consistency off the deck with my irons, alot of the time i keep on not being able to get the ball in the air with my irons. I hit down on the ball like everyone says but it doesnt work. When i get on a roll of good shots i hit my 5 iron 165-175 off the deck, but when it is going bad (most the time and i dont know why) i hit it 40 yards all roll. Off the tee i hit the ball great but i dont know why i mess up from the deck most the time.

[bonzi_532]

Re: Lessons

Just relax. I think you may be hitting down at the ball, which doesnt make sense. When you hit down at the ball you will get those fat chunky 40 yd. rollers. Instead, focus on hitting down through the ball. What helped me with this is invisioning my club pinch the ball off the turf. Good Luck

[GregJWillis]

Re: Lessons

Why the crazy reaction Greg?

Not crazy, just a "wow, that was a lot to absorb at once" reaction. I couldn't ever give that much to one person and expect it to work....as I see that it hasn't.

[bonzi_532]

Re: Lessons

Was my previous comment at all accurate.......should i be focussing on hitting through the ball.The ball should be in the way of my swing, not the target. Just curious on what im saying

[LowPost42]

Re: Lessons

I've often heard that 'the ball should simply get in the way of your swing'.

That's all well and good, except that for the general hack, once you put a ball in front of them, their swing changes.

I don't think you're wrong, Bonzi, but for people who struggle to hit their irons, the idea of hitting through (picking) tends to produce a sweeping swing. The idea of hitting down (mashing) helps more players achieve better iron ball striking.

Hitting fat usually indicates sway of some sort, or bobbing. To hit fat, you either have to had moved laterally away from target (swaying), or you stood up on your backswing, meaning you had to get 'down' again on the downswing - overcompensated, and chunked it. If you kept your hips on plane and in the box during the whole swing, you'd be really hard pressed to chunk it. You could still thin it, but fat would be pretty much history, as I understand it.

[ali23]

Re: Lessons

Wow i went to the range today and only shot a bucket of balls, i did what you guys said and used the drill where you put a ball 6 inches behind your ball which helps you hit down through your own ball, the first 10 balls i was messin up and hitting the ball behind my target ball, but after that i was hitting good shots consistently with confidence , i had 5 or 6 slices out of 50 shots but this day at the range was a real confidence booster. I am going to look for more drills for clean crisp impact which hopefull knock some strokes. Does anyone have any good drills that would be helpful for impact other that the 3 o clock 9 o clock drill?